Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Cinemas and IVY Entertainment’s The Paradise (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; A) is an action film. Jadal (Nani) belongs to the backward and oppressed Savari tribe which is not even recognised by the government, thanks to the machinations of the local bigwigs for whom the community members have been working as slaves since ages. Jadal grows up hating his mother, Samakka (Sonali Kulkarni), because he had gotten to know in his childhood about an action of his mother which did not sit well with him. Anyway, after spending several years in jail, Jadal decides to fight for the rights of his community and get it an identity of its own. This means, he has to revolt against the powerful Shikanja Malik (Mohan Babu) and his son, Vikram (Raghav Juyal). How he achieves the almost impossible mission is what the film is all about. What happens to the strained relationship between Jadal and his mother?
Srikanth Odela has written a routine story which may find favour with the Telugu film-going audience but will not appeal much to the Hindi film-going viewers. The main track of the story — of slaves thirsting for dignity — will not find favour with the audience as it appears too dated. Also, the screenplay, penned by Srikanth Odela, is so long-drawn that it tests the audience’s patience. The entire drama is dominated by so much and such graphic gruesome violence that the viewers feel repulsed after a point of time. The screenplay unfolds without making the audience feel like they are a part of the drama. The animosity between Jadal and his mother has been stretched for too long and gets repetitive each time the simmering differences between them come to the fore. Individual scenes are so lengthy that they often test the viewers’ patience and also dilute their impact. The climax is so long-drawn that it gets on the audience’s nerves. The second half is also boring. Frankly, all the characters in the film are so over-the-top that the drama looks like it is a showcase for mental men and hysterical women. Dialogues (by Niti Mathur, Sujana Namudri, Jeet Dutta and Rajendra Sapre) are routine.
Nani lives the role of Jadal. He breathes fire into the character and acts with effortless ease in the dramatic, melodramatic and other scenes. His dance moves are terrific. Kayadu Lohar is natural as Subbu, but she gets very limited scope to perform. Mohan Babu is just about fair in the role of Shikanja Malik. Sonali Kulkarni performs ably as Samakka, but she does go overboard in some scenes. Raghav Juyal doesn’t impress much as the eccentric Vikram Malik. Sampoornesh Babu has his moments as Jadal’s friend, Biryani. Easwari Rao is natural as Samakka’s friend. Tanikella Bharanai is okay as Shikanja Malik’s deputy, Metta. Vishika is good in the role of Biryani’s wife, Devi. Krishna Teja acts ably as the district collector. Priyadarshi Pulikonda is ordinary as MLA Shankar Rao. Keerthy Suresh appeals in a cameo appearance in an item song-dance. Raja Ravindra (as police SI), Ashok Kumar (as the doctor), Geetha Bhascker (as the school teacher), P. Vijay Kumar (as N.T. Rama Rao), Sathyaraj, Satya Prakash, Ram Jagan, M.S. Chowdary, and the rest lend average support.
Srikanth Odela’s direction appears dated, at least for the Hindi film-going audience. Anirudh Ravichander’s music is nice. Of course, the songs are not popular in Hindi but they are, nevertheless, well-tuned. Lyrics (Ritesh G. Rao, Raqueeb Alam, Heisenberg) are okay. Song picturisations (by Brinda Master, Sudhan and Aata Sandeep) are very eye-filling. Anirudh Ravichander’s background music is very nice. CH Sai’s cinematography is excellent. Action and stunt scenes (by Ram-Lakshman, Real Sathish, Maibam Nabakanta and Simhadri) are too violent and gruesome, and will appeal only to front-benchers while putting off the womenfolk and family audience. Avinash Kolla’s production designing and Murali Kondeti’s art direction is of a nice standard. Navin Nooli’s editing ought to have been sharper. Dubbing is good.
On the whole, The Paradise only has initial value because of the action theme. Otherwise, it is too routine and too violent and will, therefore, not appeal to the Hindi film-going audience.
Released on 24-9-’26 at Maratha Mandir (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: so-so. Opening: quite alright. …….Also released all over. Opening was fairly nice. The original Telugu version, released simultaneously, took a better opening.