Veera Simha Reddy Review: An early Sankranti treat for Balakrishna fans

This Gopichand Malineni directorial sees the senior actor paired with Shruti Haasan for the first time.

Hyderabad: After the success of ‘Akhanda’, Balakrishna has entered the Sankranti fray to entertain his diehard fans with his eagerly awaited film, ‘Veera Simha Reddy’. This Gopichand Malineni directorial sees the senior actor paired with Shruti Haasan for the first time.

This masala action entertainer also has another treat for Balayya fans – the actor is seen in a dual role, as father and son.

The story begins with Jai (aka Jaya Simha Reddy, played by Balakrishna) falling in love with Eesha (Shruti Haasan) and deciding to marry her. His mother Meenakshi (Honey Rose) invites Veera Simha Reddy (also Balakrishna) – a leader who lives in the hotbed of factionism, Rayalaseema,– for the wedding, which is set to take place in Istanbul where the mother-son duo stays.

For the past 30 years, Veera Simha Reddy has been the target of multiple assassination attempts by Bhanumathi (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar) and Pratap Reddy (Duniya Vijay). While the first 15 minutes set the premise of the film, albeit at a slow pace, it raises questions like Who is Veera Simha Reddy, Why is he living in Rayalaseema while his wife and son live in Istanbul?, Who are Bhanumathi and Pratap Reddy and why do they want to kill him? And the rest of the story answers these questions.

With the entry of Veera Simha Reddy, the story picks up pace and entertains Balayya fans with mass elements like well-choreographed fights, vehicles flying in the air, punchlines that garner whistles, and much more.

Needless to say, it’s Balakrishna’s show all the way. His dominating presence, aggressive demeanour, unbeatable swag, energetic dance moves and dialogue delivery are the film’s major assets.

Varalaxmi Sarathkumar excels in her role and performs on a par with the lead actor. Her role is well-etched and she is shown as someone who can take on the might of Balakrishna with equal aggression and dominance. Honey Rose does justice to her role and shines in the few scenes that she is seen. Shruti Haasan is relegated to a secondary role, limited to song sequences, with no scope for performance.

Director Gopichand proves he is capable of helming a pure action drama.