Dennis does a good job of delving deep into the corruption that perseveres when it comes to sports in this country and how multi-national corporations, coaches, local leaders and several others decide the fate of brilliant players with potential who never even get the chance to compete. Sundeep, Priyadarshi and Rahul Ramakrishna lend credibility, despite a short amount of time given to their tale, tugging heart strings even as Sanju decides to fight back during the fateful match. What does work for the film is Sanju and his back-story. It can’t be just for the carefully choreographed duets and for Lavanya’s (the actress, not the character) charm. Despite having potential, her character does end up being relegated to a bystander by the end of the film, making you wonder, why so much time was spent setting it up. But the second her character goes from driving a bike to sitting pillion with Sanju, you know the focus will shift too. But it’s soon revealed that he has a traumatic past he’s trying hard to forget.ĭennis spends a lot of time in the first half not just setting up Lavanya’s character but also the chemistry between her and Sanju.

Sanju aka Sundeep Naidu (Sundeep Kishan) comes to Yanam from Vizag and seems like an aimless youth whose only purpose is to woo Lavanya. Coach Murali (Murli Sharma) is a retired army officer who has big dreams for his players, including Lavanya Rao (Lavanya Tripathi). Despite India achieving Independence from colonisers, years later, a bunch of underdogs have to play a match again to save what truly belongs to them. In Yanam, Sports Minister Ramesh (Rao Ramesh) inaugurates a hockey stadium named after P Chitti Babu, a local legend who had once played a hockey match to save the day against the French. But A1 Express also weaves in a tale of friendship, love and makes social commentary on just how hard it is to actually pursue sports as a career in this country. Like it often is in sports dramas, the underdogs must play a match to prove their worth and save the day.

Review: Dennis Jeevan Kanukolanu’s A1 Express is a remake of the Tamil sports drama Nanpe Thunai. Will they win the match that decides their fate? Story: The Yanam hockey team is fighting hard to save their stadium from a corrupt Sports Minister.

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