Akkineni Nagarjuna‘s Annapurna Studios backing small films and encouraging new filmmakers is definitely a positive sign. But Pallaburusu raises an uncomfortable question: are they becoming too loose with the scripts they choose?
The film stars Balagam fame Sudhakar Reddy in the lead, along with Muralidhar Goud, Prajwal, Gomathi and others. Uday Chouhan directs the film, with Pawan CH handling the music.
Pallaburusu deals with an emotional family subject, but the problem is that there is very little here that feels fresh. The film moves at a flat pace for most of its runtime and takes too long to get into its actual emotional zone.
The father-son conflict is the core of the story, but it could have been established with much more intensity. The second half is where the film finally finds some life. A few emotional scenes work well and show what the director was trying to achieve. Unfortunately, those moments are not enough to lift the overall experience, and the film mostly remains forgettable.
After films like Balagam and several other emotional family dramas, Pallaburusu feels more like another version of an already explored template. The treatment needed to be much more distinctive.
And this brings the focus back to Annapurna Studios.
The banner has a legendary legacy, having been associated with films such as Premabhishekam, Shiva, Ninne Pelladata, Manmadhudu and Manam. It has also played an important role in encouraging fresh talent and backing films that offer something different. But lately, the hit rate appears to be slipping.
Even Lenin, despite becoming a commercial success for Akhil, had some serious screenplay issues and a completely flat and outdated first half. Pallaburusu now adds to the concern that Annapurna Studios is increasingly missing the mark when it comes to script selection.
Supporting newcomers is one thing. Supporting the right stories is what makes that legacy meaningful. Annapurna Studios seems to be experimenting more but there have been more misses than hits in the recent years.
