Vijetha

Story: Srinivasa Rao (Murli Sharma) does his best to give his children everything they seek and fulfil even the smallest of their desires. His son Ram (Kalyaan Dhev) grows up oblivious to all the sacrifices his father had to make to give him the life he has. Will he ever change and will his father ever find the chance to fulfil his own dreams forms the story.

Review: Naming Rakesh Sashi’s directorial and Kalyaan Dhev’s debut film ‘Vijetha’ was a ballsy move on the makers, looking at the kind of expectations that came with it. Kalyaan’s father-in-law Chiranjeevi’s 1985 film Vijetha was the story of a football player who takes a drastic step for the sake of his family’s happiness. While no kidneys are sold here, like in the 1985 film, this is still the story of a man who has to make massive sacrifices for the sake of his family. Except, this is not Ram’s (Kalyaan Dhev) story, this tale belongs to his father.

Ram is a happy-go-lucky man who leads an aimless life. His father Srinivasa Rao has done everything in this power to empower him to make choices he wants in life and to settle down in a job doing something he loves. Yet Ram grows up to be an irresponsible individual who believes in pranking ambulances and stalking his neighbour Chaitra (Malavika Nair) in the name of love instead of doing something constructive with his time. That is, until his choices come back to bite him in the posterior and all that cliché jazz.

While the story of Kalyaan Dhev’s character has the potential to be a relatable coming-of-age track, it fails to engage mostly due to the actor’s inability to emote. His eyes just refuse to show any emotion, remaining creepily blank even in the most (supposedly) sentimental scenes. It’s a mystery to anyone why Malavika Nair exists in this movie, seeing as how she (thankfully) has no duets to sing with the lead actor either. Their love track never gets picked up nor is any true camaraderie ever developed between the characters in the first place. No chemistry to look for here!

Who shines in the film, despite the laggy screenplay and erratic storyline, is Murli Sharma. He emotes beautifully, delivering a subtle and stupendous performance. Despite most of the film devoted to Ram and his friend’s antics, with an attempt to create fizzled out comedy in the middle of the film, Srinivasa Rao’s track seems like the most interesting part of the film. His is a character most people will connect too, reminding them of their parents.

Unfortunately, the maker decides to focus instead on unnecessary sentimental or humorous scenes that fail to evoke anything in the audience. He also seems to be trying to make a point about children acknowledging the sacrifices parents make for their happiness, but the message is unfortunately lost in the confused way the film goes about it. A gripping, subtle and relatable screenplay is what the film needed and lacked majorly.

Apart from Murli Sharma, the music of the film composed by debutant Harshavardhan Rameshwar is a delight too. Despite the storyline lacking freshness, it could’ve been an engaging ride if only Rakesh had taken the less-trodden path and chosen Srinivasa Rao to be the focus of the story instead of Ram. After all, he is the true Vijetha of the film!