Directed by: Anil Ravipudi
Produced by: Anil Sunkara, Dil Raju, Mahesh Babu
Banner: AK, Sri Venkateswara, Mahesh Babu Entertainments
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Rashmika, Prakash Raj, Rajendra Prasad, Vijayashanti, etc
Music by: DSP
Cinematography: Ratnavelu
Edited by: Tammiraju
Release date: 11 January 2020

iQlikmovies Rating: 2.75/5

Mahesh Babu, after his successful venture 'Maharshi' and Anil Ravipudi after his thumping blockbuster "F2", have combined with Sarileru Neekevvaru. The project has successfully gained momentum with respect to the glory and image due to its casting and eventually the trailer. The comeback of Vijayashanti is much talked about thing in this film. The trailer has carried the shades of F2 as far as the comedy track is concerned. Let us see how entertaining and engaging is Sarileru Neekevvaru.

Story:
Ajay (Mahesh Babu) is a sincere military officer. His colleague (Satyadev) gets hurt in a military operation and lands in hospital. Knowing that his sister's marriage is on cards, Ajay comes to Kurnool to support colleague's family. He happens to meet Bharati (Vijayashanthi) there and finds she is in trouble from a local politician (Prakash Raj). He protects her. The rest of the movie is about why he had to come to meet her and his journey from Kashmir to Kurnool during which he meets his love (Rashmika). This is the main plot where all the other characters stand as peripherals.

Performances:
Mahesh Babu is known for his hilarious dialogue delivery that keeps the audience hooked to him. Though his recent previous films are a bit serious toned, he got his chance now to showcase his humor factor. To say in short he has portrayed something new this time.

Vijayashanti is good in her dignified character role. Needless to say about Prakash Raj. He did his best. Rashmika brings some laughs but she has no muscle in her character.

Technical Aspects:
The first half presents all the main characters and it's all about how Mahesh Babu and Vijayashanti come together. Most of it goes in a lively mood, though no progression in the main story. Apparently it reminds of Okkadu and Athadu in parts. The major conflict point gets established post-interval and that's between Prakash Raj and Mahesh Babu.

The second half is all about finding what the trouble is and how it is resolved. Music by DSP leaves the audience in whistles especially for "Mind Block" and "Dang Dang". But this time, the rest of the music failed to give 100% result. Cinematography is good.

Some scenes and dialogues bring boredom. There are a few lags here and there which cannot be tolerated, by the first-day audience, in the films those release with high expectations.

Plus Points:
Mahesh Babu
Interval
Casting
Story
Music

Minus Points:
Unnatural comedy in parts
Overacting characters
Weak military scenes
Weak dialogues in key scenes
Weak climax

Conclusion:
Sankranti audience is considered to be special in general, because they come with a mindset to watch full dose comedy entertainment with families. Last year F2 served as per this requirement and the result is known to everyone. There were many conclusions about that film that it couldn't have scored that degree of success had it released in non-Sankranti season. A similar conclusion may be drawn even now. Sarileru Neekevvaru is not a great film as per the content standards, but it serves the need of the season.

This is not a film that meets expectations. It's ok with some forced comedy scenes. The director could have worked better to make it something out of the box.

Final Verdict: Only for the audience with average minds