Dilruba Review: Kiran Abbavaram's Film Is Loud And Tedious

Film: Dilruba

Cast: Kiran Abbavaram, Rukshar Dhillon, Nazia Davison, John Vijay and Aadukalam Naren

Director: Viswa Karun

Release Date: March 14, 2025

Rating: 2

After a breakup, Siddhu (Kiran Abbavaram) joins an engineering college in Karnataka, where he falls for Anjali (Rukshar Dhillon) and starts moving on. A college incident spirals out of control, and the cops ask Siddhu to apologise, but he refuses. This upsets Anjali, leading to their breakup. Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend Magi (Nazia Davison) returns to India to help him…and a dangerous criminal, seeking revenge over a lost drug cartel is also after his life. How can navigates the challenges?

Dilruba is written and directed by Viswa Karun who has chosen a romantic action drama for Kiran Abbavaram. But he picks up a plot that is routine and lacks anything fresh. The entire first half is wasted on establishing a story that hardly has anything. The premise is simple as the hero refuses to say "sorry" or "thank you" in life. What happens when such a person falls in love leading to unexpected issues? This is a tried-and-tested formula in Telugu cinema, and Dilruba follows the same path. It’s hard to understand why Kiran even greenlit the project. Apart from an author-backed role, the film offers nothing new. The unnecessary elevation of heroism makes it seem like the film was made to showcase Kiran in an action-packed avatar.

The basic plot lacks depth, and logic takes a backseat. The love story feels forced. The subplot involving the ex-girlfriend returning to help with his new relationship is over-the-top and silly. One of the film's biggest drawbacks is the villain's track — John Vijay’s exaggerated performance makes you want to walk out multiple times. The love story lacks emotional depth, and the film takes forever to reach its actual conflict. The comedy falls flat, and the overall proceedings test your patience.

The second half has a few decent moments between the lead pair, but weak execution ruins the narrative. This kind of plot is outdated, and there's little point in discussing how it tries to impress audiences. On the technical front, the songs are decent, the visuals are good, and the action sequences are well-executed. The background score is passable, but Viswa Karun's direction leaves much to be desired. At a time when content-driven films are thriving, Dilruba feels stuck in the 90s.

Though Kiran Abbavaram is presented impressively, the director goes overboard, making Kiran’s dialogue delivery feel monotonous at times. The only saving grace of the film is Rukshar Dhillon who delivers an honest performance. She looks beautiful and has a strong screen presence. On the other hand, John Vijay hams it up making an infuriating presence in Dilruba.

Dilruba has a tried and tested formula that has been showcased in many films to date. There’s nothing novel as the proceedings are forced and make the film a below-par watch this weekend.

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