Category: Telugu Webseries Reviews

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Newsense: A Web Show That Gives An Insight Into The Nexus Of Media And Rural Politics

Sai Prawin Kumar’s directorial Newsense consists of many threads that sustain the interest of the audiences for the second season also.

Stories centred on politics and journalism make great subjects because both are interconnected pillars of our society.

Newsense is one such show. However, this isn’t an easy genre to crack for a director as a certain authenticity is needed, as well as some political knowledge.

Director Sri Prawin Kumar looks at the nexus between politics and the media in small towns. He creates a web of characters who can’t be slotted as black or white.

He does a wonderful job for the most part. The director is also hugely aided by his cast, starting with Navadeep, who disappears into his part.

Synopsis

The backdrop of Newsense is a small town called Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh, set in the 1990s and 2000s.

The show primarily explores unethical journalism practised by a set of stringers, along with a few politicians who want to grab power at any cost.

Shiva (Navadeep) is a street-smart journalist who belongs to the same category.

But sometimes, he deviates from the norm by presenting the truth (although not completely), and as a result, he gets into trouble.

For Shiva and his fellow stringers, it is a battle between doing the right thing, and also staying alive. Often we see them accepting covers of money from both political parties.

Newsense deals with several issues like the role of media in society, and the impact of sensationalising news, among other things. It does not hesitate to criticise the media and its corrupt practices.

Though the story is set in the Rayalaseema region, the director thankfully doesn’t resort to over-the-top action sequences that the viewers are forced to see in typical action movies.

Newsense grips the viewers from the start with its multi-layered narrative. As viewers, we empathise with the sufferings of the local people, who are sandwiched between two political parties.

For example, there is a farmer who fights for his land, which has been illegally occupied by miscreants, a woman searching for a missing husband, etc. There is certain believability about the problems they face.

Despite the show’s serious tone, there is also some raw humour which comes as a respite.

The chemistry between the leads

Neela is an aspiring news anchor and Shiva’s love interest.

Through the character of Neela, the director touches upon the perspective of a female journalist in a town that is dominated by male journalists. The interaction between Shiva and Neela has a certain playfulness combined with a local flavour.

This has been both wonderfully written and enacted. The chemistry between the duo is spot on. Newsense’s light moments mostly feature Shiva and Neela (played by Bindu Madhavi).

Talking about the leads, both Navadeep and Bindu Madhavi are in very good form.

Navadeep gets into the skin of his character, starting from the dialect. He embraces the several grey shades of his character with aplomb.

Bindu Madhavi lights up the frame whenever she is on screen. She is supremely natural on her part.

Strong technical aspects

What also adds to the impact are the dialogues of Jayasimha. He does a good job of making the viewers introspect without resorting to rhetoric.

The background music of Suresh Bobbili goes well with the flavour of the series, Newsense. There is only one song in the show— Myneeru Pillagada. This track makes for a soothing watch, both for the ears and the eyes.

Three cinematographers are involved with this web series— Anantnag Kavuri, Vedaraman and Prasanna. They capture the rustic terrain wonderfully through their lens.

Nanda Gopal to rescue

There are some moments where the graph does go down.

But thankfully the show gets back on track with the entry of Sub-Inspector Edwin (Nanda Gopal), in the fifth episode.

Nanda Gopal has an arresting presence which makes the viewers look forward to his portions despite the limited screen time. The rest of the supporting actors also make an impact.

Final verdict

Overall this web show is binge-worthy, particularly if you have a keen interest in politics and media. It shows how lives are ruined because of the unholy relationship between two great pillars.

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Save The Tigers: A Solid Entertainer With Good Treatment And Performances

A binge-worthy watch!

Save The Tigers (Telugu)

  • Cast: Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Abhinav Gomatam, Krishna Chaitanya, and Harsha Vardhan
  • Director: Teja Kakumanu
  • Music: Ajay Arsada
  • No. of episodes: 6
  • OTT platform: Disney+ Hotstar

Films about marital discord and frustrated husbands have a universal (should I say, male) appeal because of the way marital relationships have changed over the years.

Several films have humorously portrayed this and they have been hugely successful, too.

Director Teja Kakumanu’s Save the Tigers also follows the same route.

The husbands here come from three vastly different backgrounds but share one commonality – issues with wives. More than the story, what makes this show work is how the director used the background of his respective protagonists.

Synopsis

Ghanta Ravi (Priyadarshi) is a dairy farm owner, Rahul (Abhinav Gomatam) is an aspiring writer, and Vikram (Krishna Chaitanya) is a creative ad writer.

They meet at a school where their respective children are studying. Soon, they become friends and start bonding big time.

As mentioned above, they are frustrated married men. One day. they get arrested in a drunk-and-drive case.

Meanwhile, a noted actress gets kidnapped. The rest of the story deals with several aspects. Do the trio have any connection with her disappearance? What made these three men drink so much, and finally why do they call themselves “tigers”?

Highly entertaining

The title Save The Tigers here refers to how married men should also be saved from extinction as much as tigers.

The web series hits the ground running from the first frame. There are a lot of scenes that tickle our funny bones.

The case in point is the servant character played by Jabardasth-fame Rohini. Her interactions with Abhinav are an absolute laugh riot. What makes this track even more refreshing is the absence of body-shaming jokes.

Director Teja Kakumanu is also successful in creating conflicts that have certain credibility, more so if you are a male.

For example, Vikram’s wife is an activist-cum-lawyer who has issues with his mother. Like many children, Vikram’s daughter is the emotional anchor between them.

Save The Tigers also touches upon issues like workplace harassment, but without being preachy.

This comes out through the track of Sunaina who is a harassed employee working in the same office as Vikram. Harsha Vardhan plays the toxic boss.

These scenes are both poignant and entertaining.

There is also a passing comment on how literary standards are falling in recent times.

By the very nature of its story, Save the Tigers isn’t very high on logic.

Sometimes illogicality does come as a deterrent. The case in point is how the husbands bump into each other and realise that all their children study in the same school. The same thing happens to the wives, too.

Also, the kidnapping subplot needed to be etched far better.

Characterisation and performances

Priyadarshi’s Ganta Ravi has the trait of over-talking but this trait is never milked for stereotypical comedy.

On many occasions, his character repeatedly uses the word “paalu” which is similar to the pressure cooker obsession from the film Jathi Ratnalu (Jewels of The Nation, 2021).

The wife characters have also been written with some care.

A particular mention must be made of “Jordar” Sujatha who plays Priyadarshi’s wife. Her aspiration of wanting to live in a gated community has been well-written.

Out of the three men, Priyadarshi and Abhinav Gomatam are the best.

Priyadarshi gets the body language of a dairy farm owner spot on. The actor makes a huge impression starting from his body language to the way he delivers his dialogues in a particular accent.

Abhinav Gomatam is equally good with his satirical humour. The scenes where he is struggling to get over his writer’s block are hilarious, to say the least.

Krishna Chaitanya does not have many comic punch lines but the actor is still mighty impressive in whatever he does.

He is particularly good in the scenes when Vikram expresses his frustration on being sandwiched between his boss, mother and life.

Final take

Overall, Save the Tigers is an absolute binge-worthy watch. It is just six episodes and the duration of each episode is short. Have a fun weekend!

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Unheard

Aditya KV’s “Unheard” is a series which packs in a lot. It addresses many issues like the ideological standoffs between the revolutionaries, differences centred on the rule of Nizam, varied opinions on the British rule and Indians who supported them as well as the dichotomy of individuals who are against the mighty empire. It is a lot to focus on but to the credit of the director he goes a good job of keeping you invested.

The series starts off with an idealistic young Gandhian Padma (Chandini Chowdary). She seeks help for an injured comrade played by Priyadarshi. Padma takes the help of doctor Chalapati (Bala Aditya). The night passes with Padma and Chalpati debating the benefits and banes of Nizam rule along with the price of freedom. The next episode is about a heated argument between two revolutionaries with different ideologies. Apart from Priyadarshi this episode also features Ajay who plays a blacksmith called Mallesh. Both of them want freedom for the country but the approaches are different. The rest of the episodes mostly bring back the familiar characters. Through the six episodes you have six different themes being talked about.

The biggest USP of Unheard is the way it introduces the struggle in Hyderabad on the eve of Indian independence. The director refers to many aspects of that time which aren’t really talked about. For example you have the topic of Vetti Chakiri (bonded labour), a system which exploited the poor peasant. The angst in the populace comes out perfectly in a scene when Padma questions how the killing of an Archbishop in Europe concern India.

The history of Hyderabad is something which is important at this stage. The reason being the BJP are trying to make their way in the southern state with their own lopsided version of events. Unheard makes an honest attempt at presenting different points of view: This includes the aristocracy which wants the status quo and the young rebels demanding freedom.

The makers also deserve praise in the way they present the conversations. The series is heavy on dialogues as the characters are frequently in the midst of letting out their points of view. The dialogues by Aditya KV and Anirudh are powerful. These dialogues aid the performances of the actors and also the script.

All the cast members are in good form led by Baladitya. His character is the most interesting of the lot. Technically also Unheard is a pretty solid product with particular mention to the background score. The background score lends in the right amount of emotion.

Where the show suffers somewhat is the stage like atmosphere. It takes some time to get used to this kind of presentation. Also the handling of the diverse plotlines could have been better at some places.

Unheard is a good watch particularly for those who are interested in history.

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Tharagathi Gadi Daati

“Targati Gadhi Dati” directed by Malik Ram is a remake of a Hindi series called “Flames”. The film doesn’t break any new boundaries as far as the plot is concerned but it is still watchable thanks to the lead characters and also the nativity touch that the director gives.

The story of this series is about Krishna aka Kittu( Harshith Reddy). He falls in love with Jasmine (Payal Radhakrishna). In order to impress her Kittu joins tuition as she is interested in studies. However the dreams of Kittu is different as he is more interested in becoming a chef than studies.

The rest of the story is about how Krishna and Jasmine get together, fall apart and finally what helps them get together.

What works best for the series is the innocence of teenage love portrayed through the lead characters. Director Malik Ram is successful in making the youngsters connect to the love story of Krishna and Jasmine. It also helps that the lead actors are in perfect sync. Payal Radhakrishna in particular stands out.

Another good thing about the series is the friendship bond between the characters of Harshith Reddy along with Nikhil Devadula and Snehal. The contrasting nature of these three characters is interesting to watch.

For example Krishna is some who is reserved, shy and initially comes across as someone who is not comfortable before girls. Nikhil Devadulu’s one on the other hand is shown to be an extrovert guy who is game for everything. Both Nikhil and Snehal work well in their respective parts.

The supporting characters don’t have much to do but the character of Krishna’s father who is also a teacher gets a decent part. Raman Bhargav does a good job in his role.

Cinematographer Monish Bhupati Raju effectively captures the locales of Rajahmundry and its surrounding areas.

The music and the background score are also pleasant. They make for a good hear.

In a nutshell “Tharagati Gadhi Daati” doesn’t offer anything new for those who are looking for something different but if you are in a mood for some breezy romance give it a try.

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Kudi Edamaithe

“Kudi Yedamaithe” is based on an interesting premise of two people having already lived through a particular day. They are trying to recollect things and make efforts on changing the turn of events. In the hands of a less compotent director the series would have crashed given the repetitive events and the concept of time loop but director Pawan Kumar does an extremely good job in making the audiences invested in the characters and also keeps them guessing.

The series spans eight episodes and never deviates from its core plot. The tension is well maintained and thankfully there are no unnecessary elements like comedy track and songs. For those who are not familiar with the name of the title, it is taken from a popular song in the film “Devadasu”. The phrase “Kudi Yedamaithe” is used here referring an unexpected turn of events that pushes life upside down.

Adi( Rahul Vijay) is an aspring actor who works as a food delivery agent for an agency. His routine starts from rushing to a neighbourhood food stall and having breakfast, this is followed by taking delivery orders and navigating through the city. In between he also gives auditions for roles in films. We get an idea of his bond with an older collegue called Farooq who cares for him. This is how his life goes and that day is no different.

On the other side of the coin there is a cop Durga played by Amala Paul. She is dependent on alchahol and is trying to focus on the tasks that she has to do for the day. There are cases regarding child kidnapping that she has to solve and also other challenging ones. As time becomes twelve both of them meet with an accident and dies, wakes up the following morning only to relive everything that happened all over again.

The rest of the series is about whether now both of them can change the turn of events that happened earlier since they are aware of what the rest of the day holds. The chief reason why “Kudi Yedamaithe” works is the way in which the events have been shown. Although they are common in nature you have subtle variations in the way they approach the situation.

A good example of the subtle variations is the audition scenes of Adi. When Adi first goes to the audition there is certain nervousness but by the second time nervousness is replaced by confidence. The reason being he has already gone through the drill. The third time it becomes disdain because something else becomes a priority for Adi.

The same happens with Amala Paul’s character too. The strategies that her character uses keep changing with the day as she is desperate to solve the crime. As the sense of urgency increases with both the characters you are riveted to the screen and want them to succeed.

The time loop is central to the plot and it could have easily gone into a boring zone, however it doesn’t. Apart from Pawan Kumar the technical team is another reason why it never gets boring. The atmospherics contribute in a big way to the suspense factor.

Amala Paul as Durga plays her complex character with ease. It is a treat to watch her performing. The surprise factor is Rahul Vijay. He also gets equal screen time and shows his potential.

“Kudi Yedamaithe” ends on an interesting note and makes you excited for the second season. The web-series is premiered in Aha.