Movie Review: 'Srinivasa Mangapuram'

Movie Review: ‘Srinivasa Mangapuram'

Cast: Ghattamaneni Jayakrishna, Rasha Thadani, Mohan Babu, Kick Shyam, Vasuki, Ajay, Mahendran, Sritej, Naresh, Brahmaji, and others.

Music: G.V. Prakash Kumar

Cinematography: Jayakrishna Gummadi

Producer: P. Kiran

Writing & Direction: Ajay Bhupathi

Former Superstar Krishna’s grandson Jayakrishna Ghattamaneni (Mahesh Babu’s brother Ramesh Babu’s son) has entered Tollywood now through “Srinivasa Mangapuram”. The film is directed by RX100 and Mangalavaram fame Ajay Bhupathi. As the film hits cinemas today, let’s have a look at how it is.

STORY:

Sreenu (Jayakrishna) lands in Tirupathi freshly and falls in love with the city’s most influential person, Peddi Reddy (Kick Shyam)’s daughter, Manga (Rasha Tadani) at first sight. While he persistently pursues her, Manga won’t respond. Later, when he does a favour, she agrees to be his friend. Though Sreenu proposes to her later, she rejects, as he’s already engaged to someone and wants to marry the same guy. However, it comes out that Sreenu came to Tirupathi just to get Manga, and the flashback deals with why he came. So, who’s he, what’s his story, and what happens in the end form the rest of the story.

NARRATIVE-ANALYSIS:

Many directors usually showcase their authority for a long time, then go off track. However, Ajay Bhupathi, who has created a storm with RX100, has lost control of the narrative with his second film Maha Samudram itself. When he was labelled a one-film wonder, he proved his mettle with Mangalavaram again. Now that he’s introducing a successor of the Ghattamaneni family, many thought the film would blow minds. However, the promos of Srinivasa Mangapuram lacked the punch, and many thought maybe Ajay Bhupathi will do magic inside the theatres. But the film looked like another Maha Samudram repeated. Ajay Bhupathi hasn’t even shown the acting spark shown by a newcomer, thus making the film an average fare.

After watching the film, Mahesh Babu is said to have texted 6 love emojis to Ajay Bhupathi, as the director proudly claims. If that’s true, we have to seriously think about Mahesh Babu’s taste in the first place. Maybe it looks like Mahesh showered love because he can’t do anything to the film, as the release date is already locked. In this two-and-a-half-hour runtime movie, nothing worked, as there is neither freshness nor emotion. Not even a single sequence gave a high, and no character impressed. At least many expect Mohan Babu’s role of Venkatappa Naidu to give a high, but that too disappoints, including the highly hyped introduction scene of the veteran. But for a love story, if the lead pair’s chemistry clicks, it works, but here, that didn’t work such that the film goes to the next level. With both action blocks and love story failing to click, the film upsets the viewers.

Though Srinivasa Mangapuram’s story isn’t new, it’s interesting only. The base story reminds us of the Hai Nanna movie, and if a proper screenplay is added ot that, it would have worked. Had Ajay Bhupathi shown spark like RX100 and Mangalavaram in terms of narrative, Srinivasa Mangapuram would have become special. However, he conceived the film quite normally. The film starts with routine feels, giving expectations that it might take a turn later. Nearly half of the film has neither flow nor story or excitement, with some routine songs and fights. But then, the film fails to take off even after Mohan Babu’s entry in the second half. But the graph never went up. The strong and lengthy dialogues by the hero and heroine feel absurd as none of them connected to their characters first. Especially the heroine should be impressive, and if she fails to connect to the audience, the love story goes for a toss. Though Jaya Krishna tried to impress with his antics, director Ajay Bhupathi failed to give him the needed push. Except for some mass-action scenes, music and production values, Srinivasa Mangapuram offers nothing exciting.

PERFORMANCES:

Jaya Krishna possesses the quality of a star, including his looks, presence and performance. However, he didn’t try to become another star now, but tried to get into the skin of the character. While he’s okayish in emotional sequences, clicked in heroic scenes. That said, Rasha Tadani is a big minus for the role as she never looked like a Telugu girl. She looks average in terms of looks and performance. The pairing of Jaya Krisha and Rasha never truly clicked together. Though we can’t point out Mohan Babu’s acting prowess, the director hasn’t used him effectively. He never truly became the strength of the film. Vasuki clicked in a crucial role, while Naresh’s role is interesting in the beginning but falters later. Kick Shyam, Ajay, Vadlamani Srinivas, and Brahmaji failed to click.

TECHNICALITIES:

As it happens to be a new hero’s launch, the production quality of the film is top-notch. GV Prakash’s songs and background score are impressive, while Jayakrishna Gummadi’s cinematography is also catchy. Visuals are impressive. Despite having all the resources in hand, Writer and Director Ajay Bhupathi failed to utilise them. The audience who hoped he would do magic tends to be disappointed. Rather than making a trendy film with a new hero, he made a routine film with no exciting points in the script or screenplay.

Lastly: Srinivasa Mangapuram, a routine film.

Rating: 2.25/5