Movie: MLA
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Blue Planet and People Media Factory
Cast: Kalyan Ram, Kajal Aggarwal, Ravi Kishan, Brahmanandam, Posani, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Vennela Kishore, Lasya, Ajay, Manali Rathod, Prudhvi and others
Dialogues: Upendra Madhav - Praveen Varma
Music: Manisharma
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Editing: Thammi Raju
Stunts: Venkat, Real Satish
Producers: Kiran Reddy - Bharath Chowdary
Story, Screenplay and Direction: Upendra Madhav
Release date: Mar 23, 2018
The promos of “MLA” were interesting as they promised some good masala entertainment. Moreover, the pairing up of Kalyan Ram and Kajal Aggarwal after a gap of 10 years has stirred interest.
Let’s find out about the movie’s merits and demerits.
Story:
Since Kalyan (Kalyan Ram) has all good qualities, everyone calls him MLA which stands for ‘Manchi Lakshanalunna Abbayi’.
Against his father’s wishes, he helps his sister get married to her lover and he moves to Bangalore with the couple.
In Bangalore, he joins a company and the company owner’s daughter Indu (Kajal) comes down to India office for a project work.
When the company’s property is illegally occupied by a rowdy-sheeter Marthalli (Ajay), Kalyan says he will solve the case if Indu agrees to his love proposal and she does. He solves the issue but then comes the twist: Indu told a lie about her identity.
Who is Indu and what would he do next after knowing her story?
Artistes’ Performances:
Kalyan Ram has transformed into new avatar. Not only has his appearance changed, his acting style too has become good. He shows freeness as far as body language is concerned and it works in favour of this kind of masala movies.
Kajal Aggarwal as Indu is glamorous though she doesn’t have much to perform.
Ravi Kishan as Gaddappa is neat. After a long gap, Brahmanandam gets a role that is bearable to watch.
Prudhvi’s role is so boring. Posani Krishna Murali’s “files” jokes are too lame.
Technical Excellence:
Prasad Murrella’s cinematography is rich. Mani Sharma has given a couple of catchy numbers. Production values are excellent.
Highlights:
Some scenes
Kalyan Ram
Drawback:
Routine Story
Weak direction
Outdated screenplay
Boring second half
Analysis:
“MLA” begins on a dull note, but picks up momentum a bit later and provides some fun moments when the romantic portions between Kalyan Ram and Kajal are shown.
Despite routineness, first half of this regular masala movie doesn’t bore you. Trouble begins post-interval.
The story is too clichéd and the screenplay turns out to be even more unoriginal. The initial scenes can be excused if the real drama opens up later in an engaging way. But sadly, “MLA” turns too boring in the later portions.
There is formula for masala movies and this formula has ended its expiry date long back. Still, some directors are not coming out of this long-dead formula.
The film talks about “manchi lakshnalu”, but the director has not incorporated “manchi lakshanalu” in screenplay.
The director is from the school of Sreenu Vaitla and Kona Venkat. He has used the same methods for narrating this story that both of them have used in many movies.
The thread of a villain falling for the beauty of heroine and hero going all out to fool the villain has been used in hundreds of movies.
These kind of movies can be bearable to watch if it provides some comedy. But here, both Brahmanandam and Prudhvi have failed to generate laughs.
Hero’s various development acts in the village in the second half and villain’s schemes are school-boy level of thinking.
Overall, Kalyan Ram’s “MLA” turns out to be another regular and outdated masala movie with hardly any positive aspects. The story and the narration, nothing excites or surprises, though Kalyan Ram has done a better job.
Bottom-line: RMM – Regular Masala Movie