Director: Gowtam Tinnanuri
Cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Satyadev, Bhagyashri Borse, Venkitesh VP, Manish Choudhary
Music: Anirudh Ravichander
Release Date: July 31, 2025
Runtime: ~2h 40m
Gowtam Tinnanuri’s Kingdom marks a bold shift from his emotional family dramas into large-scale spy territory. With Vijay Deverakonda in the lead as Suri, the film offers a mix of emotional intensity and stylized action. While the first half lays a solid foundation, the second half tends to lose narrative focus, leaving audiences both impressed and underwhelmed.
Plot & Structure
The movie begins in the 1920s, when a Telugu-speaking coastal tribal people experience brutal colonial violence. This prologue sets the mythic saviour narrative that encapsulates Suri’s mission decades later. Jump-forward to the 1990s, Vijay’s Suri, who is still haunted by his estranged brother Shiva’s vanishing act, receives a secret mission in Sri Lanka. He finds his brother involved in a smuggling ring. The first half is presented with controlled tension and develops intrigue about sibling duty, cultural identity, and spying.
Strengths: The dual timelines are handled confidently, and the prologue sets emotional stakes for the decades-later reunion. Scenes like Suri infiltrating Jaffna prison and his emotional face-off with Siva are compelling and well directed. The brotherly bond forms the film’s emotional anchor, carried primarily by Vijay Deverakonda and Satyadev.
Weaknesses: Some backstory cues feel underexplained—even as the emotional stakes rise, the supporting characters’ motivations remain murky, especially for Bhagyashri Borse’s Madhu. Her arc feels unnecessary and shrinks further in the second half.
Performances & Characters
Vijay Deverakonda plays a contained but mighty role—fewer swaggering moves, more seething determination—in his career-best performance, according to many critics. The actor plays a conflicted individual between duty and brotherhood with gravitas earned. Satyadev plays quietly intense in the role of Siva and partners well with Vijay. The actor Venkitesh VP plays the villainous Murugan with dominant screen presence in his brief time on screen.
Strengths: The lead duo share chemistry that emotionally grounds the narrative—even when the action intensifies. Audience praise has centered squarely on these performances as the film’s emotional core.
Flaws: Some fans on discussion boards have panned the delivery of Deverakonda’s dialogues, citing his tonal consistency from role to role. Supportive casts—particularly women—are thinly written and thus appear more functional than developed.
Visuals, Music & Action
Cinematographers Jomon T. John and Girish Gangadharan present stunning shots—be it from brooding coastal towns to rainy escapes—giving Kingdom a unique look. Production design and VFX support the pan-India ambition sought. Anirudh Ravichander’s score, especially “Ragile Ragile” and the eerie BGM, was universally acclaimed for amplifying emotional moments and crisp action scenes
Strengths: The film is visually sumptuous, and the background score elevates key sequences dramatically. Many viewers credited Anirudh’s music for rescuing scenes that might otherwise underwhelm.
Weaknesses: Some action moves come across as derivative—reminding the viewer of KGF or Salaar but lacking freshness. The predictable-looking template and uninspiring VFX in some action sequences detract from impact.
Pacing, Screenplay & Second Half Dip
Even with initial momentum, Kingdom runs out of steam later on. The direction turns away from substance toward spectacle—discussion becomes exposition, the core conflict evolves toward more generic gangster fare, and the pacing slows. Action scenes such as a Game-of-Thrones-style cartel slaying and prolonged boat battles interrupt narrative pacing instead of advancing it.
Strengths: The thematic ambition—exploring duty, brotherhood, and sacrifice—is commendable. Audiences appreciated the second-half climax and pre-climax tension, and many netizens hailed the finale as a dramatic turnaround.
Weaknesses: Padded scenes and weak narrative coherence lessen emotional impact. Critics consistently referred to the second half as an “absurd” or “undercooked” second half, citing the failure to develop the movie’s full potential.
Audience & Critical Reception
Strengths: Right from the early release, Kingdom garnered massive support on platforms such as X and Reddit—most referring to it as a “mass blockbuster ride.” The cheers largely revolved around Vijay’s performance, Anirudh’s BGM, and technical finesse.
Weaknesses: Others compared the tale to previous genre movies and found the movie to be “old wine in a new bottle.” Some also complained about predictable plot twists, unsatisfying emotional climaxes, and expositional dialog that fell flat.
Final Verdict
Kingdom is a technically slick thriller and relies heavily on the dominant screen presence of Vijay Deverakonda and the robust soundtrack of Anirudh. The movie’s best asset is its aesthetic appeal and the chemistry between the two leads. But the film’s pace slumps in the second half owing to the pacing problems and the flat character progression and a meandering screenplay.
If performance-oriented drama and competent camera work are what you’re after, Kingdom delivers. If narrative coherence and innovation take priority over all else, keep your expectations in check.