Siddhartha - Movie Review

Story: 

Surya (Sagar) arrives in Malaysia to live in peace away from the factional feud triggered by the murder of his father (Nagineedu) and the avenging of the same by Surya.  Vikram (Ajay), whose father was murdered by the hero, is boiling with rage. Surya decides to move on and it's then when he comes across Sahasra (Ragini Nandwani), a happy-go-lucky RJ. Love blossoms in a hurry.  Love-making happens in the backdrop of a song.  

Sahasra gets pregnant with Surya alias Siddhartha's child. The hero's 'bava' (played by Subbu Raju) and brother (played by Ranadheer) have other plans with Sahasra's life when the hero takes a flight to Rayalseema.

The second half is about what happens to the relationship between Surya and Sahasra, why the former agrees to Bapineedu's solution, and whether he marries his sweet heart in the end.

Analysis:

Vissu's story is decent enough.  When experienced screen writers like Paruchuri Brothers are on board, one would expect that this strength is built upon.  In director Dayanand Reddy (he has worked for Pawan Kalyan's movies right from the days of 'Johnny' as a member of the actor's creative team), we have someone who believes that the audience will go gaga if their 'Mogali Rekulu' star  puts up a half-angsty expression on his face. 

The director repeats the same kind of fault lines that his debut movie ('Alias Janaki') suffered from. For one, there is no progressive raise of the tempo even when there is as important a scene as the hero is ruthlessly killing Vikram's father - the one reason why the whole drama follows. Whether it's Sahasra suppressing her pain or Surya having to endure the suffering of leaving his lover in the lurch, there is no sense of gravitas.

A major flaw is that the hero's characterization becomes retarded in the second half, with him becoming almost passive except one or twice, that too insubstantially. 

The hero himself is relegated to a secondary position in the second half.  Enter Sathyam Rajesh and Tagubothu Ramesh as clumsy event managers roped in by Bapineedu supposedly to dish out a few laughs. Prabhas Sreenu is wasted, but not as much as Ramesh who is of late not that typical drunkard for bad. There is no sense of purpose in comedy when the comedians over-react to the situation at hand.  

In the absence of strong villainy in the second half (that is understandable, given the story line), there should have been other elements to sustain interest. This could have been achieved through the hero's character.  

Ragini is found wanting in the role of a damsel in distress. She doesn't quite rise up to the occasion, thanks to the make-up man's nightmarish work or whatever. Sakshi Chowdhary as Apsara is good when she yearns for her man and thats all. There is nothing much to expect from her. Sagar doesn't make the cut. The dubbing by a well-known artiste proves disastrous for him.  His shoulders are too weak to carry a film, not in the least an action-romantic one. Mani Sharma's BGM is OK, but it could have been better utilized. This is true of S Gopal Reddy's cinematography and Prawin Pudi's editing as well.  

Bottomline: 'Siddhartha' fails to impress in any manner. Lack of seriousness and a weak climax suffer the film.