Movie: Don’t Trouble The Trouble
Rating: 2.25/5
Banner: Arka Media Works, Showing Business
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Ssara Palekar, Saurabh Sachdeva, Subbaraju, Shashank, Venkatesh Kakumanu, Mahesh Manjrekar and others
Music Director: Kaala Bhairava
DOP: Brad Francis ACS
Editor: Praveen Anthony
Production Designers: Mohan Nath Bingi, Sandeep Suvarna
Producers: Shobu Yarlagadda, Prasad Devineni, S S Karthikeya
Written and Directed by: Shashank Yeleti
Release Date: October 2, 2026
The producers of Baahubali and S. S. Karthikeya, son of S. S. Rajamouli, coming together for a film starring Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil, who became popular among Telugu audiences after Pushpa, naturally created curiosity. Balakrishna’s voice-over for the trailer and NTR attending the pre-release event further added to the hype. But has the film lived up to the promise?
Let’s find out.
Story
Soori (Fahadh Faasil) makes money by duping people through petty tricks. One day, he comes across a girl named Divya (Ssara Palekar) and her dog.
Divya believes that Soori is a magician, while Soori thinks he can make easy money by calling her parents and demanding a ransom.
However, he soon discovers that Divya’s parents are missing. Her uncle Pratap (Saurabh Sachdeva) agrees to pay the money if Soori brings Divya to him.
To Soori’s shock, he later learns that Divya is actually a spirit and not a real girl. What happens next forms the rest of the story.
Performances
Fahadh Faasil, in his first Telugu film as a lead actor, does justice to his role. The character itself is not particularly challenging for an actor of his calibre, but he has clearly made an effort with his Telugu dialogues. His acting ability is more evident in the police station sequence in the second half. However, the character also requires a certain wit and sharpness, which Fahadh does not quite bring out.
Ssara Palekar is really good as Divya. She acted as required, but her character could have created much of an emotional connection with the audience, towards the end.
Subbaraju’s character and performance come across as silly.
Saurabh Sachdeva’s role is underwritten, leaving one wondering what exactly the character adds to the story and why an actor from Bollywood was brought in for the part.
Venkatesh Kakumanu, as Fahadh Faasil’s friend, is good. Mahesh Manjrekar, as an Old City politician, does what is required of him.
Technical Aspects
The film has been shot extensively at real locations across Hyderabad, which gives it a certain sense of realism. The visual effects used for Divya’s sequences and a few other portions are neat.
The cinematography is decent, while Kaala Bhairava’s music hardly makes an impact. The production design is adequate.
Highlights
Fahadh Faasil
Police station sequence
Drawbacks
Illogical plot and sequences
Sluggish narration
Silly climax
Neither entertaining nor emotional
Analysis
Don’t Trouble The Trouble is a catchy title, especially as the phrase is associated with Nandamuri Balakrishna. The title, along with the last-minute promotional push from Rajamouli, Mahesh Babu and NTR, helped create intrigue around the film. The promotions also suggested that the movie would offer plenty of laughs and emotions.
Unfortunately, the actual film offers very little of either.
For a general audience, there are hardly any laugh-out-loud moments. The supposedly funny scenes involving Fahadh Faasil and the girl do not generate the intended humour.
The biggest problem is the basic plot itself. A petty conman who is struggling to make money gets involved with a spirit who uses him to find her missing parents. That is essentially the entire one-line premise. There is not enough material in the core story to sustain a feature-length film.
The first half focuses on Soori’s financial problems and the ultimatum given by an Old City politician to arrange money within a couple of days. The story then shifts to his interactions with Divya.
The first half has only one notable sequence involving Soori and Saurabh Sachdeva’s character, where they come together at an exhibition. The ransom and payoff sequence is handled relatively better and stands out as one of the few portions worth watching.
After the interval, however, the film loses track for nearly 40 minutes. Things become somewhat interesting only when the police bring Fahadh’s character to the station. The final stretch then goes completely off track, with the climax becoming increasingly illogical and silly.
Director Shashank Yeleti has attempted to blend magical realism with a regular commercial story. But a film with this kind of premise needs either strong humour or emotional depth to work. Don’t Trouble The Trouble delivers neither.
More importantly, the film does not seem to know whom it is targeting. There are not enough elements to appeal to children, while adults may find the proceedings too simplistic and illogical. The result is a genre mismatch.
Don’t Trouble The Trouble turns out to be more troublesome for audiences entering the theatres. Despite Fahadh Faasil’s presence and a few decent sequences, the film is largely boring and illogical, with neither entertainment nor emotional depth to hold attention.
Bottom Line: Not up to the hype
