Movie: Pottel
Rating: 2.25/5
Banner: Nisa Entertainments, Pragnya Sannidhi Creations and Sahit mothkhuri Writings
Cast: Yuva Chandra Krishna, Ananya Nagalla, Ajay, Noel, Priyanka Sharma, Srikanth Aiyengar, Chatrapathi Sekhar, and others
Music: Shekar Chandra
DOP: Monish Bhupathi Raju
Editor: Karthika Srinivas R
Art Director: Narni Srinivas
Stunts: Rabin Subbu
Produced by: Nishank Reddy Kudithi, Suresh Kumar Sadige
Written and Directed by: Sahit Mothkhuri
Release Date: October 25, 2024
“Pottel,” though lacking in popular stars, gained attention thanks to its strong promotions and intriguing trailer.
Let’s explore its strengths and weaknesses.
Story:
The story unfolds in rural Telangana during the 1980s. In a village, a patel (Ajay) tries to dominate the community by claiming to be possessed by the village deity, Balamma.
Villagers believe his words are divine teachings from the goddess, leading them to avoid sending their children to school.
Meanwhile, Gangadhari (Yuva Chandraa), who lost his brother at a young age in an accident, understands the value of education and is determined to educate his daughter Saraswati (Tanasvi).
Along with his wife Bujjamma (Ananya Nagalla), he recognizes that the patel is deceiving the villagers in the goddess’s name.
The rest of the drama follows Gangadhari’s struggles to provide an education for his child and his battles against the powerful patel in a society where superstitions hold sway.
Artistes’ Performances:
Yuva Chandra, playing the role of an innocent villager, delivers a sincere performance. Ananya Nagalla also offers a convincing portrayal, though her character lacks depth.
Ajay got a wonderful opportunity to do method acting but he missed it; director failed to bring out the best in Ajay in the ‘Sigam’ scenes.
Child artist Tanasvi also does a commendable job.
Technical Excellence:
The film boasts excellent production design and high production values. The cinematography is top-notch, and the music is effective.
The sequences around the waterfall are shot to a standard comparable to that of a major star-studded film. However, the editing could be sharper, and the writing is average.
Highlights:
Message of the film
The early sequences
Drawback:
Lack of gripping narration
The superficial emotional sequences
Unconvincing Second half
Confusing screenplay
Analysis
The initial twenty minutes of Pottel captivate the audience, immersing us in its setting of border villages in Telangana and Maharashtra during the 1980s—a time marked by limited development and the dominance of the Patels.
The narrative compellingly introduces Gangadhari, the protagonist, as well as the community's perception of him as a madman. The early scenes with the symbolic Pottel offered to the local deity Balamma and the patel’s invocation of the goddess to affirm his ‘sigam’ are gripping, setting high expectations for a unique cinematic experience. However, the film loses momentum shortly after.
The protagonist's quest to advocate for his daughter’s education raises logical inconsistencies. The villagers hold firmly to the patel’s belief that the village will face disasters if children from different classes study together. But it seems implausible for a patel to prohibit marginalized communities from accessing education, especially in the late 1980s.
Questions naturally arise: where are government officials, why does no one approach the police, and what about the proactive Naxalites who often responded to such feudal oppression? These gaps undermine the story’s credibility.
Scenes portraying village violence and suffering fail to evoke the intended emotional impact. Except for Ajay’s role, other characters lack depth, and many sequences are reminiscent of Tamil Dalit films by directors like Vetri Maaran and Mari Selvaraj—although without the same narrative depth. Here, the oppressed class includes all villagers, not just Dalits, which stretches believability.
Visually, scenes like the protagonist's leap into a waterfall and the villagers' final revolt do provide a cinematic experience, but they arrive too late. Aside from its message and intent, much of the second half feels superficial, with only the climax delivering an impact.
Ultimately, Pottel offers a commendable message, though the storytelling lacks depth, leaving a shallow portrayal.
Bottom line: Less Impact