His midas touch is clearly visible in the last 45 minutes of the film. The magical combination of MM Keeravani and Raghavendra Rao works again. Indeed, Keeravani steals the show once again with extremely soulful devotional numbers and extraordinary re-recording.

Comparing to NTR’s classic Panduranga Mahatyam, Balayya’s Pandurangadu is not an exact remake of the original. Basic storyline is similar to the old classic, but the script here is completely different.

Pundareeka Ranganathudu aka Rangadu (Balakrishna) has all the vices. He is womanizer and mistreats his parents. His parents (K Vishwanath and Shivaparvathi) are pained by his deeds and they force him to get married.

Rangadu is attracted to local prostitute Amrutha (Tabu) and they become very close to each other. On other hand, there is Lakshmi (Sneha) who is devotee of Lord Krishna. She dreams that Lord Krishna ordered her to get married to Rangadu.

Lakshmi comes to his house and pleads with him to marry her. Initially he refuses but finally accepts her as his wife. Even after marriage he doesn’t change his vices. The rest of the film is how Lord Krishna makes Pandurangadu realize his faults and makes him better person.

The first half is a bit boring but the film gains momentum post interval and then there is no dull moment. Balakrishna shines in the role of Lord Krishna. Of the two characters he scores in Krishna's role although his performance as Bhakta towards the climax is good. But the blue makeup is loud and his flirting scenes are a bit overboard.

Sneha has now perfected the art of doing a suffering wife in all her films. She is excellent. Tabu looks hot as she shows off her assets more than required in a very important role of a prostitute. You get to see plenty of cleavage in the movie. Mohan Babu in a small role is good. K Vishwanath and others have done justice to the role.

Keeravani’s music is a major asset and Malayalam singer Madhu Balakrishna’s rendition has brought freshness.

Verdict: Devotional