Maha Samudram movie review highlights: Sharwanand, Siddharth, Aditi Rao Hydari and Anu Emmanuel's film is predictable so far

After the much-hyped and loved RX 100 in 2018, director Ajay Bhupathi is finally back with his second film, the multi-starrer Maha Samudram.
The film not only sees Sharwanand, Aditi Rao Hydari and Anu Emmanuel in the leads, it also marks the return of Siddharth to Telugu cinema, albeit in a new avatar. Gone is the once-known lover boy and in his place is a grey character that the actor pulls off with élan.

Arjun (Sharwanand) and Vijay (Siddharth) are steadfast friends who dream of a better future. Arjun wants to run his own business while Vijay aims to become a police officer. The former is honest, the latter has a skewed view on life due to growing up an orphan. Mahalakshmi (Aditi Rao Hydari), a dance teacher, and Smitha (Anu Emmanuel), a law student, fall for Vijay and Arjun respectively, finding themselves taken in by the uncontrollable tide that is these men's lives.
Also in this tale are Dhanunjay (Ramachandra Raju), who is the kingpin of the local, illegal smuggling ring, his elder brother Gooni Babji (Rao Ramesh) who's often belittled for his disability and a small time smuggler Chunchu Mama (Jagapathi Babu). One man's decision ends up effecting numerous lives and sends things so off kilter it looks like there's no coming back.
While all of this sounds exciting, even intriguing on paper, the way Ajay pens his screenplay, you can see the 'twists' coming a mile off. He also takes his own sweet time setting up the characters with Chunchu Mama's cringy jokes about aunties and eating, Babji's character being used to show just how ruthless Dhananjay is add nothing to the film by the time interval rolls around. Anu's character also seems to exist for the sake of it, with no heft to make her stand out.
However, not all is lost and the second half of the film will tell if Ajay manages to pull off a tale that stays with you for long, like RX 100 did.
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