Rana Naidu Web-Series: The much-awaited web show, Rana Naidu from digital giant Netflix, starring Daggubati heroes Venkatesh and Rana in lead roles, is now streaming on the OTT platform. Let’s see how it holds up.
Venkatesh Daggubati, Rana Daggubati (Hero)
Surveen Chawla (Heroine)
bhishek Banerjee, Priya Banerjee, Sushant Singh (Cast)
Suparn Verma & Karan Anshuman (Director)
Sunder Aaron (Producer)
John Stewart Eduri (Music)
Jayakrishna Gummadi (Cinematography)
Storyline: Set against the backdrop of Mumbai, the show begins with the debut of Rana Naidu (Rana) as a troublemaker in the Bollywood and sports fields. Being an aggressive person, Rana Naidu leads a secluded life with his wife and children. On the other hand, his two other brothers Tej Naidu (Sushant Singh) and Pawan Naidu (Abhishek Banerjee) who have a dispute with Rana Naidu stay away from him. One day, Rana Naidu’s father Naga Naidu (Venkatesh) is released from prison after fifteen years of imprisonment. What is the background story of Naga Naidu? What is the reason behind his imprisonment? How things turn into cat and mouse with the entry of Naga Naidu in Rana Naidu’s life is crucial.
Performance: Vijay Venkatesh is excellent in his role which has various shades to it. His makeover as an older man adds a realistic texture to the proceedings. Venky played the role with utmost ease and grace along with his majestic and intriguing screen presence.
On the other hand, Rana is equally impressive in his role as a celebrity troubleshooter. Her one-on-one scenes with Venkatesh are executed in an entertaining manner. Venky and Rana literally lived the combination scenes between the father-son duo. Though Rana has a decent screen space in the show as compared to Venky, the senior actor is just mesmerizing in his limited yet lead character.
Surveen Chawla is impressive in her performance-oriented role as Rana Naidu’s wife. Other well-known actors like Abhishek Banerjee and Sushant Singh have done a good job. Other supporting actors like Ashish Vidyarthi, Aditya Menon, Mukul Chaddha, Rajesh Jais and Rajesh Kumar are fine in their roles.
Technicalities: The cinematography work by Jayakrishna Gummadi is top notch as he showcases the dark shades of the crime world amazingly. Night mood shots and rich frames enhance the mood well. The music composed by John Stewart Eduri is fine during the initial episodes but captivating during the final parts. The editing work would have been even better and some long and unwanted scenes would have been cut. The production values from a Netflix original series are lavish. The production design work is also fine.
Analysis: It is widely known that the show marks the digital debut for Venkatesh. Even though Rana has previously done a few OTT talk shows, Rana Naidu is Rana’s first web show. The digital audience has high expectations from this show of the Daggubati family.
Though director duo Suparna Varma- Karan Anshuman played their roles as per the script, they failed to allot equal screen presence for Venkatesh and Rana. Adding to this, the first six episodes of the show lack high moments and have dull sequences but the final episode tries to balance the pace.
In short, Rana Naidu is a crime actioner with stellar performances by the lead cast. Despite some disappointing passages and an abundance of adult content and foul language, the show ends up being a one-time watch.
Verdict: Venkatesh and Rana continue to shine!