The motive of the film seems unclear sometimes, because of which a section of audience might not be too engaged. Half the way, the major problem with the film is that we don't know where the story is heading towards. Technically the film is a real feat, with the kind of camera work & fast-paced editing by Santhana and Raymond, respectively, which capture the intensity in the script.
Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran's visuals makes the movie grand. Sam CS background music is pleasant, but the songs could have been better. Despite the presence of a star like Vijay Deverakonda, senior actors Nasser, M.S Bhaskar, and Sathyaraj hold their own forte in the scenes they appear. The rest of the supporting casts including Nasser, Sathyaraj, M.S Bhaskar, & Sanchana Natarajan do their jobs neat and clean.
Right from the start, he carries the film on his shoulders. NOTA is surely going to boost this further, as he breeds swagger.
He's already created a market here with films like Pelli choopulu, Arjun Reddy and Geetha Govindam. This is Vijay Deverakonda's Tamil lead debut. On an unexpected note, he is forced to assume power, and how he handles the state and his responsibilities after that forms the crux of the story. But for the Telugu audience this film ends as a below average fare and can be given a shot only to see Vijay in a new avatar.Vijay Deverakonda starrer NOTA, directed by Anand Shankar is a political drama that has the 'Rowdy' reprising the role of a Chief Minister. However, this film will be a good launch pad for Vijay in Tamil and will be liked by the audience there as the flavor, sensibilities and satires are quite relatable. Vijay Devarakonda leads from the front but the story and proceedings are predictable and do not support him much.
On the whole, NOTA is a routine political drama which the Telugu audience have seen many a time. He has showcased Vijay well and made his debut in Tamil impressive. His inexperience of handling a political thriller is clearly seen as he could not make the narration engaging in the second half spite of having seasoned actors. Editing is decent and so were the dialogues.Ĭoming to the director Anand Shankar, he has done just an okay job with the film. Production values by Studio Green are top notch as the political set up and richness of the CM and his surroundings have been showcased well by the cameraman. Music by C S Sam is really disappointing but the background score was gripping. The reason for which Vijay goes against his dad and he, deciding to fight corruption headon should have been showcased in a more effective manner. The second half is not that gripping and this is where the film goes down. There is nothing new that the film showcases as the political game and twists like these are quite old for Telugu audience. But such stories have been previously made in films like Leader and Bharath Ane Nenu. Looks like Vijay has okayed this story as it is his Tamil debut and gives him a good chance to do something new there. One more biggest disadvantage is the story. The flashback’s of Nasser and Satyaraj do not add any weight to the film. Mehrene’s role looks out of place and is disappointing. The makers had a good scope to showcase Vijay in an even aggressive manner but lost out on that. Vijay’s fans will be disappointed a bit as the needed elevation and heroism they expect from their star hero is missing in this film. The entire political set up looks convincing as the characters have been kept real.
The film has some realistic political scenarios featuring Tamil Nadu politics and they have been shown quite fearlessly. Satyaraj plays his key role well and ably supports Vijay throughout the film. Nasser is top class as the cunning politician as his role has a lot of weight and he makes things interesting whenever he is on screen. Political thrillers like these need to have a strong supporting cast and NOTA is spot on in that department. Vijay performs with ease as all his scenes as the CM have been executed well and the star hero looks and plays his part convincingly. Vijay Devarakonda is the biggest asset of the film as his sincere performance is the one which gives freshness to this routine political thriller.