118 Review, 118 Telugu Movie Review Ratings BOTTOM LINE
Passable Thriller

OUR RATING
2.5/5

CENSOR
‘U/A’, Certified, 2 hrs 06 mins


118 Review, 118 Telugu Movie Review Ratings What Is the Film ‘118’ About?
Gautham (Kalyan Ram) is haunted by a dream in a particular place and at a specific time. What happens when he starts to pursue the happenings of his vision and what did he find is what the movie is all about?

How Is Kalyan Ram’s Performance?
Kalyan Ram goes about the proceedings clinically. There is no immediate change from his previous outings and here except that briefly he appears to get into the ‘Temper’ body language of his brother. The moments are unmistakable and easily identifiable by the fans. Leaving that aside nothing is standing out here.


118 Review, 118 Telugu Movie Review Ratings Direction by Guhan K.V?
KV Guhan directs a film after a long gap. The last he did was remake Happy Days in Tamil. As one can understand the two flicks are vastly different. The first was a youthful subject whereas 118 is a thriller.

The movie starts off increasingly as we get to the point straight away without wasting much time. The initial sequences involving the dream and its subsequent follow up is neatly done. There is an interest to know what is happening. The pace is kept racy, and we never feel lag barring the personal scenes involving the lead protagonist.

The problem with the film too arrives due to the same positive racy feel. While the fast-paced narrative is ideal for any thriller, it is also a dual-edged sword. The pace shouldn’t be too quick to lose the interest of the audience and the thrill factor. Of course, it shouldn’t be too slow as well as that would become another major deterrent. Here it happens at such a speed and in a manner eschewing the thrill factor. Many revelations occur in a way that gives us a feeling that characters know what’s going to happen next and are ahead in tracking the mystery before it is supposed to happen. They happen to get clues so conveniently one after the other. It doesn’t help that the lead actor is given a superheroic character. There is never a threat or danger to him. The classic example is the accident where he escapes with just a scratch.

In short, the thrill misses after the initial engrossing sequences. The same continues until the flashback begins towards the final half an hour with a couple of decent twists in between. The flashback portion works due to acting more than the story or the core reason revealed for all the mysterious happenings. The ending is okay with the introduction of lucid dreaming concept. The issue here is more in the way it is executed rather than the concept.

In the end, 118 has a decent beginning and ending. It is everything that happens in between where there is a problem. Still, it isn’t too problematic but instead makes the whole thing passable affair as there is a dilution of narrative due to needless raciness.


118 Review, 118 Telugu Movie Review Ratings Shalini Pandey, Nivetha Thomas and Others?
Shalini Pandey is a glorified extra in the movie as she has nothing to add acting wise. She is present besides the hero all the way, and there is a romantic montage song for her, but it doesn’t make any impact. In contrast, Nivetha Thomas has less screentime, but she is superb in those scenes. She totally convinces her part and helps one engage with the core narrative at a very critical time. Prabhas Seenu is alright as a sidekick for the hero. Rajeev Kanakala is wasted. The rest don’t make an impact.

Music Director Sekhar ChandraMusic and Other Departments?
There is only one song in the movie, and it is alright. Sekhar Chandra makes an impact with the background score though. It isn’t particularly memorable but definitely helps the narrative. The cinematography by KV Guhan is not up to the mark. The editing by Thimmaraju is okay. The writing could have been better.


118 Review, 118 Telugu Movie Review Ratings Highlights?
Take Off
Interval Bang
Flashback
Nivetha Thomas

Drawbacks?
Pacing
Screenplay
Missing Excitement
Weak Antagonist


118 Review, 118 Telugu Movie Review Ratings Alternative Take
It would be a simple reduction of too many clues and give substantial depth to the existing ones along with the twists.

Did I Enjoy It?
For most parts

Will You Recommend It?
Yes but with reservations.

118 Movie Review by Siddartha Toleti