Feel good feels good
‘Pelli Choopulu’ does something very important that most feel goods forget to do. It makes you feel happy. Guess it’s one of the most fool proof films to have come in recent years, that’s why it has been remade in most of the languages with Tamil too in the offing. With Harish Kalyan and Priya Bhavani Shankar, it looks like a solid bet which would definitely woo the audience. Comparisons can’t be drawn with Vijay Deverakonda and Ritu Varma combo because it felt like they were made for this film but the Tamil combo too seems to be just as nice as them.
Watching Vijay Deverakonda in this film, especially post ‘Arjun Reddy’ is a revelation of its own. In the same way watching Ritu Varma in any film post ‘Kanum Kanum’ is a revelation too. May be if I had watched the film before watching these two movies, I’d have liked it even more. The hype too played spoilt sport here. One of my friends said it’ll be as good as ‘Premam’. Maybe he didn’t know at what heights I had held ‘Premam’, so naturally anything less than spectacular disappoints me. Nevertheless, it was just as fine a film to be watched with anyone. My mom who watches films in the midst of her kitchen work was more glued to the film than her work in kitchen. That according to me is the biggest compliment for the director.
Tharun Bhascker released this film in 2016. He would have been twenty-eight at max at that time. It’s good to see a young filmmaker making a no-nonsense film instead of trying to make something which is rebellious. That was the first relief. And he made this feel-good film just right. There is no pressure to see what the debutant director has done differently. It made me forget about the intricacies and enjoy the movie in peace.
The movie had a solid opening sequence while lead to a great first half. What I thought would be just a small scene in the room actually ended up to be the entire first half. Also, the first half twist was beautiful which leads to a great interval block. With a first half this good, the second half had to be equally brilliant but it falls short in that aspect. The food truck concept reminds us of ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’. Even though the mood of both the film is different, the concept feels familiar. It couldn’t match Bittoo and Shruti level of madness. Prashanth (Vijay Deverakonda) and Chitra (Ritu Varma) are people who are more grounded.
The coincidence in their backstories too was sweet and believable. One of the problem points in flashback stories is the connection. That too this film involves two flashbacks so to connect it is even tougher. But they do it so beautifully. Even the editing is seamless and not pain in the eye. After a not so interesting second half, a predictable climax happens where the emotions are just right so that it only ends making us empathizing with the lead pair rather then becoming a tear jerker.
Only in recent past I watched ‘Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi’ without any clue and was might impressed with it. May be if I had not known about the directors and didn’t yield to the hype, I might have enjoyed it the best.
constantscribbles 