Movie: Gunturodu
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Claps and Whistles
Cast: Manchu Manoj, Pragya Jaiswal, Sampath Raj, Rajendra Prasad, Praveen, Kota Srinivasa Rao and others
Music: Sri Vasanth
Cinematography: Siddhartha Ramaswamy
Editing: Karthika Srinivas
Action: Venkat
Producers: Sri Varun Atluri
Story, dialogues, Screenplay and direction: S K Satya
Release date: March 03 2017
Manchu Manoj has last delivered a hit long ago. He has been going through rough phase. So, when he announced "Gunturodu", the film didn't create any buzz. But with the news that Megastar Chiranjeevi giving voiceover, the film created curiosity about it.
Let's see its merits and demerits.
Story:
Story happens in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. Kanna (Manchu Manoj) is a wayward who passes the time by hanging out with group of friends.
One day, at a party, a tiff arises and Kanna beats up Seshu (Sampath Raj) as he asked Kanna and his friends to vacate the party. Since Kanna has cake cream pasted on his face, Seshu who is gangster cum criminal lawyer doesn't recognize him.
Next day, Seshu asks his men to find out who Kanna is and murder him. Meanwhile, Kanna falls in love with Amrutha (Pragya Jaiswal). Like any movie heroine, she refuses his proposal but after two songs she agrees his love.
As interval comes, like in most films, Kanna comes to know that Amrutha is sister of Seshu. Now the game starts.
Artistes’ Performances:
Manchu Manoj has looked like heavyweight champion. His appearance is totally bad, his acting is also not upto the mark. His poem praising heroine is somewhat better.
Pragya Jaiswal looks like a fresh daisy though she has no much role. Sampath Raj has done his usual acting. Kota, Praveen and Rajendra Prasad are good.
Technical Excellence:
The movie has good cinematography and better music. "Netti Meeda Pettukunta.." is a good song. Editing is weak. Production values are decent.
Highlights:
Hardly anything
Pragya Jaiswal
Drawback:
Almost everything
Analysis:
"Gunturodu" is classic example how some filmmakers are stuck in old ideas that date back to 80's or 90's. If you take an average features/elements of a dated masala movie, you will find these...
1. Hero is fit for nothing guy.
(This is regular character in almost every other mass movie.)
2. Hero's father scolds him for not being successful
(Here Rajendra Prasad)
3. Hero falls with heroine on first sight
4. Heroine rejects his proposals first but still continues talking to him, scenes continue like that
5. Heroine suddenly accepts his love, and comes an interval twist
6. Hero's father/brother/Bava/would-be will have fight with hero
(Here Pragya Jaiswal's brother is hunting for hero Manoj)
"Gunturodu" has all these and doesn't miss a single point. That isn't bad actually but what is bad is telling the same age-old masal points in age-old style. At least some new bottle packaging is needed. But other than having Guntur as the backdrop for the story, the movie doesn't have an iota for newness in treatment or narration.
Adding further stress to the viewer, Manchu Manoj is completely out of form. In films like "Bindaas", "Potugaadu", he carried the movie with his trademark dialogues and acting but here he is totally out of shape (too weighty) and out of sync.
While the first half tests the patience, the second half turns into bore fest. Even Megastar Chiranjeevi's voice doesn't help much. Rajendra Prasad's episodes, the presence of Pragya Jaiswal and some of Sri Vasanth's songs are positive points of this movie.
It is time that Manchu Manoj should reinvent himself, start working on his looks and recheck his choice of stories. For now, "Gunturodu" turns another dud for him.
Bottom-line: Bore To The Core
