Newsense review: Navdeep, Bindu Madhavi excel in a nail-biting drama centring on rural politics

3.5/5

Story:

Shiva is a streetsmart journalist in Madanapalli, who manipulates events in and around his village for monetary benefits. He is in love with another local journo Neela and cleverly rises the ranks while staying in the good books of two local leaders - Nagi Reddy, Karunakar Reddy. While Shiva’s conscience keeps haunting him now and then, his survival instincts get the better of him. When a new SI Edwin enters the town, Shiva’s life is set to undergo a drastic change.

Review:

Rayalaseema is among the many regions that have been mischievously stereotyped, reduced to a backdrop for faction wars in mainstream Telugu cinema over the years. There’ve only been a handful of attempts to challenge that perception. If Allu Arjun’s Pushpa was a welcome step in that direction, aha’s latest show Newsense, set in Madanapalli, too makes a conscious effort to stay true to the spirit of the soil and doesn’t use heroism as an excuse to glorify violence.

Newsense is, in fact, a refreshing attempt at decoding the dark truths beneath the media-political nexus in small towns. Priyadarshini Ram, the writer, creates a web of complex characters that can’t be slotted as black or white and instead he highlights the circumstances under which they’re forced to take their decisions. Neither does the show try to glorify nor undermine the police force, the media or politicians but it merely tries to provide a holistic picture of grassroots problems.

The protagonist Shiva, a media person, isn’t a hero by any means - he doesn’t try to be a saviour and is satisfied with his survival. While he has a clear understanding of right and wrong, he prefers to be wise, even if it means manipulating people and suppressing the truth. In short, he’s a politician at heart but a journalist by profession. The show goes back and forth between his past and present to explain his behaviour.

The six-episode series doesn’t offer easy solutions and looks at multiple layers, and perspectives to every situation - common man, media, cops and politicians. As a viewer, you empathise with the woes of the ordinary folk and the treatment is quite believable. Be it the elderly man who loses his life with the unavailability of a bus or the farmer who fights for his land illegally occupied by miscreants or the woman who keeps searching for her missing husband, you root for them.

Even though there are several events and subplots, the narration doesn’t lose direction and the director Sri Prawin Kumar adopts an understated, matter-of-factly approach in his execution. While there’s no preaching in most scenarios, Prawin uses Jayasimha’s dialogues to good effect and makes a viewer introspect on issues without spoon-feeding the obvious.

If the first four episodes set a strong foundation for the drama, the final set of episodes leaves you with a great aftertaste and a perfect hook for the next season. With the arrival of a newly appointed cop in the fifth episode, the cherries on the cake are the cinematic highs that the creator generates out of the character’s ego clashes with the natives (although the no-nonsense attitude reminds you of the Fahadh Faasil act in Pushpa).

Without diluting the drama and the tension around the rural politics, there’s enough space to breathe with the raw humour in the Chittoor slang, focusing on the little pleasures of the residents. The romance segments between Navdeep, and Bindu Madhavi are written flavourfully with an element of mischief. The creators hint at a romantic triangle in the coming season, but this is still good fun while it lasts.

While Jayasimha, Priyadarshini Ram, and Sri Prawin take care of the basics - the writing, the treatment and the conviction in the storytelling - the true surprise package is the visual finesse. In a rare scenario for a Telugu web show, the makers employ three cinematographers (Anantnag Kavuri, Vedaraman, Prasanna) and the result is surprisingly consistent and stunning. Exquisite framing and smart lighting, aesthetic sense in a variety of backdrops elevate simple sequences to great heights.

Suresh Bobbili is in fine form with the background score, he doesn’t try to overpower the situation and understands the mood of the show well. The only song in Newsense - a laidback romance track Myneeru Pillagada (sung superbly by Hari Teja) - arrives quite unexpectedly and Navdeep-Bindu Madhavi’s terrific chemistry beautifies it further.

Navdeep gets a tailormade role with several grey shades (that he embraces with aplomb) and is quite convincing as a shrewd small-town journo. Bindu Madhavi is a natural as a quirky yet ambitious television presenter and her classy costume styling contributes to the appeal of the show. Beyond the big names, it’s the supporting cast that holds the show together - Nanda Gopal, Katta Anthony, Shelly Nabu Kumar are spectacular in their brief segments. Nalla Sreedhar Reddy, Mahima Srinivas, Venkataramana Ayyagari and others make an impact too.

Verdict:

Newsense is a classy, well-made show that sets a tall standard for quality storytelling in the Telugu OTT space. From the dialogues to the screenplay, performances and the execution with terrific technical finesse, the team does complete justice to the material. There’s every reason for us to look forward to the second season of this Sri Prawin Kumar directorial.