Srimanthudu

In the context of brain drain and rather dismal state of India's villages, it is no wonder that this film, although a commercial one is a hidden appeal to people, especially the wealthy, to "Return to Roots".

Overall, watching the film is a good experience. The director's job was fairly good. The music was enjoyable. And yet again, Mahesh Babu steals the show with his trademark performance peppered by witty remarks and silent demeanor. Shruti Hassan is only getting better with every film. She pulled off terrific and the chemistry between the lead pair is good. However, the veterans Jagapathi Babu as a caring yet indifferent father and Dr.Rajendra Prasad as the benevolent village head have added more grace to the film.

On the positive side, it is a treat for Mahesh's fans. The emotional connect the film offers is also great! But, the story does seem to drag a bit.

I am happy to see such a movie. I always tell friends and family, there are choices even in doing our duty. Greatest example of all time is Ramayana. When time comes to honor the promise of King Dasharadha, What Rama did is not exactly followed by all brothers and their spouses. Laxmana followed Rama, But his wife did not follow Sita. Same way Bharata and Shatrughna did not do what Laxmana did. However all of them are right based on their own way of what is right.

I am very happy to see such scenes in this movie. Villager brother wanted to leave the village Hero stops and gives a reasoning as to why he should not leave the 'Family'. However when it comes to hero, he leaves the family. He explains his reasons why he wants to leave the family. For those who try to compare they feel hero did wrong. We need a maturity understand why both actions are right.

Harsha (Mahesh Babu), who is the feather bedded son of multi- millionaire Ravikanth (Jagapathi Babu), is a business minded person. He's such a good Samaritan that he always wanna help the needy, over the complications caused by others. Meanwhile, he falls in love with Charuseela (Shruti Haasan) and the complications start when Charu tells a secret about his father. Harsha leaves to Devarakota to solve the issues, instead he adopts the village and starts developing it. That's when he comes across Shashi (Sampath Raj) a local goon and starts mounting upon a small problem. The path the movie takes as the director attempts to find common ground between the two types of personalities is what makes the movie that much more interesting in the end.. Star Performance

It's a one man show Mahesh Babu steals the show with his performance. In full contrast to his image, Mahesh seen as an out and out classy with some Massey shades. It is very evident that Harshavardhan character is very close to Mahesh's heart and gets into the skin of the character. And his cool dance moves deserves a special mention. Shruti Haasan is also effective in her role and sizzled with her moves in the Dhimmathirigae songs. Rajendra Prasad and Jagapathi Babu are promising in their short roles. So is the others in the shorter roles includes Sukanya, Sivaji Raja and Tejaswi Madivada who are not here in archetype characters who just talks the standard lines. Ali's presence guarantees some fun, if not too much. Vennela Kishore and Rahul Ravindran cameos that has a bearing on the story. Poorna is pretty in her traditional attire. Techinical Team

The climax is also shot without any clarity and remains another engaging episode of the movie that comes to sudden stop. Questions en ti sir.. etc are good deserves some applause.

Srimanthudu takes some time to settle and once the backdrop is set the movie moves on in a reasonably decent narrative structure. The not so watertight screenplay by Koratala Siva make it an uneven ride, but there are some very remarkably written elevation sequences. Even here few scenes remind us that this is rather a meek gallimaufry of situations from quite a few films in the past like Bageeradha, Brindavanam, Dookudu, Janani Janmabhoomi, Dil, Athadu.etc. The other major highlight of the movie is Madhie's camera that gives an fresh prospective to every shot. The way Madhie handled the long shots post the fight sequences shows his Midas touch. The tunes of the 6 songs composed by Devi Sri Prasad are fine while "Charuseela" and "Jagore Jagore" are expected to be the chart toppers. The background score provides all pep needed for this film. The movie is a little lengthier at two hours forty three minutes and towards the end loses the plot forthright. The final appears hurried and looks out of sync with the flow of the narrative. Editor Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao could have easily cut short the film by 20 odd minutes. Production Values of Mythri Movie Makers" are grand.

Director Koratala Siva's Srimanthudu has every ingredient that you ask for from a commercial entertainer. From action, romance, humour, melodrama, songs, dance moves to emotional sentiments, there is a bit of it all to make things sufficiently spicy. But only if you go for the film without much expectation, Srimanthudu may turn out to be a watchable fare at best. The film's real trump card, is Mahesh Babu who has given a tremendous performance in the lead role. But the directorial lag is evident in many scenes even though Koratala Siva just manages to make them engrossing. On the whole, Srimanthudu will surely be a treat for the actor's fans despite being tagged as a social themed film, the movie has some good emotional sequences which will touch fans hearts.

Movie which gives a nice message with powerpacked story and performances by artists

Imagine having a good meal. You are happy and your taste buds are tingling in anticipation of the dessert. You see a beautifully decorated cheesecake come your way. The slight dusting of cocoa ups your anticipation and the delicate tangy smell of lemon wafts to you making your mouth water. And then you try to cut into it and find it hard. You still think it'll taste okay. You bite into it and you realize it is stale. There goes the entire experience of your meal.

Srimanthudu is somewhat like that. It starts off well enough. We are introduced to an heir apparent Harsha (Mahesh Babu) who's not really interested in his billions, and his dad Ravikanth (Jagapathi Babu) who does not really understand his son's world. In comes Charuseela (Sruthi Hassan), a girl pursuing a rural development course in NIRD, Hyderabad. Harsha meets Charu and tells her that he loves the course she's doing, and joins her college.

The two get close but when Charu finds out who Harsha is, she distances him telling him that he does not even know his roots and she's a rooted girl and that their worlds will not collide. This statement leads Harsha to discover his roots in a village called Devarakota. How Harsha adopts the village of Devarakota and rids it of the ills plaguing it forms the plot of Srimanthudu.

So the appetizer, the first half, is nice. The first song, Harsha's and Charu's meet-cutes, and Mahesh's acting - all of these make for a good takeoff. There are nicely composed fights and the thrills flow organically. The main course, most of the second half, works well. There are no punch dialog's or fights for the sake of fights. The comedy and Sruthi Hassan spice things up well enough, and you begin to relax thinking your meal is well set. A mass song comes in like slightly sour curd, and you still don't mind. And then the pr- climax / climax sets in, and goes about ruining everything that worked well so far. Sigh.

Director Koratala Siva does a good job with most of the film. He makes sure the script is adhered to, pulls off good mas-ala moments without heavy dialog's or counters, and paces the narrative well - while the film does proceed in a leisurely fashion, at no point does Srimanthudu have you feeling bored. Mahesh supports his director ably and puts in a splendid performance. He also pulls off the rich guy look effortlessly with elegant and understated costumes and styling. The sighing of the women in the theater was audible every time he made an appearance.

Sruthi Hassan does her usual thing, and the rest of the supporting cast do a decent job, too. Sampath and Mukesh Rishi are way too typecast - it is getting boring watching them do these "I'm so bad-ass" villain characters that get beaten to pulp in the climax.

Technically, Srimathudu is impressive. The songs are so much better on screen, and the background score elevates several core moments. The art director could've really gone easy on the baling, though - rich does not necessarily mean gaudy. The dialog's are sharp and not punchlines, which is a relief.

Srimanthudu is a good ride all the way until the final cricket match that Mahesh plays with a rod and the heads of a dozen goons. It is good to see Mahesh give first place to the story, and try and make a strong comeback after the tripe that was Aagadu. Go watch this one - it's been a while since the script was the hero in a big-budget film.