The much-awaited web show, Rana Naidu from digital giant Netflix starring Daggubati hero Venkatesh and Rana in the lead roles is now streaming on the OTT platform. Let’s see how it fares.
Story: Set in Mumbai backdrop, the show starts with the introduction of Rana Naidu( Rana) as a troubleshooter in the Bollywood and sports sectors. Being an aggressive-natured person, Rana Naidu leads a separate life with his wife and kids. On the other hand, his two other brothers Tej Naidu( Sushanth Singh) and Pawan Naidu( Abhishek Banerjee) who has a dispute with Rana Naidu stay away from him. One fine day, Rana Naidu’s father Naga Naidu( Venkatesh) releases from jail after fifteen-year imprisonment. What is the backstory of Naga Naidu? What is the reason behind his imprisonment? How things take a cat-and-mouse turn with the entry of Naga Naidu into Rana Naidu’s life, forms the key crux.
Performances: Victory Venkatesh is outstanding in his role which has different shades in it. His makeover as an old-aged person adds realistic texture to the proceedings. Venky pulled out the role with utmost ease and grace with his majestic and riveting screen presence.
On the other hand, Rana is equally impressive in his role as a celebrity troubleshooter. His face-off scenes with Venkatesh are executed in a gripping manner. Venky and Rana literally lived the combination scenes between the father-son duo. Though Rana has a good screen space in the show compared to Venky, the senior actor just mesmerizing in his limited yet key character.
Surveen Chawla is impressive in her performance-oriented role as Rana Naidu’s wife role. Other noted artists such as Abhishek Banerjee and Sushanth Singh did a fine job. Other supporting artists like Ashish Vidyarthi, Adithya Menon, Mukul Chadda, Rajesh Jais, and Rajesh Kumar are okay in their roles.
Technicalities: The cinematography work by Jayakrishna Gummadi is top-notch as he showcased the dark shades in the crime world wonderfully. The night mood shots and rich frames elevate the mood nicely.
The music scored by John Stewart Eduri is okay during the initial episodes but is captivating during the final portions. The editing work would have been even better and trimmed some long and unwanted sequences. The production values from Netflix’s original series are grand. Production design work is fine as well.
Analysis: It is widely known that the show marks the digital debut for Venkatesh. Even though Rana did a couple of OTT talk shows earlier, Rana Naidu is Rana’s first web show. The expectations for this Daggubati family show are very high among the digital audience.
Though the director duo Suparn Verma- Karan Anshuman did their part as per the script, they failed to allocate an equal screen presence for Venkatesh and Rana. Adding to it, the first six episodes of the show lack high moments in them and have dull sequences but tried to balance the tempo in the final episodes. To summarize, Rana Naidu is a crime actioner that has stunning performances from the lead cast. Despite a few disappointing portions and an overdose of adult content and foul language, the show ends up as a one-time watch.
Verdict: Venkatesh and Rana’s show all the way!
Rating: 2.5/5
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