'Martin Luther King' Movie Review

Cast: Sampoornesh Babu, Naresh, Venkatesh Maha, Saranya Pradeep and others.

Music: Smaran Sai

Cinematography: Deepak Yeragera

Story: Madonne Ashwin

Screenplay – Dialogues: Venkatesh Maha

Producer: Sashikanth and Chakravarthy Ramachandra

Editor - Director: Puja Kolluru

Sampoornesh Babu is synonymous for movies like 'Hrudaya Kaaleyam' and 'Kobbari Matta' which are a sarcastic take on stereotypes in Telugu cinema. But he did a serious role in 'Martin Luther King'. The impressive promotional content attracted a lot of people. The movie has hit the big screens and let us see how it turned out.

Story:

Padamarapadu is a village in which the rivalry between two cast groups has been at its peak for decades. A bigwig plans to stop these battles and decides to marry one girl from each caste. But his kids Jaggu (Naresh) and Loki (Venkatesh Maha) grew up and identify themselves as rivals which makes these caste wars even bigger. Due to this, there is no development in the village. When the election time arrives, the father who has been the president for ages falls sick and it is Jaggu and Loki who are competing for the post. With both the castes having the same number of votes, it becomes interesting to see who wins the elections. Martin Luther King (Sampoornesh Babu) who gets a new voter id on his name becomes very crucial for the win. Who is Martin Luther King? What is his background? Why is he named like that? Whom did he vote for? Answers to these questions form the rest of the story.

Analysis:

These are the days when people are complaining about heroes and directors giving messages through movies. They are not at all interested in movies with good messages and they should be heavily sugar-coated in order to be linked the viewers. The reach of the message will be more if the film has a right mix of all commercial ingredients. 'Martin Luther King' mixed a lot of entertainment with the message. The main purpose of the film is to shed a light on damage caused by caste wars and explain the viewers about the importance of the right to vote. The team of 'Martin Luther King' tried to make it as entertaining as possible. Venkatesh Maha and director Puja Kolluru worked very hard in converting the original version 'Mandela' into a natural looking Telugu film 'Martin Luther King'. But picking Sampoornesh Babu as the main character which needs to showcase a lot of variations turned out to be a poor decision. Though the role is tailor-made for him, Sampoo failed to carry its weight on his shoulders. The slow narration style did not help as well. There are a few scenes that get repetitive as well. On the whole, 'Martin Luther King' turns out to be a commendable attempt by the makers.

The perfectly designed set is the major highlight of 'Martin Luther King'. The concept of people from two castes fighting with each other since ages, the panchayat elections, the intense rivalry making its way into politics as well and one vote becoming the key to everything makes for an interesting premise. The entire thread revolving the single voter is quite entertaining. The guy who gets insulted day in and day out in the village all the time suddenly getting royal treatment from everyone is quite hilarious. We feel sympathy for King's character and the innocence is very much on display during the initial scenes. 'Martin Luther King' runs on a faster note till the main twist arrives in the movie. The scenes between Sampoornesh and Saranya Pradeep too worked out pretty well.

But the graph of the film rapidly falls down in the second half. The scenes where the two groups try to win him over are hilarious at the beginning but get repetitive in the second half. Hero's acting is a bit artificial and the logic goes for a toss regarding his character. The movie becomes boring due to the same scenes arrive again and again. The story doesn't move forward and the emotional pre-climax too didn't work out completely. Just like how the hero becomes greedy and crosses the line, his change of heart and selecting good are also not convincing enough. Though it is great to explain the significance of a vote, it should have been dealt in a more realistic manner. The ending is decent and 'Martin Luther King' ends up being a different attempt that follows the parallel cinema style. The movie has the chance of impressing you if you don't remember the actors and concentrate only on the performances and the story. There are no commercial elements in the movie and 'Martin Luther King' is a good option to have a good laugh and learn a few things.

Performances:

People who created a perception about Sampoornesh Babu due to his satirical comedies and spoofs will see a new actor in this movie. He brought out a new side of him. He is no match to what Yogi Babu did in the original but Sampoornesh Babu did excel in a few portions. His innocent act was great and he was apt for this role but he faltered during the emotional scenes which are key to this movie. Naresh and Venkatesh Maha competed with each other in terms of performances. They were very natural and this kind of performance can be expected from a senior professional like Naresh but Maha matched him in every step of the way. It is their characters who drive the movie. The person who did their father role was amazing as well. All the other actors did a fine job as we get a feeling that we are in a village around a bunch of normal people.

Technicians:

'Martin Luther King' is backed by a good technical output. Smaran Sai's music and Deepak Yeragera's cinematography have worked out well. He used the village folk songs quite well. Even the background scores were very pleasing and natural. The songs were integrated in the movie and the camerawork is brilliant as well. Art work is equally good and Venkatesh Maha took the concept from Tamil and tried his best to make it suitable to our sensibilities. He added a few new scenes and dialogues as well. We don't feel that it is a remake and Puja Kolluri's taking is okay. She followed the original film in terms of the narration completely.

Verdict: 'Martin Luther King' – Good Concept But Slow Narration!

Rating: 2.5/5

Disclaimer : This Review is Just An Opinion of One Person. Please Do Not Judge The Movie Based On This Review And Watch Movie in Theater .