Alluri review: An upcoming hero attempts a formulaic cop drama that falls flat

Young hero Sree Vishnu, who is building his career step by step in the Telugu film industry, has come up with a police drama this Friday, 23 September.

Now, the moment we think of a police drama, a typical template rolls around in our mind. We really can’t help it, because filmmakers over the years have perfected the formula for police flicks.

From Rajasekhar’s Ankusham to Ravi Teja’s Vikramarkudu, from Sai Kumar’s Police Story to Suriya’s Singam, a formulaic story with variations in narrative styles and backdrop is put forth periodically.

A director who succeeds in holding the attention of the audience with intense emotions, within these limitations, apparently succeeds. Or else, the attempt falls flat.

Let’s find out which way director Pradeep Varma’s Alluri goes, and whether Sree Vishnu impresses in the police avatar.

Alluri story and backdrop

The movie starts when Iqbal, a youth dreaming of becoming a police officer, sets out to know more about a brave and inspirational officer named Alluri Seetha Rama Raju (Sree Vishnu). He goes to the Kothavalasa police station, where Rama Raju had his first posting.

Bang starts the story of Rama Raju’s bravery and sincerity.

While he earns the love of his subordinates and people, higher officials miffed with his no-nonsense attitude transfer him to Dharakonda, a Naxal-affected police station, as punishment for his sincerity.

But Rama Raju, being an honest and brave police officer, transforms even Naxals, only to get posted in Visakhapatnam, where bigger problems await him.

His journey as an honest police officer takes him to even more places, creating many hurdles for him and his family.

How he deals with all these and what sacrifices he has to make form the crux of Alluri.

No fast narration, novelty

When it comes to story and screenplay, director Pradeep Varma, who is also the writer, came up with a pretty routine line and script. A fast-paced narration and novelty in the presentation would have helped the script click. But he has done neither.

Thus, Alluri has nothing much to offer. But to be honest, the director has succeeded in coming up with a few goosebump-inducing moments and thought-provoking scenes. It would have been better if he had carried the same intensity all through the movie.

Some scenes, in which Alluri deals with Naxalites and terrorists, appear very unrealistic, thus taking the seriousness out of a police drama.

This being a police action flick, there are multiple episodes composed by action choreographer Ram Krishna. But almost all of them appear repetitive, barring the interval fight scene, which is impressive.

Raj Thota’s cinematography is decent, but the background score is a letdown. Harshavardhan Rameshwar, who did a decent job in a couple of songs, has failed to add the required tempo and emotion in the BGM.

Editor Dharmendra Kakarala seems to have worked only for the first half of the movie, appearing to have taken a break during the second half, as the film goes on and on.

Humbled & Overwhelmed ❤️‍?#Alluri pic.twitter.com/5quixjkQ5G

— Sree Vishnu (@sreevishnuoffl) September 23, 2022

Sree Vishnu is the saving grace

Sree Vishnu is considered one of the more promising young heroes in Tollywood. He has come up with story-oriented small flicks till now. But it seems he wanted to take a stab at the mass image with a police story.

In the absence of a strong script, he is the only saving grace of Alluri. He is impressive as an honest and upright police officer.

Heroine Kayadu Lohar also looks impressive. The chemistry between Sree Vishnu and Kayadu Lohar in romantic scenes and songs is among the few positive aspects of the movie.

Alluri also has a good supporting cast, including actors like Tanikella Bharani, Suman, Madhusudhan Rao, and Raja Ravindra. All of them have done fine within the limitations of the script.

Misplaced focus makes it a routine drama

Bekkem Venugopal, who has produced small-budget flicks on the Lucky Media banner until now, made efforts to step up his production house and came up with good production values for this police action flick.

He bet on hero Sree Vishnu and director Pradeep Varma for this purpose.

However, it would have been better if the makers also focused on stepping up their efforts in the story and script departments.

It would have helped put the producer’s money to better use and also saved the audience from the trouble of going through a routine drama.