OTT Review: Paruvu – Telugu web series on ZEE5

ZEE5 has now come up with a Telugu web series named Paruvu. Noted director Pavan Sadineni is the showrunner. Nivetha Pethuraj, Naresh Agastya, Naga Babu, and Praneetha Patnaik played vital roles. Let’s see how the series is.

Story:

Dolly, a.k.a Pallavi (Nivetha Pethuraj), is from an upper caste family hailing from Guntur. She marries Sudheer (Naresh Agastya), who belongs to a lower caste, against her parents’ wishes. Dolly and Sudheer live separately in Hyderabad, and one day, the former learns about her uncle’s death. She decides to pay her last respects to her uncle. Dolly’s cousin Chandu, a.k.a Chandra Sekhar (Sunil Kommiisetty), picks the couple from Hyderabad. During the journey, Dolly doubts that Chandu has come to kill them. Things get serious, and Sudheer kills Chandu. What happened next? What did Dolly and Sudheer do to get away with the crime? This forms the crux of the story.

Plus Points:

At the outset, it might seem that Paruvu is a crime thriller, but there is a lot that goes on in the series. The show deals with multiple elements, including caste discrimination, honor killings, social strata, and greedy politicians. Generally, the narrative gets chaotic when there are many characters and subplots, but kudos to the writing team for pulling something of this sort. Not just Nivetha Pethuraj and Naresh Agastya, every actor plays their part in the story progression and makes their presence felt.

All the characters in Paruvu get involved in a tricky situation, which makes things very interesting. Nivetha and Naresh Agastya get embroiled in a crime, while Praneetha Patnaik worries about her fiance, who goes missing. Then there is Naga Babu, the sitting M.L.A., who faces the heat due to an honor killing. All these characters keep trying to find solutions to their problems, and in this process, they do what is good for them and are least bothered about the consequences of their actions. Due to the grey characterizations, we won’t be able to take sides, and this makes us travel with all the characters throughout.

The multiple events are superbly linked without creating confusion. Nivetha Pethuraj has got the best role of her career, and she aced it to perfection. Naresh Agastya’s role is subtle for the most part, and the actor delivers a fantastic performance. More than the subtlety, Naresh Agastya’s performance is pretty good when he loses his cool. This side of the actor has never been explored before.

Naga Babu is stunning as a politician, and he brings his experience to the table. However, the show stealer is Praneetha Patnaik. She got a meatier role in Paruvu and performed it to the best of her capability. The way in which Praneetha goes all out to find her missing fiance is too good. Sunil Kommisetty, Raj Kumar Kasireddy, Ramesh, Moeen, and Bindhu Chandramouli bring depth to the series.

Minus Points:

The starting episode and character intros of Naresh Agastya and Nivetha Pethuraj could have been presented in a better manner. It takes a bit of time initially for us to connect to the world of Paruvu and comprehend the proceedings. The pacing dips in a few episodes and the series could have done with a less runtime.

The series has many cuss words and it might be difficult for family viewing. The makers claim that the grey characters and the situations justify the foul language, but even then, this aspect will restrict a section of the audience from watching the show.

Technical Aspects:

Shravan Bharadwaj’s background score is impactful, and the visuals by Chinta Vidya Sagar create a tense mood. The production values by Sushmitha Konidela are too good. The editing, however, could have been better.

Showrunner Pavan Sadineni and directors Siddharth Naidu and Rajasekhar Vadlapati did a good job. Even the cliffhanger, which gives a lead to the second installment, is neatly presented. The length is one major drawback to which the makers have paid more attention.

Verdict:

On the whole, Paruvu is a multi-layered web series that is engrossing for the most part. The multiple subplots grab our attention, and the manner in which all the dots are connected is pretty good. The series benefits from solid writing and mesmerizing performances of Nivetha Pethuraj, Naresh Agastya, Naga Babu, and Praneetha Patnaik. The pacing dips intermittently, and the duration is lengthy. It takes some time to connect to its world and characters, and once that happens, Paruvu becomes an engaging watch.

123telugu.com Rating: 3.25/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

Click Here For Telugu Review