Virodhi Movie Review - The other side of Naxal movement

Neelakanta shot into fame with Show and he bagged national award for his screenplay of the movie. His next film Missamma too won him critical acclaim and the film was went on to become a big hit. However, he failed to weave magic after these two films and he faced two consecutive flops. After taking a short break, he has directed Virodhi. The story of the film revolves around Maoists. However, the director has not touched the Maoist philosophies but he has tried to highlight how some people are spoiling the movement for their selfish interests and to earn a leader image.

Story:
Jayadev (Srikanth) is a journalist and is known for his devotion towards profession. He writes several stories on politicians and their corrupt practices. Once, he meets MP Jangayya (Ahuti Prasad) and tries to warn him to stop his illegal activities of occupying tribal lands and destroying forests for the sake of mining and amassing wealth. He even warns that Maoists have kept him on a hit list. Even as Jayadev was taking the interview of Jangaiah, Maoists attack him and kill him and takes Jayadev along with them. The Maoist Dalam led by Gopinath aka Gogi (Ajay) conducts the attack. The Dalam leader Gogi decides to kill him but the other members of the group stop him from killing the journalist. They advise him that he could be used as a human shield in case of police attack.

Meanwhile, Jayadev studies all the group members and their mentalities besides the causes for their joining the Dalam. He meets each member individually and explains them that their ideology is baseless and nothing can be achieved through a barrel of gun. Listening to his words, two Dalam members (Ravi Varma and Sri) decide to marry and lead a peaceful life instead of wasting their time for revolution. What happens next should be seen on-screen.

Performance:
Though, Srikanth is said to be the hero of the film, he has very little role to play in the film. Throughout the first half of the film, he sits idle. In the second half too, he has a very little. The director has failed to make use of his acting talents and in fact, he too is helpless, as the character has no role to play at all. The entire film is focused on the acting talents of Ajay. He has done complete justice to his character. His role has the negative shades and he has perfectly fitted the bill. Other artistes including Kamal Kamaraju, Ravi Varma, Sri too have done justice to their respective roles. Others are okay

Technical:
There is nothing great to talk about any of the technical department in the film. Camera by Ramachandra is okay while editing is adequate. Music by RP Patnaik is also okay because there is only one song involving the hero and heroine. The director has chosen a different and off-beat subject. Such films need a perfect and tight screenplay. Known for his penning capabilities of screenplay, Neelakanta has really done a good job to weave the story in a tight manner. The only drawback of the film is lack of entertainment. However, Neelakanta is able to make the audiences sit on their edge of their seats with his gripping screenplay and direction, though the narration is very slow and boring.

Remarks:
If you like serious films, this is a must watch film.

Cast: Srikanthh, Ajay, Kamal Kamaraj, Shivaji Raja, Ravi Varma, Nagineedu, Ahuti Prasad, Vijayachander, Ramaraju, Kamalini Mukherji, CVL Narasimha Rao and others.
Credits: Camera – Ramachandra, Editing – Shankar, Music – RP Patnaik, Producer – Anil Meka, Story, Screenplay, dialogues and direction – Neelakanta.
Banner: Meka Media
Released on: July 1, 2011.