Movie: Kotha Janta
Rating: 2.75/5
Banner: Geetha Arts
Cast: Allu Sirish, Regina, Posani Krishna Murali, Saptagiri, Rao Ramesh, Rohini, Madhurima and Others
Music: J.B
Cinematographer: Richard Prasad
Editor: Udhav
Producer: Bunny Vaas
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues and Direction: Maruthi
Release Date: May 01, 2014
Allu Arjun’s younger brother Allu Serish did not make a dream debut with Gauravam. So, for his next film, ace producer and his father Allu Arvind picked Maruti who is considered to be a safe bet for small films.
Maruti who is mostly popular for his adult comedies came up with Kotha Janta to create a new image for himself and give Allu Sirish his much needed hit. Let’s check out if Maruti succeeds…
Story:
Sirish and Suvarna are two selfish people who don’t think twice before using others. However, once Suvarna (Regina) falls in love with Sirish, she mends her ways. But Sirish tries to use love to further his goals. A hurt Suvarna tries to make him see sense. However, she realizes that he is far too selfish. So, what happens that brings about a change in Sirish?
Artistes’ Performance:
Let’s get started with the hero Allu Sirish. Of course, it is just his second film, but Allu Sirish fails to impress. He surely puts in a much better performance than his first film but he still has a long way to go before making his mark. In fact, in some scenes, the director and cinematographer make extra efforts to cover up his shortcomings. For example, they use gimmicks like sticking dialogues on the faces of other characters, using bright light in the background, extensively using long shorts, etc.
Though it is not fair to write off Sirish, he needs to work on his expressions and be more relaxed during dialogue delivery.
One misses the energy, the ease and grace that come so naturally to his brother Allu Arjun.
On the other hand, the heroine of the film Regina makes optimum use of the character given to her. She is one of the few girls in the industry today who have proved their talent with their debut film. The character of a modern, independent girl gives her ample scope to show off her acting skills and also to look good. She sails through the film with ease.
Comedian Saptagiri is proving his skills with every film and he has the audience in splits as a guy who speaks with a Nellore accent.
The rest of the cast along with Posani put in commendable performances.
Technical Excellence:
Almost all songs are good. The picturisation of ‘Prema rakshasi’ is interesting and the ‘Atu Amalapuram’ remix will surely win over the masses.
Technically, Kotha Janta is Maruti’s best film till date. He has made sure that cinematography, editing, art department, etc, are all in keeping with the latest standards.
Maruti steers clear of his hallmark double entendre dialogues and comes up with a clean, family entertainer. In a clear departure from his past films, he has whipped up a sweet love story where the heroine gets a ‘good’ role.
But the comedy dose has come down drastically as he attempts doing something different.
Highlights:
- Comedy scenes
- Hero’s characterization
- Regina’s performance
Drawbacks:
- Routine screenplay
- Weak climax
Analysis:
Though the film is titled Kotha Janta, there is nothing new in their love story. The film starts off with some promise. The opening scenes are interesting and leave you hoping that the film will tell a different story. But once the heroine falls in love with the hero, the story treads the routine path. Since the film’s concept is to make a selfish guy understand the value of love, the director uses the clichéd path to bring home the message.
Hero getting close to another girl to tease the heroine and the heroine retorting by getting close to another guy is an age-old formula. Eventually, the hero realizing his folly is anything but new. So, if one expects a new story, then they are bound to be disappointed.
To make up for a weak plot, Maruti has tried to lace the film with comedy episodes at regular intervals.
In the first half, he has a comedy track with Saptagiri and in the second half he tries to pull off a spoof on Omkar’s Challenge Show and tries to evoke laughs with Posani’s park scene.
While these scenes do provide some comic relief, the routine story fails to make the film interesting. Also, the scene where the hero changes after one slap from his mother is rather unconvincing.
On the plus side, the film has enough comedy to safely bail itself from the danger zone. Since it is a limited budget film, it will work in the film’s favour.
In short, the film is one step forward for Sirish and a huge step for Maruti to shrug off his adult film-maker image. As for the audience, it’s a clean, time-pass flick.
Bottomline: Maruti tells an old story with Kotha Janta.
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
