Anaganaga Oka Raju review: Naveen Polishetty charms his way through a fun, albeit cliched, ride

Raju (Polishetty) is what the internet would term a ‘self-dabba’ character, someone who blows his own trumpet and asks you to take notice before you go deaf. Despite being the grandson of a zamindar, Raju isn’t conventionally rich, but the reputation and glory are held on to with all his might: the self-proclaimed king won’t climb stairs but will be carried on another man’s shoulders, won’t field in a cricket match but will take the credit, and generally would never think of breaking a sweat for his own gains.

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His face beams with a smile (Polishetty’s trademark), his kurtas are blindingly shiny, but beneath all that lurks an insecure man who wants to marry into a rich family and call it a day. Enter Peddapalem’s wealthy Bhupathiraju (Rao Ramesh), who conveniently is looking to get his only daughter Charulatha (Meenakshi Chaudhry) married off at the same time, and who better than a “zamindar” himself to take care of the young woman’s love for expensive brands and other quality preoccupations?

Directed by Maari, Anaganaga Oka Raju is a film that breathes easy because of its male protagonist. The world created is generic not only in terms of its template look and feel but also because of the stock characters that inhabit it. Yet, the focus is cast entirely on Naveen Polishetty, who takes centre stage with great confidence and struts about with his now well-known comic timing and self-effacing warmth. The story might be predictable all along, but his one-liners come at a breakneck speed, and the gags remain at the optimum level of silly and harmless.

The first half, in particular, is a breeze as Raju and his stooges (including actors Chammak Chandra, Mahesh Achanta and others) try to accomplish “Operation Charulatha” on sheer, mindless comic logic. He saves dogs, beats up rowdies, and drops punchlines like “My heart is like Rapido; only one person can hop on” to bowl her over, all in the desperate hopes of resting forever in his future father-in-law’s riches. But if the father-in-law himself seems too keen to get on with the alliance, there surely must be a catch? Well, Polishetty isn’t one to shy away from taking a joke, and his film throws a pretty stiff one at him at the interval block.

In parallel, composer Mickey J Meyer tries to keep the spirits high, but his songs, quite surprisingly, don’t make strong impressions. Each track sounds indistinguishable from one another, and their visual renderings aren’t noteworthy either. Anaganaga Oka Raju evidently doesn’t aim too big with respect to ambition, but it would have only benefited from an overall, better finesse that also concerns the cinematography (by J. Yuvraj), the production design, and other technical facets.

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Even the writing in the second half, despite a reasonably effective interval twist, starts to take shortcuts. Raju’s life pivots in interesting directions as he tries to navigate his new marital life, but circumstances lead him towards a political career. The village of Peddapalem is riddled with problems – from streams of garbage water on the streets to poor farmers being scammed – and who better than Raju, a selfish and equally incompetent man, to be forced to get into the thick of it? On paper, this turn of events feels justified, and one is reminded of the Nani-starrer Pilla Zamindar here, wherein a similarly indifferent character is tasked with a social change. But while the latter film traced this emotional journey through a host of relatable characters and problems, Anaganaga Oka Raju doesn’t bother enough to go through that grind. The gags continue to occur timely, but the stakes never really feel significant.

Watch the trailer for Anaganaga Oka Raju

Instead, the payoff portion is navigated through moments that don’t fully give us the high. The writing doesn’t make a huge fuss about the drama and rather wishes the humour to be the guiding force, but it also risks growing a bit too clichéd in the proceedings. Tarak Ponnappa, as Charulatha’s former suitor and the film’s main villain, is thinly sketched, and the rest of the characters, too, become placeholders over the course. More importantly, the exciting dynamic between the two leads is glossed over, missing the opportunity to spin it into a fun subplot around two misfits as husband and wife.

But while its blips are easily noticeable, Anaganaga Oka Raju sails through without much damage because of its simplicity. It rests solely on Naveen Polishetty, who, although not asked to do anything grand, does a neat job as the lead. The actor plays it safe in his latest despite the ability to take on stronger challenges, but this one just about suffices.

Anaganaga Oka Raju cast: Naveen Polishetty, Rao Ramesh, Meenakshi Chaudhry

Anaganaga Oka Raju director: Maari

Anaganaga Oka Raju rating: 3 stars