This has already been a good month for Telugu cinema and Neevevaro continues the trend. It is a suspense thriller that could have dealt better with the characterisation and intrigue-building, but nevertheless has enough to keep you engaged.
Directed by Harinath, the movie revolves around Kalyan (Aadhi Pinisetty), a visually challenged but specially-abled chef, who falls head over heels for Vennela (Tapsee Pannu). That breaks Anu’s (Ritika Singh) heart, but then Vennela disappears mysteriously. Kalyan, who gets his eyesight back, starts looking for Vennela while breaking his engagement with Anu. Kalyan soon realises that there is a lot more to the story than just a girl gone missing. Soon, he stumbles across another blind artist and is baffled by the common link.
Neevevaro gets marks as a thriller that doesn’t rely on too many convenient coincidences. But, that leads it to becoming slightly predictable in the latter half of the movie. That shouldn’t, however, take away from the charm of this movie. The movie’s biggest strength is its story (inspired by a Tamil movie, Adhey Kangal) that moves at a good pace, from one clue to another, keeping the viewers engaged.
Aadhi, a more recognisable face after his scintillating performance in Rangasthalam, plays the anxious lover desperately looking for the girl who disappeared from his life. The movie drives a lot of intensity from Tapsee’s character, portrayed reasonably well, which dominates a greater part of the second half of the movie. One wonders if the scriptwriters made short work of what could have been an even more promising role. Ritika Singh was wasted for a large part and it would have been nice if a couple of good scenes were dedicated to justify her presence in the movie besides just being a girl who has to face Kalyan’s apathy.
Why Kalyan never picks his mom and dad’s calls is beyond me; minor details like these take away from a viewer’s understanding of a character and stop us from empathising with his conflicts – a guy looking desperately for a girl but wouldn’t pick his anxious parents’ calls even while he is sipping tea on the beach?
Vennela Kishore, fast becoming one of the most notable comedians in Telugu, has a lengthy role but most times one gets the feeling he was asked to do it extempore without anything remotely funny written for him. He still does a good job. But, Saptapathi’s hacker and Kishore’s constable are props to help the protagonist find the lady he is looking for. This is where the movie suffers a little bit – distractions, including comedic ones, that do not sufficiently build the two important characters in the movie. The seasoned movie watcher finds too many clues to guess the ending; while that isn’t a problem, the makers could have given such movie-lovers something else to root for.
The movie is crisp and doesn’t drag on, and for a large part the camera work and editing are impressive. All in all, Neevevaro passes the test thanks to Tapsee and a good plot; while it isn’t top-notch, it doesn’t do injustice to your time.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.