Film: Mitrudu
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Vaishnavi Cinema
Cast: Balakrishna, Priyamani, Ranganath, Pradeep Rawath, Chandramohan, Deepak, Krishna Bhagawan, Balaiah, Brahmanandam, Hema, Chalapathi Rao etc
Music: Mani Sharma
Fights: Ram-Laxman
Cinematography: Balamurugan
Director: Mahadev
Producer: Sivalenka Krishna Prasad
Release date: 1st May 2009
This is perhaps the first time that a film of Yuvaratna Nandamuri Balakrishna came in without much noise and even the prime theaters were quite silent without any hungama by Balayya fans. Whether it was the sentiment of the makers of this film not to do hype or is it yuvaratna’s charm fading, let us go and see.
Story
Aditya (Balakrishna) lives in Malaysia but his only objective is to die soon. However, he has a hope that someday someone will come into his life so that he gets the urge to live. That someone turns out to be Indu (Priyamani) who chases him and romances him. Apparently, Indu has a motive behind her romance and finally both of them get married. Both of them come to India from Malaysia but Indu’s father Saikrishna (Ranganath) is not at all happy with Aditya and insults him. Also, Indu actually wants to marry Madhu (Deepak) but marries Aditya for a reason. What is that reason? What is the background of Aditya? All this forms the rest of the story.
Performance
Balakrishna came across as a mild character and was rather aloof till the first half, it is only in the second half that he gathers some energy but then his character has been quite weak unlike his high voltage roles.
Priyamani has done her bit as required she is good at dance and looks more gorgeous in traditional costumes than modern ones. Pradeep Rawat was brief and regular, Ranganath carried his role with elegance while Brahmanandam generated few laughs. Krishna Bhagawan was his regular self, Balaiah was graceful, Deepak was handsome and suited well in a negative shade. The others like Chandramohan, Chalapathi Rao, Hema, Ahuti Prasad, Dharmavarapu just came and went as there was nothing much for them.
The director came out with a storyline that was rather flimsy and though the narrative was weak, the presentation was somewhat okay. The good side of the movie was the music and the cinematography that was done well and about two songs are worth humming. Editing could have been crisp. Locations and costumes were alright. Screenplay lacked the strength and the script was spineless. The other departments did their bit as required.
Analysis
This is very much not a Balayya film and one fails to understand what the connection is between the title and the story. The first half was in shambles as there was nothing Balakrishna had except ten lines of dialogues. It is only the second half that has some tempo but then the climax again gets back to the routine formula without anything to create impact.
Looking at the film, one gets a feeling that Balayya seems to have lost his judgment skills when it comes to choosing scripts and taking up roles.
There is nothing catchy about this role that suits his image and barring one twist in the story, the rest was all about filling gaps with songs and some comedy scenes. Balayya fans will be disappointed once again as there are no high adrenaline dialogues, no heavy weight performances and most importantly, a very weak and mild characterization of Balayya which is a total contrast to his regular self. The film has few sentimental angles that might appeal the mass but overall, the film has failed to live up to the expectations.
Only summer should save this film due to holiday season.