Harsha Chemudu, known for his comic roles, transitions to a leading hero role in “Sundaram Master.” The actor portrays the central char acter in the movie, set in a fictional village called Miryala Metta, located near Paderu in Andhra Pradesh. The village is located within a tribal agency that, as depicted in the film, has been isolated from the rest of India since the 1930s or 1940s.
The villagers remained isolated in their own territory, refraining from venturing beyond their hill region or engaging with the outside world. The villagers, who acquired the English language during the British colonial rule, are requesting the local government to provide a teacher to help them learn writing skills. Therefore, our protagonist Sundaram, portrayed by Harsha Chemudu, enters the scene.
Sundaram, a government teacher, agrees to go to this remote tribal village after the local MLA assigned him “unofficial” tasks with the expectation of receiving a promotion to District Education Officer (DEO). He believes that becoming the DEO will result in receiving a bigger dowry. The MLA (Harsha Vardhan) suspects that villagers are safeguarding a valuable item from outsiders and tasks Sundaram with investigating under the guise of teaching the villagers writing.
Thus, the story and drama begin. In the village, Sundaram encounters women who consider him as the most handsome because his dark complexion. The villagers, who hate white men as the British did atrocities on their ancestors, have affinity to dark-skinned people. We get some comedy sequences like these kind of situations with Harsha encountering strange ways of these villagers.
Some of these comedy scenes are reminiscent of the old Hollywood film “Gods Must Be Crazy.” Some scenes, particularly the way the villagers spell certain English words, are quite hilarious. The initial setup and the sequences are fairly entertaining and engaging. But as the proceedings progress, the overall situation appears pretentious and monotonous.
Furthermore, the story lacks logic.
Harsha Chemudu, in his first lead role, does neatly. He understands his role well and manages to keep us interested for the most part. His performance is also convincing. Divya Sripada gets an underwritten role.
The technicians have done what is required. The new director uses this story to demonstrate that tribal people are more in tune with nature and teach us more than we do them. The intention is good, but his narrative abilities are limited.
Bottom line: Despite its good intentions and a few amusing moments, “Sundaram Master” quickly loses steam and becomes superficial.
Rating: 2/5
Film: Sundaram Master
Cast: Harsha Chemudu, Divya Sripada, Harshavardhan and others.
Music: Sri Charan Pakala
DOP: Deepak Yaragera
Editor: Karthik Vunnava
Art Director: Chandra Mouli Eathalapaka
Producers: Ravi Teja, Sudheer Kumar Kurra
Director: Kalyan Santhosh
Release Date: Feb 23, 2024
