Ardhashathabdam (2021)

There is no chemistry between the lead pair. The romantic track is shown mostly as dream songs. Karthik Ratnam of ‘C/o Kancherapalem’ as the young villager in love has done a neat job. Krishna Priya is okay. Sai Kumar and Aamani are worth mentioning among other actors. Overall, “Ardha Sathabdam” is another OTT film that is told clumsily with unformed ideas. It joins the list of recent boring movies that hit the OTT space.

The characters look frozen and the moral dilemmas are not properly fleshed out. Tribal loyalties trump humanity, but everything plays out in a blind fashion. On the one hand, we have acclaimed movies like 'Karnan' (Tamil), which too dealt with the subject of caste violence. On the other hand, we have an 'Ardha Shatabdham', where a sociological catastrophe pans out like in a regular film.

Overall, Ardha Shatabdham is an honest attempt that wastes a lot of time to get to the point. However, once it does, it manages to engage moderately, in parts, despite the hackneyed plot involving caste angle. Give it a try, but with zero expectations as you have the forward option.