Movie: Naa Peru Surya Naa Illu India
Rating: 2.75/5
Banner: Ramalakshmi Cine Creations
Cast: Allu Arjun, Anu Emmanuel, Arjun Sarja, Sarath Kumar, Nadiya, Boman Irani, Rao Ramesh, Vennela Kishore, Posani, Vikram Lagadapati, Satya Krishna and others
Music: Vishal - Shekhar v
Cinematography: Rajeev Ravi
Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Producers: Sirisha Sridhar Lagadapati, Bunny Vas
Story, screenplay and Direction: Vakkantham Vamsi
Release date: May 4, 2018
Allu Arjun has been delivering hits after hits and today he is one of the most popular stars in South India.
His latest film “Naa Peru Surya Naa Illu India” that introduces writer Vakkantham Vamsi as director has made enough headlines from a long time. Amidst huge expectations, this summer biggie is here.
Let’s find out how the film has fared.
Story:
Surya(Allu Arjun) is a soldier with anger issues. If he needs to keep his job, he has to get a certificate from a psychologist Ramakrishna Raju (Arjun) who also happens to be his father whom he had left in his childhood over an issue.
Surya and Ramakrishna Raju begin the sessions and the father asks him to prove that he can keep his anger under control for 21 days. Will he be able to do that?
Artistes’ Performances:
Allu Arjun is at his best in the role of an army officer and it can easily be ranked as one of his best performances. His intense performance is the backbone of this movie. The film has some of the finest actors like Arjun, Boman Irani and Sarath Kumar. Yet, it is Allu Arjun’s strong performance that is the main highlight. Showing temper, he gets the act right in emotional scenes.
Anu Emmanuel as Allu Arjun lover is passable. She is beautiful and chirpy but has no good role.
Arjun Sarja as his father has strong role. Sharat Kumar’s villain role is written poorly. It is all ham and no impact. Nadiya’s role is also written badly.
Boman Irani appears in a guest role. In the role of Anwar, Vikram Lagadapati is impressive. Vennela Kishore generates some laughs in a small role. Posani is okay.
Technical Excellence:
Technical and production values are top class. The cameraman has captured snow-capped hilly terrain of army locations superbly.
The army sequences have added major visual splendour thanks to renowned cinematographer Rajeevi Rai’s camera.
Vishal-Sekhar’s music is a mixed bag. While some of his tunes are catchy and different, they may not appeal to regular mass audience. However, Allu Arjun comes up with some good dance steps to make the songs connect to the regular audiences.
Editor must have slept at the table, many scenes need to be chopped off. Production values and locations are superb.
Highlights:
Allu Arjun’s performance
Father-son thread
Cinematography
Drawback:
Too much of drag
Unconvincing second half
Silly romantic thread
Analysis:
What comes to mind after watching “Naa Peru Surya”? Answer: Allu Arjun’s show. Yes, the moment he appears in a bar bashing a guy in the introduction scene to the climax moment, Allu Arjun appears in almost all the scenes letting no other character to leave a mark.
Vakkantam Vamsi, the writer of blockbusters like ‘Kick’, ‘Temper’ and ‘Racegurram’, has written a plot that is filled with a bit of patriotism, bit of family sentiments, bit of heroism.
Despite enough scope for fully extracting these emotions to the fullest, the first time director has not used them well. Instead, he put all his creative guns on the characterization of Surya, the protagonist who has anger management issues.
Story of a soldier with anger management issues is somewhat novel to the Telugu audience though such movies are made in Bollywood and Hollywood.
On this front, Vakkantham Vamsi has picked up a right subject to deal with, but he has failed in narration. The writer in him is in form, but the direction is weak.
There is a good thread: an army officer sends his soldier to a psychologist to control his anger and the psychologist turns out to be his father who sent him away from home in his childhood for committing some mistake. Had this thread been explored to the fullest, it would have been a different experience.
Instead, the director brings them together and starts revealing the flashback of son’s romantic story. The romantic story is lengthy and doesn’t help.
By the end of this romantic thread, the film comes to intermission, leaving no scope to explore the original father and son drama.
Spoiling the mood further, the director touches the angle of mother and son sentiment (Allu Arjun and Nadiya) but leaves it there after a lengthy scene and moves on to another issue – a local goon trying to snatch the land of a former army officer and hero getting involved in this. This is the main drawback of the movie – it doesn’t explore any emotion properly.
The patriotic sequences are also not handled engagingly though the final scene evokes some good response.
To add to this, none of other characters have depth. Generally, these kind of serious movies require perfect blend of commercial elements like catchy songs and comedy track. The director has also failed here. Three songs are good and different but they may not appeal to regular Telugu movie goer.
To be fair, the movie has some good moments too. The sequences between Allu Arjun and Arjun, the military backdrop sequences, the final emotional episode involving Anwar's character and a fight sequence with Sharat Kumar.
Vakkantham Vamsi as the writer has chosen the right plot line, but his execution completely falters due to lack of experience. The emotions look forced.
All in all, “Naa Peru Surya” has Allu Arjun’s best performance, but it doesn’t involve you totally.
Bottom-line: Allu Arjun's Show
