Story/Premise

Chaitanya aka Bobby (Vijay Deverakonda) and Aparna Devi aka Lilly (Rashmika Mandanna) are childhood friends who reunite after some gap. Lilly is passionate about cricket, which Bobby discovers slowly. But Lilly’s dream ends in the middle due to an unexpected event. How Bobby rekindles the fire in Lilly towards cricket and stands by her in achieving her goal?

Review

Dear Comrade is genuinely a film where both the lead actors have similar footage. But, Vijay Deverakonda is still the hero, and he is in charge of the proceedings. He is in a comfortable and familiar zone as an actor. We have seen him do all the variations previously. There is no surprise with his act, including the intensity, and emotional scenes which are on predictable lines. Having said that, there is nothing bad either, to criticise or pull him down. It is a regular act, and Vijay Deverakonda goes about it clinically without any complaints. Rashmika Mandanna, on the other hand, gets a role with a neat character arc. It is the lifeline of the movie. The entire narrative rests on her act, and she gives her best. Still, one can feel that something is missing. Again, there is nothing she does to weaken the proceedings. But at the same time, Rashmika doesn’t lift it either. 

Bharat Kamma, a short film director, makes a full-fledged movie, the subject of Dear Comrade is straight-up his alley which deals more with human emotions rather than present any big twists or turns. Dear Comrade is a journey of two characters together where one helps the other in overcoming their fears and achieving the goals. Right from the beginning, the attempt is to create small, realistic, memorable moments that linger with the viewers. It is not the story, but these ‘moments’ which has to work for the narrative to take its effect. Unfortunately, the ‘magic of moments’ never happens barring a few random sequences. The effort is there, but the result lacks the intended effect. The writing is plain-Jane, and scenes itself lack the bite despite the visible sincerity. The predictability of the narrative has to be broken by either one of the elements (writing or freshly conceived scenes), but that never happens. The same weaknesses are covered when it’s a song. Here the music combined with the montages does the trick in making one forget the routineness of the whole exercise, albeit briefly. After going through the first half patiently, one hopes for some twist and engaging drama in the second half. The initial few sequences raise our expectations too, but they are cut short, and we get back to a routine. The idea behind a “Comrade” is alright, but the narrative is dull and lacks the bite to make a firm impression. The way the turnaround is shown in the end comes across as silly. After all the effort done to build the character and world slowly, the way the climax is done makes it look rushed (the way Cricket board quickly takes sides).

 In the end, Dear Comrade is a sincerely made work that is devoid of any surprises. The characters too tread a predictable path making the narrative dull. It is a one-time watch if like the chemistry of lead pair and you have nothing else to do in the weekend.