Veera Bhadrudu, the Telugu-dubbed version of Karuppu (Tamil), was released in theatres after a day's delay. How is the movie? What are we to expect from it? Let's find out.
Plot:
Baby Krishna (RJ Balaji) is a corrupt, exploitative lawyer who deceives a desperate father-daughter duo. The pair urgently needs court approval to reclaim their lost jewelry, which has been recovered by the police, to fund the terminally ill daughter’s life-saving transplant surgery. With time running out, a collusive legal system repeatedly delays the case through endless adjournments. Divine intervention arrives when Lord Veera Bhadra (Suriya) storms the courtroom disguised as a lawyer. Upon discovering his opponent is a literal god, Baby Krishna brashly throws down a challenge.
Performances and Technical Departments:
Strange as it might sound, but Suriya is a minus. The character deserved a certain kind of physicality, which he failed to bring to the forefront. Since he is not a tall actor, he doesn't look domineering enough to convince us that he is an angry God. Surprisingly, RJ Balaji is so apt. Suriya's entry itself takes 30 long minutes. During that time, it's Balaji's antagonist character that builds the required tension. Trisha Krishnan is dull as a good-natured lawyer in a supremely rotten system. Indrans, as the beleaguered father, delivers a moving performance. Natty, as the corrupt judge, is good.
Sai Abhyankkar's background score is decent, while the songs are a let down. GK Vishnu's cinematography is an asset. The production values are decent.
Post-Mortem:
As a fantasy courtroom action drama, Veera Bhadrudu has many realistic scenes. It portrays the police-lawyer nexus the right way. If you have been wondering why court cases drag on for many years/decades in India, don't follow newspaper editorials or television debates. Just watch the first 30 minutes of this film and you will find the answer. The criminal justice system is compromised at every level. Each cell of those helming it is self-serving, greedy and dishonest. They will delay justice to maximize everything from lawyer fees to bribe money and even the number of biryani sponsorships they are entitled to. It's a predatory system out there. Only God can save such a fundamentally soulless system.
And that's what Veera Bhadrudu is all about. Suriya plays a God but he doesn't know that the prosecution and the defense sides collude with each other. The God of Pawan Kalyan-Venkatesh's Gopala Gopala was aware. Here, Suriya's character has no knowledge of several incidents affecting his devotees. You forgive the obvious flaw because this is not a philosophical treatise but an escapist fantasy.
Writer-director RJ Balaji's treatment is "commercial". The God walks with a slow-mo swag. He dances to (dull) group numbers. The first half is mostly fun even though Suriya is not up to the mark and the action choreography is lacklustre.
The second half is a drag. The resolutions are easy, the fights are generic, the antagonist is not frightened enough, and the atmosphere is not specific. The film lacks the kind of world-building its fantasy element asked for. Lord Veera Bhadra, on one occasion, says "Daddy is home" (the Toxic punchline).
The film would have been a sure-fire summer hit had the second half been better. The climax has a very Kantara-esque tone to it.
Closing Remarks:
Veera Bhadrudu starts with immense promise, offering a sharp, bitingly realistic critique of India's compromised legal system wrapped in a commercial fantasy package. However, the film eventually falters due to a weak, dragged-out second half, generic action resolutions, and a miscast Suriya.
