'Pedha Kapu' Movie Review

‘Pedha Kapu’ Movie Review

Cast: Virat Karrna, Pragati Srivastav, Rao Ramesh, Anasuya Bharadwaj, Vikas, Tanikella Bharani, Eeswari Rao, Rajeev Kanakala and others.

Music: Micky J Meyer

Cinematography: Chota K Naidu

Producer: Miryala Ravinder Reddy

Writer - Director: Srikanth Addala

After making his mark with classy movies like ‘Kotha Bangaru Lokam’ and ‘Seethamma Vaakitlo Siri Malle Chettu’, Srikanth Addala failed to deliver with ‘Mukunda’ and his ‘Brahmotsavam’ turned his career upside down. While he remade ‘Asuran’ as ‘Narappa’, he decided to change his route and make a raw political drama titled ‘Pedha Kapu’. The impressive promotional content raised curiosity on the movie. Let us see how the film turned out.

Story:

Set in the 1980s, the story happens in a particular village of the Godavari region. There is a constant battle going on between Satti Rangayya (Rao Ramesh) and Bayanna (Adukulam Naren) for political supremacy in that area. Due to the war, the lower sections of the community often get affected. One of them is Pedha Kapu (Virat Karrna) and his family. Pedha Kapu’s brother commits a murder for Satti Rangayya and goes missing. A girl named Gowri who is close to Pedha Kapu’s family loses her life because of Satti Rangayya. In order to win over Rangayya, Bayanna turns Pedha Kapu against his rival. What will Pedha Kapu do now? What happens in his life after that? Will he change the lives of his people? All these questions will be answered in the movie.

Analysis:

People were shellshocked when they heard that Srikanth Addala, who is known for his class family films has been opted to remake ‘Asuran’ in Telugu. Addala is known for spreading positivity through his films and him making ‘Narappa’ surprised everyone. While making ‘Narappa’, Srikanth Addala would have thought of his next movie in the same backdrop. He even got a bit inspired by ‘Rangasthalam’ and made ‘Pedha Kapu’ as the story that happened in the 80s. His narration was adopted from Vetrimaaran’s style as it had a lot of violence. Looking at the trailer, many felt that Addala is making a cult film but his failure to take the film in a particular direction and create a lot of confusion will definitely test the patience of the audience. In one scene, the hero says that he doesn’t know where to start and where to end. This perfectly describes Srikanth’s struggles while making the movie. He wanted to tell a lot and try many things but ended up in a state of confusion and even left the audience in the same state of mind. There was an attempt to praise NTR and his party which influenced Telugu politics a lot but Addala disappointed in presenting the village politics in a convincing manner.

There are many dialogues in the movie which wows you. Thought-provoking dialogues have always been a constant in Addala’s movies. There are a good number of scenes that were handled very well too. But these scenes and dialogues look great when we see them separately. We understand that the director wants to say something to the audience. But it is not enough to impress the viewer. The narration should be focused, and the characters and their motives should be understood as well. We need to connect with them emotionally. This is what went missing in ‘Pedha Kapu’. He did not give a full character arc to any of the actors including the hero and no one knows how they would behave. At one point we get confused about who the actual villain is. Addala ran the movie in an unpredictable way and created huge confusion. That is the reason why people cannot own this film though they admire Srikanth Addala’s hard work.

The film often reminds us of ‘Rangasthalam’ both in terms of story and taking. The way the hero’s character is written in ‘Rangasthalam’ and the conflict point are also the same. Every character in Sukumar’s film has a specialty and a purpose. But ‘Pedha Kapu’ has a lot of characters but none of them create the same impact. Even the hero’s role did not make a mark in the minds of the audience. While it is great to see the hero in such a natural and normal way, the director should have been written with more depth. He says dialogues angrily or kills someone with an axe all the time. The way his role in delivered through dialogues of other characters and how he is shown are quite different with each other. Starting from the hero to heroine to Rao Ramesh to Anasuya, all their characters start off very well but the character depth is missing in each and every role. Some scenes shock you as well and impresses you big time. A few scenes showcase the taste of the director as well. The dialogues are also great but the movie ‘Pedha Kapu’ as a whole disappoints you a lot.

Performances:

Virat Karrna who played the lead role looks good on screen. Though he is a first-timer, he tried to play the Pedha Kapu role in a matured way. But his dialogue delivery did not suit this character. The confusion in his character did not set the actor free. If Virat improves his acting and dialogue delivery on a regular basis, he may have a bright future in the industry. Heroine Pragati Srivastav looked natural onscreen and gave a good performance. She has the screen presence to pull off a lady-oriented movie ably. Despite the flaws in his character, Rao Ramesh stands out with his typical acting and terrific performance. Naren did well and Tanikella Bharani got a very important role in the film. He did complete justice to it. Anasuya Bharadwaj and Eeswari Rao did well in their roles. All the artists did well and Srikanth Addala managed to leave a mark as an actor as well.

Technicians:

‘Pedha Kapu’ has a lot of technical quality. Micky J Meyer gave good songs and an intense background score. Though the songs did not fit into the screenplay and they are good to listen. Chota K Naidu’s work is a major highlight in this movie. His visuals stand out and give a unique tone to the movie. Miryala Ravinder Reddy risked a lot by believing in a debut hero and successless director in recent times. The production values are very good. Writer-director Srikanth Addala wasted a very good opportunity. He did not want to make a regular film as all his hard work can be seen on the screen. But he failed in the narration department and it affected the movie badly.

Verdict: Pedha Kapu - A Lot Of Confusion!

Rating: 2.25/5