India, July 24 -- The period epic Hari Hara Veera Mallu paints both the titular character and its lead actor, Pawan Kalyan, as larger-than-life figures who can hardly do any wrong and will always find a way to save the day. By the end of the Krish and Jyothi Krisna-directorial, one can't help but wonder where Pawan the Deputy CM ends and Pawan the actor begins when the film is revealed to be all about protecting dharma.

Veera Mallu (Pawan Kalyan) is an outlaw for hire whose expertise lies in stealing jewels from the greedy and redistributing wealth to the needy - he's quite Marxist like that. But almost like a long-lost brother of Comrade Acharya (Chiranjeevi in the 2022 film), he's also the saviour of dharma, someone who realises the th...