Padesave – Movie Review

Film: Padesave
Cast: Karthik Raju, Nithya Setty, Vishwa, Ali, Raashi, Krishnudu, Kiran, Naresh, Anitha Chowdary and others
Dialogues: Kiran
Music: Anup Rubens
Cinematography: Kanna Kunapareddy
Editing: Dharmendra
Produced by: Ayaan Creations
Story, screenplay and Directed by: Chunia
Release Date: Feb 26, 2016

Story:

Karthik (Karthik Raj) and Niharika (Nithya Shetty) are childhood pals. Niharika’s is a one-sided love. Misplaced situations make her think that Karthik reciprocates her love. Karthik falls head over heels in love with Niharika’s friend Swathi (Jaheeda) who is already engaged. Swathi has some serious problem with her mother. Karthik tries to bridge the gap between the mother and the daughter.

Swathi’s closeness to Karthik makes her fiancé insecure and possessive. Even as Karthik continues to secretly love Swathi, Niharika is building castles in the air.  Swathi will have to make a choice, Niharika has to face the reality, and Karthik has to get what he wants.

Analysis

Padesave clearly is a outdated triangular love story. It comes with a dose of run-of-the-mill comedy and scenes rip-offs from Nuvve Kavali.  This is a feel-good movie with no much substance, except for the climax.

Although the story is somewhat good on paper, the script leaves much to be desired.  The director falls back on clichéd elements like a family problem resolved by the hero – an outdated type of narration.  In today’s films, love stories glide in different paths. The episode involving Krishnudu, Ali, Karthik Raj, and others is totally insipid.   

As for the main actors, Nithya Shetty with her resemblance to Colours Swathi is good.  In fact, she seems to have a greater caliber to pull of certain scenes.  On the flip side, she has no grace to be a solo heroine.  Karthik Raj has a long way to go before he can be counted as an actor. Raashi makes a dull comeback.   Jaheeda Shyam lacks starry charm. 

But the lead actors do a good job in the climax of the film.  The dialogues are impressive in these portions. Anup Rubens does a good job with a couple of songs.  The other technical departments hardly pass muster, barring the art director’s junk art.  

The director Chunia, who has worked for K Raghavendra Rao and Annapurna Studios’ productions for long time, has written a script that is so old-fashioned. Her narration is even worse.

Bottom-line: Padesave is an outdated story told with insipid narration.

Rating: 1.75/5

Reviewed by Vishwanath