Falaknuma Das movie review highlights: Vishwak Sen's debut directorial is a hot mess

Vishwak Sen, of 'Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi' and 'Vellipomakey' fame made his directorial debut today with the Telugu remake of the hit Malayalam film 'Angamaly Diaries', titled 'Falaknuma Das'.
With music by Vivek Sagar, the remake sees the slow inception of Falaknuma Das (Vishwak Sen) into the world of crime. No, this is not a film where a gully boy turns into a Don overnight, this is the story of a man whose idol in life is the local goonda Shankar Anna.He's so enamoured by the kind of life the goonda leads, he does everything he can since childhood to emulate it. Drinking with his friends, getting into numerous pointless fights filled with fisticuffs and expletives, waging territorial wars, judging women, even his own girlfriend based on the kind of clothes they wear and laughing at jokes that involve using derogatory terms against women - Das basically does everything except complete his college education or even go to college in the first place. But what happens when he crosses a line he can't back away from?
The first half of 'Falaknuma Das' also introduces Prashanthi Charuolingah as his childhood love Tina, Saloni Mishra as his neighbour Zoya and Harshita Gaur as his girlfriend Sakshi, but it's a mystery why any of these women ever choose to spend time with a brute like Das. It's also a mystery as to why they exist in this tale, so far. There's a lot going on in the first half, but with no structure to the narrative, the plot points are all lost in the melee. After watching the first half, all you can remember is the numerous loud fights and the old-school style, sometimes loud BGM. With the story finally picking up some direction, it remains to be seen if the second half will fare any better.