Hari Hara Veera Mallu movie review: Pawan Kalyan's film is no Chhaava, just one elevation scene after another
Hari Hara Veera Mallu movie review: Pawan Kalyan's film starts out as an epic quest for the Koh-i-Noor and twists itself to be something more.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu movie review
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Nidhhi Agerwal, Bobby Deol, Sathyaraj
Director: Krish, Jyothi Krisna
Star rating: ★★.5
The historical epic Hari Hara Veera Mallu paints both the titular character and its lead actor, Pawan Kalyan, as larger-than-life figures who can hardly do any wrong and will always find a way to save the day. By the end of the Krish and Jyothi Krisna-directorial, one can’t help but wonder where Pawan the Deputy CM ends and Pawan the actor begins when the film is revealed to be all about protecting dharma. (Also Read: Hari Hara Veera Mallu box office prediction: With ₹75 crore start, can Pawan Kalyan beat Ram Charan's Game Changer?)
The historical epic Hari Hara Veera Mallu paints both the titular character and its lead actor, Pawan Kalyan, as larger-than-life figures who can hardly do any wrong and will always find a way to save the day. By the end of the Krish and Jyothi Krisna-directorial, one can’t help but wonder where Pawan the Deputy CM ends and Pawan the actor begins when the film is revealed to be all about protecting dharma. (Also Read: Hari Hara Veera Mallu box office prediction: With ₹75 crore start, can Pawan Kalyan beat Ram Charan's Game Changer?)
Hari Hara Veera Mallu story
Veera Mallu (Pawan Kalyan) is an outlaw for hire whose expertise lies in stealing jewels from the greedy and redistributing wealth to the needy – he’s quite Marxist like that. But almost like a long-lost brother of Comrade Acharya (Chiranjeevi in the 2022 film), he’s also the saviour of dharma, someone who realises the threat the country faces in the Mughal rule, particularly due to Aurangzeb (Bobby Deol). What starts out as an epic quest to retrieve the Koh-i-Noor for the Qutb Shahi dynasty in Golconda soon twists and turns into something much more, with Veera’s true purpose revealed. The juxtaposition and transition between these two completely separate plot points is jarring.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu film review
Pawan’s Veera Mallu might be a Robin Hood-style outlaw on the surface, but as the layers are peeled back, he’s shown as a magical tamer of tigers and wolves, rider of horses on treacherous roads, switcher of accents between Andhra and Telangana, sometimes even time periods, conservator of wildlife…at one point, you even wonder if he controls the weather. All this would be buyable, especially because we all know commercial cinema heroes can do it all, if the film’s writing and VFX weren’t a massive letdown. I want to believe Veera is safeguarding his odd little motley crew from danger as they travel from Golconda to Delhi, but the execution doesn’t stop my mind from giving in to the fact that it’s all taking place in front of a green screen in Pithapuram.
HHVM had the potential to be a fun story about an outlaw who’s street smart but can be hoodwinked given the right circumstances. It might also work as the story of a larger-than-life saviour who is looking out for the country's goodwill. Instead, what you get is a mishmash of both that gets tiring as the film progresses. Most of the film just seems like one elevation scene after another to showcase how great Veera is, where that was already established enough in his first scene. I do not need to see him save a pregnant woman and a child from the clutches of evil colonisers after I’ve already seen him do some pretty impossible things. Veera’s character is also given grace that no one else in the film is: he’s infallible.
It has been a while since Pawan looked interested enough to play a role well. Maybe the last time he was invested was in Attarintiki Daredi (2013). He refreshingly seems willing to give his best to Veera Mallu. Unfortunately, time and the writing are not on his side. Nidhhi Agerwal’s character, Panchami’s romantic track with Veera, hardly makes you feel anything. The only time Panchami registers is when she's shown as more than a naive Devadasi, only for her to morph back into a weepy girl. Bobby’s Aurangzeb comes across like a token villain who's all bark. The ridiculous ending, setting up things for a sequel, only makes it worse. MM Keeravaani is the true saviour of this story, with his music injecting depth even in flat moments.
To sum it up
HHVM has been in production for half a decade, and while the makers had their own mountains to climb, the film just feels like a wasted opportunity. Where Laxman Utekar’s Vicky Kaushal-starrer Chhaava succeeds in making you root for the resistance against Aurangzeb’s tyranny, this film meanders while pretending to have a purpose for it all. Does HHVM have moments where you see the potential? Sure. But a story like this needed a deft hand, which it lacks.
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