What’s it about!

A rock star (Manchu Manoj) is on way to Hyderabad from Bangalore to perform a show along with his group. A cable operator (Allu Arjun), who lives in a slum in Hyderabad, aspires to lead rich life by marrying his rich girl friend (Deeksha Seth). A sex worker (Anushka) runs away from her brothel house in Amala Puram to lead her own life in Hyderabad. A poor weaver (Nagayya) in Sirisilla comes to Hyderabad along with his daughter-in-law to sell off her Kidney to clear the debts. Having humiliated by a police cop and losing his twins, a Muslim guy (Manoj Bajpayee) plans to head for Dubai. Due to various circumstances, they all land up in a Hospital. What happens next is rest of the story.

Analysis

Director Krish won huge accolades for his debut movie, Gamyam. So naturally Vedam has created lots of buzz. Does Vedam live up to the hoopla? Well, Vedam is not regular commercial cinema. Its multiple-stories narration is somewhat new to us despite a similar film Om Shanti came few months back. In that way, Vedam sets new trend but more than the movie, its lead hero’s performance and some other actors’ acting skills impress us.

Allu Arjun steals the show with his honest and earnest performance. He is the pillar. In fact, it is his film although there are several other lead actors. He gives the movie’s most heart-warming performance in many sequences. Although Vedam does have some poignant moments especially in the second half but in the entirety it loses steam. The film’s strength lies in the last 20 minutes of the movie and great visuals by cameraman Gnanasekhar. Rather than the script, and direction, actors shine in the movie. Like in his first film, the director has borrowed the basic theme from a Hollywood movie. This time, he lifts theme, plotline, several characterizations from multiple Oscar winner Crash (2004). The Oscar winning film explored racism in America. Here in Vedam, he speaks about the same prejudices society puts on a section of the society. Although the idea is lofty, the director has presented in preachy manner.

One thing that is nice in the movie is that it is devoid of clichéd scenes like sumos blasting in the air, hero fighting with a sword, etc.

Analysis

Although the film deals about several characters, Allu Arjun gets the lengthy role and he is exceptional in his role. He delivers his career best performance. Anushka in the role of sex-worker is good but her character lacks the depth. She is sex-woker by choice but she is never shown in offering sex, instead she always escapes from the act. What kind of characterisation is this? Manoj has equally lengthy role but his role is hardly connected to main story (wonder why his name is given as guest appearance as he has enough screen space). Manoj Bajpayee, the powerhouse of performance, brought dignity to the forthright Muslim guy. Newcomer Nagayya has body like a poor weaver but he seems to have no experience in acting. Sharanya, on the other hand, as his daughter in law gives first rate performance. Ravikanth in the role of cop (a straight copy from Crash) is topnotch. In other roles, the new girl Deeksha Seth looks glamorous by acting like a doll and Lekha Washington is okay. Brahmanandam is hardly there. Raghu Babu is good. So is Satyam Rajesh.

Among the technical crew, cinematographer Gnaneshwar deserves all the praise. The film has got classy look and his visuals are so good. Music by M M Keeravani is major drawback. As a director, Krish has nothing new to score with this film. He just borrowed several scenes from various movies and used clichéd scenes. His pseudo-intellectual dialogues and preachy narration irritates after a point of time. There is a dialogue in the film. Perugu Vada Lo Perugu Vuntundi Kani Pulihora Lo Puli Undadu..Smart dialogues Evadaina Ceheptadu. That sums up for Krish too. Taking some phrases from here and there and turning them into dialouges is not a great thing.

Bottom-line

Vedam has good performances, terrific cinematography and some heart-wrenching moments. Allu Arjun and Anushka should be appreciated for accepting this kind of movies, which doesn’t give them commercial mileage much. More than the director, it is actors who have brought novelty.

Rating: 3.25/5