‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’ review: Ravi Teja’s one man show

Raviteja has been entertaining audience with serious thrillers from the last few movies. The actor has come up with a period action drama “Tiger Nageswara Rao” this time and the story is based on a real-life character. With Raviteja being the lead, the film has a list of famous actors like Anupam Kher, Renu Desai, and Nupur Sanon in crucial roles. The promotional content created much required buzz for the film. The movie was released in theatres and let us see how it fares at box-office.

Story

An intelligence bureau officer Raghavendra Rajput (Anupam Kher) wants to know all about the notorious criminal Tiger Nageswara Rao (Ravi Teja) because the latter throws a challenge that he will rob the PM’s office. Tiger Nageswara Rao is a dangerous thief from the Stuartpuram area and he is the most wanted in Andhra Pradesh for the crimes he committed.

The story is inspired by the real-life character of a famous thief from the 1980s and the crisis in Stuartpuram. The film places a greater focus on TNR’s personal life than on his thrilling robberies, daring escapades, and the captivating cat-and-mouse game between him and the cops. What is his story is the main plot point.

Analysis

Vamsee directs ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao.’ In the past, he directed two films, ‘Dongaata’ and ‘Kittu Unnadu Jagratha.’ Now, he returns with a potential real-life subject.

The film starts on a terrific note, oozing freshness and an intriguing train robbery episode. It instantly captivates the audience and immerses us in the plot. The introduction of Nageswara Rao through a flashback episode narrated by Murali Sharma, along with the period setting, is quite captivating. What follows in Stuartpuram also maintains the momentum for a good thirty minutes.

However, once the narrative shifts to the love track, the rest of the first half, including the crucial interval sequence becomes barely passable. The writing and execution of the love track are dull. The change from an intense robbery backdrop to a love track dilutes the film’s tone.

The second half begins with Nassar sharing TNR’s past with Anupam Kher, and it deviates the film’s direction. The thrilling robberies and escapades by TNR are completely absent, and there isn’t a single thrilling robbery episode throughout the second half.

The entire effort in the second half is to depict TNR as a Robin Hood figure, which drains the energy, leading to an endless drama that unfolds at a very slow pace, involving issues of students and TNR’s kind-hearted assistance and another one sided love track. Surprisingly, Renu Desai’s character also contributes to the ongoing dullness.

Apart from one well-composed, violent action sequence in the second half, there isn’t much that stands out. The background score, which started with a bang at the beginning of the film, also becomes dull as we reach the second half.

Overall, ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’ has a terrific start and a good thirty minutes in the beginning. However, the lengthy runtime offers very few intriguing moments, despite having a unique setting.

Performances

Like always, Raviteja pours in his full efforts for the role of Tiger Nageswara Rao. His performance and looks for the character are appreciable. Tiger Nageswara Rao claims as a real-life inspired character but ends up as a tale of the generous hero role which we see in regular films. The grey shade of the hero in the first half bluffs audience later but ends as a half-backed one.

Nupur Sanon and Gayathri Bharadwaj appear in typical heroine roles and they are just alright. Renu Desai has returned to films after a long time with “Tiger Nageswara Rao” but her role is a letdown. Her role is dull and limited. The “Badri” actress fails to make her re-entry a memorable one. Nasser is usual and Jishu Sen Guptha is routine as a bad cop. Anupam Kher is wasted. Hareesh Peradi will be seen as the only villain in the movie and he is not powerful enough. Murali Sharma will be seen in a brief role and he is fine.

Technicalities

The plot selection of the director Vamsee is good but execution is lacking. The way, the story gets deviated shows his in-experience in handling the bigger subject. The songs by music director GV Prakash are not upto the mark and the BGM in the second half didn’t work well. The film is excessively lengthy, and the editing could have been much better. Cinematography by Madhie is adequate. Abhishek Agarwal Arts spent muchon this and it will be seen on-screen.

Advantages

First 30 Minutes

Action blocks in second half

Core theme

Drawbacks

Lengthy Run Time

Lagging second half

Love tracks

Movie Review by: Suhas Sistu