Gandhi Tatha Chettu is a 2025 Telugu language social drama which is written and directed by Padmavathi Malladi. The film has Sukriti Veni Bandreddi playing the lead role while Ananda Chakrapani, Rag Mayur, Bhanu Prakash, Nehal Anand Kunkuma, Raghuram, Lavanya & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed by Ree while the film is produced by Naveen Yerneni, Ravi Shankar, Thabitha Sukumar & Sesha Sindu Rao under Mythri Movie Makers, Sukumar Writings & Gopi Talkies banners.
Story:
The story is set in Bandlooru village, Telangana, and it is centered around Ramachandrayya (Ananda Chakrapani), a Gandhian figure who is deeply connected to nature and his village. When a chemical factory agent, Sathish (Rag Mayur), arrives to buy land for the factory, most villagers sell their farms, believing agriculture is no longer profitable. However, Ramachandrayya refuses to sell his land because of a tree to which he is emotionally attached. However, with the sudden demise of Ramachandrayya, things change and the tree’s existence falls in danger. How does his granddaughter, Gandhi (Sukriti Veni Bandreddi), who his footsteps, fight for the tree using Mahatma Gandhi’s values? Forms the crux of the plot.
What about on-screen performances?
Sukriti Veni Bandreddi is so adorable and shines like a star in her acting debut. Her innocence and natural acting play a big part in making her character lovable and relatable. Her body language and dialogue delivery are impressive. Her ability to convey complex emotions with such subtlety and sincerity added a special layer to the story, making her performance truly memorable.
Anand Chakrapani brilliantly portrays the grandfather, embodying Gandhian values and bringing depth to the emotional aspects of the story.
Lavanya and Raghuram who play Gandhi’s parents leave a mark with their natural performances. Both actors brought genuine warmth and sincerity to their roles, making their characters feel real and relatable.
Bhanu Prakash and Nehal Anand who play Gandhi’s friends are excellent in their parts. These guys also add a tinge of comedy in a few scenes
Rag Mayur is pretty decent as the chemical factory agent. He does go off board at a few places and his role could’ve been written more interestingly.
All the rest of the supporting actors add good value and authenticity to the film.
What about off-screen talents?
The story by Padmavathi Malladi is quite simple and predictable which tells a conflict that we have seen in ‘N’ number of films where a factory owner tries to acquire village lands through power and money. But the freshness in this film comes from the point where she skillfully inserts relatable emotions and brings Gandhian principles into the narrative through a young girl’s role.
The screenplay is good in parts. The characters are introduced well in the first half but it takes its own sweet time to get into the main conflict of the film. The pre-interval is where the film gets into the main plot and the second half is a bit more engaging than the first coz the crux of the drama lies in this half. All the scenes where Ganghi tries to make Sugar from Sugarcane are fun to watch. Although the Gandhian principles do not have a proper payoff through the scenes, the message is conveyed effectively. The climax is not up to the mark.
Director Padmavathi Malladi does a neat job with her presentation but her narrative felt too slow in most of the places. The message she wanted to convey is good and the way she designed Gandhi’s character is appreciable. The value of the air we breathe, the importance of trees, and the Gandhian values are explained well. But the payoffs to these aspects could’ve been done better by adding a bit more drama. Putting aside these little flaws, her attempt to make an out-of-the-box film like this is truly commendable.
The dialogues are well written. The Telangana slang and the local wordings add good value to the plot.
The songs and background score by Ree are soulful and gel well with the genre of the film.
The Cinematography by Viswa Devabattula & Srijitha Cheruvupalli is impressive. The village atmosphere is captured well and the visuals of the tree also add a good emotional value to the plot.
The edit by Harish Shanker is neat with a short run time.
The production values by Mythri Movie Makers, Sukumar Writings & Gopi Talkies are adequate.
What’s Hot?
* Sukriti’s Performance
* Gandhi’s Characterization
* All Supporting Artist’s Performances
* Decent Songs & Background Score
What’s Not?
* Slow Paced Narrative
* Payoffs To The Gandhian Principles Could’ve Been Better
* Not So Convincing Climax Part
* Sync Sound At Places Felt Odd
Verdict: Overall, Gandhi Tatha Chettu is an average message-oriented film that is targeted for film festival’s kind of audiences. Try it if you are a follower of the Gandhian Values.
Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2.5/5