An abandoned child is brought up by an industrialist along with his real son. This boy Kalyan (Sharwanand) grows up in the lap of luxury, while his brother Chakravarthy (Mohan Babu) devotes all his time to business.
Chakravarthy is a humane person (like his father) and sticks to ethics while doing business. Ramya (Ramyakrishna), Chakravarthy's wife always comes to Kalyan's rescue. Restless, irresponsible and arrogant because of his wealth, Kalyan is seen in the company of wine and women. A girl Bindu (Tashu) likes him but he falls for another girl Sneha (played by television star Survin Chawla) but she spurns him. In an accident he knocks off Sneha's father (Nasser) and takes away all her family's wealth in order to teach her a lesson. The family (which also includes a sister) tries to get back on its feet again. Will Kalyan reform? In between there is a plot of a rivalry between JP (Jayaprakash Reddy) and Chakravarthy) which ensures all the action in the film.
This in a nutshell is the storyline of Durga Shankarnath's Telugu directorial venture Raju Maharaju. Haven't we seen movies of this kind before? The first half of Raju Maharaju is quite youthful with Kalyan's antics taking a major part. It's the second half which becomes heavy with melodrama and sentiments. Some humour which is infused through Brahmanandam, Sunil and Venu Madhav falls flat. The film does its bit in instilling the so-called family values indirectly through the character of Kalyan.
As the brother, Mohan Babu puts in a good performance. Ramyakrishna, who looks pretty, lends him adequate support as the wife. Sharwanand exhibits his youthful exuberance in the first half -- the younger audience would certainly identify with him. In the second he does get more serious given the character's solemnity. On the whole, he's able to fight and dance well. Survin Chawla has quite a meaningful role and does justice to it. If the language barrier was not there it would have been better. The comedians do their usual job.
Technically and musically the film is just about okay. There are quite a few songs and Tashu exposes quite a bit. As a family entertainer it seems to be having the right ingredients. But unfortunately it's a case of the same dish cooked in the same old way with no new flavours added to it. There's nothing much in the script to make for a compelling watch. Watch Raju Maharaju if you have nothing else to do.
Rediff Rating: 
