Utthara

When the dialogues of a film are written well, it can save it even from a weak narration, which is exactly the case with Uttara. The film begins with fresh, comedic episodes by Venu Tillu and Abhay Bethiganti in a lockup at a police station. The conversation between them is a hoot and the story soon hints there’s something mysterious at play once Sreeram enters the lockup. However, the film gives out the feeling of director Thirupathi not sticking to the concept at hand. The first half of the film spends its own sweet time exploring the romance and it’s stunning how the director manages to keep the plot gripping with a love story in hand.But things lose steam after the interval point with the scenes becoming repetitive. The director even tries to bring in an element of comedic horror with Rudrayya (Ajay Ghosh) but it doesn’t work. The twists and turns are so brilliant, it’s a shame the way they’re revealed. The emotional drama in the pre-climax is a drag and the climax isn’t convincing. By the end of it all, Uttara leaves you with unanswered questions and tries to compensate with funny scenes. Sreeram is decent on-screen and delivers his dialogues well. Despite having a role that doesn’t give him much scope to perform, he doesn’t disappoint. Karronya is expressive and the guys who played the friends too do well. As the film is shot in a village, cinematographer Charan Babu captures the essence of rural Telangana perfectly. Music is unimpressive but doesn’t hinder the flow either.The only drawback Uttara faces is from the choppy narrative, because it has brilliant content that wasn’t executed properly. It’s a decent watch if you can manage to look past that.