Prayanam – Review

Chandrasekhar Yeleti is a director who has understood the word 'difference' in the true sense of the term and has implemented this truly through his movies like Aithe, Anukokunda Oka Roju and Okkadunnadu.

Dhruv (Manoj) who has completed his MBA likes to visit new places and countries. He has two good friends (Janardhan and Tamim). Once he plans a trip to Singapore with his friends and reaches Malaysia airport to catch the flight. Harika (Harika) who is pursuing her Master"s degree in Lifestyle Designing in Malaysia plans a trip to India to see her prospective bridegroom upon her parent's call. She too has one best friend (Kalpika). However she makes it clear to her parents that she would give the green signal, only if she approves him.

Dhruv and Harika meet at the airport and soon Dhruv loses his heart for her. He decides to trap her in his love in just two hours time, which is generally impossible. However, Dhruv"s friend, a psychology student, prepares a plan divided into eight parts, each spanning 15 minutes. If that plan works out, he can win the heart of Harika. As per the plan, Dhruv starts the mission and finally succeeds in winning the heart of Harika. The two hours plan has a whole lot of twists.

PLUS:
The major plus point is the directorial ability of Chandrasekhar Yeleti and his shrewd intelligence in penning a perfect screenplay. The entire film is based on the screenplay and a one-liner — winning the heart of a girl in two hours time. But for the perfect script, it would have been impossible to run such a delicate subject. The audiences who come to know the plot get surprised for a moment but the ability of the director makes them to sit tight in their seats as he does not break the suspense.
Though the entire film is shot in the airport premises, the audiences do not feel themonotony because of the situational comedy. Another highlight of the film is the cinematography by Sarvesh Murari. Editing is so perfect that we do not find even a single boring scene in the film. Above all, Manoj has performed excellently in the role. Though he appears to be overacting at times, he has got completely involved in the character and the audiences can easily notice that such jerks would be routine while doing an off-beat role. Especially, the way he has shown the expressions and maintained the body language needs appreciation.

Debutant heroine Harika is okay in her role as she has a very limited role. She has to perform nothing because the hero is after her all the way. Another highlight of the film is the comedy by Brahmanandam. He has lived up to the expectations of the director as well as the audiences. The sidekicks / friends of the hero and heroine have also done justice to their respective roles.

MINUS:
Though the film is different from routine one and has situational comedy, it too has some minus points. The director has chosen a subject, which is impossible in real life. There is some slackness in certain scenes, which make the audiences embarrassed. But the storyline and subject forces them to sit tight in the seat. Especially, the African chasing the hero"s friend Janardhan has evoked a little entertainment but appears boring at times. But for a few negligible lapses, the entire film is very neat. The film, however, lacks any commercial elements. It has no duets, no dream songs nor a solo song. So that it may not attract the mass audiences.

REMARKS:
The director scripted the story with an art film flavour and at the same time has provided some entertainment with situational comedy. It is worth mentioning here that his films would begin with a divided talk and prove hits after a week or 10 days by word of mouth publicity. Let us wait for a few more days to find out how far the film would fare at the Box Office. The director needs to be complimented for taking such a subject for his film with the knowledge that the returns cannot be expected but all those who watch the film would appreciate his effort in running a film with the help of the screenplay.

Cast: Manojkumar, Harika, Brahmanandam, Janardhan, Tamim, Kalpika
Credits: Cinematography – Sarvesh Murari, Lyrics – Anant Sriram, Music – Mahesh Shankar, Story, screenplay, direction and production – Chandrasekhar Yeleti.
Banner: Aryaki Arts