Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu

Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu (“No Parking Here”), also known as IVNR, is a 2021 Telugu romantic thriller written and directed by S. Darshan in his debut and produced by Aditya Shastri, Harish Koyalagundla and Isha Shastri. Sushanth stars with Meenakshi Chaudhary, in her Telugu debut, alongside Vennela Kishore and Priyadarshi. Inspired by real events, it was released in cinemas on 27 August 2021, one of the first films to open after theatres reopened following the second COVID wave.

What the story is about

The film follows what happens after a parking incident in a residential colony that is controlled by a local gangster and his men. Arun parks where he should not, and the consequences spill over into his romance with Meenu, whose brother Narasimha Yadav is part of the colony’s power structure.

Cast and crew

• Sushanth as Arun
• Meenakshi Chaudhary as Meenakshi “Meenu” Yadav
• Vennela Kishore as Sukku, Arun’s friend
• Priyadarshi as Puli, Arun’s best friend
• Venkat as Narasimha Yadav, Meenu’s brother
• Abhinav Gomatam as Abhinav and Ravi Varma as Bhushan, an ex-corporator
• Sunil in a cameo

Writer and director: S. Darshan. Producers: Aditya Shastri, Harish Koyalagundla and Isha Shastri (Shaastra Movies). Music: Praveen Lakkaraju. Runtime: 155 minutes.

Making and release

The film was launched on 30 January 2020. Shooting stopped during the COVID pandemic, resumed in September 2020, and post-production was completed in March 2021. It opened in more than 300 theatres in India and over 100 abroad, including in Singapore and the United States, and its Hindi rights were sold to Sony Entertainment.

Reviews

Critics found the premise promising but the execution weak. Sravan Vanaparthy of The Times of India gave it two out of five, calling the screenplay and “choppy editing” a let-down and the story’s potential “unexplored”. Y Sunita Chowdhary of The Hindu said it needed better writing, with characters whose actions “lack intensity or impact”, though Sunil and Vennela Kishore made her smile. Sarah Justin of Sakshi Post (two and a half out of five) credited Sushanth for experimenting but found the script lacking, “can be watched for timepass”.

Where to watch Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu

Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu has been streaming on Aha since 17 September 2021 (checked against the platform’s own listing). Availability can vary by region and subscription.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu and the reviews it cites, linked above; Aha’s listing; our own cast and crew records.