Movie: Veera Simha Reddy (God of Masses)
Genre: Action Drama
Cast: Balakrishna, Shruti Hassan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Honey Rose, Duniya Vinay, and Others
Director: Gopichand Malineni
Produced By: Naveen Yerneni, Y Ravi Shankar
Music: S Thaman
Cinematography: Rishi Punjabi
Runtime: 172 Minutes (2hrs 52mins)
Story
Meenakshi (Honey Rose) runs Seema Spicy Restaurant, a Rayalaseema cuisine restaurant. Her son Jai (Balakrishna) falls in love with Eesha (Shruti Hassan). Eesha tells her family about her love and they accept it. When Jai asks his mother to meet Eesha's parents, She reveals about his father Veera Simha Reddy (Balakrishna). Prathap Reddy (Duniya Vijay) and Bhanumati (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar). Why are they trying to kill Veera Simha Reddy? Why did Meenakshi did not tell about his father Veera Simha Reddy to Jai till now and kept it a secret? What happens now? This forms rest of the story.
Artiste Performances
Balakrishna gives a powerful performance. He is at his usual best in Jai's role, but in Veera Simha Reddy's character we can experience his Nata Vishwaroopam. The audience will witness the vintage Balakrishna. Even in emotional scenes, Balakrishna has done an excellent job. He carries the movie on his shoulders with his style, mass swag, and performance.
Shruti Hassan gets limited screen time yet she does a great job. She is stellar with her dance moves.
Honey Rose and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar are outstanding in their roles. Both of them have two shades and they played it superbly. Honey Rose in her younger character looks beautiful and gets emotional weight to the proceedings with her elder character. Varalaxmi makes the drama strong and impactful with her performance.
Duniya Vijay as the antagonist is great. He gives tough opposition and plays his role well. Rajeev Kanakala and Naveen Chandra make their presence felt. The rest of the cast are Ok.
Plus Points
Balakrishna Mass performance
Varalaxmi's stunning performance
Balakrishna's entrance episodes (Jai and Veera Simha Reddy)
Shruti Hassan's dance sequence
Marriage fight episode
Bhoomi pooja sequence
Ministers meeting scene
Pre-Interval to Interval episode
Temple fight
Emotional quotient
Dialogues, elevations, and Mass moments
Thaman's BGM
Visuals
Drawbacks (Which I Felt)
Dull moments in the second half
Runtime
Routineness and Predictability
Analysis
Amid high expectations, Veera Simha Reddy finally hit the screens this Sankranti.
The movie starts off by introducing the antagonist in a menacing way. Then proceedings shift to Istanbul. Balakrishna's Jay character is introduced in a stylish way. The whole episode is a fan feast with Balakrishna mouthing his mark dialogues.
Shruti Hassan is introduced with a hilarious episode. After that movie feel a bit slow. Shruti Hassan impresses with her dance in a particular sequence.
The movie picks up the moment Veera Simha Reddy comes into play. It's just racy, engaging right from his entrance. Amazing sequences in the first half will surely please the audience and are a feast for fans.
The marriage fight scene and Bhoomi pooja episode are terrific. Heroism elevation, Balakrishna mark dialogues, the choreography of fights, everything is perfect. Thaman keeps pumping the adrenaline with his amazing Background score. These two are some of the major highlights of the movie. The minister's meeting scene is yet another highlight involving a few political lines and will win applause.
After some powerful mass episodes, the director turns the steering toward emotions. Pre-Interval to Interval involves a few emotional sequences and an excellent action episode in Istanbul, yet another fan-pleasing sequence.
The interval bang is given on a high emotional note with a twist reveal, driving the story into the emotional direction.
The second half focuses on Veera Simha Reddy's flashback and it feels like a roller coaster ride. There are high moments, and there are dull moments too. But the director holds everything together with drama and emotions he builds in the second half.
Emotions are well blended in a strong way. The family audience will surely connect to these portions. Varalaxmi's performance stands as one of the major highlights in the second half. Especially during the pre-climax episode, she nails it with her performance. Even Honey rose plays her part superbly and brings in the emotional quotient to the proceedings.
After an emotional performance from Varalaxmi, the movie ends with a superb action episode.
Production values are rich. Visuals by Rishi Punjabi are top-notch. Editing could have been better as the second half needs some trimming. Dialogues are powerful and have mass appeal. Especially the dialogues were written for Balakrishna and to elevate Balakrishna worked out big time. Even the dialogues during emotional sequences leave an impact.
Thaman continues his success streak with Veera Simha Reddy. His Songs and BGM are one of the biggest strengths of the movie. While songs entertain the mass audience, its the BGM that's haunting. Whether it be a mass scene or an emotional scene, Thaman adds energy to it and makes it a powerful one.
Gopichand Malineni does a fantastic job with Veera Simha Reddy. He satisfies mass audiences and fans with sensational mass episodes, heroism elevations, and action blocks. He also builds strong drama and emotions, making sure that the family audience too connect to the movie.
(MY) Final Word
Veera Simha Reddy is an out-and-out Balakrishna's show. After Boyapati, it's Gopichand Malineni who utilizes Balakrishna rightly for a subject like this. Though the story is predictable and the pacing goes down in the second half, Balakrishna keeps the audience hooked to the screens with his excellent performance. On a Whole, Veera Simha Reddy ends up as an Enjoyable Balayya-mark entertainer.
Bottom-line: Veera Simha Reddy - Balakrishna's Mass feast.. One Man Show!!
Note: This is my take on the movie. That is why I am not rating the movie. I respect each and every movie. Making people read my review and influencing them to form an impression of a movie before watching the movie is never my intention. I am a Movie lover too. This is just to express my view on the movie. 😊
Review by a Movie Lover