I could not watch this movie in theatre but am so glad I did on Amazon Prime. It is easily one of the best movies I have seen this year and a great love story(in the league of Jab We Met dare I say) at that, but it is also so much more… This is my first Vijay Devarakonda film( no I have not seen Arjun Reddy or any of his other movies). So my mind was a clean slate and not conditioned by expectations from a VD film or his characters…
I expected it to be a sweet love story ( which it is in the beginning) but slowly morphed into a film with an agenda. Most reviews I read of this movie talked about how the story meandered all over the place but to me it made perfect sense because the first half helped in establishing the characters of Bobby(Vijay Devarakonda) and Lilly(Rashmika Mandanna) and set the stage for what was about to come. He is a angry young man alright, but his anger and aggression come from a place of deep conviction in what he believes is right or wrong. She on the other hand is ambitious (in a quiet non demonstrative way) and has a history that makes her wary of any form of confrontation or aggression. It is important to establish these as they lay a foundation to why he/she reacts the way they do to what happens ahead in the story. Of course some songs seem unnecessary and add to the length but the music(by Justin Prabhakaran) and cinematography are so breath takingly beautiful that one can hardly complain.
What I didn\’t see coming at all is how the leading man slowly takes a backseat and allows the leading lady to drive the narrative. She is at times hesitant, timid, unsure, vulnerable and emotionally fragile but that does not take the limelight away from HER story. He is just her support system or in his words a COMRADE in her journey towards her goals. This word which also happens to be in the title of the film is used in many crucial scenes with such emotional heft it means so much more than just a companion. What also adds to the authenticity of this relationship are the performances and a fantastic chemistry between the lead pair. Rashmika Mandanna as Lilly comes across initially as a sweet bubbly girl-next-door but gets the balance between vulnerability and quiet determination so right, she makes a deep impact by the time the film ends. The supporting characters are all nicely fleshed out especially the role of herione\’s sister who has her own sweet little story with the hero. And this film helped me understand a phenomenon called Vijay Devarakonda. This man knows to emote and how! Any Telugu star can play an angry young man but how many can cry in a way that melts your heart? I don\’t cry that easily at movies but this movie had me tearing up atleast in a couple of scenes not because of the emotions in the story but because his performance was subtle yet so touching and heartfelt. And how many mainstream Telugu heroes today have the guts to take up roles that have them playing second fiddle to the heroine?And mouth lines like \”This saree, braid, flowers, makeup is not you. How long will you hide behind them? Let the real you come out\”. If VD continues to pick up roles and movies like these which are necessary to start conversations around important and relevant topics like #MeToo then he certainly does have a fan-girl in me..
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