Acclaimed filmmaker Deva Katta is back with a film titled, Republic. Starring mega hero Sai Dharam Tej in the lead role, the film has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it fares.
Story: Set in Telleru lakh backdrop in a Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, the film showcases the political scenario existing in the region. A sincere district collector named Abhiram( Sai Dharam Tej) tries to solve the problems being faced by the people from the political system. In the process, Abhiram goes against ruling party leader Vishaka Vani( Ramya Krishna) which brings more troubles.
What kind of challenges will the district collector Abhiram face in rescuing the people in Telleru region? How is Dasharath’s( Jagapathi Babu) character interlinked with the entire setup? Will Abhiram be able to bring a change in the corrupted political system with his work? To know that, you have to catch the film in the theaters near you.
Performances: Sai Dharma Tej is fine in his role as a youngster with thoughts to bring a change in the corrupted society. His intense dialogue delivery related to the current political system brings depth to the proceedings to an extent.
Jagapathi Babu is okay as a government officer but his character lacks proper clarity in it. Ramya Krishna as a powerful politician is convincing in her role and gave a decent performance.
Heroine Aishwarya Rajesh did her part decently but her character has no proper justification in the movie. In one word, her role in a nowhere connected with the core film proceedings and looks like a seperate track altogether.
Other actors such as Srikanth Iyengar, Amala among others are okay in their supporting roles.
Technicalities: Music by Mani Sharma is okay as all the songs are passable on screen. His background score doesn’t feature Mani Sharma’s trademark sounding.
Cinematography by M Sukumar is apt for the film’s genre as he tried to bring quality to the film with his framing and lighting setup. Praveen KL’s editing is disappointing as the film lacks proper flow in the narration part.
Production values are adequate and so is the case with the production design.
Analysis: Written and directed by Deva Katta, Republic has been carrying good expectations among the audience as the director has earlier delivered films such as Prassthanam but Deva Katta has disappointed completely with his presentation in Republic.
Though Deva Katta’s ideas and the core concept interlinked with the political system in good, his screenplay looks like a huge mess. After showcasing various subplots in the first half, Deva Katta failed to give a proper justification with his narration part.
Even though both Sai and Jagapathi Babu did their part decently, the father-son relationship between them is not executed in a convincing manner. On the other hand, the political drama executed with Ramya Krishna’s character centric has not been channelized in a right manner. The ending of the film is a complete disappointment as it lacks proper title justification.
Overall, Deva Katta tried to showcase various issues related to the corrupted political system with Republic but his uneven screenplay, slow-paced and dragged narration makes the film a disappointing watch.
Verdict: Drab execution!
Rating: 2/5
