Starring : Shruti Haasan, Eesha Rebba, Amala Paul, Lakshmi Manchu, Jagapathi Babu, Ashima Narwal
Directed by : Nag Ashwin, B.V. Nandini Reddy, Tharun Bhascker, Sankalp Reddy
Produced by : Ronnie Screwvala, Ashi Dua
Music by : Vivek Sagar
Edited by : Upendra Varma
Netflix is ready with its first original anthology film Pitta Kathalu that is directed by four noted directors, Tharun Bhascker, Nag Ashwin, Sankalp Reddy, and Nandini Reddy. The film is out and let’s see how it is.
Story:
Ramula – It is the story of a small town Telangana girl named Ramula(Saanve Meghana) and her fit-for-nothing boyfriend(Abhay Bethiganti). How a local politician called Swaroopakka(Lakshmi Manchu) uses the couple for her political purpose is the basic theme.
Meera- This story is about a young wife named Meera(Amala Paul) who goes through a tough time because of her suspicious and crazy husband(Jagapathi Babu) who is 18 years elder than her.
X Life- It is the story of a young man played by Sanjith Hegde who takes over the world with his futuristic technology called X- Life which has billions of users.
Pinky – This story is about an aspiring writer(Satyadev) who is married but still has an affair with his ex-wife played by Eesha Rebba.
What’s Good:
The film has four stories and the one that manages to impress big time is Tharun Bhascker’s Ramula which is based in rural Telangana. Right from the characters to the narration, everything is so good in this short film. The lead pair, Saanve, and Abhay are too good and give realistic performances. Abhay proves his worth once again as his comic timing and screen presence is effective. Saanve is also quite impressive as the village belle. But it is Lakshmi Manchu who takes away the cake as Swaroopakka. She is wicked, tacky, and mouths the Telangana accent with authority. She brings a lot of depth to the film with her stylish performance.
The other story that impresses is Nandini Reddy’s Meera. Jagapathi Babu plays the suspicious husband with aplomb and the ending that is given to this story is quite good. Amala Paul is also effective in her role. Nandini Reddy takes a U-turn from her regular romantic dramas and narrates something that is really different.
Eesha Rebba is good in her role but even better was Ashima Narwal as he had a bit more emotion to showcase. Sanjith Hegde, who plays the main part in X Life is also quite good in his weird role.
What’s Bad:
Firstly, there was so much hype created on this anthology series. But one can clearly say that it surely does not live up to the hype. There were reports that the film would be about lust but that angle is also not showcased in the film.
Shockingly, Nag Ashwin’s X Life is boring and has no meaning at all. It is too futuristic and until a point, you won’t understand what is going in the short film. The VFX part is good and it is hard to understand why the likes of Shruthi Haasan even did the film.
Last but not least is Sankalp Reddy’s film which is based on an illegal relationship. It is started well but has no meaning at all as it progresses. It is also ended on an abrupt note. Sankalp Reddy’s direction is below par and has no direction whatsoever. It makes even the likes of Satyadev lost in the setup.
Technical Aspects:
As the film is made by Netflix, the production values are top-notch. Even for the smallest of the characters, noted artists are used and this makes the film look rich. The BGM by Vivek Sagar in Ramula is top-notch and elevates the proceedings quite a bit. The dialogues written for each of the short films are also good. The editing part is also impressive and so was the production design for each of the stories.
Verdict :
On the whole, Pitta Kathalu does not live up to the hype created. Out of the four stories, only Ramula is the best and stands out. Nandi Reddy’s Meera has some really good moments by the end. Nag Ashwin and Sankalp Reddy’s short films are boring and silly to the core. All those who watch the film thinking it is the Hindi version of Lust Stories will be disappointed. The film is a simple amalgamation of four short stories and has nothing great to showcase.
Rating: 2.75/5
