Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy Review: A Decent Patriotic Film!

Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is Tollywood Megastar Chiranjeevi’s 151st film directed by Surender Reddy, who previously directed several hit movies like Kick, Race Gurram and Dhruva. Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is a historical film and revolves around the first war of Independence fought against the British by an emperor from Rayalaseema.

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The film includes a stellar star cast comprising of Amitabh Bachchan, Vijay Sethupathi, Kichaa Sudeep, Nayanthara, Tamannaah, Ravi Kishan and Jagapathi Babu. Involving actors from other languages is a smart decision and will help the film get a huge opening during the extended holiday season.

Moving on to the storyline, Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy (Chiranjeevi) is the ruler of Uyyalawada (Rayalaseema Region), who starts questioning the atrocities of the British right from his childhood. However, based on the advice from his Guru (played by Amitabh Bachchan), he matures himself into a warrior and motivates people under him the same way.

Meanwhile, the atrocities of the British increase and the people are forced to pay more tax, in spite of poor agriculture output. This results in some gory incidents, where the British kill innocent civilians, including a kid. Narasimha Reddy vows to kill the British ruler and chase them out of his land. He gathers support from the nearby provinces as well to wage a war against the British. Despite that, he faces quite a few challenges including his men, who are looking for an opportunity to sabotage his power and growth.

Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is all about the fight for Independence against the British and hence it should have scenes to fire our patriotism. This is exactly where Director Surendra Reddy excels. There are some well-executed scenes including action blocks supported by good dialogue which will pep up your patriotism. They will make you feel for the people who lost their lives, for the freedom we enjoy. And at the same time, there are some scenes and predictable twists which you normally associate with such historic films, which, in turn, pull down the pace of the film.

Chiranjeevi is the pillar of the film. In spite of his aged physique, he has delivered the role very convincingly. His powerful eyes and dialogue delivery is put to maximum use by the director. Nayanthara and Tamannah add to the gracefulness. I initially thought that Tamannah’s character was just added to increase the length of the film, but the director ensures it does not go waste in the second half. Out of the other ensemble cast, Sudeep and Jagapathy Babu have a decent role and screen presence. Other characters are written poorly, including that of Amitabh Bachchan and Vijay Sethupathi.

Technically, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is brilliant. Rathnavelu’s Camera is outstanding and captures the grandeur superbly with earthy shades. The background score by Amit Trivedi / Julius Packiyam supports the story well, however, it could have been better. Furthermore, the editing in the second half was poorly done as the film could have been trimmed by ten minutes easily without affecting the narration.

The stunts are choreographed nicely. The war scenes lack much of intelligence, however, they’re shot well. The sets look grand and real in most sequences and very artificial in a few others. There is no consistency. Same with the CGI work – while some scenes are executed very well, few others fall short.

There will be comparison with Baahubali and it’s bound to happen with any historic film made in India shortly. Honestly, it would be unfair to compare both films. Baahubali was completely fiction based and hence the team had complete freedom in creating the scenes. Sye Raa is a mix of both fiction and non-fiction.

Though there is a long disclaimer at the beginning which includes the authenticity of the story and accuracy of the incidents, this is still based on a real character who lived at some point in history. But yes, the CGI work could have been better.

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Overall, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is a good film to rekindle your patriotism. Surender Reddy and his team have given their best in entertainingly presenting the film, as epic as possible. It will entertain you to a large extent if you go without any expectations. [This review is first posted on Biju Peter’s Movies & Photography Blog]

Written by Biju Peter

Rating – 3.25/5 | Grade – B

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