Five Most Under-Rated Movies

Year 2018 has seen under-rated movies in good measure. We review five movies that should have made excellent moolah at the box-office but didn't. They didn't receive the sort of critical acclaim they deserved. Two of them are pucca mainstream movies, one of them is a woman-centric one, another was offbeat, and the last a youthful entertainer.

Chinna Babu

This dubbed version of the Tamil movie 'Kadaikutty Singham' was directed by Pandiraj. A true-blue family drama, it was a combination of both heavy scenes and moments that were a laugh riot. It was an enjoyable family entertainer that avoided routine scenes. The conversations between the very many characters were realistic and cinematic at once. The scenes were both cinematic and organic. Karthi and 'Kattappa' Sathyaraj delivered superb performances.

Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi

'Pelli Choopulu' director Tharun Bhascker told a bromantic comedy with nuanced scenes and sublime situations. Abhinav Gomatam, Sai Sushanth Reddy, Vishwaksen Naidu and Venkatesh Kakamanu were apt. Abhinav as a comedy actor will hopefully get the right kind of roles. Niketh Bommireddy's cinematography and Vivek Sagar's music were classy. This was a grossly under-rated movie which the audience too should have lapped up in a big way.

Manu

Directed by Phanindra Narsetti, this film didn't get its due and was unabashedly panned by critics only because it was far ahead of its times. Lingering despair, surrealism, genre-bending narration, possibly a spiritual thriller too, 'Manu' had able performances by Chandini Chowdary and Raja Gowtham. Naresh Kumaran's haunting background score and excellent visuals (cinematography by Vishwanath Reddy) have unfortunately gone down as unsung works. A 3-hour-long film, it was a made of a different material altogether.

Kartavyam

Starring Nayanthara in the role of an IAS officer, this film was the dubbed version of 'Aramm' (Tamil). When a girl child falls into a deep well, it's up to the officer to take spontaneous, ethical and tough decisions to rescue her. This Gopi Nainar-directed movie came with some of the best-written segments in the year.

Naa Peru Surya

It just didn't deserve to be a disaster. In telling the tale of a temperamental soldier (Allu Arjun as Surya), director Vakkantham Vamsi narrated how the protagonist comes of age when he becomes a lesser human in his quest for a noble designation. Ends don't justify means. When the son of a patriotic soldier turns rogue, Surya draws a metaphor and goes about redeeming the wronged guy in a distinct way. Bunny was fabulous as Surya, showing originality in his body language.

Year 2018 has seen under-rated movies in good measure. We review five movies that should have made excellent moolah at the box-office