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| Edited By: Dhaval Mehta |Source: DNA |Updated: Oct 03, 2019, 06:25 AM IST
Narasimha Reddy (Chiranjeevi) is India’s freedom fighter, who revolted against the British in 1847, 10 years before the 1857 rebellion. Narasimha stands against the atrocities done by the British rulers and mobilises people in his village and creates a movement to gain independence. The story is based on the life of Narasimha, his pride and valour, and how he became the cornerstone for India finally becoming a free country.
The film has Chiranjeevi written all over it and it is indeed a one-man-army, a one-man-show. The actor plays the larger-than life character of Narasimha with great aplomb and dedication. The 64-year-old Telugu superstar carries the persona and evokes the feeling of patriotism.
Tamannaah Bhatia as Lakshmi, who is a dancer and also has feelings for Narasimha, doesn’t have much to do and leaves her impression with her beauty and dance numbers. Siddhamma (Nayanthara) plays the role of Narasimha’s dutiful wife quite well and again, she has limited screen presence to showcase her talent. The performances of Kiccha Sudeep, Ravi Kishan as being resentful and insecure of Chiranjeevi’s clout at being the messiah of masses is also at par. Amitabh Bachchan as Narasimha’s guru despite having a cameo, is very hard to forget and is full of gravitas and impeccable panache.
But, there are quite a few flaws in the film and the giant one is the duration. The war drama is excruciatingly long and painful. It could have been shortened easily by 35-40 minutes. Also, the first half takes too much time to build up all the characters. Only at the fag end of the first half, do you see the film gaining some sort of momentum.
Sye Raa is releasing in multiple languages, but the dubbing for the Hindi version is quite shoddy. Way too many dialogues are literal and filled with hyperbole. Another annoying thing is, British rulers’ dialogue being dubbed in Hindi. Instead, they should have used subtitles and let them speak in English. War sequences are top-notch and magnificently executed — while watching you get the feeling that you are at the battlefield. All the war portions go in with the story, but some scenes can be termed as too violent and gory.
Chiranjeevi, despite being in his 60s, pulls off his stunts nonchalantly. Great attention to detail has been paid on sword fighting, horse riding, archery and finer technical aspects. The palaces of the 19th century are masterfully created and complemented by great cinematography and visual effects. The locations are picturesque and become a separate entity of the war drama.
Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is a classic war drama, but the execution is not on point. It gets quite repetitive and preachy in its effort. Watch it for Chiranjeevi’s performance and have serious amount of patience.
