Movie: Arjuna Phalguna
Rating: 1.5/5
Banner: Matnee Entertainments
Cast: Sree Vishnu, Amritha Aiyer, Naresh, Sivaji Raja, Subba Raju, Devi Prasad, and others.
Music: Priyadarshan Balasubramanian
Cinematography: Jagadeesh Cheekati
Art: Gandhi Nadikudikar
Action: Ram Sunkara
Producers: Niranjan Reddy, Anvesh Reddy
Written and Direction: Teja Marni
Release Date: Dec 31, 2021
The last film to hit the theaters in 2021 is ‘Arjuna Phalguna’ starring Sree Vishnu as the hero.
Let’s analyze.
Story:
Arjun (Sree Vishnu) and his four friends struggle to find jobs. Arjun comes with a plan to open a soda factory. The bank manager demands Rs 50 thousand as a bribe for sanctioning the loan. One of his friends also needs big money. They agree to transport Ganja as a quick route to earn money and land in a mess.
Artistes’ Performances:
Sree Vishnu has played the typical rural youngster with ease. He mouths the dialogues in a Godavari accent.
Amritha Aiyer is there as a film needs a heroine. She doesn’t add anything to the film.
Subba Raj appears as a cop and gets a couple of scenes in the end. Naresh and Sivaji Raja are okay.
Technical Excellence:
The technicians have also failed miserably. The camera work is fairly better. The dialogue writing lacks impact. So is the editing.
Highlights:
Some parts in the second half
Drawback:
Weak direction
Patchy screenplay
Illogical story
No excitement
Analysis
Director Teja Marni’s debut film “Johar” was panned by critics. The film lacked engaging narrative skills, but a section liked it for the sole reason of its political theme.
His second film “Arjuna Phalguna” doesn’t have a political story. What it does repeat is the same boring narrative, clueless screenplay. This further proves that Teja Marni doesn’t have screenplay skills at all.
During thunderstorms, people utter “Arjuna Phalguna” to quell the fear. The director makes us keep uttering the same as we have to bear this pain of watching illogical mess for two hours.
The film begins as a story of four unemployed friends trying to get a job. Then it turns out to be an action drama as the film shifts to Vizag and the angle Ganja smuggling comes into the story. Later, it turns out to be a cat and mouse game between the police (played by Subbaraj) and the hero. Further, it tries to be an emotional melodrama. At the same time, it imitates “Jathi Ratnalu”.
Within two hours of runtime, the director shifts the tone many times, and the film runs directionless throughout. The 2-hour movie gives the feel of a 4-hour story.
Primarily, “Arjuna Phalguna” is logic-less film. The first half of the film is a mess. Though some scenes in the second half are better, it further goes downhill in the penultimate act with the boring narration.
The hero and his gang need just 50 thousand to bribe the banker. One of the hero’s friends takes 30 thousand rupees from his father for Kodi Pandelu. Instead of putting that money on betting, he could have given it to the bank manager and started the factory. The film would have ended there and saved us from going through this torture.
The so-called comedy scenes involving friends test our patience.
In a nutshell, Arjun Phalguna has nothing to talk about, it ranks among the badly-made movies in 2021. A bad ending for the year!
Bottom-Line: Even Arjuna Can't Save!