Review : Anukoni Prayanam – Strictly for Rajendra Prasad

Anukoni Prayanam starring Natakireeti Dr. Rajendra Prasad in the lead role, has released today. The film co-stars veteran actor Narasimharaju in a vital role and is directed by Venkatesh Pediredla. Let us see how the movie is.

Story:

The film starts with two friends, played by Rajendra Prasad and Narasimharaju, who work as day laborers at a construction site in Bhubaneswar. Rajendra Prasad doesn’t believe in relations and is a carefree guy who minds his work. Due to COVID-19, their work gets to a standstill, so they start traveling to their natives. Narasimharaju dies on the journey, and this leaves Rajendra Prasad in shock. Rajendra Prasad decides to take his friend’s corpse to his native, and the rest of the film is about the obstacles he faces in this process and the things that make him realize the value of human relations.

Plus Points:

The theme of the film is good, and it deals with human emotions. The movie stresses the importance of relations one should have in life. The story is well established in the first hour, and the emotions work well in this part. The film starts by comparing the ups and downs in human life to a snake and ladder game which sounds interesting.

Rajendra Prasad justifies his tag Natakireeti, and with Anukoni Prayanam, he once again proves that he is a gem of an actor in Telugu cinema. This is a tailor-made role for the actor, who breathes life into it. The senior actor is at his best in emotional scenes, and he deserves a special mention for picking a subject like this. After a while, he gets a role with very good scope to perform.

Narasimharaju as a companion of Rajendra Prasad, gets a good role, and he performs well too. Others like Tulasi and Ravi Babu are fine in their limited roles. The fun part at a few places in the movie is decent and showcased in a light-hearted manner. A few dialogues penned by Paruchuri Brothers have an inner depth.

Minus Points:

The slow-paced narrative is one aspect that constantly pushes the film down. Though there are good moments, they seem few and far between, and there is a considerable amount of lag in the movie. The editing team should have trimmed the film further to enhance its feel. After a while, the scenes get repetitive, and this is where the problems start.

The film also has a few forced elements, like the one-fight sequence and the manner in which it is presented feels awkward. The Prema tracks look odd and artificial, and the team should have worked more on this aspect. Till then, the movie seems realistic, but these few sequences play the spoilsport.

The climax isn’t that impactful. After such a promising start, a satisfactory ending is expected, but that doesn’t happen here. Few characters could have been etched even better. The film is different from the regular commercial entertainers, and it may not be pleasing to all the audiences.

Technical Aspects:

Two songs by Siva Dinavahi are meaningful and add to the film’s theme. The cinematography by Mallikarjun Naragani is fair, and he captured the locations in a pleasant manner. The production values are fine, and the makers spent what was required for this film.

The editing team, as mentioned, should have chopped off a few lag scenes. Coming to the director Venkatesh Pediredla, he managed to do an okayish job with his narration. The basic plot point written by producer Jagan Mohan is pretty interesting, and there is scope for more drama. But the director didn’t succeed wholly in making the film overwhelming. He was successful in extracting the best out of Rajendra Prasad, though.

Verdict:

On the whole, Anukoni Prayanam has a good concept, a solid performance by Rajendra Prasad, and some good moments. On the flip side, the lengthy runtime, slow-paced narrative, and forced and artificial sequences make this film a strictly okayish watch this weekend.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.5/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

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