Corona crisis has distanced movie buffs from their favorite past time and people are starving for a star-studded movie. Nani’s ‘V’ became the most awaited film lately as it is the first big budget Telugu movie which took the OTT way. Let’s see whether this Nani and Sudheer Babu’s starrer reached the expectations or not.
Plot
Taskforce DCP Aditya (Sudheer Babu) becomes a hero after successfully handling religious riots in the city. Apurva Ramanujan (Nivetha Thomas), a writer meets him to write a crime novel and later falls in love after getting impressed by his honesty and valour. Meanwhile, an officer from his team gets killed. The killer (Nani) throws a challenge to Aditya to catch him. He continues his killing spree and even leaves clues about them to Aditya.
The murderer kills 5 people because of a video sent by his wife Saheba. Who is this killer? Why did he kill them? What’s there in the video sent by Saheba? Will Aditya be able to catch the killer? These questions constitute rest of the plot. The director reveals the killer’s original name to be ‘Vishnu’ midway through the movie which falls short of becoming an edge-of-the-seat cat and mouse chase.
Analysis
‘V’ is a regular revenge drama with a pinch of out-dated revenge suspense elements. Even screenplay is decades old as it fails to glue audience to the screen. Dialogues are lacklustre and the slow proceedings in the first half make them even more boring. Even though the pace picks in the second half, director Indraganti Mohana Krishna failed to sustain it till the end. The plot revolves between four characters and Aditi Rao Hydari’s role is too short to create any impact.
Background score is alright in ‘V’ and there is nothing to talk about other departments except for Nani and Sudheer Babu’s performances which are the only saving grace in this boring flick. Nivetha and Aditi’s characters don’t have the weight we expect from heroines in the director’s previous films. Songs are forgettable and the number which was shot in Malaysia is strictly to add ‘Masala’. The justification of the title ‘V’ seems to be nothing special.
Director left this title’s justification to the viewers. One can either think that ‘V’ means Vishnu, the name of Nani’s character or it could be ‘V for Vengeance’ or we can assume it to be ‘We’ as the film revolves between Nani and Sudheer. Violence is elevated in killings done by Nani’s character. Film ends with the dialogue “Who won? Who made the other one win?” If you like Indraganti’s previous movies like ‘Ashta Chamma’, ‘Grahanam’ and ‘Sammohanam’ and expect ‘V’ to reach their mark, you will be disappointed.
Highlights
Nani acted in his own natural way and his character is not as brutal as the makers touted. It is not even fit to be called as a proper villain. Sudheer showcased his dancing prowess in a number and Aditi proved her mettle by enacting subtle emotions in a decent manner. Thaman’s background score is good and same is the case with cinematography and locations. Now it seems the producer took the right decision of not releasing it in theatres.
Cast:
Nani, Sudheer Babu, Nivetha Thomas, Aditi Rao Hyadri, Naresh, Vennela Kishore, Tanikella Bharani, Srikanth Ayyengar, Rajitha, Rohini, Raja Chembolu, Adarsh etc.
Music: Amit Trivedi
Background score: Thaman
Cinematography: PG Vinda
Editing: Martand K. Venkatesh
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Producers: Dil Raju, Harshith Reddy
Director: Indraganti Mohana Krishna
Release date: September 5th
OTT Platform: Amazon Prime
Final Verdict: Mediocre at its best
Rating: 2/5
