Anukoni Prayanam starring Rajendra Prasad in the lead role has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it fares.

Story: Prominently, the film revolves around two Telugu-speaking friends Rajendra( Rajendra Prasad) and Ramu(Narasimha Raju) working at a construction site in Orissa. As his friend dies unexpectedly, to fulfill his friend’s last wish, Rajendra Prasad decides to carry his friend’s body to the nativity place near Rajahmundry. What sort of incidents will Rajendra Prasad face during his road journey while carrying his friend’s dead body, forms the crucial crux.

Performances: Rajendra Prasad is okay with his usual acting. The best part is that his over-the-top fun elements are not seen in the movie. A couple of friendship-related emotional scenes featuring Rajendra Prasad and Nara Simha Raju are executed on a decent note.

Senior actor Nara Simha Raju is alright in his key role. Other artists such as Tulasi, Prema, Subhaleka Sudhakar, Ravi Babu, Satya among others are decent in their respective roles.

Jogi Brothers are okay in their jovial roles. Other artists such as Thagubothu Ramesh and Dhanraj are okay in their cameo roles.

Technicalities: The music composed by S Siva Dinavahi is okay. While all the situational songs are passable on screen, his background elevates a few key portions. Editing by Ram Tumu is fine as he kept the runtime within limits.

The cinematography work by Mallikarjun Naragani is decent as he showcased the natural locations in and around Orisa and Vizag on a beautiful note. The production values for this low-budget film are okay.

Analysis: Director Venkatesh Pediredla’s on-paper idea of exploring human values by inserting a friendship thread is good. He even incorporated the Covid pandemic testing times in the storyline nicely but struggled to execute in an effective manner.

If the narrative is mixed with some hard-hitting hurdles the public faced during the Covid testing times, the result would have been much better. To summerize, Anukoni Prayanam is a friendship drama that lacks proper depth in the character detailing and connectivity in the narrative.

Verdict: Fails to impress!

Rating: 2.5/5