'Harom Hara' stars Sudheer Babu in the lead. Right from the start, the makers have projected it as the unleashing of the 'mass sambhavam' of the otherwise classy actor. Produced by Sumanth G Naidu, the film is a period action thriller.
Plot:
The story takes place in the late 1980s or so. Sudheer Babu portrays Subramaniam, an unheralded man who joins forces with a low-key constable named Palani Saami (Sunil). Subramaniam becomes a skilled weapons manufacturer to deal with his father's debt trap. The rise of Subramaniam from a non-entity to a hegemon is threatened by a roster of rivals and a detective-like cop. Can he save his skin?
Performances:
In Sudheer Babu's career, only a few films were genuinely unconventional. Things went wrong with 'Sridevi Soda Centre' even though it was mainstream. With 'Harom Hara', he tries to go beyond the conventions. He is ably backed by Sunil's elevations.
While she plays an archetypal cop, Akshara Gowda is primarily failed by the lifeless character she gets to essay. Ravi Kale and others are routine.
Technical Departments:
1. Background Score: It is Chaitan Bharadwaj all the way.
2. Cinematography: Arvind Viswanathan nails it.
3. Editing: Raviteja Girijala's skill didn't have much chance to be showcased.
4. Art Direction: A Ramanjaneyulu's work is helped by the right choice of locations.
Merits:
1. The stunt choreography.
2. The premise of showing the protagonist as a gunsmith.
Demerits:
1. Routine template. Not just the trajectory of the story but also the action scenes have a hackneyed template.
2. The divine element has been deployed with ordinariness.
3. The local dialect doesn't feel natural. It is not distracting or inauthentic but seems overdone. At least two major characters should have spoken in a neutral slang.
4. Poor characterizations.
5. Weak world-building. Just making a period film doesn't ensure that there is "world-building".
6. The influence of films like 'Vikram' is an undercurrent. That of 'Pushpa: The Rise' is overt.
Vox Verdict
The stunning, luck-driven rise of a cinematic underdog is an underwhelming idea in itself. 'Harom Hara', by resorting to stale ideas and vague characterizations, only dampens the inherent potential of the storyline.
