647. Daruvu (Beat)

So this is Tollywood: Wildly over the top, pretty nonsensical but nobody could argue that it is not entertaining.
Here, Daruvu dips its toes into the murky water of politics, corruption, religion and good old fashioned boy-meets girl.
No wonder it needs two hours and 41 minutes to get it all in.
To be honest, it took me a good hour to make much of a connection with this Telugu film but once I did I  found it a bit of a guilty pleasure.
Ravi Teja plays Raja, a crook with a heart who sets about trying to woo a pretty girl (Taapsee Pannu).
However, his problem is that she is already promised to the leader of a criminal gang (Sushant Singh).
All of this is being overseen Jason And The Argonauts-style by the Gods who end up playing a key part when things go badly wrong for Raja.
In fact, from that point the plot of the movie takes a completely different and more compelling turn. So much so, that this has a definite feel of two pictures in one. To say any more would completely ruin the effect.
Daruvu is by no means a classic but it does benefit from a very energetic performance from Ravi Teja in its lead role.
The song and dance numbers are also ambitious and worthy of praise.
Laughs: none (but I suspect a lot of gags were lost in the subtitling)
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6/10