Tagline: The 'wall' has a weak foundation

Plot:

The story unfolds in Godavarikhani with Striker batch comprising Tippu, Venu, Nagaraju, Gnaneshwar. All they do is chit chat by sitting on the wall around the street corner. Then they go to their homes late in the night. This is their daily routine. The leader of this batch is Tippu (Vishwadev Rachakonda). He falls in love with a new resident Divya (Punarnavi). Divya echoes the same and likes Tippu. Amid all this Striker batch wants to change the perception of the people in the town by indulging in some activity. Then the idea of a cricket tournament flashes in their mind and they plan to organize that at mandal level to get some media coverage as well. They make all the arrangements for the tournament, but won't get the police permission. So they approach a local leader and he gets them police permission. As a token of gratitude, they include the name of Dinesh (suggested by the leader) in the tournament. This sends shock waves to Divya. Tippu quickly realizes that there's some harrowing past between Dinesh and Divya and tries to unearth the same. After few starting revelations, he stops the tournament. This leads to a police case as people complain about them. As a result, the name of Strikers team is shown in a negative light in the paper. This adds a twist to the tale. What's the relation between Dinesh and Divya. What did Strikers do to gain reputation. What happened to the love story between Tippu and Divya forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Raavi Shastry’s grandson Vishwa Dev Rachakonda makes a debut in this film. He looks apt and lives the character. As the whole movie runs on one emotion, there is no ample scope to show variations in his acting. Though Punarnavi does the female lead, she is restricted to a supporting role. The characters of Nagaraju, Gnaneshwar, Build up Raju are reminiscent of those from Happy Days. Everyone is a fresh face including the villain, so it's difficult to establish a connect with the actors. ‌

Analysis:

Pittagoda is not a simple story. It has a lot of twists and turns. The story may look impressive on paper but the way it’s executed leaves so many blank spaces. The movie takes off well with doses of friendship and love. You hope of getting a fresh offering. The character introductions are spot on. Divya’s entry and the cricket tournament episodes amp up the curiosity factor. However, all this dazzle meanders in the due course. The director didn't venture beyond these characters and couldn't offer novel layers. This resulted in forceful plugins such as Divya’s flashback and fake currency episodes.

That prompted him to run the entire film on one emotion. As the film slips into many genres of love, friendship and crime, the director struggles to keep things cohesive. He couldn't do justice to all the emotions. How can childhood friends part ways for such a flimsy outcome. Even if they have parted that scene has to be more impactful and emotional. There is nothing in the way these scenes unfold on screen.

It’s quite common to cancel cricket tournaments in villages and towns and, in this film, that issue is blown out of proportion. This is not a crime of a big magnitude. Things become too silly when media and police go gaga about it. Coming to the love story, why should the heroine love the hero? Just because he supplied tea and coffee to those who cleaned her house? Even the conclusion is not convincing. It is like a sudden rush. When the characters talk about old 500 and 1000 rupee notes, in another scene, nabbing the gang indulging in counterfeit currency seems too far-fetched.

Technical Analysis:

After a long hiatus, Pranam Kamalakar scored music for this film. He brings a similar flavor to this film. The background music is impressive. Cinematography is adequate for the story. The dialogue is stereotypical. One dialogue is with Telangana accent and the other comes in East Godavari accent. May be this  created a confusion for the dialogue writer. One appreciable part is there is no vulgarity in dialogue. The pace of the film drops after 30 minutes into the narration. The defining moments and high points are not handled properly. This clearly shows the inexperience of the director. 

Verdict

Pittagoda is laughs sans logic. There is no novelty in the plot or storytelling. If you can invest time and money on a film that craves for pace, you can go for it.