‘Shyam Singha Roy’ review: Nani and Sai Pallavi make it immensely watchable

Director Rahul Sankrityan celebrates the fearless writer in this story of reincarnation that sidesteps a few cliches but ultimately gets predictable

The actual hero introduction scene in the Telugu film Shyam Singha Roy happens at the midway mark. Coming into full view, gradually, is not a man who has just beaten up goons to rousing music but a fearless writer in Bengal of the 1960s and 70s. The typewriter, pen and the printing press are Shyam Singha Roy’s (Nani) weapons. When he is offered a gun to align with the naxal movement, he chooses the pen and asserts that it is mightier than the sword. Director Rahul Sankrityan and writer Satyadev Janga make us root for a writer, a thinking hero. Even the rousing title song plays to visuals of Shyam at work in the printing press and his books turning out to be bestsellers.

There are two worlds — one of aspiring filmmaker Vasudev Ghanta (Nani in a dual role; the surname alludes to the actor’s real surname) and that of writer Shyam Singha Roy. Vasu’s world, shot in comparatively cooler tones by cinematographer Sanu John Varghese, could be that of any new filmmaker. After quitting his IT job, he makes a low budget short film which becomes his passport to make a feature film. The production design (Anivash Kolla) dutifully fills up Vasu’s dwelling with movie posters and books on the films of acclaimed directors ranging from Satyajit Ray to Mani Ratnam. The movie making process involving Keerthi (Krithi Shetty) and friends (Abhinav Gomatam and Ankith Koyya) is filled with lines reflecting the travails of emerging filmmakers, with a tinge of humour.

The conflict arises from a legal suit after Vasu’s film becomes a success, paving the way for his discovery of Shyam. Though the most endearing portions of the film unfold in Bengal of yore, the portions leading up to it are not in vain. Vasu’s short film comes handy at a crucial moment later in the story. A sequence where Vasu fends off men who harass Keerthi becomes a tool to push the story forward. Same is the case with an intimate scene between Vasu and Keerthi. It isn’t there to play to the gallery, but to bring in another conflicting moment. In these portions, Rahul effectively subverts cliched tropes.