Ugram movie review: Allari Naresh repackages himself in thrilling actioner

The film begins with Shiva, Aparna and Lucky meeting with an accident. Even though the mishap is massive, they escape with minor injuries. Shiva regains consciousness after a head injury and drives his family to the nearest hospital.

When he wakes up again in the hospital lobby and wants to see his family, the hospital staff insists that no such patients were admitted there. Even the CCTV footage shows that Shiva came alone in his car and slept in the lobby. When police is called to intervene, it is none other than Shiva’s subordinate Victor (Shatru). He is quite close to Shiva’s family. Due to the head injury, Shiva is admitted in the same hospital and treated by the hospital in-charge, played by Indraja.

Shiva continues to insist that he brought his family to the hospital, but all evidence is against him. He is suspected to be suffering from dementia due to the injury to his head. We also get to know that there is a spate of unsolved missing cases across the city. Shiva suspects that his wife and daughter have also been taken by the same gang and he starts working towards solving these cases. As his past enemies and new targets keep obstructing his path, body count keeps growing. Will Shiva be able to find his family again? Who is the mastermind behind the missing cases, and why are they being taken?

The film borrows the main plot from 2019’s Fractured. There are several sequences in the movie that remind us of older hit films. The main aim here is repackaging the comic hero Naresh as an action star with a lot of cleverly placed action sequences and macho dialoguebaazi. If one finds the many action sequences over the top, do remember that this film can come unspooled with a small smirk, laugh, or gesture that reminds us of the Allari Naresh we used to know. Hence the fights keep on coming and action is amped up to keep us engaged. After a decent first half, the investigation is set aside and action takes over. Since the actual mystery will be solved right at the end, the hero is forced to face other minor challenges diluting the overall plot design. The heavy climax compensates for such lacunae, giving all the answers, albeit implausible ones.

The director should be commended for his unwavering focus on presenting Naresh in a new way. Naresh also gave a committed performance. Mirnaa Menon does well within her role’s parameters. The climax fight is also well choreographed. Abburi Ravi’s dialogues work well in many scenes. Siddharth’s cinematography is wonderful. Sricharan Pakala’s background score helps the film.

Though loud in many spaces, Allari Naresh’s Ugram is a decent entertainer. With any other regular action hero, this film could have been a blockbuster.

Ugram movie cast: Allari Naresh, Mirnaa Menon, Indraja, Shatru, Sharat
Ugram movie director: Vijay Kanakamed
Ugram movie rating: 2.5 stars