SyeRaa Narasimha Reddy Movie Review

SyeRaa Narasimha Reddy Movie

SyeRaa Narasimha Reddy is Chiranjeevi’s 151st film. The film is directed by Surender Reddy, who has given several hits in his career like Kick, Race Gurram and Dhruva. Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is a historical film and supposedly revolves around the first war of Independence fought against the british by an emperor from Rayalaseema. The film has a huge star cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Vijay Sethupathi, Kichaa Sudeep, Nayanthara, Tamannah, Anushka Shetty, Ravi Kishan and Jagapathi Babu. Involving actors from other languages is a smart decision and will definitely help the film to get a humongous opening during the extended holiday season.

SyeRaa Narasimha Reddy Movie Review

Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy (Chiranjeevi) is the ruler of Uyyalawada (Rayalaseema Region), who starts questioning the atrocities of the British right from his childhood. However, based on advice from his guru (played by Amitabh Bachchan), he matures himself into a warrior and motivates the people under him the same way. Narasimha Reddy falls in love with a dancer Lakshimi (Tamannah) from a nearby village. However, in an unfortunate circumstance he is forced to marry Sidhamma (Nayantara).

Meanwhile, the atrocities of the birtish increase and the people are forced to pay more tax, inspite of poor agriculture output. This results in some gory incidents, where the british kill some people including a kid. Narasimha Reddy vows to kill the british ruler and chase them out of their land. He gathers support from the nearby provinces as well to wage a war against the british. However, he has many challenges including some of his own men, who are looking for an opportunity to sabotage his power and growth.

The film is all about the fight for Independence against the british and hence it should have scenes to fire our patriotism. This is exactly where director Surendra Reddy excels. There are some well executed scenes including action blocks supported by good dialogues which pep up your patriotism. It makes you feel for the people who lost their life, for the freedom we enjoy. At the same time, there are some scenes and predictable twists which you normally associate with such historic films, which pulls down the pace of the film.

Chiranjeevi is the pillar of the film. Inspite of his aged physique, he has delivered the role very convincingly. His powerful eyes and dialogue delivery is put to maximum use by the director. Nayanthara and Tamannah add to the gracefulness. I initially thought that Tamannah’s character was just added to increase the length of the film, but the director ensures it does not go waste in the second half. Out of the other ensemble cast, Sudeep and Jagapathy Babu have a decent role and screen presence. Other characters are written poorly, including that of Amitabh Bachchan and Vijay Sethupathi.

Technically the film is brilliant. Rathnavelu’s Camera is outstanding and captures the grandeur superbly with earthy shades. BGM by Amit Trivedi / Julius Packiyam supports the story well, however it could have been better. There are only two songs and both are choreographed in a grand fashion. Editing in the second half was poor. The film could have been trimmed by 10 minutes easily without affecting the narration.

The stunts are choreographed nicely. The war scenes lack much of intelligence, however its shot well. The sets look grand and real in most sequences and very artificial in few others. There is no consistency. Same with the CG work - while some scenes are executed very well, few others fall short. It’s very evident that CG was used in some scenes which was not required at all. For eg - Why would one use graphics for showing a side character bald headed?

There will be comparison with Baahubali and its bound to happen with any historic film made in India in near future. Honestly, it would be unfair to compare both films. Baahubali was completely fiction based and the hence the team had complete freedom in creating the scenes. Sye Raa is a mix of both fiction and non-fcition. Though there is a long disclaimer in the beginning which includes the authenticity of the story and accuracy of the incidents, this is still based on a real character who lived at some point in history. But yes, the CG work could have been better. However, the director and the team have given their best in presenting the film in an entertaining fashion, as epic as possible.

Overall, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is definitely a good film to rekindle your patriotism. It will entertain you to a large extent, if you go without much expectations.

Rating - 3.25/5