Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna make a deadly combo after they have scored a blockbuster with Geetha Govindam. Promoted aggressively by Mythri Movie Makers, the film directed by debutant Bharat Kamma seems to have got some serious stuff in it. Let us see, how far the winning momentum of Vijay, Rashmika will be continued here?
Communist ideology follower Chaitanya aka Bobby (Vijay Deverakonda) becomes a drunkard trying to forget his first love Aparna Devi aka Lilly (Rashmika). Here begins the flashback of Bobby, the student leader in Kakinada who fell in love with wannabe National level cricket player Lilly. Aggressive and rebel attitude of Bobby becomes a hurdle in their love life as they depart for three years. What happened to Lilly? Is she a National player now? Did Bobby and Lilly ever meet again?
Stories revolving around single point of agenda of young couple falling in love, separating and then re-uniting are routine formulaic stuff. Dear Comrade is alag because of debutant director Bharat Kamma’s blending of a cute, pleasant love story with a social issue. It’s like watching two films on single ticket. Definitely, Bharat and his team underwent lot of pain and effort in penning right scenes and proper emotions to leave a long lasting cinema watching impact on audience. Now and then, the ride appeared bumpy but when final impression is considered, it’s undoubtedly appreciable and praiseworthy.
Screenplay had some inconsistencies with some really good scenes followed by weak scenes placed in an order. Had Bharat narrated the central point with much more elan, Dear Comrade would have been a masterpiece. Direction wise, Bharat had enough maturity in explaining what he really wanted to and connected with audience majority times. There are seven to eight wonderfully etched scenes which stand out glorifying his taste. Dialogues were contextually sensible and served the purpose elevating the conflict.
Sujit Sarang’s camera work is top rate. Slow motion shots are top notch. Sreejith Sarang’s editing though isn’t racy, enough to be in coherence. Music by Justin Prabhakaran had some good melodies and background score is also remarkable. Production standards of Mythri are spotless.
Onto performances, Vijay Deverakonda as usual gave life to Bobby character. His ability to emote in simple scenes is spellbound… such a brilliant actor. With two contrasting getups and viewpoints, Vijay will penetrate deep into youth, more importantly with young girls and family ladies. Dear Comrade is Rashmika’s story and she is the central character around whom entire story pivots. No doubts, she stole the show away from Vijay in many areas. That enticing smile and magical eyes will not let our attention to deviate. May it be the beginning portions of cricket or mid portions of romance or the weighty climax, Rashmika did a splendid job. Among other artists, Rashmika’s elder sister, parents and Vijay friends batch looked fine.
Rashmika Mandanna
Vijay Deverakonda
Chemistry In Lead Pair
Music
First Half
Climax
Mid Second Half
Serious Tone
Slow Narrative
Too Many Points Forced Into The Story
Lack Of Humor
Dear Comrade is not a disciplined romantic film like Arjun Reddy or Geetha Govindam. Entire team deviated their core love point onto a different longitude, made it a social enlightening subject to add a new feather. While some may like the idea to score DC a bit better than Vijay’s earlier films, others may dislike it. For a positive reason, Vijay should be respected for valuing his heroine’s character to steer the story by himself becoming a passive catalyst to deliver the needful reaction.
First half begins with regular show off in Vijay’s drunkard acts and flashback takes off. While college episodes aren’t rewarding from here, once Rashmika enters it’s a romantic feast. Irrespective of lighter vein fun, Vijay-Rashmika chemistry drove the narrative. Cricket match, celebrations at communist office, fun at home… everything looked good including the lip locks. Once the conflict of Vijay’s aggression pulling Rashmika for separation is also established, by that time we reached interval. All in all, first half neatly registered Vijay, Rashmika’s characterizations added with soothing songs.
Second half begins on sluggish note. Vijay’s healing on road trip is over stretched. Then his coming back to Hyderabad, meeting Rashmika’s sister in hospital to know her pity status brings us back into the main track. From here on, there are few more overstretched episodes missed in focus. Bringing the plot to Rashmika’s cricket career is where Dear Comrade justifies the title to cent percent. Climax is though not an exalted material, message conveyed is accepted.
All in all, Vijay tested new waters with Dear Comrade. There’s Vijay mark rebel characterization treated realistically, there’s beautiful romance, then soothing music but there’s much more in Rashmika which made Dear Comrade a different film altogether. Commercially, DC will have a zoom out earth shattering openings… how far the core conflict connects with common audience will decide the actual Box Office scale. Yet, CJ goes with 3 stars rating admiring the very idea of Vijay and Bharat.