Film: Aa Okkati Adakku
Rating: 1.5/5
Cast: Allari Naresh, Faria Abdullah, Vennela Kishore, Ariyana Glory, Harsha Chemudu, Hari Teja, Jamie Lever, Raja and others
Music: Gopi Sundar
Editing: Chota K Prasad
Camera: Surya
Producer: Rajeev Chilaka
Direction: Malli Ankam
Release Date: 3 May 2024
"Aa Okkati Adakku" is the vintage title that resonates well with humor across generations. Departing from his recent trend of serious films, Allari Naresh returns with this title, hinting at his comeback with trademark comedy. Though the trailer of the film didn't meet expectations, hopes remained high due to the title and Allari Naresh's return to comedy.
Let's see how it delivered.
Story:
Ganapati (Allari Naresh) is a government employee still unmarried. His younger brother is already married and lives with his wife (Jamie Lever) and their 10-year-old daughter. Ganapati intends to get married, but none of the matches seem to work out.
Meanwhile, he takes memebership in a matrimony site and keeps meeting different brides. He also encounters Siddhi (Faria Abdullah) at a beach and eventually falls in love with her. However, Siddhi has a background that is revealed before the interval.
What happens to Ganapati's love? What are Siddhi's true intentions? These questions unfold layer by layer, lacking much suspense or thrill.
Artists' Performances:
Allari Naresh delivers his role well despite a weak script. He possesses the ability to bring laughter to the screen, but a stronger script is necessary.
Vennela Kishore, appearing as Allari Naresh's sidekick, barely brings laughter.
Faria Abdullah's performance is decent, but her character lacks emotional depth, making it hard to connect.
Ariyana Glory plays a brief, clichéd role as the heroine's friend.
Harsha Chemudu's track is routine and uninteresting.
Hari Teja, as the matrimony in-charge, performs adequately but fails to deliver the required laughs, despite her capability.
The guest appearances of Gautami and Murali Sarma in the climax add little value.
Jamie Lever, daughter of comedian Johnny Lever, fails to connect with the majority of the audience due to overexposure and eccentric expressions, which negatively impacts her performance tagged as 'overacting'.
Raja, the son of Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry appeared in an unimportant negative role.
Technical Exclellence:
As the direction proved amateurish, all the technical crafts appear subpar. Gopi Sundar's music didn't resonate well, unlike his previous films.
He is indeed good at both songs and BGM, but here he couldn't make any impact with either.
Cinematography is passable. Editing is precise, concluding the film at the right time.
However, the story and screenplay are obsolete, which marred the film badly.
Highlights:
Duration
Allari Naresh
Drawbacks:
Story
Screenplay
Music
Dialogue
Direction
Analysis:
It is common to expect comedy from this film, owing to its title and the appearance of Allari Naresh in the lead role. The trailer also hinted at the same, but that is not seen in the film.
A storyline based on the malpractices in a matrimony site could have generated many laughs if the script was written with that intention. However, as the graph goes on, the film finally ends up on a serious note, with an attempt to justify the characters to make them appear good.
Allari Naresh should be doubly careful while picking up comedy scripts, especially because his main forte is comedy. It is okay as long as he experiments with other genres and fails. If he fails with a comedy film, then his career would be in trouble.
Allari Naresh still commands attention fron audience despite his long hiatus from the silver screen and his recent films being serious ones. He proved with this film that he has the energy and timing to deliver something that bring laughs, but he needs to be doubly careful in picking up the scripts and the directors.
'Aa Okkati Adakku', the 1992 film, was a trendsetter with non-stop comedy. The director of that 32-year-old film was EVV Satyanarayana, the father of Allari Naresh. But here, the title was given to a script that has no comparison with that of the original.
It is okay if a film is made in the genre of thriller, comedy, sentiment, or revolutionary. But if all these genres are mixed and stirred as a concoction and delivered as a single film, then the audience gets bewildered to get connected. Moreover, when the overall script and execution are so subpar, the suffering goes to the peaks.
This film is released in the summer holiday season when the audience is, in fact, free and ready in the mood to patronize any film that entertains them with laughs. As there are no big films around, many expected that this film would make merry at the box office if it gets positive talk. But the opportunity is missed. The film disappoints those who wish to watch it for non-stop laughs.
Bottom Line: Don't Ask!
