Rating: 2/5
Banners: People Media Factory, Dasari Productions
Cast: Naga Shaurya, Malavika Nair, Srinivas Avasarala, Megha Chowdary, Harini Rao, Ashok Kumar, Abhishek Maharshi, Sreevidya, Soumya Varanasi, Arjun Prasad and others
Music: Kalyani Malik
Cinematographer: Sunil Kumar Nama
Editor: Kiran Ghanti
Director: Srinivas Avasarala
Producers: T G Vishwa Prasad, Padmaja Dasari
Release date: 17th March, 2023
Srinivas Avasarala is not just a reputed actor but also a good writer and filmmaker. On the other hand, Naga Shaurya is a good actor waiting to score success at the box office. This time, the duo has teamed up with a romantic treat so let us see how this one fared.
Story
Set on a flashback mode mostly, Sanjay (Naga Shaurya) and Anupama (Malavika) are college mates and Anupama is his senior. What starts as a friendship between both soon blossoms into love when they move to the UK for higher studies. They begin to have a live-in relationship as well. Cut to the present, Sanjay comes across Anupama at his restaurant and the past memories come back flooding in. What happened in the past? Why did the two drift apart? Will they reunite? All this forms the rest of the story.
Performances
Naga Shaurya looked handsome and the various age looks also worked on him as he fit into it properly. However, he could not deliver in the emotional sequences which required that intensity. Malavika Nair was good, she did the whole talk with her eyes and her expressions did the magic. Srinivas Avasarala was brief. Megha Chowdary was okay. Harini Rao was the best among the lot, she brought the much needed relief in the film. Abhishek Maharshi brought in few lighter moments. Ashok Rao was effective. The others didn’t have much to do.
Crew
The story was simple but it depended a lot on the screenplay. However, the screenplay lacked the compactness and it led to lethargy in the proceedings. The background score was okay and two songs were hummable. Dialogues were adequate. Cinematography was just about okay. Editing was missing at many places. Costumes were good, art department was apt. Production values were justified as a major part was shot in the UK. The other departments did their bit as required.
Hits
Malavika
Second half
Misses
No energy
Confusing screenplay
Weak characterization of Naga Shaurya
Slow pace
Lack of depth in emotional scenes
Deeper Look
Love stories are evergreen and it is a playing field for filmmakers to show their mettle. This is what someone like Mani Ratnam, Gautham Menon, Mohanakrishna Indraganti and Sekhar Kammula have leveraged very well and made a mark for themselves. However, what is very important is the treatment, the emotional peaks and the pace. Srinivas Avasarala attempted this love story with a different approach by bringing in some period elements but in the process of taking the story back and forth he lost the steam. At one point, the audience gets confused which year he is talking about. Secondly, there were no sparks of excitement. The lack of humor at required places, the lack of intensity during romantic moments added to the boredom. While there is nothing specific to really be hard on, there is also nothing special to admire. The film takes off at a decent footing and establishes the characters and mood but it failed to keep the energy up. The interval bang was okay and the second half had few moments to remember. By the time the real reason behind the plot is unveiled it was too late. Overall, this is a film which is hard to appeal to the mainstream or commercial audience. Given the texture, it might find interest among the NRI audience and select viewers who like something slow and steady.
Vox Verdict
Weak Love Story…
