Rahul Sankrityan made a promising debut with Taxiwaala, starring Vijay Deverakonda. He followed it up with Shyam Singha Roy, which also emerged as a decent success. After these two films, it seemed Tollywood had discovered a genuine filmmaker with a strong voice and vision.
Then Ranabaali was announced a year ago. The film brought Rahul and Vijay Deverakonda together again. Expectations were good, even if they were not sky-high. The promotional assets failed to create much buzz, but there was still hope that Rahul would deliver an engaging film backed by strong writing.
However, that bubble burst on release day. Ranabaali opened to shockingly low numbers across markets. There was still a chance that positive talk could help the film pick up during the Dasara season. But once the premiere shows ended, the initial reports were extremely negative.
The biggest problem was Rahul’s writing and execution. Ranabaali gave the impression that he had several big ideas and some genuinely exciting blocks, but he failed to bring them together into a convincing story.
The film dealt with the serious subject of British oppression, but Rahul’s inexperience showed in handling such a large-scale subject. He failed to make audiences connect with the story and seemed to rely heavily on excessive violence to appeal to the masses. The flat narration further became a major turn-off.
One bad film does not define a director. But Ranabaali has certainly raised questions about Rahul Sankrityan’s ability to handle big-budget, large-scale films. A failure of this scale can damage a filmmaker’s credibility, and rebuilding that trust is never easy.
Ranabaali was a dream opportunity for any director. Rahul had a strong star cast, a huge budget, and enormous resources from producers Mythri Movie Makers. Yet he failed to turn that opportunity into a memorable film.
After Ranabaali, getting another big opportunity may not be as easy. The big question now is which actor will trust him with another ambitious project after the Ranabaali fiasco.
Hopefully, Rahul will learn from Ranabaali’s mistakes and return with a much better film to show that this disaster was an exception and that he is capable of making much better films.
