It has been quite a while since we have seen a fantasy movie and if it is handled by yesteryear director Kodi Ramakrishna, one is assured of decent success. Nagabharanam, a tri-lingual (in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil), is good visually, but the story is a huge letdown. In fact the director takes more than two hours to narrate the story with one basic plot, only to dilute it to bring in the deceased Kannada superstar Vishnu Vardhan in a graphical form to do the honours of wrapping up the story. We wonder, should should the film have been confined to the Kannada audience?
The story takes off interestingly, a Sakti Kalasam (A pot filled with powers) on display in a museum, is to be given away to the winner in a music competition. Diganth (the hero) heads a band and they want to participate in the competition. Ramya who plays Manasa, the central role meets the band and expresses her wish to be a part of their team despite not knowing to sing or dance. There is another team headed by a villain whose motive is to steal the kalasam . and in order to acquire it he kills Diganth’s friends (the band). It is time for Manasa to show her powers; we presume that as she kills one by one, she will win the music competition and the kalasam but that part of the story is taken over by Vishnu Vardhan.
As the story moves back and forth, it gets a bit tedious to keep track of the thread. Sai Kumar impresses in a brief role and Ramya does a great job but all that’s pointless when the substance is so boring and the screenplay puts you to sleep. By the end of the film, all one remembers is a gigantic repulsive serpent heading to devour us.
— Y. Sunita Chowdhary
Nagabharanam
Cast: Diganth, Ramya
Direction: Kodi Ramakrishna
Music: Guru Kiran
