September 5th, 2020

Rating: 5/10 (V for Very Routine and Very Predictable) 

Cast: Natural Star Nani, Sudheer Babu, Aditi Rao Hydari, Nivetha Thomas, Vennela Kishore

Written and Directed by: Mohankrishna Indraganti

Music: Amit Trivedi

Background Score: Thaman S

Producer: Dil Raju

Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations

The much awaited day is finally here. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Nani's 25th film V is finally releasing on Amazon Prime. It was originally scheduled for a March 25th release date. Starring Nani in a negative role and Sudheer Babu as a powerful cop, V reunites Nani and Sudheer Babu with Mohankrishna Indraganti. Can Indraganti make Nani's silver jubilee film a memorable outing and score a hattrick? Let's find out in today's review.
 

Plot 

A cop named Aditya (Sudheer Babu) is on the hunt for a man (Nani) whi is commiting brutal murders all over various cities. What is his motive and why is he doing all of this forms the rest of V.

Performances

Earlier it rumored that Nani would have an extended cameo appearance but all those rumors are false and he's there from start to finish. As expected it's most his show and his screen presnece and style try their best to carry the movie. He tried a new modulation as a pyshco killer and it's partly convincing. His military getup and look just looks out of place as it's unexpected. Overall Nani does what required of him and what the audiece expects. A good performance from a good actor. 

Sudheer Babu gets a full length role as a supercop and makes the most of it. Though his screen presence radiates throughout the movie, the characterization is ineffective as Nani's character is always one step ahead. 

Nivetha Thomas who's usually very choosy about her roles is criminally wasted as a writer. Aditi Rao Hydari doesn't have enough screen time to make an impact or leave an impression. Vennela Kishore gets 1 or 2 laughs here and there.

Harish Uthaman, Madhusudhan Rao, and Adarsh Balakrishna are wasted and get the most routine roles and stuff they have done N number of times. Tanikella Bharani as a police ACP irritates. All the other actors in the movie are wasted in inconsequential roles. 

Direction

Mohankrishna Indraganti is best known for mature love stories and sensible films which has garnered him the respect and tagline of an underrated director. In V he steps outside his comfort zone and tries to go for a full on action thriller and fails miserably. V given the hype is neither exciting or engaging and there's not a single twist in the entire movie. Story is very predictable and hero's flashback or Sudheer's cop avatar doesn't have any dhum in the narrative. While he got the action sequences and required look for the film, the feel and engrossing aspect is completely off. The direction is bland throughout without any exicitng moments in the 140 mins runtime. If not for Nani's presence, the movie fall apart completely. He should have stuck to his strengths and made a breezy family or comedy entertainer ala Sammohanam or Astha Chamma. The over hype and expectations for Nani's 25th movie turns out to be a huge disappointment and the main factor to blame is Indraganti's writing and direction. 

Technical Aspects

Music by Amit Trivedi is nice to listen to and songs on screen are adequate at best. The fast paced Ranga Rangeli is a huge disappointment as it's picturized on Harish Uthaman of all people on a random island. BGM by Thaman is riveting in parts and too loud the rest of the movie. He blatantly copied the Rakshasudu theme music throughout the movie. Cinematogprahy by PG Vinda is outstanding. The visuals look slick and vibrant and complement the mood and tone of the film perfectly. It's a visual treat throughout. Art Direction by Raveendar is excellent. All the sets in the movie are gorgeously decorated and painted. Editing is by Marthand K Venkatesh is not good. At 140 mins, the film still feels lengthy. Dialogues by Indraganti are useless. Half the movie is just pointless conversations that extend the runtime. Fights are excellently choreographed but the impact is lost due to poor sound mixing in the end. Costumes and Styling are good. Production Values by Dil Raju and co. are vibrant and extravagant. 

Positives

+ Nani

+ Sudheer Babu 

+ Cinematography

+ Action Sequences

Negatives 

- Story 

- Screenplay 

- Direction 

- Pace 

- No Thrills 

Analysis and Final Take

When V was announced as Nani's 25th film, people were already curious how the landmark movie would be. After it was announced he would be playing the villain and it's a multistarrer with Sudheer Babu, expectations reached the next level. The sheer combo of Indraganti and Nani have already delivered two hits in Astha Chamma and Gentleman and naturally everybody was expecting a hattrick. Originally supposed to release in theaters in March after a rocking teaser, the film was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It looked like all hope was lost until Dil Raju and team took the decision to release it on OTT, making it another landmark film as the first big ticket Tleugu movie to release on a stremaing platform. The trailer also raised expectations to the sky and finally the movie released. 

And simply put V is a huge disappointment and not worth the hype one bit. Nani hyped the hell out of the movie pre release to get the audience excited but after watching it, one is very confused as to what Nani saw in this boring action thriller that reeks of routine content and predictability. The first half is unbearably boring and something feels off from the first frame itself. Wheter it be the club scene dialogues that follow the first fight or Sudheer and Nivetha's romantic track or Nani's explanations and excessive talking while committing muders, the entire first half is a trainwreck as a whole. There is no interval bang and post that we get the flashback of why Nani is doing everything he's doing. It's a simple revenge story that actually ahs some good elements about child trafficking and prostituion that thread gets diluted in the overall story and is simply a prop for the main story at hand.

As mentioned before, there's not a single exciting or engaging moment in the entire film. Action movies and thrillers that wow factor or some solid twists and turns and V has none of that and it just moves on a plain graph throughout. The 2nd half is marginally better than the 1st but by the end you feel exhausted becase you can already predict everything that's gonna happen. And the fact that Aditi Rao could somehow send a 1080p video in an email that quickly is so illogical. I don't even think that's possible in real life.

If not for Nani, the movie falls apart completely. The Natural Star tries his best o save the movie but i's in vain. All our favorite heroies silver jubilee movies are turning out to be very disaapointing with Nannaku Prematho, Maharshi and Agnuthaavasi. The content never matches the hype. And that's the best way to describe V. 

Overall, V is a Very Predictable and Very Routine action movie with no exciting moments. Besides Nani, Sudheer Babu, and PG Vinda's splendid camera work, V isn't worth the hype and ends up a colossal disappointment given the circumstances and expectations placed on it. It's almost like the OTT release was a blessing in disguise as the theatrical run would have been anything other than pretty. You watch give it a shot if you like Nani but keep your expectations in check. 

Teja Rao © 2020 — All rights reserved.