Story: Bantu (Allu Arjun) grows up seeking validation from a cold-hearted father Valmiki (Murli Sharma) who puts him down at every step of his life. Millionaire Ramachandra (Jayram) wishes his son Raj Manohar (Sushanth A) was more assertive. How Bantu’s life intersects with them forms the tale.

Review: Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo is set in the soft-tinted, beautifully framed, pastel hued cotton-candy-land that Trivikram Srinivas builds. The evil-doers here are left to their own devices, in hope that karma will get to them. And when that doesn’t work, they’re of course beaten up black and blue, but in style. The film sets up a lot of characters and ends up showcasing scenarios that are completely implausible. But the film’s biggest strength is that you buy it all, even if Trivikram, yet again, tells the tale of a man who wants to help a family he cares about.

The bane of Bantu’s (Allu Arjun) existence is his father Valmiki (Murli Sharma, giving a brilliant performance). The older man likes putting down his son at every opportunity, reminding him of his fate for having been born in a middle-class family. He seems more interested in his boss Ramachandra’s (Jayram) son Raj Manohar (Sushanth A) than his own and there’s a reason for it. The chaos that ensues when Bantu finds out the truth about his father and enters Vaikunthapurram (the lavish home Ramachandra and his family stay at) in a bid to help them is worth watching. But not because the film pulls of something new, it doesn’t.