Naa Peru Surya: Naa Illu India Review: Tedious Overdose of Patriotism

Sethu Madhavan

A soldier ends up smashing people in a pub (of course he is right and the others are wrong) & later goes on to bash up even the cops who come over to question the soldier regarding his violent act. Well this is nothing; the soldier goes on to pocket the inspector’s revolver & uses it to shoot a terrorist at point blank. All these & more such acts of the soldier are justified by the individual as a result of his anger. This is how Allu Arjun’s latest film “Naa Peru Surya-Naa Illu India” begins and you know very clearly that you have to brace yourself for more such stuff to get unravelled in the course of the film. Now how do you expect to take a film seriously which perhaps stretches the concept of “suspension of disbelief” in a totally bizarre fashion?

Writer Vakkantham Vamsi who has been a key contributor to many commercial successful films including Kick, Yevadu, Race Gurram, Temper etc. has gone on to make his directorial debut with Naa Peru Surya. Thanks to the kind of films he has been associated with there was never any wrong expectation in terms of how this film would perhaps emerge. Allu Arjun’s stylish makeover for Naa Peru Surya has been highlighted enough in recent times & considering that his track record at the box office has been impressive for a long time now, all one expected was to see yet another commercially successful film & a reasonably good debut for Vakkantham Vamsi as filmmaker. With the recent success of films like Rangasthalam and Bharat Ane Nenu, it was but natural for people to look forward to the release of Naa Peru Surya & wonder how this would fare in comparison to the other 2 recent biggies.

The film is all about Surya (Allu Arjun), a soldier with severe anger management problem. After crossing the line a little too much due to his anger, Surya is almost thrown out of the army by his superior officer (Boman Irani). A diehard patriot, Surya has always aspired to serve his country by safeguarding its borders & he gets one final chance to remain in the army & fulfil his wish. But for that he needs to be certified by a leading psychologist (Arjun) & ironically this happens to be none other than Surya’s estranged father. The rest of the tale is all about how Surya goes on to tackle his father, handle his anger management issue & at the same time take on a larger than life challenge in an unexpected fashion (as if we didn’t expect it).

For a film that starts off on a slightly shaky note, it’s a little reassuring to see the proceedings slowly but surely fall in line a little later. But while Vakkantham Vamsi seems to have focused on getting the technicalities of filmmaking right in his very first outing, his writing seems to have surprisingly let him down badly. There is nothing wrong in trying to talk of patriotism & secularism, but does it have to be in the face as seen over here? Things eventually get a little too preachy for comfort as well and the whole film eventually is nothing but a vehicle for Allu Arjun to please his fans. Yes one does expect all this in a mass hero movie, but then shouldn’t the antagonist also have been developed into a prominent character, as someone who would do justice to be pitted against the hero? Having Sarathkumar as the antagonist & relegating him to the sidelines is a big disappointment.

Vishal-Shekhar’s music is just about okay, none of the songs leave a lingering impact. Rajeev Ravi’s cinematography does give the film quite a polished look. The supporting cast which includes people like Nadhiya, Charuhasan, Sai Kumar, Harish Uthaman, Thakur Anoop Singh, Vennela Kishore etc. largely have nothing significant to contribute. Anu Emmanuel plays the regulatory love interest of the hero & does not impress. Arjun Sarja underplays his character effectively & his confrontation scenes with Allu Arjun do look good on screen. Ultimately the film rests completely on the shoulders of Allu Ajrun who is not just dashing in the new avatar, but also gets into the skin of the character effectively. But then what can the hero alone do if the film overall suffers from poor writing & is more of a drag at the end?

Bottomline

Naa Peru Surya-Naa Illu India is a tedious & lengthy (168 mins) tale that thrusts patriotism vehemently upon us. Allu Arjun impresses but Vakkantham Vamsi definitely disappoints in his directorial debut.

Rating: 2/5