‘Hanu-Man’ Movie Review
Cast: Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Vinay Rai, Vennela Kishore, Getup Srinu, Satya, Rohini and others.
Music: Anudeep Dev, Gowra Hair & Krishna Saurabh
Cinematography: Dasaradhi Sivendra
Producer: Niranjan Reddy & Kandagatla
Writer - Director: Prasanth Varma
Creative director Prasanth Varma has made a mark for himself with unique movies like ‘Awe!’, ‘Kalki’ and ‘Zombie Reddy’. He went the extra mile this time by attempting a superhero film with a mythological touch. Teja Sajja is the hero of this movie and it generated a lot of buzz through its promotional content. The movie is releasing amidst a lot of positivity and let us see how the movie turned out.
Story:
Michael (Vinay Rai) is crazy about superheroes since childhood and wants to become a superhero himself. He even goes to extreme lengths in order to achieve his dream. On the other hand, Hanumanthu (Teja Sajja) is a happy-go-lucky guy in Anjanadri village who lives with his sister Anjamma (Varalaxmi). He is in love with Meenakshi (Amritha Aiyer) since childhood. He gets seriously injured while trying to save Meenakshi. Under supernatural circumstances, he attains superpowers. Michael tries to get grab Hanumanthu’s superpowers and what happens next forms the rest of the story.
Analysis:
Every time we see Marvel & DC movies, we often wonder when do Indian movie makers let their imaginations go wild. ‘Krrish’ is the only big superhero film series we have seen in over two decades and we can clearly see the influence of Hollywood movies in it. Though the recent ‘Minnal Murali’ is an exception, many makers try to make such fantasy films in Hollywood style which takes away the relatability factor. People prefer English superhero films with more quality rather than movies that are heavily inspired by them and made on a low budget. ‘Hanu-Man’ is different from all the other superheroes due to its relatability. The native touch and its connection to Indian mythology make it special. The film scores big on this front and makes you root for the hero instantly due to its world-building.
The movie starts off by establishing the villain’s character and his backstory rather than getting into the hero’s plot. Though it is a bit slow, it is quite effective and it sets the stage perfectly for the hero to be introduced as the savior. We are introduced to Anjanadri village and it is created in a wonderful manner. The director takes a bit of time to establish the main characters of the village and it is after thirty minutes that we get into the superhero action and drama. As we know, Hanuman is an emotion to every Indian. The amount of cheers Hanuman's character got in a movie like ‘Adipurush’ got says volumes about how attached we are to him. He is a god who is worshipped and liked by kids and adults alike. Our mythologies have the power to create euphoria in theatres and Prasanth Neel linked Hanuman’s story and Ramayana to a supernatural flick which worked wonders.
The drone shot of Anjanadri village at the initial stages of the movie is enough for the audience to be impressed by this movie. The scenes where the hero finds out about his superpowers and convincing the people around him as quite entertaining. Prasanth’s creativity is very much evident in these scenes and the interval episode gives a high to the audience. The movie runs smoothly and the viewers enjoy the movie till then. With the villain entering the village, we expect the second half to be more interesting and gripping. But the film’s graph takes a slight dip in the latter half. It starts off slowly and the villain’s character goes haywire and his scenes are written in a routine manner. The dramatic portions involving the hero’s sister are a bit dragged but the movie does not test your patience. But the climax lifts the film once again and the visual effects used in those sequences are sure to generate cheers from the viewers. The scale and magnitude of the visuals will make you awestruck and the scenes of ‘Hanuman’ are wonderfully picturized. The movie ends on a perfect note and reveals that there is going to be a second part as well. We will be walking out of theatres with satisfaction. ‘Hanu-Man’ is a perfect Indian superhero flick that you can enjoy with your entire family.
Performances:
Teja Sajja did a wonderful job. He is completely believable as an aimless youngster. He is at ease during entertaining scenes and showed maturity during emotional portions as well. He is believable as the superhero and his styling is also done in a wonderful manner. His energy and performance is truly an asset to this film.
Amritha Aiyer looked beautiful and got a lot of screen time. He is decent in her role. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar is fantastic as the hero’s sister and her action during emotional scenes is amazing. She brings an emotional touch to this movie. Vinay Rai is good as the villain though his character looks like it is taken straight out of a Hollywood movie. Vennela Kishore gets a brief role and evokes laughs. Getup Srinu provides a lot of entertainment as the hero’s sidekick and Satya’s portions are quite hilarious. The rest of the actors are apt for their roles.
Technicians:
‘Hanu-Man’ is a technically rich film. The visuals are amazing and it is a wonder how the team managed to pull off such beautiful visuals within such a limited budget. We usually see hundreds of crores spent on superhero and mythological films but ‘Hanu-Man’ delivers such top-notch quality within the available resources. The production values are great and the VFX team delivered big time. Though we can clearly see the amount of CGI used in the film, it doesn’t appear odd and their efforts should be appreciated. The music elevates the film to the next level. Especially, the Sanskrit verses used in the background generate high emotions. The editing is fine though the film slows down a bit during the second half. The production design is brilliant as they built a separate world for ‘Hanu-Man’.
Prasanth Varma needs to be commended for dreaming of such a project and having the vision and determination to bring it onto the screen. The way he integrated Ramayana into a superhero flick is quite clever. Nothing seems forced and he makes sure that the audiences connect to the film on an emotional front as well. His creativity can be seen in action and fun scenes. The climax portions definitely give you goosebumps. Despite a lack of logic at times and a bit of lag in the second half, the film works wonderfully. He is surely going to be a big name in the future.
Verdict: ‘Hanu-Man’ - Don’t Miss Our Own Indian Superhero Flick!
Rating: 3.25/5