Balu (film)

Balu: ABCDEFG is a 2005 Indian Telugu-language crime action film written and directed by A. Karunakaran. This film stars Pawan Kalyan, Shriya, debutante Neha Oberoi and Gulshan Grover. The film was produced by C. Ashwini Dutt under his production company Vyjayanthi Movies. Its tag-line ABCDEFG stands for "A Boy Can Do Everything For Girl." The film released on 6 January 2005 to mixed reviews and was an Below Average grosser at the box office.

Plot
The story starts with a rowdy Daasanna, the follower of another uncontrollable rowdy, Naayudamma, warning the people of the Mahankali market. At the same time, Balu sets up a new flower stall in the market. He impresses Daasanna by making him believe that he worships Daasanna's mother, thereby getting relieved of the taxes set up by Daasanna. The people of the market get new hopes looking at Balu's style of impressing the rowdies. Balu comes to the city with his mother Rajeswari Devi, sister-in-law, nephew, and friend. As the story goes on, Balu meets Swetha, but both start fighting with each other.

One night, Balu's mother walks to an empty bungalow. She faints there, remembering her past in which her husband Ranga Rao and her son would be killed because they supported the people of Mahankali market in getting the rights on the land. The next day Swetha comes to the hospital to visit Balu's mother and falls in love with Balu. Swetha dares to propose to Balu, but he rejects her love. On the other side, Balu, through Daasanna, tries to steal the documents of the Mahankali market, which are with Nayudamma at that time and are actually to be sold to Khan. Balu makes Nayudamma believe him by saving him from a planned bomb blast. When Khan arrives, he realizes thar Balu is none other than Ghani, who worked under him a few years back.

The flashback unveils the story of Ghani, who changes because of Indu, who, in turn, changes, getting courage from Ghani. Ghani finally moves against Khan, who tries to kill children in an orphanage. Khan decides to kill Ghani and Indu. Ghani and Indu eventually reach Agra, Indu's hometown, where it is revealed that Rajeswari Devi is actually Indu's mother. Indu changes Ghani's name to Balu.

The next day, Balu accepts Indu's love, but at the same time, Khan's rowdies kill Indu. Balu promises Indu that he would take care of her family and fight for people's rights on the Mahankali market. The scene returns to Balu lying in bed as he meets with an accident while driving because of his illness. He gets up and faces Khan, and Khan is finally killed in the fight. Finally, after 20 years, the people of the Mahankali market get the rights on the land.

Cast

 * Pawan Kalyan as Ghani / "Balu" Balraj
 * Shriya Saran as Swetha
 * Neha Oberoi as "Indu" Indira Priyadarshini
 * Gulshan Grover as Khan
 * Jersey Singh as Nayudamma
 * Saurabh Shukla as Khan's brief
 * Brahmanandam as Taj Banjara Hotel Manager
 * Jayasudha as Rajeswari Devi
 * Sunil as Balu's friend
 * Suman as Ranga Rao, Indu's father
 * Duvvasi Mohan as Ghani's gang member
 * MS Narayana as Landlord
 * Tanikella Bharani as Beggar
 * Ananth Nag as Baba
 * Jeeva as Police Officer
 * Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Pottaiah
 * Gundu Hanumantha Rao as Store Manager
 * Shankar Melkote as VISA Officer
 * Naramalli Sivaprasad as Rajan
 * Raghunatha Reddy as V. Govardhan Rao
 * Master Teja as Cherry
 * Baby Kavya as Lilly
 * Milind Gunaji in a cameo appearance

Music
The music and background score was composed by Mani Sharma. The soundtrack album consisted of 6 tracks. All the lyrics were written by Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Chandrabose, Jonnavithula & Nithin Raijwar.

Reception
A critic from Sify opined that "Pawan Kalyan and his remote controlled director Karunakaran has cooked up an unimaginative script etched from various films including the famous Baashha formula to churn out something that is not edible". Jeevi of Idlebrain wrote that "On the whole, Balu sums up to be a film you should watch to see Pawan Kalyan in a fresh radiant look". A critic from Full Hyderabad stated that "On the whole, passable fare, worth a visit".