The land is parched, dusty brown and fiery. Fiery like its people. The muddy terrain has witnessed more bloodbath than monsoon showers. An innocuous game of cards and ₹5 at stake triggers violence that divides two villages for three generations. For long, the faction wars have served as a canvas for ‘mass’ films. Amid all the blood, gore and fight for supremacy, heroism was defined by moustache twirling and thigh-slapping routines. Today, clippings from such faction films have become memes.
Trivikram Srinivas takes a fresh look at the scenario with a hero who has immense mass appeal but is also convincing as an agent of change. Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava is Trivikram’s return to form, aided by NTR who internalises every line he speaks, conveying the inner turmoil of a guy who wants a way out of the mess and is willing to look for guidance.
- Cast: NTR, Pooja Hegde, Jagapathi Babu
- Direction: Trivikram Srinivas
The guidance comes through the women. This film rides on the hero. The women are not really taking centrestage, not yet. But they are quietly reasoning for peace and it takes one sensible man to listen and understand. When I saw Supriya Pathak’s name in the cast, I hoped she would be given something substantial and not be lost in the melee of a mainstream Telugu film. As Veera Raghava’s (NTR) grandmother, she is the first voice of reason. She has limited screen time. But, those few scenes are enough for her to make an impact. What she says about women being mute witness to bloodbath and having very few tears left to shed, triggers change.
Walking away from violence that’s threatening to engulf subsequent generations isn’t easy. Sermonising won’t help. It’s tougher to broker peace when someone is still seething over personal loss. The second voice of reason comes through Aravinda (Pooja Hegde). At first glance, she’s your regular mainstream heroine acting cute. She can’t escape the typical mass song and dance, a foreign locale song, etc. But look past those missteps and you see an anthropologist wanting to document faction wars and the aftermath. She doles out some observations about people and Veera Raghava laps it up. Pooja Hegde is impressive as Aravinda. For once, she gets to be more than a glam doll and enjoys her role.
The strength of Aravinda Sametha ... is in its writing. Trivikram, with some help from Penchal Das, gives us a film where characters speak the Rayalaseema dialect as though they’ve done it all their life. A short story plays a vital part in the film, and there are several dialogues worth revisiting. It is a talk-heavy film and gets a tad tiresome towards the later portions.
There are enough masala moments — NTR flaunts his six-pack abs, pulls off clap-worthy lines, and there’s some good action choreography. There’s also melodrama, given that emotions run high in the region. Cinematographer P S Vinod and Thaman with his background score and the hummable ‘Peniviti’ song add to the rustic flavour.
Rao Ramesh, Subhalekha Sudhakar, Nagababu, Eeswari Rao are all crucial to the story. I wish Eesha Rebba had something more to do. It’s also a pleasure to see Sunil in a good supporting part. Naveen Chandra is effective as someone who bays for blood but is actually deeply afraid. Jagapathi Babu shows yet again that he can portray the monster without tiring of it or letting us feel a sense of deja vu.
Naresh as the criminal lawyer and Sreenivas Reddy as his assistant bring in a few laughs. But why would the criminal lawyer entrust goons to drop his daughter off in college?
If Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava is what we get with the coming together of NTR and Trivikram Srinivas, it would be great to see them partner again. This is a combination of good writing and nuanced performance and they can bring to fore more interesting narratives in diverse genres. Will they?
