Critically acclaimed remake

Syam Pushkaran is a well-known Malayalam screenplay writer who has had some very popular, hit films to his credit in the last decade. One among them was the 2016-release 'Maheshinte Prathikaram' which had Fahadh Faasil playing the title role very effectively with Aparna Balamurali playing his lady love, who spurns him. Based on a true incident which happened in Kerala, the screenplay was spun realistically around the fall and rise of the hero, who avenges a public insult and redeems his pledge of wearing his slippers only after doing so.

A narrative, which is more life-like and which has very less scope for dramatic overdoing of the hero's power and potential is a risk for other masala markets of Indian cinema. If it works, it can be an one-off wonder with the right kind of adulation from the media and the public alike. If it is well-made, yet fails to hit the bull's eye as far as BO goes, then it earns the approbation of the media but turns up a weak prospect at the cash counters.

Having essayed minor roles from 2011, when he was launched in ' Mr. Perfect', Satyadev Kancharla had a great chance to carry off a solo-hero venture, which on the face of it, he managed to, rather notably. His film ' Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya' was one among his four released in 2020, a terrible year for Indian cinema owing to the pandemic onslaught.

Matching the Kerala ambience , this film too was shot in Araku, with its valleys and greenery to go along and matching the small town atmosphere of the original. The understated kind of performance which Satyadev came up with was, as mentioned, appreciated well by the critics. In effect, it was considered to be a bright spot among the modern-day movie idols of Telugu who have a single-track approach at glorification and build up of their onscreen personas to ridiculous heights.

The film was ultimately bracketed in the 'critically acclaimed' one and managed to elevate the image of Satyadev among the good cinema lovers of India, while Fahadh's film managed to return four times its original investment of around Rs 4 crore in Kerala and all around the world. The interesting title of the Telugu film was to showcase the angry reincarnation of the hero, once humiliated and who avenges it ultimately.