Movie review 'Soggade Chinni Nayana': It's Nagarjuna's show all the way!

Director: Kalyan Krishna

Cast: Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishnan, Lavanya Tripathi, Brahmaji, Sampath and Nasser

The last movie to join the Sankranti race this year is Nagarjuna’s Soggade Chinni Nayana, which released on January 15.

Kalyan Krishna, a debutant, has directed the film while Ramya Krishnan and Lavana Tripathi play the two female leads.

Ramu (Nagarjuna) and his wife Sitha (Lavanya Tripathi) stay in the US as Ramu works as a doctor there. They visit Ramu’s hometown near Rajahmundry where Ramu’s mother Satya Bhama (Ramya Krishnan) lives along with other family members.

The couple seeks for divorce in front of Satya as Sitha complaints that Ramu is not taking care of her as he is always busy with work.

To solve the couple’s problem, Satya calls out to her late husband Bangarraju (Nagarjuna), in frustration.

Hearing this, Lord Yama (Nagababu) grants permission to Bangarraju to go to Earth from Yamalokam but tells him that he will only be visible to his wife Satya.

Though Satya initially is surprised to see her late husband, she continues to narrate her son’s problems.

Bangarraju promises her that he will solve their problems. At the same time, he also gets to know that he was not killed in an accident but was murdered and that now, his son’s life is in danger.

The crux of the story is how he solves his son’s problem and at the same time saves his life.

Many actors from the late NTR to Ali to Ravi Teja and Chiranjeevi have all tried similar concepts and the movies have been successful in the past.

Nagarjuna, too, follows the same concept, but the narration is completely different from the earlier films.

This is a big debut for director Kalyan Krishna — Full marks to him to come out with a family entertainer and a successful formula. The director is clear about what he wants to show the audience.

The story is set in a village backdrop and the highlight of the movie are the dialogues, delivered in the Godavari accent.

Recently, many Telugu films are either good in the first half or the second half, not many were able to maintain the tempo throughout the movie. This movie is an exception and has been wonderful overall.

Nagarjuna steals the show all the way. After Manam, Nagarjuna wanted to come out with another successful movie and waited for the right script. And he hit the bullseye with Soggade...

He played two characters in the movie with ease — one is that of a soft-spoken Ramu, an NRI doctor and the other one is of an energetic and a livewire Bangarraju.

But people seemed to have liked the latter character more. The actor is also looking young and handsome, in spite of being in his late
’50s.

Not only the terrific performance, the way he rendered the Godavari accent is commendable too. It’s a treat to watch him on screen in a rural character.

The other highlight of the movie is Ramya Krishnan, who shows her experience once again and is on par with Nagarjuna. If not for Ramya Krishnan, the film may not have lived up to the expectations.

The other actress Lavanya Tripathi is very decent and had given a good performance. Though she is just a few movies old, she carried the role like an actress with a lot of experience.

She is not just been cast to add to the glam factor, but has a good role where she could showcase her acting skills. The role of Brahmaji was as usual and Sampath plays the villain.

Brahmanandam is a surprising package as he finally manages to evoke a few laughs, and the other surprise is Anushka Shetty, who appears in a cameo.

Anasuya and Hamsa Nandini, too, have sizzling cameos. Posani Krishna Murali’s cameo, however, seemed like an overdose. Nagababu fit the role of Lord Yama perfectly.

Anup Rubens once again proved his talent as a music director. The audio perfectly blends with the story and the background score is worth mentioning.

The title song Soggade Chinni Nayana and Dikka Dikka Dum Dum are the best among the list. The Brahmi episode gets a bit dragged.

Overall, Soggade Chinni Nayana is a perfect film for Sankranti. Watch it for Nagarjuna and, of course, director Kalyan Krishna, who handles everything very well.