Movie: Sundaram Master
Rating: 2/5
Cast: Harsha Chemudu, Divya Sripada, Harshavardhan
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Produced By: RT Teamworks, GoalDen Media
Release Date: 23rd February 2024
Harsha Chemudu who majorly stars in comic roles shifts gears into a lead role with Sundaram Master. The movie has Divya Sripada of Chai Bisket fame and Harshavardhan in supporting roles and is directed by Kalyan Santosh under RT Teamworks (Hero Ravi Teja’s Banner) and Goalden Media.
Story:
Sundar Rao (Harsha) is a greedy government teacher who still believes in Dowry and tries to use his job title to his advantage in marriage alliances. He gets an offer from a Minister (HarshaVardhan) solely based on his skin tone, of becoming a DEO (if only the director cared to help the audience with the full form in the film), District Education Officer in exchange for a secret mission in a remote village pretending as an English Teacher. Does Sundar Rao succeed in his mission by pretending like an English teacher or does he get taught by the village in reverse forms the story?
Performances:
Harsha Chemudu excels in his role as a greedy, self-centered teacher, carrying the whole film on his shoulders. Though the movie as a whole doesn’t do justice to his efforts, his acting along with a picture-perfect background score carries the weight of almost every scene even when the writing fails in most of them.
Divya Sripada appears briefly in her role of Myna, with her subtle expressions, leave a mark although her screen time is limited.
The movie has several new faces and most of them play their roles honestly keeping the naiveness on display at most times.
Positives:
- Harsha Chemudu Performance
- Background Score
- Aesthetic Green Visuals
Negatives:
- The story doesn’t head anywhere that it feels like a documentary
- The whole cricket sequence in the 2nd half
- Lack of a strong reasoning for the movie itself
Analysis:
With a simple, plain story of living life via meeting its demands vs chasing after desires, Sundaram Master might have looked like a sweet storyline on paper but the translation of it onto screen isn’t that fruitful. The movie never gains pace, nor does it have any direction of where it is heading towards. The whole movie is based on a secret that a remote village holds and yet the first conversation about this secret in the village only happens after the first hour of the film.
Having said that, you feel like walking out in the first hour itself with no story getting revealed. The movie has its moments like Myna appearing on screen and her scenes with Sundar Rao but soon gets followed by inconsistent narration. The whole sequence in the second half which revolves around a cricket match doesn’t have any substance but the acting, background score and the director’s conviction make us feel like it is a worthy watch but it isn’t, as the writing itself fails like it does in most parts of the film.
For example, the story happens in a remote village where there is no sight of electricity but the lead actor watches cricket matches on his mobile phone even after 15 days. Though the director puts in his efforts to convey the theme of the film which is tied to incorrect spellings of words in English right from the brief written-up cards in between, the effort falters when it comes to increasing the weight of the film. The movie is way too much of a mixed bag, for it to keep you engaged and wait for the end result or secretly pray for the hero’s mission to fail or succeed.
Sundaram Master Movie Verdict:
Overall, the movie ends up as a below-average flick but with honest performances from most of the cast with Harsha Chemudu and Divya Sripada shining the most. Watch it if you have nothing planned for the weekend.
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