Raja Vannemreddy’s latest film Teluguammayi aims too high for what its worth. The motive behind the story is to showcase what a woman can achieve if she fights against the atrocities committed on hundreds of women across the state. Yet, the film, despite all its ambitious effort, comes nowhere close to the impact it strives to achieve.

Kalidasu (Shafi) is a rapist and right in the beginning of the film he kills a girl in a hostel. Elsewhere, four guys board a train to head to Samarlakota and are excited when they come to know that a 21 year old girl is going to be travelling along with them. Saloni stars as Bharati who takes a different name where she boards Godavari Express. The four guys try to strike friendship with her and they are fairly successful. In the middle of the journey Kalidasu boards the same compartment and he creates a ruckus. Humiliated by his behavior, the four guys come up with a plan which might alter their lives forever. What it is and how they deal with it forms the rest of the story.

The first half of the film is a rip-off of the train sequence from Ravi Teja’s Venky. The four protagonists’ desperation to impress the girl is cringeworthy and tests your patience. There’s even a subplot about them being fans of Ravi Teja and in the middle of the proceedings, they dream about romancing Saloni to the tunes of popular hits of Ravi Teja. Saloni is loud in the first half; however, she does a good job when the flashback is revealed. It’s surprising how an actor like Shafi agreed to do such a role which is embarrassing to say the least. Among other actors, Saikumar makes an impact as a police officer.

The tone of the film completely changes in the second half but by then the film manages to sap away the spirit of the audience. The next hour or so feels like a showreel from programs like Crimewatch on TV. You know that the atrocities on women are wrong and the guilty must be punished severely; however, the film ends up manipulating the audience so much that it’s hard to root for the characters. There’s even a subplot about Saloni assuming charge of an ashram for mentally challenged children which is another desperate attempt to make us empathize with the character and her goals.

There’s hardly anything in the film worth recommending and even the technical side nothing catches your eye. The music is bad and so is the cinematography. Raja Vannemreddy’s intention might be right but clearly that doesn’t reflect on the screen. It’s still a million dollar question why he chooses to set the entire first half of the story on a train when the same result could have been achieved elsewhere. Stay away.

(This review was first published in ‘Hans India’ newspaper on October 16, 2011)

By

Hemanth

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