Ardha Shatabhdam Review

OTT: Aha

Release: June 11, 2021

Rating: 1.5/5

Cast: Karthik Rathnam, Naveen Chandra, Sai Kumar, Krishna Priya, Subhaleka Sudhakar, Amani, Pavithra Lokesh, Rama Raju, Raja Ravindra, Ajay, Suhas, Sharanya and others

Director: Rawindra Pulle

Cinematographer: Bhaskar, Venkat R Shakamuri, EJ Venu

Music: Nawfal Raja

Editor: J.Prathap Kumar

Producers: Chitti Kiran Ramoju, Radhakrishna Telu

What's Behind

Coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing lockdown is witnessing small films hit the OTT platform. Ardha Shatabdham is streaming on Aha and let us see what impact it is making on viewers.

Story Review

A young man Krishna (Karthik Rathnam) haling from Sircilla in Telangana gets attracted to a beautiful village belle Pushpa (Krishna Priya). Krishna is on one side of love and Pushpa is unaware of it. As Krishna is enjoying his one side love, he decides enough of it and plans to express it to Pushpa.

However, the sudden turn of events turns not only his life but also that of Pushpa drastically. To find out what incident changed Krishna and Pushpa's lives and that of the entire village which till now was silent, watch Artha Shatabhdam on the AHA OTT platform.

Artists, Technicians Review

Director Rawindra Pulle came with a rural backdrop and an interesting plot to attract viewers. He however failed with his screenplay and direction. His execution fell flat as he goes into the main story narrating it only in the second half. He stuffed the entire first half with silly and routine scenes with the hero running after the heroine in the name of one side love and trying to express his feelings towards her. The entire first half is wasted with unnecessary scenes and repetitions with the hero cycling around the heroine. Ravindra Rapole went on a damage control mode in the second half. He created interest with the story in the second half and with a decent climax.

However, He failed to connect emotional chords trying to tell numerous stories not only confusing but testing the patience of the viewers. The lead characters are interestingly narrated to some extent but the characters of Sai Kumar and Naveen Chandra lacked clarity. The unnecessary caste fights only helped in dragging the film and though the climax is decent to some extent, the damage has been already done.

Nawfal Raja with his background score elevated the scenes but the songs though tuned appealingly did not help the cause with its placement. Bhaskar, Venkat R Shakamuri, EJ Venu used the camera angles to perfection to show the rustic village atmosphere realistically and naturally. J.Prathap Kumar's editing left a lot to be desired but he cannot be faulted as had he used the scissors to perfection then the entire first half wouldn't have been there. Production values are decent.

Karthik Ratnam performed well as a once side lover. He did well in the romantic scenes and carried himself well in the second half where the real story started. Krishna Priya performed well in the role of a village belle. Anil Geela who played the role of hero's friend is good. Ajay is good in the role of a cop and Subhalekha Sudhakar did justice to his role. Sai Kumar impressed as the Naxalite but his role lacked clarity. The same is the case with Naveen Chandra who played the role of an aggressive cop. Viewers are left wondering why Sai Kumar and Naveen Chandra did these roles in the first place.

Advantages

Karthik Ratnam, Krishna Priya

Climax

BGM

Cinematography

Drawbacks

First half

Sai Kumar's character

Songs placement

Routine narration

Screenplay, Direction

Rating Analysis

Rawindra Pulle with his Ardha Shatabdam generated interest with the trailer. Despite some decent performances from Karthik Ratnam, Krishna Priya, Naveen Chandra and Sai Kumar and an interesting ending after the climax, the film failed to make an impact mostly because of the listless first half. Ravindra Pulle despite the best efforts of his cast and crew failed to do justice to the story due to his immature execution. Considering all these aspects, CJ goes with 1.5 rating to Ardha Shatabdham.

Punchline: Ardha Shatabhdam fizzles away.