'Hero' movie review: Flimsy story, wacky narrative
Ashok Galla's debut Telugu film mixes comedy, romance and thriller in its first half but loses narrative coherence once its central gun mix-up plot unravels, critics said.
"Hero," the Telugu-language debut film of Ashok Galla, nephew of actor Mahesh Babu, released January 15, 2022 during the Sankranthi season, drew a mixed 2.5-out-of-5-star review from Gulte, which called its story flimsy and its narrative wacky.
The film, directed by Sriram Adittya and co-starring Nidhhi Agerwal with music by Ghibran, follows Arjun, an aspiring actor who mistakenly receives a gun intended for someone else and then must protect his girlfriend's father from villains plotting to kill him, all while still chasing his acting dreams, according to Gulte's review.
Gulte's review praised the film's "stylish making" and appealing visuals, along with the twists built into its first half.
Where critics said it fell apart
Gulte's review pointed to the film's second half as its weak point, citing "too many subplots," a weak second half, an unsatisfying climax and poorly developed antagonists.
The bottom line
Gulte's review summarized that the "non-seriousness storytelling" approach, which the review suggested had worked for the filmmakers elsewhere, "didn't work for Hero at all," faulting the film for lacking emotional depth and narrative coherence in its latter half despite an engaging opening stretch.
What it signals
The review reflects a common critical pattern reported for the film: praise for its opening tonal juggling act and visual style, paired with criticism that the plot mechanics built around the gun mix-up could not sustain a coherent back half. The review retrieved this session did not provide box office figures.
A family endorsement, and a box-office clash
Ashok Galla's uncle, superstar Mahesh Babu, released a video message ahead of the January 15 opening, telling fans, "I've watched the movie Hero and I loved it a lot," and adding of his nephew, "Ashok who is brilliant in the film. All the hard work he's put in for past five to six years is paying off. Ashok, I'm extremely proud of you. All the best for the big day tomorrow." Mahesh Babu's message also invoked the family's Sankranthi track record, noting that his own father, actor Krishna, had multiple Sankranthi-season releases become hits, and voicing hope fans would extend the same support to Ashok Galla's debut.
"Hero" opened during a crowded Sankranthi release window, sharing the holiday box office with Nagarjuna's "Bangarraju" and "Rowdy Boys." Coverage of the film's commercial run reported total collections of roughly ₹5.10 crore, a result described in Telugu trade coverage as below-average for the festival slot.
What other reviews said
The mixed verdict was not confined to Gulte. Other Telugu outlets reviewing the same release similarly credited the film's first half — its pace, its slapstick attempts and Ashok Galla's "lively and energetic screen presence" in his debut — while faulting a second half built around a single dragged-out plot point carried through to the climax. That split verdict, praise for the newcomer's energy paired with criticism of the back-half plotting, recurred across the Telugu critical coverage retrieved for this account.
US In News compiled this archived account from contemporaneous coverage by Gulte, with additional detail on the film's reception and box office drawn from Mahesh Babu's release-day video message and other contemporaneous Telugu trade coverage. It restores a story originally published on this site in January 2022; figures are as reported at the time.