'Manamey', produced by People Media Factory, was released in theatres today (June 7). In this section, we are going to review the latest box-office release.
Plot:
Vikram (Sharwanand), a playboy-ish guy living in London, has his life turned upside down when his friends Anurag (Adith Arun) and Shanti (Mounika Reddy) tragically die in a fire accident. Their adorable two-year-old son, Kushi (Vikram Adittya), is orphaned in the process. Vikram finds himself unexpectedly co-parenting alongside Subadra (Krithi Shetty). Will Vikram and Subadra rise to the challenge of caring for Kushi? Or, will Vikram's immaturity cost their evolving relationship dearly?
Performances:
The performances by Sharwanand and Krithi reflect the romantic tension that is palpable in the script. Their arguments often segue into moments of contention and verbal sparring - monotonously so. As a couple who are given to constant bickering, they are just watchable. The weak writing fails them most of the time.
The film is dense in terms of the many half-baked characters. Seerat Kapoor and Ayesha Khan have semi-effective parts. They are there either as props for the hero's playboy image or to push the story in convenient directions. Among the comedians, Vennela Kishore is the only one who is decent even though he doesn't get a meaty part. Shiva Kandukuri is better than Rahul Ravindran and Rahul Ramakrishna in playing the role of Subhadra's fiance.
Technical aspects:
Hesham Abdul Wahab's background and the umpteen songs respect the territories of the story but the number of songs is prohibitively high. The loving antagonism between the lead pair hasn't been navigated by his score in a specific way. In any case, there is no sharp wit and banter in the script. On top of that, the score doesn't come to the rescue of the script.
Cinematographers Gnana Shekar VS and Vishnu Sarma make sure that the visuals never feel out of place. It was tough for art director Johny Shaik to make sure that the marathon London schedule didn't make the film look too classy and elite. Prawin Pudi's editing is nothing home to write about.
Post-Mortem:
Writer-director Sriram Adittya's story has a humorous backdrop with a serious undercurrent. However, the writing is too trivial and generic to be taken seriously. The trivial arguments between the couple don't reveal the deeper layers (if any) of their personalities.
The churn happening in the minds of the Vikram-Subhadra duo is barely underscored by the dialogues. The child acts as the fulcrum of their relationship. However, the coming-of-age element feels sudden rather than a gradual evolution.
Krithi Shetty's character maintains a constantly irked mood. The restaurant business angle is abandoned abruptly. The old couple trope is introduced, making the film all the more dreary. Travel movie cliches aggravate the matters. The transformation arcs feel inorganic.
We get to know what Anurag means for Vikram but we never get to know what Shanti means for Subhadra. The constant lightness in Sharwa's demeanour feels like a weak link in the second half. It is also far-fetched that Subhadra lives with a near stranger in an alien land under the same roof. They don't converse like adults, with the director falling back on the Tom-n-Jerry theme. In a scene, Subhadra walks in wearing a bath towel and the playboy Vikram is stimulated. This is the level of writing this film believes in.
Closing Remarks:
'Manamey' could have been so much more. But it is soulless and unemotional.
