Megastar's 3rd film in his second innings is with successful and sensible director Koratala Shiva. It has been in shooting stage since 3 yrs owing to postponement of shoots due to Covid, changing release dates due to RRR and finally it arrived.
Story :- Once well known for justice, truthfulness, Dharmasthali, now becomes place of illegal and criminal activities under the rule of Basava (Sonu Sood). An businessman Rathod (Jisshu Sengupta) eyes on the hills of Dharmasthali and joins hands with Veda to conquer them. However, Paadaghattam under guidance of Veda (Ajay) still maintain it's sanctity and follows their age told tradition of ayurvedic medicines and keeping an eye on Dharmasthali. When everyone loses hope that Dharmasthali can never be revived, comes an Naxalite leader Acharya (Chiranjeevi) in a carpenter get up. He revolts against the atrocities of Basava and stands in support for Dharmasthali and Paadaghattam. Reason for an naxalite leader Acharya coming to rescue of Dharmasthali is Siddha (Ram Charan). How Acharya and Siddha are connected, what happened to Siddha and how Acharya rescues Dharmasthali forms rest of the story.
Performances :- Chiru has done justice to the role written for Acharya. Calm, composed and controlled aggression. Dance as usual he has killed it, despite the songs being not so great. Ram Charan tried did a good job as Siddha. Be it his nuances or get up or expressions. Pooja Hegde was okay as a Siddha's love interest in a limited role. Sonu Soddu, Jisshu, Ajay and others were fine.
Technicians :- Music is a big let down for the movie. Be it background score or songs, both were utter failure and doesn't lift the movie. Art director should be appreciated for the Dharmasthali set. It looked great. Costumes and cinematography were nice. Koratala Shiva failed miserably at the story. It's a run of the mill story which has been used in many films since 90's. Only the premise is changed. Whether the story written by him initially was like this or has it been recooked to make Charan's role lengthier, end result was bad. 1st half of the movie is good with a mix of all commercial elements. Problem lies in the 2nd half. Firstly, story is dragged too. Secondly, emotional connect was not there with the lead characters which causes boredom. Too many fights also create tiredness. Has Siddha character is trimmed and some interesting conflicts were created, result could have been better.
Positivies :-
Chiranjeevi
Ram Charan
Bhale Bhanjara dance
Negatives :-
Story & screenplay
Lack of emotional depth
Music
Summary :- Acharya lacks the heroism and emotional depth one expects from Chiru -Koratala Shiva combination. A golden chance of Chiru & Charan coming together for a movie was wasted. Just don't feel it's the same director who made Mirchi, Janata Garage, Srimanthudu has helmed Acharya
Rating :- 2.5/5. One time watch if you're a Megastar fan.
