Dear Comrade (Tamil) Movie Review

July 26, 2019

2 minutes read

Review Overview

Performances

Plot & Narration

Technical Aspects & Music

A slightly flawed yet fantastic tale of two hearts.

Overall, Dear Comrade is a refreshing, mostly effective tale that comes with special performances, great music and cinematography. The second half may not be everybody's cup of tea but it does get its relationships right and stands up for the theme.

Cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Rashmika Mandanna ; Written & Directed by Bharat Kamma ; Producers: Naveen Yerneni, Y Ravi Shankar and Mohan Cherukuri (CVM), Yash Rangineni ; Cinematography: Sujith Sarang ; Music: Justin Prabhakaran ; Editor & DI Colorist: Sreejith Sarang ; Art Director: Ramanjaneyulu ; Dialogues: Jayakrishna ; Stunts: – (MURALI) ; Costume Designers: Ashwanth Byri Rajini ; Release Date: 26-07-2019 ; Run Time: 02:50:00

Bharat Kamma’s Dear Comrade is a refreshing, mostly effective take on relationships that has a lot of things going for it, despite the inconsistency in the approach towards its conflict. The film sets up the tale beautifully, gets the conflicts right but unfortunately dives too deep into them, making it a spot of a bother. However, what makes it special is that it comes with fabulous performances from Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna, great music and cinematography. The second half may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but this is a film that gets its relationships right and stands up for its theme.

Dear Comrade brings us an Arjun Reddy-like Chaitanya, who plays the student head in the college arena. We are introduced to the hot-headed hero, who himself tells us that his life changed a lot after the charming Lilly (Rashmika) entered it. What follows is a series of events that put a smile on your face, making up a first half that is packed with a heartfelt love story that progresses seamlessly. It is only in the second half that the film enters delicate grounds, and gets heavier with the passing minute. When the two conflicts start to collide, it loses some focus and gets elongated in the process. The third act of the film is uneven, with some stretches that feel needlessly dragged on by the time we reach the end. Though the climax is convincing enough, some cropping would have definitely helped Dear Comrade hop along smoothly.

Throughout the film, the exciting pair of Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika are on song, leaving no stone unturned to bring up two stellar performances. Their presence here is in stark contrast to Geetha Govindam, and it’s so good because it doesn’t remind you of that film at all but for the title cards. As their characters travel over a longer period of time, both the actors get a lot of scope and they portray their parts to near perfection. And yes, Dear Comrade would be only half as good if not for the incredible efforts from its cinematographer and the musician, who contribute the weight in gold.

Dear Comrade puts in a lot of thought, trying to be many things at a time. Sometimes, it does feel like a specific sub-plot of the film could have been cut off, in order to make things better. Nevertheless, it is understandable that Bharat Kamma wanted to tell us Bobby and Lilly’s story in entirety, and he has done that quite well with the film.