This Telugu Thriller squanders a host of exciting cinematic and situational narrative possibilities, dumbing itself down and disappointing at every turn. Warm chemistry between certain characters helps pull the audience through the charade.
Prasanna Vadanam opens abruptly with its titular character being rushed into hospital. A series of quick flashbacks show that Surya (Suhas Pagolu) has been in a car crash which has caused the death of both his parents. Surya later wakes up in hospital and is unable to recognize his best friend. Further brain scans reveal that Surya has developed a rare brain condition as a result of his injuries. He can no longer recognize people’s faces or voices, nor can he distinguish between them. Surya is face blind.
Being unable to distinguish between different faces, Surya can now only tell people apart if they’re wearing different clothes or if they have something significant that marks them out, like a tattoo or glasses. This extremely unusual condition is going to play a crucial part throughout the rest of the film. Unfortunately, not a very intelligent one.
Fast forward a few years and Surya seems keen on being some kind of superhero. He’s surrounded by an almost unbelievable amount of petty crime, and getting involved inevitably makes the situation worse. Surya sees a man getting his wallet stolen? He identifies the wrong perpetrator.
This early stage of the film – barring the accident scene at the beginning – all plays out like a comedy, but the film quickly grows more serious when Surya witnesses a cold-blooded murder, and goes against of the advice of his friend in reporting it to the police. This decision instantly paints a target on Surya’s back, due to the murderer being the very police officer who Surya reports it to. This is only the beginning of a ludicrous number of unbelievable coincidences that pepper the narrative like pot holes.
This is where the film takes its dark turn. And the fact that Surya can’t always tell who’s who is an exciting idea that could have made this a really neat and quirky thriller. Certain shortcomings could have even been forgiven due to the strength of the acting, and the backstory of each character including the villains.
The film’s dark turn begins to unfold a fascinating backstory, giving the main villain some interesting character work and motivations. Unfortunately the plot forces you to suspend your belief too many times. From the ludicrous number unlikely coincidences to fight scenes that belong in a superhero movie: One villainous member of the police force happens to have two loyal henchmen ninjas, who, in one specific fight scene which takes place in the police station toilets no less, are able to take down a skilled police officer in seconds. Surya however, who has no such fighting ability, is able to escape their blades time and time again. With the film attempting whisk its audience into an intriguing thriller, such unbelievable fight scenes really hold it back. While the scene is fun to watch due to the directing (and the number of heads getting smashed into urinals) the painfully obvious inconsistencies completely nullify the stakes.
Of course, if the film had committed to being a comedy it could have gotten away with such ridiculous fight scenes. But the film is not funny enough, and the story becomes far too serious for that. Such stupid action sequences hamper the darkening tone as well as the stakes, making the film feel more amusing than thrilling, yet still failing to be a laugh out loud comedy.
While the film falls short of being a decent thriller or comedy, the acting from all involved is strong throughout. The main villain is played excellently throughout and the strongest part of the film is easily the romance between Surya and a beautiful woman called Aadhya (Payal Radhyakrishna), who Surya first meets when he thoughtlessly pushes in front of her to use an ATM machine. Nice move Surya. The actors give a really strong performance throughout the movie; they have brilliant chemistry and no shortage of funny moments together. If the film focused more on being a comedy rather than trying to be a thriller, it could have been a lot more engaging.
Considering that chunks of this film did feel like a romantic comedy, it is yet another disappointment that there isn’t a single dance-music routine. There are a few songs here and there, sure, but nothing that you’d expect from a Bollywood film like this.
The biggest disappointment of the film however, is the half-baked twist that comes into play during the climax. While I’m not going to detail it, the idea itself is a great one and could have made for the best scenes of the movie. Unfortunately, the film decides to spoil the twist before it properly gets going, squandering what could have been a brilliant narrative opportunity. You will understand if you watch it, but bare in mind, Surya cannot distinguish faces apart, so he can only identify the love of his life by her clothes and the purple streaks she has dyed in her hair. Otherwise, she could literally be anyone.
Prasasnna Vadanam can’t even stick the ending. After prematurely revealing the twist, the film ends abruptly with a sudden and very on-the-nose callback reminding the audience of something which anyone who doesn’t have the memory of a goldfish will already be aware of, dumbing itself down one final time before the lights come on.
It’s a huge shame just how many great opportunities this film squanders. With such an interesting premise the film could have made for an hilarious sitcom or a smart quirky thriller, but the execution of its ideas is so sloppy that it fails hard at both. What makes this film shine where it does are the actors who make the heroes lovable through sparkling chemistry together, and the villains fascinating by doing the best they can to bring an interesting – if overly extensive – backstory to life.
Prasanna Vadanam is a Telugu movie directed by Arjun Y.K. It was released in India on May 3rd 2024 in India and May 2nd in the US.
I rate this film 4/10
