Kalavaramaye Madilo – Review

Films with stories coming from the inner thoughts of writers always have a value and would have a better impact on the audiences. After a long time, a Telugu film has touched the hearts of audiences. It has no mass elements, no great sets, no item numbers and no glamour quotients, but it has a gripping story with lots of emotions and family backdrop. At the same time, the film has a love story in the backdrop.

Shreya (Swati) lives with her mother (Delhi Rajeswari) and is working with a chartered accountant. Shreya"s mother wants to see her as a Chartered Accountant, but Shreya has a passion for singing. In order to earn pocket money, she looks for a part-time job to sing songs and she gets an opportunity to sing in a restaurant. Though Shreya has not learnt music, she has a sweet voice and so gets compliments from the customers. Srinivas (Kamal Kamaraju), an NRI from London, visits India for his company"s work and used to visit the restaurant and stay till Shreya sings the song. He never applauded her song however and this often irked Shreya.

Once, a music pundit Rao (Vikram Gokhale) visits the restaurant at the behest of his friend Sastry (Tanikella Bharani) to bag a contract from an event manager for his music programme. He happens to listen to Shreya and chides her for singing with mistakes. Shreya becomes dumbstruck. Later, Shreya meets Srinu and questions him why he did not respond to her song. He simply replies that he visits the hotel only to listen to her sweet 'voice". This depresses her further Shreya as he mentions her song as mere voice. Later Shreya learns that Srinu has a degree in music.

Srinu advises Shreya to learn music especially from Rao himself in order to fulfil her dreamof giving an audition to AR Rahman. So Shreya goes to Rao"s house as a servant. She impresses Rao with her politeness and commitment to music and makes him teach her. Rao is suffering from throat cancer. After a few days, Shreya comes to know that Rao is her father and that her mother (Shreya"s mother) had deserted him as she hated music. Srinu tells Shreya that her mother loved her and even forsaked her relation with her husband to keep shreya away from penury. Shreya realises that both her parents are correct in their aspects.

To save her father, she participates in a competition, 'Voice of AP" despite having got a chance to give an audition to Rahman. There Shreya sings in praise of her parents and as expected, Shreya"s parents unite at the programme, but the first prize goes to another person on the grounds that Shreya tried to impress the audiences with her emotional appeal. However, the programme turns a blessing in disguise as Rahman who had happened to watch the programme over TV calls up another music director Koti, who attended the programme as judge, declaring that he wants to give Shreya a chance in his next film to sing. The film ends on a happy note with Srinu proposing to Shreya.

PLUS:
The entire film revolves around heroine Swati. Though Kamal Kamaraju is the hero, he has very less role to play. His character helps to bring out the emotions in the heroine and by giving timely advices to her. Swati has shown a matured performance all through the film. Her chivalry on the one side and her excellent performance on the other has done wonders on the screen. In fact, all the characters in the film have different emotions and the director has maintained the sentiment thread excellently.

Though the film has no mass elements, the narration is very impressive. The combination of the heroine"s commitment to learn music, the situation that separates the heroine"s parents, the love thread, the mindset of the typical Andhra girls, the innocence of the youth have been presented perfectly on the screen. The director needs to be complimented for bringing out such a neat film. Music by Rajendra Kesani is melodious and Vanamali has penned the songs with out and out literary values. The situational songs are very impressive. Tanikella Bharani and Sudeepa who have limited roles on the screen too have given their best.

MINUS:
Though the film has many plus points, the director has failed to effectively present the love between the hero and heroine. Likewise, the climax appears to have wrapped up fast and beyond the expectations of the audiences. The basic point of heroine participating in the competition to earn money for her father"s surgery has been ignored. Pragati, who has played the hero"s father, was sidelined in the climax. Camera work is okay in parts. Production values of Mohan Media Creations are average.

REMARKS:
Those who want action scenes, mass masala songs and item numbers may not enjoy this movie. However, any class of audiences would enjoy the film undoubtedly. But for the absence of mass elements, the film has been presented very neatly on the screen. It is a must watch film for anyone as it has all the ingredients for all age groups or all classes of audiences. Especially, those who love classical or slow music, the film is a feast for their ears and eyes.

Cast: Kamal Kamaraju, Swati, Sudeepa, Vikram Gokhale, Tanikella Bharani, MR Chowdary, Venu, Delhi Rajeswari, Pragati, Karthik and others
Credits: Dialogues – Lakshmi Bhupal, Lyrics – Vanamali, Music – Sarat Vasudevan, Camera – Rajendra Kesani, Producer – Mohan Vadlapatla, Story, screenplay and direction – Satish Kasetti
Banner: Mohan Media Creations
Released on: July 17, 2009