Movie Review: 'Irumudi'

Actors: Ravi Teja, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Baby Nakshatra, Saikumar, Swasika, Ramesh Indira, Ajay Ghosh, Ramana Bhargava and others

Music: G.V. Prakash Kumar

Cinematography: Vishnu Sharma

Producers: Naveen Yerneni, Ravi Shankar

Writer-Director: Shiva Nirvana

Mass Raja Raviteja has been waiting for a blockbuster for many years. To get the same, he set his image aside, but the Sankranthi starrer “Bharta Mahaseyulaku Wignyapthi” failed to click. Now he has done a similar experiment with Shiva Nirvana’s Irumudi. Let’s see if it worked or not.

STORY:

Trinadh (Raviteja) makes his living by driving an autorickshaw in the Godavari region, and cultivates banana plantations in his fields. He loves his daughter Manikanta (Baby Nakshatra) to the crore. However, he has a weakness for alcohol and gives it up only during the 41 days of Ayyappa Deeksha. In the process of saving his village’s girls from eveteasers, he has lots of enemies. This time, when Trinadh is about to take up the Deeksha, some stunning events take place in his village. How they affect Trinadh, who’s responsible for that, and how Trinadh tackles them forms the rest of the story.

NARRATION-ANALYSIS:

If we go back in time 10 years, a star hero playing the role of an Ayyappa Devotee and naming the film Irumudi is impossible. Even now, that would be a surprise. A hero like Raviteja, who is known for mass-masala movies, has agreed to do this movie, and a director like Siva Nirvana wanting to make this film are shockers before the release. But then, the story shown on the screen is another level shocker. The concept of sexual harassment, which has no wider acceptance and some mind-blowing twists are the central core of Irumudi. Many elements in Irumudi are otherwise deemed indigestible by the Telugu audience. The film’s narrative crossed the stock dialogue that ‘the audience doesn’t accept this’ and amazed them with an honest attempt at narrative. The devotion, thrill, family emotions, sentiment, drama, message and other elements are skillfully blended in Irumudi, making it work.

More than experimenting, impressing the audience with that experiment is the key, and Irumudi falls into that category perfectly. The primary elements of the film are a mass hero like Raviteja turning into an Ayyappa devotee and appearing in a lungi throughout the film, and delivering amazing sentiment that makes the audience teary-eyed. While the trailer itself promised that the father-daughter relationship would be shown well in the film, that emotion peaks inside the movie. They not only amaze, but at times, squeeze the heart too. It moves the entire audience big time towards the climax. Director Siva Nirvana rendered the father-daughter characters quite well and instilled the same emotions strongly in the audience too.

The audience does feel the emotions of the characters quite strongly, so the whole story connects to them big time, and they go to a peak towards the ending. Both the hero’s pain and need to avenge would be felt by the audience in the same way, as they respond to the situations on the screen. While Irumudi feels like a moderate movie till the last hour, the last 30 minutes make it a special film. The sexual-harassment element, which isn’t a favourite thing of our filmmakers, is the key element here. If narrated effectively, that topic works out well, and the message gets across properly, as Irumudi proves. The whole film runs in a serious mode, without routine songs, fights, elevations, comedy and masala, despite being a Raviteja movie. While the father-daughter emotion worked out, the devotional scenes, thrilling sequences, and message have worked out well. Parents of a girl child will love Irumudi big time. With an engaging narrative and message-driven story, Irumudi remains a highlight.

PERFORMANCES:

In Raviteja’s total filmography, Irumudi remain special. Coming out of his mass image, it’s appreciable that he did this story. The performer inside him, who was clouded by mass films, has come out in this movie. Deep diving into the role created by Shiva Nirvana, his intense performance will be memorable for years to come. As a middle-class wife, heroine Priya Bhavani Shankar also did well, though her character has no great importance in the story. Baby Nakshatra, the young girl who played Raviteja’s daughter, created an impact equal to that of the hero. Choosing her is the director’s first success, and her emotions move the audience. KGF fame Ramesh Indira shined in a crucial role, while Sai Kumar as Guruswamy is also impressive. Swasika is impressive in the negative role, while the likes of Ajay Ghosh, Meesala Laskhman and Ramana Bhargave are impressive too.

TECHNICALITIES:

GV Prakash has given good songs, with Yaalalo being the one that will be remembered. Though the Ayyappa-themed songs are good, they could have been better. However, the background score is effective in crucial scenes. Vishnu Sharma’s cinematography is filled with beautiful visuals, and it is attractive. Mythri Movie Makers provided ample production values. Writer-Director Siva Nirvana has come up with a story that doesn’t resemble his flavour of writing. After showing his strength in writing, he showed the same in conceiving scenes too. He never went overboard with scenes and dialogues. The major twist’s placement and the screenplay around it have shown his brilliance. Without melodrama and with genuine emotions, he made every scene work out.

Finally: Irumudi, strong drama & touching message!

Rating: 3.25/5