Sangeetha Devi Dundoo

Pudathama enti malli? (Will we be born again?), Ram Charan’s character Peddi asks at several points in his new Telugu film directed by Buchi Babu Sana. More statement than question, the line underscores the protagonist’s belief that life comes only once, and his determination to stop at nothing to achieve his goal. Buchi Babu frames Peddi’s fight for his own identity and that of his village like a sports biopic, powered by Ram Charan’s performance, A.R. Rahman’s music and R. Rathnavelu’s evocative visuals. The 189-minute film travels back to the 1990s. When a member of the Indian Olympics Association, played by Boman Irani, witnesses an extraordinary spectacle in and around Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, he is drawn into Peddi’s story. At its core, the film is centred on the struggles of sugarcane field labourers in the region. Yet, its storytelling borrows liberally from sports dramas across languages, evoking everything from Sarpatta Parambarai to Chandu Champion and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

A character in Gaayapadda Simham (Wounded Lion) quips that police officers are holding a “success meet,” much like film teams that celebrate barely a day after a theatrical release. The officer shoots back, asking why such celebrations should be limited to reel heroes when real-life ones have more reason to revel. In moments like these, when the writing pokes fun at the Telugu film industry, debut director Kasyap Sreenivas’s film, starring Tharun Bhascker and Faria Abdullah, finds its comic edge. The premise is deliberately outrageous. Darahas (Tharun), content with his middle-class life, is told he must move to the US if he hopes to marry his girlfriend (Maanasa Choudhary). When shifting immigration laws derail his plans and he is deported, his response is extreme — he seeks revenge on Donald Trump.

We live in an era of constant connectivity, where the smartphone feels like an extension of our arm. In moments of overload, we romanticise the idea of a digital detox, of returning to a time when television and video cassettes were a luxury. Those were the days. Or were they? There was a time when owning a television signalled status and power, and viewing, too, could become addictive. First-time director V. Muniraju’s Telugu film Thimmarajupalli TV revisits this moment, exploring television as an inflection point in a village in Andhra Pradesh, wrapped in a layer of nostalgia.

Dacoit: A Love Story keeps its biggest surprises under wraps, even as its team amped up pre-release promotions. Directed by Shaneil Deo and led by Adivi Sesh and Mrunal Thakur, the Telugu-Hindi bilingual is, at its heart, an emotional love story with an Indian ethos, told through a Western lens. The emphasis on “at its heart” is deliberate — embedded within is a distinctly old-school romance that nods to cinematic tropes of the past, hoping to resonate with a swipe-era audience. For that to land, the writing of both characters and subplots needs to hold. Sesh and Shaneil, who share screenplay credits, pack the film with layered, often complex characters. Threads of possible deceit and double-crossing keep the narrative engaging at key moments. While a few characters verge on being one-note, the complexity of the central figures ultimately works in the film’s favour.

There are times when a filmmaker chooses to not reinvent the wheel or the story, to be precise. But a new setting lets it breathe. The broad contours of the storyline, sub plots and character arcs in director Abhilash Reddy’s Telugu sports drama, Biker are familiar. Motocross, a sport that has rarely or perhaps never been explored in Indian cinema, gives it a new sheen. The cutting-edge audio-visual landscape and worthwhile performances make it fairly engaging.

In 2012, when director Harish Shankar teamed up with Pawan Kalyan for Gabbar Singh, an adaptation of Dabangg, it resulted in a massy outing that capitalised on the star’s nonchalant attitude. The film entertained, even if it did not break new ground in storytelling. A lot has changed since then and the star is now the deputy chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. In Ustaad Bhagat Singh, the director rehashes the outdated template of Gabbar Singh, and infuses it with a heavy dose of ideology that powers the actor-politician today. The result is a narrative that appears to be randomly stitched together to tick a few boxes on a checklist.

Some films try to punch above their weight while others play to the strengths of their core team and work within set limits. Mrithyunjay, the Telugu film written and directed by Hussain Sha Kiran and led by Sree Vishnu, falls into the latter category. Designed as an investigative thriller, it builds intrigue in parts. A few smart stretches, however, are undercut by convenient writing choices that keep the film from becoming fully engaging. On the positive side, Mrithyunjay stays focused on its core story and characters across its 122-minute runtime. It avoids needless frills. The comedy is situational and blends smoothly into the narrative, and the film resists forcing in a romantic track. Sree Vishnu plays Jay, an aspiring crime reporter, while Reba Monica John appears as Sita, a police officer. Their paths cross solely during the investigation. The story keeps her personal life out of the frame, while Jay’s past trauma is revealed only enough to lend the narrative emotional weight.

Euphoria is a difficult watch that demands viewer discretion; its ‘A’ certification is justified. Eschewing the mindless violence common in mainstream cinema, writer-director Gunasekhar delivers a sharp fictional drama rooted in a harrowing true story that shook Hyderabad. The film uses its narrative to pose urgent questions through three interconnected lenses: a survivor reclaiming her life, a mother desperate to reform her son, and the perpetrator’s uneasy and long path toward redemption.