Story

The film has all the elements needed for a Rayalaseema-based avenge drama. The hero has a violent past. To get away from this, he changes his name and shifts to a different place in the latter half. So, Harikrishna plays Seethaiah in the first half and Sivayya in the second part. The film can be a record of sorts for its umpteen characters, number of artistes filling each frame and maximum number of dancers in the song sequences. In that sense, the film is pretty lavish.

Scriptwriter Posani Krishnamurali treads the same old path of rendering the film as a verbal drama with theatrical appeal. The screenplay structure looks as if some preconceived scenes of high-voltage drama are pieced together with an otherwise thin storyline.

Harikrishna plays circle inspector Seethaiah who prides over Rayalaseema's chivalry. A song is shot on him where he is all praise for the region. A local faction leader Venkatarayudu belittles the D.S.P., Seethaiah's boss (played by Ahuti Prasad), while his son rapes the police officer's daughter. Seethaiah then forces the culprit to marry the victim which triggers a never-ending battle between him and Venkatarayudu's family, led by the latter's wife (played by Nalini), while Venkatarayudu is in the U.S.A.

Soon, he comes back to the country and vows to eliminate Seethaiah. But the way the latter rebuts all his moves makes Venkatarayudu suspect that Seethaiah is none other than Sivaiah from his native place Ontimitta in Rayalaseema. Now, the past is narrated to us in a flashback. Sivaiah is bent upon rooting out the evil of factionism from Rayalaseema. But his own father (Rajan P. Dev) continues his killing spree. In one such attack by the rivals, Sivaiah's wife, Seeta (Soundarya), dies after delivering a male child. A vexed Sivaiah now migrates to another town with his son to lead a peaceful life and takes the avatar of Seethaiah. But, he cannot escape the evil even here. With the arrival of Venkatarayudu, things hot up. How Seethaiah tackles the anti-social elements and also convinces his father to take to non-violent path constitutes the concluding drama.

Harikrishna is the be-all and end-all of the film. Director Chowdary appears to have decided to give the hero a new orientation recalling the days of legendary late NTR. Simran plays a girl who escapes from a forced marriage and adds her own bit of comedy. Though her role has nothing to do with the main drama, she proves to be equally strong in comedy scenes which she performs with a perfect sense of timing. Soundarya as Seeta fits the sentimental bill and she performs well.

All the artistes known for their villainous roles like Mukesh Rishi, Satyaraj and G.V. Sudhakar find a place in the film. A number of familiar and unfamiliar character actresses too fill the roles of bloodthirsty women of Rayalaseema, with Nalini at her best. Music by Keeravani goes a long way in keeping the tension alive with an occasional soothing song for relief. Madhu A. Naidu's photographic work is quite laudable.

courtesy: The Hindu