Cast: Lakshmi Manchu , Naresh , Aamani , Krishnudu and others
Directed by : Praveen Sattaru
Produced by : Chanakya Bhooneti
Banner :A Working Dream Production
Music by : Mickey J Mayor
Release Date : 2014-04-25
Chandamama Kathalu is an anthology film from the director of LBW and Routine Love Story. This film has caught the attention of movie lovers with promising promos. Did it live up to the promise?
What is it about?
Saradhi (Kishore) is a struggling writer whose daughter is diagnosed with cancer. He needs to earn five lakh for the operation. Saradhi writes a story to sell it for making that money. He gets inspired by the characters he has seen in his life and completes the story. There is a broken model Lisa Smith (Lakshmi Manchu), unmarried software employee (Krishnudu), an old couple (Naresh and Aamani) and few other characters in Saradhi's story. Who are they and what happens to all these characters in their lives sums up Chandamama Kathalu.
Performances:
Naresh delivered a decent performance without going overboard. Aamani is good as usual. Lakshmi Manchu is impressive with her brief yet striking performance. Kishore is believable as the struggling writer. Krishnudu is alright. Naga Sourya, Krishna Chaitanya and others did their best to make an impression.
Technicalities:
Praveen Sattaru always tries to make something different from the usual. He has once tried to make a film that has fresh appeal. We have seen very few anthology films in Telugu. After Vedam this is the only anthology film. However director failed to write interesting stories to make this an engaging watch. Chandamama Kathalu script is not strong enough and there are many loose ends that will leave you with many questions unexplained.
Music by Mickey J Meyer is routine. His background score stands out though. Cinematography is one of the major assets for this film. Editing is fine. Production values are commendable. Dialogues are average.
Thumbs Up:
Lakshmi Manchu's performance
Beggar's story
Thumbs Down:
Too many loose ends
Weak script
Illogical climax
Analysis:
Chandamama Kathalu starts on a promising note. The idea of interwining various stories into one single film is always exciting. But such films need a very good screenplay and masterful story teller. Praveen Sattaru lacked the experience to make his story into a beautiful film. There are hardly any touching scenes in this film that is based on real life.
Only story that was partly interesting is of a beggar's dream to buy an old house. Only that will keep you hooked and remaining stories are either half baked or uninteresting. Krishnudu's story was supposed to be a comedy. But it fails to entertain with poor writing. Most of the stories are ended abruptly.
This film will impress with its premise and fresh appeal. But that is just not enough for it to be a winner at the box office. Director gave a twist at the end by bringing all the characters in the story to life. That is not done in an interesting way. We hardly feel any excitement with that twist. The idea of using the 'money' from the writer's story in the end was not at all convincing. Chandamama Kathalu could have been way better if the director opted for some logical and touching ending. You may watch it if you are bored with the mass masalas and routine commercial potboilers. But be cautioned and don’t expect too much out of it.
Verdict : These stories are uninteresting!
