Starring: Sudheer Babu, Aanandhi, Satyam Rajesh, Rao Ramesh and Others
Producer: Vijay Chilla & Shashi Devireddy
Director: Karuna Kumar
D.O.P: Shamdat Sainudeen
Music Director: Mani Sharma
Editor: Sreekar Prasad

iQlikmovies Rating: 2.75/5

Actor Sudheer Babu took the risky decision of releasing his new film Sridevi Soda Center amidst the COVID-19 crisis. Directed by Karuna Kumar, this movie features Aanandhi as the female lead. Amidst decent expectations, this flick had hit the screens today. Here is the review of it.

Story:
Suri Babu (Sudheer Babu), who is fondly called Lighting Suri Babu, is a prominent electrician in his village. He aspires to start his own business too. Meanwhile, he falls in love with Sridevi (Aanandhi) who runs a soda center along with her father (Naresh). Sridevi's father who has caste feelings doesn't approve of her love. On the flip side, Suri Babu gets trapped in a murder case and locks horns with a wealthy villager Kasi (Pavel Navageethan). How all these factors affected the lead pair's love story forms the main crux of the movie.

Performances:
Sudheer Babu chose a different subject from what we usually see in other films. He worked a lot to get the dialect and mannerisms right. He should be commended for his efforts. It is good to see him choosing versatile roles for the last few years.

Aanandhi proved her talent in the Tamil film industry and she does this role with ease. Naresh's performance was decent. Pavel got an author-backed role and he did it well. Rest others like Satyam Rajesh, Ajay and Raghu are usual.

Technical Aspects:
Director Karuna Kumar chose a social drama just like his first film Palasa. But rather affecting us, the movie remains a usual affair. Indulging a lot of commercial elements spoiled the mood of the film. The director should've been chosen an intense narration than a cliched one.

The cinematography is good and brought out the rural elements well. The art department has done a good job too. Music by Mani Sharma is alright. The background score worked well in some scenes. The editing is not as expected as the movie is too lengthy.

Review:
Sridevi Soda Center is a social drama that deals with an inter-caste love story. We have seen these kinds of films in the past but not in recent times. Though director Karuna Kumar should be appreciated for bringing up this story, he fails in executing it in an engaging manner. Barring the final twist, the rest of the movie is very commercial and routine. It has to be seen if the Telugu audiences can digest the dark twist in the end. Even the comedy scenes look forced. The first half is routine and the second half is routine to the core. On the whole, Sridevi Soda Center hardly impresses us.

Plus Points:
The acting of Aanandhi and Pavel
Twist in the end

Minus Points:
Routine narration
Dragged runtime
Slow-paced proceedings

Final Verdict: No-fizz in the soda bottle