Daily Times

Rana Daggubati has presented this small Telugu film, Pareshan, directed by Rupak Ronaldson, which is set in Singareni (Telangana). Isaac (Thiruveer), Balaji aka RGV, Sathi and Pasha are a group of friends living in this village which doesn’t have too much going for it except for a coalmine. Their jobless lives revolve around drinking away, hanging out with Tiger Seenu anna and romancing the village girls.

Isaac’s father was in the coal mine but now works with the church pastor translating his sermons in some rickety English. He constantly berates him for being useless at studies and sitting idle, and tries to find him a job.

One day it all gets complicated. Sathi urgently needs money for his relative’s surgery and Isaac ends up giving him the money which his mother asked to give his uncle. While Sathi is busy running behind Rajitha (Sai Prasanna), Isaac falls for Sireesha (Pavani Karanam). Sireesha gets extremely upset when she and Isaac end up having sex and thinks he will abandon her, but he promises to marry her soon.

Then comes another twist in their lives. Rajitha dumps Sathi as she falls for another guy, and Sireesha believes she is pregnant. Panic sets in for both Sireesha and Isaac, and he decides he will ‘take care of it’ by taking her to the hospital. Sathi, meanwhile, is out for revenge. Where will Isaac get money to help Sireesha? Does Sathi end up getting the revenge he wants? Does Isaac marry Sireesha eventually?

This is director Rupak Ronaldson’s second film and he has tried to write it like a comedy of errors. Pareshan is about the woes the various friends go through and how they end up making things worse for one another. While the first half is breezy, the second half starts to lag. There are numerous hilarious moments in this film, but given that the story is simple and very situational, it doesn’t have enough twists and turns to make it a classic. The characters in the film are everyday ones that people can relate to, but there is no soul in the story.

As for the performances, it is an ensemble cast and all the actors played their roles well. They suited the part of the village youth too. The mannerisms and way they speak are typical of Telangana and Telugu-speaking people might enjoy this. The most known face in the cast is Thiruveer, who shot to fame thanks to Masooda, and he manages to shoulder the film.

Music director Yashwanth Nag has given some music with a very local flavour that works for this film.

Pareshan is a decent attempt by the director to deliver a village-centric comedy that gives us glimpses into typical village life, like Seenu’s wedding celebrations, the church services, and so on. But one wishes it had a little bit more going for it in terms of the story to make it more impactful.