Story

Saradhi (Kishore) is a writer and a widower. His little daughter is suffering from a chronic ailment and he desperately needs 5 lacs. He starts writing a novel with multiple story lines. It has seven stories in it. Lisa Smith (Lakshmi Manchu) is a super model at the fag end of her career with no money left. Venkateswara Rao (Krishnudu) is a desperate ‘pellikani prasad’ whose only aim in life is to find a(ny) girl. Ashraf (Abhijeet) has a small departmental store in old city and want to marry his sweetheart Haseena (Richa Panai). Raghu (Chitanya Krishna) studies in a junior college and he lures Renu (Shamili) - daughter of a noted politician in love. There is a beggar (Krishneswara Rao) whose life time ambition is to buy a small house. Saritha (Aamani) is a widow who reconnects with her college-time friend Mohan (Naresh) a NRI divorcee who returns to India. Raghu (Naga Shourya) is a typical village youngster who is busy chasing a girl Gauri (Isha Ranganath). The rest of the story is all about how Saradhi’s problem is solved.

Artists Performance

Kishore is perfect as a writer and a doting father. His looks and method acting worked well for the character. It’s a daring decision for Lakshmi Manchu to play a character of a fading away super model who drinks and smokes regularly. She has essayed the pain very convincingly. This is the best character in her career after her debut film Anaganaga O Dheerudu. Krishneswara Rao has done fabulous job as beggar who dreams of owning a house. Krishnudu has matured as an actor with this movie. He is excellent as an obese guy who is desperate to get married. Naga Shourya has got piercing eyes and aggressive body language. He shows mettle while playing the role of an eve-teaser. Abhijeet is basically a theater actor and his experience helped in perfect execution of his character. His acting and diction is impeccable. Chaitanya Krishna has sweetness associated with him and it helped in establishing him as a lover boy, but he has a different shade at a latter part. Naresh looks different as a mature NRI, but his accent is artificial. Aamani is natural. Richa Panai, Isha Ranganath and Shamili played their parts well. Kondavalasa is very effective with his serious diction.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - direction: Anthology films and films of ensemble cast are not the ones we got used to in Telugu films. When a director attempt such films, he will definitely get a few brownie points. But the challenge here is to cross to borders without making it look alien. There are eight stories from different walks of life. Each story has a meaningful ending. The way director introduced the eight story plots from the people the writer has seen in a coffee shop is pretty creative. And at the end, he connects the dots well. But the problem with the whole scheme of things is that only two stories appear relevant to the main conflict point of the film. Hence the five stories though have a meaningful end makes no sense in the climax. I personally liked Lakshmi Manchu and Krishnudu stories. The beggar character reminds us of a similar character in Amores Perros (Life is Bitch) and Run Lola Run. The way beggar hides his money is interesting. But one wonders how come a beggar manages to earn 10 lacs. The director should have narrated the stories in much compact way as the pace is pretty slow.

Other departments: Music by Micky J Meyer is very good. All the songs in this film are shot in montage format. I liked the way title song is shot in common people during the beginning titles of the movie. Cinematography by the first timer Suresh Ragutu is alright. Dialogues by Praveen Sattaru are natural. Editing by Dharmendra Kakarala is smooth.

Analysis

Director Praveen Sattaru who has done a couple of love stories in the past has taken a brave decision to make a multiple story format film. Though few stories are well conceived, the main conflict point of the film is related to three stories, there by making five stories irrelevant. Plus points of the film are story idea, music and performances. A fast-paced narration and less number of subplots with conflict-relevance would have done magic to the film. On a whole, Chandramama Kathalu is a different attempt, but not good enough to toe the line.