Natyam Review: Underwhelming dance film

Sandhya Raju, a classical dance exponent is making her debut as an actress with Natyam. She produced and acted in the film. Let us see what the film has to offer.

Story: Sithara (Sandhya) has the dream of performing the popular ‘Kadambari’ dance in her village. But her dance guru is against it. Following a series of fateful incidents, Sitara is forced out of the village. A native named Rahul(Kamal Kamaraju) is behind the same. Why was Sitara forced to leave the village? Can she realize the dream of performing Kadambari?

What about on-screen performances?

Sandhya Raju is a renowned classical dancer and fittingly enough, she excels in the dance sequences in the film. But she has a lot to improve when it comes to emoting subtle expressions. She needs to improve her screen presence as well. Given that this is her first film, she might get better with time. Kamal Kamaraju is alright as the baddie. But he does a fairly decent job in a couple of dance sequences. Aditya Menon plays the dance guru and he comes up with a fine performance.

What about off-screen talents?

Revanth Korukonda makes his directorial debut with this film. Also, he handles the cinematography, and as well as edits the film. He excels in none. The premise is good but the narration is wayward. Cinematography is comparatively better. The amateur narration in both halves undo the good work if there was any. Most of the scenes are illogical. For a film based on classical dance, the build-up scenes and the intensity as important as the dance sequences. The director fails to create the desired impact with the scenes preceding and succeeding this dance episodes.

Shravan Bharadwaj’s background score is very impressive. There is nothing particularly great about the songs though. Sandhya Raju designs the costumes and she does a fine job. Production values are decent.

What’s Hot?

• Kadambari Natyam episode
• Background score

What’s Not?

• Amateur narration
• Poorly conceived sequences in both halves
• Poor performances from the cast

Verdict:

Natyam is a poorly conceived dance film that has very little to offer, barring a couple of well-captured dance episodes. Sandhya does a very good job as far as the dance sequences go, but as an actor, there is a lot of scope for improvement. The film, as a whole, has very few things going its way and it ends up as an underwhelming watch.

Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2/5