Renowned Tollywood director Sukumar’s daughter Sukriti Veni makes her acting debut in Gandhi Tatha Chettu. Directed by Padmavathi Malladi, the film released in theatres today. Here’s our review to see how it fares.

Story:

Set in the village of Adluru, Telangana, the film follows Gandhi (Sukriti Veni), a young girl who learns the principles of Mahatma Gandhi from her grandfather, Ramachandraya (Ananda Chakrapani). When a minister’s spokesperson, Satish (Rag Mayur), persuades the villagers to sell their land for a chemical factory, Ramachandraya refuses, as his land holds a tree he deeply cherishes. Before passing away, he entrusts Gandhi with the task of protecting the tree at all costs. Gandhi takes on the responsibility, facing opposition from the villagers and Satish. The story revolves around whether she succeeds in saving the tree.

Plus Points:

Sukriti Veni’s performance is a standout in her debut film. She portrays the character of Gandhi with ease and authenticity, delivering a natural and heartfelt performance.

Ananda Chakrapani is also impressed by his portrayal of the loving grandfather, and his emotional scenes with Sukriti are touching. Though in a limited role, Rag Mayur performs well, and the supporting cast does a decent job in their respective roles.

The director effectively conveys the film’s core message of achieving goals through non-violence (Ahimsa Marg).

Minus Points:

The film suffers from a simplistic story and a linear screenplay that makes the narrative predictable. The second half, in particular, feels drawn out and lacks engaging moments.

The absence of twists or emotional depth weakens the overall impact. Gandhi’s efforts to save the tree, while central to the story, could have been portrayed with more intensity and better writing.

These shortcomings make the film feel slow and less captivating, especially for the audience seeking a more engaging experience.

Technical Aspects:

Director Padmavathi Malladi deserves credit for choosing a socially relevant subject for her debut. However, the film’s screenplay could have been more engaging, as the lack of twists and emotional depth diminishes its potential.

The cinematography is neat, and the sync sound is handled well, but the editing could have been sharper, particularly in the second half. The production values are okay.

Verdict:

On the whole, Gandhi Tatha Chettu is a sincere effort with a meaningful message, though it falls short in execution. Sukriti Veni’s impressive debut stands out as the film’s highlight, but its slow pacing, predictability, and lack of emotional depth detract from the experience. While the award-winning film delivers a noble message about non-violence and environmental preservation, it may not achieve commercial success but is sure to win hearts with its social message.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.75/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team 

On the day before his death in 2023, Paul Reubens, the children’s entertainer better known as Pee-wee Herman, recorded a rueful statement about being labeled a “pedophile” after his bombshell arrests on indecent exposure and obscenity charges in the 1990s and 2000s.

“More than anything, the reason I wanted to make a documentary was to let people see who I really am and how painful and difficult it was to be labeled something that I wasn’t,” he says in HBO Documentary Films’ “Pee-wee as Himself,” which premiered Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival. “The moment I heard someone label me as — I’m just going to say it — a pedophile, I knew it was going to change everything moving forward and backwards.”

Directed by Matt Wolf, the two-part docuseries delves with uncommon depth into the actor and comedian’s upbringing, rise to international fame and subsequent fall from grace, aided by its subject’s vast photo/video archive and more than 40 hours of (sometimes cagey) interviews with Reubens, who did not reveal to the filmmakers that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

In particular, “Pee-wee as Himself” reconsiders Reubens’ 1991 arrest for indecent exposure at an adult theater in Sarasota, Fla., to which he pleaded no contest, and his 2002 arrest for possession of child pornography — charges that were later dropped.

The documentary suggests that both arrests, and the tabloid coverage they inspired, stemmed from prejudice against Reubens’ homosexuality.

As seen in contemporaneous footage, the earlier incident led actors Soupy Sales and Phil Hartman to call the performer a pervert and a deviant, respectively, while CBS dropped syndication of his popular children’s program, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

The film expressly describes the latter as a “political case” brought by then City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and built on misconstruing Reubens’ collection of vintage gay erotica as child pornography: As publicist Kelly Bush Novak says in an interview in the docuseries, “This was a homophobic witch hunt.” (Reubens pleaded guilty in 2004 to a misdemeanor obscenity charge, for which he was still required to register as a sex offender for three years.)

Reubens ultimately became estranged from the project, indefinitely delaying a final interview that was intended to focus on his arrests. “The day before he died,” we learn from a title card, “he decided to record audio on his own.”

“I wanted to talk about and have some understanding of what it’s like to be labeled a pariah, to have people scared of you, or unsure of you, or untrusting, or to look at what your intentions are through some kind of filter that’s not true,” Reubens says in the recording. “I wanted people to understand that occasionally, where there is smoke, there isn’t always fire.”

Reubens made his final film appearance in a cameo in Hulu’s “Quiz Lady” in 2023.