Naveen Polishetty, who gained immense popularity overnight as a hero with the film Jathi Ratnalu, has been making films slowly and steadily without much fanfare. His film with Anushka, Miss Shetty Mr. Polishetty, was considered decent, but some felt it wasn't a film befitting Naveen's image. Naveen started this film with his own script. Even though the director changed, he took the lead in carrying the film forward. From the beginning of the film's production, they have been conducting promotions in a way that raised expectations. Let's see how the film is in this review.
Story:
Raju (Naveen Polishetty), who belongs to a zamindar family, lives a respectable life in the village by invoking his ancestors' name, even though he has lost all his properties. Although he is a zamindar's heir in name, Raju faces financial difficulties. Even though he has lost all his fields and properties, he continues to be called a zamindar in the village by mentioning his grandfather's name. He thinks that to solve all his problems, he needs to marry a very wealthy girl. He looks at many prospective matches for this purpose. Finally, he meets Charulata (Meenakshi Chaudhary). Upon learning that she is the daughter of the very wealthy Bhupathi Raju (Rao Ramesh), he undertakes "Operation Charulata" to make her fall in love with him.
Charulata falls for his plan, and Raju and Charu get married in a grand ceremony. After the marriage, Raju learns some shocking things, and his situation becomes even worse than before the wedding. How does Raju get out of these circumstances? Does Raju manage to overcome his financial problems as he had hoped? What he does in response to that is the film's plot.
Actors' Performance:
It's evident from watching the film that Naveen Polishetty carried the entire burden of the movie on his shoulders. Naveen impressed with his comedic timing. He captivated with his signature mannerisms and also impressed with his dialogues and dance. He also attracted everyone's attention by performing an action sequence. There is no doubt that Naveen's comedic timing is the main attraction of the film. He dominated the entire film with his acting and comedy. Even though the entire film revolved around Naveen, he acted with balance and restraint without going overboard anywhere.
The heroine, Meenakshi Chaudhary, looks very beautiful. She has already earned good marks in terms of her looks. Although she seemed to overact in one or two places, her overall performance was impressive. Rao Ramesh impressed in his limited role. The actors in other roles performed adequately. However, none of them got the scope to deliver a great performance.
Technical Aspects:
The director tried to make the story completely entertaining. In that process, the comedy scenes he wrote were somewhat funny. However, every scene felt like something seen before, like something that had made people laugh before. The writing was particularly poor in the second half. It is known that Naveen is one of the writers of this film. It doesn't seem like he gave much importance to other characters except for his own.
There is nothing much to say about the music. While one song was somewhat decent, overall, the songs and background score were not great. The cinematography is good; the beauty of the village was captured well. There are many complaints regarding the editing. The second half, in particular, needed significant trimming. The production values are in line with the story.
Analysis:
The fact that Naveen Polishetty is releasing his film knowing that there are big films releasing for Sankranthi suggests he had a lot of confidence in his movie. His statements before the film's release also generated interest. He conducted promotional activities in a way that attracted everyone's attention. However, his complete control over the script and the lack of importance given to any character other than his own resulted in the entire film revolving around Naveen. Despite this, the first half felt decent and progressed with comedy.
However, despite a major problem in the second half, it's unclear why he's contesting in elections and making various attempts to win them. Only Naveen knows why a person from one village is contesting elections in another village. The entire second half proceeded illogically, like magic. While logic isn't always necessary for such entertainment films, assuming that the audience will accept and believe anything shown to them can backfire. That's what happened here. The illogical scenes and screenplay became excessive. The villain had no importance whatsoever; everyone stood before the hero like sheep. The audience won't stand for that. Therefore, it remains to be seen how well the audience will receive the king's entertainment.
Plus points:
Naveen Polishetty
Some comedy scenes
First half.
Minus points:
Second half
Illogical scenes
Routine climax
Music
Conclusion...
This entertainment is not enough for the Sankranthi competition, Raju.
Banner: Sithara Entertainments
Producers: Naga Vamsi, Sai Soujanya
Director: Mari
Music: Mickey J. Meyer
Cast: Naveen Polishetty, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Rao Ramesh, Tharak Ponnappa and others