Paradha Praveen, Pause for a Moment and Think!

Director Praveen Kandregula has made only three films, but he has still managed to become somewhat known, especially among younger audiences who keep track of new-age filmmakers online. His latest outing, Anupama Parameswaran’s Paradha, however, ended up as both a critical and box office disappointment.

His recognition mainly comes from his debut Cinema Bandi, which earned wide appreciation and made him a filmmaker to notice. He followed it with Samantha’s production Subham and later Paradha. One thing is clear in his work, he always attempts to bring in fresh concepts. That effort deserves respect. But intent alone cannot help anymore. Without strong writing and effective execution, even the best ideas will fall short.

Take Paradha as an example. The film had a solid core idea, but the execution went completely wrong, turning it into something neither worth praising nor even bad enough to be debated. It became a film nobody cared about. Such results only erode the goodwill he earned with Cinema Bandi. The same weakness shows up in his other film Subham as well. Unless he improves his writing and development, people will stop taking him seriously.

Another concern is the way he speaks before release. While the enthusiasm of a young director is understandable, making bold claims only harms him if the content does not stand up. Before Paradha, he confidently said the film would earn excellent reviews and even told audiences to check them before watching. The opposite happened. The reviews were as dull as the film itself.

Praveen must slow down the noise and focus on correcting where he is going wrong. It is good to see a filmmaker trying to bring new ideas, but unless he realises and fixes these mistakes, his career will continue to suffer.