Mitrudu - Review

There have been many expectations from Balakrishna's Mitrudu with Priyamani as the female lead and directed by Mahadev, a protege of SS Rajamouli. Though the release was delayed due to elections and other reasons, the expectations remained on clouds. Once the film hit the screen, it became clear that the film has nothing new to offer and that it is a typical Telugu film bearing the body language and past films of Balakrishna in mind. Though the director thought that he was holding something in suspense, the poor and unimpressive narration of the flashback has killed the tempo in suspense totally and the climax is also quite boring.

Madhavi (Priyamani) is the daughter of a big industrialist (Ranganath). The local MLA Munuswamy (Pradeep Rawat) asks him to marry Madhu to his son. But Madhu's father refuses and wants her to marry the grandson of a landlord from the nearby village, who settled in Bangkok. Madhu's father escapes a murder attempt by the MLA's son. Meanwhile, Madhu, who has been studying abroad, falls in love with Sridhar (Deepak), who makes her believe that he is interested in serving the poor and destitute and that he lost his leg while saving a girl from an accident. Madhu has sympathy for Sridhar and decides to marry him. But Madhu's horoscope indicates that her husband would die within one month after their marriage. So Madhu starts searching for a boy to marry so that she could marry Sridhar after his death.

As per the palmist's advice, she searches for a boy who was born in a particular time. She comes across Aditya (Balakrishna) who has all those features and horoscope. So Madhu traps him and marries him. Hoping that he would die in 30 days, she decides to escape from Bangkok along with her uncle Jana Bethedu Janardhan a.k.a. JB Jan and Sridhar. But Aditya too gets into the plane. Aditya who knows the crooked plans of Sridhar decides to save Madhu from his clutches. Madhu's father refuses to accept Aditya as his son-in-law and gets humiliated in the hands of the MLA who has turned a minister by that time. As per Madhavi's horoscope, Aditya suffers grievous injuries and lays on the deathbed. At this juncture, an advocate (Krishna Bhagawan) reveals the flashback saying it was Aditya, with whom, Madhu's father wanted to get Madhu married. In fact, it was because of an accident which occurred to Madhu's father that another big accident happened and Aditya's entire family perished. In the climax, Aditya disappears from the hospital to pay homage to his elders and relatives. Sridhar and the minister reach the place and try to kill Aditya, but Madhu learning the crooked plans of Sridhar decides to die in place of Aditya. This brings life into Aditya who thrashes all the villains and gets united with Madhu.

PLUS:
Priyamani's glamour and Balakrishna's image are the only saving grace of the movie. However, the film has nothing new to offer and it remains another routine Balakrishna-style movie. A few scenes have been shot abroad. Vijayendra Prasad, who has given stories for several successful films, has not been able to escape from giving a typical subject, which could be predicted by the audiences in general and Balakrishna fans in particular. Balakrishna appears handsome in a few scenes but he cannot hide his age. The director thought that he has maintained the suspense well but he could not in real terms.

MINUS:
Unimpressive narration, haphazard screenplay and songs at improper timing have made the film completely boring. Music by Manisharma is not worth the name and it lacks neither melody nor mass beat. Camera work by Balamurugan is good in parts. Action by Ram-Lakshman is average, while editing by Kola Bhaskar needs to be sharpened. Dialogues by M Ratnam are also good in parts only.

REMARKS:
The audiences who go to the theatre with high expectations will certainly face disappointment. A girl, who suffers a bullet injury, watching the hero fighting with villains amusingly, is embarrassing, while the hero who, as per the doctors, is in a critical condition fights with goons like a normal man is further disgusting. Comedy by Brahmanandam has failed to evoke any laughter, while Krishna Bhagawan too could not impress with his performance. Instead, if it was MS Narayana, the character would have been justified further. But for the sizzling dance numbers by Priyamani with a little oomph, the film has nothing to offer.

Cast: Balakrishna, Priyamani, Chandramohan, Brahmanandam, Pradeep Rawat, Balayya, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Ahuti Prasad, Hema, Jhansi, Sana, Surekhavani and others

Credits:
Story: Vijayendraprasad
Dialogues: M. Ratnam
Music: Manisharma
Camera: Balamurugan
Editing: Kola Bhaskar
Action: Ram-Lakshman
Art: Ananda Sai
Producer: Sivalenka Krishna Prasad
Screenplay and direction: Mahadev.
Banner: Vaishnavi Cinema
Released on: May 1, 2009