Sandalwood film Vijayanand, a biopic on transport tycoon and former MP Vijay Sankeswar is generating immense interest among movie lovers. The film directed by Rishika Sharma is releasing on December 9,2022. The film's OTT rights have been bagged by Amazon Prime for a whopping sum and the streaming will be on after its theatrical run. Let us find out whether Vijayanand inspired and wowed movie lovers.
Vijayanand story is a biopic on Vijay Sankeswar who fought all odds and became a transport tycoon launching VRL Group and then went on to become a Member of Parliament. Anand (Bharat Boppana) recollects the trials and tribulations of his dad Vijay Sankeswar (Nihal R) since his childhood and how he overcame all the difficulties and insults. When Vijay as a teenager decides to start his own transport company, he faces severe opposition how he overcame his opponents and their conspiracies and how Ganesh (V. Ravichandran) is connected to it, form the rest of the story.
Vijayanand's story penned by the director Rishika Sharma had good scope to turn it into an interesting and inspiring one. Though Rishika came up with a good script, she failed with her screenplay and direction. She has taken many cinematic liberties and tried to turn the film into a commercial potboiler, instead of an inspiring one. There is no drama and even if it is there, it is not highlighted in a proper way. The narration just passes through the motions and with everything happening just like it, viewers who wait for the twists and turns get extremely disappointed and start moving restlessly.
In order to generate interest, Rishika Sharma even included many action sequences and stunts featuring Vijayanand and in real life, one doubts whether he enacted even one of them. Vijayanand who is an MP is known for his jovial, amiable, and helpful nature and not for his macho looks and mannerisms. Overall Rishika failed with her story, screenplay, and direction.
Nihal looked good on screen but his antics failed to impress all. What surprises all is there are no variations in his looks as a teenager, middle-aged person, etc. Siri Prahlad did her role well with her traditional looks. Boppana failed to impress while Anant Nag got a forgettable role which is below his stature. Prakash Belawadi passed through the motions while Vinaya Prasad goes unnoticed. Even V.Ravichandran disappears completely.
Gopi Sunder's music is just ok and BGM is loud and tested the ear lobes. Hemanth Kumar's editing left a lot to be desired. there are many scenes that he could have chopped off for a better experience. The cinematography of Keerthan Poojary is ok. Production values are good.
Altogether, Rishika Sharma came up with a good idea to show the rise of Vijay Sankeswar. However she failed with her story, screenplay, and direction, and her inexperience got exposed. The supported tribute to Vijay Sankeswar in form of Vijayanand turned out to be torture for the viewers. Rishika had an inspiring idea but came up with uninspiring execution. Her cinematic liberties turned out to be a catastrophe. Altogether Vijayanand is a failed attempt to pay tribute to a logistics legend. Considering all these elements, Cinejosh goes with a 1.5 rating for Vijayanand.