Movie Review : Kingdom
Suri ( Vijay Devarakonda) is a cop who is assigned the task of going undercover to break into the gang of Siva ( Satya Dev) who works with a tribe in an island off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Siva is none other than Suri's own brother who had left home as a teen after killing his father and never returned.
Suri manages to break into the gang and convince them well enough to be trusted. Along the way he also develops a bond with the tribals, who yearn to return one day to their homeland of the past.
The mission is dangerous but Suri is determined to bring his brother home, come what may. But when the situation gets unimaginably complicated leading to gory bloodshed, Suri is pushed beyond his limits. What happens to the mission and his brother? What is Suri's hidden connection to the tribals?
The story by the Jersey director Gowtam Tinnanuri, though dealing with a lost sibling track seen many a time on screen, is interestingly told, with a period setting, even going back in time to a colonial setting, and shuttling between India and Sri Lanka as the story progresses.
The visuals are painstakingly captured, taking you back in time and to the different worlds the film covers. Action sequences, (though sometimes gory) are well choreographed. Anirudh's bgm adds to the film.
Vijay Deverakonda excels as Suri. As the young, upright and intelligent cop, he is superb. As he goes undercover with a new look, shaven head and beard et al, he gets even better. A meaty role for the actor, he bites into it, doing full justice, especially in the emotional and raw action scenes. Be it the jail sequences or the scenes with his brother, he is in his element.
However, though the scale is grand and the story set on a large canvas,somewhow the connect with the leads and their emotions doesnt really take root. Some scenes seem implausible while the constant twists in the tale get a tad confusing.
Satyadev shines as Siva, bringinga gravitas to his role, while Venkitesh as the psycopath villain leaves an impact with a solid performance. The blood and gore in few scenes are not for the faint-hearted.
Kingdom, with its vast canvas and different tale, high production values and brilliant visuals, brings to the fore the act of its star-actor Vijay Deverakonda, who carries the film of his shoulders with a sincere and outstanding performance.
Rating 3/5
