Hari Hara Veera Mallu Movie Review | Kairam Vaashi | THR India

Kairam Vaashi reviews Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 - Sword vs Spirit, the Telugu period action-adventure film starring Pawan Kalyan in the titular role. Directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and A.M. Jyothi Krishna, and produced by A. Dayakar Rao under Mega Surya Production banner with A.M. Rathnam as presenter, this film is set in 17th century Mughal Empire and follows the legendary outlaw Veera Mallu on his mission to recover the Koh-i-Noor diamond. In this detailed review for The Hollywood Reporter India, Kairam examines how the film feels like a mishmash of different genres - beginning with a Robin Hood-esque angle, transitioning into an Indiana Jones-style adventure, and evolving into a conflict centered on Dharma. She discusses how the film took over five years to reach the big screen with two directors, resulting in inevitable inconsistencies in both the making and narrative structure.

Kairam highlights the film's strong elements including Pawan Kalyan's commanding performance that suits both serious scenes and his signature humor and action, M.M. Keeravani's evocative musical score, and Thota Tharani's visually appealing set designs. However, she critiques the poor CGI and visual effects, the dated narrative feel, and underutilized supporting cast including Bobby Deol's uninspired portrayal of Aurangzeb and limited roles for Nidhhi Agerwal and others. The review covers specific sequences like the staged robbery segment and the metaphorical tornado sequence, while noting the significant contributions of dialogue writers Sai Madhav Burra and Pranava Chandra to the world-building. Kairam concludes that while the film begins with a premise that sparkles like a diamond, the final product feels more like a disjointed compilation than a fully realized cinematic creation.