Rating: 10/10 (Awe-mazing)
Cast: Kajal Aggarwal, Nithya Menen, Regina Cassandra, Priyadarshi, Srinivas Avasarala, Eesha Rebba, Murali Sharma, Rohini, Pragathi, with Natural Star Nani as a Fish and Mass Maharaja Raviteja as a Bonsai Tree
Story-Screenplay-Direction: Prashant Varma
Script: Scriptsville
Producer: Nani, Prashanti Tiripineni
Banner: Wall Poster Cinema
Awe! is one film that has created curiosity for a some time now. The trailers hinted at a secretive and plot driven film that features an ensemble cast of many known Telugu actors. Producer by Nani who has been in the form of his life, Awe is the first film from his new banner. Touted to be a path breaking film, does this film by debutante Prashant Varma live upto the hype? Yes it does and he has delivered a classic. Let's find out why
Plot: It's hard to put into words. 8 characters, each having their backstory and motives and how they're all interconnected is what Awe is all about.
Performances: The casting is perfect in this movie. Kajal Aggarwal is the main character of the film yet she has a very limited screen presence in the movie. She is excellent.
Srinivas Avasarala as a scientist fits the role to a T. Eesha Rebba is good in her role and Nithya Menon also does well.
Perhaps it's Regina Cassandra who steals the show with a wicked character who's addicted to drugs and has a funky appearance.
Priyadarshi gets his best role after Pellichoopulu and provides comic relief in an otherwise serious film. Nani as a fish and Raviteja as a Bonsai tree only add to the humor and lighten up the proceedings with their dialogues and humor.
Murali Sharma entertains as an egotistic magician. Pragathi, Rohini, and the rest of the cast all do a very sincere job and play their roles with the utmost conviction.
Direction: Prashant Varma take a bow. Now before you watch this movie, just make sure of two things. One, that you have a brain. And two, that you're not going to see a masala film where logic is not needed and heroines are dumb and fickle and the villain is a caricature. Awe! is screenplay based film that keeps you guessing at every point with it's narrative style. It gives you the feeling that you're watching a Hollywood standard film in Telugu with this movie. The screenplay is just brilliant and how Prashant Varma was able to conceive this idea and execute it so flawlessly is beyond me. This guy is truly a talent to watch out for. Each and every character is important to the story and nowhere did I ever feel bored with the film, contrary to what some websites have written. The acting, music, taking, and everything about this film is just perfect. The entire film builds upto the climax scene and then the explanation is given as to what the entire movie was about. Depending on how high of an intellectual you are, your understanding and decoding of the climax will depend on how much you like this film or not. In other words, you;re either going to hate or love this movie based on the climax. Awe! is not just the best Telugu movie of the year, it's one of the best Telugu movies ever made and one of the best movies ever made in world cinema. The direction is outstanding and full marks to Prashant Varma. Keep up the good work. You will take the industry to great heights in the coming years sir.
Technicalities: Music and BGM by Mark. K Robin is phenomenal. The background score feels the music of a Hollywood film. The theme song in the beginning is also very good. Dialogues are excellent. Cinematography by Karthik Ghattamaneni is flawless and first-rate. Art by Sahi Suresh deserves a special mention. It is simply outstanding and the sets/set created for the film is just incredible. Editing is good as the film runs for just less than 2 hours which is rare for a telugu movie. Production values by Nani are world class and kudos to him for bringing this story to Telugu. It's definitey a welcome change to the routine, formula infested stories that we're used to seeing
Positives:
+ Everything
Negatives:
- Nothing
Final Take and Analysis: My complain about Telugu movies has always been why the industry is so commercial and why we only make films for money. In order to compete with Hindi, Tamil, or Malayalam, we lack the acceptance or the talent to make realistic or content oriented films to garner respect from critics worldwide.
The only film that did that was Baahubali 2. After a short gap, we now have another world class film in the form of Awe.
This film is a path-breaking concept in every respect and truly a must watch for every movie buff and cinema lover. The concept and taking are so unique that anyone will like this movie because it's absolutely mind blowing.
The film sucks you into the narrative right away and you never feel bored compared to what GreatAndhra or Gulte think in their biased and stupid reviews because the reviewer wasn't intelligent enough to understand the film.
If you feel that Telugu movies needs to change, then watch Awe and you will feel that the industry is headed in the right direction. Don't look for heroism and don't comment negative things if you didn't understand the movie.
The harsh reality is that the Telugu audience has rejected incredible films like Vedam, Khaleja, and 1 Nenokkadine in the past due to their inability to understand or accept such different cinema.
If we as an audience want to expand and grow, then we must encourage more films like Awe. The less I say about the film the better, as it is an experience and it can't really be explained in words.
Overall, Awe! is an absolute classic and a world class film. It is one of the best Telugu movies ever made. If you're looking for that change in the industry from routine commercial films, then watch Awe! and be amazed. Don't read any more reviews and just and experience this piece of cinematic brilliance.
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