Sammohanam : Feel of Reading Good Book
QUICK SCAN
Rating: 3/5
First Impression: It’s an outright feel-good romedy (romance plus comedy). Subtle attack on crude plagiarism and casting coach in film industry is what you get as a freebie. Despite a few lags, the narrative is relieving and entertaining.
Plus points:
- Aditi Rao(Sameera)’s well-poised presence through the movie as a celebrated film star makes audience glued to their seats.
- Hero Sudheer Babu (Hero) refreshingly does his best, by not resorting to overplay anywhere, as her admirer.
- Naresh, as hero’s father, contributes the lion’s share of humour to the movie, as the one who desperately tries to find his entry into films in his late fifties.
- Dialogues, both in comedy and love tracks, are punchy.
- The grey side of film making is subtly exposed much to the delight of audiences.
Pitfalls:
- Long oral narratives by heroine’s aide(Hari Teja) and the publisher(Tanikella Bharani) at the book launch function cause boredom
- The antagonist (villain) has little to play. He is finished immediately after he is introduced.
- Lyrics, though extravagantly spread, mostly as backgrounders to the story make little impact.
WHO’S WHO
Movie: Sammohanam Banner: Sri Devi Movies Director : Mohan Krishna Indraganti Producer : Sivalenka Krishna Prasad Music : Vivek Sagar Starring : Sudheer Babu, Aditi Rao Hydari, Naresh, Tanikella Bharani Editor : Martand K. Venkatesh Cinematographer : P.G. Vinda Art Director : S. Ravinder Date of Release: 15th June 2018
Plot: Void in Star’s Life
How stardom takes away small niceties of life, say, love, togetherness and friendship are the real plot of the movie. The magic a female film star experiences when he meets an average middle class boy and the turmoil she undergoes in turning the magic into reality are the main ingredients of this movie.
Story: Middle Class Boy Falls in Love with Film Star
Naresh spares his house for film-shooting expecting nothing in turn, barring a role in the movie. As part of the shooting, Sameera (Aditi Rao) stays in the home. Naresh’ son, Vijay(Sudheer Babu) helps her in modulating Telugu words. By the time the film unit packs up, he falls in love with her. He, however, conveys the same, going all the way to Manali, where the rest of the film is shot but comes with the disappointment, as she adversely responds. How the two come together finally is the rest of the story.
Treatment: Twist in Fairy Tale
How a little boy meets a star in the sky, goes with her, sees the celestial world and gets distanced from her is a fairy tale. The Director symbolically fits a young man’s love story with a film star in this tale.
Screen play: More to Comment Than to Narrate
Greater part of the first half is spent on making mockery of the present trends in Tollywood, say, hiring non-Telugus for heroines and villains, artificial histrionics of heroes in action movies, and male stars’ indecent behaviour with female stars. This preoccupation of the director puts the movie in sluggish pace till the intermission. In the latter half however, he limits himself to the one malpractice in the film industry, plagiarism. Yes, how the film writers shamelessly rob of others’ ideas without acknowledgement, is brilliantly handled as the part of the story.
Heroine : Steals Our Hearts With Chuckles
Of course, it’s a heroine-centred( not to be mistaken for women-oriented or feministic) movie. Aditi Rao has her inimitable cute chuckle. It precedes to her every dialogue of fondness and love. True to tell, she expresses much through pauses she makes between a word and a word.
Hero : Measured Actor as Lover Boy
Sudheer Babu never disappoints us in any frame. He hands all emotions in equal measure with dignity and restraint. He has once again to be a good lover boy.
Naresh Reaches New Peaks of Comedy.
Naresh sets new standards for comedy in this movie. Naresh was best known for comedy when he was young. He has an amazing ease in action and brilliant timing in dialogue delivery. Though he has done many roles in his second innings, the role of hero’s father in this movie, will ever be remembered. In climax he looks heroic than hero in entertaining audiences. As one who desperately tries his luck as an actor on screen in his late fifties, he offers non-stop comedy.
Others in Cast: Rahul and Pavitra Have Their Cut
Rahul Ramakrishna of Arjun Reddy fame (the Hero’s side kick) and Pavitra Lokesh ( one of the hero’s sidekicks) do deserve special mentioning. In expressing his excitement of meeting a film star and helping the hero in nabbing the villain, he delivers instant comedy. Keeping an indelible grace on her face throughout the film Pavitra lives up to the role of a brilliant homemaker. She at her best when she counsels her son, when he gets rejection from Adiiti Rao.
Dialogues: Sarcastic and Deep
Dialogues are mostly sarcastic, while making a commentary on the ongoing trends of Tollywood . Those that are penned for Naresh to lampoon the ‘so called action heroes’ offer good guffaws. The writer never hesitates to lambast the copy cats in his own profession. The intimate and timely exchanges of the lovers( the hero and heroine) are commendable.
Cinematography: Little for Lens
Though little room is left for ,P.G. Vinda, the cinematographer, he does his best. Most of the film is shot in one dwelling. Shoot at Manali, of course, gives a big relief to his lens. Credit goes to the cinematographer for keeping the heroine cute in every scene including the one on hospital bed.
Music: No Tune Left to Hum
Sorry, Vivek Sagar, fails to give a single tune to hum, while coming out of the theatre. However, his back ground music has elevated comedy scenes. .
Bottom line:
Mohan Krishna Indraganti, as the director, gives the feel of a reading good book with his film Sammohanam. A must-watch for those who look for a feel-good movie.
