Mahanubhavudu - Movie Review

Friday, September 29, 2017 - 14:00
Mahanubhavudu (2017)
Cast & Crew: 

Film: Mahanubhavudu
Cast: Sharwanand, Mehreen, Nasser, Vennela Kishore, Raghu Babu, Bhadram and others
Music: S S Thaman
Camera: Nizar Shafi
Editing: Kotagiri
Art Director: Raveender
Banner: UV Creations
Action: Venkat
Co-producer: SKN
Producers: Vamsi - Pramod
Story, screenplay, dialogue, directed by: Maruthi
Release date: September 29, 2017
CBFC Rating: UA
Run time: 151 mins

What's it about!

This is a simple storyline. Anand (Sharwanand), a guy suffering from OCD, proposes his colleague Meghana (Mehreen) and she tells him that if her father accepts him, she will say yes to him. Her father (Nasser) comes to see him. He gets a stroke. While taking him to hospital, Anand stops the car as the bloodstains makes him vomit. This creates rift between them. Still, Anand is invited by her father to their village. How will he win her love, will he change now?

Analysis

In director Maruthi's career, 'Bhale Bhale Magadivoy' is his best film so far. He has tried to replicate the same magic in 'Mahanubhavudu' as he has made hero having a psychological disease - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) aka cleanliness attitude.

Maruthi begins the film with hero being taken to hospital operation room and from there the story begins. He narrates what happened before this incident. In the entire first half, we get to see Sharwanand's issues with lack of cleanliness. He can't control himself over anything that is not neat. He doesn't even take food from his mother's hands if she doesn't wash her hands many times or if she has fever. Such a guy falls for his office colleague who hails from rural background. This conflict is set well even though the entire first half is occupied with the scenes of romance and his neatness issues.

The movie comes into groove when it shifts to heroine's village. This city-bred OCD guy is made to do all kind of things in village - to bath in a lake that has all villagers cleaning off their dirt and dirty linen, making him to take engili annam (food tasted by others) and involving in kusthi competition in a muddy ground. Maruthi has created good humor out of these situations.

Well these are the positives. As said, hero having OCD is quite novel angle in Telugu movies. We haven't seen such protagonists. But apart from this, the entire narrative drive reeks of predictability. Even the village scenes and the climax kusthi competition are beaten to death sequences. Had Maruthi written better and novel sequences here, the film would have been as good as his earlier hit 'Bhale Bhale Magadivoy'.

Despite some hilarious sequences, this routine narration has made this movie is just an okay one. Also the movie gets dragged on. Length is another issue.

Coming to the performances, Sharwanand steals the show in the title role. He has changed his entire look. The makeover has suited him well. This is a fun character, which he has done sincerely. Mehreen has good looks but her performance leaves much to be desired. Vennela Kishore and Bhadram give us some good laughs. Nasser as heroine's father is okay.

The film has quite catchy music by S S Thaman. All his songs are peppy. Camerawork, production values and artwork get noticed. Editing work has inconsistencies as pace frequently slows down.

Writer and director Maruthi has shown his mark in hero's characterisation and his deft handling of some rural episodes. He has once again shown that he is very good at comic situations.

Bottom-line: 'Mahanubhavudu' is a time pass entertainer. The film is about a guy who is cleanliness freak. This angle of OCD is novelty factor. Rest of the movie is quite predictable and ends in regular manner. Hilarious moments in the second half make it worth a watch. On the whole, it is a neat romantic drama.

Reviewed by: 
J
Rating: 
3/5