'Aa Okkati Adakku' Movie Review
Cast: Allari Naresh, Faria Abdullah, Vennela Kishore, Raja Chembrolu, Ravi Krishna, Jamie Lever, Anish Kuruvella, Goparaju Ramana, Prudhvi, Murali Sharma, Gouthami and others.
Music: Gopi Sundar
Cinematography: Surya
Producer: Rajeev Chilaka
Writer - Director: Malli Ankam
Allari Naresh is synonymous with comedy films at one point in time. His films made people laugh to the fullest. But he changed his track and did a couple of serious films in recent times. After a long time, he came back to his favourite comedy genre with 'Aa Okkati Adakku'. The trailer looked promising and the movie hit the screens on Friday amidst decent buzz. Let us see if the movie impressed the people or not.
Story:
Ganapathi (Allari Naresh) is an employee in the sub-registrar office. Despite becoming old, he is unable to get married. He worries that his classmate's kids are also getting married but he is not. After trying a lot, he takes the route of matrimony sites. After getting frustrated with some profiles, he finds Siddhi (Faria Abdullah). He likes Siddhi instantly and meets her. Even she likes him back and after travelling together for a few days, he decides to marry her. But Siddhi says that she likes Ganapathi but doesn't agree to marriage. What is the reason behind it? How did Ganapathi respond to it? Will Ganapathi finally get married? Answers to these questions form the rest of the story.
Analysis:
Allari Naresh was the care of address for comedy films in Tollywood. Keeping the films aside, people used to put a smile on their faces just at the sight of him onscreen. The spoof and parody tracks that worked brilliantly in his movies were overused after a point and it led to people getting bored by it. With zero success with fun films, Naresh changed his track and started doing serious movies like 'Naandi'. He won the appreciation of many and he did more serious subjects. Due to all this, the comedy image of Naresh is gone. Sunil proved that it is not easy to return back to the comedy genre and showcase the same timing. Despite all his efforts, Sunil is constantly failing to make people laugh at his comedy scenes these days. It is Naresh's turn now and he needs a comedy film that makes people burst out of laughter throughout the runtime in order to make a strong comeback. But director Mallik Ankam did not have any of these elements except for the title which was Naresh's father EVV Satyanarayana's blockbuster movie's name.
At one point people were confused about the film being a serious film or a comedy flick. The point discussed in this film is fresh and people can relate to it easily as well. But the director failed in generating comedy out of it. Naresh played the role of a guy who is desperately waiting for marriage as he is getting old. Venkatesh played a similar role in 'Malliswari'. Pellikani Prasad's character was quite iconic and people expected such a level of fun from Naresh's character as well. But this movie is nowhere near 'Malliswari' in terms of entertainment. We get confused about whether the director wants to generate comedy or give a social message through this flick. It starts off on a comedy note but ends on a serious note. Naresh did a fine job but he lost his comic touch which is quite sad. Naresh knows how to play such characters with ease but he left it and did the role with a bit of dignity and class. His role offered zero entertainment and the supporting cast too did not make the audience laugh wholeheartedly. Many names can be mentioned but none of them provided the required fun. Vennela Kishore got used to the friend's role and sleepwalked through it. He provided decent fun but faded away in the second half. They even brought Johnny Lever's daughter Jamie Lever from sister-in-law's character but it served no purpose.
The desperation of unmarried guys is well shown in this film and how the matrimony sites exploit them is also discussed here. But it is not that effective. The story takes a lot of turns in the second half but it is not interesting. The first half is better and the twist related to the heroine's character is revealed in the interval. The movie would have been better if they followed the regular template of the heroine cheating on him and the hero going after her. But the lack of clarity in the heroine's character makes you lose interest. There is a lot of confusion in her character designing. There were a few laughs in the first half but the second half is quite bad. There is no scope for fun and seasoned comedians too couldn't do anything. The courtroom drama too lacks conviction. 'Aa Okkati Adakku' ends on a regular note and the movie spoils the name of such an entertaining film with a good message from Rajendra Prasad and EVV. 'Aa Okkati Adakku' falls halt in theatres.
Performances:
Allari Naresh portrayed the character of Ganapathi will sincerity and seriousness. But the 'Allari' in his acting which was promised by the makers is nowhere to be seen. Naresh disappoints on this front. Naresh changed himself a lot for serious roles over the past few years and he found it difficult to go back to his regular comic expressions. Apart from comedy, Naresh's performance was good in other aspects.
Heroine Faria Abdullah looks good and acted decently. But her character confuses you a lot. Her combination with Naresh worked out well. Vennela Kishore did a lot of friend characters in his career. He managed to bring a few laughs in the first half. Viva Harsha, Shakalaka Shankar, Raghu Babu and others did not generate a lot of entertainment. Jamie Lever is okay and there is nothing more to say. Raja Chembrolu and Ravi Krishna are there for the namesake. Gouthami as judge is fine and Murali Sharma was not his usual self in this movie. The rest of the actors are okay.
Technicians:
Gopi Sundar gave memorable melodies in Telugu but he is disappointing the audience a lot lately. There is not one song that shows his stamina in 'Aa Okkati Adakku'. The background score is decent. Surya's visuals are attractive. His work is quite good. The production values are adequate. Mallik Ankam who made his debut as a writer and director. He delivers an underwhelming product. Though the main point of the movie is relatable, he failed to present it effectively. The movie's graph goes down in the writing stage itself. The situations are not able to generate comedy and the dialogues too lack the wittiness. The serious drama too is not well written. Mallik Ram gets average marks for his work.
Verdict: 'Aa Okkati Adakku'… No Allari!!
Rating: 2.25/5