Release date : June 11, 2021
123telugu.com Rating : 2.25/5
Starring : Naveen Chandra ,Saikumar ,Karthik Rathnam , Krishna Priya, Amani
Director : Ravindra Pulle
Producer : Chitti Kiran Ramoju
Music Director : Nawfal Raja AIS
Cinematography : Venkat R Shakamuri ,EJ Venu
Editor : J Prathap Kumar
Continuing the trend of reviewing low-budget films during the lockdown, today’s film, Ardha Shathabdham is now out on AHA. Let’s now see how it is.
Stroy:
The film is based in the small town of Siricialla, Telangana, and is about Krishna(Karthik Rathnam) who falls in love with Pushpa(Krishna Priya). It is one-sided love for Krishna and when he decides to reveal his love, a crazy incident created by Krishna gets the entire village involved. This in turn makes things worse as the caste-related issues come into the foray. What will Krishna do now? How will he deal with such an issue? What happens to the village? That forms the story.
Plus Points:
Karthik Rathnam plays the main lead and he is quite impressive as the one-sided lover. Karthik does well in all the love scenes but he is quite good when the film enters the second half. He as a helpless lover was good.
Krishna Priya suited the village belle’s role and does what is required of her. The climax of the film is handled in a decent manner. Anil Geela in the friend’s gang was good. The rustic village atmosphere was showcased well in the film.
The second half of the film makes some sense and the way it is ended looks good. The small-time petty caste issues in the village are addressed well in a few scenes. Ajay is neat in his cop’s role and so was Subhaleka Sudhakar.
Minus Points:
Sai Kumar as the ex Naxalite was good but his character did not have much clarity. Some more scenes and what he thinks at the end have not much clarity. Naveen Chandra plays an aggresive cop and he hams to no extent. It is hard to understand why he even said yes to the role which has no importance at all.
The first half of the film is a huge letdown as the hero only roams around the heroine on the bicycle and does not even propose to her. Upon this, the songs showcase the same love angle time and again. All this you have seen in so many films already.
The actual story starts in the second half and the caste angle is brought. But so many stories and fights are showed which are not even connected to the main theme. Just for the sake of convenience, caste-based fights are highlighted which was not needed at all.
Technical Aspects:
Production values of the film are good and so was the BGM. Songs are decent but placed in a horrible way. The camera work was quite impressive as the village setup is showcased quite well. The production design and art department do a neat job with the film. The dialogues written for Subhaleka Sudhakar are quite impressive.
Coming to the director Rawindra Pulle, his story idea is good but his execution was disappointing. He keeps the same old scenes of the hero going after the heroine in the entire first half and does not focus on the rest. Though he brings the basic twist through the heroine’s angle, the manner in which the caste system is highlighted is not good. After a point, there is no agenda in the film as everyone is killing each other for no reason and the emotions go for a toss.
Verdict:
On the whole, Ardha Shathabdham has a decent story but is spoilt by some routine and rushed narration. The first half is boring, routine, and has no value. But things start making sense from the interval. But once the key twist is revealed, things go haywire as too much is served on the plate in the name of the caste system which looks odd and has no emotional connect making this film a boring and silly watch this weekend.
123telugu.com Rating : 2.25/5
Reviewed by 123telugu Team