Under the direction of Harsha Pulipaka, the concept film 'Panchathantram' starring Brahmanandam and Swathi Reddy in lead roles has released today. Let's see how it goes.
Story: The film begins with a rift between Vedha Ves (Brahmanandam), a 60-year-old man, and his daughter, Roshini (Swathi Reddy). In an audition for a would-be poet, Vedha Ves begins to narrate five stories based on the senses of Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste and Touch. Each of the stories tells a different tale. Will Vedha Ves give her five story presentation successfully? What is the end? To know this, you need to watch the movie in nearby cinemas.
Performances: Though the entire film works on the stage play of Brahmanandam's character, his role is limited to only a few scenes. The legendary actor has performed well in the lead role. Swathi Reddy is good in an extended cameo.
Other artists like Rahul Vijay, Shivathmika Rajasekhar, Divya Sripada, Naresh Agastya, Aadarsh Balakrishna, Uttej, Sri Vidya Maharshi, Vikas, Muppala who have played the lead characters in five individual stories are excellent in their roles.
Special mention to Rahul Vijay and Shivathmika Rajasekhara. They both look great together as a couple and I feel their story beautifully.
Technical Features: Music composed by Prashanth R Vihari and Shravan Bharadwaja gives the film a pleasant feel. There are several songs in the film that are situational and passable on screen.
Lyrics written by Kittu Vissapragada are good. Raj K Nalli's cinematography is good as he shot the whole movie beautifully.
Editing by Garry BH is good but could be better. The production values are decent for this limited budget film.
Analysis: Written and directed by Harsha Pulipaka, Panchatantram deals with a novel idea. It is commendable that the director presented five different stories based on five parts as an anthology.
The film has a unique concept and three of the five stories are executed on a decent note. Had the director worked more on the rest of the two stories at the script stage, the result would have been unanimous. Casting legendary comedian Brahmanandam for the role of a stage artist, Harsha gives a brief introduction to the short stories themselves by Pulipaka.
The way the director tries to portray the relationship between father and daughter has an emotional theme at the moment. To summarize, Panchatantram is a slow-paced anthology that explores five different stories based on five parts. Along with good performances by the artists, the emotional content in the respective stories makes the film a worthy watch.
Verdict: Nice try!