Director Jyothirao Mohit knows his audience well. He avoids heavy morals or rigid structures and lets humour guide the way. The soundtrack, filled with social-media-style background cues, and the sharp editing, along with the atmosphere, keep the film lively and intriguing. Lack of a stronger payoff could easily be overlooked for its consistent humour. A small but significant visual motif appears throughout the film: Jagan repeatedly applies a balm for temporary relief, which is also true of the film. Amruthaanjan’s humour, lightly applied, is instantly effective and never meant to linger. In a crux, Amruthaanjan, like its YouTube shorts, provides some relief, brings a laugh, and moves on. And maybe that’s the point: sometimes, relief is all you need.
Athiradi is a loud film in every sense of the word. The characters are loud. The music is loud. And with the story unfolding against the backdrop of a campus festival, the ambience is naturally loud too. There’s a restless, crazy energy to the film, driven majorly by editor Chaman Chakko, who steps on the gas every time the narrative threatens to slow down. His flashy, fancy cuts give the film the pace and rhythm of an extended Instagram reel. But that also means Athiradi trades emotional intensity and character depth for spectacle and set pieces, resulting in a shallow yet enjoyable youthful entertainer that still gives enough bang for the buck.
So what makes Drishyam a franchise people love to keep revisiting? The family drama and emotional layers are crucial, but it thrives largely in the clever twists and the high it elicits. Drishyam 3 lacks sorely on that note, with very few moments that would make people go, 'Wow, how on Earth did Georgekutty have that covered?' You can't blame the viewer because that's how the franchise and its numerous iterations have trained its audience for all these years. But to be fair, Jeethu deserves a huge pat on his back for bravely opting for a profound ending, sticking true to Georgekutty’s beautifully evolving arc. Only that the real problem lies in how it is arrived at. Cons of reverse engineering, perhaps.
The real mystery isn’t about solving the case, but rather about figuring out the inner selves of each other by sheer accident, even if it doesn’t necessarily link to the murder. These interactions are messy, raw, and revealing, never losing steam. There is a lived-in quality to the dialogue, to how the ramblings run over each other in a spacious room full of people trying to be heard. The banter sounds real, including the forced incorporation of a few bad jokes because they are better than awkward silences. So many interesting conversations unfold that after a point it ceases to matter who killed Sohrab — yet the mystery remains, simmering underneath and never letting you off the hook. The narrative often risks capsizing while keeping track of too many characters, diluting its own impact as a thriller, but the conversations bring us back each time.
Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu is a complete Chiranjeevi film where the star carries the entire narrative on his shoulders. Director Anil Ravipudi delivers a typical commercial entertainer without a strong story or logic. While the first half is engaging, the second half feels dragged and forced.
It reminds us that no matter how loud life becomes, we eventually find ourselves returning to the promises we made to our mothers and the lessons our teachers left behind.
Sharadhaa of The New Indian Express said that "Rakky borrows the language of an underworld drama but speaks the vocabulary of a commercial entertainer.
That is one of the more astute decisions in the screenplay: understanding someone's motivations is not the same as excusing their actions, and Aasha remains compelling because it makes its protagonist sympathetic without making her blameless.
In the end, Band Melam, which was expected to be a vibrant musical drama, turns out to be a dull and disappointing experience. Kona Venkat, known for his strong writing in the past, misjudges the script and relies too heavily on the popularity of the lead pair. The film stands as an example that success cannot be replicated without a strong story, engaging screenplay, and effective narration.
