Movie: Madhanam
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Kasi Productions
Cast: Srinivasa Sayee, Bhavana Rao, Sithara, Ajay, Rajeev Kanakala, Ajay Ghosh and others
Music: Ron Ethan Yohann
Cinematography: P.G Vinda
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateshwara Rao
Producers: Divya Prasad, Ashok Prasad
Written and directed by: Ajay Sai Manikandan
Release date: Dec 6, 2019
‘Madhanam’ has been touted as the first Telugu film that is solely releasing in the USA.
Let’s find out how the film has fared.
Story:
Ram (Srinivasa Saayee) gets locked himself in a room in his house for 14 years, not seeing the outside world, not even talking to his mother due to his father’s (Rajeev Kanakala) tragic death. He steps out of his secluded life due to the charm of beautiful girl Sujatha aka Suji (Bhavana Rao) and starts liking her. She also likes his innocence and sincerity.
A few months later, when he’s about to propose her, she points her finger to a paint she drew on the wall to show her boyfriend’s face. He assumes her boyfriend is a criminal the police are looking for and he must save her.
Who her boyfriend is and how would he save her? And why did he lock himself for many years?
Artistes’ Performances:
Srinivasa Saaye is fitted as a youngster who is going through guilt and remorse. As a girl-next-door, Bhavana Rao makes a good impression. She has got the right expressions.
Sithara as mother and Rajeev Kanakala as a father are good. Ajay Ghosh’s gay villain character is irritating and silly. Ajay as a police officer and Tanikella Bharani as a church father don’t make much impact.
Technical Excellence:
If we have to point out the positive aspects of the movie, first and foremost it is visuals that are pleasing to the eyes. The director has a good visual sense.
PG Vinda’s cinematography is first-rate and his frames are beautiful. Music is okay, nothing much to talk about. The artwork is decent.
Highlights:
First half
Cinematography
Drawback:
Impracticable plot
Glaring loopholes
Boring narration
Penultimate sequences
Analysis
A kid locks himself due to a tragic incident in 2005. He doesn’t know how he looks himself now in 2019. He has only one friend who regularly comes to his room. But the moment he comes out of his room for Suji, the beautiful girl in his locality, he knows everything about the outside world including where a bar and restaurant is located and to take up beer bottle when he feels down. Sounds illogical, right! Such flaws don’t restrict to these two things, the entire second half of “Madhanam” is unworkable.
The basic premise of ‘Madhanam’ might have looked interesting on paper but the screenplay has glaring irrational points. The girl comes forward to marry him but doesn’t care to know who he is, where he resides, who his parents are.
When one falls in love, the first thing one does is trying to look good themselves, to be attractive to the other person. They constantly look in the mirror to check their appearance but here the boy doesn’t care to know he looks now! And doesn’t want to be captured on a selfie.
Spoilers Alter! Clearly, the writer and director must have excited with the thought that the hero doesn’t know his face. But this sounds absurd when you think from the girl’s point of view.
Why would a girl fall for him, what specialties does he possess? Why does she paint his face when he beats her face instead of knowing about his past or his mental status or his family life?
At the very beginning of the movie, it is established that there is one friend who the hero talks to, but this friend doesn’t meet Suji and inform her what Ram’s problem is. Strange!
All scenes are created for the convenience of the one basic thought that we mentioned earlier.
‘Madhanam’ is presented with a poetic touch in the beginning. The film’s initial sequences give us the impression that it has a hill station backdrop but it is only later revealed that the place is Hyderabad.
Even though there is nothing much happens in the first half, the heroine’s chirpy attitude and cool visuals by PG Vinda make us look forward to the second half.
But the core point is unveiled here which is quite unrealistic and the proceedings are tiresome. They are tedious for the reason that they are illogical, and also for the trite narration.
Except for visuals, and some initial portions, “Madhanam” makes an exasperating watch. Also, it is high time that filmmakers stop glorifying ‘sincere love’ wherein the girl loves the boy for his sincerity, not caring about his job, his family, anything about him beyond his ‘so-called’ goodness or sincerity. This is absurd.
Bottom-line: Unrealistic Love