'Month of Madhu', produced by Yaswanth Mulukutla, was released in theatres today (October 6). Here is our review of the latest box-office release.
Plot:
Madhumathi (Shreya Navile) is an American-born teen whose parents are of Indian origin. As she lives life on her own terms and doesn't know how to behave socially (especially with men), she is understood to be emotionally vulnerable.
Madhusudhan (Naveen Chandra) has been married to Lekha (Swathi Reddy) for years. They have developed compatibility issues and the latter has filed for divorce. When the two Madhus, who hail from contrasting socio-economic backgrounds, cross paths, a resolution borne of self-realization is expected. That's what the crux of the story is about.
Performances:
Naveen Chandra and Shreya Navile bring their own style. At first, the latter's performance looks affected because of the accent. Slowly, her performance draws us into her character until the writing falters miserably in the second half. Naveen, after positively involving performances in films like 'Ammu' and 'Bhanumathi & Ramakrishna', is very good even in the poorly written scenes. Swathi Reddy was irresistible in the trailer. In the film, she is shockingly inadequate. The younger version scenes of her character just doesn't suit her. She looks too old for those.
Manjula Ghattamaneni (as Madhumathi's mother) is good. Harsha Chemudu (as Madhusudhan's friend) is excellent. Had the friendship scenes been coherent, his performance would have come through even better. Gnaneswari Kandregula, as a widowed yoga trainer, is part of superficial scenes. Raja Chembolu (as Lekha's relative), Raja Ravindra (as Madhusudhan's lawyer) and others fit the bill.
Technical aspects:
Cinematographer Rajeev Dharavath and music director Achu Rajamani complement each other in making 'MOM' an occasionally tense relationship drama with some emotional moments in the first hour. Otherwise, they are barely supported by good writing, especially in the second hour where the writing is flat.
Editor Ravikanth Perepu, who is himself a director, places the scenes randomly. It's not like there was much going on in terms of story-telling anyway.
Post-Mortem:
Writer-director Srikanth Nagothi strings together a random set of scenes with no coherence. We wait for the two Madhus to undergo an emotional transformation. They do so, but only in the climax suddenly. Their journey together leads to an awkward situation for both. The sprint to this moment feels contrived.
The characterization of Madhusudhan is tiresome. He is repeatedly fashioned as an impulsive alcoholic who whiles away time. There is no attempt at going to the root of Madhusudhan's mentality. It is all generic and everything is traced to his alcoholism. His anger issues are hollow. At one point, he claims to lack the 'loukyam' to get by in life. What does this inadequacy mean to his wife? It is not clear. The narrative takes forever to get to the point. It's not like there is no point in the film. But so much happens in the space of ten minutes while nothing literally happens in the space of fifty minutes. In this sense, 'MOM' is much like the recent 'Kushi', where the second half had only two or three scenes where the story really advances.
The shifting timelines have no coherence or depth. The film has this self-image of being a slow-burn classic, which it clearly is not. It is a mess about a unidimensional male protagonist. The sync sound technique adds to the low-on-energy feel of the proceedings.
On the brighter side, Madhumathi's track is like the origin story of the affluent teen's depression history. She is a cautionary tale. The character study works to an extent in the first half. Naveen Chandra's character looks restless and brooding, while his onscreen wife looks anxious. However, the intensity evident in the initial scenes gets diluted as the film progresses.
Closing Remarks:
'Month Of Madhu' takes off on an absorbing note. The first half is watchable because we expect the drama to deepen in the second half. By and by, though, the lack of a developed conflict presentation and character study tests the viewer's patience.
