The Paradise — Review

It is set in 1980s Secunderabad. A tribe called the Savaari live with no papers and no legal standing, under a ruler named Shikanja Malik. Nani plays Jadal, the man who rises against him.

That premise is worth a film. What arrives instead is a standard revenge story with the setting painted on. 123telugu called it a routine mass action drama. Gulte was blunter: the screenplay has no real shape, and almost every scene is pitched like a climax, so nothing builds.

The ending drew particular criticism. Gulte pointed out that the villain effectively removes himself rather than being beaten, which takes the weight out of the whole confrontation the film has spent three hours setting up.

This is the same director and star as Dasara, which is why expectations were high. Dasara worked because it stayed close to one village and one set of people. This one keeps pulling away to something bigger.

India Today put it as Nani being a saviour in a film that refuses to be saved. NDTV said the violence is so relentless it sucks the air out of the picture. Both are describing the same problem: the film is louder than it is moving.

There is also a rushed feel to the finishing. More than one reviewer noticed rough sound mixing and hard, abrupt cuts between scenes, which is unusual on a film this size.

Nani changed his body for this and throws himself at it completely. Every review credits that, including the ones that disliked the film most. In the heavier scenes he is genuinely good.

Two notes of caution on him, though. Gulte found his Telangana accent slipped in places, and some of his dialogue rushed and hard to catch.

The rest of the cast is the real waste. Mohan Babu has the presence for a villain but is given very little to say. Sonali Kulkarni is good and her big emotional scenes still fall flat, because the writing has not earned them. Raghav Juyal is badly underused. 123telugu put it simply: apart from Nani, nobody registers.

Ch Sai shoots it well and the money is clearly on the screen. The 1980s setting is built properly rather than suggested, and the fight sequences are staged with real care.

Reviewers who disliked everything else still said the craft and production values were solid. If you do go, this is the part that rewards a big screen.

The editing is the weaker half of the technical side. At 174 minutes it is long, and several critics said the joins between scenes are abrupt rather than smooth.

Anirudh Ravichander wrote the songs, and two of them land — Aaya Sher and Yeshanagula. Both were already popular before release.

The background score is the complaint. Gulte called it too loud and below his usual standard. In a film already accused of being relentless, a score that never lets up makes it harder, not easier, to stay with.

The advance booking was strong — over ₹23 crore gross before release, on Nani's name and the Dasara connection. So the opening weekend numbers will look healthy whatever anyone thinks of it.

Reaction since has divided along a clear line. People who wanted a mass action film have largely had a good time. People who expected another Dasara have not.

Early audience scores have sat below the halfway mark, which matches the critics more closely than a film with this opening usually does.