Murali Krishna (Vishal) promises his mother Geeta that he will trace his brother who had run away from home in childhood. Murali Krishna reaches Vishakapatnam and lives at his friend Chiiti Babu’s (Ali) home and begins his hunt for his brother. Two rivals gangs Surya Prakash (Praksh Raj) and Guru (Kishore) are constantly at logger-heads in the city and Murali Krishna becomes a witness to a murder by one of them in these groups. The hero finds himself between the devil and the deep sea, while one wants him to talk, the other wants him to remain silent. In a skirmish, He discovers that one of the gangster is his brother. Does Murali Krishna keep his promise and take his brother home, what happens to the other mob leader? Pista is primarily another action film with a dash of sentiment.
Despite all of Vishal’s films being bilingual’s and many characters being familiar to telugu screen, Vishal’s language, diction smacks of tamil flavor. The film manages to sustain interest despite running a risk of a clichéd story. Pista here is a confident and a courageous Vishal challenging the villain, a one man’s fight with the dreaded gang to take his brother home. Shriya looks stunning as Vishal’s romantic interest. She has lost the flab and her song and dance is a visual treat. The first half of the film just goes by with the introduction of the characters and passable comedy by Ali and Shakuntala. It is only in the last twenty minutes , the story turns interesting.
Nothing about the film is path breaking, it is another attempt to showcase Vishal’s dare devil stunts and dialogues designed to cater to the mass. Shriya’s reference to Vishal’s colour seemed unnecessary and it looked as if the hero was attempting to justify a point. The tall hero looks strange in vibrant colours in dream duets. Prakash Raj, the ‘dad’ of contemporary telugu films takes a break from misty eyed roles and wields the gun to perfection. Kishore does a satisfying job and the rest are routine. It’s just an average film and the director could have worked hard on presenting it in a novel fashion. .