Sing Geetham, produced by Nag Ashwin, was released in theatres today. In this section, we are going to review the latest BO release.
Plot:
Prathap (played by Ayaan K) travels to a village named Kuberapuram in search of his father's property, only to find that the village has been turned into a barren mining area with just a tree left standing. Upon learning that his father owns a share in the Kubera Gold Mines, he approaches Renu (played by Shalini Kondepudi), the promoter of the mining company, to claim his rightful share. However, he discovers that she is planning to sell the mine to a greedy foreigner (Agu Stanley Chiedozie). Prathap now decides to involve himself in that deal as well.
Meanwhile, due to the persistent efforts of an innocent village belle named Gauri (played by Ahilya Bamroo), the entire village falls under a curse.
Post-Mortem:
If you watch this movie without knowing that the legendary Singeetam Srinivasa Rao directed it, and were told instead that it was made by Gunnam Gangaraju or SV Krishna Reddy, the themes, the musical premise, and the treatment in Sing Geetham would start to feel extremely banal and/or convenient. What kind of curse results in aesthetic vocals? What kind of existential conflict is resolved by a simple-minded narrative grounded in a fable-like supernatural fantasy element?
The film could have been angry but it chooses to be almost feel-good. The affected party doesn't question the system. Instead, they question a deity. Perfectly Indian. A legend in his own right, Singeetam, at 94, doesn't give the Gen Z a peek into what we can do collectively to make amends. Sing Geetham is sentimental at best. In the age of viral videos exposing the tone-deaf system day in and day out, even those born decades before Independence don't want to be moral guides.
A melodramatic track revolves around Gauri's favourite tree, which is more than a friend for her. The moment this element is introduced alongside that of a mining project steered by a caricaturish tycoon, you know the beats of the story broadly. Accidents take place. A mentally unstable woman is a link between a past tragedy and the turbulent present. A pregnant lady is deployed. The villagers exhibit herd mentality, for good or for worse.
The musical conversations lose their novel quality after the first stretch. From then on, Devi Sri Prasad opts for the low-hanging fruit, making the soundscape acquire the simplicity of a children's film set to tune by a Kalyan Malik or a television-appropriate score. The second half is largely tedious, with the musical conversations getting increasingly low-effort. A flashback begins and even it has a background song.
The film is so full of itself, getting pretentious about its supposed genius. The characters don't try to find alternatives to minimize the singing. That would have been excusable had they not come in rigid binaries. Most of the villagers are written broadly with no inner life. Many are there just for reaction shots.
One good feature is that most of the artists have done exceedingly well. It's likely that their dialogue delivery was tutored by Nag Ashwin himself. Tulasi, Banerjee, Sivanarayana, Racha Ravi and Vamshidhar Kosgi are seen in different roles. Anukur C's cinematography is decent.
Closing Remarks:
Despite an ambitious, fable-like musical concept and solid performances from the cast, Sing Geetham loses its rhythm. Director Singeetam Sreenivasa Rao opts for a soft, melodramatic narrative rather than exploring the subversive potential of its premise.
