Manjeera – Review

Love subjects are not new to the Telugu film industry. Director Sai Bhanu has chosen a Hindu - Muslim love story, but has mixed action with mafia and politics in its backdrop for the film Manjeera . The film has debutant hero Gowtham, a look alike of Kalyanram and heroine Sridevi.

Beena (Sridevi) a Muslim girl, whose parents had borrowed money from their relative Khasim (Surya) have not been able to repay it. With no option left, Beena's parents agree to Khasim's plan to sell Beena to clear the debts. However Beena is unaware of this. Meanwhile, two persons visit the remote village and one of them saves a pregnant woman from a goon, who was trying to kill her. Accidentally his his ring had got entangled in Beena's dupatta. When Khasim takes Beena to Hyderabad, some goons try to kidnap Beena and the same person saves her. But, Beena could not meet him.

Once, Beena goes to a clinic and finds him there. She leaves the ring and a Thank you note with a rose at his place. He is elated to have got back his ring, which was given by his mother before her death. Beena calls him and comes to know that he is Vasu (Gowtham). Slowly their friendship grows. At this juncture, Khasim tries to sell off Beena to a Dubai Sheikh, who agrees to buy her for Rs 25 lakh. In the same city, a mafia don called Bhayya Saab (Saleem Panda), had his eyes on Beena and wanted to marry her. Beena requests help from Vasu. However finding Vasu with Bhayya, Beena gets disillusioned. She gathers courage and reveals her identity. Vasuplans to elope to Mumbai with Beena with the help of his friends. All his friends are killed by Bhayya and his gang. Vasu takes revenge by mercilessly killing all the goons including Bhayya. The film ends on a happy note with the union of Vasu and Beena.

PLUS:
There are absolutely no plus points to highlight in the film except the glamour of Sridevi. She has tried her best to expose her glamour through wet clothes and gorgeous outfits. The film had no other worthy figure who could be identified easily. To some extent the chase scenes picturised in the film have been able to capture the attention of the audiences. A couple of action scenes are good to watch. Though Sridevi as tried to expose her beauty through the songs, none of the songs are worth watching nor melodious to listen. Ceylon Manohar, who has appeared after a long gap, is good in an elderly character.

MINUS:
The hero and his blank face is the biggest minus point in the film. Though the film has a heavy star cast like Bhanuchander, Raghuvaran, Dandapani and Ashokkumar, none of them have been properly utilized. Saleem Panda, the main villain in the film, has failed to impress the audiences. The abrupt endig of hero's buddies is quite expected by the audiences. The director's immaturity is visible in the poor running of the story and disjointed scenes. Music by Sekhar Chandra is irritating. Dialogues are also not impressive while editing capabilities of Upendra are poor.

REMARKS:
When one plans to do a film with love in its backdrop, it should go in its own way. Trying to inject some action part, flesh trade, mafia and other such elements to give the film a mass image would definitely spoil the entire structure. Moreover, the so called heroes who are trying to come up these days do not have any quality to suit the word hero. The directors should also keep in mind that certain characters need certain components. Once again, Sridevi has failed to select a good subject to get a break in her career. She has been unable to fit in the groove of the heroine, who always cries for her safety and security. The film neither has entertainment values nor some serious action to watch.

Credits:

Cast: Gowtham, Sridevi, Raghuvaran, Saleem Panda, Dandapani, Ramrao, Ashokkumar, Jeeva, Venumadhav, Bhanuchander, Surya, Ceylon Manohar, Hemasundar, Chitram Basha, Gopikrishna, Pingpong, Aajam, Jagga Rao, Fatima Bobby, Naveena, Ravali, Y Vijaya, Balaji, Chandrasekhar, Tarjan, Venkatesh Goud, John, Goa Sharma, Satish and others.
Story: R Janardhan
Camera: Sattibabu
Editing: Upendra
Music: Sekhar Chandra
Lyrics: Kandikonda, Ananta Sriram, Chirravuri Vijayakumar, Varikuppal Yadagiri, Paidisetti Ramu
Choreography: Prem-Gopi, Vidya, Nixon, Rajesh
Action: Ram-Laxmam, Avinash
Producer: Mothukuri Sambasiva Rao
Dialogues, screenplay and direction: Sai Bhanu

Banner: MMK Arts

Released on: January 31, 2009