Veera Simhareddy Unapolegetically Caters to Fans

So you love your ullipaya pesarattu – the crispy green dosa with grated ginger, chopped green chilies and onions with the right amount of oil on it and served with the standard kobbari chutney – in this exact same format. Now, even if you ate that for the 100th time that year, you probably don’t get bored of it and would throw a fit if even if one component is changed in it.

Balayya’s Veera Simha Reddy is like your favourite peserattu, served unapologetically in the cookie-cutter format, simply because that is exactly how you want it. Director Gopichand Malineni knows exactly what his fans love and serves the same with utmost conviction. So don’t complain if every scene gives you a ‘ekkado choosinattu vundey’  feeling. You are getting served what you desired and deserved.

VSR is akin to the one dozen blockbuster movies Balayya has starred in, with ease, in the last two decades. A village headman who is invincible; a bad man who tries to heckle him and bites the bullet; konchem romance; chala sentiment and many many chopped heads and torsos. The climax is the demigod walking through the village with folded hands as people fall at his feet.

The movie begins with Jai Simha Reddy (Balakrishna), a charming young man who has everything going right for him in Istanbul – a roaring restaurant business, his single mom (Meenakshi, Honey Rose) and the love of his life (Esha, Shruti Haasan). Days before he gets engaged, Meenakshi decides to give the good news to Veera Simha Reddy, the village headman of Pulicharla, who we are told is Jai’s dad although she is not formally married to him.

Reddy Sr is a well-respected demigod who acts only in the interests of the villagers. However, Pratap Reddy (Duniya Vijay) in the village has an unsettled score with Veera Simha Reddy and decides to kill him in Istanbul when he is not surrounded by his men. A fight ensues and just before Reddy is about to kill the baddy, Bhanu (Varu Sarath Kumar) pleads Reddy to spare her husband. However, just when he does that, the tables are turned on him. Bhanu and Pratap Reddy axe Veera Simha Reddy to death in broad daylight in Istanbul.

The rest of the story is about who Bhanu is, why she has been baying for Veera Simha Reddy’s blood, why Veera Simha Reddy lets go of Pratap Reddy when she asks for mercy on his behalf and how Jai come back to Pulicharla to fill in his father’s shoes.

The movie has loads of sharp one-liners that are full of alliterations (prasa), taunts at the ruling part in Andhra Pradesh and of course, arousing dialogues about Seema paurusham and netturu. Balayya’s costumes – solid khadi pancha and kurta, wrist beads, tilakam etc make him look the village head part to the T. As is the template of Seema faction movies, Veera Simha Reddy also suffers from too much hero worship but all is forgiven in the spirit of the faction movie.  Young Jai’s role is more to ensure there are a few peppy duets (Suguna Sundari) for the masses.

Varu Sararth Kumar gets a role that she can put proudly on her CV. She plays a fiesty palle adapaduchu  who is burning in revenge. Malayalam actor Honey Rose looks pleasant and does a fine job of her role as a young woman and as an ageing mom. However, one doesn’t understand how Veera and Meenakshi end up having a son when Veera insists that all physically intimate things have to happen after their marriage and they never get to marry each other. Well, we can live without knowing this.

Duniya Vijay as the main villain has a meaty role, but frankly, there was no reason to portray him like some kind of a cannibal, almost like a beast. Shruthi has nothing but a three-minute video clip that showcases her dancing skills. She is a blur in most of the other romantic scenes. Overall, the movie serves the regular masala story that his wants never get tired of. If it’s Balayya, then fans rule. And there are no other rules. Kursi ke peti baandhiya and enjoy the familiar ride. In familiarity lies comfort.

Plus: One-liners about prabhutavam

Minus: Too many chopped heads flying in the air