Movie Review: ‘Epic'

Movie Review: ‘Epic'

Actors: Anand Deverakonda, Vaishnavi Chaitanya, Sivaji, Vasuki, Kalyan Shankar, Srinivas Gavireddy and others

Music: Hesham Abdul Wahab

Cinematography: Azim Mohammed

Producers: Suryadevara Nagavamsi - Sai Soujanya

Written and Directed by: Aditya Haasan

Three years ago, “Baby” was a box-office sensation, with Anand Devarakonda and Vaishnavi Chaitanya acing it. The duo has come together for “Epic,” directed by Aditya Haasan of the #90s-fame web series. As the film hits cinemas today, let’s have a look at it.

STORY:

Aditya (Anand) is from Wanaparthy and is poor in studies but desires to become a filmmaker. Due to his father’s pressure, he goes to London, UK, to pursue an MS. On his first day in college, he meets Kadali (Vaishnavi) and their friendship blooms. That turns into a live-in relationship, and they promise each other to stay together as long as they are in the UK and part ways after wrapping up their studies. So where did this journey take them, what obstacles stood in their way as their relationship goes forward, and did they stay together till the end, becomes the rest of the story.

NARRATIVE-ANALYSIS:

During ‘Epic’ promotions, producer Naga Vamsi revealed that one could plan a climax for a movie, but they can’t do that in real life; rather, they go with practical outcomes. He stated that director Aditya planned the climax of the film in such a practical way only, and it will be abrupt, and the characters and conversations will be quite simple. While watching ‘Epic ’, one feels that Vamsi is absolutely true. Rather than dramatising some scenes, adding a few twists and exaggerating conversations, Aditya Haasan might have sat down with the intention of writing this script in a simple and real manner. He tried to show moments from falling in love to a breakup, simply. However, there will not be enough drama in real-life that would feel stunning on the screen, and the conflicts in real life might not be that great on screen. That’s the biggest issue with Epic too.

People connect to love stories because they do fall in love in their lives at some point in time. And the moments during the start of a love story- conversations and sweetness are always interesting. Love stories on the silver screen work if these aspects click. In Epic, the movie will be great until the point where the pair falls in love. However, kissing on the day they meet, and slipping into bed thereafter sounds objectionable, as that puts the whole of foreign-going Telugu students in a mould. But Aditya Haasan says that this is his point of view. While the scenes between Aditya and Kadali until the conflict comes up are good, and that made the first half interesting.

As the conflict starts, however, Epic spins out a troublesome narrative by testing the patience of the audience. Though such patience-testing is common in love stories, somehow that gets overdosed in Epic. The director’s love for naturalism in those scenes made it a tedious watch. The conversations feel long and uninteresting. Topics like periods and mood swings are an example of that. Rather than showing them naturally, he tends to give the impression that they have thought about them with loads of maturity. Rather than keeping them organic and simple, the scenes are loud, elongated and feel more painful with the heavy BGM given, while the scenes have nothing to offer. No one gets excited after looking at the end, where they give a lead to Part 2, saying that there’s a Final Semester pending.

PERFORMANCES:

After creating a huge impact with “Baby”, the lead pair Anand and Vaishnavi have to come out of that mould to impress again. And they did it well in the roles of Aditya and Kadali. Without showcasing any shades of that previous outing, they impressed in the roles. Anand as a small-town guy who steps into London, and how he behaves when he meets a girl for the first time, is quite impressive. In contrast, Vaishnavi appeared as a modern, urban woman quite convincingly. She appeared mature and bold too. Shivaji and Vasuki repeated their #90s act very impressively. Kalyan Shankar and Srinivas Gavireddy spread some laughs. There are no other roles besides this.

TECHNICALITIES:

Though Abdul Hesham Wahab hasn’t given peppy and repeatable songs for Epic, his background score is impressive in many scenes. However, at certain points, it felt too loud. Cameraman Azeem Mohammad’s visuals are exciting, and the UK backdrop scenes look beautiful. Sithara Entertainment’s production values are rich, as they spend the needful on the story. Coming to Aditya Hasaan, he meets expectations only to a certain level. While some scenes are beautifully written and well made, the screenplay never got more exciting than the average love story we have seen. Mainly, they wrote the conflict and consequences quite routinely, and that disappoints in terms of narrative too.

Finally: Epic starts sweet, ends bitter

Rating: 2.25/5