George Reddy review: A heroic tale led down by lacklustre treatment

The role of Micheal, played by Surya in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva (2004), was loosely based on George Reddy and continues to be a favourite character of many. The announcement of a biopic on George Reddy piqued interest with several film lovers wanting to know the charismatic leader’s life story. A riveting trailer, comprising of great background score and impressive visuals, created hopes of a film that would justify George Reddy’s incredible story. Does the film succeed in meeting the expectations? Here’s the review of George Reddy.

George Reddy review:

The much-awaited biopic of George Reddy hit the screens on Friday. Directed by B Jeevan Reddy, the film features Sandeep Madhav, Satyadev, Muskaan Khubchandani, and essays the life story of a revolutionary student leader from Osmania University during the 1960s.

All that the intense, dramatic life story of George Reddy needed was a decent screenplay, to turn it into a compelling watch on the silver screen. However, that is exactly where the film fails to deliver. Despite being based on an inspiring theme, George Reddy sadly ends up as a mere collection of random scenes, similar to the cases of other recent biopics like NTR and Thackrey.

The film begins really well and promises a special show in the store. The experience though soon goes pear-shaped as the sparks fade away after the first few minutes. While you’re left with a neutral feeling at the stroke of the interval, your patience is left exhausted by the end of the film.

One can’t help the feeling that the film was planned and shot spontaneously, without much prep. Most of the characters sport confusing reactions and are born out of incomplete arcs. In fact, several characters in the film just come and go and you never really know the purpose of their role.

The true lifelines of George Reddy are the background music by Suresh Bobbili, cinematography by Sudhakar Reddy and its main man Sandeep Madhav. The actor, who had previously impressed in Vangaveeti, delivers his best and shines in some scenes. Action episodes deserve a special mention too as the choreography for a couple of fights was done brilliantly. The remaining aspects of the film though fall flat.

George Reddy, on the whole, can be summed up as an extremely good story that is handled by an inexperienced director but an expert technical crew.

Positives: Story, visuals, background music, a couple of action sequences

Negatives: Female lead, screenplay, too many unnecessary characters, and conflicts.

Review by Halfday