Paper Boy Review: An Average Venture With A Good First Half & Mediocre Second Half

Santhosh Shobhan, a debutant actor and the son of late director, Shobhan, marks his entry into Tollywood with a low-profiled yet interesting flick, Paper Boy. The movie, much before its release, had drawn good attention from the industry bigwigs and audience through its impressive theatrical trailer cut. Stars like Mahesh Babu and Prabhas were seen raving about the product, which added the required boost to gain initial propel at the box office. Has the movie sustained the tempo it garnered for its trailer? Well, this is something to be looked out for.

As the title suggests, the protagonist Ravi (Santhosh Shobhan) is a paper boy, who falls in love with a rich girl, Dharani (Riya Suman). There is not much of a variety in the making or execution of the storyline, as the movie runs on a typical rich girl-poor guy love story with a clash of ego between them and uniting back amidst opposition from family and a bundle of sentimental scenes. Why does the difference creep up and how would they unite eventually, form the rest of the plot.

Santhosh Shobhan as Ravi, the paper boy, is impressive and scores above par rating, considering the fact that the movie is his debut venture. Riya Suman as the rich father's daughter is just okay crossing the pass line. Jayaprakash Reddy as Dharani's father is impressive as usual and scores good marks. Krishna Murali Posani chips in with his share of humour quotient, making it a lively affair.

Bithri Sathi's inclusion in the movie seems forced just to impress the mass. His over-the-top acting and dialogues don't go well with the script and instead seem quite irritating. Rest of the casting doesn't make an impact, and hence, doesn't quite add weightage to the product.

Sampath Nandi, who is known for making commercial potboilers, has donned the role of a producer along with penning the story. Sampath's story is quite impressive and most of the dialogues are catchy, which gets reminisced post curtains to the movie.

Director Jayaprakash, though has his moments in the movie, eventually falls on the negative side for unrealistic making in the second half, dramatic narration and non-capping acting meter from a few actors. Paperboy falls short of a decent product though it is good in bits and pieces.

Music by Beems is good, while cinematography by Soundarrajan is one of the major takeaways of the movie.

Being distributed by Geetha Arts, Paper Boy seems to have got the initial pull for its association with the former production house, while the overall performance of the movie depends on its content and audience reception.

Paper Boy is one such film that is rich in talent but fails to maintain the same gauge in its content. A good first half and a mediocre second half quantify the package as an average venture.