Cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Bhagyashri Borse, Satyadev, Venkitesh V. P., Ayyappa P. Sharma, Mahesh Achanta, Rajkumar Kasireddy
Crew:
Cinematography by Girish Gangadharan, Jomon T. John
Music by Anirudh Ravichander
Editing by Navin Nooli
Written and Directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri
Produced by Naga Vamsi, Sai Soujanya
Vijay Deverakonda has been struggling at the box office to find a proper success, ever since the debacle of Dear Comrade. His highly anticipated films like Liger, Kushi, Family Star have ended being his career biggest disasters. Now, his most awaited Kingdom, in the direction of Jersey director Gowtam Tinnanuri, released on 31st July, promising to provide him respite from disasters at the box office. Let's discuss about the film, in detail.
Plot:
Constable Suri (Vijay Deverakonda) tries to find his elder brother Siva (Satyadev), who went missing 18 years ago. His ability to think brilliantly and do anything, attracts a RAW head. He plots him as a spy in Jaffna, where he needs to convince Siva, who became leader of smugglers gang in a near-by island Divi, to comeback home. The island is filled with Telugu people from Srikakulam, who have fled away after occupation of East India Company, in their land.
Suri gets trained to complete his mission but in Divi, he gets to know about Murugan (Venkitesh), who wants to torture people of Divi and he is a part of big cartel. On the other hand, people of Divi, under the leadership of Swamiji (Ayyappa P. Sharma), wait for the return of their King, who left them 70 years ago. Can Suri convince Siva to leave his life and come back with him? Will Indian Government help him? Will people of Divi help him? Watch the movie to know more.
Analysis :
Vijay Deverakonda's screen presence and his acting skills have been on full display. He tried his best to be the part but writing did not support him as much as it needed for such a film. His acting prowess is full on display in few scenes and only his screen presence saves action sequences. Satyadev got best role after Vijay and he did perform well. Even all other actors have done their job well but Bhagyashri Borse doesn't have much to do.
Production Values by Suryadevara Naga Vamsi and Sai Soujanya are grand. Girish Gangadharan and Jomon T. John have presented the story visually brining Gowtam Tinnanuri's vision to life. But the problem lies with his vision and writing. He tried to take narrative in different directions but it loses purpose from the get-go. Gowtam tried to infuse different elements into the narrative but failed to cohesively build them to a conclusion.
Everything feels random and rushed. Even the climax seems to have been cut short after shooting a lot of scenes at places. The disjointed portions and rush in edit indicates that the movie team seems to have been sitting a long time on this project. Trying many things to change and see, what works. The familiarity with such plotlines and parallels with Suriya's Retro, Prabhas Chatrapathi and many films cannot be denied.
Sending a Spy to any country is not as easy as portrayed and there are many sequences that don't have enough impact. The action sequences are all planned on huge scale but edit pattern and rush to finish line don't help them to be interesting. Majority of the film seems to have been edited several times to come to one conclusion. Purposelessness, over emphasize on Satyadev's character, passive heroism don't really elevate the narrative as anticipated.
Anirudh Ravichander's music also lacks impact. The movie feels like a compulsion to execute a story in two parts following patterns of KGF Universe. It doesn't really bode well to the characters created by Gowtam. When a hero enters on a mission, many want him to either succeed or fail but not just roam around aimlessly. Even for circumstances to help him, there should be thick writing plotting the triggers and pay-offs. Not an attempt that we expect from a filmmaker like Gowtam Tinnanuri.
TeluguOne Perspective :
While there is a King, there is no proper Kingdom, for him, to rule.
Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this review are personal views/opinions shared by the writer and organisation does not hold a liability to them. Organisation recommends viewers' discretion before reacting to this opinionated take.
