Sharwanand and Surabhi's much-talked-about Telugu movie "Express Raja", which released on 14 January, has received positive reviews and decent ratings from critics.
Raja (Sharwanand) is a reckless guy who spends his time drinking and troubling others with his friends. He falls in love with Ammu (Surabhi) and steals a puppy to impress her. But the puppy lands him in a big problem with a gang chasing him. What happens next is what this laugh riot is all about.
"Express Raja" is a romantic comedy and has a tried-and-tested story. But director Merlapaka Gandhi's screenplay is very high on the entertainment quotient. With his amazing narration, the director successfully manages to get the audience engrossed in the film right from the beginning, say critics.
Sharwanand has delivered a brilliant performance, which is the highlight of "Express Raja". Sapthagiri and Prabhas Seenu's comic timing, Surabhi's glamour, Praveen Lakkaraju's music and Karthik Ghatamaneni's picturisation are other big attractions of the movie. The thin storyline and lack of logic in the plot are the two drawbacks of the movie, say the critics.
The film has been rated 3.15 out of 5 stars on an average. Here are some critics' verdict and ratings in the "Express Raja" review roundup:
Express Raja is a screenplay-based film attempted in comedy genre. The story is narrated in entertainment format with all the characters getting linked up with an incident followed by comedy of errors. Plus points of the film are Sharwanand, novel screenplay and entertainment by Saptagiri. On the flipside, the movie should have been narrated in a more interesting way. We have to wait and see how this film manages to hold up with 3 biggies around this Sankranthi.
Express Raja is a thorough entertainer sprinkled with loads of laughter. The comic timing of the actors and their performance is the major highlight of the film. On the flip side, there in not much logic and also the love story between the lead pair is a bit disappointing. Finally, if you want to leave your brains behind and have a really good laugh with some hilarious punches, then go watch Express Raja.
Express Raja lives up to the promise it has shown. It is an entertaining ride right from the word go. The storyline is very thin but the director is clever enough to make it an entertaining movie. He opted for a very different narrative style that offers variety as well as provides ample fun. Express Raja is for the viewers that look for different comedy.
The director became successful in bringing a good film for this Sankranthi season. The film never falls flat at any stage and goes on entertaining the audience from starting to the end. Express Raja is a good choice to watch and enjoy with the family for this festive season.
The film has rich production values, good music and some enjoyable comedy. A passable entertainment for sure but lot of drama could have been avoided.
