Alluri review: A Singam-styled cop drama where Sree Vishnu punches above his weight and fails miserably

Pradeep Varma’s debut mistakes loudness for intensity, has no emotional connect and makes its protagonist look like a robot who can do wrong

Sree Vishnu and Kayadu Lohar

Alluri

Story:

Iqbal, the son of a retired police constable, is keen to become a cop too but fails to take charge of his ambition. In need of motivation, Iqbal’s father leads his son to the story of Alluri Sita Rama Raju. What is so special about Alluri that makes him a much-celebrated, revered cop? What did he sacrifice to ensure the safety of people?

Review:

It’s always advisable for an actor to be aware of his limitations more than his strengths. While it’s not wrong to be ambitious and aim for greener pastures, one must be pragmatic about their abilities. Sree Vishnu’s appeal lies in his vulnerability and he’s the underdog we want to root for, given he has carved a niche for himself solely through his diverse, unique script choices. With Alluri, he raises the stakes to take the ‘mainstream cinema’ route but the attempt falls apart like a pack of cards.

Director Pradeep Varma appears to be inspired by the KGF franchise where every second episode starts like an introduction sequence and ends like a climax and there’s no head or tail to the narrative. Alluri wants to tackle every burning issue in the country. Name it and he’s tackled it all - eve teasing, rape culture, drug mafia, terrorism, human trafficking, naxalism, corruption within his department and we aren’t even done with the list yet. The man is a God-sent messiah on a mission.

The narrative presents Alluri with an opportunity to showcase his heroism even during a blind date with a prospective bride. Four college-going girls approach him and express their interest to marry. A girl even says, ‘we don’t have any problem even if you decide to marry four of us.’ Thankfully, he rejects the idea. Alluri is a character who only experiences exponential highs - he’s so perfect that doesn’t even need to try, everything falls at his feet and everyone needs to bow down to him.

The film tirelessly keeps finding ways to push Alluri’s stature to dizzying heights and the director doesn’t at all care about building an emotional thread to make his titular character look remotely human. He keeps getting transferred and in every area that he’s deputed, he wants an excuse to flex his muscles and kill wrongdoers with vengeance. With every case, there’s a casualty through which the director tries to gain our sympathy.

When the focus shifts to the wife’s character occasionally, it’s either about their wedding night, honeymoon or news of her pregnancy, followed by a song sequence in scenic locations. Beyond the wife, all other women in the film are profusely weeping and seeking his help. Mind you, Alluri’s saviour syndrome isn’t restricted to one gender alone - he’s here to guard the human race. He can save everyone and everything except the film.

Alluri doesn’t have a story, yes, but its problems are compounded owing to the horrendous editing. There’s neither any structure in place nor any sense of flow. The director places all his ideas in one basket and the editor doesn’t know what to do with them. With a runtime close to three hours, Alluri goes much beyond a patience-tester. If you’ve got a creative mind, watch out for all the opportunities where it serves you unintentional humour.

First things first - it’s hard to buy Sree Vishnu in a khaki avatar. He doesn’t have the gait, physique or authoritative screen presence to play a righteous cop. Kayadu Lohar has nothing much to offer in a trivial role. Tanikella Bharani and Suman are only around to boost the lead character’s ego in every second sequence. The performances by the supporting cast, otherwise, are horrendous, to say the least. Harshavardhan Rameshwar’s over-enthusiastic score is more distracting than apt.

Verdict:

It looks like Sree Vishnu has desperately picked Alluri in a bid to end his flop streak. His attempt to do a Singam-styled cop-drama fails miserably in the hands of an incompetent director with a terrible script. In the climax, when everyone in an auditorium offers an honorary salute to the male lead, we wonder if the gesture was meant to appreciate the valour of the viewer.

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Cast and Crew

Sree Vishnu

Sree Vishnu

Kayadu Lohar

Tanikella Bharani

Raja Ravindra

Prudhvi Raj

Suman