Virata Parvam movie review: A Sai Pallavi show all the way

Language: Telugu

Meet Vennela ( Sai Pallavi ). She is a young, carefree college student in a small Telangana village in the 1990s, when her parents suddenly decide to get her married. But life takes a big turn for her when she discovers poetry written by the most-wanted Naxal of the time Aranya alias Ravanna ( Rana Daggubati ). She falls in love with him through his poetry and she rejects the marriage proposal citing her love for a man who doesn’t even know she exists. She runs away from home to find him and profess her love to him and it is this arduous journey and romance that is captured in Virata Parvam . Vennela is innocent and sweet but also stubborn, ambitious and has a fire in her that helps her achieve her goal. Meanwhile, Comrade Ravanna, a Naxal revolutionary and poet, is a saviour of the masses - he has no time for love or relationships and his only goal is to take down the system. Revolution is an act of love is the movie’s tagline and that is what Virata Parvam tries to showcase through Vennela and Ravanna.

Virata Parvam is written and directed by Venu Udugula and one must be very clear at the outset that this romance is not a contemporary romance or one that evolves in the usual way where a boy and girl meet and fall in love. The idea of love and romance here is more ethereal and the perfect analogy that can be used is what Vennela tells Ravanna in the film - the kind of love that exists between Meera Bai and Krishna. Those who are familiar with the Indian epic Mahabharata will know that ‘Virata Parva’ is the fourth of the 18 books which talks about the exile of the Pandavas who spent those years incognito in the court of Virata while fighting the Kauravas. The writer-director has borrowed the title of this film from the epic given that the protagonist of the film, Ravanna, spends his life in hiding in the forest while trying to fight the system.

Vennela has a strict mother and an understanding father, who is an Oggu Katha artiste, and doesn’t shy away from hiding her emotions but wants to tell the world how she feels every step of the way. Sai Pallavi as Vennela strikes a strong chord with the audience because of the range of emotions she essays so effortlessly on screen across the various scenes - love, anger, sadness and so on. This movie is a Sai Pallavi show all the way and rides on her shoulders. Rana Daggiubati is also good in the film and having played several similar characters in the past, it’s effortless for him. There are several other actors like Nandita Das , Priyamani and Naveen Chandra who support the lead pair well but it is Zarina Wahab as Ravanna’s mother who truly stands out.

This movie is an honest attempt at showcasing a love story of a young girl obsessed with a revolutionary and what she does to fulfil that love. Plenty of encounters between the Naxals and the police have been included to keep the audience engaged but ‘Virata Parvam’ is not everyone’s cup of tea as it is not a regular commercial love story. Those who want a glimpse into the life of Naxalites during the early 1990s in Warangal and want to see what it means to love a revolutionary and the sacrifices they make will enjoy this romantic drama.

Rating: 2.5 (out of 5 stars)

Virata Parvam is playing in cinemas.

Latha Srinivasan is a senior journalist based in Chennai. Her passion is entertainment, travel, and dogs.

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