Directed by: Prabhu Solomon
Written by: Prabhu Solomon
Dialogue by: Vanamali (Telugu)
Starring: Rana Daggubati, Vishnu Vishal, Pulkit Samrat, Zoya Hussain, and others
Music by: Shantanu Moitra
Cinematography: A. R. Ashok Kumar
Edited by: Bhuvan Srinivasan
Production Company: Eros International
Distributed by: Eros International
Release date: 26 March 2021 (Tamil and Telugu)

iQlikmovies Rating: 2.75/5

Rana Daggubati put his heart and soul into the film Aranya. He spent more than three years on this film and stated it is one of the few movies that are close to his heart. Amid good expectations, Aranya has hit the screens today. Here is the review of it.

Story:
Aranya is like the many other nature vs corporate firms-based films we have seen in the past. Narendra Bhupati (Rana Daggubati) lives in a forest and looks after elephants. The President of India gives him the title, Forest Man.

People around him fondly call Narendra as Aranya. Meanwhile, the focus of the Forest Department's Minister (Ananth Mahadevan) shifts to the region of Aranya. He plans to build a township there. How Aranya fought against the minister and saved the wildlife forms the major crux of the film.

Performances:
Rana completely owned the character and lived in it. He should be commended for playing such an off-beat role with so much conviction. His dialogue delivery and mannerisms are some of the major highlights of the movie.

Tamil actor Vishnu Vishal gave a good performance but his character just vanishes in the second half. His love track with Zoya is decent but there is no proper conclusion to it. Shriya Pilgaonkar played the role of a journalist and she did her best.

The rest of the actors like Raghu Babu and Ananth Mahadevan have done justice to their roles.

Technical aspects:
Director Prabhu Solomon's story is something that is not new to Indian audiences. However, he dealt with the concept of nature vs corporates in a deeper way. His intentions behind the story are very genuine and the topics he chose are still relevant even now. But it is the narration that takes a back seat in the film. There should be highly engaging narration for common stories like these.

However, the director fails to make it an engaging affair. Moreover, most of the topics and tracks in the film are left without any proper conclusion. The dialogues are very good and thought-provoking.

The visuals are striking and world-class. You will immerse yourself in nature once the film gets started. The sound design by Resul Pookutty is excellent. He has done an extraordinary job. Shantanu Moitra's music is good. The production values are great.

Review:
Prabhu Solomon had a novel idea behind making this film. He gave an important message of conserving our forests and wildlife in these times of industrialization. However, the narration could have been better. The lengthy runtime often makes us bored and the viewers get disconnected from the story. The director also missed a lot of logic in the intention of delivering the message. If an engaging narration has accompanied this story, it would have been a spectacle. You can watch Aranya in theatres only for its visuals and sound design.

Plus Points:
Rana's performance
Sound Design
Visuals
Storyline

Minus Points:
Weak Execution
Narration
Screenplay

Final Verdict: Aranya is a boring film with a good message