Movie: Patang
Rating: 2.25/5
Banner: Cinematic Elements, Rishaan Cinemas, Monsoon Tales
Cast: Preethi Pagadala, Pranav Kaushik, Vamsi Pujit, and others
Music: Jose Jimmy
DOP: Shakthi Arvind
Editor: Chanakya Reddy Toorupu
Production Designer: Venkat Saathavahana
Producers: Vijay shekhar, Suresh Reddy, Sampat Maka, Tarun Kumar, Ramya Vemulapati
Written and Direction: Praneeth Prattipati
Release Date: December 25, 2025
Among the Telugu films that released this Christmas, “Patang” is the only one that clearly targets the youth. But does its content genuinely connect with young audiences?
Let’s find out.
Story:
Visky aka Vamsi Krishna (Vamssi Pujit) and Arun (Pranav Kaushik) are childhood friends who share a deep bond despite their contrasting backgrounds. Arun comes from a wealthy family, while Visky lives in a low-income basti.
Trouble brews when Aishwarya (Preeti Pagadala), an indecisive young woman, enters their lives. She initially falls in love with Visky but gradually develops feelings for Arun. After a series of misunderstandings comes a resolution:
Visky and Arun decide to compete in a Patang (kite-flying) championship, with the winner earning Aishwarya’s love. Who emerges as the champion forms the crux of the film.
Artistes’ Performances:
Preeti Pagadala looks pleasant on screen, and her characterization and performance strongly remind one of Colour Swathi from her earlier films. While she gets reasonable scope in the first half, her role gradually takes a backseat as the narrative shifts focus.
Debutants Vamssi Pujit (Visky) and Pranav Kaushik (Arun) display noticeable ease in front of the camera. Vamssi Pujit’s character design and performance seem inspired by Pradeep Ranganathan, both in mannerisms and screen presence.
Pranav Kaushik holds his own. SP Charan, Vadlamani Srinivas, and the supporting cast are adequate in their respective roles.
Interestingly, director Gautham Vasudev Menon makes a cameo appearance as himself.
Technical Excellence:
Jose Jimmy’s music has a trendy, urban feel and blends well with the narrative. However, none of the songs leave a strong recall value or stand out individually.
The cinematography is decent. Editing could have been sharper, especially during the Patang competition sequences, which prolong unnecessarily.
Highlights:
Few comedy scenes
The conflict point
Youthful vibe
Drawback:
The dull moments in between
Prolonged Patang episode
A bit of armature handling
Analysis
At one point in the film, the male leads discuss films like Devadas, Arya, and Prema Desam, observing how friendships often break when a woman enters the equation. “Patang” attempts a minor twist on this familiar trope.
Unlike Prema Desam, where the conflict arises from unspoken emotions, here the woman openly develops feelings for both friends, first one and then the other. Through this angle, the director tries to inject some novelty into an otherwise cliched love triangle.
The film opens with a symbolic moment in which a child is unable to choose a kite due to too many options. This mirrors the female protagonist’s central dilemma. She is inherently indecisive and constantly wavers between choices. This trait defines both her personality and her romantic decisions.
Just as she struggles to choose objects, she finds it difficult to commit emotionally, first falling for one friend and then getting drawn to the other. Since the entire first half revolves around this conflict and is filled with light humour and playful moments, it largely remains engaging and does not test the audience’s patience.
The problems begin in the second half, which spends over an hour focusing almost entirely on the Patang competition. What initially feels novel soon turns tedious.
Arun, who does not even know how to fly a kite, assembling a team and the extended comedy skits involving his teammates are boring. This is a kite flying contest, not a wrestling tournament, yet the film shows characters indulging in physical training and exaggerated preparation sequences. Such scenes unnecessarily stretch the runtime and dilute the narrative momentum. Even the subplot of Arun’s parents and another girl loving Arun don’t hold much impact.
The actual kite competition sequences hold some interest, mainly due to Vishnu Oi’s lively commentary. However, the director’s heavy influence from Tamil cinema becomes evident. Beyond casting Tamil director Gautham Vasudev Menon in a key role, the film borrows several Tamil film style stock shots. Almost every person in Hyderabad is shown watching the Patang competition on their mobile phones, as if it were an India Pakistan cricket match. These exaggerated moments feel silly and break the film’s believability.
That said, the climax, where the girl is finally forced to make a choice, is handled relatively well.
Overall, “Patang” offers bits of youthful fun and comedy, a bit of overstretched episodes, a dose of amateur narrative approach here and there. It is neither consistently entertaining nor completely dismissible.
Bottom-line: Few laughs