There are hundreds of movies releasing every year in Tollywood but very few of them take the risk of making a meaningful movie and luckily Appatlo Okadundevadu is one of them. It is such a well made that you will feel for the characters even when you go home.
This is the second directorial venture of Sagar K Chandra, whose first movie Ayyare wasn’t a smash hit but it still manages to draw some eyeballs when it plays on TV. Sagar has however raised the bar on this retro-drama and his writing does the trick here.
The way Sagar handled each and every character throughout the movie is creditworthy and the director succeeds in virtually taking his audience into the 90’s era. The deft screenplay and writing is hardly seen these days proving that you need to not have lavish characters and sets to pull off a good movie.
In brief, Appatlo Okadundevadu is the story of Railway Raj(Sree Vishnu), a to-be cricketer who unknowingly gets into conflict with a honest cop Imtiaz Ali(Nara Rohit) and what happens when these guys go head-to-head.
Both Nara Rohit and Sree Vishnu’s characters are very well written and have enough depth, to keep the audience hooked till the very end. There are phases during the film, where you sympathise with one of the characters only to change your mind few minutes later. Again, the magic lies in the writing.
Sree Vishnu was excellent as Railway Raj and lived in the character, right from looking vulnerable in the first half to being ultra aggressive in the next. Rohit was again top notch as a policeman and his one-liners were received with a lot of applause. Tanya Hope was apt for a debutant.
The support cast is also one of the strengths of the movie with Brahmaji and Prabhas Sreenu providing some good laughs, while Rajiv Kankala provides a crucial twist to the story. Sasha Singh as a journalist, Ajay and Sreenivas Reddy provide ample support.
Music and songs don’t play a spoil spot but a special mention should be given to the background score by Suresh Bobbili, which elevates the confrontation scenes between the lead duo. Editing is also one of the strengths.
The movie takes some time in establishing the characters of Rohit and Sree Vishnu, but the movie really picks up pre-interval and never looks back from there, with the last 20 mins turning out to be excellent. Few sequnces involving cricket, the 90’s essence and dialogues provide ample support to the script.
Special mention should be given Nara Rohit for coming forward to produce this off-beat film which was a risky attempt considering the genre. Overall, there are hardly any content-oriented movies these days in Tollywood and Appatlo Okadundevadu delivers big time on it making this a must watch. Highly Recommended.
