yashoda movie review rating

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Release Date : November 11, 2022

123telugu.com Rating : 3/5

Starring: Samantha, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Unni Mukundan, Rao Ramesh, Murali Sharma, Sampath Raj, Shatru, Madhurima, Kalpika Ganesh, Divya Sripada, Priyanka Sharma and others

Director: Hari – Harish

Producer: Sivalenka Krishna Prasad

Music Director : Mani Sharma

Cinematography : M. Sukumar

Editor : Marthand. K. Venkatesh

Related Links : Trailer

Yashoda is a film that Samantha had pinned a lot of hopes on. Due to her ill health she could not promote it as well. The film directed by Hari and Harish has finally hit the screens today. Let’s see how it is.

Yashoda(Samantha) is a poor girl who agrees to become a surrogate mother. She is taken to Eva, a surrogacy center owned by Madhu(Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar). Things start well for Yashoda but one small incident creates a doubt in her mind. She then takes it upon herself to find out the truth behind the surrogacy mafia. How she unravels it is the main story.

Plus Points:

The basic backdrop of surrogacy is new for Telugu cinema and has been set up nicely in the narrative. This gives Yashoda a completely new edge. The director duo set up the whole surrogacy concept well and created an intriguing factor right from the beginning.

Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar is getting better with each film and gets a meaty part once again. She as the head of the surrogacy center is amazing. Her flashback in the second half with Rao Ramesh is very good. Malayalam actor Unni Mukundan is also neat in his role.

The second half is where the actual action begins as the twists executed are very good. The action part and suspense elements have been unravelled quite well in the second half. Kalpika Ganesh is good in her role along with Murali Sharma and Sampath who play cops.

Last but not the least, Samantha gives her life and soul to the film and is stunning as Yashoda. Be it the way she managed the pregnant setup or did the action part, Samantha is in top form. Yashoda is completely based on her character and Sam holds fort superbly. Not to miss her action movies and endearing emotion when she comes to know the actual surrogacy scam give the film a good depth.

Minus Points:

One of the biggest minus points of the film are the logical issues. The film is set in a surrogacy center which is shown as hitech and filled with cameras. But Sam escapes them easily. Such scenes are plenty and look a bit over the top.

The film starts on an interesting note until Samantha reaches the surrogacy center. From there, the film falls flat as scenes related to ragging and details of the center drag for no reason. A more linear screenplay and crisp narrative would have made matters better.

The film could have been more emotionally strong as the actual cause of Varalakshmi turning into a certain manner is not showcased well. More depth and pain in her role would have made the purpose of the villain more intense. In a way, the bonding between key characters is weak.

Technical Aspects:

Music by Mani Sharma is good and the BGM creates a solid impact in the proceedings. The camera work is very good but the art department needs a special mention as the surrogacy center looks cool. The lyrics and dialogues by Pulagam Chinninarayana and Bhagyalakshmi are also very good. Production values are amazing.

Coming to the director duo Hari and Harish, they have done a good job with the film. They, casting Samantha, for such a role is half battle won. They have taken a new backdrop which many do not know and created a good story around it.

Hari and Harish manage to enhance the film with neat twists and thrills in the second half. There are a few logical issues in their narrative but the twists cover them up nicely. As they waste too much time in the first half, they don’t have much time to create more impact in the flashback which was a key. But still, they narrate the film in such a way that the normal audience would not observe these errors and enjoy the film.

On the whole, Yashoda is Samantha’s one woman show. Right from the first frame, she carries the film on her shoulders and gives a solid performance. A few logical errors and slow start are basic drawbacks. If you ignore these aspects, Yashoda has an interesting backdrop and makes for a decent watch this weekend.

123telugu.com Rating: 3/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

Click Here For Telugu Review

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Yashoda Review: Samantha’s Show

Movie: Yashoda Rating: 2.5/5 Banner: Sridevi Movies Cast: Samantha, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Unni Mukundan, Rao Ramesh, Murali Sharma, Sampath Raj, Shatru, Madhurima, Kalpika Ganesh, Divya Sripada, Priyanka Sharma and others Music: Mani Sharma Cinematography: M Sukumar Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh Art: Ashok Fights: Venkat, Yannick Ben Producer: Sivalenka Krishna Prasad Written and Directed by: Hari - Harish Release Date: Nov 11, 2022 

Samantha's item song in "Pushpa" went viral last year. A year later, she released the thriller "Yashoda," in which she played the lead. "Yashoda" has sparked interest due to her current health situation as well as the stunning trailer.

Let us examine its highlights and low points.

Story: Yashoda (Samantha) agrees to be a surrogate mother because she desperately needs money. She signs a contract with a corporate hospital and is taken to a hidden location where many surrogate mothers are observed prior to their deliveries.

Yashoda is treated at this centre by a handsome doctor named Gowtham (Unni) and is overseen by beauty pageant contestant Madhu (Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar).  Yashoda soon realises that something sinister is going on. She tries to discover the secrets.

A group of police officers, on the other hand, is investigating the murder of a model. What is the connection between these two threads? Is Yashoda about to reveal a secret?

Artistes’ Performances: Samantha bears the weight of the story on her shoulders. She is convincing in both facets of her character. Samantha has also convincingly performed action stunts. She has made every effort to enthral as the story revolves around her.

Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar is an excellent choice for the role of a "beautiful devil." Unni Mukundan is ideal as a doctor with a hidden agenda.

Murali Sharma, Rao Ramesh, Kalpika, Divya Sripada, Sampath Raj, and Shatru all have done their roles justifiably.

Technical Excellence: The plot revolves primarily around a surrogacy centre. The sets that have been created are lavish. The cinematography is satisfactory. The editing should have been more precise. Action stunts are entertaining.

Music is fuctional. Dialogues are effective.

Highlights: Pre-interval scenes Samantha’s performance Twist in the tale

Drawback: The surrogacy center scenes The uneven second half Climax portion

Analysis Hari and Harish, the Tamil directors, have written a story with a different plot point. Many films have dealt with the theme of medical mafias and evil doctors. Surrogacy-themed films have also emerged. "Yashoda" combines all of these elements and tells a very different story within the framework. 

“Yashoda” begins differently because it combines two unrelated stories - a murder investigation and a surrogacy centre scam. However, the directors gradually build up drama and intrigue before the intermission. The pre-interval scenes are the thriller's main draw. They are not only well-written, but also thrillingly shot. 

But momentum begins to wane after that point. It also becomes predictable after a certain point. The story's twist, while impressive, is also formulaic. Such a twist was seen in an iconic blockbuster 15 years ago, and it has since appeared in numerous films.

And flashback story involves Unni Mukundan and Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar. This story does not completely convince us. It appears to be superficial. Unni Mukundan's and Varalxaxmi's character arcs are underdeveloped.

While the plot and overall concept are intriguing, key scenes are executed half-heartedly. The Murali Sharma/Sampath Raj incident is far too predictable.

"Yashoda" works in parts. Samantha's performance and presence, as well as the film's basic concept and certain episodes, are its strong points. Despite some predictability, it makes an okay watch.

Bottom line: Works in Parts

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'Yashoda' movie review: The ideas are there, but the execution isn’t

I feel compelled to be kinder towards films that feature women protagonists. We don’t get enough of them, and it’s empowering and cathartic to see women kick a**. Samantha is at the centre of Yashoda and plays a character straight out of the hero playbook. There are fight sequences, there’s a rousing reveal, there’s sister sentiment, there’s a leader angle… And yet, it’s not a protagonist a man could have played.

For one, pregnancy is at the thick of things, and it adds flavour that the protagonist, Yashoda, is going through it herself, as she uncovers a horrific conspiracy that exploits women victims. At the end, in fact, there’s something about these women joining to fight back—but it’s just cursory symbolism, with no one except Samantha’s Yashoda ever doing much to help themselves. However, it’s still fascinating to behold the joys of ‘testosterone cinema’ playing out with a heroine, instead of a hero. The action blocks are perhaps the brightest point of Yashoda.

It’s a film with many curious ideas. There’s the exploration of surrogacy and a half-hearted attempt to capture the lives of consenting women. There’s a medical facility—no, a high-tech prison—complete with regular audio announcements of the schedule of patients—no, “inmates”. There’s a fascinating idea about the lengths a woman goes to, to preserve her beauty, and some commentary about what ‘real beauty’ is. There’s even some espionage. And yet, it’s impossible to shake off the realisation that Yashoda should have been a far, far superior film, given the weight of these ideas. A big problem is how unconvincingly these ideas are fleshed out. For instance, Yashoda is shown to forge a deep bond with other inmates, but it happens over unconvincing bits-and-pieces of flaky camaraderie. For the longest time, the screenplay feels disjointed with two separate tracks, with the second, especially—about cops played by Murali Sharma and Sampath, investigating a murder—lacking any real purpose and charm, serving only to distract from the events featuring Samantha.

The big horrific reveals in the second half don’t affect as they should, even if the film does get marginally more interesting when the Madhubala (Varalaxmi) flashback plays out. But even here, pay attention to how a beauty pageant is weakly conceived and executed, and how Madhubala’s character gets introduced, as she throws a stray line about us seeking beauty in even deities. The brightest point in this flashback is when Varalaxmi’s Madhubala, Rao Ramesh’s politician (the actor is a hoot, as always), and Unni Mukundan’s nerd-stalker have a three-way conflict—and the bizarre, exaggerated way in which it plays out results in some campy fun.

While the film is about surrogacy and how women are exploited, its portrayal of certain types of women is rather revealing. Let’s leave aside the bad choice to have Samantha look as made-up for a role that’s supposed to be grounded, even if not thoroughly impoverished. There’s an early scene between Yashoda and her friends, as each woman reveals their reason for agreeing to be a surrogate mother.

While many talk of poverty and suffering, one woman—with short, coloured hair and a rather ‘modern’ demeanour—speaks of wanting to afford an iPhone. I thought, “Fair enough, it’s your body, your rules.” Well, a twist in the film betrays its view about such women—and let’s say it’s not exactly progressive. Pay close attention to the ‘good woman’ in this film, Yashoda’s friend, and you’ll see that she’s all dressed up as a traditional woman, with long-plaited hair, bindi.

There’s a queer character in the film, the head of a fashion brand, and the film doesn’t do itself any favours with how it portrays this person either. The villain is one who gets an abortion and doesn’t become a ‘mother’. All of this made me wonder whether Yashoda is conceived as a film meant to valourise pregnancies, meant to reaffirm the dated idea that it’s motherhood that makes a woman. An end scene of childbirth, another previous scene of a woman sharing a story about her husband’s inability to produce a child… All of this makes you wonder.

And of course, when a film and its protagonist are named Yashoda—the foster mother of Krishna—the significance is rather straightforward. And yet, this film, more than once, drums in this idea, even referencing Krishna’s birth at one point. It doesn’t seem to think you’ll get it otherwise. Perhaps if Yashoda had respected us better, we might have ended up with a more nuanced take on the subject of surrogacy and a film that might perhaps have been more deserving of Samantha’s action exploits.

Director: Hari-Harish Cast: Samantha, Unni Mukundan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Rao Ramesh, Murali Sharma Rating: 2.5/5

(This review originally appeared on cinemaexpress.com )

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Yashoda movie review: Samantha Ruth Prabhu shines in familiar but engaging thriller

Yashoda movie review: samantha ruth prabhu delivers a knockout performance in the telugu thriller, playing a role that’s hard to guess for the most part. the film released on november 11..

Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu has been very picky when it comes to her female-centric projects. Her choices so far have paid off handsomely with films like U-Turn and Oh! Baby working big time with the audiences. Her latest outing Yashoda, too, falls in the same category, as it offers something new to the viewers and it succeeds to a large extent, despite taking a very familiar route when it comes to some twists. In a refreshing departure from what we’ve seen of her in the recent past, Samantha delivers a knockout performance in Yashoda, playing a role that’s hard to guess for the most part. It’s an earnest performance and she makes even some dull predictable moments watchable with her presence. Also read: Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Telugu film Yashoda earns ₹ 55 crore already, does highest pre-release business of actor's career

Samantha plays Yashoda, and her world revolves around her younger sister. When she desperately needs money for her sister’s operation, she signs up to become a surrogate mother. She’s soon transferred to the high-tech facility called Eva; a company that’s helping people fulfil their dreams of becoming parents through surrogacy. It’s a major change for Yashoda, who slowly starts to make friends inside with some fellow surrogate mothers. Everything is fine at first but things slowly start to spiral out of control, and Yashoda suspects that something suspicious about the place. The local police is also investigating a high profile case of a road accident involving a businessman and a top model. As Yashoda tries to uncover the secrets of Eva, a strange connection is established with the case the police are working on. The rest of the story is about what’s Eva actually doing in the name of surrogacy?

Yashoda takes time to actually take off and get the audience invested. It has some very interesting stretches as it openly talks about making surrogacy mainstream and the attempt deserves to be praised. At the same time, it also talks about how we as humans are abusing medical advancement for our own greed. Somewhere, Yashoda tries to walk a tightrope in trying to establish the fact that surrogacy can both be a boon as well as bane. The film’s central premise is very interesting and it’s rarely explored before. This is exactly what makes Yashoda standout, and probably made even Samantha sign the project. The grouse comes in the form of the plot twist which has been tried many times before. It’s not about the familiarity of the plot twist but it’s so generic that it lacks excitement.

Nevertheless, it’s Samantha’s show all the way. The way she handles her character and the eventual transformation is proof of her ability to go the extra mile to make her performance look authentic. Both Unni Mukundan and Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar get very interesting parts and it’s quite bold of both of them to play such characters without much fuss. The production design deserves a special mention since most of the story unfolds inside a large facility and the setwork is commendable.

• Samantha Ruth Prabhu

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‘Yashoda’ Review: Samantha Shines as an Action Star in Surrogacy-Themed Thriller

Samantha's yashoda is a thriller written and directed by duo, hari and harish. it hit theatres on 11 november..

Named after the mythological character, Yashoda who is the foster-mother of Lord Krishna, the plot revolves around a poor woman ( Samantha ) who chooses to become a surrogate mother.

Why does she do it? To earn money and save her ailing sister, or at least that’s what we are told, at first.

Yashoda delves into the complex world of surrogacy. However, it is just the first block of a huge puzzle. The film also explores the dangerously entangled layers within it—the cosmetic industry and medical crimes.

Just like her real-life persona, where she battles an autoimmune condition called Myositis, Samantha in Yashoda is a real fighter. She is both gentle and fierce.

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She walks into hell unarmed and turns every tiny resource into a weapon to beat her opponents. Whether it's cudgeling, sculling, shooting, or fist-fighting with bare hands, she does them all in an effortless fashion.

Despite being pregnant, Yashoda threw deadly punches in the power-packed action sequences. And that just reminded me that I usually complain about feeling dizzy after a heavy lunch (I know the wrong memories always pop up at the right time!).

A poster and some stills from the film.

(Photo: Twitter)

The film makes the strong point that a courageous fighter doesn’t always need blazing guns and lethal weapons. When life throws lemons at you, confidence and intelligence are what you need, to make lemonade. But most importantly, "courage" doesn't necessarily have to be a man’s trait. Samantha’s mass dialogue reiterated that.

The best part about the film is that it explains feminism at its best. Madhu, a cunning entrepreneur (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar) says that for a man to become a king, he has to win a war; however, for a woman to become a queen, she just has to win over a king. On the other hand, her skewed view is countered by a real feminist, Yashoda, who doesn't wait for saviors.

Yashoda is a blend of action and relationship drama. It touches upon sibling bonds and the emotional attachment between a surrogate mother and the child. It also takes stances on the idea of money, unrealistic beauty standards, and the abuse of power.

Happy Birthday Kamal Haasan: How Lokesh Kanagaraj’s ‘Vikram’ Led to His Rebirth

The writer-director duo, Hari and Harish, have presented an engaging mystery thriller by planting plenty of clues throughout the screenplay. The pre-climax was loaded with terrific twists, too. While the majority of the payoffs were satisfying, some fell flat.

Also, the hastily narrated backstory of Madhu and Gautham in the second half seemed artificially stitched, with some of the sequences being unintentionally funny.

However, the art direction team has brilliantly used minimal and confined spaces to fixate the audience on the screen. The aesthetic yet uncanny setup lets us keep our eyes wide open with equal amounts of wonder and suspicion.

Samantha's Yashoda has brilliant ideas and impressive performances from a stellar cast including Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Unni Mukundan, Sampath, Divya, Kalpika, Murali Sharma and Shatru. It has its heart in the right place. With some cliches shed, Yashoda would have been a masterpiece.

Yashoda is running in cinemas now.

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Topics:    entertainment      commercial surrogacy      samantha ruth prabhu  .

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Yashoda Reviews

This is not a film strong on logic. Even the simplest question would make the screenplay collapse like a house of cards. But the various twists and turns, which frequently border on outlandish, are held together by the formidable presence of Samantha.

Full Review | Nov 15, 2022

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Yashoda, on Amazon Prime Video, For The Most Part, Is A Slick Thriller Helmed By Samantha In A Winning Performance

Directors: Haresh Narayan, K Hari Shankar

Writers: Pulagam Chinnarayana (dialogue writer), Haresh Narayan (story and screenplay), K Hari Shankar (story and screenplay)

Cast: Samantha Ruth Prabhu , Unni Mukundan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar

Yashoda is a Samantha Ruth Prabhu star-vehicle, but for a lot of its runtime, it doesn’t feel like one. The stardom here seems unobtrusive, and the star-vehicle, contrary to standard practice, seems hesitant to step on others to elevate the central figure. The performance itself is remarkable for how it avoids the louder notes we’re used to in films like this, and yet, by the end, my theater broke into whistles. The line that brought the whistles though, is delivered so quietly and without exaggeration by the star, that you wish more star vehicles helmed by male leads had the same grace. 

A spoiler-free introduction is probably appropriate—the film is a medical thriller in which the protagonist, the eponymous Yashoda (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) signs up to become a surrogate mother with a mysterious agency called “Eva Institute” managed by Madhu (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar). On the surface, everything seems posh and comfortable, yet there is a sense that something ominous is afoot. Until the film reveals its hand, the ratcheting up of the tension works wonderfully, and you catch yourself looking for clues hidden in the frame. 

One of the great merits of  Samantha’s performance in this stretch is that she succeeds in investing the audience in the film through her performance without overplaying the character’s innocence to the point of annoyance, or eventually, her intelligence to the point of incredulity. When she flirts with a doctor (Unni Mukundan) in the institute, you’re fooled into thinking that there is chemistry there, but when you see that the doctor is stoic and unmoved, you realize that she'd conjured the chemistry all by herself. The performance also invests you in the film’s action—its fights which are frenetic, gritty, and well done. It is perhaps notable that this time, Samantha’s voice isn’t dubbed in Telugu by Chinmayi Sripada—this means that though there is a slight accent to her Telugu, there is a register of expression that feels more organic, a vulnerability that is woven into the performance through her voice.

Eva Institute is also something of a rarity in commercial Telugu films—a sci-fi-inspired behemoth brought alive by the intelligent production design and art direction. The institute is a prison dressed up to look like a seven-star deluxe luxury resort, and the writing is smart enough to have the group dynamics of the women admitted to it resemble that of prison inmates. When Yashoda is inducted into one of these groups, she has to sneak around to fetch cigarettes for the gang leader as a right of initiation. There is also a scene in which the women, many of them victims of patriarchy,  speak about where they come from, and how their experiences led them there. 

A parallel subplot involving Murali Sharma and Sampath Raj as officers investigating crimes that ultimately converges with Yashoda’s story is effective in the way good procedurals are, until the film reveals its cards. This is when the film reveals itself to be pulpier than it originally led you to believe. Though the denouement does satisfy all the plot questions raised initially, there is some hamming, scenery chewing, and one-dimensional villainy on display. The influence of Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) is apparent, but that film managed to be pulpy, yet political, without devolving into silliness. It doesn’t help that when the film is caught in exposition, Samantha isn’t on screen. Rao Ramesh is, though, and his turn as a conniving politician in this stretch saves the film from taking itself too seriously.  

While the film is inspired by real crimes, in its final act, the film comes close to advocating a specious form of traditionalism: a baby is delivered naturally without medical intervention and there is some championing of “our old ways”. To its credit, this happens because there are no medical facilities nearby, but after we’ve been conditioned throughout its runtime to suspect hospitals, medical workers, pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies, one can’t help but be a little skeptical of the prescriptive intentions of the plot. Maybe we should be thankful that these intentions remain implicit. We should definitely be thankful for Samantha’s stardom. 

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Yashoda Movie Review: The ideas are there, but the execution isn’t

Rating: ( 2.5 / 5).

I feel compelled to be kinder towards films that feature women protagonists. We don’t get enough of them, and it’s empowering and cathartic to see women kick a**. Samantha is at the centre of Yashoda and plays a character straight out of the hero playbook. There are fight sequences, there’s a rousing reveal, there’s sister sentiment, there’s a leader angle… And yet, it’s not a protagonist a man could have played. For one, pregnancy is at the thick of things, and it adds flavour that the protagonist, Yashoda , is going through it herself, as she uncovers a horrific conspiracy that exploits women victims. At the end, in fact, there’s something about these women joining to fight back—but it's just cursory symbolism, with no one except Samantha’s Yashoda ever doing much to help themselves. However, it’s still fascinating to behold the joys of ‘testosterone cinema’ playing out with a heroine, instead of a hero—and it helps that Samantha sells the action choreography really well. There’s genuine urgency about her movement, there’s a method to her fighting, and when adversaries collapse around her, you buy that they have been outfought. The action blocks are perhaps the brightest point of Yashoda .

Director: Hari-Harish

Cast: Samantha, Unni Mukundan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Rao Ramesh, Murali Sharma

It's a film with many curious ideas. There’s the exploration of surrogacy and a half-hearted attempt to capture the lives of consenting women. There’s a medical facility—no, a high-tech prison—complete with regular audio announcements of the schedule of patients—no, “inmates”. The whole design of the place reminded me of Black Mirror . There’s a fascinating idea about the lengths a woman goes to, to preserve her beauty, and some commentary about what ‘real beauty’ is. There’s even some espionage and sleuthing. And yet, it’s impossible to shake off the realisation that Yashoda should have been a far, far superior film, given the weight of these ideas. A big problem is how unconvincingly these ideas are fleshed out. For instance, Yashoda is shown to forge a deep bond with other inmates, but it happens over unconvincing bits-and-pieces of flaky camaraderie. For the longest time, the screenplay feels disjointed with two separate tracks, with the second, especially—about cops played by Murali Sharma and Sampath, investigating a murder—lacking any real purpose and charm, serving only to distract from the events featuring Samantha.

The big horrific reveals in the second half don’t affect as they should, even if the film does get marginally more interesting when the Madhubala (Varalaxmi) flashback plays out. But even here, pay attention to how a beauty pageant is weakly conceived and executed, and how Madhubala’s character gets introduced, as she throws a stray line about us seeking beauty in even deities. The brightest point in this flashback is when Varalaxmi’s Madhubala, Rao Ramesh’s politician (the actor is a hoot, as always), and Unni Mukundan’s nerd-stalker have a three-way conflict—and the bizarre, exaggerated way in which it plays out results in some campy fun.

While the film—on the surface—is about surrogacy and how women are exploited (a rather nuanced topic a simplistic film like this doesn’t have the stomach for), its portrayal of certain types of women is rather revealing, I think. Let’s leave aside the bad choice to have Samantha look as made-up for a role that’s supposed to be grounded, even if not thoroughly impoverished. There’s an early scene between Yashoda and her friends, as each woman reveals their reason for agreeing to be a surrogate mother. While many talk of poverty and suffering, one woman—with short, coloured hair and a rather ‘modern’ demeanour—speaks of wanting to afford an iPhone. I thought, “Fair enough, it’s your body, your rules.” Well, a twist in the film betrays its view about such women—and let’s say it’s not exactly progressive. Pay close attention to the ‘good woman’ in this film, Yashoda’s friend, and you’ll see that she’s all dressed up as a traditional woman, with long-plaited hair, bindi... You get the idea. There’s a queer character in the film, the head of a fashion brand, and the film doesn’t do itself any favours with how it portrays this person either. The villain—Madhubala—is one who gets an abortion and doesn’t become a ‘mother’. All of this made me wonder whether Yashoda is conceived as a film meant to valourise pregnancies, meant to reaffirm the dated idea that it’s motherhood that makes a woman. An end scene of childbirth, another previous scene of a woman sharing a story about her husband’s inability to produce a child… All of this makes you wonder.

And of course, when a film and its protagonist are named Yashoda —the foster mother of Krishna—the significance is rather straightforward. And yet, this film, more than once, drums in this idea, even referencing Krishna’s birth at one point. It doesn’t seem to think you’ll get it otherwise. Perhaps if Yashoda had respected us better, we might have ended up with a more nuanced take on the subject of surrogacy and a film that might perhaps have been more deserving of Samantha’s action exploits.

Gulte Telugu news

Yashoda Movie Review

Article by Suman M Published by GulteDesk --> Published on: 11:14 am, 11 November 2022

2 Hr 15 Mins   |   Thriller   |   11-11-2022

Cast - Samantha, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Unni Mukundan, Rao Ramesh and others

Director - Hareesh, Hari

Producer - Sivalenka Krishna Prasad

Banner - Sridevi Movies

Music - Mani Sharma

Samantha has so evolved as a performer, where her name has become a selling point along with the other aspects of a film. Samantha is coming with a film Yashoda, where she plays the lead role. The trailer was intriguing and hinted at conspiracy around the concept of surrogacy. The movie was released today in theaters. Check out the review.

What Is It About?

Yashoda (Samantha) a food delivery girl agrees to become a surrogate mother for a large sum of money. She will be sent to a highly sophisticated surrogate facility owned by Madhubala (Varalakshmi Sarathkumar). Yashoda learns that something is not right at the facility and she gets shocked seeing gruesome incidents happening there. On the other side, there is an active murder investigation of a business tycoon that leads to a stunning end. How is it linked to Yashoda’s story and what she does thereafter form the rest of the story.

Performances

Samantha gave an apt performance in the role of Yashoda. This role is a cakewalk for her, yet the effort she put into crossing the ‘t’s and dotting the ‘I’s could be seen in this dual-shaded role. This time she had to do the action part also and she has done it effortlessly. 

Varalakshmi Sarathkumar appears as a dangerous woman in a cold blood. Most of her roles were aggressive and yelling types, but In Yashoda she had to be subtle yet ruthless. She did quite well. Unni Mukundan supported her well. Sampath Raj, Murli Sharma, and others were alright in their respective roles. Kalpika, Divya Sripada, and others will be seen in brief roles. 

Technicalities

The storyline of Yashoda is interesting. For the concept, the movie hardly needed outdoor shots. Most of the sets looked fine while some shots in the facility appear to be heavily inspired by Hollywood sci-fi thrillers. The concept of confining the inmates with illusion walls is an unusual setup. The screenplay is good. Background music by Manisharma is alright. 

Samantha Fresh Plot

Thumbs Down

Slow First Half Predictable episodes Routine Climax

Analysis  

There were many movies based on the concept of surrogacy earlier. This plot of Yashoda is a plot developed from real investigative research that is untouched in films so far. A woman in need of money agrees to be a surrogate mother for an unknown billionaire and reaches a state-of-the-art facility for the same. Smelling a conspiracy, she digs deeper to unturn the dark truths only to find a giant mafia. 

The first half of Yashoda is slow with the setup in the surrogacy facility, with friends and character establishment. But it gets interesting as the narrative gets into the plot a little deeper toward the interval block. The pre-interval to interval sequences are rightly done promising an intriguing second half. The plot could be sensed on whole, but the details remain blurred until the revelations slowly turn up

The second half is more gripping and intriguing with each twist and turn. From Madhu’s flashback to the establishment of the murder investigation link, there are some good twists that turned out well. The concept of narrating two parallel stories back and forth without disclosing a link between them and that too until the latter second half is adventurous. If one side derails, there is a chance that by the time the link is established, the narration might have looked bumpy. That balance and suspense link between the two sides is maintained well by the director duo. 

On the downside, a perverted security guard, a highly monitored facility with umpteen blindspots, and a spine-chilling mafia setup with opened exit doors are some routine cinematic liberties that could have been worked differently. The emotional blocks in the pre-climax are too conventional. 

The thrill factor worked mostly while the emotional episodes are cliched. The climax is obvious with some routine action blocks. Overall, Yashoda is a decent thriller with a few stereotyped scenes. 

Bottomline: Decent Thriller With Suspense Elements !

Rating: 2.75/5

Watch Below Gulte Public Talk of Yashoda

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• 'Yashoda' Twitter review: Netizens say Samantha Ruth Prabhu starrer is an engaging suspense thriller

'Yashoda' Twitter review: Netizens say Samantha Ruth Prabhu starrer is an engaging suspense thriller

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Shadow of Fire: Tsukamoto Shinya’s unnerving conclusion to his anti-war trilogy

An orphaned child struggles to survive the insanities he encounters in the aftermath of the Second World War in Tsukamoto Shinya’s timely period drama.

Prolific since his breakthrough independent works of the 1980s and 90s (the Tetsuo films among them), Tsukamoto Shinya’s directorial output has slowed in the last decade. But the features that have emerged during this time offer deft explorations of how war damages people on and off battlefields, and the abject horror involved in the act of killing. Shadow of Fire (2023) concludes his anti-war trilogy – discussed as such by the filmmaker – with characteristically unnerving form.    Based on Ooka Shohei’s novel, Fires on the Plain (2014) tracked a soldier trying to survive on a Pacific Island at the end of the Second World War. Killing (2018), meanwhile, followed a pacifist samurai in late Edo period Japan, whose ideals are pushed to breaking point. Shadow of Fire takes Tsukamoto back to World War II , though one of the film’s more fascinating qualities is how period signifiers are largely abstracted. While there are allusions to the period in the script, minimalist costuming, vague geography and spare sets bathed in darkness contribute an opaque quality that bolsters Tsukamoto’s themes: this terror is likely from one era, but it could also be any time, the future included.    This abstraction extends to a near-total absence of character names. The protagonist, a little boy (the astounding Tsukao Oga), is orphaned by firebombing, the only child present in a world of adults who’ve succumbed to varying forms of insanity in the aftermath of war, where the black market conquers mutual aid in a time of restricted resources. The orphan becomes a commodity himself across the diptych narrative – part claustrophobic chamber drama, part road movie. For a young widow (Shuri), he can substitute the child she lost, while a shellshocked veteran (Kono Hiroki), joining their doomed makeshift family living in a charred tavern, finds brief comfort in educating the lad. In the film’s second half, Tsukao’s character finds a loaded handgun, making the boy an asset for a revenge-driven demobilised soldier (Moriyama Mirai), who recruits him as an unwitting accomplice to the murder of a superior officer who ordered war crimes.    Akimoto Shuji, the assassin, is one of the only characters to declare his own name and reckons with his horrific actions with some honesty. But the refusal to bury the past seems a futile gesture when doing so continues to spread violence to the next generation, who are given no choice but to bear the pain and consequences. With his searing ‘period’ parable, Tsukamoto viscerally reckons with how the flames of any war corrode everything and everyone their burning light touches, long after they’ve been extinguished. 

►  Shadow of Fire is now streaming on all major platforms.

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