The Nagarjuna-Sonali Bendre starrer Manmadhudu is one of the films in Tollywood which created its mark and is continuing to entertain the audience even till this point. Released in 2002, this film surprised a whole lot of audience. With the right mixture of comedy, drama, sentiment and excitement mixed, Manmadhudu needs a special mention as a timeless film. Balancing every element carefully, adding a decent amount of details required, Vijay Bhaskar did an exceptional job in delivering an amazing film to the audience.
Abhi (Nagarjuna) is a handsome man who despises women. On the contrary, there are more women employers in his ad agency, where he is a manager. His Uncle, chairman of the company, appoints Harika (Sonali Bendre) as assistant manager, to Abhi’s disappointment. From loathing women to how he falls in love with Harika, covering Abhi’s flashback scenes, sums up the storyline. The storyline might be thin and quite simple. But the punchlines, neat comedy, brilliant music composition, and excellent direction made this thin story extraordinary.
If the story and the performances made the film beautiful, the comedy timings and punch dialogues made people stick to the seats. Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Bhramanandam, Sunil have their fair share in tickling the audience with clean comedy. Every scene shot in Paris is a gem. Talking about Paris, these scenes follow the sad flashback of Abhi. From taking the audience from a gloomy mood and introducing humour to them, it needs perfection. With Trivikram’s punful dialogues and humorous scenes, Vijay Bhaskar was able to succeed. Tanikella Bharani-Nagarjuna duo created a few funny moments too.
Manmadhudu is all about Abhi. It talks about how he lives his carefree life, how he falls in love with a girl, why he despises women, how he manages to conquer his hatred, how he falls in love again. Besides covering Abhi’s life, the film talks about emotions. Abhi loses his parents and stays with his Uncle. His relationship with his Aunt and Uncle is very pure. His aunt supports him like a mother, while his Uncle punishes him like a father. They never took him as a responsibility, rather they loved him as their son. Manmadhudu also talks about purity in love. Though the storyline might seem to be emotional, this film has the right amount of emotional scenes, making the audience connect to the characters.
Another thing that made people watch Manmadhudu over and over again is the extraordinary music composed by Devi Sri Prasad. Everyone song represents the scenes following, without deviating. Don’t Marry, Nenu Nenuga Lene, Andhamaina Bhamalu are worth adding to the playlists. Moreover, the music impressed the audience making them listen to the songs on a loop.
Nagarjuna’s charm and performance do not need a separate mention as the audience already witnessed his talents. Sonali Bendre and Anshu, both mesmerised and impressed the audience with their fine performances. Anshu attracted everyone with her innocent looks while Sonali made everyone fall in love with her beauty.
Manmadhudu used comedy with the right melange of emotions to impress the audience. Without the balance, the film might have been a one-man show. But Trivikram and Vijay Bhaskar managed everything perfectly giving characters their importance, making the film recommendable and worth watching.
