Surya (Allu Arjun), a soldier, has his moment of reckoning well into the later portions of the movie. An elderly man is grieving a personal loss and a young cop investigating the incident calls Surya because he is the only possible witness. We know it even before the camera zooms in on Surya that he knows the truth. But, he’s in a Catch 22 situation. He can stand up for what is right and risk losing a long cherished dream that now appears closer, or turn a blind eye and walk towards his goal.
In the moments that follow, Allu Arjun owns the frames where he makes his inner turmoil evident. Watching him, we wonder what writer-director Vakkantham Vamsi could have done with this actor in a much better film. As it is, Naa Peru Surya … is an overdrawn, noisy saga.
The noise was a given. The trailer had enough indications that this was going to be a chest thumping, loud film about a young soldier’s sense of national pride but with a flawed, temperamental method to counter miscreants.
It had the scope to be a coming-of-age story of a soldier. It could have also been a psychological drama of personal conflicts — between Surya and his estranged dad, and more importantly, a fight against his own shortcomings. But when the film begins with a police officer recollecting, almost in awe, how this one man thrashed a big group to pulp, we know it’s primarily a film catering to the star’s large fan base, and the storyline is buried somewhere deep.
When Surya is sent to reputed psychologist Ramakrishna Raju (Arjun Sarja), the story opens up an interesting face-off between two people who’ve stood by their actions over the years even if it meant breaking down of a relationship. Though this thread of a troubled young man and a psychologist may bring in memories of Derek Luke and Denzel Washington in Antwone Fisher , this is a typical mainstream Telugu film that tries to do several things — talk about the need to clean up things within India before taking on enemies at the border, talks about the need to celebrate soldiers who’ve staked their lives for the nation, pause to see what pushes some of the nation’s youngsters to the brink.
These threads might have looked interesting on paper but are lost in the drivel that does little more than celebrate its hero. In this part-patriotic, part-family drama, there’s also an awkwardly put together romance. The leading lady, Varsha (Anu Emmanuel), is nothing more than a pretty prop. There’s a moment when she shares her misgivings, says it took her sometime to process that he isn’t a musician but a military man. His reaction and the conversation that follows show how shoddily the characters and situations have been dealt with. All around, we could hear guffaws.
There’s a lot of song and dance that, yet again, brings to fore Allu Arjun’s dancing skills. But his angry young man persona appears forced in some portions, as though to mask the clumsy narrative. Among a slew of characters that have no scope to make an impression, Arjun holds his own as the psychologist. Had the drama between him and Allu Arjun been better etched out, we would have at least had an interesting family drama. Naa Peru Surya … despite all its patriotic messages, also ends up as a family drama gone wrong.
Naa Peru Surya Naa Illu India
Cast : Allu Arjun, Arjun Sarja and Anu Emmanuel
Direction : Vakkantham Vamsi
Music : Vishal-Shekhar
