Nannaku Prematho brings together in my opinion the best Telugu actor in the industry at the moment and easily one of the best directors in Tollywood. The NTR and Sukumar combo is deadly on paper, this is because neither has Sukumar ever came close to making a bad film neither has NTR ever given a bad performance. So they fit like a glove on a hand.So as you can see like others I also had mammoth expectations with Nannaku Prematho. And for the most part I was satisfied with this stylish family/revenge drama. Sukumar as he is know for now,made sure the film was up to international standards. The sets, the locations, the clothing, cars etc all the production values were top notch. The film was made as a intelligent thriller/ family revenge drama, Sukumar didn't get trapped in the whole regular mass commercial film genre, nothing was put in the film to distract the viewers from a well thought out story. The films biggest asset however is the films hero NTR, who is shown in a completely new light,he totally commands the film, Sukumar made this ultra massy hero into a sophisticated man convincingly on screen. But the films not without its blemishes which I will get into later.
Story wise Abhiram,whose father is in deathbed and has only 30 days of life left, takes the revenge on Krishnamurthy,who cheated his father in the past. He gives him a run for of his money by trapping his daughter Divyanka.To take a look into the flashback, Krishnamurthy cheats his close friend and Abhiram's father, Ramesh Chandra Prasad, due to which Ramesh Chandra Prasad changes his name and identity and lives a normal life, away from his people. The last wish Ramesh asks his son is to get back his lost identity and that's when Abhiram decided to give nightmares to Krishnamurthy. How Abhiram frames Krishnamurthy, who is a brainy, forms the rest of the story.
Acting wise you get to see NTR in a completely different light all together. It was already know he is a amazing actor but with Nannaku Prematho NTR shows he can do any role. He is classy, sophisticated, and his whole aura is very class appealing.He plays the intelligent Abhi masterfully, he is one the hugest reasons why NP is enjoyable. Rakul Preet Singh adds nice glamour, she looks amazing, and it was nice to see her dub her own telugu lines. Jagapati Babu is completely menacing and savvy, and he is slowly becoming the best villain in Tollywood. Rajendra Prasad is ever dependable, the veteran shows some good emotional depth.
To get straight to the point were Nannaku Prematho falters is in having such a lengthy love story that takes up most the first half, its enjoyable but bogs down the intelligent revenge drama at times. It needed to be edited out a bit, and the films pacing for a thriller is too slow at times. The film needs more of a slick pace, were things move extremely fast. For example I am able to point out that Abhi being extremely intelligent is not really explained in the film except that he was a supposed chest master, so the whole sciencing things in slow mo in a fight felt far fetched. The viewers would not he able to pick up these faults if the pace is fast. But this is were the minuses end, and the applauding starts. Week after week every Telugu film had started to seem the same, either it was the same comedy, same love story, or same mass entertainer with the same template story. Therefore Nannaku Prematho came like a breeze of fresh air. Like I stated before its a film made without any commercial trappings, its made with honesty by Director Sukumar. And one excepts nothing less from the filmmaker who made classics like Arya, 100% love etc.The production values are on par with international films. The way the films shot, the stylish action, the great music especially the "follow follow you"song will leave you in awe. London seemed extra beautiful because of the great camera-work. The films biggest assets are NPs intelligent screenplay were Jagapathi Babu and NTR play there intelligent cat and mouse game. I guessed one of the films twists, but even a twist or two left me surprised, and that speaks high of the films intelligence. The film also presents a revenge drama in a very new uncliched novel way unlike most telugu films, which was very entertaining. For example the villain in most telugu films is shown very unintelligent, however here the hero and villain are on par with each other. What else works really well for the film is the family emotions in NP, the scenes between NTR and Rajendra Prasad well leave you in tears. Finally the films last 30 min is were film is at its spectacular best.The Jagapathi Babu and NTR pre climax confrontation, the climax NTR emotional out burst, and funeral are the films highlight scenes.
Overall Nannaku Prematho is not a perfect film, but its still a great one. Its a film that deserves to be watched, because its something different than what gets churned out weekly from Tollywood. Sukumar and NTR need to be applauded for not taking the audience for granted, and thinking that they are intelligent. Films like Nannaku Prematho need to be encouraged, and even though the regular mass audience might give this film a skip because it doesn't appeal to them (those who hero worship NTR), they shouldn't because mass hero/young tiger has given one of his best performance in Nannaku Prematho.
3.5/5* or 7/10
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