The Gangs of Godavari’s Kovvuru is not a caste war as we may expect. It’s about the usual story of a rags to riches, towering over the power of others, eventually reaching to the top.
Vishwak Sen plays the aggressive Lanka Ratnakar, living the life of an ordinary Kovvur man. The sudden discovery of corruption and the politics around him makes him a man of greed. The story takes off from here at a very fast pace giving more details, sometimes more than required. The story is so quick that it is hard to convince yourself of what the hell is happening. Because, the filmmaker didn’t even try to convince you. The story just happens as Ratnakar towers the ladder of power through Dorasani Raju (Goparaju Ramana) and Nanaji (Played by Nassar) just to be left alone as he ups the mountain of power.
The entire focal point of the story remains Ratnakar. All the remaining characters remain just for the sake of the hero. Obviously, it is not a filmmaking sin, only if it can engage and entertain you at the end, which Gangs of Godavari did for me. Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is not the best part of the movie, its just aids the storytelling.
Krishna Chaitanya, the writer and the director, must be appreciated for not making this story into a web series. This story certainly has the potential of being a web series. However, making this a two-hour length movie to give the cinematic experience that this story deserves is a good move.
Naga Vamsi, the producer of the film, said in a press conference that Gangs of Godavari will have the flavour of Vetri Maara’s Vaada Chennai. He wasn’t wrong though. The fast paced story telling, especially, the long monologue-ish voiceovers narrating the contextual story and introducing too many characters of Kovvuru gives you vibes of Vada Chennai. There are a lot of similarities that can even remind you of Pushpa. It is justifiable to say it is Pushpa-esque too. You’ll know when you see it. However, Krishna Chaitanya did take the style sticking original to the substance of the story.
The aspect where Gangs of Godavari fails is where it is when it tries to be a conventional mainstream film by turning the evil Ratnakar into a redemptive man. But, there is still a bit of hope for ‘hero’ to become the OG Ratnakar again. Krishna Chaitanya had left out a few easter eggs at the start and the end. We don’t know who attacked Ratnakar in jail for his standard heroic entry. Of course, it might even mean that this is just a movie-tactic to introduce Ratnakar Heroically. But, this doubt is legit as we hear Ratnakar’s daughter asking Ratna (played by Anjali) why he left Dorasami Raju’s son. Right at that moment we see Ratnakar slashing his son with a sickle. So, is he still alive? Is there a possible Gangs of Godavari: Part Two?
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