Tiger Nageswara Rao Review: Vamsee’s ideas present Ravi Teja at best but do not withstand long with runtime
The revenge sequence, two love stories, reasons for robbery, the lives of Stuartpuram people, etc. were all written with good detailing.
Hyderabad: Tiger Nageswara Rao, Ravi Teja’s first pan-Indian film, is released in theatres today. The film is written and directed by Vamsee. Abhishek Agarwal Arts produced the film. Tiger Nageswara Rao is a film based on the real-life character Stuartpuram Nageswara Rao and the incidents in his life. Let us review the film to see if Ravi Teja and Vamsee justified this period story and satisfied the audience in theatres.
The story of Tiger Nageswara Rao starts with a threat to the Prime Minister of India from Nageswara Rao (Niger). The rest of the story deals with the top security officer of the PM knowing about Nageswara Rao, his childhood, his personal and professional lives, and his work with the PM in two stages, one through a police officer who dealt with Nagi and the other through the trainer of Nagi.
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Director Vamsee divided the two halves of the film exactly as the two shades of Nageswara Rao’s life, one (first half) as Stuartpuram Nageswara Rao, showing the wild side of the lead character, his rise in Stuartpuram town as a strong thief, and his first love. The other side (second half) shows us the good qualities of Nagi, his revenge, his marriage life, his sacrifices for the people, and finally his death. Vamsee is so good at the setups and payoffs of the film, where every misconception about Nageswara Rao is corrected and explained with a proper backstory.
The revenge sequence, two love stories, reasons for robbery, the lives of Stuartpuram people, etc. were all written with good detailing. The best part of Vamsee’s writing is his message on the importance of education, quoting the example of B.R. Ambedkar and his caste. But Vamsee failed at something that’s truly hazardous for the film’s unanimous success, and that’s the runtime of the film. Tiger Nageswara Rao feels overextended in the second half, particularly towards the pre-climax portions. Vamsee is solid in his direction too, handling such a grand setup film in periodic times.
The production values of the film are very superior. Both the production design and VFX work are the best examples of top-notch production values. The introduction robbery scene is the best of the entire film, technically. The action episodes were composed well too. The film has an apt colour tone, and the credit goes to the camera, light, and DI departments.
GV Prakash Kumar’s background score is good but has no strong impact. Icchesukuntaale is the best song from the album.
Tiger Nageswara Rao is purely Ravi Tej’s film in all terms, next to Vamsee’s attempt. Ravi Teja brought some power to the film with his intense performance. The presentation of the wildness in the character from Ravi Teja’s performance in the first half is so strong. The action episodes are greatly justified by Ravi Teja’s potency.
Nupur Sanon and Gayatri Bharadwaj are good as the female leads, where Gayatri gets a better scope. Jisshu Sengupta delivers an appreciable performance. Anupam Kher plays the important role that drives the film. Renu Desai is so comfortable and commanding in her special role. Naren and Nassar are good too. Kancharapalem Kishore definitely needs to be looked at.
So Tiger Nageswara Rao gives the audience a new experience for sure in terms of the periodic setup and unknown story. It mostly follows the routine pattern of a commercial action entertainer. Vamsee’s ideas are good to create interest, but they don’t last for long because of their extended runtime. Ravi Teja is all you can watch the film for.
– Saki
