'Devudu Chesina Manushulu' (Telugu)
Director: Puri Jagannath
Cast: Ravi Teja, Ileana D'Cruz, Prakash Raj, Bramhanandam, Kovai Sarala and others
Looking for one word to describe Devudu Chesina Manushulu, the latest from ace director Puri Jagannath? Whimsical it is! One really needs immense patience to sit back and watch it from the director’s perspective. What might look like a disoriented plot halfway is perhaps, Puri’s way of being unconventional. And Puri is surely one of those caught by the experimentation bug. But is his experiment entertaining enough? Not really.
The movie starts off with Goddess Lakshmi asking Lord Vishnu to narrate her a story, and He duly obliges with the tale of a couple __ Ravi Teja and his crush Ileana. Ravi Teja is a “settlement” guy, beating the baddies and Ileana is an adamant and independent cab driver(!) in Bangkok. They meet after a whole lot of drama and fall in love, but also fight immediately. But the Goddess is unhappy at the turn of events and her consort is forced to rewind. What do we do? Take a break and come back to see the story unfold all over again!
So, what’s new and unconventional about this? One, prior to the interval the sequence of events is linear, while post the interval, the story line changes. Same characters, same names, but all assume different roles. Two, the names of the characters in the movie are their actual names. Like Ravi Teja is called Ravi Teja and Ileana is called Ileana. Three, the photo of Goddess Lakshmi is photoshopped with Kovai Sarala’s face and Four, in the first half, Prakash Raj is the typical villain who eyes the heroine, while in the second half, he becomes her protective brother! Five, no rich fathers and no expensive cars. Six, opera music as the background score!
What works well is the running time which thankfully doesn’t exceed two hours. Besides, the entertainment quotient does spare us a headache. Ravi Teja shoulders the movie with his signature style, but with a lot of wrinkles. Ileana also pools in all her best. The aviators which she wears all the time, should have been avoided, though. Ali as Goli, imitates Ali (Uday Chopra) from Dhoom. He is like sunshine corner of the movie. But, all good things apart, a loose plot tests the viewer’s patience. Shyam K Naidu’s cinematography is commendable. The shots do not show a typical Bangkok setting. Music is peppy but does not last long and songs aren’t even worth a hum.
The fact that this same director has made movies like Businessman, Pokiri and Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammayi is a little surprising. Go only if you are a Ravi Teja fan, else don’t bother booking tickets.
Verdict: This love story of two orphans, whom the director calls Devudu Chesina Manushulu, would have been a great tale to tell, only if the story had been a tad intense.