Dasari Narayana Rao’s 149th film as a director ‘Young India’ tries to pack in so many things that it loses the very essence of youth it tries to bring out. Around 81 new artistes were introduced in the film, although the pivotal roles are played by less than 10 actors and actresses. Starring Pradyumna, Aravind Krishna and a bunch of other actors, the film narrates the story of how three young men and women fight back against all odds in their lives and inspire the whole state!

What’s the Story : Abhi is a software employee whose life nosedives after he gets fired from his job. Not only that, he also gets embroiled in a family crisis which leads him to commit suicide. When he’s on the brink of committing suicide, he realizes that three of his close friends have also tried to commit suicide. By God’s grace, all three of them are saved and with the help of another girl, they decide to meet a police officer, a role played by Dasari Narayana Rao. The rest of the story is about how Dasari inspires all of them to achieve something in live before trying to end their lives.

What is Good: First things first, the basic premise of ‘Young India’ is very promising. The story of a bunch of young men and women trying to bring about a change seems inspiring and the film does start on the right note. Each of the character’s backstory is well established. We empathize with them when they try to commit suicide; we also empathize when they decide to mend their lives and in turn do their bit for the society. It was an almost perfect setting where Dasari Narayana Rao, the director could have exploited this premise to inspire people. Even most of the actors put on a commendable show considering most of them are making their debuts. However not all is well with this film, especially in second half.

What is bad: Although the film has some fine points superficially, it has a strong political agenda at the core of its heart. The film is dedicated to the Late YSR who started several welfare programs like Arogyashri among many others. Taking a cue from this, the film goes a little overboard while trying to portray the extent of corruption prevalent in the society. The story involves some major incidents which shocked the state like Satyam scam, children falling into open borewells, media channels vying for TRPs, atrocities against women and so on. There’s also a thread of a Kasab like character and duplicate-bullet proof vests just to dramatize the whole concept. Almost everyone in the government except the Chief Minister is corrupt and is involved in the whole scam. At one point of time, the movie becomes an excuse to take a dig at almost everyone in the government and police department. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with how the story unfolds, but there’s a limit to the extent to which you can keep on ranting about how bad the society is without providing a solution.

Technical Departments: Keeravani’s music is pleasing to the ears especially the title track. Gowtham Raju’s editing is jerky in second half. Ramana Raju’s cinematography is alright, although certain scenes lack consistency due to haywire camera movements. Dasari Narayana Rao handled the story, screenplay, dialogues and direction apart from producing the film. It’s like a one man show and that’s a huge burden considering that there were too many artistes making their debut in this film. There’s a blatant mismatch between the heavy political dramatization and the respective performances. Not that the debutants have done a bad job but it’s certainly a gargantuan task for them to rise above the script and deliver splendid performances. The film’s a little too loud and melodramatic at times. It’s the kind of film which you would have seen in the 80s.

Bottomline: There are films which fail to deliver what they promise. There are films which underwhelm you in the end. ‘Young India’ is neither of them. It’s a film which loses its track midway and ends up taking you to the nadir of emotionally hollow abyss. The fundamental question of whether ‘Young India’ is inspiring enough is forbidden. The only thing left to ask when you walk back into the cinema hall after the popcorn-cola break is, “Have I walked into a different cinema?” The answer would be a resounding…Yes! A big thumbs down for this uninspiring film which ends up preaching more than needed.