Movie: Hero
Rating: 2.5/5
Cast: Ashok Galla, Nidhi Agerwal, Jagapathy Babu
Director: Sriram Aditya
Produced By: Padmawati Galla
Release Date: January 15th, 2022
This Sankranti season has now seen two major launches from film families. After Dil Raju’s nephew Ashish debuted with Rowdy Boys, its the time for Jay Galla’s son Ashok Galla’s ‘Hero’ to hit the screens. Set against a movie backdrop, ‘Hero’ provides Ashok with a lot of scope to dance, fight and try out other crafts. Will Hero be the dream launch that the makers planned for? Did he succeed in impressing the audience? Lets find out.
Story: ‘Hero’ is the story of Arjun, an aspiring actor. He aims to enter the movie industry to become a hero. Subbu (Nidhi Agerwal) is his love interest who is also Arjun’s neighbour along with her father Jagapathy Babu. Arjun’s routine life that consists of friends, family and cinema takes an upside-down turn when he receives a gun in courier. What happens next and how Arjun gets caught in a web of crime, action and more drama is what follows.
Performances: Ashok has been given a perfect launch and great screen time to explore the actor in him. While he dances well and looks fine, his acting flaws are clearly visible and need some touch-up. Director Sriram Aditya has infused enough comedy in the film which somehow brings some life into the proceedings. Nidhi Agerwal is just for support and songs and has no other major function here. The writers did try to do something interesting with Jagapathy Babu’s role but it falls flat on the face. A seasoned actor of Jagapathy Babu’s caliber also fails to elevate the proceedings. The writing lets the movie down in a big way.
Analysis: Sriram Aditya, who is known for making lighthearted comedy entertainers has once again tried to infuse heavy dose of comedy to bring light to the weak plot. While the film has a movie backdrop and plenty of room for experimentation, Sriram Aditya chooses to take the safer route of using Mahesh references and hero and director spoofs. This trope makes the film repetitive and gives a sense of deja vu. The support cast also has weak characterization making Ashok shoulder the entire proceedings. Better writing for other characters and a crispier run time would have made the film a better watch.
Plus Points:
- Decent Comedy
- Music
- Production Values
- 1st Half
Minus Points:
- 2nd Half
- Routine plot
- Weak Characterisations
- Dragged scenes
Verdict: As the film is set against a movie backdrop Hero has enough reference scenes attributed to Superstar Krishna and Mahesh Babu. While this might interest the Superstar fans for a while, the core plot and weak writing make the proceedings quite dull. The sub-plots also don’t align naturally and many elements look slightly forced. The comedy though may work well for those who love the genre and might make Hero a decent Sankranti watch.
