Movie: Pora Pove
Rating: 1/5
Banner: S.V Movie makers
Cast: Karan, Sowmya Sukumar and others
Music: Yajamaanya
Editor: Jaipal Reddy
Producer: Yelkicherla Veerendra Reddy, Srinivas Bingamalla
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Lankapalli Srinivas
Release Date: July 18, 2014
Indeed it is an intriguing title. But it also sends out a message to the audience to figure out if they want to go into the theatre and risk watching it or give it a skip. Well, if one boldly ventures into the theatres, here’s what they get:
Story:
Vikas (Kiran) goes through his schooling in a boy’s only school. Similarly, heroine Srichaitanya (Soumya) also does her schooling in an all girls’ school. Both of them grow up wanting to study in a co-education school and dream of finding their sweetheart there. As destiny would have it, they both end up in the same college and waste no time before falling in love. The rest of the film traces what happens between the love birds.
Artistes’ Performance:
The main draw of any romantic film is its lead pair. In Pora Pove, that is the primary flaw. The director made a mistake while choosing his lead pair. Even if they are not glamourous enough, a few newcomers more than make up for it with their performance. But both Soumya and Karan look out of place and don’t look convincing as a pair of young love birds. Chanti who is quite popular thanks to Jabardasth tries his best to evoke laughs, but fails miserably. The others hardly have any scope and you don’t bother to remember their names either by the end of the show.
Technical Expertise:
In all, the music is quite okay and two songs are worth mentioning. Incidentally, all songs have been penned by Chandra Bose, but that does not give any reason to enjoy the songs. In terms of a low budget film, the cinematography is quite good. The director has also provided the story, narration and dialogues. However, the dialogues are quite ordinary and the story is not strong enough to be told in a full-length feature film. There is hardly any scene which holds your interest in the entire film. But one must give credit to the director for making a decent film with the resources he had in hand. Yet, it has to be mentioned that making a film with a shallow script and below average lead pair is not going to help the film one bit.
Highlights:
- None
Drawbacks:
- Hero and heroine
- Script
Analysis:
In short, the film tries to drive home the message that young boys and girls aspire to get into co-ed colleges after studying in same gender schools. By the time they reach their teenage years, this results in a need to find a loving mate, says the director through the film. That’s when they on their ‘signal light’ he explains in the story. Well, we are not sure if we totally go by his theory, the film nevertheless is hardly romantic despite being touted as a love story. The choreographer and cinematographer try their best to capture the essence of first love, but the director stays away from exploring the undercurrents between the young love birds. The first half ends on a dull note and one hopes that the second half will be a little more interesting. But almost till pre climax, the director does not generate conflict among the characters, making the narration slow and tiring.
Finally, 15 minutes before the climax, the director actually reveals his plot and creates a ‘Khushi’ style scene where the lead pair has an ego clash. Reminiscent of the ’70s films, the director also fits in a pathos song, which does nothing to stir your emotions. The climax scenes are equally tame. After the film one cannot help but wonder how the director managed to convince his producers to invest in the project. However, two things work in the director’s favour. He does not wrap up the film like a television serial and sincerely tries to entertain the audience, though he fails badly in his efforts.
When a film is titled Pora Pove, then those who venture inside the theatre to watch the film must simply endure what is shown to them. Else, they should walk out whenever they feel like. Luckily, you can walk out whenever you want as it does not compel you to stay back to watch what happens next. So, our final word is that you should watch it at your own risk.
Bottomline: It’s tough to watch this love story.
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
