Jayammu Nischayammu Raa - Movie Review

What's it about!

Sarva Mangalam (Srinivas Reddy) gets job as government clerk in Kakinada municipality. His mother who weaves silk sarees at their village in Karimnagar asks him to get transferred to their place in a year. In Kakinada, it is love at first sight for him with Rani (Poorna), who works in the same municipality office complex. While he is taking courage to woo her, another guy gives competition to him and she seemingly gets attracted to his show off. One day, due to his lustful boss JC (Ravi Varma's), he realizes that it is time that he becomes confident and he shouldn't give people the chance to use him. He does it and everyone who treated him lowly earlier starts respecting him. As luck would have it, Rani starts showing soft corner towards him. But soon, another trouble brews. What is that? Does he really win the love of Rani so easily and what are the obstacles he faces further?  

Analysis:

New director Shiva Raj Kanumuri, former associate of Ram Gopal Varma, begins the movie with a note saying that he is influenced by Rachakonda Vishwantha Sastry's famous novel 'Alpajeevi' and British comedy movie 'School for Scoundrels' (1960). His debut movie 'Jayammu Nischayammu Raa' is not exact copy of the stories of the novel or the movie but he has used some characters and also some scenes for his movie, yet told a story in a different style about a guy who turns into hero from being nervous, low-confident person. 
 
Like in the novel 'Alpajeevi', the hero of Shiva Raj Kanumuri is a clerk played by Srinivas Reddy. The director also uses 'stream of conscious' technique in couple of scenes like in the novel. But the similarities don't go beyond that. Here he narrates the story of clerk Sarva Mangalam who believes in a baba called Pitha who tells him that a girl would bring luck to him. He then sees the girl who turns out to be Rani that works in his office. From here, the director tells the story in similar fashion of 'School for Scoundrels' (1960) or Basu Chatterjee's 'Chhoti Si Baat'. 
 
The romantic track is more similar to ‘'Chhoti Si Baat'. The director has infused many good moments that are new not influenced by these movies/novels too. He has a story of his own to tell, story of a guy who hails from Karimnagar. The story happens in 2013, just before the release of Pawan Kalyan's Attarintiki Daaredi' and when Andhra Pradesh was united. The director has used poster of  ‘Attarintiki Daaredi' cleverly to show the time lapse - when hero sees heroine at bus stop in the beginning ‘Attarintiki Daaredi' was about to release and in the climax of the movie, he uses the poster of ‘Attarintiki Daaredi' that was going to be screen on MAA TV. He has done some many tricks (like 'stream of consciousness' technique) that may not be noticed by regular filmgoer.
 
While he has taken plenty of time in establishing how hero approaches heroine in the first half, when the actual story begins to unfold he has narrated effectively till the end. The first half is lengthy and not that appealing but post interval scenes are the best. In second half, the movie has many good scenes that stand out. Of them one hilarious scene is - 'Mangalavaram track'. Krishna Baghavan, a senior employee in Srinivas Reddy's office, likes a woman who also works in his office. But he is having trouble of activeness in the act, so he avoids her telling that today is not right day to have sex, as it is Tuesday. This 'Mangalavaram' comedy has been extended in most comical way bringing the house down. 
 
Posani's track shows how government officials harass if someone refuses to pay bribe. This is also told in funny way. There is also a sequence of hero duping the mechanics who earlier cheated him but this one is straight copy of Swiftmobile scene of 'School for Scoundrels'. 
 
In the movie, Ravi Varma uses a doll that has a suggestive pose of telling others to keep their holes shut. When hero takes on Ravi Varma in the end, Srinivas Reddy uses that same doll in clever way. Such scenes have shown the talent of the director. But again, many scenes also lack the same effectiveness. Scenes that should have been elaborate were told vaguely, scenes that should been short are extended beyond a point. There are other unconvincing sequences too - like heroine easily believing Tatkal's version, hero gaining confidence in a click's time. 
 
Still, the film is different despite its limitations. 
 
Among the cast members, Srinivas Reddy is convincing for his role, he has effectively shouldered the movie. Although his Telangana accent a bit jarring, his performance in totality is good. Poorna is just okay. Ravi Varma as lusty boss has done a different role in his career and he is good in that. Krishna Baghavan and Praveen have come up with good comedy. Jogi Brothers are also good.
 
The movie's technical values are not that impressive except cinematography. Two songs are good though background score and sound mixing are utterly bad. With 162 minutes of runtime, the movie is inexcusable lengthy and the editing should have been taut. Artwork is decent. Dialogues are perfect. As writer and director, the newcomer Shiva Raj passes the muster; he has shown his talent in many scenes though he has sourced scenes from other movies or works. 
 
Bottom-line: 'Jayammu Nischayammu Raa' is a romantic comedy that is slightly different. This is more of a story about a low self-esteemed guy overcoming hurdles to turn into hero in winning his love than a comedy movie. Despite uneven screenplay in the first half, the effective narration post interval makes the movie worth a watch.