Mental Madhilo Movie Review
Mental Madhilo has been making buzz across the industry circles for its aggressive promotions. Raj Kandukuri and Suresh Productions previous collaboration was a surprise blockbuster Pelli Choopulu. With the same makers entrusting this script has caught the attention of film lovers. Is Mental Madhilo good enough to be another Pelli Choopulu?
Story :
Aravind Krishna (Sree Vishnu) has an issue with options. He cannot make a right choice and gets confused when he has two or more options to choose from. He is also an introvert who is afraid to talk with females. His parents almost gives up on him before he finds the right girl Swetcha (Nivetha). Aravind has an instant connection with her and both decide to get married. But Swetcha’s grandmother dies on the engagement day and the engagement is postponed. Meanwhile, Aravind has to leave to Mumbai on job purpose. There he comes across Renu (Amrutha) a free spirited girl. Now he is confused to choose between Swetcha and Renu.
Performances:
Sri Vishnu is very good at expressions and he did well to pull off this complex lead character. He finally gets a role that does justice to his acting skills and he made the most of it with an impressive performance. Nivetha Pethuraj is a nice find. She is a very good actress and makes an impression with the first film itself. Amrutha is okay as the second female lead. Sivajiraja steals the show as hero’s father. Anita did a commendable job as heroine’s mother.
Technicalities:
Debutant director Vivek Atreya chose an interesting theme to deal with. He invested more time in etching his characters that elevates the theme of the story. Introducing hero’s character as a confusion master is a brilliant idea, which helps for a free flow of events. Director used hero’s characterization as the main tool to script his screenplay. Vivek Atreya shines in getting the emotions right. He is particularly impressive in handling the climax scenes.
Musical score never interrupts the flow of the story and is gelled well within it. Every song comes as a part of the screenplay. Background score also is impressive. Cinematography is superb. The film is visually appealing in spite of the budget limitations. Dialogues are very natural and effective in key scenes. Producer Raj Kandukuri once again proves his taste as a producer by supporting this idea.
Thumbs Up:
- Hero characterization
- Sri Vishnu and Nivetha Performances
- Climax
Thumbs Down:
- Mumbai episode
- Confusing second female lead
Analysis:
Mental Madhilo starts off as a breezy romantic comedy with an interesting lead character. Director focused on establishing the confusion of the protagonist with elaborate scenes. The confusion of the lead character works as driving force for the screenplay after a point. So these scenes are given enough time before it shifts focus onto the plot. Initial scenes are very funny with Sivaji Raja in top form with his comic timing.
Introduction scene of heroine and the interactions between her and the hero that follow are well written and executed. The film smoothly moves towards the intermission point with lots of fun moments and endearing romantic scenes. There comes an unexpected twist at the interval point to take a break to make things interesting. However, second half of the film opens on a confusing note and moves at a snail pace as the director focuses much on the protagonist’s confusion angle.
Characterization of the second female lead is not up to the mark and on the borderline confusing that we cannot understand why the protagonist is getting close to her. The episode in Mumbai is stretched over an hour which is the biggest weak link of the film. The film suddenly turns serious and preachy and is in stark contrast to its entertaining first half. Thankfully things get back on track towards the climax as director did well in handling the emotions.
Barring a boring Mumbai episode that almost stretches for an hour, Mental Madhilo has enough to make it worth watching. Well written lead characters, entertaining first half and an emotional climax make it blur the minuses and weak points. Mental Madhilo isn’t as fun and as refreshing as Pelli Choopulu, but will definitely impress the youth and urban audience.
Verdict: Classy Take on Confused Romance.
