The Character Review: Character OutShines Writing

Reviewed by: GitacharYa

The case

Those who are social media often, if not regularly, get requests to watch short films from friends or shall we call virtual acquaintances. And more often than not we either watch the film and say something positive or diplomatic out of obligation. Or in most cases after making a (forgettable) promise to watch it and conveniently ignore it. The probability of watching a short film that we get in our inbox is next to nil out of real interest. The reasons are many. 

The difference

But this, at least for this review writer, isn’t one such. The actor is talented enough. The to and fro interactions on social media are frequent enough to take notice. Moreover, the work is getting praise and there should be some relevant merit to the praise. 

Siddharth Reddy aka Siddhu is a talented actor (from what this review writer assumes through social media as that’s how we know each other). 

As the work seemed meritorious, and the connection to take this film in seriousness has good enough intensity, we – here at NaThing – decided not to give some obligatory praise on social media to get some likes from the actor and his friends – but give it a full review treatment.

The View

After watching it for 5 minutes, this review writer and one of the brains behind this website recommended an international review for this. Unfortunately,no subtitles are available and it has fallen on the shoulders of this review writer to take up the review. Anyway,it’s a good decision ultimately as the film is good to the point: it’s watched without double clicking on either half of the screen on YouTube. Means, no skipping. And the subject is obvious enough, through the narration itself that except for a couple of details, it doesn’t need subtitles. That’s a great achievement for a Telugu short film which is more verbal than visual… Let alone cerebral. 

The film starts by showing a man who’s waiting for something – some sort of response or breakthrough. The director succeeded in conveying the character’s inner feelings using the usual editing techniques but it’s the lead actor Siddharth who took the proceedings a notch above what is ordinary (read: common level of talent showcase in competent short films made on this scale). 

The scene with the loan collector is another must-need-attention and the guy who played that role complemented the lead actor if not dominated him. That made the Character work better than expected. The kid who’s in the same apartment and the female voice artists who supplied supplementary AV did go a little bit overboard. The actor who played the producer is a little more authentic than the supplementary artists. Divya Chaturvedi did a fine job and is a natural in histrionics. Voice performance for this role is also good.

The Team Behind It

The cinematography is good for a film to be watched on hand held devices and the editing is sharp. It kept the film at the right pace by creating magic when a scene or shot appear to be lingering on the screen for more than necessary time. Music suited the mood of the film. Be assured that it’s a well made film. Shivaprasad Sirikonda has done a good job with the script at hand.

Recommendation

The Character may not be a top notch short film that should be taken note of. But it’s a good watch and deserve your 23 minutes time. A case where the character outshines the writing. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 4.

P. S.

You nave seen how good writing is lifted a notch above by a talented actor. Here, surprisingly is another shorter film with the same title from 5 tears ago. It’s a neatly executed film, competently made for the resources but a little bit of inexperienced acting marred the efforts. You can give it a try too. Tou won’t blame us for this recommendation too.

Watch it here