Theatres across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are still buzzing with the residual energy of a certain tech-themed romance that hit the marquee on September 2. Titled Romanchakam, this 140-minute ride from director Venu Gopal Reddy is not just another love story scribbled on a formulaic board. It is an attempt to interrogate the millennial obsession with validation, albeit wrapped in a frothy, chaotic package that sometimes feels like a group chat come to life.
At the center of this storm is Sumanth Prabhas, who delivers a performance that is equal parts swagger and vulnerability. He plays a cocky engineering graduate who decides, on a whim, to build a dating app. His logic? If he can crack the algorithm of romance, he can prove to the world - and more importantly, to himself - that he is not a failure. It is a premise dripping with irony, because as the film unfolds, it becomes brutally clear that the only person he cannot crack is himself.
The opening hour establishes the playground with a brisk, confident hand. The hero’s friend circle, played with infectious energy by Venkatesh Kakumanu and Mani Aegurla, provides the comic scaffolding. Their banter is sharp, and the situations they stumble into feel lifted from a hyper-real Saturday night in Hyderabad. The money troubles are real, the startup is on life support, and the jokes land with a relatable thud. You have seen this boy before: the one who talks a big game but can barely pay his rent, who treats his phone like a holy grail of potential matches.
Then enters Ananthika Sanilkumar, not as the girl next door, but as a spectral presence on the other side of the screen. Her introduction is cleverly managed, a series of text bubbles and voice notes that ripple with mystery. The film pivots from a light-hearted chase to a psychological fog. A strange encounter - one that hints at something darker than a bruised ego - sets the narrative down a path where the protagonist must confront the cracks in his own facade. Upendra Limaye, as a figure who seems to hold the key to this existential puzzle, brings a gravelly gravitas to the second half. His presence is a jolt, a reminder that the stakes are higher than a simple swipe right.
What distinguishes Romanchakam from the recent glut of rom-coms is its willingness to slow down. Director Venu Gopal Reddy, who also helms the writing, takes a significant risk by letting the comedy curdle into unease. There are stretches where the theatre goes silent, not in boredom, but in that uncomfortable stillness that precedes a revelation. The chase for a girl - initially superficial and ego-driven - transforms into a hunt for self-awareness. The film asks a difficult question: how do you love someone when you have constructed an elaborate lie about who you are?
The technical craft supports the tonal shifts admirably. The cinematography paints the urban milieu with a neon-tinged gloss in the first half, only to mute the colors into grey, rainy corridors in the second. The editing keeps the runtime tight, though a few subplots involving Narendra Ravi’s character feel slightly underwritten. He appears as a grounding paternal figure, but his arc is resolved with a haste that feels unearned.
The performances are the film's beating heart. Sumanth Prabhas sheds his previous action-hero image with a startling ease, allowing his ego to be punctured repeatedly. He is funny, frustrating, and ultimately pitiable, a combination that is hard to pull off. Ananthika Sanilkumar, playing a role that is deliberately oblique, manages to convey depth even when her motivations are kept off-screen for long stretches. Her chemistry with the lead is built on absence and longing rather than physical proximity, which is a bold choice for a Telugu romance.
For the uninitiated, the title translates roughly to "thrilling" or "goosebump-inducing," but the film is less about jump scares and more about the slow dread of self-realization. The romance is there, but it is in service of a larger commentary on dishonesty - both digital and emotional. The climax, while a bit tidy, offers a catharsis that feels earned. He learns that the hardest person to understand isn't the stranger on the app, but the reflection that stares back at him when the screen goes dark.
The film is currently playing in theaters, and given its fresh premise and honest performances, it is a worthy watch for those who prefer their rom-coms with a chaser of introspection. It is not perfect; the tonal whiplash occasionally feels jarring, and a few comedic sequences overstay their welcome. But in a season of recycled plots, Romanchakam dares to look inward. And for that alone, it deserves your attention.
