Noted director Hanu Raghavapudi’s period love story, Sita Ramam starring Dulquer Salmaan and Mrunal Thakur as the lead pair is out for the public viewing today.
Story: Set in 1980’s time period, the film opens with Afreen( Rashmika Mandanna) introduction and her search for Sita ( Mrunal Thakur) to deliver a letter written by Lieutenant Ram ( Dulquer Salmaan) from Madras regiment twenty years back. Who are Ram and Sita? What is their story? How Afreen is involved in the entire setup? Will she able find the whereabouts of Sita and deliver the letter written by Ram to her, forms the crucial crux of the film.
Performances: As usual, Dulquer Salmaan did justice to the given role. His performance as a soldier elevates a couple of war scenes set in Kashmir backdrop. Heroine Mrunal Thakur is stunning with her screen presence. Though the film is her debut one in Telugu, Mrunal tried her best to convey the emotions with her eyes and face expressions.
Rashmika Mandanna is good in her key role. Her acting during a few scenes in the second half add weightage to the proceedings. Hero Sumanth did his part quite decently as high-grade army officer.
Tharun Bhascker is okay in Rashmika’s friend role. Noted actors such as Prakash Raj, Gautam Menon, Sachin Khedekar among others perfectly fitted in the their small but key roles.
While Sunil shines in one scene as a ticket collector, Vennela Kishore evokes good laughs in his hero’s sidekick role.
Technicalities: Undoubtedly, the cinematography work by PS Vinod and Shreyaas Krishna is a major advantage for the film. The duo presented the film on a solid note and captured the out door locations in a superb manner.
Music by Vishal Chandrashekhar is soothing and elevates the mood of the film nicely. While all his songs are situational and audible on screen, the background score works as a magic for this romantic drama.
Editing work by Kotagiri Venkateshwara Rao is alright but he would have chopped close to ten minutes of the film to make things even more appealing.
The production design team has done brilliant job in creating an authentic period setup. As always, the production values for this Vyjayanthi Movies banner are lavish.
Analysis: Director Hanu Raghavapudi delivers it this time with his execution part. Though the film looks like as emotional love story, the way Hanu incorporated various sub-plots in it good. This time the he director made sure that the mistakes done in his pervious films are not repeated in Sita Ramam.
The chemistry between Dulquer and Mrunal has been showcased in a beautiful manner. Hanu took good care in bringing out natural performances from the artists which can be termed as one of the major assets for the film.
To summerize, Sita Ramam is a emotionally charged love story that has good setup and gripping narrative. The suspense factor is also carried well throughout the film with Rashmika’s character. If you ignore a few pace related issues at times in the second half, Sita Ramam will end up as a good theatrical watch.
Verdict: Engaging!
Rating: 3/5
