More than ‘1’ disappointment

Imagine this: Everything is set for the 400 meter dash. Every single spectator is cheering for their champion and hoping for him to win it. The champion starts off like a bullet, leaving every other participant with a very good view of his ass. Midway into the race, the others are more than a few seconds away from him. Then it happens. The champion glances at a very beautiful (read hot) girl in the stands. He is distracted though just for a couple of seconds. Result - he has to scramble across the finish line just as one another athlete overtakes him.

Now whose mistake is it? Is it the spectators who were expecting the best from a pool of incredible talent? Is it the girl who unknowingly spoiled the big moment? Is it the champion who failed to stick to his training? Or is it the coach who maybe did not train him in basic concentration or rather failed to comprehend that the athlete is not oblivious to petty temptations?

As one of the audience expecting nothing less from the genius that Sukumar is, I must confess it was frustrating at times to watch ‘1’. There is more than an instance where you feel like Sukumar is confused with the priorities (maybe he was forced to imbibe some “commercial” elements). And these few instances actually jar the entire experience, thus ruining the effect of an otherwise brilliant script.

Yes, Mahesh looks his best and does his best. And Kriti Sanon actually holds up very good opposite him - be it the looks or the dialogues (‘coz now-a-days expecting a heroine to lip-sync Telugu properly is a big ask) or the emotions. She definitely made the best of the opportunity. Yes the photography is excellent and the locations are beautiful. But the songs don’t leave an impact - not expected from Sukumar + DSP combo.

For a complicated script as 1, Sukumar did a commendable job in keeping the mystery elements in tact while still being able to communicate the conflict point quite clearly to the audience. But if you are aiming for the best, you can’t ignore even the smallest details. And sadly, irrespective of the motive behind, the script is punctuated with unnecessary scenes and songs which are very irritating given how good the rest of the movie is. Just like how irritating it is to see the athlete give in to momentary temptation and throw it all away.

It is just as disheartening to see an intelligent movie spoiled by the forced but expected-by-fans commercial masala as it is joyous to see someone with the caliber to execute such a story and screenplay. While I am disappointed with the overall movie, I am not disappointed with Sukumar and hence will wait for his next movie, hoping his creative genius is not too bothered by the critical or popular feedback. That is because there are more than enough moments in the movie which did satiate my expectations to an extent. The climax - case in point - is a very brave attempt and very aesthetically done. That’s the high point of the movie for me. It almost made me forget my complaints about the movie.

The day I watched Arya-2, I told my wife that Sukumar is a talent well ahead of the times in Tollywood. If he can keep himself insulated from the retards populating the Telugu movie industry, I am sure there are more like me who will love his work and look forward to it. And am sure there will come a day when his movies will find the actual praise they deserve. But for that to happen, he needs to stay away from making his script populist and concentrate on making it right.