The opening sequence of Bharat Kamma's Dear Comrade sets up the short-tempered character of our protagonist Bobby (played by Vijay Deverakonda), who gets agitated over unanswered phone calls. But soon as we get into the film, we see that his aggression is justified, when we see him getting into protests within his college campus.
Dear Comrade revolves around Chaitanya a.k.a Bobby, an impulsive college-goer and a rebel with a cause, who acts as a do-gooder, or a Comrade, within his campus. We get to see 'Comrade' Bobby's feud with the rival gangs, his inspiration (Bobby cites his grandfather's stint as a main influence behind his activism) and the romantic spark between him and Aparna Devi alias Lily (Rashmika Mandanna).
The first half unfolds in a breezy tone, where the romantic subplot kicks in with a meet-cute moment that is more humourous in its tone. The love story between Bobby and Lily does not feel forced, as the performances makes them less syrupy and more grounded. You get to know that they are related through another hilarious heartbreak. The film shines at these portions, but the half-hearted attempt at portraying political themes could have better with a better research and writing. We don't get to know much about Bobby's relationship with his grandfather, whose character showed a lot of promise.
The lead characters are well fleshed out, where we get to see flashes of surprises through them. The fact that Lily is a cricket player is interestingly shown through male condescendation. The first half is replete with a good mix of action and romance despite the familiarity associated to it. The conflict between Lily and Bobby feels a bit cliched.
The second half takes us to the aftermath of their conflict, which leads a separation between the two. Bobby moves on and takes a journey, whereas Lily encounters a traumatic event that shatters her confident demeanour. The writing throws a lot of subplots in this portion and as a result, the film becomes overlong and doesn't lead to a proper conclusion in the end. But what makes Dear Comrade watchable is the romantic journey of our protagonists and the lead performances. Vijay Deverakonda shows a great amount of range in portraying both the impulsive and the softer, boyish side of 'Comrade' Bobby with aplomb, while Rashmika Mandanna's sensitive and poignant portrayal of Lily makes us feel for the character.
Justin Prabhakaran's music and the visuals add more passion to the romantic mood of the film. But one of the issues with Dear Comrade is that the film tries to portray too many themes and plotlines at once (there are subplots involving student politics and another about sexual harassment) and ends up watering down the film's impact. Overall, Dear Comrade is a predictable, yet fairly engaging romantic drama.