Movie: Yashoda
Director: Hari–Harish
Written by: Hari–Harish
Starring: Samantha, Unni Mukundan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Murali Sharma
Dialogues: Pulagam Chinnarayana, Challa Bhagyalakshmi
Producer: Sivalenka Krishna Prasad
Cinematography: M. Sukumar
Editor : Marthand K. Venkatesh
Music Director: Mani Sharma
Production company: Sridevi Movies
Release Date: 11 November 2022
2.5/5
The IBC News Rating
Directed by Hari and Harish, the much-anticipated film Yashoda starring Samantha has hit the screen today. The film has Vijay Lakshmi Sarath Kumar in a crucial role. Let us see how the film is.
Story :
The story of Yashoda revolves around a young woman Yashoda (Samantha) who decides to become a surrogate mother to overcome her financial issues. However, she learns about illegal activities happening in the hospital regarding surrogacy and sets out to bring the dark side happening there. What happens next ? Who is Dr. Madhu(Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar)? Whats her past? forms the crux.
What’s Entertaining & What’s Boring:
Though the storyline of the film is pretty simple, the director narrated it in a gripping way in parts. Also the beauty of cinema, and its ability to send a message regarding the Surrogacy mafia, is encompassed in every part of this movie. The narration is okay and the performances are excellent.
As the film is all about surrogacy, most of the film runs on a serious note which may not go well with all sections of the audience. Also instead of focusing on thrilling elements more, the focus shifts more towards action as the movie progresses and it stands as the biggest minus. The story is highly predictable in the first half until pre-interval. Also few sequences in the second half come as speed breaks to the intense narration.
Performance of Cast & Crew:
As usual, Samantha did a commendable job as Yashoda. Her hard work is seen in every scene, and all the action sequences have come out really well. Her acting in a few emotional scenes is enough to say how she carries any given role with utmost perfection.
Unni Krishnan’s acting is good and did a decent job in her limited screen presence. Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar gets a meaty role and performs in an impressive manner. Rao Ramesh and Murali Sharma are decent in their roles. The rest of the star cast have played their parts well.
Manisharma has done a good job with the bit songs. But it’s his BGM, which totally sets the perfect mood for the surrogacy drama.
Cinematographer did a brilliant job editing perfectly. Production values are the best and it is visible that the producer doesn’t sacrifice for making this film look rich. Coming to the directors, their vision is clearly visible on the screen. They succeeded in providing a racy and engaging screenplay.
First Half & Second Half:
The first half offers nothing much as the Yashoda realizing what’s about in the hospital starts only before the interval. But pre-interval to interval block Steals the show . Also the sentiment part in this half works out well. Second half is also good but after watching a racy first half, the second half’s narration looks a bit lengthy. Also the middle of both the halves suffers with predictability. Climax is a big let down.
Impressive:
Samantha’s Performance
Interval Block
Sentiment in first half
BGM
Unimpressive:
Flash Back in second half
Lack of commercial format
Predictable Plot
The IBC News take on Movie:
On the whole, Yashoda is an average appealing drama. Samantha’s fabulous performance, crispy editing and few sentiment scenes stand out positively. But the highly predictable story and the slow proceedings sometimes takes the film down. All those who like serious narration and thrilling elements can give it a try.
One-Line Review:
Predictable Crime Drama With Great Performances