Ante Sundaraniki is a new-age rom-com which tells the story of Sundaram, who keeps lying his way to marriage with a Christian girl. The resulting drama is about how he comes across various obstacles, and so on to get the girl is the crux of the story.
I'll list the negatives first, so the positives stand out.
First, it takes around 1 HOUR TO ESTABLISH OUR PROTAGONIST AND HIS LOVE INTEREST!!! And that too, it just bobs around back and forth, with some ambiguous dialogue and action which tries to build intrigue of Sundar's story, between the present, the past, and another past; all confusing us with the timelines for an insubstantial story. It bloody introduces the dramatic premise and situation at around 1hr 10 mins into the movie, and I was literally zoning out by that time. The tighter edit of the first 1hr could have made the movie more enjoyable.
The second, is the bloody BACKGROUND SCORE!!! It seems to blare every second without a break, and it really frustrated me. Couldn't even hear half the dialogues because of it. Vivek Athreya doesn't know when to let the moments be quiet and let them breathe, and when the music should be let free. It just keeps blaring every second, and that desensitised me to any meaningful emotion.
Thirdly, it was the constant cuts (combined with the unmemorable music of Vivek Sagar), and the implication of chaos that just disoriented me, especially during the first hour. It just felt too chaotic for a romantic comedy. As if a drugged out Michael Bay directed an Indian rom-com.
Lastly, I could feel jack sh-t for the romance between Nani and Nazriya. Zero freaking chemistry at all. They just lie on each other's shoulders and go. That's it.
I get it, Athreya, you're trying to be complex. We all want to be. But someone should've knocked you on the head, and told you to be to the point, and take it slow. But you misinterpreted the opposite, and made us suffer through the chore.
But to take the positives out, the cinematography by Niketh Bommi is pretty good. Visually immersive and saturated, the world of Sundaran drew me in, if not, for sometime. Even though it weirdly looks like advertisement cinematography - high contast and saturated.
The second half picks up well, with interesting obstacles, and pretty good humour. Watch out for that sexologist scene with Rahul.
The actors did their part pretty well, excluding the child actors. Kid Sundaram danced well though.
And yeah, that's it. There wasn't anything that really stood out in this film, except some forgettable jokes. Really wanted to switch off the film 45 mins through, but struggled to keep going. And yeah, there are some rewards, but nothing worth to spare you valuable time to sit through. Can probably watch it for the signature Nani acting, some humor and the striking cinematography.
I'll list the negatives first, so the positives stand out.
First, it takes around 1 HOUR TO ESTABLISH OUR PROTAGONIST AND HIS LOVE INTEREST!!! And that too, it just bobs around back and forth, with some ambiguous dialogue and action which tries to build intrigue of Sundar's story, between the present, the past, and another past; all confusing us with the timelines for an insubstantial story. It bloody introduces the dramatic premise and situation at around 1hr 10 mins into the movie, and I was literally zoning out by that time. The tighter edit of the first 1hr could have made the movie more enjoyable.
The second, is the bloody BACKGROUND SCORE!!! It seems to blare every second without a break, and it really frustrated me. Couldn't even hear half the dialogues because of it. Vivek Athreya doesn't know when to let the moments be quiet and let them breathe, and when the music should be let free. It just keeps blaring every second, and that desensitised me to any meaningful emotion.
Thirdly, it was the constant cuts (combined with the unmemorable music of Vivek Sagar), and the implication of chaos that just disoriented me, especially during the first hour. It just felt too chaotic for a romantic comedy. As if a drugged out Michael Bay directed an Indian rom-com.
Lastly, I could feel jack sh-t for the romance between Nani and Nazriya. Zero freaking chemistry at all. They just lie on each other's shoulders and go. That's it.
I get it, Athreya, you're trying to be complex. We all want to be. But someone should've knocked you on the head, and told you to be to the point, and take it slow. But you misinterpreted the opposite, and made us suffer through the chore.
But to take the positives out, the cinematography by Niketh Bommi is pretty good. Visually immersive and saturated, the world of Sundaran drew me in, if not, for sometime. Even though it weirdly looks like advertisement cinematography - high contast and saturated.
The second half picks up well, with interesting obstacles, and pretty good humour. Watch out for that sexologist scene with Rahul.
The actors did their part pretty well, excluding the child actors. Kid Sundaram danced well though.
And yeah, that's it. There wasn't anything that really stood out in this film, except some forgettable jokes. Really wanted to switch off the film 45 mins through, but struggled to keep going. And yeah, there are some rewards, but nothing worth to spare you valuable time to sit through. Can probably watch it for the signature Nani acting, some humor and the striking cinematography.