Rating: 2.5/5 (Varun Tej rocks but too slow)

Another entrant from the Mega family has arrived. Konidela Varun Tej, the son of Nagababu makes his debut in Mukunda. Directed by Srikanth Addala of SVSC fame, how does the film fare? Find out

Story: Mukunda (Varun Tej) is a young man in a village. When his best friend Krishna gets into a problem with the local chairmans' (Rao Ramesh) daughter, he has to save him from his clutches and whether or not he defeats him forms the rest of the story.

Performances: Varun Tej is incredible. He looks extremely handsome, has amazing height of about 6ft 4in, and has a nice physique and good voice. Expressions wise, he tries his best but can be excused at it is his first movie. He looks so much like a young Chiranjeevi during his Gang Leader days with that light beard. He is a bit stiff in the dance department but than can be worked on. This will be remembered as one of the best debuts in the industry and Varun has the talent to make it big in the industry.

Pooja Hegde as the heroine looks pretty but is wasted.

Rao Ramesh is the highlight of the movie. His antics, dialogue delivery, mannerism and performance are just superb and he steals the show once again. Credit to Addala for writing such a good character for him.

Prakash Raj has a minor role. Ali is ok. Director Shekhar Kammula has a cameo at the end of the film as Varun's uncle.

Technicalities: Music and BGM by Mickey J Meyer are adequate. None of the songs are memorable and pass muster. Gopikamma stands out from the rest for it's taking and lyrics. Cinematography by V. Makikandan is fabulous. He has effectively captured the rustic locations and scenery of the village in a stunning way. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh is poor as the film doesn't contain proper connection from scene to scene resulting is a disjointed narrative. Dialogues by Addala are ok. Direction by Addala is below average. Production Values by Lakshmi Narasimha Productions are excellent. Fights are good.

Anaysis: Mukunda is another debut vehicle so the film if focused on Varun Tej and shows what he is and is not good at. He has all the qualities to become a star and his good looks are an added plus but he chose the wrong film for his debut. Mukunda, despite Varun Tej's rocking screen presence is a flat film that has nothing in it.

Usually, star kids opt for mass action entertainers that run on masala to score a hit. But Varun Tej has taken a different path and entered with what we could call a village action drama. But nothing seems real. Srikanth Addala has penned a story and script that virtually has nothing going for it.

While the film has no comedy, the director could have kept the audience engaged with some interesting elements. But the film has nothing. Mukunda goes from place to place with no aim or anything and one scene to the next makes no sense. In the end, the result is a disjointed narrative that lacks any entertainment or viable scenes. While the conflict between the hero and villain is decent, it fizzles out in the end.

Also the romantic track is tedious. The hero and heroine never speak a single word to each other but are somehow infatuated with each other. Pure nonsense. In the end, the film just doesn't have enough to stay afloat and keep you entertained.

Overall, Mukunda is a film that runs on Rao Ramesh and Varun Tej's performances but other than that, the film is a disjointed narrative with extremely slow narration and no entertainment what so ever. Watch it at your own will.