At the outset let me say I had a good time though not primarily because of Varudu itself, but because it was a family outing and a large gathering to boot. Now coming to the movie itself, definitely could have been better and for sure not up to the expected mark of a director like Gunasekhar who seems to be having a hangover of his Okkadu and Arjun with the hero yet again fighting a truckload of goons with the heroine in tow (more on that later).
The story is simple, the hero Allu Arjun is going to the U.S. for 5 years on work and his parents want him to get married before he leaves. Allu Arjun agrees and leaves it up to his parents to decide on the girl, yes an arranged marriage. He however has only one condition, that the marriage should be performed on a lavish scale and spread over 5 days with all relatives attending and also the hero meeting the girl (and even seeing) the bride only on the marriage altar for the first time (yes an arranged marriage to the core). The heroine when she learns of the hero's decision to marry her without even seeing a photo of hers also decides to do likewise. All set for the marriage (of the year) and everything goes as planned until the heroine is kidnapped right on the marriage altar just before the formalities can be completed. Everyone is clueless as to who the kidnappers are and the police as expectedly are of no help either.
Allu Arjun is advised by all to forget the heroine and carry on by himself to the U.S. or to get married to another girl before he leaves (this advice even given by the girl's parents), but our hero decides to stay back and find the heroine because he feels a sense of responsibility and believes his marriage has taken place. This sets the stage for the entry of the villain Arya who kidnaps the heroine primarily because he is a psychopath and also because of a slight she had done him in the past. Lots of fights and action sequences later things reach their predictable end and Allu Arjun and Bhanu Mehra (the heroine) get married (yet again).
The concept of Varudu is good, but the execution is bad. I really like the idea behind what Allu Arjun conveys in that marriage is a commitment and a responsibility and that one should not jump ship at the first sign of trouble (which unfortunately most people do these days). Things like companionship, taking care of each other and watching out for each other are stressed which yet again is missing in our "take what you can" or "I want it all" society of today. But the message itself is messed up in the way it is conveyed by director Gunasekhar who has the hero on the run with the heroine and battling a truckload of goons just like in most Telugu movies of these days.
Music is different and the emphasis is more on melody than cacophony which does say a lot. Allu Arjun is an excellent dancer and really raises the bar in the intro song Saara Jahaa. The action in the movie is fast and furious, but the surprise package here is the Tamil hero Arya who does a great job and is in fact taller, broad shouldered and more muscular than the hero. Heroine Bhanu Mehra is so so in her debut movie. It was also good to see Suhasini and Ashish Vidyarthi as Allu Arjun's parents. In a nutshell, Allu Arjun fans will be disappointed but still stand by their hero, the rest will not so much.