Gajaraju

Director Prabhu Solomon has earlier rocked the viewers with his beautiful love story Mynaa set in the backdrop of green forests and hills. The director is now back with another story with the same backdrop. In his latest directorial venture Gajaraju, the dubbed version of Kumki, he introduces a new face Vikram Prabhu, grandson of Sivaji Ganeshan and the film is a joyride through the wilds of Tamil Nadu forests. Vote for the best of Tollywood - 2012 Gajaraju is a romance drama and debutant Vikram Prabhu's superb performance is the main highlight of the film.

Prabu Solomon's story, screenplay and dialogues, D Imman's music, Sukumar's camera work are the other attractions of the film. One big weakness of the movie is its slow-paced narration. The movie deals with an emotional bonding between a mahout and his elephant. With this as a theme, Prabhu Solomon has delivered a beautiful love story in the wild forest. Although his narration drags in a few place in the film, the director manages to hold the attention of the viewers and keep them engaged. The story is simple, but the director has made it an interesting affair with twists or turns.

The story is set in village called Devagiri in the Talakona forest near Chittoor and the small village is often attacked by a rogue elephant. Village head Veeranna (Anantha Vaidyanathan) decides to bring in a Kumki elephant (a trained Indian elephant to counter and tame the rogue tusker). Continue to read the remaining story in the slide show.

Boppanna (Vikram Prabhu) is a mahout and he comes to know about this requirement. Although his elephant Manikyam is not a Kumki elephant, he decides to take him to Devagiri to make some quick buck. He falls in love with the village head's daughter Singi (Lakshmi Menon). The village is very conservative, which does not encourage love marriages. Will Boppanna be able to win his lady love? Will his elephant tame the rogue elephant? The rest of the movie will answer for these questions.

Vikram Prabhu has delivered a very good performance in his debut movie Gajaraju. His dedication and hard work are clearly visible on-screen. But he still need improvement in acting and he should work on his acting skills. Lakshmi Menon once again proves that she is ready to go a long way, as the actress has given her best. The actress shines all through and her combination with Vikram is really good.

Imman's music has already topped the chart. There are wonderful melodious tracks and a foot-tapping number is a bonus. Hearing the songs with visuals is a treat to watch. Sukumar's cinematography is excellent. Beautiful locations and amazing camera work are also the highlights of the movie.

Prabhu Solomon has taken the best out of his team. Be it from his actors or his technicians, the director's vision for the nativity is seen in the film. However, the script loses grip in a few places and he could have handled the script part in a better way.