Gurthunda Seethakalam review: Satyadev-Tamannaah film banks on overdone stereotypes

A couple of months ago we had Naga Chaitanya’s Thank You, which was a mishmash of all the memorable films. Its USP was to capitalise on the nostalgia associated with these films. Director Nagasekhar tries something similar with Gurthunda Seethakalam (Do you remember the winter). The film, starring actors Satyadev, Tamannaah, Megha Akash, Kavya Shetty, and others, is a love story. While it is cinematically appropriate to set a story like this in the cold winter, which brutally accentuates the pain of loneliness and misery, haven’t many films done that already? This is where Gurthunda Seethakalam fails to make an impression.

The film follows the life story of Dev (played by Satyadev), his relationships from childhood, and whether he ultimately meets his soulmate. When he is in college, he gets into a relationship with a girl from a wealthy family, overlooking their class difference. It is a toxic relationship. The girl hates him for who he is, but also cannot let him go because he is too naive. She falls for him because he is “innocent” — vulnerable enough to be exploited. While the couple has their moments, this relationship could have been portrayed in a more realistic and nuanced manner. The characters designed on the basis of a set of stereotypes leave little room for imagination.

And this lazy writing extends to the whole film, as it tries to merely mimic several heartbreaking films such as Geethanjali, October, and others in the same genre. There is no originality to it. It follows a pattern of set templates and is content enough against experimenting. The film completely lacks imagination. If you are acquainted with watching Indian romantic movies, you can predict the climax halfway through the film.

Though you are supposed to root for Dev, now that you have been following his story from childhood, you are hardly moved by his journey. There is not a single scene that makes you empathise with him.

Tamannaah, as Nidhi, plays a really important role in the film. Nidhi is written as a ‘beautiful soul’, but her character too suffers the same fate as Dev’s. The sketchy characters do not invoke the emotion the situation demands, even when some shock value is added to the narrative. Though Tamannaah and Satyadev try to give a convincing performance, they can’t salvage the film already damaged by its poor writing.

Megha Akash plays a small role in the film, but she too does not make a lasting impression.

I wish Nagasekhar actually invested some time in writing the characters in detail and not lazily bank on films with a callback value.

Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.