HYDERABAD : One of the three stories in 'Sri ranga Neethulu' is about Aishwarya (Ruhani Sharma) and Varun (Viraj Ashwin), a young couple struggling to communicate their desire to get married with their conservative parents. There is also a prospective groom for Aishwarya who stands as a threat to the couple. This groom could have easily been reduced to someone evil, caricaturish or shallow, but the film pulls a surprise on us. Following a scene with him that has us rolling on the floor, he is also presented as someone with too much clarity and wisdom for people around him. He is in the film for barely four minutes, but has more depth and colour than the average protagonist of a romantic drama.
This is how director Praveen Kumar VSS stands out with his debut feature. 'Sriranga Neethulu' is a rare film that understands the essence of dramedy, straddling the twin moods of this genre with grace and finesse.
'Sri ranga Neethulu' follows the journey of four young people whose situations are relatable, heartfelt, and sometimes all too uncomfortably true. Suhas plays Samson Shiva, a commonplace electronics repairman who wants everyone, especially people in his neighbourhood, to know about his philanthropic deeds. Meanwhile, Karthik (Karthik Rathnam) is a drug addict who seemingly has no ambition to put his life back on track. Then we have Aishwarya and Varun, upper middle-class elite individuals, who are finally facing the consequences of their family’s underlying conservatism. These three narratives are interconnected yet run in parallel to each other.
There is a lot to savour here. It’s not just the absurd hilarity of the situations but also the way they encapsulate the emotional grain of the story. At one point, Aishwarya (Ruhani) is compelled to attend a video call from her prospective mother-in-law. She finds a corner in the room that doesn’t divulge anything about her whereabouts. But Aishwarya is mistaken—every part of her room is riddled with secrets and truth bombs that her elders are better off not knowing. That’s the dilemma of being a young lover in current times—you are all about truth and expression, except your own people are probably not ready to hear it. The performances in the film also help us stay invested in the narrative.
Suhas is expectedly riveting in his portrayal of Shiva. Ruhani Sharma is impressive in the way she lends her character an understated dignity, without coming across as muted. Karthik Rathnam, meanwhile, delivers the film’s most challenging performance, essaying a character that is largely about navigating an internal storm, while maintaining an indifferent exterior.
A film like this depends on form as much as it does on story, and the director is aware of the same. Many of these moments work purely because of Praveen Kumar’s delicate understanding of tonality. Karthik, despite his outrageous debauchery, is clearly a flawed character, and the film never lets us forget that. In my favourite sequence of the film, where Shiva attempts to avenge his rivals one late night, the director makes exceptional use of quick cuts and sound to create drama.
It’s a scene brimming with tension, with our protagonist’s wellbeing at stake, and yet all the tension is relieved through our chuckles. It also leaves an impact because the humour continues to ascend with each moment, only to explode with a sudden dark development.
The film falters in the final act, where the narrative ends up preachy while trying to find a hopeful culmination of events for its protagonists. The relationship between Aishwarya and Varun—including their central conflict—is not chalked out adequately and as a result, the penultimate confrontation between these two looks rather forced.
On the other hand, the way Karthik and Shiva confront their demons is far more convincing. Karthik’s journey, in particular, is fascinating. Throughout his downfall, he does not show any sign of redemption or self-reflection but when a big conversation happens with an elderly figure, it rings true. This makes Karthik’s transformation feel more earned. Karthik’s story is also the most heartwarming because it has the strongest supporting character in Karthik’s father (played by Devi Prasad).
At first glance, it is easy to read Karthik’s father as yet another dismissive parent figure who only knows how to be disappointed with his son. However, the narrative progresses to situations where we empathise more with the father figure than Karthik. He is a middle-aged man who sticks by his self-destructive son in the most grave of circumstances, without throwing any tantrums. After how we were introduced to him, this comes as a surprise. The story then becomes about Karthik’s father as much as it is about Kartik himself. 'Sri ranga Neethulu' stands out for its empathy towards both youngsters and the generation that raised them.
At a time when films are increasingly focusing on good versus evil narratives, it’s refreshing to watch a film that treats its whole universe as one, and accordingly treats its people with equal dignity and depth. For all its limitations, 'Sri ranga Neethulu' is primarily a film that’s interested in the human condition. How many recent Telugu films can you say that about?
Film: Sri ranga neethulu
Cast: Suhas, Ruhani Sharma, Karthik Rathnam, Viraj Ashwin, Devi Prasad, Rag Mayur
Director:Praveen Kumar VSS
Rating: 3.5/5