Story

Immediately after his hit comedy, Pellam Voorelithe, director S.V. Krishna Reddy made Pellamtho Panenti, hoping the second film in his `Pellam' series will fare well. But this film - which revolves around a bachelor boy - is quite odd.

Madhu (Venu) believes that he can manage his life without a wife, as she is "only an interference in a man's life." The film is set in a crude tone where Madhu engages a call girl to prove his point, hurting viewers' sentiments. Madhu is one of those lucky few who seems to be making millions .

Another surprise is that his attitude towards life and women does not seem to make any difference to two women who come into his life at different stages . On the contrary, Sirisha (Laya) and Kalyani (Kalyani) vie with each other to win over him. The suspense element as to who gets him finally is reserved for the climax.

This is all about the main plot. The second half scores over the first in engaging the audience. There are plenty of character actors sans proper role to play - including those who play the parents of all three youngsters.

The director finally brings round this freewheeling bachelor boy, nicknamed by Kalyani as `Casanova', to agree for marriage. The odd character in the list is the one played by loud-mouthed comedian Lakshmana Rao, playing Sirisha's father. The substance of what he blabbers is more misunderstood than being understood. He bosses over his wife (Sakunatala) and plots to get his daughter married to Madhu. The other roles — Giribabu as Madhu's father and Kota as Kalyani's father just pale out. Kota is a misfit in the role he is given. Sakuntala, known for termagant roles with slang in dialogue, plays a highly obedient wife almost till the end and then shows her true colours when she suspects her husband is going for a second marriage.

Krishna Reddy, to whom the story and music are credited, does not fare well in both these departments. As far as his music goes, he is repeating himself, as if he has exhausted his resources. Even the theme is drab. He should have gone beyond and played up all the character roles involving them in the debate to set Madhu on right path. Venu, whose name is associated with comedy films these days, develops good sense of humour. The roles played by Laya and Kalyani are not streamlined well. Uttej is given a cameo's role, not an effective one. Dialogue by Diwakarbabu, known for his witty one-liners, helps the narration a bit. Photography by Ramprasad is laudable.

courtesy: The Hindu