Vijetha Review: Boring, predictable and outdated

Yet another actor from mega family has made his debut and this time, its Kalyaan Dhev, the younger son-in-law of Megastar Chiranjeevi. Directed by Rakesh Sashii, Vijetha, which borrows its title from Chiranjeevi’s 1985 hit, doesn’t show the protagonist selling his kidney for the sake of his family. This one belongs to Srinivasa Rao (Murli Sharma), who sacrifices everything for the happiness of his son, Ram (Kalyaan Dhev). The father wants nothing but the best for his son and lives with a hope that he will achieve something in his life. But Ram is neither ambitious nor exceptional. He grows up as an aimless individual. One incident changes Ram's life and he wants to redeem himself by falling in line with the system and making his father happy. 

Director: Rakesh Sashii
Cast: Kalyaan Dhev, Malavika Nair, Murali Sharma

The film starts off smoothly but becomes a repetitive and a predictable mess when the director fails to fully exploit the emotional sensibilities of such a plot. Intended as a launch pad for Megastar’s son-in-law, the film’s story has got all the trappings of a 70s commercial potboiler. It oozes naivety with an obsolete romantic track featuring the hero trying to impress the heroine by doing some household chores and helping her mother to earn brownie points. Our hero’s dilemma continues until the end of the first half. Then, more complications crop up and it takes over an hour to tidy things up. The script largely relies on infantile humour and misplaced songs. The film also shows the stalking a neighbourhood girl in the name of love.

Kalyaan Dhev’s character will resonate with youngsters because it reflects some real experiences. But the writing is the weak link as there is hardly any surprise in the narrative, and the story is inherently melodramatic. The director sticks to a tired old coming-of-age tale with the usual cliches.

The film benefits from the compelling performance Rakesh draws from Murli Sharma. He brings a subtle intensity to his role and delivers a nuanced performance. Kalyaan Dhev clears the first test with good looks. But he really needs to refine his acting skills and work on his expressions as he is about as expressive as a sack of grains. Malavika Nair has very little to do, but she performs without any major hiccups. Harshavardhan Rameshwar’s music passes muster and KK Senthil Kumar’s cinematography is sharp.

Vijetha is the kind of film which is completely derailed by its shortcomings due to its stretched plot. It reminds us why we are tired of watching films with outdated themes over and over again. Although not an awful film, it’s thoroughly boring!