‘Maha Samudram’ movie review: The drama doesn’t soar enough
The Hindu
Director Ajay Bhupathi’s ode to Visakhapatnam and its deep, mysterious sea needed a sharper script
Maha Samudram is director Ajay Bhupathi’s ode to the port city of Visakhapatnam; it is also his hat tip to mainstream cinema. His second outing, after RX-100, has the grand sweep and a few edgy characters that wear their shades of grey with elan. It is a story of romance, friendship, betrayal and redemption, led by talented actors such as Sharwanand, Siddharth, Aditi Rao Hydari, Jagapati Babu and Rao Ramesh. But ultimately, what was intended to be a soaring saga falls short.
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In the 1970s, Arjun (Sharwanand) and Vijay (Siddharth) could have been the quintessential Jai and Veeru of Sholay — thick as thieves and taking on the big, bad Gabbar. In the mushy 1990s, they could have been Vineet and Abbas of Prema Desam pining for the same woman. In 2021, the friends needed to be more multi-dimensional and Ajay has attempted that by showing us the possible areas of friction early on.