Story

Narendra Bhupathi (Rana Daggubati) is born and brought up in Chilakalakona forest in Vizag. The 50-year-old man loves the wild animals and strongly believes that preserving the sanctity of the forest is essential for the existence of both animals and humans. But, a corrupt forest minister (Anant Mahadevan) wants to build a mega township in the middle of the forest. They even build a 60 km wall to prevent the elephants from entering the project site for water. How Narendra Bhupathi fights against him and protects the forest forms the rest of the story. 

Review

The movie has a strong message and succeeded in conveying the same. But the long run time of the movie overshadowed the content of the film. There are so many unnecessary scenes and subplots in the film which are not necessary for the story and disturbs the flow of the film. Also, as the entire movie runs on the same conflict, it can become quite boring for the audience to stick to the chairs. Some of the characters are underdeveloped and the movie ended abruptly.  

The director took so much time to come to the point and reveals the major conflict in the first 30 minutes of the film. The director focused more on the subplots which are absolutely unnecessary. Director Prabhu Solomon lost the grip on the narration completely in the first half itself and the love story between Vishnu Vishal and the Naxalite got wasted. The half-baked love story irritated the viewers even more. Cinematography is the biggest plus point for this film. Grand and mind-blowing visuals does the magic for the film. Editing could have been far better. Music is decent and impressive at times. VFX is quite good.  

Rana Daggubati is undoubtedly the heart and soul of the film. His outstanding performance is the major driving factor behind the film. The actor single-handedly carried the entire movie and is the only reason why the audience will continue watching the film. His rugged appearance is also good to watch and Rana poured life into the character. Zoya Hussain, Shreya Pilgoankar don't have much scope for performance but are good in their roles. Vishnu Vishal is just average and doesn't have much prominence in the story. Anant Mahadevan is good in his role. The rest of the actors also made their presence felt. 

Verdict

'Aranya' tried to convey a strong message in a boring way but can be watchable only because of Rana's performance and stunning visuals. 

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