Varun Tej's "Mukunda" has received decent reviews from critics.
Direted by Srikanth Addala of "Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu" fame, "Mukunda" is deemed as an action drama. The film has Varun Tej and Pooja Hegde in lead roles, while other cast members include Prakash Raj and Rao Ramesh.
"Mukunda" marks the acting debut of Varun Tej, who is the latest from the mega family to join the film industry. There are high expectations from "Mukunda" as Varun has teamed up with director Addala for the first time. The film's teasers, trailer and songs have been received well and it needs to be seen if the content will impress the audience.
Plot: The film's story revolves around the clash between Mukunda (Varun Tej) and municipal chairman (Rao Ramesh). Mukunda's friend Arjun falls in love with the chairman's brother's daughter, which angers the latter. The chairman and his men are after Arjun, but Mukunda comes as a saviour and confronts them.
He decides to take on the chairman by making him lose his power. Mukunda makes a philosopher (Prakash Raj) contest elections against the chairman. Meanwhile, he also falls in love with the daughter (Pooja Hegde) of the chairman, which angers him a lot. What happens next forms the crux of the story.
Critics have stated that "Mukunda" lacks an engaging screenplay, though the dialogues are impressive. On Varun Tej's performance, critics said that the actor has made a decent debut with good screen presence but he needs to work on his expressions.
Critics heaped praises on Rao Ramesh's performance, while the other actors fit the bill. Besides the performances, film's dialogues, songs and background score are the highlights of "Mukunda." Placement of songs, editing and slow pace are the minus points of the film.
Check below the review roundup of "Mukunda"
"Mukunda is not a run of the mill films for sure. It has a different premise and strong characters. However it lacked a proper story and that has affected the screenplay to a great extent. Despite having its moments Mukunda falls short of being a good film. Deliberate attempt to stay away from commercial elements will eventually affect the prospects of the film at the box office," according to Gulte.
"Director Srikanth Addala always tickles that 'sensitive' bone with his trademark satires. He picks up emotional scenes that focus on what is happening around in the society. Even in Mukunda he did the same, as he carefully carved out a melodrama of rich politicians and thoughtless youths in Godavari backdrop. While he extracted brilliant performances from all, he failed to an extent with not-so-engaging screenplay. Though he wrote touching dialogues, they are tad bit tacky at times," stated Hapra of Tupaki.
"There was precisely no scope left by Addala for Varun to extol himself as an actor. Srikant Addala's confusion in closing the scenes or letting the characterizations halted the flow. When he has two awesome looking main leads Varun and Pooja, he could have lightened a flashy romantic filament. Instead, he took to a trivial track finally failing to satisfy none. Better Srikant remain to his strength areas without experimenting on heroism," stated Srivaas of Cinejosh.
"Music by Mickey J Meyer is fabulous. Its Srikanth Addala who fails to capitalize on it due to poor placement of songs. Manikandan's cinematography is an asset to the movie. Art Direction is fine. Dialogues are well written. Fights have been composed well. Editing could have been better in the latter half. Production values are excellent," according to AP Today.
Verdict: Decent Debut for Varun Tej
