It’s a state of affairs straight out of the wildest goals, or nightmares. A complete village, wearing festive finery, gathers round a specifically constructed stage. There’s anticipation within the air, a celebratory temper. However the grasp of ceremonies (Vishnu Oi), a person summoned from a neighbouring city, is left surprised when he learns the aim of the occasion: a fortunate draw to find out who will win slots within the village burial floor, now perilously near operating out of house.
Director Ani IV Sasi, who beforehand helmed the offbeat Telugu romance Ninnila Ninnila, returns with Uppu Kapurambu — a madcap satire that takes on the politics of loss of life, land, and legacy. Screenwriter Vasanth Maringanti weaves in layered subtexts touching upon gender, caste, cash, and energy, exposing the absurdity of combating over land meant for one’s last relaxation.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, this eccentric comedy will get a significant enhance from a solid that features Keerthy Suresh, Suhas, and veterans Babu Mohan and Talluri Rameswari.
Set within the fictional village of Chitti Jayapuram in Nineties undivided Andhra Pradesh, the movie creates a universe that feels each outlandish and uncannily plausible. The absurdity is deliberate, however the consideration to element — be it in Sri Nagendra Tangala’s manufacturing design, Poojita Tadikonda’s pitch-perfect costumes, or Divakar Mani’s earthy cinematography — grounds the story in a really actual milieu. Sweekar Agasthi’s music, too, hits the fitting notes, including whimsy with out overplaying its hand.
Uppu Kapurambu (Telugu)
Director: Ani IV Sasi
Solid: Keerthy Suresh, Suhas, Babu Mohan
Run time: 134 minutes
Story: As a village burial floor almost runs out of house triggering a combat for slots, the brand new feminine village head has to seek out options
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video
It takes some time to settle into the movie’s farcical, morbid tone. One early scene units the stage following the loss of life of a village head — his burial turns into much less a solemn event and extra a social gathering, full with idle gossip, performative weeping and irreverent humour. His daughter, Apoorva (Keerthy Suresh), is reluctantly thrust into the highlight because the inheritor to the submit — a task handed down by means of generations.
Issues spiral when Chinna (Suhas), the caretaker of the village graveyard, discovers that burial house is quickly operating out. This easy logistical situation triggers a snowballing disaster of energy, privilege, and pettiness. Apoorva, woefully inexperienced, fumbles by means of her newfound obligations. Her bungled makes an attempt at diplomacy are laced with biting satire, significantly in a scene the place she tries to deflect scrutiny by mentioning the Iran conflict and tomato costs in the identical breath.
Babu Mohan as a well-off, aged aspirant for her place, and Shatru as a fiery younger challenger, embody the absurd politicking that underpins this death-centric story. Sasi and Maringanti craft a village that thrives on absurdity over logic, however after a degree, the humour turns laboured. The whimsy that begins off recent begins to really feel overly exaggerated and even cartoonish in tone.
Amid the chaos, it’s Chinna and his mom (performed by a grounded Talluri Rameswari) who emerge because the movie’s conscience. Years of working because the graveyard’s caretakers has given them the knowledge about loss of life being the nice equaliser, or is it? In spite of everything, the elite nonetheless handle to safe premium burial plots and ornate headstones.
Because the movie sprawls into a number of subplots, Uppu Kapurambu loses a few of its sharpness. The two-hour-14-minute runtime begins to tug, weighed down by gags and a wavering tone.
Nonetheless, the narrative regains some traction in its last act. The movie ends on a poignant be aware, reflecting on how standing and satisfaction, typically derived from energy and wealth, can show futile within the face of mortality. Apoorva’s evolution right into a village chief is conceptually compelling, however her arc lacks emotional heft. Keerthy Suresh provides it her greatest, but the comedic beats written for her character hardly ever land. It’s solely within the last scenes, when she muses on the symbolism of the movie’s title, that she finds her footing.
Suhas, ever reliable, brings nuance and relatability to Chinna. His efficiency, understated but efficient, carries the emotional weight that the movie typically fumbles elsewhere.
Uppu Kapurambu has an intriguing premise and flashes of brilliance, however its inconsistent execution stops it from changing into a really memorable satire.
(The movie is streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
Printed – July 04, 2025 07:17 am IST