What's Behind
When Nitya Menen decided to act and produce the film Skylab, expectations increased as she is known for doing good entertainers. Skylab title and the inspiration of 1970 incidents regarding a US space station and its connection to a remote village in Telangana, excited all. The film directed by Vishwak Khanderao hit the screens today. Let us find out what Skylab offers to viewers.
Story Review
Gowri (Nitya Menen), a reporter in Pratibimbam magazine in Hyderabad rushes to her village Banda Lingampally on hearing that her father was ill. Later she realizes it's a ploy by her mother (Tulasi)to get her married. She vows to become a reputed journalist in six months to escape from marriage. At the same time, Anand (Satyadev), returns to Banda Lingampally to raise Rs 5000 from his grandfather (Tanikella Bharani) so that he can get his doctor license revoked. In a similar village, Rama (Rahul Ramakrishna) who lands in many debts is prevented by her grandmother from doing any job as they hail from a royal Subedar family. When they try to ward off their problems, they get a huge shock when they come to know about the impending fall of Skylab. To find out more about Skylab and its connection to their problems, enjoy Skylab on screen.
Artists, Technicians Review
Director Vishwak Khanderao selected an interesting plot and tried to attract movie lovers coming with a story based on real-life incidents. The entire first half is spent on the introduction of various characters and highlighting their problems and generating comedy through them. Though it worked out to some extent initially, it ended up testing the patience of the viewers. With the narration not touching the main story till the end of the first half, movie lovers did not get anything exciting on the screen except for a few laughs.
While people expected at least the second half to be racy, the narration fell apart with routine scenes giving endless torture to the viewers. Though the 1970s backdrop looked fine and the Telangana dialect, with a lack of emotions and real twists and turns, it turned out to be a tedious watch. Director Khanderao failed with his screenplay and direction. Even the story turned out to be weak in writing except for the interesting premise. The slow pace impacted the film in a big way.
Prashant Vihari's music is ok and BGM is in sync with the plot. The cinematography of Aditya is good and realistic. He showed the village rustic atmosphere in the 1970s in a realistic manner. Editing of Raviteja Girijala left a lot to be desired. Production values are ok.
Nithya Menen sparkled in her role. She is lively, colorful, and lived in the role of a girl who aspires to be a successful reporter. Nithya Menen comes with realistic performance and her dialogue delivery and expressions attracted all. She with her screen presence carried the film on her shoulders. Her looks and appearance are depicted in a realistic manner of a girl hailing from a rich family in a remote village in Telangana.
Satyadev performed well as a young doctor whose license gets canceled. Though his appearance and looks are apt, however, his character is not written strongly. He just passed through the motions. Rahul Ramakrishna, Tanikella Bharani, Tulasi, and comedian Vishnu attract by their performances.
Advantages
Nithya Menen, Satyadev
Cinematography
Plot
Disadvantages
Slow pace
Editing
Missing emotions
Rating Analysis
Skylab generated immense interest with the presence of Nithya Menen and Satyadev. The trailer raised expectations of a comedy caper but viewers got a huge shock in theatres. Except for a couple of scenes in the first half, the entire film turned out to be relentless torture. Director Vishwak Khanderao should have worked on the story, screenplay, and direction for better impact. He failed to elevate the talent of Nitya Menen and Satyadev and despite Nitya's performance, there is nothing to rave about. Considering all these points, CJ goes with a 1.75 rating for Skylab.