�Harihara Veeramallu� Movie Review

�Harihara Veeramallu� Movie Review

Actors: Pawan Kalyan, Nidhi Agarwal, Bobby Deol, Sachin Khedkar, Kabir Singh Dulhan, Sathyaraj, Sunil, Subbaraju, Nazar, Tanikella Bharani, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Raghubabhu and others

Music: MM Keeravani

Dialogues: Sai Madhav Burra, Pranav Chandra

Producer: Dayakar Reddy

Story- Screenplay: Krish Jagarlamudi

Direction: Krish Jagarlamudi, Jyothikrishna

Power Star Pawan Kalyan's Harihara Veeramallu has been in the making for a very long time, a long one in his career. Many doubted the release of the film in the first place. However, after facing numerous setbacks and delays, the movie has found its way to the cinemas. Does it live up to the expectations of Pawan Kalyan�s fans? Will the general audience like it too? Let�s have a look.

Story:

Back in the 16th-century Mughal era, King Aurangzeb intended to spread Islam all over the country, putting the Hindu religion in danger. He captures one Hindu kingdom after another and forces people to change their religion, and from the North, he starts focusing on the South.

At this time, there is this heroic outlaw named Veeramallu (played by Pawan Kalyan), who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. But one day, while robbing a big shipment, he gets caught by the Goloconda Nawab�s army. Just when he thinks he will be punished in jail forever, the Nawab gives him a big and important task. What is this task? How is it related to Aurangzeb? Who is Veeramallu really? What is his past? What is his main aim? Did he complete the Nawab�s mission? Did he reach his personal goal? All these questions are dealt with inside the movie.

Analysis:

Even though a film's story is real or not, if the audience can sit through for two or more hours comfortably inside theatres and get fully involved in the narrative, then it will be a success. But if the onscreen narrative never feels real or never makes them feel emotion, it's hard for the moviegoer to connect to the story. Even if the story is a fictional historical narrative, it has to be narrated with skill to make people accept it. While directors like Rajamouli are experts in doing that, Krish Jagarlamudi also showed that ability earlier through his Gautamiputra Satakarni. Harihara Veeramallu is another such effort from him, but sadly, he couldn�t finish it as imagined on paper. Another director entered midway, brought his own style, which didn�t match the original vision, and there were big delays as well as mediocre VFX, finally making Harihara Veeramallu feel like a half-baked film. Though some parts were interesting, and Pawan Kalyan�s heroic elevations worked out, the overall movie couldn�t satisfy his fans to the full extent.

When Rajamouli announced that he was making a film by taking the story of two freedom fighters, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, and giving it a fictional friendship touch, it felt like a troubled idea. But he made it so well in RRR that people loved it. Now, Krish tried a similar approach in Harihara Veeramallu as he imagined the story of a brave Hindu warrior, Veeramallu, standing against Aurangzeb, who was trying to spread Islam across India. He added another mission for Veeramallu � to steal the Kohinoor diamond from Aurangzeb. The mix of these two stories had the potential for strong drama. Though the idea was exciting, the way it was made didn�t work well. It was neither as emotional as Chhava (a movie on Sivaji's son Sambhaji), nor as exciting as RRR. While Pawan�s fans enjoyed his elevation scenes and action parts, normal viewers might feel bored because the story didn�t hold interest for long.

Even then, some parts of Harihara Veeramallu stood out. One strong scene is the interval block, where Veeramallu�s team fights many soldiers and steals diamonds. This scene gives energy to a slow-starting film. The twist around the Kohinoor diamond and the scenes that follow also worked well. It felt like the movie picked up just before the interval. But sadly, the second half didn�t continue the steam. Veeramallu�s journey to Delhi, facing challenges, felt weak. The director tried to link Veeramallu�s journey with Pawan Kalyan�s real-life image as a protector of Dharma, but that didn't connect properly. Poor graphics are a big letdown in sequences like the landslide episode or the yagnam scene (for the sake of rain). Only one moment in the second half, where Veeramallu fights Mughal landlords and inspires people, stood out, but then, even that needs better action choreography.

In the end, the movie raises many questions: What happened to the Kohinoor? Did Veeramallu reach his goal? How was his final clash with Aurangzeb? But instead of giving answers, director Jyothikrishna ends the movie with a strange storm scene and tells the audience to wait for Part II.

Performances:

Pawan Kalyan gave his full effort in Harihara Veeramallu. He made some scenes powerful with his screen presence through his amazing aura. He is clearly the biggest highlight of the movie. Pawan looked good as Veeramallu, both as a clever diamond thief and as a strong protector of Dharma. The second side of his character even reminded people of Pawan�s real-life image.

Nidhi Agarwal worked hard for her role, no doubt, but she looked more modern for a traditional role like Panchami. She didn�t carry the maturity needed for the character; so is her chemistry with Pawan, which didn�t work out much. Bobby Deol was a good fit for the role of Aurangzeb, and his acting was solid. Sathyaraj and Sachin Khedekar did well in their parts, too. Sunil, Nasser, Subbaraju, and Raghubabu played supporting roles decently, but didn�t stand out much.

Technicians:

On the technical front, the biggest plus point for Harihara Veeramallu is Oscar-winning composer MM Keeravani�s background score. He gave full effort in the score and tried to lift key scenes with his BGM. His music worked well, especially in hero elevations and action episodes. But the songs were not that impressive, as they felt pretty average.

Top cinematographers like Gnanasekhar and Manoj Paramahamsa worked on the visuals, but the output wasn�t that great. It looked like the poor visual effects affected their work big time. In fact, the weakest part of the film is its VFX only. Many scenes looked fake and lacked impact because of these mediocre graphics.

Dialogues by Sai Madhav Burra were strong in some places, but felt weak in others. Krish�s idea was interesting, but it didn�t fully work as a story. It�s not even clear how much Krish directed and how much Jyothikrishna handled, but the storytelling doesn�t feel smooth. It�s like a half-finished product that was kept aside for too long and brought back later. Maybe the long production delays translated to the dullness of the film, too.

Verdict: Harihara Veeramallu.. Some sparkles, many stains

Rating- 2/5