What Is the Story About?
Disney Plus Hotstar’s latest Telugu show, ‘Anger Tales’, is an anthology of four short stories, each focusing on a suppressed individual, who finally rebels when things go beyond breaking point. A pregnant, upper-class woman; a movie fan, crazily devoted to his favourite hero; a bald, unmarried man; a desperate housewife – all four face exasperating situations, and all four rebel in their own unique ways.
Anger Tales is written by Prabhala Tilak and Karthikeya Karedla, directed by Prabhala Tilak, and produced by Sridhar Reddy and Suhas.
Performances?
The performances in Anger Tales are the best thing about the show. All the actors have tried to make the best of the underwhelmingly written characters. Venkatesh Maha, Madonna Sebastian, Tharun Bhascker, Phani Acharya, Ravindra Vijay, Suhas – all have put in commendable performances. Bindu Madhavi‘s performance as harried housewife Radha is easily the best and most effective of the lot.
Analysis?
The four ‘Anger Tales’ in Disney Plus Hotstar’s new series are anything but. Going by the trailer and the taglines of ‘Anger Tales’, one expected a blast of stories that are explosive, incendiary and will blow the minds of viewers. We expected the protagonists to display rage – impassioned and uncontrollable; the kind that makes perfectly sane people do outrageously insane things. Instead, what we get in the name of ‘Anger’ tales are damp squibs that are mild and mellow, and lack the fire and fury of real, indignant, livid anger.
That being said, even if we discount the ‘anger’ part of the title, the four tales in the series are hardly the kind that leave any kind of lasting impact on the viewer. Each story ends with a surprising twist – an act of rebellion that goes against the nature and ideals of the protagonist in the story. However, none is remarkable enough to trigger that elusive ‘aha’ moment in the minds of the viewer. The makers need only have taken a leaf out of Shefali Shah’s ‘Juice’, which leveraged the sentiment of angry rebellion to devastating effect.
The first story, titled ‘Benefit Show’, is centered on Ranga (Venkatesh Maha), a cinema fan in small town Andhra Pradesh, who organises a fan show of his favourite hero’s new film, ‘Blaster’. When things don’t go according to his hopes, he does something out of the ordinary. It’s obvious that the writer and director hoped to deliver a punch with the ending, but fail to make any kind of impact.
The same thing plays out with the other three tales in the anthology. Each story builds up to a boiling point, only to fizzle out like a faulty firecracker at the end. Giridhar’s (Phani Acharya) story starts out like Ayushmann Khurrana’s ‘Bala’, but ends on an irrational note by questioning road safety practices. Pooja’s (Madonna Sebastian) story is quite relatable, but unimpressive when viewed as a whole. Finally, Radha’s (Bindu Madhavi) segment is the one that is the most engaging to watch. The ending is a bit over-the-top, but fun nevertheless.
To sum it up, ‘Anger Tales‘ entertains in fits and starts in the beginning, finally getting quite boring by the last story in the anthology. Watch it if you must, but even if you don’t, you won’t miss anything interesting.
Music and Other Departments?
Smaran Sai’s songs and background music is stellar. It manages to infuse dynamism in the four segments of the anthology, an element that is inherently lacking in the stories themselves.
The cinematography by AJ Aaron (Food Festival), Amardeep Guttala (Benefit Show), Vinod Bangari (An Afternoon Nap) and Venkat R. Shakamuri (Helmet Head) is on point, precisely capturing the essence of the tales that the writer and director want to convey. Kodati Pavan Kalyan’s editing is good.
Highlights?
The cast
Drawbacks?
Underwhelming writing
Flat, insipid tales
Last segment is outright boring
Did I Enjoy It?
Not as much
Will You Recommend It?
Not quite
Anger Tales Telugu Series Review by Binged Bureau