Ghani Movie Review

Introduction

The title announcement and release of the first look for Varun Tej's 'Ghani' sparked some good vibes among the Telugu audience. Audiences were intrigued by the film from the start as it is a sports drama set in the background of boxing. Ghani (Varun Tej), a potential boxer, is the son of Vikramaditya (Upendra), a well-known fighter who was charged with taking steroids. After knowing this, Ghani despises his father and desires to defeat him in the ring. Contrary to what he vowed to his mother, Madhuri (Nadhiya), Ghani begins boxing and discovers multiple facts about Eshwarnath (Jagapathi Babu) and Vijender Sinha (Suneil Shetty). What actually took place? Will Ghani win a boxing championship? The answers to all these questions are in the movie itself.

Cast and Crew

The movie's major lead actors are Varun Tej (Ghani), Nadhiya(Madhuri), Saiee Manjrekar (Maya), Upendra Rao (Vikramaditya), Sunil Shetty (Vijender Sinha), Jagapati Babu (Eswarnath) and Naveen Chandra (Aadi). While Tanikella Bharani, Naresh, and Lahari Shari are some of the other supporting actors. This movie is produced by Allu Bobby and Sidhu Mudda and directed by Kiran Korrapati. The Music is given by Thaman S while the cinematography is done by George C. Williams, and it is edited by Marthand K. Venkatesh.

Plot

The movie opens with a 2004 flashback scene that gives a brief history of Vikramaditya (Ghani's father). Vikramaditya (Upendra), a renowned boxer, receives criticism because of being accused of taking steroids during the match. Madhuri (Nadiya), Vikramaditya's wife, brings her son to Vizag for the beginning of a new life. Then her son Ghani was convinced by her not to participate in any boxing matches ever. However, fifteen years later, the mature Ghani (Varun Tej) embarks on a mission of winning the national boxing championship without his mother's concern to demonstrate the value of professional boxers after his father's illegal activities; he then wins a state-level match of boxing. Ghani's love interest in the movie is Maya Saiee Manjrekar.

In the second half of the movie, Madhuri gets to know about Ghani's secret boxing match and also about his selection at the National level championship. On the other side, Ghani starts his match with his opponent Aadi (Naveen Chandra), where he instigates Ghani in the name of his father, Vikramaditya. Out of anger, Ghani beat Aadi by breaking the rule and was disqualified by the association. There his mother arrives and confronts him, but he screams in anger and starts blaming his father; then Vijender Sinha (Sunil Shetty) spills the beans about his father, who was there since Ghani's match. We are shown some past scenes where it is revealed that it was Eswarnath, the coach of Vikram mixed steroids in Vikram's water and killed him as he opposes some illegal happenings. Vijender was an opponent to Vikram, and when he got to know about Eswarnath's misdeed, he looked for Ghani and his mother to reveal the truth.

The scene shifts to the present, and after knowing the truth, Ghani feels bad for his father; he promises to win the final match and prove his father's innocence. Ghani requests Vijender Sinha to make mercy for his disqualification. Vijender appealed on behalf of Ghani to the boxing committee, and they agreed with him as Vijender was a retired player and a winner. Before the final match, Eswarnath informs Ghani of another shocking incident, his father was alive in the boxing ring and was taken to the hospital, but he told the doctor to give him more steroids and kill him intentionally; by hearing this, Ghani gets more triggered.

Now Eswarnath threatens Ghani that he will not let him win the match, but Ghani challenges him that he will win the match for his father. Before the final match, Eswarnath makes the same plan to give steroids to Ghani with the help of Aadi. When the match starts, Ghani feels dizzy and injured badly, but at last, he fights back and wins the match. On the other side, Vijender Sinha exposes Eswarnath by giving the recording to the media, which Vijender recorded when Eswarnath was confessing his own truth. In the end, Ghani informs Eswarnath that he also made a plan with Aadi to pretend to consume steroids and kill Eswarnath by mixing poison in his drink.

Review

By addressing the issue of sports betting in India, this movie aims to remain relevant. Ghani combines love, retribution, and a message into one, yet he can only heed one aspect of each. The first part follows Ghani's rise to boxing champion, his quick romance with Maya (Saiee Manjrekar), and a twist at the interval. There isn't much to keep the audience engaged with the first part.

At best, 'Ghani' is an average movie. The first half of the movie is disappointing, but the second half has better writing and is more interesting. In the first part, Ghani and the Maya's forced romance are monotonous and might have been avoided. It would have been possible to cut many minutes from the running duration of the story by omitting the scenes of their love story and the song that accompanied them.

'Ghani' is billed as a powerful sports drama with political undertones. However, this lacks the intensity and complexity of boxing. There won't be information about any workout regimen or the coaches' strategies and tactics for the games. Despite being predominantly based on boxing, the film pays little attention to in-ring methodology, and the matches are unimpressive.

The second part's cast additions of Suneil Shettyy, Jagapathi Baabu, and Upendraa enhance the plot. A much stronger second half is a result of Eeshwaarnath (Jagapati Babuhigh-profile)'s Indian Box Office League and Betting activities, revenge episodes, and the way some twists are revealed.

Performances

Varun Tej is developing as an actor with each film and with various film selections. He is talented as a potential boxer, and it seems like he put a lot of effort into building his physique. Despite Varun Tej's attempts, his role required far more in-depth knowledge of boxing and its technical language.

Saiee Manjrekar is only in the movie because the protagonist needs a woman to fall in love with. The second half does not allow her to speak a word. As Varun's mother, Nadhiya played a significant part in his life; she played well.

Upendra performed admirably during his short performance as a boxer. Even though the majority of his involvement is with politics, sports, and other matters, he contributed in many different ways. Suniel Shetty maintains a fine and consistent facial expression throughout the whole movie. Though Suneil Shetty plays a vital role as a secret revealer, the boxing scene between him and Upendra is not particularly exciting or impressive.

Jagapathi Babu performed well in the role, but in the end, his role became a predictable one.

Technicalities

The movie's technicality slightly disappoints us. The background music is ineffective, and Thaman provides an average score. Even though Marthand K. Venkatesh and George C. Williams' cameras have a few tricks up their sleeves, the majority of the movie lacks visual interest despite the wonderfully edited and filmed sequence where the mother arrives close to the interval.

Regarding the film's direction, Kiran Korrapati did only an acceptable job. While picking a predictable plot, he does a good job of narrating the second half of the movie. Things would have been relatively efficient if he had managed the first part in a better way with more comedy, romance, and positive emotions.

The songs appear and disappear. Ghani's title song is quite good. Tamanna's item number is unnecessary. It just slows down the excitement of the climax scene.

Box Office Review

'Ghani' was released in more than 535 theatres throughout all of the Telugu-speaking regions. Due to unfavorable reviews from the audience, the movie only made Rs. 6 crores in two days with a budget of 30 crores. The movie faced criticism because of its monotonous and predictable storyline.

Public Review

• Times of India:2.5/5
• IndiaGlitz:2.5/5
• Firstpost: 1.5/5
• IMDb RATING:4.6/10

Synopsis

Overall, 'Ghani' is merely another typical sports-based drama that follows the same pattern as other movies. Nothing new is presented in the film. Thus, the story that Kiran Korrapati, the writer and director, came up with could have made a worthwhile movie but ended up being satisfactory.