Director Karuna Kumar tries to keep the narrative gritty, takes a mainstream approach with Sudheer Babu’s presence
Directed by Karuna Kumar Palasa 1978 (2020) was set in a raw, rustic place and explored caste politics with characters who were not typically white and black. Together Sridevi Soda Center, Karuna Kumar takes a mainstream approach given the presence of actor Sudheer Babu and tries to keep the narrative gritty while discussing issues of honor.
Read also | Get ‘First Day First Show’ our weekly newsletter from the world of cinema delivered to your inbox. You can subscribe for free here
The film is set in the Godavari belt, which is often explored by Telugu cinema for its picturesque quality. Instead of showing us an airbrushed Godavari region, Karuna Kumar and cinematographer Shammadat show us small-town festivities where erroneous lines of class and caste division run deep, defying the light of celebration. Suri Babu (Sudhir Babu) is the lighting specialist for all the festivals in the village. He, his father (Raghu Babu) and friend (Satyam Rajesh) take pride in their work and refuse to be submissive to Kasi (Pavel Navgeetham).
Sridevi Soda Center
- Cast: Sudhir Babu, Anandi
- Direction: Karuna Kumar
- Music: Mani Sharma
An adrenaline-pumping regatta sets the stage for the battles to follow that unfolds over the sun-kissed waters. Sudhir Babu flaunts his torn muscles in slow-motion shots and Mani Sharma’s scintillating background score sets the mood. This is perhaps Karuna Kumar’s way of engaging those who are used to mainstream narratives to stay invested in the proceedings, before navigating uncomfortable places in the story (Nagendra Kasi shares the writing credits).
The romance between Suri Babu and Sridevi (Anandi) progresses rapidly. Since the main antagonist’s intentions are easy to guess, an important reveal in the latter comes as no surprise.
Karuna Kumar reveals his cards in the third act, when the story moves from Good Man Vs. Bad guy trope. Suri may be up against a clearly negative Kasi, but what happens to a father (VK Naresh), who is proud of his daughter’s fiery nature, but fails to understand that she has no say in choosing the man. What agency does she want to be with?
Alluding to the caste division, he says, ‘he may be a good man, but not our man’. Conversation between father and daughter, where he claims that even though the world is changing, he will stick to his ideas of family and social respect, and insists that she, who has a whole life ahead of her, will bow Not for old ideas, otherwise one of the best scenes in the anticipated film.
Though that’s a different story, subconsciously I drew parallels to the father-daughter conflict uppen Also director Vetrimaaran ya iraavu segment in netflix tamil anthology Pava Kadhaigal.
Sridevi Soda Center It has many things going for it – Sudheer Babu navigates massive volumes and rises to the challenge of portraying the emotional turmoil of a man who is in a corner; Anandi is charming where it is needed and loud in the parts that require her to be more than just a pretty face; Raghu Babu and Satyam Rajesh are good at their assigned tasks. Soda centers, shadow puppetry and occasional folk music accentuate the rustic ambiance.
However, the plethora of mainstream indulgences drags the film down. Take for instance the fight sequence between Sudhir and Ajay. Though well choreographed, it does nothing for the story. The same goes for some songs that add up to the length of the film (154 minutes).
Sridevi Soda Center This is the kind of film that happens when the art-house and the mainstream meet in the middle but it doesn’t go smoothly. There are some memorable moments and hard-hitting segments, but the film doesn’t take you off your feet.
.