BOTTOM LINE
Intriguing Concept, Weak Execution
RATING
2/5
PLATFORM
ZEE5
What Is the Film About?
Rama Krishna, a detective by choice, helps cops solve many crucial cases in the city. Meanwhile, he’s headed to Amaragiri, a region near the Nallamalla forest, where mysterious occurrences create panic among residents. He bumps into a psychology student Lakshmi in the village and receives a hostile welcome. What’s in store for Rama Krishna is about Vikkatakavi tv series.
Performances
If there’s one performance that makes the show watchable to a certain extent, it is Naresh Agastya’s and it’s heartening to notice his evolution as an artiste with every outing after Mathu Vadalara. Megha Akash has made it a point to select one tepid role after the other – it’s high time she exercises caution and chooses better projects. Raghu Kunche, as Raghupati, is no great shakes either.
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Shiju AR surprisingly takes up an elderly role and delivers a credible performance, but is undone by the shoddy styling. Tarak Ponnappa is impressive while he lasts though he is mostly underutilised in a weak character. Nanimalla Ravi Teja, Giridhar, Mukhtar Khan, Rama Rao Jadhav and others are strictly okay in their brief screen time.
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Analysis
Vikkatakavi has an intriguing backdrop for a story. Despite trouble from a few internal rebellious forces, Hyderabad is on the cusp of national integration. A scientist, who is married to a tribal girl, seeks to change the future of mankind with a pathbreaking experiment. Many decades later, a detective heads to a village to decipher a complex mystery, which has an unexpected link to his roots.
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Like scores of mystical thrillers lately, the battle in Vikkatakavi is between reasoning and superstition – and how the former emerges victorious. The director Pradeep Maddali, who earlier helmed the feature film 47 Days and the web series Sarvam Shakthi Mayam for ZEE5, goes back in time, to the 1950s-70s with his new show, which has many promising ideas that don’t translate well on screen.
On a basic level, Vikkatakavi fails to build the right momentum for its story; the world-building is quite patchy and the dull treatment does little to warrant your attention. Rama Krishna is introduced as a happening detective in a city who heads to a remote village to resolve an issue. It’s hard to believe what’s so special about the local Sherlock – the character establishment is not convincing at all.
The show gains some steam as the backdrop shifts to Amaragiri and the problems of its residents take centre stage. The story is packed with stock characters and cliched storytelling tropes built around an ageing village head, a shrewd son-in-law, a priest who calls for a jathara, and a creepily dressed soothsayer who keeps muttering random lines with great enthusiasm.
All hell breaks loose when an outsider tries to challenge norms in the village. Though the plot keeps taking a few interesting turns, the storytelling is lacks conviction. The detailing is sketchy/superficial for the most part (surprising, given it is a periodic thriller) despite addressing several events of national significance. Worse, interpersonal relationships don’t work either.
The love track between Rama Krishna and Lakshmi adds little/no value to the plot. The director keeps teasing us about an earth-shattering mystery surrounding a tribal legend, but the payoff isn’t worth it. The entire subplot around the conspiracy around the Hyderabad state, cloud seed, magic formula and the mysterious disappearances are ridiculously executed, to put it mildly.
There’s no attempt to tell anything new in Vikkatakavi – the filmmaking is as generic, and lazy as the writing and the less said about the performances, the better. The idea to pay a humble tribute to Tenali Rama Krishna and his contribution as a spy is appreciable (on paper). On the whole, Pradeep Maddali’s show is largely forgettable with no major USPs.
Music and Other Departments?
Ajay Arasada, the composer on the rise, does a rather ordinary job with the score and the absence of a strong emotional hook in the storytelling affects his work too. Shoeb Siddique, the cinematographer, is the sole technician in the lineup who rises above the mediocrity in the proceedings. Despite the constraints, his visual language is compelling for the most part. A major disappointment is the poor production design, a make-or-break factor in periodical tales.
Highlights?
Naresh Agastya’s performance
Offers a good mishmash of genres
Good cinematography
Drawbacks?
No conviction in the storytelling
Mediocre writing
Not novel enough
Did I Enjoy It?
Not much, but there are a few intriguing parts I liked.
Will You Recommend It?
Only if you’re an easygoing series watcher who enjoys suspenseful shows with weak execution and doesn’t mind.
Vikkatakavi Web Series Review by M9
