‘Kuberaa’ review: Overstretched yarn about temptation and salvation beggars belief

Telugu hit-maker Sekhar Kammula’s Kuberaa has every intention of being an epic drama about greed, temptation and corruption. The first hint of Kammula’s ambition is Kuberaa’s duration: 182 minutes.

The first hour or so is well-spent. Kammula and co-writer Chaithanya Pingali neatly set up the racket that links the beggar Deva (Dhanush), Central Bureau of Investigation officer Deepak (Nagarjuna) and the Mumbai-based billionaire Neeraj (Jim Sarbh).

A clash of interests and income levels is afoot, depicted through the visual contrast between luxurious skyscrapers and squalor on the ground.

Neeraj recruits Deepak, who is languishing in prison on a trumped-up charge, to handle hush payments to a political party in exchange for a lucrative project. Deepak, making the fastest move in a sluggishly paced film, sheds his principles overnight to work for Neeraj.

Deepak’s scheme involves laundering the money through offshore accounts set up in the name of clueless beggars. Deva is among the beggars who are picked off the streets, given a bath and basic skills, and used to transfer vast sums of wealth.

It works until it doesn’t. Deva slips out of the net and goes on the run, with Neeraj’s hoodlums and Deepak in hot pursuit. Sameera (Rashmika Mandanna) is force-fitted into the plot, randomly meeting Deva and running into him repeatedly...

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