Deepak Nyathi’s Vichakshana (2014) Movie Review

Cast: Dheeraj, Padmini, Nandeeshwar Goud, Divija, Rahul and Vamsi 

Director: Deepak Nyathi 

Cinematography: Nagaraj 

Music:  Jagannadh Sendhi 

Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope y’all had a nice weekend. Still can’t believe three months have come and gone in 2014. Well, because i usually watch movies in the weekend, I don’t go to the cinema on weekdays. But April brings some good changes with me. I have to admit i have not heard title Vichakshana at all until few days ago when my friend was talking about the latest releases.  It sounds so buggy and flakey, and though I don’t really have a huge taste for drama’s but I was intrigued enough to check this out in theatres. 

Now on to the Review…. 

Virat [Dheeraj] a heedful happens to loose his job offer due to corruption and in the same time Virat’s best friend Rahul’s parent commit suicide due to corrupt Municipal Officer cheating them. That’s when Virat forms team Vichakshana to wipeout corruption and corrupted from the state (With the help of his friends & girl friend Srujana [Padmini]). Towards this goal he conducts sting operations to get hold of secrets of important corrupt people. Sometimes he even resorts to blackmailing techniques. Taking the help of local goon Pandu anna, Virat and team kidnaps 15 random people from the society and as is common with all abductors, the person who has kidnaps wants something in exchange. There is a bit of suspense, we don’t know what’s going to happen to the other characters in the film. As Cheif Minister [Nandeeswar Goud] approves a commando attack on the team. How Virat fights against the corruption in the society through Vichakshana forms the story. 

Coming to Performances in the film, Its Dheeraj first outing as an actor. He needs to learn a lot to deliver a convincing performance. He has good grace in the dance. TV anchor turned actress Padmini looks okay but she has a very limited scope to perform in her role. Comedian Vamsi is middling. MLA Nandeeswar Goud is all right as CM of Andhra Pradesh. Rest of the characters like Jaya Lakshmi, Rahul, Akash, Divija chipped in well.   

This film is deliberately done like an suspense drama without much flair. The raw quality is likely due to its shoe-string budget, but I find it fitting given the subject matter. In fact, I feel that the lack of beauty in this film makes us focus on the story more, there’s not pretty scenery or manipulative music to distract us, it was just the characters and what’s happening to them. There are several questions that crop up in your head as you watch the film. For instance, Why is the person (Who always talks on mobile with the hero) never shown or explained in the end, There is no sufficient base in Virat – Srujana love, romance never enhances the scenes (Expect 4 Songs in the first half), The way an most wanted criminal Mohamad Ali is kidnapped in local place. If only the director had worked on the script with little more interest and had done his homework properly, this corruption-based subject would have looked much better on the screen. Director Deepak Nyathi has come with a subject that has been often shown on the big screen. About a group of minors trying to bring the corruption in the society to an end. There have been several movies (Samanyudu, Yuva Sena, Tagore, Mallana..) in the past with similar storyline. However, what sets this film apart, is the narration (thats slow) of the topic on the big screen by Deepak Nyathi. 

Cinematography by Nagaraju is neat for the small budget. Songs by Jagannath Senadhi are below average, but the way he handled Background score must be appreciated. Choreography by Nikson is okay. Editing by Rama Rao and Mohan could have easily cut short the film by 15 – 20 min in the film. Production values by Asharam Creations are slick compared to the shoe-string budget. 

Deepak Nyathi script does not have any fresh elements, but the film manages to create a small bit of interest because of the way second half is handled with a norm narration and the message in the end. Coming to the negative points, the film looks like old wine in an old bottle because of the typical story. The first half moves at a snail pace, but the second half, despite major turns in the story, lacks the curiosity element and it shows the writer did not do his prep properly to justify several sequences in the suspense drama. After watching three films today Director (Emotional Suspense Drama), Savoir (Adventure Drama) and Vichakshana (Suspense Drama) in Telugu. Vichakshana deserves some respect, even though its not astounding but it is not a damp squib like most routine small films we’ve had in recent times. 

Theatrical Trailer: