(Clockwise) Phani Acharya, Venkatesh Maha, Bindu Madhavi, Ravindra Vijay, Madonna Sebastian and Tharun Bhaskar in Telugu anthology ‘Anger Tales’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Confronting one’s distressing situation may seem trivial to others. A person faced with a triggering situation may endure something until it reaches a breaking point and becomes enraged. Director Prabhala Tilak, who co-wrote the Telugu anthology tales of rage (Streaming on Disney+Hotstar) With Kartikeya Karedla, focuses on how people respond to different kinds of adversity.
A hardworking housewife who is unable to take an afternoon nap, a young woman who is not allowed to eat eggs in her vegetarian household, an ardent fan of a star who is pushed to her limits when she arranges a special fans show, and a bald man battling failure on all fronts are the central characters of this anthology.
The character of Ranga (Venkatesh Maha) will be relatable to die-hard fans of Telugu cinema’s A-list stars. In a story titled ‘Benefit Show’, we see Ranga, the president of a star’s fan association, trying to organize a special screening of his idol’s new film. Tilak tells this story like an insider who has seen people like Ranga from close quarters. Fan clubs view the ‘benefit show’ as a symbol of power and pride. Ticket prices are jacked up and anger flares up at the delay. Maha is effective in depicting Ranga’s pride, anger and frustration. This is director Venkatesh Maha’s best till date as an actor. Suhas is impressive in his brief part as the traitor. The ‘Benefit Show’ is engaging for a large part but is undone by its ending.
tales of rage
Cast: Venkatesh Maha, Bindu Madhavi, Phani Acharya, Madonna Sebastian and Tharun Bhaskar
Direction: Prabhala Tilak
Music: Smaran Sai
The story ‘Food Festival’ takes us to an apartment complex that maintains vegetarianism as its core identity. What happens when a pious attitude of family and neighborhood prevents a woman from boiling eggs at home? Madonna Sebastian is cast as Priya Reddy, a young married woman who is advised by her doctor to eat eggs. While the story doesn’t give a clear picture of her health condition and why eggs may be the only solution, one can empathize with Priya who longs for the freedom to make her food choices. The husband (Tharun Bhaskar as Rajeev) and his mother are portrayed as one-dimensional characters and could have been introduced better. Madonna plays the cantankerous young woman who simply tries to cope with her situation and Tharun hits the right notes as the husband who thinks being a vegetarian makes him superior.
‘An Afternoon Nap’ focuses on a housewife in a lower middle-class family, whose day starts with a pressure cooker and ends with worrying about the dripping water from the ceiling. Radha (Bindu Madhavi) tries her best to do everything as demanded by her family and her husband (Rabindra Vijay). Situations that seem trivial at first spiral out of control. The mundane and repetitive everyday situations make us sympathize with the housewife and her plight. Bindu Madhavi and Ravindra Vijay stand out with their performances. The overly dramatic ending takes away the luster of the otherwise realistic portrayal of the situations.
‘Helmet Head’ may bring back memories of Hindi film Bala In which the protagonist struggles with self-confidence due to his bald head. Phani Acharya has been cast as Giridhar whose personal and professional life looks bleak. The story explores issues related to male pattern baldness and Giridhar’s guilt about how he comes out of it. The discussion about whether helmets can cause baldness may raise concerns about road safety issues. Phani Acharya turns in a good performance but the story did not make me root for his character.
on the upside, tales of rage manages to place every story and character in environments that look authentic and benefits from actors who can convey emotional turmoil well. Production designer Ashok Narra and cinematographers Amardeep, Vinod K Bangari, Venkat R Shakhmuri and AJ Aaron created the realistic world for the four stories with the help of sound designers Sai Manidhar Reddy and Nagarjuna Thallapalli and composer Smaran Sai. If the writing was good tales of rage Would have been an interesting addition to the Telugu digital space.
(Anger Tales streams on Disney+ Hotstar)