What it’s all about?
Ride is an interesting film set against the backdrop of college. The film dwells on friendship and the life of two teenaged students. The director begins on a promising note but seems to have lost grip towards the end. The film is good only in parts.
The plot:
The film has an interesting plot. Two college students Tanish and Nani hail from modest background. They are the sons of middle class parents. Their lives revolve around a bike. For Tanish the bike is his only source of livelihood. For Nani, the bike is his passion and dream. His father however does not take his son’s passion for a bike seriously and keeps on postponing the idea of buying a bike.
Tanish takes up a job as a collection agent to take care of his family after his father has retired. His mother helps him buy a bike so that he can get a job as a collection agent. When things are running smoothly, Tanish’s bike is stolen. For Tanish, his bike is everything. He starts searching for it. He finds the bike in the possession of Nani.
Has Nani stolen the bike? No, he has purchased it from the grey market without knowing that it is a stolen bike. Nani and Tanish come to an understanding and they decide to share the bike, half day Nani and half day Tanish. The two of them slowly become good friends. The two also fall in love with Aksha and Swetha Basu Prasad respectively.
Then comes a big shock to both of them. Their bike is stolen. It is the handiwork of a villain Gaja. Why did Gaja steal their bike? What does he expect from them in return? How do the two heroes tackle this new problem? This is the suspense element in the remaining part of the story.
The actors:
Tanish is cute and innocent. He plays the part of a young college student who is ready to make any sacrifices for the sake of his family quite well. Nani comes up with a powerful performance. His role has some negative shades and does full justice to it. Swetha Basu Prasad has been used mainly to expose he ample assets. She does what is required of her, ooze charm and sex appeal.
Akhsa looks quite glamorous but her role is secondary to that of Swetha. The rest of the star cast from Ahuthi Prasad to Kasi Viswanath, Tulais, Sudha and others are okay. Brahmanadam and Dharmavarapu try to raise some laughter with some comic acts.
Music is okay and the loud and fast music in the songs will no doubt appeal to the youngsters.
The bottom line:
Ride has a decent story but the director is confused. He tries to play safe by choosing to go in the beaten track. He is afraid of experimenting and this affects the film. The film would have been much better with a slicker screenplay, better direction and tighter editing.
Ride does not disappoint you completely but it does not entertain you completely either. Ride is an average flick with five songs, half a dozen fights and some heavy sentiment.
