Virodhi Movie Review

Story:

Jayadev (Srikanth) is a journalist and is known for his devotion towards profession. He writes several stories on politicians and their corrupt practices. Once, he meets MP Jangayya (Ahuti Prasad) and tries to warn him to stop his illegal activities of occupying tribal lands and destroying forests for the sake of mining and amassing wealth. He even warns that Maoists have kept him on a hit list. Even as Jayadev was taking the interview of Jangaiah, Maoists attack him and kill him and takes Jayadev along with them. The Maoist Dalam led by Gopinath aka Gogi (Ajay) conducts the attack. The Dalam leader Gogi decides to kill him but the other members of the group stop him from killing the journalist. They advise him that he could be used as a human shield in case of police attack.

Meanwhile, Jayadev studies all the group members and their mentalities besides the causes for their joining the Dalam. He meets each member individually and explains them that their ideology is baseless and nothing can be achieved through a barrel of gun. Listening to his words, two Dalam members (Ravi Varma and Sri) decide to marry and lead a peaceful life instead of wasting their time for revolution. What happens next should be seen on-screen.

Analysis

Director and writer Neelakantha, who won National Award as screenwriter, returns to direction after long gap. Known for interesting screenplays, Neelakantha this time comes up with a film about Naxalism/Maoism. Unlike his other films, Virodhi has no twists in the tale and is told in straight narration mode but he strategically starts off the movie with a very slow narration and keeps ‘best moments’ at the latter part of the movie to enhance the impact of the climax. For an audience who are accustomed to fast pace of the narration from start to end, this way of telling might be tiresome. But for those who seek stories with substance, it works well.

The film’s strengths lie completely on the superb performances from the ensemble cast and background score. In dramatic sequences in the second half, Ajay livens up the scenes with his terrific performance. Although Srikanth gives his best with subtle acting, Ajay and Kamal Kamaraju really steal the show.

The subject of Naxalism and the movement falling in wrong hands is not entirely new, so the movie’s pre-interval scenes induce boredom but when the director shifts the focus the story falls in the line and draws the audiences into it. There are lots of moments in the first half that we feel they should have been handled better or tighten the scenes. You find so much sluggishness before the interval. Also get bored before the interval.

Movie Name: Virodhi
Starring:Prem Chopra, Dan Dhanoa, Dharmendra, Poonam Dhillon, Sunil Dutt, Roopali Ganguly, Gulshan Grover, Jankidas, Bharat Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor, Amjad Khan, Arman Kohli
Music Director: R.P Patnaik
Producer: Anill Meka
Director: Neelakanta
Banner: Meka Entertainments
Release : July 1st

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