Rana Naidu Review: Compelling performance by Venkatesh and Rana Daggubati save this slow narrative

3/5

For the Netflix series Rana Naidu, where they play fictional father and son, Venkatesh and Rana Daggubati team up as uncle-nephew jodi. Only there isn't much love or respect between them, and everytime they cross paths, they either intend to or actually do jump to each other's throats. As a result, Rana Daggubati portrays the title character Rana Naidu, a celebrity "fixer" who employs any means necessary to prevent his famous clients from getting implicated in a controversy. And you nearly always shudder when you hear about the "scandals" his clients get into. Instead of trying to convey a message, the sound effects and description of these situations are meant to stun.

The dialogues also go beyond political correctness and indulge in crudeness on a deeper level. As a result, Rana's father Naga Naidu (Venkatesh) refers to one of his ex-girlfriends who is from the North East as "chinki," and there are also pretty crude references to genitalia and various sex practises that don't really improve the dialogue delivery but instead thrive in shocking the audience. 

Returning to the story, Rana Naidu is a family guy who has two children, one of them is a teenage girl, and a devoted wife named Naina (Surveen Chawla). Rana's life was going well despite the bizarre nature of his employment up until his father was released from prison after serving 15 years for the murder of a young girl. Naga, who is certainly not a saint, keeps saying that he has never killed anyone.

The remainder of the plot is on Rana's life and work going awry as a result of his father's outward presence and what specifically occurred 15 years ago. The show's weight is increased by additional characters like Jaffa and Tej, two of Rana's brothers played by Sushanth Singh (Abhishek Banerjee). Aditya Menon plays Rana's dependable lieutenant, while Ashish Vidyarthi portrays a crime-lord who is hiding and planning to exact revenge on Naga for something he did 15 years ago. Gaurav Chopra plays a popular actor who is debauched and a drug addict. Rajesh Jais also appears as a politician with connections to Rana who is currently afflicted with a brain tumour.

The acting is also the show's saviour. Venkatesh's fans may be shocked to see him portraying such an unpleasant role, yet the actor looks magnificent in a very different and grey colour. Rana Daggubati's controlled acting enables his character to be deliberate, ominous, and compassionate when needed. As the conscience of the Naidu clan, Sushant Singh is brilliant as always, while Abhishek Banerjee once again shines in a sympathetic role. Bravo to Gaurav Chopra as well for his portrayal of the vile, stoned superstar. In their individual parts, Ashish Vidyarthi, Rajesh Jaid, Rajesh Sharma, Mukul Chadda, and Adithya Menon all perform admirably.

Surveen Chawla and Ishita Arun stand out among the female cast members. Their characters are though written improperly. The other female characters either have weak writing, are there to be killed off, or are just there for sex scenes. 

Rana Naidu features troubled characters under traumatising circumstances. It works for the performances and a few subplots, but the fixation with writing a shock-laden screenplay, unnecessary sex scenes can make you feel alienated from the action.