CAST: Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandana
DIRECTOR:Sukumar
BLUF:
Pushpa Raj is a coolie who makes it big in the cartels of red sandalwood smugglers. Along the way, he ends up making a few enemies.
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
With Pushpa: The Rise is a masala movie that caters to the masses. Yet, it is not devoid of logic or pace.
Pushpa Raj (Allu Arjun) is a coolie in Seshachalam who helps the smugglers chop down red sandalwood and sell it to the cartels globally. In a syndicate that consists of numerous players, Pushpa slowly learns to find his play becomes the most important player.
However, his motivation is not the love of the girl he likes, Srivalli (Rashmika Mandanna), or any of the cartel players.). His motivation is to be one up on his stepbrother Ajay, who has tortured him since his childhood about the fact that his father did not marry Pushpa’s mother. When Bhanwar Singh Shekawat (Fahadh Faasil) a cop enters Pushpa’s life, things change for him.
IN THE KNOW
The screenplay is well developed and backed by a story about the rise of the underdog. The strength however is how the story is developed. Focusing on the methods of red sanders smuggling, and Pushpa using his smarts, the film would have done well to stick to that primary story. The weird romance between him and Srivalli is very fickle.
Fahad Fassil impresses in the final confrontation between Pushpa and Shekawat.
The VFX, art direction, editing and sound design in certain scenes was weak. The casting, direction, cinematography, costumes and music is great.
The BGM by Devi Sri Prasad is okay. Cinematographer Mirosław Kuba Brożek and director Sukumar tango well together.
Rashmika also seems improper in a film that’s high on macho stuff. Anasuya fits perfectly though. Samantha Prabhu’s sexy cameo in Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava is splendid.
But the movie belongs to Allu Arjun. Peter Hein, Ram-Laxman choreograph some stunning action sequences and it wins the character. Sukumar’s Pushpa: The Rise is all Allu Arjun in the end.
WHAT WE LOVED
Allu Arjun
Action
Samantha Prabhu
WHAT WE MISSED
The more connected story
