‘Akasha Ramanna’ is the perfect example of how a ‘could have been’ brilliant thriller can turn out to be a test of patience, thanks to a poor script! Directed by Ashok, the film has been ‘inspired’ from a Hollywood film titled ’11:14’ which released in 2003. Interestingly this Telugu adaptation ‘Akasha Ramanna’ falls in the genre of hyperlink cinema, à la ‘Yuva’, ‘Babel’, ‘Vantage Point’ to name a few. The film starring Rajeev Kanakala, Naresh, Sivaji, Meera Jasmine and Gauri Pandit narrates a series of interconnected events on one ominous night which leads to tragic consequences.

What is it about : Rajeev Kanakala stars as Teja, who gets into trouble one night at 12:40 AM when he runs over an unidentified man under a drunken state. Elsewhere, Raana (Allari Naresh) struggles to find sources who could loan him Rs.5 Lakhs for his girlfriend, Isha (Gauri Pandit). He asks his friend Jai (Sivaji), who owns a super-market, for this amount. Tara (Meera Jasmine) also works in this super market. How does fate lead their lives criss-cross each other one fateful night forms the rest of the story.

What is Good: ‘Akasha Ramanna’ has a very interesting premise where fate has an important role to play. When people end up at the wrong place at the wrong time, it’s bound to create complications and in the end it leads to tragic consequences. Ashok, the director of the film, largely succeeds in introducing the characters in the first half where too many questions are left unanswered. This ‘hyperlink’ format in screenplay is perhaps one of the most interesting and largely untouched formats in Telugu Cinema till date. It’s good to see that an attempt has been made to adapt it, although the idea never makes an impact on screen. Out of all the stories, the most credible and well narrated is Rajeev Kanakala’s part when he runs over an unidentified person.

What's Bad: After a promising first half, the film spirals out of control when the jig-saw puzzle falls in place. The biggest problem with the film is a badly written script and lack of proper characterization especially that of Gauri Pandit, Meera Jasmine and Sivaji. The love triangle between Allari Naresh, Gauri Pandit and Meera Jasmine is poorly handled which is more painful to endure, thanks to oodles of cheesiness. Sivaji, who stars as Jai, delivers his lines without an iota of seriousness and the supposed ‘sarcasm’ in his tone is bland! I wonder, what was the ‘inspiration’ behind Venu Madhav’s role in this film? It’s disgusting to even imagine and the embarrassment is accentuated further due to the lame jokes written on the ‘member’! On the whole, ‘Akasha Ramanna’ fails to hit you hard because of poor writing in the latter half of the film.

Bottom Line: ‘Akasha Ramanna’ is a good example of what would happen if films are just ripped off from another language! You can’t just re-produce the same; the challenge is to adapt the concept to what’s relevant to the culture and sociological circumstances of our society. ‘Akasha Ramanna’ could have been better had it also followed the 90 minutes running time tradition which Hollywood movies generally have. With more than 140 minutes of run time, this film ends up testing your patience and also leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Pun intended! Two thumbs down for ‘Akasha Ramanna’, it probably would have been a better idea to understand why Hollywood thrillers work rather than ripping them off under the pretext of making a ‘different’ cinema in Telugu!