'Family Star', produced by Dil Raju and Shirish, hit the cinemas today (April 5). In this section, we are going to review the latest box-office release.
Plot:
Govardhan is an unmarried middle-class man who is taking care of his extended family because his elder brother (Ravi Prakash) has taken to chronic drinking. He is the sole earning member and works for a construction company in Hyderabad.
Indhu (Mrunal Thakur) rents the penthouse owned by Govardhan's family. She is an Anthropology student with a hidden agenda. What is that agenda? How does it affect Govardhan and his blossoming love with her? That's what the film is about from the pre-interval block.
Performances:
Vijay Deverakonda must be congratulated for playing a farcical character with such conviction. The character Govardhan is so shoddily written that it would have rendered even someone like Kiran Abbavaram feel suffocated. Mrunal Thakur is off-colour in a one-dimensional role with a silly thought process. Her chemistry with the male lead was crucial for the film and yet, nothing works.
Rohini Hattangadi, as Govardhan's grandma, is good. The rest of the family members don't make any impact. It would be hard for you to register the fact that Govardhan has two brothers, not one. Jagapathi Babu says 'Gaddame undala enti?!' and comes clean-shaven; he runs one of the most talent-starved construction companies in the country, by the way. Ravi Babu and Ajay Ghosh are there to play stock characters. Vennela Kishore is unfunny to the core. VTV Ganesh is wasted. Divyansha Kaushik is seen as one of the many young girls fawning over Govardhan. No, there is no Rashmika Mandanna in the movie.
Technical aspects:
Cinematographer KU Mohanan's work is generic. Gopi Sundar's songs are average but the BGM is terrible. The Sid Sriram-crooned 'Nandanandanaa' is the only good song out there. The Shreya Ghoshal-sung 'Madhuramu Kadha' is average. 'Kalyani Vaccha Vacchaa' by Karthik and Mangli is boring.
Art Director AS Prakash makes the middle-class dwelling of the hero's family look sanitized. Editor Marthand K Venkatesh's work is talentless.
Post-Mortem:
The scenes, especially in the second hour, are meandering to the extent that the farce simply deprives the film of a semblance of soul. The female lead is there just to elevate the male protagonist to the level of a cinema hero, the idealist type who exists only in melodramas. Whenever there is a drop in the graph and a high must be given, contrived elements are inserted. In one instance, it is a moneylender who misbehaves with a female relative, sending Govardhan into a bout of anger. On another occasion, it is a creep who lusts after Indhu.
The scenes in the second half make it a love story with petty ego clashes at play. Govardhan, who is otherwise exceptional when it comes to taking care of his extended family, goes about indulging in foolish, juvenile behavior in the US scenes.
Usually, in Telugu films, all sorts of artificial elements are forced into the script in the name of entertainment. With Parasuram, the name of the unfolding farce is ego tussles between the lead pair. Some or the other character takes offense for something or the other. And this is used as a ruse to indulge in an overstretched screenplay. Govardhan's insurmountable problems get resolved just like that, one after another. And just so that he has something to do in life, he creates a new problem for himself. If this is how family movies are made in 2024, we have to forget all about drama and conflicts.
Closing Remarks:
'Family Star' loses its path right from the pre-interval segment. The entire second half is stupid.
