Ajay’s second film as a hero, ‘Sarai Veerraju’ had almost all the elements to become a cult film like Sasikumar’s ‘Subramanyapuram’. Directed by D.S.Kannan, the film’s posters and trailers promised a different film which would hit you hard with its energy and intensity. The film also introduces Madhulika to Telugu film industry and Ramya Nambeesan does an important role in the film. The film is the story of Veerraju, a happy-go-lucky guy from Narsipatnam who brews liquor.

What is it about : Ajay stars as Veerraju, who’s saving money to go to Dubai. He almost loses his life trying to save a girl and ends up making new enemies. In his journey to Dubai, he bumps into Preeti (Madhulika) an air hostess and is seemingly attracted to her. Veerraju’s mission in Dubai is to kill a big shot named Vishnu and before he kills him he asks him if he remembers Narsipatnam and Dhanalaxmi (Ramya). What happened in Narsipatnam? Who is Dhanalaxmi? Does Veerraju stop after killing Vishnu? That forms the rest of the story.

What is Good: Ajay’s performance as Veerraju, especially the one in Narsipatnam is very convincing. The intense action sequences also bring out the best in Ajay. He should try experimenting with more roles like this and it would help a lot in carving a niche for himself. Madhulika is alright in her debut film. Ramya Nambeesan is good in her role as the do-gooder of the village. It’s a completely deglamourized look and she carries herself pretty well. All the other supporting characters do well in their roles. The second half is the real soul of the film. The entire look of the film completely changes especially with the brown tint and rustic surroundings. Kannan does well as a writer and he paints Veerraju’s character with an element of pathos and at the same time maintaining his wild nature.

What is bad: Out of many problems with ‘Sarai Veerraju’, the biggest one is the screenplay. The film is well written, but fails to maintain the intensity and momentum for the most part. It takes almost 2 hours to reveal the conflict point in the film and by that time probably you would have guessed it. The first half of the film is misleading too. Veerraju sways away from his mission and finds time to flirt with Preethi and also solve problems in her family. The slow narration of second half saps away the energy from the film. There are too many villains in the film which in turn gives an excuse to prolong the film even more. The last song featuring Mumaith Khan is totally unnecessary and it adds more to the restlessness.

Technical Departments: Music by Sree Sai is good for the action sequences but it’s too loud in the normal scenes. Sometimes it overshadows the conversations and it’s difficult to understand the dialogues. Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is good. Cinematography by Viswa is fantastic especially in the second half. Action Choreography by Ram, Laxman is very good. Art direction by Satya is good. D.S.Kannan also wrote the story, dialogues and screenplay apart from directing this film. Dialogues in the film are alright. Story of the film is very simple and most of the characters are well etched. Screenplay is the major drawback of the film. Direction is good in parts. On the whole it’s a decent debut film for Kannan as a director.

Bottomline: Stories like ‘Sarai Veerraju’ should have a sense of urgency and try to maintain a definite perspective in terms of how it’s going to treat its audience. The film should have been sparkling with raw energy and sheer intensity to entice the audience. But Kannan chooses to narrate it in the clichéd fashion of three songs, romance, and a bit of comedy here and there in the first half. The film gets better in the second half when some of those apt emotions are portrayed on screen. The best part of the film are its action sequences where a rock, spade becomes a deadly weapon. It certainly glorifies violence, yet it is exactly in those scenes that the real ‘Sarai Veerraju’ emerges. Yes, it’s an honest film which goes haywire because of its weak narration. It probably would have been a brilliant film, if it was atleast an hour shorter with the same concept, for now those 150 minutes feel like eternity. ‘Sarai Veerraju’ lacks energy and it drains you out too!