A young man is thrust into the Chief Minister’s role overnight. He must quickly master his new responsibilities. The premise is the perfect platform for Vijay to steal the show with his youthful charm and also showcase his mass side as a Rowdy Chief Minister.
We meet the typically rich charming spoilt brat Varun, played by Vijay Deverakonda, who gets high on liquor along with a gaggle of girls. That’s exactly how the film starts with a party song. Not the ideal way you expect a political film to start but that shows the director doesn’t want to waste any time to introduce the lead’s characteristics.
The initial part of the film doesn’t offer you anything so exciting until an intense press meet scene, one of the shots from that sequence reminds you of Vijay’s Kaththi.
An hour into the film there is no real conflict at hand, however, within the few minutes immediately before the intermission the audience is rattled with interesting plot development and character twists. It excites you even though you know that’s what is going to happen.
Nota is a Tamil film dubbed in Telugu but Vijay Deverakonda’s presence keeps you glued to the screen and never lets you think about the lip sync issue. There are quite a few ‘gasp-worthy’ scenes soon after the break, based on Vijay’s portrayal and stunning cinematography.
Despite a large number of supporting stars the film primarily relies on a few strong performances to maintain the drama and suspense. Nassar perfectly portrays a strong elder leader. Sathyaraj has a meaty role in anchoring Vijay Devarakonda’s political career. He can be termed as the second lead, who has a short flashback portion. Priyadharshi’s is the only familiar Telugu actor in the whole lot apart from Vijay Deverakonda. Mehreen does a decent job in a male-dominated story.
The pre-climax portion looked a bit flat because of a lack-luster sub-plot. At one point Vijay faces a court case which puts his political career in jeopardy but that issue isn’t addressed and left open-ended. The film loses its momentum towards the end and a more focused approach was needed.
Sam CS doesn’t provide you any hit numbers here but his BGM stands out more in the second half in spite the same OST being used over and again. Technically the film is a real feat, with the kind of camera work and fast-paced editing by Shantha Kumar and Raymond, respectively, which capture the intensity in the script.
Overall, although slow at the start, an unconventional ending and missing in some of its character backstories, the film makes up for it with few unexpected turns of events. It is not an overtly commercial film made for those who expect equal parts romance, comedy, and action.