Kingdom review: Vijay Deverakonda's film aims high, but settles for mediocrity

India Today

2 days ago

A film that hinges on brotherhood and a man's/woman's larger purpose in life has to get one aspect right. And, it's not the scale or the music. It's the emotion. You need to connect and resonate with the characters on-screen to feel their pain and joy. However mediocre the story might be, if the emotion connects, the film lands!Director Gowtam Tinnanuri's 'Kingdom' promised to be a story of brotherhood, a spy thriller and a lot more. Has it cracked the magic formula? Let's find out!'Kingdom' begins in the 1920s, with a tribe called Divi fighting against the British. The tribe fails in the fight with the hope that a saviour will arrive to put off their worries. 70 years later, we see Suri (Vijay Deverakonda), a constable searching for his elder brother Siva (Satyadev). Siva fled after killing their abusive father and ran away from home. His attempts to find Siva land him in a covert mission.advertisementSuri becomes a spy assigned to infiltrate a gang of smugglers in Sri Lanka, and the head of the gang is his brother Siva. As planned, the brothers reunite, and Suri becomes one of them. That's when trouble begins, for Siva and those around him. Will Siva get to know about Suri's operation? What does the flashback have to do with the two brothers? Will they join hands against a common enemy? All these and more are shown and told in 'Kingdom'.Director Gowtam Tinnanuri's 'Kingdom' has a grand vision as it attempts a story that has so many elements – all of which are separate, successful genres. It's a spy thriller, an emotional drama on brotherhood and a reincarnation drama as well. Cram all these into a two-hour-and-40-minute film and you get 'Kingdom'. Throughout the runtime, you are left with an "Oh, I've seen this somewhere" feeling. Yet, the film manages to keep you engaged throughout the first half.
Be it the establishment of who Suri really is and how much he yearns to reunite with his brother, these set up for an emotional reunion. It happens in a rain setup – one of the brilliantly shot scenes in the film. The first half sets up the stakes, even if the scenes are familiar. But it is the second half that drags the film down. While the scale of Gowtam's vision is visible, the execution falters majorly here.Post-intermission, 'Kingdom' makes Suri discover the larger purpose of life while dealing with his strained relationship with Siva. A scene where they fight doesn't evoke any emotion. Another episode which resembles the famous Red Wedding episode from 'Game of Thrones' should shake you. But you hardly feel a thing. 'Kingdom' hardly taps into your emotional psyche, and that's where it stops being a brilliant film. It settles for mediocrity instead.The jumps from one arc to another in 'Kingdom' make you travel through the film without ever connecting with the characters. For example, the initial portions involving Vijay Deverakonda and Bhagyashree Borse look strictly professional. Later in a scene, a character talks to her, saying that she has fallen in love with him. Those who followed the single launches would know this fact, and that their romantic track is edited out. These jumps and cuts rob us of the wholesome experience.advertisementThere is nothing wrong with telling a predictable story. But if the story is not complete and often jumps from one emotion to another, then you have no choice but to move with the story, sans any emotion.That said, 'Kingdom' is a film that's brilliant technically and performance-wise. Vijay Deverakonda does the heavy lifting. Though his expressions tend to get repetitive, he does his best to drag us along with him. The film's core plot lies in the brotherhood. While Deverakonda and Satyadev are perfect as brothers, their relationship looks too shallow. Their arc is so underexplored that you hardly feel happy about their reunion.Cinematographers Girish Gangadharan and Jomon T John's frames take us to Sri Lanka, and Anirudh Ravichander's music makes us revel in their world. If only the story also lived up to the expectation, 'Kingdom' would be a wholesome film.- Ends2.5 out of 5 stars for 'Kingdom'.Must Watch