Movie: Amrutam Chandamamalo
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Just Yellow Media
Cast: Srinivas Avasarala, Harish, Sivanarayana, Vasu Inturi, Suchitra, Ahuthi Prasad, Chandra Mohan and Others
Music: Sri
Editor: Darmendra
Cinematographer: Rasool
Story, Producer and Direction: Gunnam Gangaraju
Release Date: May 17th, 2014
Turn on the telly and you get heavy dosage of high-drama tragedy and family serials. But one serial that proved that comedy serials can get TRPs was Amrutham. The show also went on to become a hit on the internet. So, to cash in on the success, Gunnam Gangaraju has now made a celluloid version of Amrutham Chandamamalo. Now, let’s see if the film succeeds in providing laughs to the audience who will pay have to pay the ticket price this time.
Story:
Amrutha Rao(Srinivas) and Anjaneyulu (Harish) start a hotel and make lots of money. Once they hit the Rs 2000 crore mark, they fall for a racketeer and decide to sell off their property to invest on the ‘Moon’. After the cheating them, the company disappears without a trace. Now, what happens to their dream and will they recover their money?
Artistes’ Performances:
Srinivas Avasarala comes up with clean comedy and puts in a decent performance. He perfectly fits the role of Amrutham.
Harish also does justice to Anjaneyulu’s character. However, those who are used to watching Harshvardhan and Gundu Hanumantha Rao might take some time to get used to the new characters. But the lead pair put in impressive performances within the limits set for them.
Sivannarayana who plays the house owner in Amrutham and Vasu Inturi (Saruvadu Vasu) once again succeed in evoking laughs. Ahuti Prasad too puts in a decent performance as Gundu factionist.
Coming to the leading girls, Dhanya and Suchitra are just about ok.
Technical Expertise:
Gunnam Gangaraju has all along maintained that he had spent quite a bit of money on the film. But if you watch the film, you feel as if you are watching a television serial. Surprisingly, the cinematography and music too are up to the standards of a television serial. Ironically, Gangaraju’s earlier films Little Soldiers and Amma Cheppindi did not face this problem. Spending a lot of time making Amrutham has surely had its impact on Gangaraju.
Though the writer does come up with a few comic capers, they are not worth the ticket price.
Highlights:
- Comedy punches
Drawbacks:
- The entire Moon episode
- Stuff for TV serials
Analysis:
Had Gunnam Gangaraju used the track to make four episodes out of it, it would have been a hit on television. But as mentioned earlier, one cannot make out the difference between a serial and a film while watching Amrutamlo Chandamama. The only exception being that you pay for the ticket and watch it on big screen. The director totally fails in making a convincing film out of a television plot.
However, the film has some moments which are good examples of the subtle comedy that the director is capable of providing. For instance, on the bags used by the factionist, one gets to see messages like ‘smoking kills’, ‘don’t cut down trees’, ‘stop using plastic bags’, etc. However, they fail to carry forward the film. In fact, the director goes overboard in trying to make the audience laugh and falls flat in his effort.
Director totally stretches the plot and laces them with inane scenes like restarting Amrutha Vilas, plugging in Osama Bin Laden into the plot and the entire episode on the Moon. So despite all efforts by the team, you end up feeling cheated for having spent money on the ticket. Though the first half is bearable, the movie goes off the track in the second half.
In all, it is not a product that one would expect from Gunnam Gangaraju. The very effort of trying to make a big story out of a television plot is absurd and leaves the audience disappointed.
The film has been made keeping the multiplex audience in mind. We will have to wait and watch for their verdict.
Bottomline: A serial that tries to be a film!
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
