Movie: Oka Manasu
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Madhura Entertainments
Cast: Naga Shourya, Niharika Konidela, Rao Ramesh, Srinivas Avasarala, Vennela Kishore, Nagineedu, Pragati, Krishna Bhagavan and others
Music: Sunil Kashyap
Cinematography: Ram Reddy
Editor: Dharmendra Kakarla
Producer: Madhura Sreedhar Reddy, Abhinay, Krishna Bhatta
Story, Screenplay, dialogues and Direction: Rama Raju
Release Date: June 24, 2016
In the recent times, one small movie that made so much buzz is "Oka Manasu" as it is debut vehicle for actor Naga Babu's daughter Niharika Konidela. Although the movie stars Naga Shourya, the film got the entire craze due to Niharika.
Does the film live up to the buzz? Is the film right launch for Niharika? Let’s find out.
Story:
Surya (Naga Shourya) is a son of a local politician and he beats up people for wrong doings. A young doctor Sandhya (Niharika) sees him and falls in love with him at first sight. She happens to meet him again and again. He too loves her and they turn lovers in no time.
Surya’s father dreams of making Surya a big politician but Surya lands in a prison for beating up a guy. He gets bail but the case hangs on him. He lands in a situation where he has to leave Sandhya. When Sandhya comes to know his situation that he cannot live with her, what would she do?
Artistes' Performances:
This is the best performance from Naga Shourya till date. He has given sincere act. He has also shared best chemistry with Niharika.
Niharika has already proved her mettle on small screen and YouTube TV shows. In her silver screen debut too, Niharika impresses. She has made confident debut. She is mostly seen in Sarees. Although she has played the role of a girl from medical profession, Niharika is shown as a girl that wears traditional attire. The film revolves around Naga Shourya and Niharika, so others hardly make any impact.
Despite that Rao Ramesh as Naga Shourya’s father shows his mark in some scenes. Pragati irritates. Avasarala, Vennela Kishore and Krishna Bhagavan have weak roles.
Technical Excellence:
Music by Sunil Kashyap is an asset as the movie is narrated mostly with songs. There are about seven songs in the film. Though the songs doesn’t impress all sections of people, they are suited to the director’s vision and theme of the story.
Cinematography by Ram Reddy is worth appreciation. Art work is neat. Editing is good but the pace should have been racy. Production values are impressive.
Highlights:
Niharika’s impressive debut
Climax portion
Drawback:
Damn slow pace
Repetitive dialogues and scenes
Story never moving further
Too bookish dialogues
Complete focus on the two characters
Analysis:
Regular love stories follow certain style that offer some good romantic moments. Directors like Gautham Menon who make intense love stories and make it differently. Both can be liked as they actually tell a story. But films like “Oka Manasu” tests the patience despite the maker’s intentions being good.
Though the ideas are poetic, the scenes are hogwash. The entire movie is focused on hero and heroine, rest of the characters have no value to the scenes except hero’s father Rao Ramesh. This is more of a conversational movie where hero and heroine talk, talk and talk. Either they talk or kiss each other on cheek or forehead. Question is what are they talking?
Some philosophical banter. Some random sentences. Some silly talk. Heroine always asks questions. Hero always smiles. What has happened at the fifteenth minute also happens at 30th minute, 60th minute and so on. Talk, talk, talk. Never progressing to the story. The dialogues don’t cut with the current majority of generation at all.
While the first half of the movie goes this way the actual story comes in the second half and the emotional conflict is established here. The emotional conflict here is hero landing in a situation where he has to choose either to go with his father’s wish or elope with his lover. He cannot have both of them whom he loves dearly.
This is established well in the later part of the movie and the climax twist is also different.
How come a doctor loves a guy who indulges in fights and with whom she won’t have much future is hard to understand. There is also no logic for she pining for him except believing that this is what her heart says.
What Krishna Bhagavan does in the movie? Why Avasarala Srinivas is there ? Both these characters don’t help the story in any way.
The director has told the movie in his own style with touch of poetry. But the pace is excruciatingly slow. Slower than a snail. Tests the patience till the end. Also his ideas are completely archaic as they belong to a by-gone era as the love-track seems too superficial.
All in all, some of the scenes of “Oka Manasu” may be liked by people who have poetic mindset but for common audiences, it is out rightly big bore.
Bottom-line: Heart Break!
(Venkat can be reached [email protected] or Twitter)
