‘Andhra King Taluka’ Movie Review

‘Andhra King Taluka’ Movie Review

Actors: Ram Pothineni, Upendra, Bhagyashri Borse, Murali Sharma, Rao Ramesh, Rahul Ramakrishna, Rajiv Kanakala, Harshavardhan, Tulasi, Raghubabhu and others

Music: Vivek-Mervin

Cinematography: Siddharth Nooni

Producers: Naveen Yerneni- Yelamanchili Ravishankar

Written & Directed by: Mahesh Babu. P

Hero Ram Pothineni has been waiting for a solid, successful film to come his way for many years. His mass-centric films failed one after another, forcing him to change his route. This time, he came up with a different type of movie, titled “Andhra King Taluka”, which follows the story of a ‘fan’ who deeply admires a star hero. Crafted by the director of Miss Shetty, Mr Polishetty, Mahesh Babu P, the film has hit screens today. How far did Ram’s new experiment work out? Let’s have a look.

Story:

Surya (Upendra) is a huge movie star. He’s seen all the fame and applause, but suddenly life flips on him. One flop follows another, and even his 100th film gets stuck halfway. No matter what he tries, nothing moves forward. Newspapers start writing negative stories, and things get worse.

Surya (Upendra) is a big superstar who has experienced fame throughout his career, but suddenly his films fail to click. While he announces his 100th film, it gets stuck midway and fails to inch further. With negative stories popping up about him in the newspapers, things get worse. At that low point, with someone’s help, the stalled project restarts, making Surya curious about the mysterious person who helped him. That’s when he learns that his die-hard fan Sagar (Ram Pothineni) helped him. He now wants to meet him and understand the intention behind the unexpected support. So, who is Sagar and what’s that backstory, forms the rest of the story on the screen?

Analysis:

The film starts with Upendra being very convincing in the role of Superstar Surya, who’s going through a rough patch, and then gets to the story of his die-hard fan, Sagar. There’s a lovely scene in the movie where Surya’s friend showcases sunset by the sea and says that they look like merged, but never meet. But then Surya returns, “Even if they don’t merge, they are beautiful together like that”. That one scene is enough to showcase how director Mahesh Babu shaped this movie as a beautiful bond between a hero and his fans. Though one may feel that the line “Biopic of a Fan” is actually to woo hardcore fans of heroes to theatres, it neither exaggerates fan fever nor throws satires at it. “Andhra King Taluka” moves at a slow pace, and there is a lot of predictability as well, but the film has quite a charm that makes you forget those bits.

Often, we hear questions like why do these fans worship heroes and what is the point of being a crazy fan. Some even add, ‘How does being a fan help your life?’. And honestly, some fans do waste their time and mess up their lives with their devotion and fan wars. But then, there is also another type, and those fans take inspiration from their favourite stars and grow better in life. “Andhra King Taluka” is the story of such a fan. Director Mahesh Babu kept the narrative grounded without any unnecessary hype. The film shows how a kid laded with insecurity and lack of confidence grows to become a courageous guy after listening to a powerful dialogue from his favorite hero. The film has some cinematic liberties taken, but nothing feels overboard, as the fan uplifts his whole village with his acts.

One of the strongest scenes in the film goes to Rao Ramesh, where he explains why some villages that lack basic facilities like electricity and water supply still have a temple. This landed very powerfully. The film also plays to the idea that the fan (sea) and his star (sun) will never meet. But then, the hero starts to find out about his fan and undertakes a journey to meet him shapes the emotional core of the movie. While Upendra appears only for a limited time, his screen presence hangs over the narrative throughout. The story belongs to the fan, but then, everything moves around the hero’s role.

Despite his education, love story, family problems and his fight to improve himself, the fan actually challenges the heroine’s father, who rejected their love outright. Sure, these scenes sound familiar, but the added layer of hero and fandom makes it fresh and beautiful. Unwantedly, the makers didn’t force any commercial elements, thereby giving the story room to breathe and brew. While the first half is a bit slow, the setup gets a proper payoff after the interval. The film picks up at the Interval and carries the momentum till the end. The touring talkies episodes and the climax part pack a punch. For everyone who says that I’m a fan of a particular hero, this film, Andhra King Taluka, is surely a celebration on the positive side.

Performances:

Whenever Ram Pothineni tends to do mass movies, the actor inside him gets overshadowed. This time, without giving way to the mass side, the hero showcased his acting potential yet again. Without any over-the-board acts, his clean and honest performance worked out. The changes made to his look, his walking style, and even his talking style feel like watching a fresh hero on the screen. For the way he played Sagar, surely he’s likely to earn more fans this time.

At the same time, Upendra is solid. From the moment he steps into the role of Surya, we know that it is working perfectly. As he happens to be very much grounded in real life, surely that drifted into the character he played, giving the needed elevation for the role.

Bhagyashree Borse is another surprise package we have to say. With this movie, she has completely washed off that ‘glam doll’ image. After impressing people with “Kantha” earlier, this time she showcased her acting prowess again, despite being glamorous when needed. Especially she has hit the ball out of the park in one scene, and that showcases the performer in her.

Senior actors like Rao Ramesh and Murali Sharma did their best, pouring their experience into the characters. At the same time, the likes of Rahul Ramakrishna, Satya, Rajiv Kanakala, Raghubabu and Tulasi fit well into the parts they played without any loud noise.

Technicians:

Composers Vivek-Mervin have pretty much carried the film on their shoulders with their amazing background score. The story’s emotion got uplifted instantly with their tracks. Nuvvante Chalu will be the favourite song on screen, for its sweetness. The rest of the songs also worked out along with the background score.

Siddharth Nooni’s cinematography is another added advantage for the film, as he made sure that most of the frames look colorful. It’s like watching a festival atmosphere throughout. And the ace production values backed by Mythri Movie Makers added more vibe to the movie.

Mahesh Babu clicked as a writer and director, the moment he picked up a subject that nobody had touched in the Telugu arena. Though there are no heroes without fans, and no film industry without fandom, surprisingly, nobody made films around it. Mahesh Babu did it, and with an amazing honesty. The real emotions felt on the screen, along with some inspirational bits, made the film work for all, not just fans. Andhra King Taluka is a film that ends up in a corner in your mind, even though it may not be loud, but it feels special.

Finally: Andhra King Taluka.. Crown the real fan!

Rating-3/5