Tag: Rohini Hattangadi

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Oka Manchi Prema Katha: Not just making a case for old age parents but raising many more important questions

Oka Manchi prema katha isn’t confined to looking after old age parents it is also about the corporate culture and the subsequent rat race. Stories of parents going through emotional neglect has been explored many times much like the genre of love itself. But this movie has many interesting points and one of them is about becoming a mother to your own parent. Among the principal actors Samuthirakani makes the strongest impact in a refreshingly different role.

Starcast: Rohini Hattangadi, Rohini Molleti, Samuthirakani, Himanshu Popuri and others

Genre: Drama

Direction and screenplay: Akkineni Kutumba Rao

Story, Dialogues and Songs: Volga

Producer: Himanshu Popuri

Cinematographer: Madhu Ambat

Music: K M Radhakrishnan

Streaming site: ETV Win

Running time: 2 hours+

Stories of parents facing emotional neglect has a certain template. The children are generally presented in a shrill and often unbearable tone. Oka Manchi Prem Katha’s first half also follows this formula. Sujatha (Rohini Molleti) is a very ambitious woman. She wants to reach the top position and has been working heavily to get a promotion which will put her on par with her husband Eshwar (Samuthirakani). Their daughter is studying abroad. Because of the extremely busy work schedules neither Sujatha nor Eshwar have much time to each other and for their daughter. Veteran actress Rohini Hattangadi is Rangamani the mother. Rangamani was also an employee but now stays in her village doing a bit of social service. She interacts with numerous people on a daily basis, solving some of their problems and one of them is her ‘adopted’ son Shankar. However, a health problem makes her miss her daughter dearly, but Sujatha is too busy to visit Rangamani. How they come together is the core of the film.

A strong aspect of Oka Manchi Prem Katha are the portions featuring the two Rohinis in the latter half. From the moment Sujatha becomes a mother to her own parent the film hits numerous high notes. The scenes are filled with lot of warmth, and the film succeeds in presenting a different kind of love, in this case a bond between a mother and a daughter. Both Sujatha and Rohini Molleti become more likeable here.

Through the very ambitious nature of Sujatha, Volga does a fine job in critiquing the current working lifestyle especially the corporate set up where there is one deadline after another leaving little to no space for imbibing humanistic values. The mental health issues that come with it has also been effectively presented. There is a nice bit in the first half when Sujatha visits a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist says that she needs love and more communication with people around her. To this Sujatha asks whether there is any medicine to cure this problem and the Doctor replies that unfortunately no love pill has been discovered so far.

The portions of Samuthirakani missing his wife and the telephonic conversations have been wonderfully written and enacted. Samuthirakani is a delight to watch whether it is reciting poems of John Keats or making up his own one or portraying the absolute bewilderment about the change in Sujatha’s behaviour. It is nice to see the actor playing a nuanced role for a change rather than the routine mainstream villain.

Among the other actors Rohini Molleti’s character was a little too loud and caricaturist in the first half but gets better as the movie progresses. Rohini Hattangadi as usual shines bright especially in the confrontation scenes. A specific mention must be made of the portion between her and Samuthirakani when Eshwar sends a divorce notice. She counters him with one simple question but a powerful one; would he do the same thing if the company had sent Sujatha somewhere for work purpose. There is one more dialogue where she raises an important question about Companies not granting leave to take care of old age parents. The reasoning that she gives is also very thought provoking. When there can be a maternity leave why can’t there be one for old age parental care? The rest of the cast are also fine. Himanshu Popuri as Shankar especially stands out.

Talking about the flaws the movie needed to be crisper in the first half. The core plot should have kicked in earlier instead of leaving it to the second half. The jarring difference between the attitudes of village folk and Sujatha could have been handled with more subtlety.

The music by K M Radhakrishna is soulful adding to the movie’s emotional core. Madhu Ambat’s cinematography is of course as usual very pleasant.

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Family Star: This reunion of Geeta Govindam team leaves the viewers with a bitter aftertaste

The subject matter of celebrating a middle class hero is laudable but Parashuram Petla’s execution leaves a lot to be desired. Vijay Devarakonda brings his usual earnestness but that is not enough to salvage the film
  • Family Star
  • Rating: 2
  • Starcast: Vijay Devarakonda, Mrunal Thakur, Vasuki, Rohini Hatangade, Jagapati Babu, Vennela Kishore etc
  • Director and writer: Parasuram Petla
  • Producers: Dil Raju and Sirish
  • Production Company: Sri Venketeswara Productions
  • Music: Gopi Sunder
  • Runtime: 2 hours and 45 minutes
  • Genre: Romantic comedy/drama

Out of the eight films that Parashuram has directed Geeta Govindam remains his best. Sure in hindsight it does look like a project to alter the image of Vijay Devarakonda post the hugely polarized Arjun Reddy. Having said that Geeta Govindam was a charming romantic comedy with many enjoyable moments, in spite of Vijay Devarakonda’s recent box office failures there were certain expectations from Family Star given how Geeta Govindam had fared. The music director of that film Gopi Sundar is the composer of this one too. Leading lady Mrunal Thakur has had a terrific start to her career in Telugu with two back to back successes in author backed parts. Unfortunately Family Star is a slog for most part in spite of having a subject that can make for an entertaining commercial movie.

Vijay Devarakonda plays Govardhan who comes from a middle class background. He is single handedly keeping the joint family afloat. Govardhan is also quite a miser. For example there is an amusing scene where he makes very thin dosas of different shapes to ensure that the dough lasts longer. Ravi Prakash often seen in Krish Jagarlamudi’s films is an elder brother nursing past wounds. He is a regular drinker entangled in the web of alcohol. Vasuki is the long suffering wife who puts up with her husband’s drunkenness. Govardhan feels that his words are the reason behind the elder brother turning into an alcoholic. So he just puts up with his brother’s behavior before the dam finally bursts. Another brother is struggling to establish his own business.

At this time you have the arrival of a postgraduate student Indu (Mrunal Thakur). She integrates herself slowly into the family and soon love blossoms between her and Govardhan. However there is a twist in a tale just before the interval, a secret about Indu is revealed that severs their relationship. Govardhan feels cheated and decides to keep himself away from her. The rest of the story is about how the reconciliation happens when Govardhan is forced to work with her by circumstances.

Vijay Devarakonda and Rohini Hattangadi

The positives in Family Star can be counted on fingers and Vijay Devarakonda’s performance is one of them. In spite of the exaggerated middle class quirks Vijay pulls of a wonderful act. Vijay conveys a range of emotions from aggression, simplicity and stinginess in an admirable manner. He stands out particularly in the emotional scenes.

Vijay’s scenes with Mrunal are quite charming in the first half. Particularly the portions where Indu calls Govardhan ‘yevandi’, something flutters in Govardhan’s heart whenever she calls him that.  Mrunal Thakur’s Indu has two shades. In the first half she is a girl next door, in the later half we see Indu as a CEO who has a tough exterior with a compassionate nature. Mrunal does a good job in portraying both the shades.

Among the sprawling supporting cast veteran actress Rohini Hattangadi as the grandma is the only one who makes an impression. Her scenes with Vijay have been well written and are adorable to watch.

A major problem with Family Star is the superfluous writing. This comes out in a very glaring manner in the way the family members have been written except for Rohini Hattangadi. The discord between Vijay and Ravi Prakash’s character and why the elder brother is so neck deep in alcoholism is way too patchy and does not make any sense. What makes this scenario even more baffling is Govardhan’s self guilt about how he considers himself responsible for the elder brother’s downfall.

The redemption of Ravi Prakash’s character and the eventual reconciliation feels like more of an afterthought with extreme superficiality. The other brother played by Raja Chembolu has even less to do. His aspirations of opening own business feels like an unnecessary add on to increase the burden of Govardhan.

Family Star reminds the viewers of Geeta Govindham in more ways than one but not in a pleasant manner. For example here it is the hero who mistakes the girl’s intention and considers her to be a bad woman. There is a lot of ego tussle however unlike that film this movie has no soul. Often times Family Star feels like a lifeless imitation of that movie.

The US part in particular test the viewer’s patience. For example there is a scene where Vijay’s Govardhan is mistaken for a male prostitute. Cringe worthy would be an understatement to describe the entire scenario.

Vijay Devaraakonda calls his father Devarakonda Govarhana Rao his ‘Family Star.’

Another example of the extreme bad writing can be seen in the portions involving Ravi Babu as a loan shark who misbehaves with Vasuki’s character and asks her to sleep with him if the debt is not cleared; this happens in the first half. As excepted there is a mass sequence where Govardhan brings the entire family to Ravi Babu’s place in an auto. He breaks heads and beats men to pulp. The children look traumatized but Govardhan insists them to watch and learn from him on how to deal with bullies. What makes this sequence even worse is the final punch that Govardhan delivers to the bad guy. He threatens the villain with a rape threat involving the women of antagonist’s household.

Gopi Sundar’s music while not as good as Geeta Govindam does have its moments. A couple of songs do work “Nandanandana” and “Kalyani Vacha Vachaa”,

The idea of raising a toast to the star of every middle class family is admirable but the execution makes it yawn inducing.

https://www.primepost.in/it-leaves-the-viewers-with-bitter-aftertaste