Anand Deverakonda and Vaishnavi Chaitanya, who became one of the more talked-about pairs after Baby, are back together with Epic – First Semester. Directed by Aditya Haasan of 90s Middle Class Biopic fame, the film moves away from the small-town setting and takes its characters to the UK, where student life, money problems, relationships and the whole idea of being independent start getting mixed together. At its best, the movie feels like a fairly easygoing look at young people trying to figure themselves out while living far away from home. It doesn’t always get the balance right, though.
The Story and the Arrangement
The film follows Aditya, a young man from Wanaparthy who wants to become a film director. His parents, played by Shivaji and Vasuki, mean well but have their own ideas about what he should do with his life. Aditya eventually takes an education loan and heads to the UK for his studies, even though leaving home and starting over in a completely different country isn’t exactly the dream he had in mind.
Once he reaches London, he meets Kadali, another Telugu student who is also trying to make her life work in a foreign country. Their relationship moves surprisingly fast. Kadali ends up moving into Aditya’s apartment so they can split the rent and other expenses, but they make a few rules before getting too comfortable with the arrangement: no emotional attachment, no family getting involved and no talk about marriage.
Obviously, those rules aren’t going to survive for very long.
What starts off as a convenient live-in arrangement gradually gets more complicated as their problems from back home begin to catch up with them. Money becomes an issue, personal struggles start getting in the way, and the feelings they were trying not to talk about become harder to ignore. The basic setup is familiar, but the film gets some mileage out of putting it in the world of Telugu students living abroad.
Anand and Vaishnavi Make the Pair Work
Anand Deverakonda is comfortable as Aditya, especially in the early portions where the character is still trying to figure out London and everything that comes with it. There’s an innocence to him that feels believable for someone from a small town suddenly having to deal with a very different lifestyle. He also handles the romantic portions without making the character feel too calculated.
Vaishnavi Chaitanya gets the bolder role as Kadali, and she approaches it with plenty of confidence. It’s quite different from some of the characters she has played before, which helps. More importantly, she and Anand have enough chemistry to make their relationship believable. Considering how strongly audiences remember them from Baby, there was always a chance people would simply see the same pairing again. That doesn’t really happen here. They feel like different characters this time.
The supporting cast is useful in keeping the film from becoming too serious. Kalyan Shankar and Srinivas Gavireddy get some of the lighter material as Aditya’s friends, and their conversations about relationships and student life provide a few good laughs. Shivaji and Vasuki also work well as the concerned middle-class parents who are constantly thinking about their son’s future, even when Aditya would probably prefer them to stop worrying so much.
London Looks Good, and the Music Helps
The film gets a nice visual boost from its London setting. The cinematography makes good use of the city without turning every shot into a postcard, and there’s a noticeable contrast between the wider outdoor locations and the much more confined apartment where Aditya and Kadali spend a lot of their time.
Hesham Abdul Wahab’s music fits the mood too. The songs and background score add energy to the funnier portions, while the more emotional scenes get the kind of musical support they need. Nothing about the technical side feels like a major problem, and the production values are clearly one of the film’s strengths.
The First Half Works Better
The biggest issue with Epic – First Semester is that the film doesn’t maintain the same energy throughout. The first half is probably where it is most comfortable. It moves quickly, the humour lands more naturally, and the situations involving international students feel easy enough to relate to. Aditya Haasan is also more confident here, particularly in the way he handles the film’s modern relationship setup without constantly trying to explain or justify it.
The second half is where things start getting a little stuck. The story becomes more focused on emotional problems, health issues and career decisions, and much of it happens inside the same apartment. That makes the movie feel smaller at exactly the point when the story should probably be opening up.
The tonal change can be a little awkward too. The first half has a light, contemporary feel, while the later portions become much heavier and more dramatic. Some of those emotional scenes work, but others feel like the film is pushing a little too hard to make us feel something that the earlier part handled much more casually.
Final Verdict
Epic – First Semester has an interesting enough idea at its centre: young Telugu students trying to build a life in another country while dealing with relationships, money, family expectations and their own ambitions. Anand Deverakonda and Vaishnavi Chaitanya are the main reason the film remains watchable, and their chemistry gives the relationship enough warmth to carry the lighter portions.
The second half could have been handled better, especially with a tighter screenplay and less time spent in the same setting. Still, the movie has enough humour, good performances and a reasonably fresh take on modern relationships to work as an easygoing watch, particularly for younger audiences who may recognize some of the situations.
And yes, the title does mean exactly what it suggests. Epic – First Semester is only the beginning. The film ends on an open note, clearly leaving the door open for Epic – Final Semester to continue Aditya and Kadali’s story.