(Movie: Bhadrakali, Release: 19 September 2025, Rating: 2.5/5, Actors: Vijay Antony, Vaagai Chandrasekhar, Sunil Kripalani, Kiran, Sel Muragan, Trupti Ravindra etc. Direction: Arun Prabhu, Producer, Music: Vijay Antony, Cinematography: Shelley Callist, Editor: Raymond Derrick Crasta, Art: Sriraman, Presentation: Meera Vijay Antony, Banner: Vijay Antony Corporation, Ramanjaneyulu Jawvaji Productions, Sravant Ram Creations).
Vijay Antony is one of the Tamil actors who is well-known to the Telugu audience. He started his career as a music director and made his debut as a hero, entertaining the Telugu audience with innovative films. While continuing as a music director, he is appearing in diverse roles and is moving forward in his career as an actor with selective films. Vijay Antony has fans not only in Tamil but also in Telugu. The reason for this can be said to be the way he chooses stories and designs characters. His films also have a good market here. He has done 25 films as a hero so far. His 25th film is ‘Shakti Thirumagan’. It was recently dubbed in Telugu as ‘Bhadrakali’. Trupti Ravindra is the heroine. Riya Jeethu, Sunil Kirpalani and Sel Murugan are the key characters. Arun Prabhu, who received critical acclaim with the Tamil film ‘Aruvi’, is the director. This is his third film as a director. The film is set to hit the screens this Friday (19 September 2025) in Telugu and Tamil. Vijay Antony’s last film ‘Margaan’ did not deliver the expected results. Let’s find out how much this film impressed the audience…
Story: Kittu (Vijay Antony) is a man who can complete any task in a matter of seconds, from politicians to IG transfers to MLA murders. Raised as an orphan, he earns huge money by doing tricks and lobbying in a way that shakes up Telugu politics. For this, he uses his talent to make impossible tasks easy and earn money. He earns fame by pleasing the common people. When Kittu gets involved in the matter of three hundred acres of land belonging to a madam who holds a big position in Delhi, Abhayankar (Sunil Kirpalani), who has set a target of becoming the President of the country along with the madam, keeps an eye on Kittu. Kittu grows up to be a rival to political strategist and industrialist Abhayankar Shankar in the Telugu states. It is known that Kittu has been working as a broker for twelve years and has accumulated six thousand crores. However, Abhayankar files cases against Kittu, who is getting in the way of his goal, and not only does he forfeit the 6236 crore rupees he illegally earned, but he also puts him in jail. What did Kittu do when he realized this? What was his background? Why did he earn so much as a broker? Who was Kittu really? What was Kittu’s past? How did Kittu become a lobbyist and a lobbyist? Why did Kittu get involved in making money illegally? What is the goal of industrialist Abhayankar? Does Kittu have any grudges against Abhayankar? Why did Kittu obstruct Abhayankar’s goal? What did Kittu do with the money he earned over 6 thousand crores? How did Kittu destroy Abhayankar’s long-held dreams is the story of the movie ‘Bhadrakali’.
Analysis: Cinema is not just entertainment. There are some directors who think of social responsibility and something good for the society. After watching this film, it seems that director Arun Prabhu belongs to the same category. The story he has chosen includes questions about politics, black money, and corruption. Already with this type of plot. Movies like ‘Bharatiyadu’, ‘Aparichitudu’, and ‘Shivaji’ have come out. However, in the films made by Shankar, he has shown solutions to them along with the problems. In this, director Arun Prabhu has only raised questions. He was successful in that regard, but if he had also shown a solution to them, the result would have been much better. The exploitation of industrialists in society. Why does the poor remain poor. What kind of damage does all the wealth cause to the country if it is in the hands of a few? How are industrialists settling abroad after plundering the country’s wealth? The points are well shown in the film. The story starts with elevations that show that Kittu is a powerful broker… He can do anything in the country. Every action Kittu does takes the story forward with interest. The director has made it so that the audience cannot guess where the story will start and where it will go. The story runs with ups and downs, and the intelligence is impressive. The story moves very fast even until Kittu is arrested by the police. Even though he is a broker, he does good to many people and his target is kept interesting without revealing his identity. There is no need to name much till then. From the interval, the story feels off track. In the second half, his childhood and the reasons for becoming a broker are shown. After the Kittu vs. Abhayankar game starts, the whole story goes into a regular format. The intelligence shown by the hero in the first half is not in the second half. What happens next is clearly known. It would have been better if the hero’s plans to build the investigation and Abhayankar game were written better. The hero’s ambition in the story is very big. However, it is not possible to fulfill it in the current political system. However, it would have been enough to tell them in a way that people would understand. The dialogue part and scenes feel like a lesson because there is too much teaching. The concept written by Arun Prabhu with the point of Kittu, who became an orphan due to injustice done to his family in his childhood, understanding the shortcomings of society and helping the poor like Robin Hood is good. However, if the story had been told smoothly and straight without any confusion.. the movie would have been more interesting. If you look at the way the story was not only interesting but also gripping in the first half.. you get the feeling that he made some feel good attempt. But the story was led with an agenda on a single point, the movie became clear in the second half. Although there are many good impressive elements in this movie, there are also some flaws. Although the story is a bit serious, many scenes need more attention in terms of detailing, which is something that films of this type need, but it was missed in this movie. Also, the interval bang doesn’t seem very effective in the film.
The film starts off in a way that captivates the audience right from the start. After such an interesting start, the story becomes more gripping as it goes into a certain layer. Good dialogues and interesting scenes that create curiosity come one after another, making the story engaging. This is a story between a villain who thinks that only the rich deserve to live on this earth, and a hero who thinks that those without humanity have no place on this earth. While the main intention of the villain is that there should be no one to question, the hero’s opinion is that oppression begins from the moment there is no question. The director has spun this story around these two. In political thriller films, politics on one side, police officers on the other, and media rush on the other side are always visible on the screen. This film also appears with such characteristics. This film was made in Tamil with the name ‘Shakti Thirumagan’. It was released in Telugu with the title ‘Bhadrakali’. There is no need to say anything special about the name ‘Bhadrakali’ being powerful. But the surprising thing is that this title has nothing to do with the story of this film. Usually, Vijay Antony’s films stick to a concept. Love.. romance.. duets.. comedy are not seen in his films. However, director Arun Prabhu has prepared this story by touching on romance lightly. However, it seems that he could not present the path taken by the hero.. his intention perfectly. There is no need to say anything special about Vijay Antony doing such serious roles well. These types of stories.. roles are what he has done in the past.
Whoever did it… Vijay Antony chose the role of Kittu according to his body language and attitude and settled into it. But it seems that he should have been more careful about the story, narration, and his character. As an actor, Vijay Antony’s choice of stories is good. His character style is also entertaining according to the story. Kittu’s role in this film is also the same. He acted well within the scope of the role. He is handsome. The heroine Trupti Ravindra’s role is a small one. She gave a good performance as Kittu’s wife. Sunil Kirpalani appeared in this as a person who has been striving to become the President for several years and as a person who rules the government by giving the mastermind plans behind the political leaders. He did full justice to that role. Kiran’s performance as Special Officer Ram Pandey is good. The investigation scenes are somewhat good. Rhea Jeetu also appeared in the investigation team and impressed. Cell Murugan entertained as Maruthi in a supporting role to the hero.
When it comes to technical matters.. the cinematography is good. Vijay Antony’s music is a plus for the film. The background music took it forward. But the lack of impactful music is a minus. Vijay Antony himself composed the music. But the songs are very dull, which is another minus. The editing is not good. The production values are good. Finally.. the lack of flashbacks that would take the film ‘Bhadrakali’, which was made as a political drama with revenge, to the next level, had an effect on the film. The only thing that was seen was the desire to make it with a good concept. Overall, those who like political thriller stories will be satisfied to some extent if they go without any expectations. When a question is asked.. if it is possible, the correct answer should be given, otherwise.. the answer to that question should be left for people to think about. Moreover.. since the good question raised has to be answered somehow, ending with a commercial justification is not satisfying. I did not expect such a justification from a director like Arun Prabhu. Therefore.. the first half, which started interestingly, slows down towards the second half. Therefore, it must be said that the film could not fully entertain the audience.
