AstaChemma : Mahesh Mania

ASTACHEMMA





Cast: Colors Swati, Nani, Srinivas Avasarala, Bhargavi, Jhansi, Tanikella
Bharani,Hema etc

Music: Kalyani Malik
Cinematography: PG Vinda
Lyrics: Sirivennela
Producer: Ram Mohan
Stoy - dialogues - Screenplay – direction: Mohana Krishna Indraganti
Release date: 5 September 2008

Review

Story

Lavanya (Colors Swati) is a hardcore fan of hero Mahesh Babu. And her ambition is to marry hero Mahesh. But her heart is broken when Mahesh married Namrata Sirodkar. She lowers her expectations and decided to marry somebody who has ‘Mahesh’ in his name. Anand (Srinivas Avasarala) is a lanky neighbor of Lavanya and he is bugged with ‘Pokiri’ songs played in loud volume by Lavanya. He decides that the only way to get rid of noise from her house is to hook her up with a good looking boy with the name Mahesh. And he finds a handsome guy called Mahesh (Nani). The rest of the story is all about the comedy of errors originated due to the Mahesh obsession of Lavanya.

Artists Performance

Srinivas Avasarala: A real actor is the one who adds more to the table than what it is with his performance. Srinivas Avasarala is a born actor and he added 25% to the output of the film with his performance. Be it dialogue delivery, comedy timing, minute expressions or body language. He should seriously consider packing his bags and finding the next available flight to Hyderabad as Telugu film industry is desperately looking for such fine actors. He is a complete delight to watch. Srinivas Avasarala is selected for this film through a talent hunt conducted by Mohana Krishna Indraganti in idlebrain.com.

Colors Swathi: Her character in this film as an obsessed fan of Mahesh Babu is like a natural extension to her hilarious portrayal of girl in love with Venky in AMAV. She is completely natural and is herself while doing the role of Lavanya. She brought out lot of mischief and child-like stupidity that is needed for the character which her histrionics. But fans of Swathi will get little disappointed in the second half because her footage is relatively less compared to the first half.

Nani: Nani has sharp features, nice Telugu diction and amazing confidence levels. Doing a role that requires the attributes of Mahesh Babu is a challenge for a newcomer. And Nani comes up with a fabulous performance. He has a promising future if he selects the roles carefully.

Others: Bhargavi is good as the traditional village girl. Jhansi has done a variety role that reminds us of the harmless and witty mother-in-law character in ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’. Tanikella Bharani and Hema are adequate. The guy who played the server character in ‘Amrutam’ TV serial is fun to watch in this film.

Story – screenplay – direction: Story of the film is simple, yet complicated. This story is based on a play written by Oscar Wilde. Most of the film revolves around name confusion. A film like this needs an interesting screenplay to sustain the attention of he viewers. Mohan Krishna Indraganti succeeds in giving us a film that sustains the interest levels throughout by injecting the necessary twists at the right time. Direction of the film is good. The narrative style using which he introduced characters is brilliant. The director is supposed to take the comedy in the film to the next level during the last half-an-hour of the film where pieces fall into the place. Though the twists were well-placed in the last half an hour, the director could not get more laughs towards the climax.

Other departments: Music by Kalyani Malik is nice. The visuals and situations in the film add more to the music. Dialogues written in the film are witty and most of the time impromptu (except for the last half an hour where the dialogues are lengthy). Cinematography by PG Vinda is nice. The vintage song should have been done in black and white. Editing is nice. The product looks superior in terms of visuals and sound. Producer Ram Mohan should be commended for keeping faith on the director and on this genre.

Analysis: First half of the film is really good. The narration is little slow in the second half. The climax is interesting, but a better handled one would have added lot of the value to the film. The plus points of the film are casting and comedy quotient. The director and the producer’s decision for choosing a particular genre and sticking to it without diluting with formula commercial ingredients deserve applause. Probably Ashta Chemma is the first Telugu film where the entire story revolves around a real film hero. And it shows the kind of craze Mahesh Babu has in the hearts of people (especially girls). On a whole, Ashta Chemma makes a good viewing for multiplexes and A center crowds.