Cast: Sharwanand, Sandeep Kishan, Sai Kumar, Ruby Parihar, Jeeva, Jayaprakash Reddy, Vennela Kishore, Surekha Vani, Reshma, Ghosh, Master Atulith, Balayya, and others

Music: Mahesh Shankar

Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh

Cinematography: Shyam Dutt

Produced by: Vallabhaneni Ravi
Written and directed by: Deva Katta
Release date: April 16, 2010
CBFC Rating: A

What’s it about
Lokanatham Naidu (Saikumar) is a henchman to a local leader in Krishna district. When rivals attack the leader’s son, he marries his wife and adopts his son Mitra (Sharwanad) and daughter (Surekha Vani) as his and becomes a big politician in Vijayawada in later years. Now his biological son Shiva (Sandeep) gets jealous of Mitra, for getting all the support from his father and becoming a leader. Shiva hates his brother as his father constantly humiliates him for his wrong doings. One day, he kills his girlfriend Nadia accidentally that sets the motion of series of events, which also kill him. In a stunning climax, the secrets in the family reveal.

Analysis

Greed, politics and greedy politics are the backdrop of the story. Director Deva Katta who tasted success with his very debut movie, Vennela has chosen a story that is completely different from his first flick. He should be appreciated for picking up a story that treads unique path than the regular political potboilers. Prasthanam is told in more serious way than normal commercial films and layered with philosophical tone. What makes the film tick is the gritty narration and solid plot. If only the pace of the film were tighter, the film could have been even better. Although second half is slow, the pre-climax sequences are stunning. Superb dialogues are its strength. Added to that, excellent cinematography has elevated the mood of the movie.

The influence of Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar can be seen on director Deva Katta in the scenes of Mitra Vs Shiva. And also the climax sequences slowly unraveling to tell a more stunning secret resemble to that of Sarkar Raj.

It has its own share of blemishes too. Two songs in the post interval come as obstacle to the free flow of the narration. And also when the focus of the movie is all about revealing the secrets and conspiracies, the director has wasted much of the time on Surekha Vani and Sandeep episodes, thereby diluting the impact. The director also seems to have confused as to how to fit romantic angle in the narration. That is clearly evident.

On the whole, it is a good attempt by director Deva Katta. Audiences who enjoy serious films would certainly like this one.

Performances

Sharwanand has done full justice to his role. As the character requires composure and maturity, Sharwanad has grown his beard and maintained the serious look throughout the movie. But it is the other guy, newcomer Sandeep Kishan that steals the show as the bad son. After a long time, we get to see Sai Kumar in a restrained role. His role is more complex one but the senior actor pulls it off effortlessly. Thanks to his great dialogue delivery, many of the dialogues he sounded are really good. New heroine Ruby has not much role to catch our attention. Jayaprakash Reddy provides comic relief. Reshma as Nadia looks good.

One of the highlights is Shyam Dutt ’s camera, he has brought unique tone to the movie in sync with the theme of the movie. As the movie has dark secrets, he has given enough room to highlight the ‘dark’ in shots as metaphor. Music by Mahesh Shankar is equally good. Editing is nice. As a director, Deva Katta has matured a lot and has shown that he is capable of directing varied themes. His dialogues and screenplay are also good. But this time he has not used comedy as effectively. Production values are first rate.

Bottom-line!

Prasthanam treads different path within the regular commercial setup of films. It has got enough drama and powerful characters to keep the story flowing. Stunning climax, superb dialogues and good technical values are appealing.

Rating: 3.25/5