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A small-budget film named 7:11 PM has grabbed eyeballs with its promotional content recently. It stars Saahas Pagadala and Deepika Reddy in the lead roles. Chaitu Madala directed it, and the movie hit the screens today. Let’s see how it is.

Story:

Set in 1999, the story happens in Hamsaladeevi of Andhra Pradesh. Ravi Prasad (Saahas Pagadala) is an IPS aspirant who is head over heels for village belle Vimala (Deepika Reddy). A few extraterrestrial humans land in the town for a mission. It is also the time a big mutual fund scam is about to bust in Hamsaladeevi. Ravi Prasad and his gang try their best to bust the scam. How a small incident changes the paths of villagers and extraterrestrial humans is what the movie is about.

Plus Points:

Though it is a small-budget movie, the makers made it look grand and didn’t compromise on the quality. Hamsaladeevi and Melbourne, where the majority of the story takes place, is nicely showcased. The production design team did an exquisite job.

Saahas Pagadala gave a neat and sincere performance as a small-town boy. It is around him the entire story revolves, and the young actor did a fine job. Deepika Reddy did a decent job in her given role. Scenes that come before the interval and the climax are interesting.

Tess Walsh lends a nice support to Saahas Pagadala. Raghu Karumanchi, Dr. Bharat Reddy, Charan Kurugonda, and others pass muster. Rising Raju provides respite over the end with his comedy timing.

Minus Points:

7:11 PM is no doubt an ambitious project, but it goes wrong in the majority of the aspects. The main drawback, however, is its dull screenplay which doesn’t take off till the end. Sci-fi thrillers need to have a proper setup which is when the payoff will be good. In 7:11 PM, things are not set up well, and hence the ending doesn’t give a satisfactory feel.

The sci-fi movies like Play Back and Indru Netru Nalai follow a pattern according to which a change of a few past events by going back in time will ultimately change the outcome of another event. 7:11 PM also falls in the same category. This has not been handled well, and the proceedings lack any excitement. Things happen at a leisure pace eating up the screen time.

Also, the film lacks clarity in the proceedings. As similar films on this concept have come in the past, the ending is familiar to the audiences. Hence the mid portions need to be highly thrilling to captivate the audiences. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, as the mid portions are mundane and a tad slow.

Sci-fi movies also can’t go wrong regarding logics, but 7:11 PM falters highly in this aspect. We get to see QR code payment scanners in brick-and-mortar stores for a movie that is set in 1999.

Technical Aspects:

The makers spent well, and the visuals were easy on the eye. Siva Shankar and Fabio Capodivento nicely captured the local and foreign locations with their lens. Gyaani’s music is passable. The editing is fine in the first half, but it is below par in the second half.

Coming to the director, Chaitu Maidala, he picked up an interesting concept, but he didn’t succeed in narrating it in an engaging way. Even the suspense elements don’t intrigue one. The screenplay is problematic such that it takes a while to figure out what exactly is happening.

Verdict:

On the whole, 7:11 PM has a decent premise, but the presentation is underwhelming. The movie could have been highly fascinating only if the execution had been engaging. The interesting moments are short-lived as they are followed by dull scenes. If you expect an edge-of-the-seat sci-fi thriller, you may get disappointed, and hence it is advised to keep your expectations low.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.5/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

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