Comedian Harsha Chemudu, better known by his stage name Viva Harsha, is busy in the Telugu cinema industry. He has gained considerable recognition for his attempt to play the lead hero of Sundaram Master. Ravi Teja’s involvement as one of the film’s producers also helped to boost its profile.
Near Paderu, Uttarandhra, in a tribal community, the events unfold. The local MLA has tasked Sundaram master, a government teacher, with teaching English in a distant area in the hopes that he will find anything of value there.
Once he finishes the assignment within six months, the MLA promises to install him as the District Educational Officer.
The native tribespeople who live in the isolated town have been speaking English for generations, but they are illiterate. They learnt English while they were under British colonial rule. They are eager to study writing from Sundaram, the Master.
Is there a hidden treasure in this village that Sundaram will find in the end? How much of an impact would teaching the villagers English have on his own life, and will he be successful?
His on-screen demeanour is in perfect harmony with the role Viva Harsha has played. It is admirable that he does not act heroically like other heroes in popular Telugu films.
Even though Divya Sripada’s character has affections for the hero, she and Harsha Chemudu don’t have the typical romance sequences or songs.
The rest of the cast is either new or unfamiliar, but they have all done an excellent job in their parts.
The film’s technical aspects are satisfactory. Filming apparently took place in a forest. The cinematographer’s deft handling of the hilly terrain and lush vegetation lends the film an authentic vibe.
Review of the Film
At first, the plot of “Sundaram Master” seems intriguing, but at the conclusion, it becomes completely absurd. Having a government-appointed instructor go to a rural village and teach the locals English is a plausible scenario. “Newton” is one of the Hindi films we’ve seen; it’s about a government official sent to an unstable area of central India to oversee the upcoming elections. With a contemporary twist, “Newton” takes place in a totally believable tribal area in Chhattisgarh.
“Sundaram Master” is flawed in reasoning, nonetheless. The peasants have no idea what’s happening in the world today, but the government teacher sent to tell them is convincing. The independence of India is unknown to these rural residents. A peasant has a dream in which he meets Mahatma Gandhi, and the others think he is still fighting the British.
Nobody in the village knows that India became an independent nation in 1947 and that its leaders have been chosen by the people ever since. Andhra Pradesh is incomplete without the village. Unbelievable as it may seem, an entire community can be completely uninformed about Indian independence or local administration. This is just one of many undeveloped tribal settlements.
While fluent in spoken English, the locals struggle with spelling. Despite a few funny moments brought about by the villagers’ misspellings, the video soon gets old after the funny parts. They say “f*k” for “luck” and “Deng**” for “danger” among the indigenous peoples. This demonstrates that the filmmaker has created the story and scenes to suit his needs.
From the moment a social studies instructor is assigned the English classroom, the whole narrative is fabricated. The argument based on dark complexion is even less convincing now than before.
In the second half, the main character learns valuable lessons from the native tribe. But it’s plentiful in sequences that repeat. In a ridiculous effort to inspire “patriotism,” our hero uses his mobile phone and a cloth screen to broadcast a cricket match between England and India onto the peasants.
The first half of the film is entertaining, but it loses steam after that. It would appear that the single featuring Harsha Chemudu and Divya is an attempt to include a typical romantic storyline.
When taken as a whole, the film “Sundaram Master” has a flawed premise and poor storytelling. The comedic moments are few and far between.
Movie: Sundaram Master
ibomma Rating: 3/5
Cast: Harsha Chemudu, Divya Sripada, Harshavardhan, Bhadram and others
Music: Sri Charan Pakala
DOP: Deepak Yaragera
Editor: Karthik Vunnava
Art Director: Chandra Mouli Eathalapaka
Producers: Ravi Teja, Sudheer Kumar Kurra
Written and Directed by: Kalyan Santhosh
Release Date: Feb 23, 2024