Movie: Lakshmi Raave Maa Intiki
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Giridhar Production House
Cast: Naga Shourya, Avika Gor, Rao Ramesh, Naresh and Others
Music: K M Radha krishnan
Editor: Ramanjaneyulu
Cinematography: Sai Ram
Producer: Giridhar Mamidipalli
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues and Direction: Nandyala Ravi
Release Date: Dec 5th, 2014
Many writers are turning into directors and testing their luck at the box office. Nandyala Ravi who had written dialogues for some films has turned a director with Lakshmi Raave Maa Intiki. The film stars Avika Gor, the child artiste who hit big time with immensely popular serial Baalika Badhu, in the lead. She had debuted in Telugu with Uyyala Jampala in the past. On the other hand, the male lead is played by Naga Sourya who is extremely busy with small films. In fact, he has become the hero with maximum number of releases this year.
Story:
Lakshmi (Avika) is the loving daughter of Rao Ramesh. She loves him to the extent of marrying a dog if he says so. Lakshmi gets engaged to be married and that’s when Sai (Sourya) sees her and falls for her. Despite knowing that she is engaged, he follows her and expresses his love for her. Will Lakshmi who never disappoints her father accept Sai’s love? How does Sai convince Lakshmi and her father forms the rest of the story.
Artistes’ Performances:
Naga Sourya has been doing a lot of boy next door roles and he has become pretty comfortable in his zone. He looks apt for the role as he does not have to go overboard to play his part. Despite doing a couple of unnecessary fights, Sourya plays his part with natural ease.
On the other hand, Avika Gor has the advantage of being popular as a television star. Though she looks average and puts in an equally average performance, she passes off for her role. But if she wants to hit big time with her looks and performance in films, she has to be aware that they are not enough. Also, Avika has the disadvantage of not being suitable for glamour roles.
Rao Ramesh goes a bit overboard at times, but he does manage to pull off his part convincingly. Naresh puts in 100 per cent into his role.
Vennela Kishore, Venu, Saptagiri, Satyam Rajesh provide comedy and they all do so in their characteristic styles.
Technical Excellence:
After a long time, KM Radhakrishna has scored music for a film and his classical touch is hard to miss in some songs. But the music is nothing great to write about. The background score reminds one of films from the ’80s.
It’s a huge challenge for any editor to make a film out of random scenes. And it becomes clear that the director is at fault for bad editing. Cinematography is also average and nothing much to write about.
In fact, writer Nandyala Ravi seems to have banked heavily on dialogues more than the story. The entire film has punch dialogues and the director did not even bother to see if they fitted into the story. Even in serious scenes, the dialogues mar the intensity and this results in unintentional comedy. It’s a writer’s strength if audiences enjoy comedy, but if they laugh at emotional scenes, then it means that the writer has made a laughing stock of himself.
The director has taken lots of care while writing dialogues, but he seems to have spent little time on situations and emotions. Though it is his first film, there is hardly any scene that showcases his talent in the entire movie.
Highlights:
- It starts off on an interesting note
- Raj Tarun’s (Uyyala Jampala) voice over
Drawbacks:
- Pointless screenplay
- Senseless dialogues
Analysis:
Happy go lucky hero, strict father who insists on getting his word done, heroine who is already engaged – something that we have seen time and again in many films. Wonder why Nandyala Ravi has chosen this formula and these characters for his debut project?
The film has many shades of Tarun-Shriya starrer Nuvve Nuvve. Though the director has taken the core story and changed it a bit here and there, one cannot help remembering the film throughout.
The confrontation scenes between the hero and heroine’s father are totally inspired by Nuvve Nuvve.
Of course, repeating an old story is nothing new. But had the director told the same story more interestingly, then it would have worked better for the film. Since both the characters and the situations are weak, they fail to connect the audience with the film.
Last but not the least, the film lacks the drama and tension that good love stories have. You are not involved to the extent where you want the boy and girl to meet.
Also, the director shows that the heroine is very meek in various situations. Though the ending is predictable, the director could have made up for the routine story by putting in enough drama and emotions.
But a weakly etched out heroine’s character who hugs the hero at every given opportunity and insists that she will listen to her father, comes across as someone who will go back on her word any moment.
Another major flaw is that the story has no beginning, interval and ending. Even if one takes off three to four major sequences, it wouldn’t make any difference to the final product as the bits have been placed randomly.
However, thanks to some comedy scenes, the film is not a total waste of time. But more than the comedy scenes, the scene in which Naresh takes Sourya to the heroine’s house and the one where Sourya demands money from his mother and introduces her as a married woman have come out well. If not for these scenes, the film would have been non-stop nonsense.
If the narration would have been better and if useless dialogues had been chopped off and if the emotions worked out better, the film would have been on a totally different level.
Finally, the film has to bank on the following that Avika Gor has as the small screen leading lady.
Bottomline: Sorry Lakshmi… we can’t come to your house!
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
