Genre: Romantic-Action
Cast: Aadi, Rakul Preet Singh, Srihari
Director: C.H. Subba Rao
Plot: Hero trumps evil to win over the heroine
It’s amazing how every second film in the Telugu film industry will adopt the same staid formula – a Greek god style hero, eyelash-batting heroine, a couple of bad guys, some song-dance numbers and the inevitable fight sequences that will see the hero flex muscles, have his shirt ripped off and beat the bad guys to pulp. While there is nothing wrong with films that bank on the same old formula once in a while, it wouldn’t hurt to treat the audience to something different. Rough by director C.H. Subba Rao is one of those films that harps on and on about the hero’s prowess, the beauty of sibling love and triumph of love above all else. But it still fails to make an impact.
Aadi plays Chandu in this mass entertainer, an orphaned youngster, who believes in the sanctity of love and commitment. Having lost his mother at a young age when his father cheated her, he is a strong believer in couples staying committed to each other. As fate would have it he comes across Nandini (Rakul Preet Singh) a rich girl with a soft heart who shares his sentiments about love. Impressed by her simplicity Chandu falls for her, but there is one obstacle – Nandini’s elder brother Siddharth (Srihari), a multi-millionaire who dotes on his sister.
From here begins a cat and mouse chase between Siddharth and Chandu with each determined to outwit the other. Whether Chandu succeeds in winning over the protective elder brother forms the rest of the plot.
While there is nothing really wrong with the plot, it just seems like another one of those run-of-the-mill mass entertainers. Aadi, who did the offbeat Galipatam, succumbs to playing the six-pack sporting hero here who will flex muscles for the camera and establishing himself as the hero who can do no wrong. Rakul as Nandini, in what is supposed to be her first outing in the Telugu industry, is fresh and shares good camaraderie with her onscreen brother Srihari. The latter in one of his last films, portrays the role of the protective elder brother convincingly. In some scenes the strain on his face is evident, but for the most part Srihari dominates the screen.
Rough is one of those formulaic entertainers, but one really wishes the director would put more effort to pull it off with some more élan and offer the audience something different.
Bottomline: Same old staid plot
