Movie: Surya Vs Surya
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Suraksh Entertainment
Cast: Nikhil, Tridha Choudhury, Madhubala, Tanikella Bharani, Satya and Others
Music: Satya Mahaveer
Cinematography: Karthik Ghattamaneni
Producer: Malkapuram Shivakumar
Director: Karthik Ghattamaneni
Release Date: March 5, 2015
Okay, you have a hit hero who had had two back to back hits, you have a story that is not run-of-the-mill and you have a cinematographer who is debuting as writer-director. Naturally, Surya Vs Surya had raised expectations and there was loads of curiosity among the audiences to see how different the film is. So, let’s see if it lives up to the hype and expectations…
Story:
The film starts off with Surya (Nikhil) who is one of his kind among 1 crore human beings who suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Porphyria. As Rao Ramesh explains in his cameo as a doctor, the condition is such that his body does not produce haemoglobin due to which going into sun means death for him within 15 minutes. Well, that does not stop his life.
He goes to night college as he has no other option where he makes friends with two unlikely people Aruna Sai (Satya) who is an auto driver and Ersam (Tanikella Bharani) who is a kirana shop owner. Despite their different backgrounds, they hit it off the moment they meet. Meanwhile, Surya falls in love with an anchor Sanjana (Tridha Choudhary), who he sees daily on a late night show.
So, is the condition curable? Will Surya manage to convince Sanjana to love him? How does Surya come to terms with his life forms the rest of the story.
Artistes’ Performances:
Nikhil who was at his best in Karthikeya manages to pull off his role as the guy who lives by night. His confused expressions and his lazy body moments go well with his character. But he could have fine-tuned it further to make his character more tolerable.
Tridha is a decent find for the role she gets to play. Of course, she does over emote at places, but that’s probably because the director wanted her to do so. Also, she is like all young girls these days who are totally hyper.
Madhubala who plays mother to Surya is another disappoint. Though she is believable as the well-heeled mother who brings up her son with determination, she hams in places. While the director might have wanted to bring out her enthusiasm and her spirit, it goes overboard at quite a few places.
Satya and Tanikella Bharani are good as Surya’s friends. They along with Viva Harsha, Tagubothu Ramesh and the guy who plays Zubair try to evoke laughs in an otherwise straight-jacket script.
Sayaji Shinde gets a small role as Tridha’s father.
Technical Excellence:
The film is the baby of Karthik Ghattamaneni who was the cinematographer for Nikhil’s Karthikeya. So, they come together once again for his debut film as director.
Well, while Karthik tries to touch upon a subject that is new to Telugu audiences, that’s where the good news ends. The narration is barely gripping and Karthik will probably have to make few more films before he can be comfortable enough to handle a subject like this.
Music is by Satya Mahavir, which is pretty average as is cinematography.
Highlights:
- Concept
Drawbacks:
- Second Half
- Narration
Analysis:
When a promising young hero and a young debutant director come together, there are expectations and it was no different in the case of Surya Vs Surya. It is a fairly new concept for a direct Telugu film and one must appreciate Karthik for choosing one for his debut directorial venture.
He starts off the film on a decent note, though one has to confess that he could have made it more interesting. He has a few characters and situations he could have played with, but he refrains from doing so and plays safe.
Another huge drawback is the love story between the hero and heroine. There is conflict, but it is not well-etched out and you don’t sympathise either with the hero or the heroine.
Like all new-age films, the director tries to put forth the message that one has to know one’s self before getting others to love them. Now, while the premise is good, you don’t feel it happening to Surya. His character somehow lacks depth and Surya is made to appear as if he is too well off to even have genuine inner conflict.
But the film has its moments in the form of the culture shock Surya has when he goes to night college and how he form an all boys gang with two very different people. Then there is the old city comic don Zubair. It is nice to see a proper Hyderabadi character in a film after a long time.
The film is an experiment as far as concept is concerned, but Karthik hasn’t done much homework when it comes to narrating the plot. It is neither slick nor amusing, so the audiences are left wondering as to why he chose to make the film in the first place. But he remains true to the story and ends it on a practical note.
All in all, weak second half and boring screenplay might kill Nikhil’s chances of hitting a hat-trick.
Bottomline: Nikhil misses hat-trick
(Venkat can be reached [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
