Underplayed NTR, overplayed violence...!!!

Oosaravelli, starring NTR and Tamannaah, is so violent that it stands the risk of being misinterpreted as loud and pointless. However, behind this veil of violence lies a tale of a young woman who seeks the help of a guy to avenge her family’s murders.

Directed by Surender Reddy, the film inspired from a 2009 Hong Kong-French film Vengeance, might be a big surprise for NTR’s fans because it’s probably the first time in recent years where he has underplayed his character so much. We are told that Tony (NTR) has a peculiar character and no one can guess what he’ll do next.

The scene shifts to Kashmir where Tony bumps into Niharika (Tamannaah). He saves her from a group of terrorists; however, before the two meet she goes to Hyderabad. Tony follows her and one fine day he comes to know that she’s already engaged.

He plays several tricks to befriend Niharika and her friend Chitra (Payal Ghosh) and soon he ends up confronting with Niharika’s fiancé. And suddenly everything changes. Tony is a man on a mission and what it is and why Niharika is so important to him forms the rest of this story.

First things first, the title suggests that Tony (NTR) does whatever it takes to achieve his goal and it’s a pleasant surprise to find that NTR is made to underplay his character. Except the climax, which is over the top and a bloody mess, Surender Reddy holds the interest for most part, particularly in the second half.

One problem with the film is that nothing really happens in the first half. It’s filled with several gags which have a hangover of ‘Kick’ and the director ends up spending too much time in setting the relationship between the leads; however, the second half where the entire story unfolds, it all begins to make sense.

The drama in second half is engrossing and kudos to Surender Reddy who shifts most of the focus to Tamannaah. She’s the surprise package of the film and Tamannaah makes great use of the opportunity. NTR is good in his role and for a change the punch dialogues and heroism are kept to bare minimum.

It’s a cakewalk for Prakash Raj, who plays Ajju Bhai, as he has done such roles several times. Payal Ghosh, Jayprakash Reddy and Raghu Babu are good in their roles. The story written by Vakkantham Vamsi gives enough scope for NTR and Tamannaah to perform well, although nothing really happens in the first half.

Devi Sri Prasad’s music is passable and the editing is good. Surender Reddy scores well in terms of direction and the screenplay goes back and forth most of the times. Oosaravelli is unabashedly violent and gets serious as the drama unfolds. It’s not a bad film at all and it does have its flashes of brilliance but it could have been so much better.