Cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Rashmika Mandanna
Director: Bharat Kamma
They say ‘behind every successful man is a woman’, Dear Comrade film by Bharat Kamma begs to differ!
The movie narrates a tale of two contrasting individuals who fall in love with each other. Bobby (Vijay Deverakonda) is a hot-blooded student union member, raised to believe in fighting for justice. Young and fearless, fierce and reckless, a man who does not care about the consequences of his actions. His impulsive behaviour gets the better of him and puts him and the people he loves in danger. Bobby and his gang of friends call each other Comrade as they always have each other’s back. The movie defines the word comrade as someone who will be with you through good times and bad.
Bobby falls in love with a passionate state-level woman cricketer Aparna Devi aka Lilly (Rashmika Mandanna). The first half of the movie sees nothing special, a breezy romance between a hunky macho college boy and a bubbly girl. The romance ends in a split due to Bobby’s anger-management issue- a typical expectation by this stage in the film. Just while we start to place the movie as yet another feeble version of “Arjun Reddy”, Bharat Kamma’s narration takes a twist.
The movie develops as the couple split ways. In hopes to forget Lilly, Bobby goes on a journey to become a better person and battles his anger in a journey to become a true comrade. Fast forward to after three years the plot thickens and takes a different turn.
The second half of the movie deals with an emotionally despaired Lilly as she fights to keep her love for sports alive. The film sheds light on the challenges and problems Indian sportswomen face in their career. This is where the movie deviates in the message on anger from Arjun Reddy, that sometimes an angry-loud voice and hot-blooded behaviour is required to bring justice and empowerment to the society. Over Lilly’s despair, Bobby fights for her voice to be heard, and pushes her to follow her passion.
The movie is a little slow-paced and there are times where it gets predictable. The screenplay leaves a few parts of the film feeling incomplete and in bits and pieces. However, the cast holds the movie together, Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna are a delight to watch. Music and BGM by Justin Prabhakaran anchor the film right through feel. What we love the most about the film is its two-dimensional storytelling, it’s been quite some time the big screen last saw a movie with equal weightage given to both the actors.
Verdict: Worth a one-time watch
Rating: 3.5/5
