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Jeevi
rating: 3.25/5
Punchline: Gripping and entertaining thriller
Genre: Thriller
Type: Straight
Banner: Clap Entertainment & Mythri Movie Makers
Runtime: 131 minutes
Censor Certificate: U/A
Release date: 25 December, 2019
Theater watched: Theater, Screen 1, PVR RK Cineplex, Hyderabad
Online Streaming partner: Amazon Prime
Cast: Sri Simha, Naresh Agastya, Athulya Chandra, Satya, Ajay, Vennela Kishore, Bramahaji, Vidyullekha Raman, Pavala Shyamala, Gundu Sudarshan .etc
Music: Kaala Bhairava
Cinematographer: Suresh Sarangam
Art: A.S. Prakash
Lyrics: Raakendu Mouli
Editor: Karthika Srinivas
Story, Sreenplay & Direction: Ritesh Rana
Producers: Chiranjeevi (Cherry) & Hemalatha
Mathu Vadalara links: |
Babu Mohan (Sri Simha) is a delivery boy who struggles to send money to his ailing mother every month. Yesu (Satya) is his roommate who also works as a delivery boy in the same company. Yesu convinces Babu Mohan that the only way to earn money with this hardworking job is to steal money from unsuspecting customers. Babu Mohan decides to use that trick on an old woman (Pavala Syamala). What happens next forms the crux of the story.
Actors: Sri Simha does a good job for a debutant. He looks stiff and tensed in few scenes. Since his character also behaves like that we actually don’t know if he is acting in it or not :) He has a good voice too. Narensh Agastya is very good. It’s Satya who steals the show with a unique characterization and a perfect comedy timing. He gets to play different characters and does it with ease. Vennela Kishore plays a key role and provides some comedy. Malayalam actress Atulya Chandra makes her debut in Telugu with this film and she is decent. Ajay gets another interesting role. Vidyullekha Raman does another important role. Senior actress Pavala Shyamala is very good and she should be cast in more films. Brahmaji, Gundu Sudarshan and all other actors are cast appropriately. Each actor contributes.
Story - screenplay - direction: It’s a thriller that deals with drugs, hence the title. Debutant director Ritesh Rana comes up with a unique thriller. The screenplay of the film is very good and it doesn’t confuse you. He has connected dots in such a way that we get to know what happened part by part. Suspense is kept intact till the climax of the film. He has infused humor at regular intervals. The running Telugu TV series throughout the film is quirky. And there is a retro style in the film which we mostly see in Hollywood cult films. The movie opening, interval and closing shot is on Chiranjeevi. He has used a popular actor known for negative roles to divert our attention. The way he used Satya (tension & confusion) and Naresh (confidence & clarity) as hero’s thought process in the first half is very innovative and it works big on humor aspect. You can’t guess who the villain is till the climax fight. Sherlock Holmes and breaking bad tv series are used for characters development and it’s fun. The director has shown that this story is inspired by a few newspaper clippings at the end. Direction of the film is good. However, the flying episodes (hallucination/trans) are pretty lengthy (reminds me of Dude flying through bowling alley in The Big Lebowski) and slows down the pace of the film. Ritesh Rana has excellent grip on technical aspects of the film. The film is stylish, yet made on a limited budget. It’s very difficult for a director to make a Telugu film that is based on drugs and then make it appeal for everybody. Ritesh succeeds in it. He will go places in the years to come!
Other departments: Cinematography by Suresh Sarangam is good. It looks very realistic. The visual effects and DI of the film is trendy. Background music by Kaala Bhairava adds more to the emotion/thrill factor. The background music is assisted by good mixing and sound effects. Dialogues written are funny and contemporary. Editing cuts by Karthika Srinivas are trendy. Art direction by AS Prakash is good. Production values by Clap Entertainments and Mythri Movie Makers are good.