''Ustaad'' is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language coming-of-age drama film directed by Phanideep and starring
Sri Simha Koduri and
Kavya Kalyanram. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
Cast
*
Sri Simha Koduri as Surya Sivakumar
*
Kavya Kalyanram as Meghana
*
Gautham Vasudev Menon as Joseph D'Souza
*
Anu Hasan
Anu Haasan (born Anuradha Chandrahaasan on 16 July 1970) is an Indian actress and TV anchor. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed '' Indira'' (1995) and has since appeared in many Tamil films, playing minor roles. She hosted the c ...
as Gayathri
*
Ravindra Vijay
Ravindra Vijay is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu films. After beginning his career as a theatre actor, Ravindra had a career breakthrough with appearances in ''Odu Raja Odu'' (2018) and '' Uma Maheshwara Ugra Roopasya ...
as an alcoholic mechanic
*
Venkatesh Maha
Venkatesh Maha is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who works in Telugu cinema. He's known for directing films such as '' C/o Kancharapalem'' (2018) and ''Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya'' (2020).
Career
Maha left his house at the ...
as Sivakumar, Surya's father (Cameo Appearance)
*Ravi Siva Teja as Surya's friend
The lead characters' names are based on ''
Surya S/o Krishnan'' (2008) and that film's director
Gautham Vasudev Menon features in this film as an actor.
Production
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Akeeva B.
Reception
A critic from ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' wrote that "The drama loses steam after a point and the writing resorts to cinematic overtures and convenient coincidences in the final segment. Had this portion been conceived better, it would have been a befitting end to the coming-of-age story". A critic from ''
OTTplay'' wrote that "''Ustaad'' is a coming-of-age story depicting the transition of a directionless teenager to a pilot where a bike is a metaphor to portray his journey. The film struggles to keep you invested in the protagonist’s journey despite the impressive performances, visual detailing and technical finesse".
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, 27116302
Indian coming-of-age drama films