Sriranga Neethulu Review: Aimless Anthology

Sriranga Neethulu is a 2024 Telugu-language anthology film written and directed by Praveen Kumar VSS. The film has Suhas, Ruhani Sharma, Karthik Rathnam & Viraj Ashwin playing the lead roles while Srinivas Avasarala, Rag Mayur, Jeevan Kumar, Kiran Macha, Tanikella Bharani, Sanjay Swaroop, Vasu Inturi, Devi Prasad, Gemini Suresh, Pramodini, Jaya Nayuda, Rupa Lakshmi, Viva Raghav & others in important roles. The music is composed by Ajay Arasada & Harshavardhan Rameshwar and the film is produced by Venkateshwar Rao Balmuri under Radhavi Entertainments banner.

Story:

The film follows the life of three people in their mid-twenties- Shiva, Aishwarya & Karthik who come from three diverse backgrounds. Shiva (Suhas) is a TV mechanic who leads a normal life in his colony while Aishwarya (Ruhani Sharma) is in love with Varun (Viraj Ashwin) but gets to know that she is pregnant and Hari (Karthik Rathnam) is a drug addict who can’t come out of his addiction. How do all these 3 lives cope up with the consequences that arise in their lives at a point in time and the struggles they go through together form the rest of the plot.

What about on-screen performances?

Suhas is the stand-out performer from the ensemble cast. He suits the part well as a middle-class guy and gives out an excellent performance as Shiva.

Ruhani Sharma delivers an equally good performance as Aishwarya. Her body language and expressions are on point. She is surely a bright prospect and her acting talent needs to be tapped in more.

Karthik Rathnam does a solid job as a drug addict and Viraj Ashwin is pretty decent as the love interest of Aishwarya in the film.

Srinivas Avasarala is funny in his little cameo and impresses with his small monologue.

Rag Mayur entertains in parts as Shiva’s friend while Jeevan Kumar, Kiran Macha, Tanikella Bharani, Sanjay Swaroop, Vasu Inturi, Devi Prasad, Gemini Suresh, Pramodini, Jaya Nayuda, Rupa Lakshmi, Viva Raghav & others are fine in their limited roles.

What about off-screen talents?

The story by Praveen Kumar VSS is outdated and has nothing novel to tell. The biggest drawback of the film is the lack of serious conflict points and the way the conflict points are told or elaborated in the film lacks a compelling approach and looks jaded. The dialogues in the film are fine.

The screenplay has its share of ups and downs. The characters are set up neatly and the whole first half is watchable. The interval scene where we expect all three stories to collide with each other is not up to the mark as it is very poorly presented. The entire second half is stretched out with many boring and routine scenes which lead us to a climax that doesn’t have any proper motive.

Director Praveen Kumar VSS does a fair job with his presentation but his narrative is strictly below par. His narrative looked clueless in the latter half, and it is hard to understand why the director chose this kind of plot or narrative style to tell a story in these particular backgrounds and with these conflict points.

The songs by Ajay Arasada & Harshavardhan Rameshwar are forgettable and never leave a mark. The background score by Ajay Arasada is fine in parts but nothing great.

The cinematography by Tijo Tomy is good and is shot neatly while the edit by Sasank Vupputuri needs to be a lot more crisper, especially in the second half.

The production values by Radhavi Entertainments are adequate.

What’s Hot?

* Suhas & Ruhani Sharma’s Performances
* Karthik Rathnam & Viraj Ashwin’s Performances
* Car Robbery Scene & Hostel Scenes

What’s Not?

* Wafer Thin Plot
* Dragged Out Narrative
* Weak Conflict Points
* Boring Second Half
* Clueless Climax Portions
* Forgettable Songs

Verdict: On the whole, Sriranga Neethulu is an outdated anthology drama that never has a proper motive and the narrative becomes clueless on what the film wants to convey towards the end. Can give it a try once for the performance once it comes on the OTT platforms.

Telugubulletin.com Rating: 1.75/5