Director - Upendra 
Cast – Upendra, Reeshma Nanaiah, Nidhi Subbaiah, Sadhu Kokila, Murali Krishna, Murali Sharma and Indrajit Lankesh 
Duration – 132 Minutes
 
Director-actor Upendra's UI is a film that leaves you with one lingering question: Why? As the credits rolled, the bewildered silence in the theater was deafening. It wasn’t the stunned silence of awe, but rather the kind of quiet confusion that comes after watching a film that desperately wants to say something profound but fails to deliver it in a digestible form. In fact, for a movie that’s all about decoding its own layers, UI seems to forget one important thing: entertainment.
 
UI is a self-indulgent, preachy labyrinth of ideas that is as tiresome as it is confusing. The story is rooted in the dilemma of the director Upendra himself, who, as the protagonist, embarks on a journey to make sense of his own script. This leads to a maze of philosophical musings on good vs. evil, ecological damage, social and political divides, and a host of other issues—all tied together with a heavy-handed message on making the right choices. The film follows a critic who is desperately trying to decode the film’s meaning and ends up unearthing the original script, which lays bare the tale of Satya vs. Kalki. What follows is a messy, overstuffed narrative that never quite finds its footing.
 
Now, let’s get this straight—UI is classic Upendra cinema, which is both a blessing and a curse. If you’re a die-hard fan of his work, you might find the philosophical, high-octane drama interesting. But for those of us who value a coherent story more than a barrage of preachy dialogues, it’s a tough sit. Upendra uses the film as a platform to explore his ideas on politics, herd mentality, morality, and societal reform. And while some of his points are valid, the execution falls flat. The film feels like a lecture disguised as a movie, with Upendra taking center stage as Kalki—his personal vehicle for dispensing wisdom. His delivery of these “universal truths” is relentless, unyielding, and, frankly, exhausting.
 
At its core, UI is a morality tale about making sound choices, free from societal conditioning. While the message is well-intentioned, the way it is presented is akin to being hit over the head with a hammer. The film crams too much into its 132-minute runtime, and while Upendra promises multiple layers, the constant barrage of ideas often leaves you confused rather than enlightened. The film feels more like an intellectual exercise than an engaging cinematic experience.
 
The performances, unfortunately, are overshadowed by the director’s larger-than-life presence. Upendra, who plays dual roles, is naturally the star of the show, but his portrayal of Kalki is so self-important that it detracts from any emotional resonance the story might have had. The rest of the cast—Reeshma Nanaiah, Nidhi Subbaiah, and others—feel like mere caricatures, existing only to support Upendra’s preach-fest. It’s almost as if they are all merely props in his grand ideological vision, rather than fully realized characters.
 
The film's biggest issue is that it tries to do too much and ends up doing nothing effectively. The tone is uneven, swinging wildly from pseudo-philosophical rants to forced commercial elements like romance and action sequences, all in an attempt to keep the audience engaged. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite succeed. The visual effects, particularly the use of strobe lights, are jarring and seem more like a distraction than a stylistic choice. Ajaneesh Loknath’s background score is decent but doesn’t do much to elevate the material, which desperately needs more than just loud music to make its impact.
 
In the end, UI is one of those films that you either love or hate, and for me, it fell firmly into the latter category. It’s a film that demands a certain level of sense, sensitivity, and sensibility, as a Mammootty film might say. But for all its layers, symbolism, and intellectual musings, it never really hooks you in emotionally. Instead, it leaves you more frustrated than enlightened. Upendra’s vision is clear, but the execution is flawed, and what should have been a thought-provoking experience ends up feeling like an exercise in self-indulgence.
 
UI is a film that struggles under the weight of its own ambition. For fans of Upendra's philosophy-heavy cinema, this might hit the mark. For the rest of us, it’s a preachy, over-the-top mess that’s more about ego than entertainment. If you enjoy your films with a heavy dose of moralizing, this one might work for you. For others, it’s a hard pass.