The web original is directed by Pavan Sadineni and produced by Sushmitha Konidela and Vishnu Prasad under Gold Box Entertainments. The film also features Naresh Agastya, Gnaneswari Kandregula, Harshavardhan and Rakendu Mouli in crucial roles. Senapathi is almost like a slow burn – what starts out as a run-of-the-mill crime drama soon makes time to delve deeper into characters and their motivations. The web film, streaming on Aha, is a half-remake, half-adaptation of the Tamil-language crime thriller ‘8 Thottakkal’ . The Tamil original received a big round of critical applause when it was released.
The first one hour until the story takes off is very routine, and despite the efforts of the director to spice it up with the presentation and slick editing, it doesn’t come across that way. The change in the approach of Pavan Sadineni from his previous attempts is right in our face at the start with the black and white narrative. The darker theme couldn’t have been made more obvious. Still, it helps set up the background of the lead Krishna in a hard-hitting way. Pavan Sadineni of Prema Ishq Kaadhal fame directs Senapathi. It is a complete departure for him from the kind of movies he attempted in the past and based on an original story by Sri Ganesh.
He succeeds in making the audience glued to the screen with his solid narration which raises curiosity. Rajendra Prasad lived in his unique character and made us feel his emotions. Be it is look or body language, the director showcased him in a new manner. Young actor Naresh Agastya gave his best output as a serious and sincere policeman.
In spite of having all young and new actors, he narrated the film in a gripping manner. The way he held the film with racy moments made the proceedings quite interesting. Talking about the technical team, Shravan Bharadwaj’s music is outstanding and became an asset to the movie.
The bottomline is that the film engages better than many of the recent Telugu OTT releases. Director Pavan Sadineni and music director Shravan Bharadwaj deserve commendations. Sushmitha Konidela brought out something interesting from her production. Rajendra Prasad is sincerity and honesty personification, once again. At the start, the part of Senapathi looks like he might be a misfit, given the image that he has cultivated over the years.
Shravan Bharadwaj provides the background score for the movie. It feels a little loud at times, but on the whole, the BGm helps the narrative big time. It creates a sense of urgency mentally, even when there is none skylab movie near me visibly. There is a conscious effort to attain a specific look within the realistic space. Vivek Kalepu’s cinematography helps partially in achieving that. It could have been a bit sharper at places, though.
The director made the film run with a racy screenplay in the first half. But, the film has become a bit slow while it nears the climax. Despite all, commander Quite an engrossing story of crime, punishment and redemption.
The series of murders the gun commits are interestingly narrated. Whenever a clue is found, it is immediately negated with a murder piquing the interest in the film. The audience is left guessing the motive of the robbery and murders. The romance between Krishna and a journalist looks forced and is laced into the story for no reason. The manner in which Harshvardhan investigates the case happens at leisure. Such scenes could have been reduced and the runtime would have been made crisp.