Badrinath:Movie Review

Movie Review : After all that hype, VV Vinayak's "Badrinath" starring Allu Arjun and Tamannah that was riding high on expectations, was a disappointing ride. The movie with high technical expertise, lavish sets that included the recreation of the famous Badrinath Temple, failed in the story department.

Chinni Krishna, who earlier penned for blockbusters like "Indra" and "Narasimha Naidu" started off the script with a good narration about Hindu temples in India and how they were destroyed by various rulers. Taking an example of the Aksharadhamam Temple incident, which happened a few years ago, all the seers come to a conclusion that they have to safeguard the temples with the help of a trained Kshetra Palakudu (protector). 
The seers approach Bheeshma Narayan (Prakash Raj), a trained martial arts teacher, who lives in the Himalayas and chooses to train the kids who volunteer to do this job. Badri (Allu Arjun) is one of them and he grows up into a strong fighter after years of rigorous training. He is soon appointed as the Kshetra Palakudu of the Badrinath temple. Now, the heroine Alakananda (Tamanna), who is an atheist, enters the picture. Badri learns of her troubled past that involves Sarkar (Kelly Dorjee) from her grandfather. Badri manages to turn this atheist into a devotee and she inevitably falls in love with him.

Meanwhile, Sarkar kidnaps Alakananda and wants her to marry his son. On the other hand, Bheeshma Narayan who wants Badri to be his successor says that to do so he should remain a bachelor forever. What happens next forms the rest of the story.

The plot turns predictable soon after it unfolds. Director VV Vinayank couldn't handle this period subject too well. Without a strong story, all the elaborate sets and special effects couldn't salvage the movie. There is not even a single interesting scene in the film. The love story set against the backdrop of the famous Badrinath temple is not convincing. Even the performance of the lead pair is nothing to write home about. Allu Arjun hardly has any scope to emote as he was mostly pushed into action scenes and song sequences. Moreover, the action sequences looked artificial.

Tamannah is energetic, but there was unecessary skin show even in scenes that didn't seem to require it. Prakash Raj's character was a cake walk for him. Another set back for this film is the music by MM Keeravani, it is just average and he failed to recreate his "Magadheera" magic in this film. The only person who deserves a pat on his back is Anand Sai, for his wonderful recreation of the Badrinath temple and other sets.