The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : A clean entertainer

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Sunday, Feb 17, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

A clean entertainer

Film: Andamaina Manasu Lo

Cast: Rajeev, Ramya, Archana

Direction: R.P. Patnaik

The setting is idyllic, there is a college campus in the mountains, it rains without rhyme or reason and there is a whiff of romance in the air.

Tushar (Rajeev) is an orphan and it is not long before he and Sandhya (Ramya) are drawn towards each other.

There is a parallel story too…about how a schoolgirl who is rescued in an accident by Tushar and how the girl’s family befriends him. Sandhya goes home for a holiday and never returns, it is later learnt that she has given into her parent’s choice and gives Tushar a royal ditch.

While Tushar is crestfallen and has resolved to remain single, the schoolgirl (Archana) has already begun to nurture feelings for him and friendship turns to love.

Does that remind you of Nishabd? Thankfully there is not much of an age gap (just 8 yrs) and there is no opposition to the alliance except from the hero himself. He thinks it is a sacrilege and goes on with his Ph.D thesis. Undeterred by this unrequited love the school girl..oops the college student now turns Tushar’s dream into a reality.

From mushy romance to universal love, it all sounds heady and heavy but the director has concocted his ideal love story with plenty of gags from Laxmipathy (sad he didn’t live to see the response he got for his work) and Sunil.

Sunil shows his versatility by playing Emanuel, a choir group instructor and Laxmipathy plays his cook who goes into a trance every time he listens to music.

Vadde Naveen’s smart presence livens up the otherwise tiring second half. It’s a slow moving film with convincing performances by the child and the trio. The film deals with a complex subject but the queer question is whether or not it will appeal to people other than multiplex audiences. A clean film and comedy dominates the story. Music is good and there are some nice dialogues from Gollapudi Maruthi Rao.

Y.SUNITA CHOWDHARY

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Andhra Pradesh