8 Vasantalu is a 2025 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Phanindra Narsetti. The film has Ananthika Sanilkumar, Ravi Duggirala & Hanu Reddy playing the lead roles while Kanna Pasunoori, Sanjana Hardageri, Sumant Nitturkar, Sameera Kishore, Swaraj Rebbapragada, Aisha, Kiran, Bhavana, Harini Rao, & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed by Hesham Abdul Wahab while the film is produced by Naveen Yerneni & Y Ravi Shankar under Mythri Movie Makers banner.
Story:
Shuddhi Ayodhya (Anantika Sanilkumar) is a talented writer and a martial arts student. Varun (Hanu Reddy) challenges her at the dojo, but gets defeated by Shuddhi and eventually falls for her. He pursues her, and she accepts his love. But due to his father’s ambition to see him join the Berkeley School of Music, he takes an easy route out and breaks up with her. Years later, she meets a young Telugu writer, Sanjay (Ravi Duggirala), and falls in love with him, due to his deep thoughts and respect towards women. Who is Sanjay? Will he love her back? Needs to be seen in the film.
What about on-screen performances?
Ananthika Sanilkumar is the soul of the film. She gets to play a strong female character named Shuddhi Ayodhya, and she just brings the character to life with his brilliant portrayal. She gives out an outstanding performance in a memorable role, and she is especially good with all the stunts & martial arts.
Hanu Reddy gives an excellent performance as Varun. He fits well into his part. His love track with Ananthika works big time in the first half, and the break up scene of theirs at the interval is surely the best scene in the film.
Ravi Duggirala also delivers a neat performance as Sanjay. His voice is a big plus to his act, and this can clearly be seen in the climax voice over portions. His hair style though is not done properly as it looks fake at times.
Kanna Pasunoori & Sanjana Hardageri do a pretty decent job as the best friends of Shuddhi.
Sumant Nitturkar, Sameera Kishore, Swaraj Rebbapragada, Aisha, Bhavana, Kiran, Harini Rao, & all others are fine in their limited roles.
What about off-screen talents?
The story by Phanindra Narsetti is a simple love story where a guy falls in love with a girl, a breakup up and the same girl falling in love with another guy. But what puts this apart are the characterizations of the lead actors and the poetic touch to their roles.
The screenplay by Phanindra Narsetti is good in parts. The first half sets up the characters neatly, along with a breezy love track with some good conversations. Though the change in behaviour in Varun’s character looks very abrupt and not so convincing, the break-up scene at the interval is solid with some clap-worthy dialogues. The second half is where the film loses its pace in the first 30 minutes, but picks up again with the other lead character coming in. The love track here is not up to the mark, but again towards the climax, things get better with a lengthy voice over led back story to give a meaningful ending.
Director Phanindra Narsetti does a neat job with his whole presentation. He has a strong visual sense, and this can be seen in his choice of colors, locations & costumes. Though his narrative is a bit slow paced, his poetic touch and his ideology of love is conveyed well on screens. Also, kudos to him for writing a strong female character which is rare in Telugu cinema.
The dialogues by Phanindra Narsetti are the film’s biggest strength and are also the biggest drawback of the film. Though most of the lines are good, there are a few places where the dialogues go overboard and feels unrealistic.
The cinematography by Vishwanath Reddy is extraordinary. The way he captured Kashmir and Ooty is refreshing. Especially all the portions in the Autumn season look lovely on screen.
The songs by Hesham Abdul Wahab are good to hear. ‘Andhamaa Andhamaa’ is surely the best one of the album, and even ‘Parichayamila’ is good. His background score is soulful and lifts the film to another level.
The edit by Shashank Mali & Phanindra Narsetti needed to be a more crisper, especially in the second half.
Special mention to the costume designer- Sumaiya Alam and the art team lead by Arvind Mule for their beautiful work.
The production values by Mythri Movie Makers are adequate.
What’s Hot?
* Ananthika Sanilkumar’s Performance
* Hanu Reddy & Ravi Duggirala’s Performances
* Well Written & Strong Heroine Characterization
* Deep & Meaningful Dialogues
* Superb Interval Scenes & Climax Portions
* Breezy First Half With Good Love
* Good Songs & Soulful Background Score
* Cinematography & Production Values
What’s Not?
* Slow Paced Narration
* Reason For Breakup Is Not Fully Convincing
* Overuse Of Dialogues/Metaphors At Places
* Unwanted Fight Sequence
* Chemistry Between Ravi & Ananthika
Verdict: Overall, 8 Vasantalu is a breezy love story with some well-written dialogues and a strong female lead character. The poetic touch from director Phanindra Narsetti might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for the people who like deep & intense love stories, this film is like a warm hug from the overdose of action film that are coming out these days.
Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2.75/5