'Nenu Meeku Baga Kavalsinavadini', produced by Kodi Divya Entertainments, hit the cinemas today. Here is our review of the theatrical release.
Story
One day, Vivek, a cabbie, finds a drunken woman named Teju outside a pub. It becomes his routine to ferry her to her place every day. Teju starts trusting Vivek and starts narrating her sad flashback to him. The woman has been down in the dumps and away from her doting family. What went wrong in her life? How does Vivek rectify it and help her mend fences with her family? What is Vivek's motive in doing so? Answers to these questions are found as the story progresses.
Performances
Kiran Abbavaram gets to play a character with commercial strains through and through. And it doesn't work at all, because the writing is superficial. Sanjana Anand looks somewhat out of place in the scenes where she has to show chemistry with her male co-star. Baba Bhaskar's acting flavour is out of sync with the times. He hams in every scene.
Siddharth Menon, who is seen in the first half's flashback portions, looks promising. Sonu Thakur, who plays the Lawyer Papa, is wasted. SV Krishna Reddy, Pramodini Pammi and Sameer are seen as Teju's family members.
Technical aspects
Mani Sharma's songs are highly derivative, with none of them sounding updated. 'Chaala Baagundhe' has been wasted for a bad story. Raj Nalli's cinematography is sub-par. Prawin Pudi's editing and Upendra Reddy's art direction are routine.
Analysis
Director Sridhar Gade pens a story with a couple of twists. But when the twists are delivered, they feel manipulative more than entertaining. Worse still, they seem laughable.
The film's failed attempt at dishing out entertainment is not the main issue here. The film's obsession with unleashing Kiran Abbavaram in all his 'versatile' shades, is the problem. He dances to a special song just 5 minutes into the film. He goes on to mock Get-up Srinu's character. He woos a lawyer who dresses glamorously. He boozes in company with Baba Bhaskar's character. He warns a village head who sports a hyper-masculine moustache. To what end does he do all of this? The writing is contrived and too many scenes are an excuse to over-indulge Kiran. Had the screenplay not been written by Kiran, we would at least have been spared of the over-indulgence.
The cliches are too many. Just when a girl falls in love, her elders arrange a 'pelli choopulu', unannounced. This kind of staging is a beaten-to-death trope. Teju is shown as a compulsive drinker in the beginning, but how does she manage to battle this bad habit eventually? Are we to assume that she casts away all her worries and addictions once the hero's divine touch cleanses her?
The pre-interval block and 2 minutes of climax are the film's only plus points. The second flashback, involving Kiran and Baba Bhaskar, is a total washout.
Closing Remarks
This film is undone by weak writing, below-average performances, and a couple of juvenile ideas.
