Pareshan review: A madcap village story with the right dose of humour

Like any other region, Telangana’s coal belt Mancherial has distinctive slang and culture which aren’t properly explored in mainstream cinema.

Although Nani’s Dasara’partly mirrored the lives of the Singareni region, Rupak Ronaldson’s Pareshan (Troubled) depicts the village lifestyle marked with simplicity and fervour while bringing the native Telangana’s flavour to the fore.

Synopsis

Coal miner Samarpan (Muralidhar Goud) wishes to retire and pass on his job to his son Issac (Thiruveer). He would want to lead the latter part of his life spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Issac is an ITI dropout and wayward who likes to hang out with his bunch of good-for-nothing friends in the by-lanes of the sleepy town of Mancherial.

“Daawat” (feast) with friends is an everyday affair for him. And getting an earful from his father, too, is a daily routine. But he gives his heart out for friendship.

Troubles start pounding him one by one after he falls for a village girl Sirisha (Pavani Karanam), a Hindu. He then gets duped by his friends.

Issac gets sandwiched from all sides. Will he ever make it what his father wished him to become? — is the crux of the story.

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Rural Telangana in its true sense

There is always a hidden beauty in presenting the clumsy-laidback lifestyle of the Singareni region on the screen.

When whacky comedy is added, the story only gets better. Director Rupak Ronaldson, who grew up in this milieu, perfectly portrayed the lifestyle, the culture and the people of this part of the Telangana region.

The characters are so natural that people would instantly relate to them — like Aagam Satthi (Arjun Krishna) who gets frightened following the death of his grandfather. But there is a sense of innocence and desperation as he seeks help from his friends.

At the same time, he becomes a laughing stock for the way he keeps asking “Sanna pinnu charger” (small-pin mobile charger) from every stranger he meets.

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Another hilarious character in the line is Jeevan Kumar, a church pastor. Samarpan wants his son Issac to get trained by him.

Tiger Seenu is the one who projects himself to be the group leader/village head. But he’s dead scared when it comes to resolving the fights and petty issues concerning the youth.

There’s another character who evokes laughter just with his name — Maidhaku. People coin him the name when he fell into the compost pit full of Mehendi leaves.

Well, there’s “RGV” in the film. Played by Budderakhan Ravi, RGV is a local barber who abandons his works midway and gets immersed in watching his icon Ram Gopal Varma on his mobile.

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Top-notch performances

The performances in Pareshan are so realistic that you get submerged in the story.

Thiruveer has scored consecutive hits with his last outing Masooda (2022). With Pareshan, he is likely to win accolades.

Other characters like Pasha (Bunny Abhiran) and Sujatha (Shruthi Raayan) are impressive.

Muralidhar Goud plays a serious yet vexed father who keeps chiding his son Issac for his behaviour. His punches in the combination sequences with Thiruveer are pure fun to watch.

Actor Raju Bedigala’s supporting character in the film is a rib-tickling one. A YouTube sensation in the Telangana region, Raju puts up a good performance with his natural acting and mannerism of a typical Mancherial youngster.

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Technical crafts

The camera work from Vasu Pendem is convincingly good. The countryside beauty of the Singareni region — Ramarkrishnapur, Godhavarikhani, and Naspur — is well depicted in the film.

Songs run on the village theme are another attraction.

“Musi Musi Navvula Oo Manjula…”, “Sau Saa…” and “Athara Buthara…” showcase the craziness and quirkiness of village characters in Pareshan.

Director Rupak Ronaldson has steered the ship well with the right dose of humour, although there is not much story in it.

Verdict

The craziness and the quirkiness in the characters make Pareshan hilarious to watch.

(Views expressed are personal.)