Venkatapuram - Movie Review

What's it about?:

The movie takes place in Bhimli. Police belonging to Venkatapuram police station are on the look out for a missing girl. They find a corpse that is dumped in a bag near a beach. The girl turns out to be the same one who they are looking for. At the police station, they see two criminals sitting and one of them called Anand (Rahul) is not opening up his mouth about the crime he has committed. Now the story goes into flashback. Anand is working as a pizza-delivery boy in Vizag and he lives in a pent house in an apartment. Soon he develops friendship with a student Chaitra (Mahima) who resides in the same apartment. One day, when she goes with two of her friends (girls) to a secluded place near a beach for a smoke, a rowdy gang attacks them. They take her handbag. She tells this to Anand, who goes to the same place next day to bring her bag. He takes a knife to attack on the rowdy gang What happens then? How he lands in a whirlwind of events that bring him to the police station?

Analysis
The makers claim that the story of 'Venkatapuram' is inspired by a 'true story'. The new director and the producers have tried to present a simple line in a different manner and their attempt is honest, though the narration needs a lot to be desired.

On paper, the storyline sounds interesting. A murder takes places, police find a body and hero is sitting at police station.... this is an interesting beginning for a crime thriller. It is also established that he killed or has tried to kill someone. So far so good! A perfect beginning to weave a spellbinding crime drama, but the movie drifts from the hands of the director once the flashback opens up. How the hero meets the heroine, what happens then, why they get into this whole mess is told rather amateurishly. Their love story is boring. Also girls taking so much pain to go to secluded place to have a puff looks silly in today's times.

When the heroine is attacked by rowdies, their behavior and the heroine fearing to tell her parents or police sound illogical. And how come an innocent a pizza delivery guy takes up Indian sickle so easily? Logic has completely gone for a toss here. Still, the movie creates a tensed environment, and keeps the suspense element. This aspect should be appreciated. The penultimate sequences when Ajay as an investigative officer comes into the picture, makes the movie very interesting. In a nutshell, the director's attempt to tell a story differently is appreciable but it does not entirely engross either.

Rahul who debuted in Sekhar Kammula's 'Happy Days' has played the role of Anand neatly. He has changed his looks. The new avatar is good. His transformation is effective. But he is more like a character in the film than a lead hero. Newcomer Mahima is okay but she looks mostly like a teeny bopper. Ajay as police officer in brief role is good. In other roles, Ajay Ghosh goes overboard. Kasi Vishwanth's character looks like a caricature.

For a small budget movie, the cinematography and production values are decent. Music by Achu is very good, songs as well as background score are effective. Editing should have been crispier. Dialogue writing could have been sharper. As far as the new director is concerned, he has handled the second half well, but lack of experience in presenting key scenes is quite noticeable.

Bottom-line: 'Venkatapuram' tries to be a different crime thriller. For a low budget movie, the attempt is good but it lacks effectiveness in the first half. It also lacks logic but the penultimate portion of the movie makes up for the shortcomings. Rahul scores as an actor in his new transformation. Overall, a decent small-budgeted crime flick with unrealistic situations.