Kuberaa Movie Review- Telugu (2025)

Movie: Kuberaa (2025)

Director: Shekhar Kammula

Production: Sree Venkateswara Cinemas

Cast: Dhanush, Nagarjuna, Rashmika Mandanna & Others

Music: Devi Sri Prasad 

Editor: Karthika Srinivas

Cinematographer: Niketh Bommireddy

Language: Telugu & Tamil

Release Date: 20 Jun

Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime 

Censor: U/A

3.5/5

Story of an Innocent Man in Rags 

01. What is Kuberaa all about?

Kuberaa is a completely new Telugu genre film directed by Shekhar Kammula which is very much different from his usual template. And to everyone's surprise is a serious yet tricky screenplay featuring a very new aspect of Telugu cinema and the story telling. Ironically this film surprises with no/null Shekhar Kammula's doings or signature marks!

Kuberaa is a very good story of a naive beggar Deva Kallam by tamil superstar Dhanush in his most comfortable role and splendid action. Entire movie revolves around this central character and the story happens around him. Basically Neeraj Mitra by Jim Sarbh is a rich business tycoon who plans a heinous scam on one of the wealthiest oil reserves in the most malicious way. Deepak a strict/honest yet an opportunistic/ two faced CBI officer played by legendary Akkineni Nagarjuna is forced to plan and execute this scam in his complete direction and planning due to many unforseen circumstances. Sameera played by Rashmika shines in an important role though not given as much screen presence as others. To watch out what is what you need to watch the film. 

02. What impresses in Kuberaa the most?

The entire first half! Story directly jumps into a serious screenplay right from minute one and takes us on an emotional, suspense rollar coaster ride with a subtle screenplay yet top notch writing of characters. There is so much going on each scene and the build up to a much elevated scenario later is setup or executed very well by the director. Next the amazing performance by the lead cast makes it watch worthy - the simple yet amazing Dhanush rocks the stage with his naive beggar performance & Nagarjuna shines in his role though there is a significant dip in his usual charm & energy in his usual presence but he makes sure that why he's been called the big budget film hero. 

Music by Devi Sri Prasad is yet another amazing element that elevates the story onto another elevation. Where ever there is a dip in the screenplay Devi is on board striking some amazing chords at BGM. Time and again he proves why he's getting so much work in TFI every now and then. 

03. Any drawbacks?

Ofcourse yes! Though first half sets up stage for an amazing later part - it is almost wasted by the director. Shekhar runs out of script by the end of first half & messes up the execution and deviates story with some other lagging or unwanted scenes. I felt that second half should have been much better. Again coming back to crucial part- why we should have Jim Sarbh as Neeraj Mitra? Is it too necessary? Not being an hypocrite but why him in Telugu when he can't lend his voice nor differentiate between subtle nuances? Straight question to the director! Easily Jagapathy Babu or some other Telugu actor should've done more justice to the role. Rashmika gets a meatier role but she however wastes it with her irritating action which probably she never can improve. 

04. Finally 

Kuberaa is a very good watch for viewers exploring different or experimental genres but if you are a fan of Shekhar Kammula's usual template movies then this is not for you. Otherwise it's a great watch but also said not a great theater film- suits for an OTT watch in consideration to the later part of the film. First half and Dhanush are sole saviours of the film making it a above average to blockbuster watch.