Allari Naresh is one of the most talented actors in Telugu cinema. With Naandhi, he changed gears and is attempting serious cinema. He has teamed up with Vijaya Kanakamedala for a film called Ugram which has hit the screens today. Read our review here.
Story
Shiva Kumar(Allari Naresh) is a sincere police officer. His sincerity brings him a lot of problems with his wife Aparna(Mirnaa Menon). During this time, a lot of kids go missing in the city. Shiva Kumar gets more embroiled in the family issues and leaves his wife at her mom's place. During this time, an accident happens to Shiva Kumar and his wife and kid go missing at the same time. Why is everyone going missing? What's the back story and how did Shiva Kumar solve the case is the story of Ugram.
Analysis Ugram is a serious film about a cop and how his sincerity affects his own life. At this time, the sizzling thrills about the missing kids are also neat. The family drama is also the best part of the film and does not create any disturbance to the flow. What draws your attention is the performance of Naresh which holds your attention till the end. He has made a terrific transformation and makes sure that the audience is engrossed in the pain created. Naresh does so well in the fight sequences that he is top-notch. One scene where Allari Naresh punishes the Eve teasers is shown in a lot of style and intensity.
Heroine Mirnaa Mithun was also neat in her role and Shatru gets a key cop's role and he was effective. The second half is where the real action starts. If the first half of the film was a cop drama, the second half turns into a thriller. The drama in the second half has been handled well. Ugram has its fair share of issues. As the film is about missing cases, more drama should have been added in the first half itself. This would have made the film even more effective.
The basic twists behind the missing cases are silly and we have seen that in so many films already. The music by Sricharan Pakala is good but a song breaks out of nowhere in the second half. The BGM is good and the camerawork nicely elevates the visuals. The writing by Vijay Kanakamedala is not great as it has been shown in many films. His narration should have been even more intense.
Ugram has a very routine plot and things become watchable only because of Allari Naresh. He is shown in a beat avatar in this film and he drives the narrative. The first half is slow but the second half makes up for all the slowness and ends as a passable watch. Go in with low expectations and you will get engaged in the film.
Verdict
Overall, Ugram has a familiar story and emotions. But Allari Naresh is superb and makes the film worth a watch with his performances. The drama is neat but the screenplay could have been a lot better. If the proceedings would have been even more gripping, things would have been even better. But still, Urgam makes for a passable watch this weekend.
