Hari Hara Veera Mallu Review

Pawan Kalyan, who never did a period action drama in the past, teamed up with the director, Krish Jagarlamudi for, Hari Hara Veera Mallu, a fictional story set in the seventeenth century, in 2020. The film was in the making for about five years due to various reasons like the pandemic, Pawan Kalyan’s political commitments, etc. After the director, Krish Jagarlamudi, moved out of the film due to creative differences with the team, A. M. Jyothi Krishna, took up the responsibility of direction. He also made a few changes to the original story that Krish and his team conceived. After facing many hurdles during the making and right before the release, the film was finally released today in theatres. Did Pawan Kalyan score a hit with his first period film? Did Krish’s decision to move out impact the film’s output? How did Jyothi Krishna do as a director? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Veera Mallu(Pawan Kalyan), a thief in 1680, steals diamonds from the invaders of India and gives them to the needy. While doing a diamond robbery as part of a deal with a landlord(Sachin Khedekar), Veera Mallu gets caught by the king of Golconda. He then made a deal with the king of Golconda and agreed to steal the Kohinoor diamond from the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb(Bobby Deol). Why did Veera Mallu agree to steal Kohinoor diamond from Aurangzeb? What is Veera Mallu’s relationship with Panchami(Nidhhi Agerwal)? What is the back story of Veera Mallu? How is Veera Mallu related to Veda Pandit(Sathyaraj)? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Pawan Kalyan as Veera Mallu did a good job in the first half and in a couple of episodes in the second half. The lack of time from his side to invest in shooting the film was very evident in the second half. He did a good job in action sequences and his fans are sure to like all the action sequences in the film immensely. Bobby Deol as Aurangzeb looked menacing and performed well. He has a very limited role and yet he made his presence felt.

Nidhhi Agerwal got a good role in the first half. She looked good and did a good job with her performance as well. Legendary Kota Srinivasa Rao appeared in a couple of sequences. It felt good to watch him perform one last time on the big screen. The film has at least ten other notable actors but none of them were able to leave a mark because of the not so well written characters.

Technicalities:

Although it is not one of his best works, M. M. Keeravani’s music is the best thing that happened to the movie. His background score elevated quite a few sequences in the film. Especially in the second half, his score elevated a few lifeless sequences as well. A couple of the songs he scored were good. Well. Sai Madhav Burra did a good job with his dialogues. The dialogues like ‘Dharmam ante bhajanalu cheyyadam kadu. Dharmam ante nilabadadam. Poradadam’, ‘Nadhulu velli Samudram lo kalisthe, prakruthi. Adhe, Samudram velli nadhullo kalisthe, pralayam’, worked out very well. His dialogues to elevate the Veera Mallu character were also good.

Cinematography by Gnana Shekar V. S. & Manoj Paramahamsa. The cinematography was largely good in the first half but went haywire in the second half. The biggest culprit here is the visual effects. The substandard visual effects looked poor in most frames in the second half. Editing by Praveen K. L. should have been better. Especially, in the second half. Production values by Mega Surya Productions gave an outdated feeling.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠First Half
2.⁠ ⁠A Couple of Action Episodes
3.⁠ ⁠Pre-Interval Sequence
4.⁠ ⁠M. M. Keeravani’s Background Score

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Second Half
2.⁠ ⁠Poor VFX
3.⁠ ⁠Lack of Emotional Depth
4.⁠ ⁠Outdated Execution

Analysis:

Earlier this year, Hindi film Chhaava, a historical action drama, was released and became a huge blockbuster. The makers of that film did not try to make the film with extravagant visual effects. Instead, they just believed in the story and strong emotions. Hari Hara Veera Mallu is not a historical drama like Chhaava. It is a fictional story set against the backdrop of the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb’s atrocities in the seventeenth century in Akhanda Bharat. The story of the film had the potential to become a huge successful film like Chhaava. But unfortunately, what we get to see in Hari Hara Veera Mallu is a hero who has no time to invest in shooting a film with his full commitment and a director(i.e. Jyothi Krishna) who lacks conviction.

The film started on a good note by instantly taking us into the seventeenth century. The introduction sequence of Veera as a kid followed by an extensive introduction sequence of Veera Mallu(Pawan Kalyan), the puli & meka action episode, action episode in front of the charminar and the pre-interval sequence, worked in favour of the film. It is very evident that the director, Krish, directed all or most of the aforementioned sequences. Although it gives an outdated feel at times & Pawan Kalyan’s look keeps changing regularly, the first half of the film goes well without any major complaints. The twist and follow-up sequence during pre-interval worked out very well and raises expectations on the second half.

As soon as the second half starts, with the very first sequence itself, we will get to know the difference in making. The desperation of the director to show extravagant visuals on screen even when it is not required is to be seen in almost every frame in the second half. It is very evident that the entire second half was shot on green mat. Unfortunately, the visual effects used were substandard to say the least. The ‘Deeksha for rain’ sequence was indeed written well but the poor visual effects worked against the sequence in evoking emotions. There were at least three to four such sequences in the second half which were written well but failed miserably during the execution. Also, the climax of the film makes you wonder if it is really necessary to have such a dragged-out sequence, just to give the justification for ‘aandhi(storm)’.

Pawan Kalyan looked well and did superbly in the first half. It looked like he thoroughly enjoyed acting in the first half and it was clearly to be seen on the screen. But, in the second half, barring a couple of sequences, he looked largely uninterested. Even in the first half, the inconsistency in his looks was very evident. In one sequence he appears with a clean shave look and in the immediate sequence, he appears with a thick beard look. Better care should have been taken in consistency and continuity in his looks.

Overall, the core point of Hari Hara Veera Mallu had potential to become a very good period action drama and it has a decently engaging first half with a couple of well-executed action sequences. However, the lacklustre second half with poor visual effects and lack of emotional depth and a tedious climax worked against the film. Pawan Kalyan’s stardom may pull in audience to the theatres until the end of the first weekend but it is likely to be difficult for the film to sustain at the box office after the first weekend.

Bottomline: Wasted Opportunity

Rating – 2.25/5