Not just Allu Arjun, Pushpa: The Rise saw the rise of Samantha Ruth Prabhu, too, as a star to bet on. While it was her dance sequence to Oo Antava in Pushpa that had the nation grooving, Samantha has an entire film riding on her shoulders with Yashoda. Directed by K. Hari Shankar and Harish Narayan, the film released in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi on November 11. Samantha plays the title role of Yashoda, a girl from a modest background who decides to become a surrogate mother for the money. Upon signing a contract with a corporate hospital, she is taken to a secret location where many pregnant women like her are kept under observation. At the facility, she falls for a good-looking doctor, Gowtham (Unni), while she is supervised by beauty pageant contestant Madhu (Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar). Yashoda senses that something sinister is going on at the facility under this facade, which sets her off on a mission to uncover the secrets that the facility is trying to hide.

The directors take the concept of surrogacy to produce a blend of sci-fi and thriller that is off the treaded path in Telugu cinema, but the end result doesn’t meet the expectations that the intriguing premise sets. The first half staggers as the directors take their own sweet time to dwell on the backstories of the women at the facility. There are a few silly jokes thrown into the mix as well. The film picks up pace post-intermission as the mystery begins to unravel but by this time, the cracks in the poorly-knit plot start surfacing. The finale is not only predictable, it is hurriedly patched-up with coincidences galore.

Despite being constricted by a weak script, Samantha slays it on screen as Yashoda. She switches from comedy to action with remarkable ease, and makes sure you don’t take your eyes off her in the scenes she’s in.

After Samantha, Unni Mukundan is the one to watch out for in Yashoda. Though there isn’t much scope for him to perform, Unni makes the best out of it. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s Madhu, the owner of the facility, is impressive as the femme fatale.

There is a touch of freshness in the storytelling, the credit for which must go to the impressive camera work by M. Sukumar. The set created by art director Ashok is swanky. Mani Sharma’s background score adds an eerie feel to the story.