Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: http://www.filmcompanion.in/article/arjun-reddy-movie-review
The southern film industries are apparently in a race to tell stories about clean-shaven college boys who lose their love, gain a beard, and spend the rest of the film not just battling inner demons but also making a running joke of the CBFC’s smoking/drinking disclaimer. Tamil cinema gave us Varanam Aayiram. Malayalam cinema dreamed up Premam. Then we got Kirik Party, in Kannada. Now, it’s Telugu cinema’s turn, with Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Arjun Reddy, which is bookended by a soothing image that belies the storms in between. A man and a woman are sleeping on a bed, lulled by sounds of the sea that lies just ahead. They could be the only two people on earth.
At least in the eyes of Arjun (Vijay Deverakonda), they are. He wants Preeti (Shalini Pandey) – nothing else matters. Early on, Arjun’s grandmother (Kanchana) tells a story about how he lost a toy as a child, and “ate and slept in grief.” Not much has changed. Arjun treats Preeti like a toy, literally imposing himself on her after laying eyes on her in medical college (shades of Balas’ Sethu here) – and when he loses her, he thrashes about in a tsunami of self-pity. There’s a lot of posturing. There’s also a lot of truth.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
jaga_jaga
September 1, 2017
Sorry for spamming. Did “Puriyatha Puthir” finally release today? BR, can you kindly say?
Didn’t know where else to ask this. Thought, I could grab some attention by commenting here.
If it is inappropriate, please feel free to delete this comment!
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Vamlegend
September 1, 2017
BR sir, thanks for an insightful review as always. I was hoping to see your take on a few other unconventional yet impactful scenes, the interval for example. For me, this symbolised a sort of inversion, an implosion that what has, in this guy, so far been explosive when pointed outward, is now turning inward. The camera move too gives a feeling that things are turning upside down. In addition, the title animation that follows darkens the letters, as if indicating things are about to get a lot more darker from here on. I might be reading too much into it, but like you said, the interval too fits the mould of a mainstream ‘bang’ but approaches it in a new, novel way with potential for subtext.
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brangan
September 1, 2017
Vamlegend: I wasn’t too impressed by the interval point. Had the film progressed linearly, then yes, the upside-down camera movement etc would have foreshadowed his life-to-come. But here, when we first meet him, his lifeis already “upside down.” So that interval point looked a little show-offy and redundant to me.
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Kay
September 1, 2017
Jaga checked SPI app. It has released
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jaga_jaga
September 1, 2017
Thanks a lot, Kay!
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Karthik
September 1, 2017
How could you reviewers get along movies in any language ? Is Arjun Reddy available with subtitles in Chennai ?
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sanjana
September 1, 2017
https://thereel.scroll.in/849214/womens-organisations-demand-a-ban-on-telugu-film-arjun-reddy
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billa
September 1, 2017
The earlier parts of the film gloss over the falling in love part of the girl, pretty quickly. Aside from that and the end, I had no problems with the film and worked awesome for me. The interval portions made perfect sense to me and felt that not a note was played false. He can’t control his instincts and issues an stupid ultimatum. She tries to contact him but he fails. She feels frustrated that how he could throw away their relationship. He meanwhile fails to grapple with the thought that she could be angry with him. Basically, a communication problem that could have been solved easily by a phone call or something. But, arjun wants his love to be too perfect and ideal he fails to do the basic stuff in a relationship – to communicate.
Top notch performance by Vijay. The moment he mocks his friend on his clinic, you see the type of character he is. He strongly believes in his way of living and anything else that someone does is boring to him.
The leads had superb chemistry between and the love making felt so genuine and real. I’m really happy that such a film succeeded in the market.
Also, interesting that all the four films, premam, VA, Arjun reddy, Kirik party had stellar performances from the lead actor. Arjun reddy is the more visceral of all those films, I feel. VA, is the weakest of the four, but when it worked it did so wonderfully.
How would you Arjun Reddy in terms of craft when compared to Premam and Kirik party?
P.S: how was the quality of subtitles? Some lines were so good I couldn’t think of how they could be translated in English.
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sanjana
September 1, 2017
Why not Arjun instead of Reddy tag? Casteism is deeply ingrained even in titles.
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phaneendra201
September 1, 2017
I didn’t get why Sanjana posted that link. It’s just an FYI or something else
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sanjana
September 1, 2017
Well, I posted that link because it is becoming controversial in certain quarters.
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Mohan Sagar (@Mohan0128)
September 1, 2017
No matter how modern they make themselves out to be, the Telugus will never give up their caste, even through heroin and cocaine trips.
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Pavan
September 1, 2017
sanjana: Two different things at a time and both being incomplete if I call them your opinion. Would like to know what you think actually in your own words rather than those links. I am sure they would be far interesting to read than going through a journalist report.
brangan: Thanks for the review, sir. Didn’t watch the film yet. One of my short film scripts was slightly close to this (at least going by what the trailer says) and I had to scrap it. So, not having the balls to face this film with such memories in mind (more worried that I might not enjoy the film because of the only common theme we have: Hero’s anger management issues). But, your review tempts me to give it a try. Hoping for the best!
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Honest Raj (formerly Venkatesh)
September 1, 2017
Glad you reviewed the film – it’s getting rave reviews. I hope this doesn’t get remade in Tamil.
Btw, when was the last time that we saw Kanchana in a Tamil film? I can think of Johnny and Mouna Raagam.
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Abg
September 2, 2017
Baddy may be that camera inversion signals that this is the point where his life takes a U turn and not in the narrative pov.
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micasa
September 2, 2017
Mohan Sagar: Haha, I bet you gave up yours after dabbling with meth. Maybe LSD is the last hope for pathetic Telugus.
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pjarugula
September 2, 2017
I don’t really understand these remarks about caste. It is the name of the character and it is his identity. If they named it Arjun, it could be any old Arjun. This is the Arjun Reddy, the legend from his medical school and it is about his life. The film says nothing about his caste, so why bring it up?
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tonks
September 2, 2017
Sorry, off topic but Njandugaludey nattil oridavela is a delight. Do watch. Huge respect towards Nivin Pauly for choosing to play the hero like this, in a movie he has produced himself. And the most entertaining, different, funny movie that deals with this subject.
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smile
September 2, 2017
Badshao
superb movie
Waiting for your review!
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billa
September 2, 2017
I loved the songs and the lyrics. That veena bit in ‘Madhurame’ melts me every single time.
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Anu Warrier
September 2, 2017
BR did you get to watch Shubh Mangal Savdhan? My Tamilian friends say that for one, the Hindi version is better than the Tamil original… true? (Sorry for hijacking the Arjun Reddy thread.)
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Prasanna
September 2, 2017
Brangan, that was cheeky to thrust VA in the list of Permanent, Kirik Party and Arjun Reddy
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Rohit Sathish Nair
September 2, 2017
tonks:
I’m still thinking of how they could mine so much humour with that kind of subject.
Baaki Onam releases kando?
Sorry once again Rangan sir
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hattorihanzo4784
September 2, 2017
I mean VA is a movie by a pan South-Indian Superstar re-collaborating with a director who previously gave a Superhit in Khakha Khakha with him.
Whereas,
Premam is the 2nd film for director Alphonse
Kirik Party is the 2nd film for Rishab Shetty
Arjun Reddy is debut for Sandeep Vanga
same way all the lead actors haven’t established themselves before these 3 movies happened.
I think, as you mentioned elsewhere Sethu is the best comparison to these movies as it by Bala making his debut and Vikram hasn’t established himself before Sethu.
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tonks
September 2, 2017
Indeed, Rohit, so much humour with such a subject. I cannot think of any other movie that treats this subject like this. The full significance of the title only clicked in my brain halfway through the movie. To answer your question : Illya, verey onnum kandillya. I heard they’re not that good.
(Apologies again for being off topic)
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Karthik Sridhar
September 2, 2017
Somehow, it looks like this film didn’t hit you as hard as it should’ve.
Firstly, the negatives. This film is nothing more than Devdas with the traditional telugu angry young man at its core. All that brashness at the beginning of the movie where Arjun seems invincible is simply crowd-pleasing. The kissing scenes that initially seem so organic to the moments eventually become inexplicably redundant, simply there to piss off the censor board. The entire What-a-wonderful-world stretch in the second half is very fake and abrupt.
But what works are these.
The title, my favourite. No I’m not a Reddy. But this is a middle finger to all faction movies. Reddy is a part of his identity that he doesn’t give a damn about but becomes an integral part of the biggest tragedy of his life. Imagine a cosmic middle finger that you didn’t even know existed, screwing your life.
The parts where he loses control and gives into self-pity. Every one of these moments is honest, blunt, to-the-point. The way these are shot are just brilliant. The interval scene communicates everything about this weakness and what it entails in a simple shot. The jealousy he experiences against his friends. The true despair when he talks about how his intense relationship (the part about communicating using condoms) failed but how a random kiss between his friends blew into an actual relationship. Credit to Sandeep and Raju Thota.
The conflict between the male chauvinism and his respect for women. He has strong women around him, like his grandmother and respects them. But the first time he sees the heroine, he ogles at her (it’s a lustful glare, not just an innocent stare). He literally orders her around for a while, drawing diagrams on her body to explain anatomy until the day they have to discuss upper thorax. The first kiss isn’t forced by him but initiated by her. This guy eventually turns into a dead soul who fucks every woman he meets. But in the end, he returns to become the guy who loves his pilla (his girl) no matter what. This is an innate character trait and is portrayed and enacted brilliantly.
The music. Right from the classical piece that plays during the heroine intro scene to the songs, the background sounds and the BGM, every sound is perfect. Oopiri aaguthunnadhey is a classic.
Like the Kanchana character says, suffering is personal. The moments in Arjun Reddy too are very personal moments of suffering that are distilled, packaged and served in a beautiful package.
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Honest Raj (formerly Venkatesh)
September 2, 2017
Suriya was a “pan South-Indian Superstar” at the time of VA? That’s news to me.
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sanjana
September 2, 2017
Please dont crowd the thread with off topics and then start saying sorry. If you hate this thread, this is not the way to show your hatred. Once is ok. Not so many times. Respect other language films if you can.
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Jyoti S Kumar
September 3, 2017
Hattorihanzo: you are right about the directors. But not about the actors. Nivin Pauly was an already established actor/star even before Premam. And going by the Wikipedia page, Rishab Shetty too was doing good work in Kannada even before Kirik Party.
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phaneendra201
September 3, 2017
Thank you so much Sanjana for that comment. So far I keep thinking that Sanjana doesn’t respect Telugu language films. But this comment is so sweet.
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sanjana
September 3, 2017
Good films have no language barrier. Telugu films have got their due because of the grand success and acceptance of Baahubali franchise. The sad part is that many little gems went unnoticed while only the biggest got all the attention. I think telugu films lack the PR machinery and shout to get the attention and eyeballs. And we have our own prejudices and biases.
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brangan
September 3, 2017
sanjana: Good films have no language barrier.
Actually, they do. And subtitles are the way to overcome them. The reason Malayalam films are increasingly being watched outside Kerala is that they are almost always released with subs. You say many little gems in Telugu went unnoticed? Well, how many of them bothered to put out prints with subs? Yes, PR helps, but ultimately no one will go watch a film in a language they don’t fully understand unless there are subs. And these industries will have to be content being ghettoised within their states (or NRIs who speak the language).
Even with Arjun Reddy, I had to put out tweets to ask for subtitled prints.
Telugu films have got their due because of the grand success and acceptance of Baahubali franchise.
Again, I disagree. The Baahubali series is a one-off, a spectacle that touched a cultural chord. And it’s not really representative of a Telugu movie as much as it is representative of pan-Indian myth. The connect was instantaneous. The challenge for non-Baahubali films in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil is to put out good content and to convince outsiders (using subs) that these films are worth it.
That’s the only way the “rest of India” will get to know about local/regional film industries.
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sanjana
September 3, 2017
The fault is with the producers who are quite content with their films getting hit status in their own state and because of huge telugu US based Nris. I agree about sub titles. They should reach out.
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MANK
September 3, 2017
Sanjana’s comment was totally unnecessary. Off topics and tangential discussions are the Hallmark of this blog
Secondly, it’s ridiculous to say that they are doing it out of hatred for this thread. So what about all those threads where people were asking for Arjun Reddy review. Where they being disrespectful . I don’t think so.
This is not the first thread where off topic subjects are discussed and this will not be the last. One expects people who have been on this blog for a while to respect that spirit
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sanjana
September 3, 2017
Well, I am wrong in using the word hatred. But otherwise I am not wrong. The thread went tangential from the beginning and ridiculous sorrys accompanying every off topic comment. I was turning into chat box. I opened the comments to read something about this hatke film and it was about something else. It is not only about this thread. While Tharamani thread had related topics like women empowerment.
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sanjana
September 3, 2017
I said that films have no language barriers from my point of view that films relate to human behaviour and humanity can relate to films on this basis irrespective of cultures and languages. Dangal is hugely appreciated in China but it does not become a pan China film just the way Baahubali franchise cannot become pan India film because it was liked immensely. Even Titanic was highly successful in india and the emotions worked allover. These films somehow magically or by fluke touched many irrespective of cultural or language barriers. Ultimately our emotions rule us. Sometimes. The way we respond to music. I was not thinking of sub titles at all.
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Anu Warrier
September 3, 2017
Sanjana, to support MANK’s point, people have been asking for the Arjun Reddy film on other film review threads. I didn’t see you excoriate them for ‘hating’ the (whichever language) film that request was on. (I saw that request for a review on three different threads.)
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sanjana
September 3, 2017
Anu, I agree that I should not have used that sentence. What got my goat was, I explained in detail. It is not about this film only. If the discussion went tangential like in Tharamani, it would have been natural.
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Rahini David
September 3, 2017
By the way, Sanjana. I watched the Tamil version of Titanic and Harry Potter. Also Jurassic Park. Dangal certainly came with subtitles. So BR’s point very much stands.
For a movie to be fully understood we need to understand the dialogue. No?
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tonks
September 3, 2017
Whoa Sanjana, no hatred at all and absolutely no disrespect for Telugu films. I wanted BR and others here to not miss seeing this gem of a movie, and perhaps post a review and have a discussion with my favourite go-to people for a movie discussion. I chose the latest amongst BR’s posts so my comment would be seen and that just happened to be this one. That is all.
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Human With Vertigo
September 3, 2017
I had certain disagreements with the movie that I was unable to gulp down. I watched the movie on the first day of its release and these things grew in me from then. I had finally articulated my views in a facebook post, which, I’m reproducing here.
“It has been clearly established by now that the movie Arjun Reddy is a bold one. The movie articulated a few things which would remain silent otherwise. Any art, as a medium, gives scope for one to express the inexpressible. But this movie asserted its position by differentiating itself from any other movie, by proclaiming its ability to speak certain things that would rather go unspeakable by any other movie. It created a mysterious space between two types of Telugu movies- the already decaying Telugu movie and this emerging trend of a ‘bold’ Telugu movie. Both the movies represent certain characters and characteristics that prescribe archetypes to the society. There is a certain set of audience that despises a movie like AR (who wouldn’t have any issue with not speaking certain things) and another set who thinks that the already established formula of a Telugu movie is naive (who have ardent admiration for things that the movie spoke so boldly).
One another aspect of the movie is its ability to simulate a reality in its confined capsule of time and space. Unlike a normal Telugu movie- this movie is able to convince its audience of its reality, of its closeness to the Truth. The movie claims to be a representation of a reality. Hence there is a triangular loop that connects a normal Telugu movie that cannot speak certain things, a movie like AR that is bold enough to speak certain things and the reality which is a compendium of both speakable and unspeakable things. Till this point, I have no contention with the movie.
The space that is created by the movie and its closeness to reality is extremely appealing. This space emerged as an alternative representation of the reality in Telugu movies till now. This space is welcomed by the audience and critics with overwhelming applause. The space is enacted and admired by communists, ambedkarites and progressive liberals alike. Except a few scattered views on the ‘societally unacceptable/unproductive’ behaviour of the protagonist – there is no concrete negation to the idea of this space.
The movie is titled after the name of its protagonist. The second word in the title ‘Reddy’ represents a forward community in the society. (when he was questioned about the title in an interview, the director remarked that the title asserts a certain ‘power’). The protagonist of the movie comes from an elite background. These are the three things one can deliberately assume after watching the trailer.
The trailer was sensational when it was released. The scandalous and societally inadmissible things that the trailer purports jolted everyone to attention. It promised a transgression of certain power structures which is impossible for any other Telugu movie. And as it promised, in the movie, it did transgress. The protagonist remained a dominant figure in the entire movie and the narrative architecture is built around the repression and accession of characters, scenes, music, silences and language used around the idea of this protagonist to reiterate his character. Even the heroine of the movie who is the second most important role is inaccessible upto a large portion of the movie. The audience are forced to admit the protagonist’s version of the heroine.
Here is one of the many examples that reflect my contention: The hero meets the heroine in her hostel for the first time. He asks her certain questions to which she nods or gives a one-worded answer uncomfortably. After a couple of minutes the hero suddenly takes chance to kiss the heroine on her cheek. This is no doubt a breach in the prevailing power-structures of a college/university. The masculine protagonist certainly braved to do something inadmissible to the society. But, essentially, the hero enacted this operation because he had a certain privilege in that particular space, certain power, a superiority- masculinity and ‘seniority’. Thus there is a reproduction of the preexisting power-structures. The hero is endorsed with a ‘seniority’ from the very institution to which he is a negation – and he exploits this incentive to its extreme level. Such scenes in the movie are unresolvable contradictions.
There are many such scenes in the movie that I find it hard to gulp down that they were overlooked by many critics. The protagonist of the movie reproduces the power-structures by exercising his own privileged identity. He pushes the boundaries of oppression by standardising a forward caste-elitism. He normalises a certain patriarchic ‘attitude’ by differentiating his form of objectifying women from some other vulgar objectification. His privilege remains unperturbed in the veil of free-spiritedness. His egoism and superiority is but a quirk that reasserts his heroism. I certainly don’t doubt the scope that this movie created by its form and technique. By its ability to narrate and depict a character. But the space that this movie created cannot go unquestioned.”
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phaneendra201
September 3, 2017
By looking the off topic comments at least few of them and especially usage of word sorry in those, I sensed they are trying to humiliate Arjun Reddy movie lovers. I know this comment is so mean to those people, but I am unapologetic about it.
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sanjana
September 3, 2017
Rahini, I am not talking about sub titles. BR said the cultural connect that led to the stupendous success of Baahubali 2 and that it being produced and directed by the telugus is almost irrelevant which I am contesting. It is a telugu movie and it caught the fancy of all India because the presentation was the highlight. It cannot disown its roots. Likewise the story of Dangal made the Chinese appreciate the film and sub titles played its part. But all movies with sub titles dont achieve that kind of success even if they are much better. It is like putting the horse before the cart! Sub titles are very important but the story is the main thing. It is like Mani Ratnam’s signature. People go to his films just to experience Mani’s magic. We get the drift just watching the expressions and emotions. And Charlie Chaplin’s silent movies without dialogues show us so much.
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Priyanka
September 4, 2017
Hey, as a mainly Tamil film critic, I just wanted to point out the sheer difference this film holds from other Telugu films. This has been a surprisingly good season for Tollywood (all the ones I’ve recently watched had some style or substance to it- Ninnu Kori, Shamantakamani, and Fidaa- this one I personally thought you would enjoy given that this director is in ways the Imtiaz Ali of Telugu cinema, his other film Godavari is on youtube w subtitles I believe). Anyways coming back on track, this film does things I’m pretty sure no other Telugu film has done- it’s cinematic, truly cinematic. It has deep textured characters, toxic relationships, a relatability, and somehow it’s still become successful with an audience that’s used to watching routine masala comedies. This wasn’t a step out of the box for Telugu cinema, it was a leap. Sure, other films have tried to do something different, they’ve had a few textured moments, or interesting bits, but none have been quite this unabashed and had success doing it. This wasn’t a Good Telugu Movie like the ones I mentioned above, this was just A Good Movie. Thoughts?
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Priyanka
September 4, 2017
Also it should be noted that in terms of major plot points, this film had little yet I was engaged the entire 3 hours, which for a Telugu movie is really saying something. I’ve checked my watch for ones with twists and turns before.And on another note the ending felt a little contrived to me, I usually love Happily Ever Afters but the fact that he went through all of that because of a simple misunderstanding was a bit of a letdown. That’s all, also Telugu film had sort of stagnated before, the audience and content was quite conventional and conservative, though we’ve had a pretty good few past movies, this broke the barriers and allowed B C Center audiences to understand it- it wasn’t too artsy or pretentious.
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Priyanka
September 4, 2017
The whole finding yourself trope simply never exists to this degree in Telugu cinema, it’s brushed off in a dialogue or montage of a journey. External conflict often laces the screen in place of an internal one (the few that have had this have been ineffective or fell into a certain mode), this made you laugh, angry, pitiful, and more. That’s all.
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sanjana
September 4, 2017
It should have been cart before the horse.
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
September 4, 2017
I wasn’t able to get past the trajectory of romance at all. I am surprised so many people were able to buy it. I understand to some extent the romanticizing – fetishizing is probably a more accurate word – of Arjun Reddy character was necessary but that first half was objectionable to me to such an extent that I couldn’t appreciate the 2nd half all that much (which I admit really makes the film). This is clearly closer to the GVM cinematic universe and while comparisons with VA are obvious, I was wondering if a vignettes like approach like NEPV – especially for the first half – with a more convincing romance would have worked better (for me).
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billa
September 4, 2017
Aditya: I had problems too with the earlier portions of the film. AR cleverly sidesteps that popular arc – hero persisting and heroine giving in – in our films. Arjun almost bullies her into the relationship. Preeti doesn’t have a dialogue for maybe 20 mins into the film?. But, unlike other films, the reason most didn’t mind the arc as much here was because preeti doesn’t look like she has given in to hero’s demands. She rather makes the decisions on her own accord. We get the first clear signal of consent when she initiates the lovemaking in the madhurame song. I also felt that she has a say in the relationship, and it isn’t all one way traffic. It also helps that Arjun isn’t a regular slouch, he’s a brilliant student too. It’s as if the director decided to appeal to both the average Indian cinema viewer and his inner-feminist at the same time; He couldn’t make a solid decision and ended up doing both.
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brangan
September 4, 2017
Yes. I too did not have a major issue with that arc. The point that changes things is when he plonks himself on her lap and goes to sleep and she asks for a blanket. I wish her feelings had been etched out better but I did not squirm like I did in, say, Sethu, where he literally badgers her into submission and she consents only well into the film. Here, her yes comes very quickly and I liked that she initiated the lovemaking.
PS: I am not saying Sethu should not show what it shows. Merely that it made me squirm and this did not.
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
September 4, 2017
billa: She not having a dialogue for that whole stretch was a big problem for me. No moment gave me a reassurance that maybe she has a say. I mean, she is a first year student, possibly on her very first week there, already a new environment + the fear of ragging etc. And what he does? He kisses her without consent! That should have shook someone in ways different from what is shown in the film.
“It also helps that Arjun isn’t a regular slouch, he’s a brilliant student too.”
Excuses like these are what makes it apparent that there is a class bias in calling out sexism/stalking/misogyny. Why can’t brilliant students not be sexists/assholes? Which Arjun Reddy is, the film knows this and goes ahead into the fetishizing aspect (this is where it differs significantly from Kaatru Veliyidai, that people criticizing AR have brought up, which again I think is wrong. KV willingly went into the physical abuse relationship angle and established that the hero is an asshole, people around him including his lover acknowledge this to an extent). No one around him even so much as winces at his actions. Is he that big a fascist in the college? The whole “fat chick” roommate/friend aspect gave this away and then I didn’t know how to react when he pulls up his friend’s to-be-BIL for objectifying air hostesses. I mean, should I fill in the blanks? That the “fat chick” period was him being naive student and now, as a surgeon in this world, he’s grown up to recognize and call these things out (to be honest, all of us, even me, have had this curve)? Yes, I did fill in the blank there and took it that way. But I drew only blanks when it came to their love story (and I didn’t even have to get to him slapping her couple of times part). I am not one to say we shouldn’t be making movies about sexist assholes. Or abusive, messy relationships. But the tone-deafness can rankle and, to use BR’s words against him (!), it did not ring true for me.
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Honest Raj (formerly Venkatesh)
September 4, 2017
(when he was questioned about the title in an interview, the director remarked that the title asserts a certain ‘power’). The protagonist of the movie comes from an elite background.
This is just lame – clearly a supremacist attitude.
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brangan
September 4, 2017
Aditya: I agree that those portions are weird at first. But then, the point IS that he “grows up” — that he was an asshole earlier and now he’s calling out misogyny.
The film does not paint him to be a saint. This is not the story of a “good guy.” Even later, he abuses women, his friends and so on. This IS a very narcissistic love story — like Devdas. As I said in my review:
“Arjun treats Preeti like a toy, literally imposing himself on her after laying eyes on her in medical college (shades of Balas’ Sethu here) – and when he loses her, he thrashes about in a tsunami of self-pity.”
The fault in the screenplay is in not establishing a bit of what Preeti feels. I mean, she certainly doesn’t wince or feel repulsed, the way the Sethu heroine did. She’s a very docile creature at first, and it’s hard to say what’s going on in that head.
I would have found it objectionable if the film — and not Arjun — treated her like a toy, i.e. if it was the writer/director and not the character. But even when he draws those anatomy lessons on her, we see her show her hand to her friend like a trophy. She doesn’t instantly go and rinse away away the drawings.
For me, it was important that SHE decided how the relationship went forward and not HE.
BTW, your point about “Is he that big a fascist in the college?” — it’s pretty clearly established that he’s the college stud, no? Seniors do behave like that…
sanjana: BR said the cultural connect that led to the stupendous success of Baahubali 2 and that it being produced and directed by the telugus is almost irrelevant which I am contesting.
Look, there is no doubt that Baahubali is made by a Telugu filmmaker, featuring Telugu actors, and from the Telugu film industry. This is 100% true, and a very proud moment for Telugu cinema. Of course, it’s Rajamouli’s film — and he’s done what NO other southern filmmaker has done.
BUT, no one goes to see a film because it’s from the Telugu industry (or Tamil or Malayalam or whatever). Otherwise, the Hindi version of Eega or Robot would have been blockbusters too. (I mean, Eega was a sensational masala movie.) Films need a cultural connect to resonate with audiences across the country, and that happened — IMO — due to the pan-Indian Amar Chitra Katha-ness of the Baahubali story rather than its inherent Telugu-ness.
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Honest Raj (formerly Venkatesh)
September 4, 2017
BR: On BB’s pan India success, while I’m not denying your point, it clicked big time at the North Indian BO because it was brilliantly “marketed”. Even Magadheera had the ‘connect’ you’re talking about. I really hope Shankar has got the clue now.
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billa
September 5, 2017
Aditya: It also helps that Arjun isn’t a regular slouch, he’s a brilliant student too
I didn’t mean that brilliant people shouldn’t be assholes. It helps that Arjun is a brilliant student and it differentiates him from the usual run of the mill useless heroes without an aim. He has a personality and it differentiates him from usual archetypes.
I agree him kissing her the very first day was a problem, but she could have resisted that and didn’t. We know well and good that she is capable of standing up for herself.
I pondered about the things that she might have found in him attractive.
1) Confidence and unpredictability? It comes off as arrogance at times, but she might have liked him for his authoritative nature and brazenness.
2) His passion towards his education? He is a committed individual to his profession and that might have been attractive. This is one more probable reason which is why I said him being a passionate student helps.
AR doesn’t give us a solid reason for her love and all we can do is speculate. It would have been a major problem for us if she found him repulsive at the start and all of a sudden gives in, devaluing her character. But, we don’t know what happens in her head in the start. So, it is wrong of us to assume she found him repulsive and unattractive at the beginning. Different people have different turn ons and who know what might have been hers?
Of course we would not have had this problem if the director had given her two or more conversations in the initial stage as BR said that let us know what’s happening in her head. I wonder why the director didn’t do so.
With regards to the hero slapping him: I think its a acceptable dynamic to them in their relationship, and their relationship isn’t a normal one. It can be a bit aggressive and hurting for their own good at times. We see this when she slaps him at the bus-stand for shouting at her and he apologises immediately smiling. It might have been problematic if only Arjun did all the slapping, but he doesn’t.
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Ravi K
September 5, 2017
SPOILERS
Been thinking about this film a lot since I saw it a few days ago. It’s interesting how the film recontextualizes Arjun’s behavior. In a typical Telugu or Tamil film the obsessive, stalkery stuff in the first half would have been treated as cutesy and acceptable, but the tone of “Arjun Reddy” is that this is a complicated, flawed character, rather than a hero. The fight he gets into is a sign of an anger problem not a sign of how bad-ass he is.
Even his friends change throughout the film. They idolize him in the college portion, but after that they’re the ones telling him the hard truth he needs to hear.
I had issues with the ending, though. Arjun getting back together with Preethi was too convenient. IMO the subtext of the second half, up until that point, was that Arjun needed to overcome his obsession with Preethi, but having her not only turn out to be unhappy in her marriage, but also carrying Arjun’s baby essentially justified Arjun’s inability to move forward and grow as a person. Something a little more open-ended that shows that maybe Arjun has a chance at moving on, would have been better than everything conclusively working out for him. The happy ending undercuts the idea that the work Arjun would have to do to grow would be difficult but necessary.
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billa
September 5, 2017
http://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/arjun-reddy-how-vijay-devarakondas-film-is-a-70mm-nod-to-toxic-masculinity-4006083.html/
The OP thinks the director wants to replace the traditional toxic masculinity with a new raw version, and says the director wanted to subvert it and ended up nodding to his toxicity. But, AR is more of innately keen observations than nods to his toxicity. The director was going for more of a toxic and intense personality confronting his demons and asking questions of himself in the end.
I have to agree with the OP that Sandeep Vanga cops out by the end giving us a very insincere crowd pleasing end. This was a missed oppurtunity to pick up from where dev d had left off. DevD had the protagonist suddenly being optimistic and positive towards his life without showing any signs of self-realization. Contrastingly, here Arjun realizes he hasn’t lost all the best parts of himself in that panel – hearing scene. I think he wanted to come out of self-pity realizes how hard he had been to himself and the people around him with the death of his grandma, and takes the holiday. Until then his arc was perfect and I expecting a change in his mentality at that point. But, he doesn’t really change and remains the same guy in the end. It sort of makes his arc incomplete. But, the acting was superb and Vijay and Shalini almost made me buy the end.
All said, I also feel AR more honest moments of observations than any other film recently that I had watched from Telugu cinema. The table conversation between Arjun, and his friends where Arjun says Shiva, his friend of being obsessed with sex, is both hilarious and honest. Such brilliant lowkey moments are rare in Telugu cinema. When the lesser parts of the film succeed with such honesty, we know the writing is very very good.
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
September 5, 2017
The film does not paint him as a saint. But it paints him as something far bigger, somewhat of a macho ideal. And that is fine. Lets make a narcissistic love story. The whole thing crumbles with that cop out of an ending. I mean, a redemption of character or a rehabilitation would have made sense but the happily ever after + the-husband-did-not-even-touch-me park bench conversation was grating. A “final fuck you from Preethi + our narcissistic hero loses everything” seems far greater in appeal than “it was just a minsunderstanding/communication gap + our narcissistic hero loses everything but lives happily ever after anyway”.
“The fault in the screenplay is in not establishing a bit of what Preeti feels.”
This was a pretty huge flaw. The thing that troubled me was that none of this was necessary. It would have had a similar effect had the relationship – at least the beginning of it – been shown as properly consensual. They would have still had those family issues, marriage issues, narcissistic Arjun would have still gone down that spiral. How many movies have had the college rowdy paired with the college docile girl. Having Preeti as a non-entity didn’t help the story in any way, forget appreciating, it only made me doubt the filmmaker’s intentions.
And that is why – “For me, it was important that SHE decided how the relationship went forward and not HE.” – this didn’t come across to me at all. Like you said, he pretty much imposes on her and it’s like there was never a Yes but there wasn’t a No either. That’s problematic to me. This is not even a “messy” relationship to begin with (as I write this I wonder if that is my main issue), it is played as too straightforward considering the two characters and their stark opposite natures involved. If, as a student he was sexist/misogynist, how did it impact in their 4-5 years relationship? In other messy relationship sagas recently, I was able to recognize the notes, be it in ADHM or even Kaatru Veliyidai. Here, I wasn’t able to connect the people to the relationship.
There are enough evidences in the film of chestbeating caste/class/status and what HonestRaj mentions above – a clear supremacist attitude – makes me doubt this coming from the character or the writer/director. Put it simply, we do differ in this capacity – I think the writer/director/film treats Preeti like a toy and that’s deeply problematic wrt rest of the film and in general.
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brangan
September 5, 2017
Aditya:The film does not paint him as a saint. But it paints him as something far bigger, somewhat of a macho ideal.
Okay, I guess we see the film very differently then.
I do not see self-pity, narcissism, self-destruction, self-flagellation as “macho ideals” — and I do not think the Devdas archetype is a macho ideal either.
I just see this as the story of a very flawed man, who throws himself a massive pity party and then snaps out of it slowly. And with that POV, the film worked quite well for me.
It would have had a similar effect had the relationship – at least the beginning of it – been shown as properly consensual.
Not really. You cannot expect a film to be PC when it’s about a character who is so way out there. Why should Arjun Reddy behave the way you or I would? That’s HIS character. Just like Dhanush did all those creepy things in Raanjhanaa.
The point is whether these characteristics are glorified or treated as less than ideal — and I got a distinct sense of the latter. He realises he has anger issues. He realises he’s been an asshole.
About the ending, I agree and mentioned as much in my review. But that wasn’t what we were talking about earlier, so I didn’t bring it up.
This is not a perfect film, but I don’t think you can slap on it the kind of misogyny charge you do on a Remo either.
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Naveen
September 5, 2017
@Honest Raj, the R in the title seems to reflect the society. i have a few colleagues from AP who do not have R in the official context but flaunt the R in their FB profile. they do see it as a form of power or being elitist. i guess that is the structure in those circles.
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billa
September 5, 2017
Honest Raj: Is there a link to the interview? . Regardless of the director’s intentions Arjun Reddy seems the apt title. For a film as narcissistic, Arjun falls short.
Aditya: At no point in the movie did I feel that director intended the film to be supremacist or casteist. What are the instances that made you feel like that. You can replace his surname with any caste and it won’t make a difference. He is what he is.
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
September 5, 2017
“I do not see self-pity, narcissism, self-destruction, self-flagellation as “macho ideals” — and I do not think the Devdas archetype is a macho ideal either.”
It’s not about these qualities in vacuum of course. It’s about how the film delivers these to you. The filmmaking, the emotional beats, the celebratory moments, to me didn’t sell them as self-flagellation and I only got the glorified part while you got the less-than-ideal part.
Also, not about behaving in PC or in ways you or I would. It’s about that kind of behavior actually reaping rewards. I totally understand that he is this way and he needs to be. And we also know such people, in real life, have regular consensual relationships etc. so it’s not far fetched. But it was problematic for me that Preethi didn’t even get an I-am-so-attracted-to-him plot point and I couldn’t let go of that.
“This is not a perfect film, but I don’t think you can slap on it the kind of misogyny charge you do on a Remo either.”
Fair enough. Maybe because the whole premise of Remo is built on such an ideal and there aren’t really redeeming factors as such, I am not sure. On the other hand, here, some excursions in the 2nd half are a beauty. His downward spiral etc was narratively very fulfilling and this film definitely has its moments. But I still judge some choices it made to get there.
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sanjana
September 5, 2017
http://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/arjun-reddy-how-vijay-devarakondas-film-is-a-70mm-nod-to-toxic-masculinity-4006083.html
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sanjana
September 5, 2017
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/arjun-reddy-may-be-21st-century-epic-why-are-its-women-stuck-past-67858
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sanjana
September 5, 2017
From so many viewpoints, I feel this film is old wine in new bottle. Stalking is not the only vice of certain species of males.
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sanjana
September 5, 2017
@billa: At no point in the movie did I feel that director intended the film to be supremacist or casteist. What are the instances that made you feel like that. You can replace his surname with any caste and it won’t make a difference. He is what he is.
The surname matters. A Shastri or Sharma or a dalit student usually will not have that kind of attitude. Their main concern will be to get good grades or bring some sort of equality.
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bart
September 5, 2017
I completely agree to Aditya’s “The whole thing crumbles with that cop out of an ending. I mean, a redemption of character or a rehabilitation would have made sense but the happily ever after + the-husband-did-not-even-touch-me park bench conversation was grating. A “final fuck you from Preethi + our narcissistic hero loses everything” seems far greater in appeal than “it was just a minsunderstanding/communication gap + our narcissistic hero loses everything but lives happily ever after anyway”.”. That was the only downer to me. But I’ve gotten over it 😊
But regarding the initial portions, there is quite a lot of ambiguity to ponder on: The film starts with the AR’s PoV. It shows how he’s a super student + athlete with loads of anger and does not bow down to authority. He decides for himself. However, “The love at first sight” moment during the song appeared mutual rather than only from AR’s side. She might’ve heard about him and might’ve been in awe (considering she’s a first-year college goer, it does seem possible).
The backdrop of the heroine wasn’t detailed until that point but the movie drop a few hints on her attraction from there on. AR makes an open warning in the first year classroom about staying away from her and she raises no voice or complaints to authority. Also when she comes alongwith her father in search for AR, she doesn’t show / hint / tell him of the intimidation. Also the exemption she gets from the ragging by someone’s drop of AR’s name and she availing that exemption again hints at her approval. So, her giving in to AR’s forcing himself on her was hinted in subtle ways though not explicitly mentioned. While watching, how she would react to him was anybody’s guess in these initial portions but I was convinced I should say at the end. Am in support of BR’s comments on the same.
I got reminded of Mayakkam Enna for some reason while watching (one of the songs was close to ME’s “Ennena seidhom”). A great, disturbing movie overall.
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Honest Raj (formerly Venkatesh)
September 5, 2017
@Naveen & Billa: My response was made wrt Human With Vertigo’s comment: when he was questioned about the title in an interview, the director remarked that the title asserts a certain ‘power’.
If the film was primarily about caste, it would’ve made sense. But when the director says something like it “asserts” a certain “power”, how is it not supremacist?
You can replace his surname with any caste and it won’t make a difference.
Sure, the Reddys are a dominant caste in AP. So are the Kammas and the Kapus. But why Reddy? Because the director (and the producer) is one too.
He is what he is.
“Arjun” should suffice, no?
For a film as narcissistic, Arjun falls short.
To me, the name (Arjun) itself has a certain power to it. For the record, we’ve had quite a few namesake films where the protagonist was a strong (not necessarily narcissistic) man in the sense that he carried the entire film on his shoulders—the most famous being the Sunny Deol starrer.
As much as I await BR & “Blue shirt” reviews before every release, I await TNM articles on sexism after release. 🙂
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/arjun-reddy-may-be-21st-century-epic-why-are-its-women-stuck-past-67858
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Iswarya
September 5, 2017
Honest Raj: Wow, most unexpected fan of Sowmya Rajendran. High-five! Curious now.. who else other than Rahini and me?
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brangan
September 5, 2017
sanjana: From so many viewpoints, I feel this film is old wine in new bottle.
It is old wine in a new bottle. It’s the Devdas story in a new setting. I think the early buzz (“new-age cinema” etc.) did a disservice to the film and sold it in a very different way. Like Pelli Choopulu. I heard the awesome buzz, and I expected something else — it turned out to be a very sweet, nicely written, beautifully acted rom-com. Which is nothing to sneeze at. But the whole buzz made me expect something radically different (which it may be in the universe of Telugu cinema, I admit).
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phaneendra201
September 5, 2017
Hi BR, I completely disagree with your assertion – old wine in new bottle. You told it is Devadas in new setting. It is not true.
I want to quote just one scene from this movie, where hero speaks about menstrual cycle. People fear to talk about this, but director has shot this in a beautiful way. There is an indirect message in this scene.
This movie doesn’t run away from real life. Actions and reactions in this movie are so honest.
Other main thing is, Arjun Reddy’s character or attitude remains the same throughout the movie.
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brangan
September 5, 2017
phaneendra201: Old wine in a new bottle is not an insult. It just means that the old story has been told in a new way. Despite my reservations with some aspects of the film, I really liked it.
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phaneendra201
September 5, 2017
Sorry BR, I misunderstood your statement.
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Nayana
September 6, 2017
I see a lot of people raising questions about possible casteist angles behind the naming of the film. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be that deep (i could be wrong)- as the director’s son’s name is Arjun Reddy. Sentimental angle? Good luck charm? I don’t know.
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Pavan
September 6, 2017
Margaret E. Redlich, the author of “Don’t call it Bollywood” book (she follows Rangan’s reviews too) has reviewed Arjun Reddy. I want to reproduce her thoughts about Preethi’s character. Just wanted to share this and know your reactions about that.
Here is the link to the review: https://dontcallitbollywood.com/2017/09/05/tuesday-telugu-arjun-reddy-spoilers-is-paro-feeling-devdas-pain-or-is-it-the-other-way-around/#more-110083
Try reading her views on Preethi and comment if interested. I find this important, as a foreigner’s review who has knowledge about Indian cinema and its tropes. Thank you.
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Pavan
September 6, 2017
Thanks to your review, I have seen the film Rangan. I liked it in parts, didn’t like it parts. And yes, it was so close to the idea I had in my mind; I scrapped my script. I agree with you on all things. However, at the end of the day, I began wondering how would the film turn out to be if Shiva was the film’s hero and it focused on his relationship with Arjun in both the phases of the latter’s life. Really intriguing.
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Honest Raj (formerly Venkatesh)
September 6, 2017
Iswarya: “Wow, most unexpected fan of Sowmya Rajendran”
May I ask you why?
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TheManWithTwonames
September 7, 2017
Expected the film to resonate with you harder that it did. Good review nonetheless.
[embed width="123" height="456"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kZ3nrPBvZU[/embed]
This review was good too. They speak about how Preeti gets into a new reality in her college, where she is not being dominated by her family. It might explain her behavior at the start. She opens up gradually as she becomes more comfortable with the new surroundings.
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Apu
September 8, 2017
Seems like this is going to be remade in Hindi with Ranveer Singh in the lead…I would love to see Ranveer in this role, but on reading through your review and some others, it makes me feel that the female protagonist has a unique role too?
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rekha
September 9, 2017
micasa on September 2, 2017 at 02:19
Mohan Sagar: Haha, I bet you gave up yours after dabbling with meth. Maybe LSD is the last hope for “pathetic Telugus”.
I see no one reacting to that comment but a lot of comments chiding sanjana.
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Kay
September 9, 2017
I loved the movie so much from the beginning (except for the initial interactions between Arjun and Preethi), and every scene kept building up and building up, and then came the last 15 minutes which turned out to be a damp squib. How conveniently things worked out in the end!
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Kay
September 9, 2017
What troubles me more was the audience’s reaction to the scenes where Arjun was being very rude. There were few guys who were clapping in the fat chicks scene, and the one in which he leaves the actress, the one in which he slaps her and gives her an ultimatum, etc. It was really worrying that they were enjoying these scenes. And then during the interval, I overheard (or rather eavesdropped) some college guys and one of them was boasting that he has directly told girls they are ugly. And passed a few other lewd comments about talking to girls. I remember the same happening when I watched Lipstick under the Burkha, when a few of them snickered in the marital rape scenes.
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Ravi K
September 9, 2017
The film doesn’t endorse Arjun’s behavior, but thankfully it doesn’t didactically preach to us about how he’s wrong. However, Kay, your audience experience is troubling. Those people completely missed the tone of the film and the characterization of Arjun. It’s like if the film doesn’t have a label on it that says “he’s acting like a jerk,” some of the men in the audience think the guy’s a hero. Very frustrating to see people misread a film this way.
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micasa
September 10, 2017
rekha: That’s because no one took him seriously. I realized I shouldn’t have replied to it right away.
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An Jo
September 11, 2017
There’s an interesting dichotomy in the way this film gets consumed by the audience; at least the way it was consumed by me. How does one judge this character? Or is one even deserving to judge? For instance, as I said, I could relate to many such personal stuff to the stuff being played out on-screen. However, as an audience, it’s not easy. As an example, there’s a scene where Arjun commands a ‘fat-chick’ to be his lady Shalini’s friend. Why? Because he believes a fat [read ‘ugly’] girl can be the ONLY true friend of a ‘beautiful’ girl. In another scene, he literally tells his friend that a guy is not ‘worthy’ enough of being married to the friend’s sister since he ‘objectified’ women on his flight from London! Really? What was the ‘fat-girl’ scene about? Can the audience ask why is it that you didn’t fall in love with the ‘fat-girl’? And he tries to justify it by saying that one might have talked stupid when drunk but one didn’t ‘objectify’ women! [I, for one, didn’t know that dictionary meanings of ‘objectifying’ could be inter-changed so easily.] As an audience, you have complete rights to take such scenes head-on and challenge them. Why is your EAMCET or KCET score or rank so important to you? One needs to make up one’s mind when one’s decided to go against established norms of society. Maybe, just maybe, sometimes Bush’s policy of ‘YOU’RE EITHER WITH THEM or WITH US’ applies! Or just makes plain sense! But viewed in light of an individual grasping with life and its complex meanings and philosophies, doesn’t this ‘incompleteness’ in understanding life with all its unexplainable dimensions make sense? Maybe, 10 years down the line, Arjun Reddy might realize that what he did with his girlfriend’s forced-down-the-throat friend was exactly the same thing that the guy who talked about air-hostesses’ beauty did! I say this since I myself have done and said things, say, 5 years back which, today, as an aging person, look quite stupid to me! Maybe these conundrums turn out to be strong points for some audience for this movie, and maybe weak-points for some. It’s quite subjective. And, dare I say it, even the question of a female being in abusive relationship.
One of the most interesting themes I found here is the interpretation of the character of ‘CHANDRAMUKHI’ – or rather, ‘Chandramukhis.’ Arjun Reddy tries to find his Chandramukhi in an actress who happens to come to him for some treatment, but actually finds it in ‘multiple’ versions of Chandramukhis through prostitutes with whom he just engages in talks as a tool for catharsis. They are the actual Meeras, and hence the true Chandramkhis, devoted to Lord Krishna and not the actress.
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kaizokukeshav
September 12, 2017
I was expecting the hero to climb some Mt Everest or swim in Antarcitic ocean after looking at how serious he took his love failure. But the climax was very anti-climactic and escaped that moment of truth the hero should face. Gautham Menon did a better role in writing VA when it comes to rehabilitation.
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Naveen
September 12, 2017
watched the movie after being inspired by this thread. liked it very much. this is the most emoutionally engaging movie since Premam/Sairat.
i find many of the comments in this thread a bit shallow and without understanding the film or the characters fully. like just calling the movie as patronizing of alcoholism or calling the heroine dumb. yes the alcohol could have been shown less. and you dont even notice the cigarattes after a point bcos they are there in the key men’s hands most of the time.
the gal is not that dumb as claimed. she just reflected how dumb a fresher in a medical college would have been. further i know many shy gals open up well to their close circles/confidantes alone. she did come across to me a strong girl. actually she is the stronger of the two. while the hero almost gave up and was able to seek physical help, she did not relent or stray. but for her this film would have become a devdas or ek dujhe ke liye or QSQT which it did not become. inspite of all the machoness of the hero, this is her moment of heroism that saves their love.
coming to the hero, he is just too good. i bet one cannot find any contemporary indian hero, even after nth movie to emote so well in big scenes as well as those small small ( like VA Sameera reddy ) moments and in extreme closeups. i wonder where he got trained. looks wise too he is better than everybody around. shaven he is like nivinpauly + sushant singh rajput. unshaven he is 90% dulqer + madhavan. acting wise, i can only consider nivin pauly who can be compared. his resemblance to dulquer in beard was too striking to me. with care and attention to choosing scripts, this guy can go a loong way and take a centre stage in indian cinema, not just regional cinema. ranveer cannot do justice to such an intense role, he cannot look so classy and convincing in a serious role ( where SLB or Deeps is not involved )
another aspect that captivated was the music. i feel english cannot do justice to the regional songs when translated. i dont know telugu but grasping some words and beautiful voices, i feel the telugu version would be more appealing. the beauty of the songs are literally lost in translation. the mix of western, sufi and indian classical is beautiful. the placement of twinkle twinkle little star was bang on and touching
the climax was most impactful, it is welcome that the director crosses the laxman rekha where KB or Bhagyaraj generation was not willing to cross. but as somebody pointed out in this thread, everything is cleared and she is handed over in a plate with no strings attached. this is the peeve i had in dharmadurai too. the heroine is ‘available’ so that the lead male could get his way easily. the director could have taken the story to breach all the taboos further. dont know if he had to compromise.
in current form too, while watchng the film i found it convincing. the lead actors take the climax to their control.
This should not be remade into tamil or hindi in the current forum. the life that the hero breathes into the film cannot be recreated without changing the character itself totally. the 3 hr duration does not hurt. the way medico life and medical ethics are brought in and handled without standing out of the life was smart. no explicit messages but meaningful. this is one of the best aspects of the movie.
sorry, it is already too long.
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MANK
September 14, 2017
My 2 cents
this is a real game changer as far as telugu cinema is concerned. never had a more real , more visceral experience from a telugu film and never seen a more truthful performance from a telugu film hero. i hope this film spawn a new indie film division in telugu industry, as now there is a huge telugu diaspora in countries like US where this film is doing very well
The title Arjun Reddy is perfect.The protagonist is an impulsive, arrogant , egotistical, sadistic, sadomasochistic, charming and academically brilliant upper class\caste character and the entire film is told from his POV. There are very few scenes were he is not present. i would say that the caste\class has a lot to do with why and what he is.
And since everything is done from his perspective, the way the female character is portrayed didn’t bother me . its completely his gaze , his POV. sure , there is a gulf in the narrative between the time when she meets him and when she really starts liking him, but not enough to spoil it for me.
The climax though bit of a downer is much more convincing than Kattru veliyadai, – to which this one bears great similarity – mainly due to the way the character arc of of Arjun is sketched and Vijay’s performance.
i wish the film was shorter, because unlike a film like Premam which has an irreverent tone and which is more Joie de vivre, this one is just too intense and visceral. Also wish they had cut down on Arjun’s repeated existential rants to his friends and lovers which sometimes go on and on.
But in the end none of that matters, because Vijay sai Devarakonda gives a performance of a life time, may be just too good a performance and too charismatic that he makes the character lovable and heroic which may not have been the director’s ambition, this might be the reason why audience are connecting with him and the film in such a big way.i dont want to oversell his skills, but its like Brando becoming a superstar by playing a brutish misogynistic thug like Stanley Kowalski or Paul Newman achieving success through The Hustler or Hud, where the lead protagonists flaws are hidden or made endearing by the star’s charisma and artistry which is too mesmerising.
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harish ram
September 14, 2017
Finally saw the film and came here right away. While many issues that were raised by commenters here were answered the ‘anti-climax’ somehow isn’t justified yet. I for one felt the climax works. My POV:
AR tries very hard to change but couldn’t. Something starts moving inside him during the court scene and it gets a full arc when his Grandma dies. In trying to console his father AR himself comes out of his grave. The only other conflict in his life that is yet to be resolved is Preethi’s memories. While going for his vacation he does see her. But chooses not to approach her even after knowing that she is not happy because he isn’t ready yet. The director apart from giving us as a dialogue that she isn’t happy shows it through how Preethi is presented. If we go back to the college days, she had an innocent/ sad/ helpless look till she accepts AR as her lover. Her look changes to a happy/ passionate person with a twinkle in the eyes. In the park, she is nothing like that. Coming back to AR, the trip does help him clear his thoughts. When he comes back, he comes with a resolve to do everything he can to get her back. After he reveals his stand on her and the baby, she reveals her story. Yes, she says her husband didn’t touch her. Because that is in her character who as a teenager was forced into a relationship and hasn’t been exposed to anything else apart from the 24×7 life surrounded by this guy. It is in her nature to show she has been loyal to him no matter how cringy we might think it is. The next scene is my favorite though. AR’s brother is first shocked at a PREGNANT Preethi. Only after AR signals that it is his baby he relaxes.
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Luna Lovegood
September 15, 2017
The director seems to have had a lot of difficulty to find a producer for this script. They wanted him to change certain elements of it, but didn’t. Finally, his bro and dad decided to come onboard.
Plus, he also seems to have had disagreements with the initial cinematographer (the one who did pelli choopulu) and fired him at the start, because of the creative differences. His music director Radhan also had not delivered on time and refused to work. Except the breakup song everything else including the score was done by a studio programmer with the director supervising him. It’s sad that there isn’t much a producer can do legally when something like this happens.
The director also tells how he would have gone abroad and started working if the film had bombed. But, thankfully it didn’t and I’m very glad for him. Also, the appreciation from industry biggies like SSR, Mahesh babu and everyone else for an indie film like this is very good.
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Naveen
September 15, 2017
and Arjun Reddy seems to be Arjun Reddy Deshmukh, giving a kannada-marathi angle to his background. this point could have helped Preethi’s dad to know AR is has a maharashtrian connect to his family.
this movie reminded me of multiple thigs – Imtiaz Ali, GVM, Maniratnam, Erich Segal et al
a movie one cannot be indifferent to. you walkout immensely liking it or disliking it
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Luna Lovegood
September 15, 2017
Naveen: He talked about it in an interview with tnr. It is a rare house name in AP, and I don’t think it has Kannada-Marathi roots, though I might be wrong. Sandeep said Deshmukh sounded whole and good, so he had decided on it.
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sanjana
September 15, 2017
So Deshmukh and Reddy just because they sound good?
Many name their sons and daughters after famous personalities like sachin tendulkar, sunil gavvaskar, Indira, Nehru, Gandhi Bose etc. Even bengali surnames like mukherjee and banerjee are not spared.
By the way Shalini and Vijay are working in a biopic on Savitri.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/regional-movies/arjun-reddy-s-shalini-pandey-lands-a-crucial-role-in-savitri-biopic-mahanati/story-z4iBdOj5KFEooU2wJ0L4HL.html
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Luna Lovegood
September 15, 2017
Sanjana: ‘Reddy’, I think was because the director felt his identity overlapped with that of arjun character. Characterisation becomes easy when writing about something/someone you know. ‘Deshmuk’ because it sounds good. At least that’s he claims, from what I have seen of his interviews.
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MANK
September 15, 2017
on a tangential note, mahesh babu who is from the kamma caste married Namratha shirodkar who is a maharashtrian. i believe there was strong opposition within Mahesh’s family against the marriage, but both he and Namratha triumphed the odds and came together in true movie style
It would have been very interesting to see Mahesh tackle a role like Arjun Reddy. i believe he has the potential for a character like this, but he has become bracketed in this big commercial space that he cant afford to do something like this.
Btw, watching Spyder pre release function now.The trailer looks good and Mahesh is perhaps the most youngest, handsome and dashing 43 year old working in films today.
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Yadu
September 15, 2017
Deshmukh was a hereditary title given in Old Hyderabad state during Nizami rule. Much like a Jagirdar or a Zamindar, they were responsible for collecting taxes and also handling judicial duties.
I am pretty sure the Director was aware of the Deshmukh title and used it deliberately as a further hat-tip to Devdas who was from a Zamindar family.
In the movie’s context, the name firmly established that Arjun is from an entitled class that is used to having things their way and expect people to fall in line to their way of thinking. Its clear from the way he approaches his girl, the way he treats his friends and also the way he interacts with the girl’s father. When the girl’s father says “you are from a big family..”, he really meant it. He obviously was pissed off by this prick acting as if he is entitled to have his girl irrespective of what the father thinks.
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Pavan
September 16, 2017
Okay so many discuss here about caste and find the Reddy tag useless. But, does anybody remember that the heroine’s father rejected the hero purely on caste basis? “Reddy” is that one word/tag which turned the tables from a simple love story to a self destructing surgeon’s redemption. Including that “Reddy” in the title is nothing actually wrong. Also, those who compare this to Devdas, please recollect that the old tale’s conflict was also the caste and class.
micasa: Haha, I bet you gave up yours after dabbling with meth. Maybe LSD is the last hope for “pathetic Telugus”.
I am late to this thread, sorry for that. That comment, as a generalised one, was so mean at its best. But yes, I don’t have a liking for moral policing. At least when people honour me by calling me a “gulte” for nothing against them.
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Aman
September 20, 2017
As always I am late to the party, this was more Head-On than DevD(as). And even the title is designed to look like Fatih Akin’s film, and Head On is playing on screen during the confrontation scene between brother and Arjun at his apartment. Akin seems to have inspired Kashyap to make DevD and they went on to become good friends( or brothers in their words).
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Karthik H S
September 20, 2017
For everyone worried about the casteist angle, here’s the director’s rationale:
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sanjana
September 21, 2017
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/tollywood/210917/life-after-arjun-reddy.html
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Venkat Ramanan CS
September 22, 2017
Got to see Arjun Reddy. Agree with you this film renders the character Arjun Reddy sympathetic. The screenplay uses our common belief or say the archetypal hero figure, the one who is an achiever, who is righteous, who saves lives and puts that hero in a tragedy. But what makes it not a cliche is that he is cocky, has anger issues, can sleep around, ends up doing everything that a hero figure wouldn’t do. The tragedy balances his anti hero image. And Vijay Devorakonda he owns the film, there where instances where I felt, I could just keep on watching him play this character without bothering where the story headed.
Also the film does justice to the medical profession with the amount of detailing. The blue and red lines on the wall drawing, to the character shouting break his mandible, to the interval scene of Arjun losing his bladder control as he goes unconscious. The film has lot of details sprinkled in every other scene, hardly something seen in a mainstream film.
Finally, coming to your list 😀 I wouldn’t include VA into the list of Premam, Kirik Party or Arjun Reddy. In my defense, I think these three films are more contemporary, have style with a director smoothening the clichés and making the film theirs.
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brangan
September 25, 2017
Here is reader (Anil Bheemidi)’s take:
https://abheemidiblog.wordpress.com/
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Kannan Baskar
September 28, 2017
Dear BR, Just got to watch the film. Read your review and as usual very insightful, however I had a problem with “The ending, too, is at once selfish and sweet, but Deverakonda helps us buy it”. I really sensed dissonance in the climax. These are my views –
https://kans345.wordpress.com/2017/09/27/arjun-reddy-a-ramble/
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harish ram
October 10, 2017
So this film is going to be remade by Bala in Tamil. While I see this as a natural choice, I was surprised to see the online media casting its doubt because of the upper caste lifestyle showed in the film. Some are even calling it as Bala moving out of comfort zone! I am intrigued to peep into their minds to learn what they think as Bala’s comfort zone.
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Pavan
October 11, 2017
Bala directing the remake is not giving me any doubts. He can do this. But I think his filmmaking style is different from what Arjun Reddy had. He might make the film more darker. The images might become so unpolished and somewhat blunt (can’t find a proper way to express what is in my ind exactly). Having said that, the pain of the protagonist might be explored in a better way if it is Bala at the captain’s chair.
PS: 2.0 is releasing next year and Shriya Sharma, the curious girl in Enthiran’s climax is in talks for Arjun Reddy’s remake to play the female lead. Time flies!
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Udhay Sankar
October 11, 2017
A 3hr 40 mins version of uncensored director’s cut is being released this Friday on Amazon Prime, for those who are interested. 🙂
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phaneendra201
October 14, 2017
It seems theatre version is released in Amazon prime
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Udhay Sankar
October 14, 2017
Phaneendra: Yeah, a bit disappointing tbh. Its the same theatrical version, but uncensored.
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Anuja Chandramouli
October 16, 2017
Kinda late in the day… But Aditya, I’ll have to agree with BR about the accusations of ‘misogyny’ and ‘toxic masculinity’ that have plagued Arjun Reddy.
Initially I responded with revulsion when Arjun walked into that class and declared that Preethi is his and yada yada. As for the fat chick thing and his presumption in choosing her friends made me wanna hurl something at the screen while the holi scene and its violent resolution made me wanna hurl, period.
However, in that scene where he kisses her on the cheek (Vijay Sai somehow made it cute not creepy, and her reaction clearly indicates that she kinda likes him too) and the one where he lies down on her lap, somehow both worked for me and I got invested in these two fruitcakes.
And it is very rare and IMO extremely progressive for a ‘pure heroine’ in Tamil/Telugu cinema to initiate the lovemaking, count the number of times they have done it, kiss her lover on the terrace, boldly inform her folks that she was naked, sweaty and between the sheets with her man and admit they have done it hundreds of times, and run after an angry beau on the streets without giving a tiny rat’s hairy behind that the neighbors may be watching and judging. These two are clearly insanely in love with and deserve each other.
Damn it all, I even loved how Arjun Reddy ended…. Ordinarily I hate films which insist that the heroine should be a virgin and sleep with just one guy but here, Arjun THOUGHT she was pregnant with another man’s child and insisted it was no big deal as far as he was concerned, so I am going to forgive the ‘pure as driven snow’ crappola just this once.
Getting really impatient with people who dismiss Preethi as a docile victim just because she wears salwars and bindis and doesn’t really have that feminist approved sassiness. Personally, I thought she was a revolutionary heroine. It is the first step towards a future where they will make mainstream movies showing the leading lady get over heartbreak with sex, booze and drugs while the hero is incarcerated in a boring hostel with his naani…
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Pavan
October 16, 2017
For me, Arjun Reddy was always Preethi’s story told from Arjun’s point of view. He might be a celebrated student, an exceptional doctor, it is always Preethi’s fate that evoked interest. If KB made a film like this, I am sure it would be from Preethi’s point of view. For me, she seemed to be the woman character KB loved to explore and narrate.
Just asking, how do you think a film with Shiva as the lead and “Dr. Arjun Reddy” as his friend would end up being? I find him the most interesting character. Especially for bearing with Arjun than anyone else.
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Prashila
October 16, 2017
Like Anuja says, very very late in day, but couldn’t resist writing this comment. I liked the overall cinematic experience this movie was and was especially blown away by the background score, especially the ‘O Priyathama’ bit. And I too think Preethi was not at all docile, even though the writer/director needs to get a knuckle on his head for showing her so frustratingly silent and pseudo-docile for the first 20 odd minutes. Like why.
But that said, I tend to agree with Aditya that the movie does come dangerously close to showing Arjun as some kind of a psychedelic-ideal-romantic-angry-young-man-of-the-new-age construct, one it is very afraid of being allowed to judge. Why else have that long monologue with Shiva where he takes on the hapless maid for having gossiped about Arjun with the other maids in the society and basically having an opinion on his clearly hedonistic lifestyle.
I am probably the only one who found that scene unnecessary and inappropriate, and I say this as someone who DOES think that maids do need to tone down the gossiping in general. But when you have Arjun’s best friend take his maid to task for daring to share her opinion on his lifestyle, and Arjun who otherwise has no qualms in threatening random women at knifepoint for sex, or then stuffing ice into his groins right in the middle of a crowded street, stays silent through this harangue by his friend, I really can’t say the film wants to keep itself out of Arjun’s character endorsement or rather the lack of it.
Another scene that bothered me was the Holi molestation one which seemed to go along the troubling lines of:
1) Women will always be collateral in the fights between men, even if we are making an extremely progressive fuck-the-world movie
2) Even when the woman accompanies her boy friend with a club in her hand, she is shown to be a vulnerable sobbing mess in front of her attacker, and of course she continues to remain weak and vulnerable to future attacks by the same attacker.
3) The attacker thus needs to ‘promise’ that he will keep the woman out of his feud with the hero without him showing even an iota of remorse for what he did.
I definitely don’t want all movies to be politically correct all the times, but some things are more obvious than others, like how Preethi was shown to be ‘weak’ in this scene and Arjun merely ‘vulnerable’.
On a lighter note, the image of the song Cheri Cheri lady has forever been changed from the smiling face of Dieter Bohlen of Modern Talking to a psychotic, bearded Arjun Reddy flashing a knife at a woman’s pyjama. Sigh.
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Ratish Ravindran
October 17, 2017
Happened to see the movie after watching BR’s interview with Director Lokesh Kanagaraj, where he mentioned this as one of his favorite movies this year.
The movie is novel in its style and narrative structure. The shocking/in-your-face attitude of the main protagonist was reminiscent of Kannada Star Upendra’s movies. As for all the hoopla regarding this movie being a trendsetter of sorts, it was disturbing to see the misogyny of the main protagonist in the movie.I wonder who among our current crop of young directors can conquer that ‘Final Frontier’.
I agree with BR that this follows the template created by Varnam Aayiram/Premam/Kirik Party etc in South Indian films which in turn was a variation of the classic Devdas. But personally for me Masaan is a film that most realistically/evocatively captured the pain/suffering of a broken heart.
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hidnana
October 17, 2017
Glad that movies are moving away from portraying heroines to be savithris or vasukis and directors wanting to take audience out of their comfort zones. But in the process there is a danger that it could go to the other extreme and may set a trend justifying the trio that Anuja mentioned, is the fashionable way to deal with romance or heartbreak. In the hands of a not so capable filmmaker, it could be the new Tasmac scene that we invariably see in many movies.
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anon
October 21, 2017
Everything that needs to be said has already been said, but I just caught this on Amazon Prime and was engaged and invested throughout and really enjoyed it. I rolled my eyes at the college romance but they did not bother me – it is super clear that Preethi likes him too. I’ve met many of her type AND few of his type at that age – relatable and sorta true. I had no idea Telugu cinema has so many cuties – TN feels very deprived with all the mamas.
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Adithyan
October 25, 2017
A very good film..the main reason the film worked for me was VIJAY deverakonda’s performance I didn’t Mind the film being 3hrs long since I got emotionally connected with lead character and the film itself was good..one of the best Telugu movie I have watched
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Kartik
October 30, 2017
SPOILER
The movie’s ending is a direct copy of the Hollywood movie Flight (with Denzel Washington) , the scenes before and during the court hearing. It was a disappointing to see this blatant copying.
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Uma
November 9, 2017
Just caught this movie on Amazon prime. The movie was throughly engaging even though the hero character is not someone who we would root for.
I went to Med school almost 20 years ago Deep South in Tamilnadu and seen plenty of arrogant, brilliant guys and girls/nursing students who would fall for these guys, even though most of us would wonder what do these girls see in these guys? I think just the fact that the social status that doctors enjoy and how you have to be a top scorer to gain admission to Med school in the first place, makes some of these guys so arrogant atleast during the college period.
I share many of the commenters anguish that even though we have seen docile girls falling in love, untouched by husband even if they get married, just seeing it in this movie hurts that much more. When the movie is full on f*** up mode, it would have been refreshing to see the female lead to be outspoken, bold and yet fall for this guy and also if the ending was not so lame.
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Vivek narain
November 9, 2017
When a dude has the moniker of ‘Arjun’, without an a at the end, be prepared for the worst. Agreed,the guy could hit a bird’s eye by looking at the reflection, but that doesn’t give him a priority to screw the bird. Talking of stark reality, it’s always worthwhile to cool your hormones with a dedicated whore, than annoying and seducing a prudish spinster, disrupting the social harmony of shocked females.
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Jayram
December 15, 2017
Well, a monkey did screw around with him and look what happened.
I finally watched AR and it is honest, brutal, brash and engaging. Kudos to Sandeep for coming up with this. I don’t know if it’ll be a game changer in the Telugu industry and I doubt it’ll start any indie movement but it’s certainly better than hero worshipping dung.
Despite being an engaging movie, I have issues with the characterization of Preethi. I could not buy her love for Arjun especially when she’s hugging him, pleading with him not to leave and the ending. The biggest problems are the character is not well developed and Shalini was mostly wooden throughout; she sounded and behaved like Gayathrie Shankar in Puriyatha Pudhir. There was no organic transformation where she becomes more assertive in their relationship; a couple more sex scenes could have been added with dialogue when we see her becoming more liberated and stronger and telling him off more (the slapping didn’t register). Yes, I agree it is from his point of view and when he went downhill, she was suffering because of his actions and she’s pregnant with his child, but I wasn’t convinced with their relationship and I don’t think SHE not HE was deciding where the relationship was going,
@Aditya aka Gradwolf, you were also not convinced by this. Do you think it could be the way Shalini portrayed Preethi or was it a screenplay flaw?
But Vijay Deverakonda gives a performance of a lifetime and I like that he is not depicted as a saint, but as an angry flawed young man who is brilliant yet abrasive and chose to self-destruct causing grief to his family and friends. I think he should experiment in regional cinema instead of being pigeonholed in Telugu; he has potential to be one of the better actors of his generation. The actor who played Shiva was wonderful and I liked that despite all the pain he went through, he stood by Arjun.
I won’t watch the remake by Bala but I’m with Pavan. I think a film with Shiva as the main would be more much intriguing and Ramchander Krishna should direct it.
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Amit Joki
January 4, 2018
I agree with Mank on Arjun being rendered sympathetic when he says “where the lead protagonists flaws are hidden or made endearing by the star’s charisma and artistry which is too mesmerising.”
Take for instance, Raanjhanaa. For me, if someone like Arjun Kapoor had acted in Raanjhanaa I might not have been as sympathetic towards Kundan.
Vikram’s son Dhruv is the lead somehow in the Tamil remake. I think this film had a lot of parallels with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The second half revolves around Ranbir trying to get back to Anushka, same is with Arjun trying to get back to Preethi.
Ranbir goes to Aishwarya. Arjun goes to Jia Sharma. While ADHM stayed true with Ranbir and Anushka becoming “friends”, the climax in Arjun Reddy was all too predictable. Some lady not seen till then appears to be taking care of a pregnant woman, not the Indian way! 🙂
I thought Preethi’s husband found out she was pregnant and left her, but then the climax gets even more cheesy with she going I didn’t allow him to touch me thing.
Also the hypocrisy when he calls a girl “A Fat Chick” and calls out misogyny in later scenes is that, in my way of interpretation, he is a feminist only when women in question are women he knows/cares. He doesn’t care for the Fat Chick because she is no one, but he does care for his best friends’ sister and who he’s getting married to.
Anyway a fresh film with great acting. Lets see what Bala does to this.
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sanjana
April 25, 2018
If reports are to be believed, Padmaavat star Shahid Kapoor has been finalised to play the titular character. Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the director of the original Telugu film will be taking the reins for the Hindi remake as well. According to koimoi.com.
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Rahul
April 25, 2018
sanjana, if that is true, it shows the failure of imagination on part of Bollywood . I hope they at least considered Vijay D. Leading actors with charisma who have genuine acting chops are hard to come by in Bollywood. I can’t see anyone else in that part except Vijay D.
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CC
April 5, 2019
So late to this party, but I’m glad I finally saw the movie. And then rushed to read the review. Lots to love, but, like many have pointed out, some very problematic points too.
After Rahul Ramakrishna, my favorite character was the grandmom. So progressive for her generation and there was an effortless wordly wisdom in her without being emotional or preachy.
The beginning of the Arjun-Preeti romance was obviously problematic. It’s not a stretch to imagine that a boy who has enjoyed privilege (financial, social, intellectual) would bully an object of interest as much as he does his juniors, and even friends. It may be argued that coming from the home environment she does, Preeti doesn’t have defiance in her DNA. But that doesn’t mean she’s going to love him. The director definitely failed his heroine here.
One trifle greatly bothered me. At the end of his brother’s visit to his apartment, Arjun says that one shouldn’t plan babies after marriage. While this might have been written as a prelude to the final act, it is the one part of the film that I judged as irresponsible messaging. A doctor undermining family planning in the name of love, c’mon, that needs to be called out.
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CC
June 26, 2019
This!
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