'Maama Mascheendra', produced by Suniel Narang and Puskur RamMohan Rao, was released in theatres today (October 6).
Plot:
Parasuram (Sudheer Babu) grows up to be a cold-blooded and unemotional man owing to some events in his childhood. He asks his henchman Dasu (Harshavardhan) to kill his sister, brother-in-law and their twin sons. Somehow, the twin sons have a providential escape from the murder bid. The twins look exactly like their maternal uncle after they grow up.
Many years later, Parasuram's daughter Visalakshi (Esha Rebba) falls in love with a Vizag-based rowdy named Durga (Sudheer Babu, again). Dasu's daughter Meenakshi (Mrinalini Ravi) falls in love with a DJ (Sudheer Babu, again), the other twin. Parasuram fears that his daughter has been trapped by his nephew as part of his vengeance for getting his parents killed. The worry is multiplied by the fact that he secretly swapped his daughter with Dasu's daughter at birth.
Performances:
Sudheer Babu has been dubbed by a voice artist for Parasuram's role. Given that Parasuram is almost the protagonist-cum-antagonist, much of his performance feels alien due to the borrowed voice. As the fatso Durga, the actor looks more relaxed. As the DJ, though, he is routine.
Much of the story revolves around the characters played by Eesha Rebba and Mirnalini Ravi. They pass muster. Harsha Vardhan is at his usual best. Ali Reza is part of a story segment involving twists. Rajeev Kanakala is routine, while Hari Teja, Ajay, and Mirchi Kiran are also seen. Shakalaka Shankar plays RGV in a comedy scene that takes an open dig at the director's penchant to be interviewed by female anchors.
Technical aspects:
Chaitan Bharadwaj composes rather boring songs. A story of this sort required better music. Praveen Lakkaraju's background score is average. The cinematography by PG Vinda is lackluster. Art director Rajeev Nair's work is dull. Editor Marthand K Venkatesh's editing is regular. The stunts by Wingchun Anji are not out of the ordinary.
Post-Mortem:
Writer-director Harsha Vardhan makes his directorial debut with a tricky plot that demands way too much from his actors. On the positive side, the twists in the second half resuscitate the sagging interest of the audience. On the flip side, there is too much artificiality around.
The ironic happenings are far-fetched. The dialogues have occasional spunk, but the bloated plot is overwhelming. The names of the characters are thrown at us with a relish (much like in Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan'). Right off the bat, the overcrowded story limits your ability to follow the motives of the innumerable characters. The 'Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo'-style premise of baby swapping aside, the twists would have worked with better padding and a bigger canvas. Thanks to the convenient plotting, the film feels contrived.
There are diary entries, there is an elaborate ploy, and there is a family story revolving around two naive women and two brothers. The don has to fight the enemies (both real and imagined) within than those outside. Some dialogues are sharp. "We are all self-destructive evil," a character says. The plot twists are occasions for the flaws and opportunism, the hypocrisy and duplicity of the characters to come through.
The narration would be muddled and confusing if you don't keep track of the umpteen character names in the first fifteen minutes.
Closing Remarks:
Maama Mascheendra's tricky plot and twists are good on paper. Had the execution been flawless and the performances been updated, this film would have stood a chance.
