Power Star Pawan Kalyan's project Hari Hara Veera Mallu when announced with creative director Krish at the helm, movie lovers got super excited. This because the film was touted to be a historical entertainer and Pawan Kalyan's first pan India project and that too a duology. The film's OTT rights have been bagged for a fancy amount by popular OTT giant Amazon.
But multiple delays, Pawan Kalyan's political commitments and he prioritising other projects along with the exit of Krish from it, put dark clouds over the project. To the top of it, controversies over the film's subject to the real life incidents in Pandaga Sayanna also got it hard. Finally the film's first part Sword vs Spirit completed by producer AM. Ratnam's son Jyothi Krishna is releasing on 24 July. With AM. Ratnam staying like a rock as the producer under all the Hari Hara Veera Mallu turmoil, let us what impact Hari Hara Veera Mallu created at the box office.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu story is a fictional story about a lone warrior who takes on the might of the Mughal Empire to protect the most valuable Kohinoor.
In 1670s, while Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ( Bobby Deol), goes on a brutal and ruthless mission to expand his Empire and also convert people of other faiths into his religion, far away in Golkonda, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah( Dalip Tahil), ropes in fearless warrior Veera Mallu ( Pawan Kalyan), to regain Kohinoor,the pride of Golkonda.
Where is Kohinoor, whether Veera Mallu is able to overcome the might of the Mughals, The Britishers and The Portuguese form the interesting and exciting part of the developments.
Pawan Kalyan came up with a stellar and terrific performance as Hari Hara Veera Mallu. He looked at his charismatic best while enacting romantic and hilarious scenes. He gave a mindblowing treat with his sensational and breathtaking stunt sequences. There are many action sequences in which Pawan Kalyan showed his mannerisms and ease at martial arts. He thundered with powerful dialogues that are hard hitting and drives all his fans mad.
Bobby Deol as Aurangazeb is good on the screen. He is introduced as a menacing Mughul Emperor but later he is not seen much on the screen. One can expect more screenpresence to Bobby Deol in the film's second part.
Nidhhi Agerwal looked beautiful and gorgeous in the role of Panchami. Her role comes with a twist in the first half and this no one expects it and this turns out to be the surprise package.
Satyaraj played an important role and is good on the screen. Others like Sunil, Subbaraju, Sachin Khedekar, Raghu Babu, Dalip Tahil, Anasuya Bharadwaj, Pujitha Ponnada,Kabir Bedi,Kabir Duhan Singh,Makarand Deshpande performed according to their roles.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu story is penned by Director Krish. He directed some part of the film before Jyothi Krishna took over the mantle for him. It is not clear which part Krish directed and which one Jyothi Krishna did. The narration starts with voice over taking viewers into the 1670 happenings across the country, especially in Delhi and in Deccan and in the place called Kolluru.
After the introduction of Moghul Emperor Aurangazeb and other characters, Pawan Kalyan is introduced with an high octane fight. From then on the narration picks up pace and whenever action sequences are on, the screenplay turned out to be racy. The But once romantic and comedy scenes appear, the screenplay looked sluggish giving a feeling up a roller coster ride to the viewers.
However with the director loading the narration with numerous action sequences and the interesting pre interval and interval twist, viewers feel contented. The introduction fight in the backdrop of the port, the wrestling fight and the fight in the backdrop of Charminar standsout. They get a feeling that the wait for the film was worth it. At the end of the first half, one expects a more action packed and racy second half.
But the second half, introduces flashback to Veera's character which adds new dimension. Even though the pace dips and except for couple of action sequences, the story takes a new turn adding religious depth other than securing Kohinoor diamond. The Chowki Thana episode in the second half stands out and adds a new layer of emotion to the narrative. The song acts as a speedbraker. The Chowki Thana fight generates curiosity levels and also emotional feel as it is filled with powerful dialogues. However, when one expected a powerful climax in the lead to the second part, it ended ubruptly which gives an incomplete feeling.
Oscar Winner Keeravani showed his versatility in the tunes. He not only came up with foottapping tunes but also folk beats to balance both the relatability to the story and also connect chords with the viewers. All the songs are shot beautifully in the backdrop of extravagantly erected sets. However, couple of songs acted as the speedbrakers.He came up with the thumping and breathtaking background score to increase the intensity levels.
Dialogues are penned by Sai Madhav Burra and Pranava Chandra. They are hardhitting, thoughtprovoking and at times are relatable to the current situation in the country.
The Cinematography of Manoj Paramahamsa, Gnana Shekar V.S. Is good. He showed the scenes of the 1670s happenings in a natural and realistic way. But the VFX and Graphics could have been better. Thota Tharani's artwork is good. The sets he erected resembled similar to that of the 1670s. The production design deserves special mention.
Action choreography is commendable. Nick Powell, Syam Kaushal, Peter Hein, Ram-Laxman, Dilip Subbarayan, Stunt Silva, Todor Lazarov (Juji), Dragon Prakash, Vijay worked for various action sequences and all those stunt sequences gives goosebumps to the viewers. It elevated the heroism of Pawan Kalyan blowing the minds of all. To the top of it, Pawan Kalyan himself choreographed the Chowki Thana fight and viewers go crazy. The stunt sequences which are loaded immensely are a treat to movie lovers and they will make them whistle in the theatres.
The editing of KL. Praveen is ok in the first half but it could have been better in the second half. The narration in the second half slowed down a bit as the emotions took a centre stage. Production values of Mega Surya Productions are of top class.
Altogether, Hari Hara Veera Mallu delivers a high-octane blend of action and emotion, with Pawan Kalyan commanding the screen in one of his most intense roles yet, thanks to a gripping narrative by Krish and Jyothi Krishna. Be it the costumes, mannerisms, dialogue delivery etc, he created a sensation on the screen.
The story is just simple, revolving around Kohinoor, fight for it involving the Mughals, Britishers, Golkonda Qutubshahis, Portugese and Pawan Kalyan. The Director wove the emotions quite well trying to connect chords talking about Sanatana Dharma, Cruelty of Mughals but at times got carried away with the stardom of Pawan Kalyan and so other characters turnedout to be weak.
Pawan Kalyan is the main USP of the film and his eagerness to deliver a quality product is evident in every scene. Had he concentrated on doing away with incomplete scenes that appeared in the climax, things would have been even more powerful. Considering all these aspects, Cinejosh goes with a 2.5 rating out of 5 for Hari Hara Veera Mallu.