“Preminchadam antey, manam preminchina vallani andanantha etthu lo nilapettadam”

The first slide after thanking the crew’s inspirations comes this slide, that says loving someone is giving them the highest place we can ever see; this line is something that drives us into the movie. The movie released on Aha Video platform, due to pandemic outbreak and it is a mind-blowing love story that we have watched in a long time. How long has it been, that you have bottled up so many things and just blurted out with tears, out of nowhere? This movie gets all that out with its song “Tharagathi gadhi daati” and a very emotional ending.

Direction, screenplay and editing:

If you are a huge Youtube binge-watcher who likes Chaibisket and Girl formula, you will love this screenplay. Written by Sai Rajesh and directed by Masala Sandeep Raj, this movie goes in a smooth flow without abrupt interruptions but an abrupt ending of roles. His work as a short film director was great. And this movie? It’s outstanding! The direction was so subtle and yet intense that anyone could relate to their lost love in many scenes. He tried to bring out the best in the actors he chose and blend their real feelings in the characters. The best scene of the movie is, well there are so many! The list just goes. As this movie is a period drama, it gets surreal at places and pretty realistic at many. The scenes were shot very intelligently leaving tiny clues in the background like- A black and white poster, Krishna and Radha paintings, pictures of Lord Krishna. And at the beginning of the movie, Bala Yesu, carries Jayakrishna on his shoulders, the movie ends the same way. We see immense character development throughout the movie, without shifting the focus from the main plot, hence the movie has been short and crisp. The editing is marvellous, as it tries to keep the audience, on-hook throughout the movie, even though it has a predictable plot. The backdrop of the movie is extraordinary because the story demands a 1999 feel around the characters in a village, like Machilipatnam and it is almost the soul of the movie, and the director hasn’t compromised in it.

Story, dialogues and characters:

The plot is about a love story set in 1999. Jayakrishna and Deepthi Indukuri, like each other in college and plan to settle in life and get married. Destiny takes a turn and Deepthi’s brother Ramaraju doesn’t agree for their marriage due to his racial difference. The rest of the movie is how they fight for their love and how it ends. Each and every dialogue was written with a very broad perspective and is highly insightful. Almost all of the dialogues are applicable to everyone even in the year 2020. There are different scenes where we feel like they are still happening in this age too, and it gives us a huge hit “ What did even change?”

The characters are written in such a way that anyone can relate to them. They are merely the everyday characters that we come across, a strict brother, a friendly vadhina, a supporting best friend and an innocent friend. But what made these characters different are the actors who played them-

  • Chandini Chowdary as Deepthi Indukuri: I was astonished to see such an amazing human play a role that had demanded so much effort and patience. The role needs to be natural, candid, and pretty outspoken and courageous. She lived in the character of Deepthi and filled it with her charisma and beauty. The transition and development of her role are so impressive that one can see her efforts on the screen. Her acting in the climax scene is breath-taking and anyone would clap for that brilliance.
  • Suhas as Jaya Krishna: I have seen too many people around me bullied for their skin colour being dark and this movie legit talks about it in volumes. Suhas has shown his complete talent in this movie, no that doesn’t give me satisfaction, chinchi autala padesadu ma Suhas anna! His role and many dialogues were real-life experiences and maybe because of it, there are 0 negative opinions on his acting. As a huge Chaibisket fan, I have seen him grow from tiny roles to a protagonist role in a feature film and I must say, I was so right from the beginning that he would never disappoint anyone!
  • Sunil as Ramaraju: In my opinion, this was a much-needed attempt for Sunil. He has made everyone laugh with his long career as a comedian and then as an actor. After a gap, he came back with this captivating role. I was so happy to see him delivering those intense and serious dialogues that I slow clapped and replayed his scenes many times throughout the movie. In few scenes he uses few dialogues like “chustunna anni observe chestunna”, “ iyam akasavani…” “prativadu ide cheptadu..” these were the same dialogues that we laughed at earlier but in this movie, he says the same with a serious look and changed tone, one would shiver, if heard him say the same in real.
  • Harsha Chemudupati as Bala Yesu: Mana Viva Harsha has slayed his role as Bala Yesu. Jeevinchesadu. This role is like a slap in the face of all the small, and comic roles that Harsha has done in past. His dialogue “Inni rojulu chinna chinna patralu icchi mammalni thokki vesaru, ippudu janaalu andaru mana performance gurinchi matladkune samayam aasannam aindi” says everything about this role and he didn’t let us down. His character development was amazing- from a guy who is scared of small things and dead bodies to something that a friend should never face, is outstanding. Also, his timing and delivery were very special compared to other roles. It is said that a friend is the only one who sees everything about us and everything around us and he proved that Bala Yesu can only be one, there can’t be another one, anthala iragadeesadu!!
  •  Srividya Palaparthy as Jyothi Vadhina: I loved this role and has been a fan of this actor too. The role is small but intriguing in its own way. I have seen Vidya in many roles in different short films. Her charm is something that draws us, once she is on the screen, she catches our complete attention! “..daniki thodu magaallu andaru cheri cinemalu tiyyadam valla emo mana kathalu mana lo ne migilipoyay..” is one dialogue that says us that, Jyothi is a wise woman who had to compromise in her life for something unworthy. Her role is very insightful and simple. I wish she had more screen time. I like her timing when Deepthi asks “ Jandyala darsakatvam lo Chiranjeevi cinema enti? Moodo aksharam ba.” in front of her father’s dead body and after Ramaraju’s little storm over her sister, Jyothi replies “ Chantabbai”. I love that sequence.
  • Divya Drishti as Sripada Padmaja: She is a passionate dancer who is competitive when things take a stir and an amazing best friend to Deepthi Indukuri.  Divya played this role with ease. Her role was written in such a way that it fills the few gaps that are caused by different reasons and it doesn’t look like it while watching for the first time. Paddu has a crush on Bala Yesu and it doesn’t come out until the end of the movie.

Music and Sound design:

Kaala Bhairava composed the music for this movie and it was life for the movie. The violin music is the first one that has made everyone listen to the rest of the album. In a way, music has pulled people’s attention and made them remember every inch of the movie. The background was apt to the scenes and throughout the movie, there is little to no repetition in the background music. He has fixed a piece of peculiar music when Bala Yesu comes on screen and we just laugh out for that while looking at the screen.

While talking about songs, Kaala Bhairava sung 3 of the album’s songs and all three of them are splendid. Tharagathi Gadhi, of both the versions and Arere Akasham was with Anurag Kulkarni, lyrics were by Kittu Vissapragada, who has earlier made us cry with his Arerey Manasa and Undiporadhey. Though his music was very different for our ears, his style of music reminds us of his father MM Keeravani. The college song was by Hema Chandra, after a long time we heard him sing and it was very energetic.

Towards the end, what we take from this movie is no matter what the time period has been, the things are still the same and the thought process hasn’t changed though we hold a smartphone in our hand. This movie is a must-watch for everyone, to lighten our hearts filled with too much sorrow because at the end, one would definitely cry it all out. Maybe that’s what too much love makes us feel.