This week’s new release, ‘Kurradu’ starring Varun Sandesh and Neha Sharma, is a remake of the Tamil film, ‘Polladhavan’. Directed by Sandeep Gunnam and produced by P.Kiran, the film is loosely inspired from the cult Italian film, ‘The Bicycle Thief’. ‘Kurradu’ is set in the bylanes of a city basti and narrates the story of a hot-blooded youth who has a passion for bikes. However, this passion also changes his life.

What is it about : Varun Sandesh stars as Varun who is passionate about bikes. He’s never serious about his life and as a result his father (Tanikella Bharani) is upset with him. One night, Varun explains what he expects from his father, in a drunken state. The very next day his father gives away some of his savings to Varun and he buys his favourite bike with that money. He’s also in love with Hema (Neha Sharma), a college student but hasn’t proposed to her yet. The new bike brings Varun, a great amount of luck and he secures a job, respect from his family and also proposes to Hema. Elsewhere, the rowdy-sheeters Satya, Ravi and Helmet build their business by smuggling drugs and settlements. One night, the lives of Varun and Ravi crisscross each other and the situation turns ugly for both of them. Does Varun get himself out of all these problems? Where does his passion for bikes lead him to? That forms the rest of the story.

What is Good: Vetrimaran’s story is gripping. Although it is loosely inspired from ‘Bicycle Thief’, the adaptation works because Vetrimaran infuses a great amount of anger, frustration, fear and intensity into his characters. Varun Sandesh is good in this intense role. His expressions in the second half of the film perfectly suit the mood. However, he should work on his accent, which still sounds like what it did in ‘Happy Days’. Neha Sharma is adequate in her role, although she has nothing much to offer. She looks beautiful and has a great smile which she executes with great charm in the first half of the film. Tanikella Bharani and Pragathi are good in their roles. Bommali Ravishankar and others who played the roles of Ravi and Helmet are good. Comedian Venu had a full length character as Varun’s friend and he’s good. MS Narayana and Ali entertain to some extent.

What is bad: It takes a long time to introduce the characters and set the mood for the film in the first half. The initial scenes between Varun and his friends are mediocre. Although the songs in the film are well-composed, they come abruptly sometimes. The item song featuring Rachana Mourya in second half is out of place. The climax fight is a bit over the top especially with all those slow motion action.

Technical Departments: ‘Kurradu’ scores high on technical brilliance. The film is shot in clustered bylanes and the rustic look is perfect for this script. Sarvesh Murari’s cinematography is top notch. His cinematography elevates the entire second half, especially the scenes shot at night. Screenplay is gripping, especially in second half. Lyrics by Anant Shriram and music by Achu perfectly compliment each other. Background score by Koti is a huge asset. P.Kiran has taken a gamble to produce this intense drama and the effort to make films beyond the love, family entertainers is commendable. Sandeep Gunnam’s directorial debut is good. His direction is great in second half where the film takes a serious approach. He could have worked a bit in heroine’s role and the romance between the lead couple.

Bottomline: ‘Kurradu’ has the kind of intensity which might not strike chord with everyone. However, it does extremely well in the confines of its boundaries. Thankfully the film takes a sensible and serious approach to narrate its story. All the actors are in sync with their characterization all the time and there’s a sense of urgency in the film. The biggest strength is its gripping screenplay and narration which doesn’t give you enough time to think too much. ‘Kurradu’ glorifies violence and it is visible in almost every fight composed in this film. It’s a serious film with lots of violence and drama. Watch it if you like films which have a serious and realistic touch.