Movie: Mahanubhavudu
Rating: 3/5
Banner: UV Creations
Cast: Sharwanand, Mehreen, Nasser, Vennela Kishore, Raghu Babu, Bhadram and others
Music: S S Thaman
Camera: Nizar Shafi
Editing: Kotagiri
Art Director: Raveender
Producers: Vamsi - Pramod
Written and directed by: Maruthi
Release date: September 29, 2017
Director Maruthi has an image that he makes hilarious romantic comedies after the successes of "Prema Katha Chitram" and "Bhale Bhale Magadivoy".
On the other hand, Sharwanand has created an impression that he selects only different and decent subjects. So, their combination has created huge interest among the movie lovers.
The trailers and the brand name of UV Creations have further hyped it. Has the film lived up to expectations?
Story:
Anand (Sharwanand), a project manager in a company, suffers from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Meghana (Mehreen) joins his project and he immediately falls for her as she is also a neatness freak. When her father (Nasser) gets a stroke, he is reluctant to take him to hospital due to his OCD behaviour.
After this incident she doesn't want to see him again but her father is under impression that he was saved by Anand. Her father invites Anand to their village. Rest of the drama is about how he regains her love.
Artistes' Performances:
Sharwanand has done decent job as a guy obsessed with cleanliness and neatness. There is not much room for him to show his performance skills but he is at his natural best. His look is quite modern.
Heroine Mehreen is not good at all. She lacks glam appeal as well as acting skills. Among other actors, Bhadram and Vennela Kishore are effective.
Nasser's is a typical village father role. The movie has plenty of actors, none of them get registered.
Technical Excellence:
UV Creations, the production house is known for high-end production values and cool visuals. This one also has ultra cool cinematography by Nizar Shafi and art work is good too.
Thaman's music is quite catchy. Couple of songs are nice. Production values are first class. Editing is a minus as the film has a fluctuating graph in narration and has lengthy run time.
Highlights:
OCD angle
Some comedy scenes
Sharwanand's characterization
Cool visuals and production values
Drawback:
Inconsistent narration
Predictable ending
Analysis:
Director Maruthi has made "Bhale Bhale Magadivoy" with the concept of hero having memory issues which everyone easily relates to.
In "Mahanubhavudu", he has the protagonist as a guy who gets disturbed seeing unclean things, behaviour called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
The comedy generated out of memory loss was terrific. Here too, Sharwanand's characterization has novelty and is also main asset to the movie.
Director Maruthi seems to have got highly excited with this characterization that he over indulged in many situations.
He has neatly established the conflict in the first half -- a neatness freak falling in love with a simple girl and this love puts him in a piquant situation of going to rural area where hygiene is hardly cared for. Though the characterisation of the hero and the conflict is quite excellent, the narration is a bumpy ride. It frequently goes down.
The film also has its own share of hilarious moments. It is a plain movie with predictable twists and even regular ending. But director Maruthi has made some portions in village that are quite hilarious.
Example: Sharwanand is made to bath in a village lake where all villagers do all kind of things -- daily ablutions plus washing the clothes. This scene is shot quite hilariously. There is another good scene of avakaya annam.
Apart from these scenes, the movie doesn't offer anything exciting or laugh out loud moments. Even though hero's role has novelty, he also goes overboard.
It is plain and simple entertainer that doesn't bore you. This kind of romantic dramas work more if the lead actress comes up with brilliant performance. Here Mehreen is a disappointment.
Despite predictability, the good music, the cool visuals, Sharwanand and Vennela Kishore keep us glued to the seats.
On the whole, "Mahanubhavudu" is a neat romantic entertainer. Concept of OCD has novelty. It makes a decent watch for its time pass moments.
Bottom-line: Neat Comedy