Venky Mama - Movie Review

Friday, December 13, 2019 - 13:45
Venky Mama (2019)
Cast & Crew: 

Film: Venky Mama
Cast: Venkatesh, Naga Chaitanya, Paayal Rajput, Raashi Khanna, Nasser, Geetha, Rao Ramesh, CVL, Chammak Chandra, Hyper Aadhi, Prakash Raj, Aditya Menon, Narra Srinu and others
Music: Thaman
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Editing: Prawin Pudi
Produced by: Suresh Babu, TG Vishwa Prasad
Written and directed by: Bobby
Release Date: December 13, 2019

What’s it about?

Venkata Ratnam Naidu (Venkatesh) brings his sister’s child to their home when his sister and her husband are killed in an accident. Despite a cautionary warning from his father that the child would fetch death to him as per the ‘jatakam’, he raises the kid. He remains a bachelor to bring up the kid Karthik (Chaitanya). Fast-forward to today’s times. Venkata Ratnam Naidu is a father figure to Karthik. Despite forming such a strong bond with his uncle, Karthi suddenly leaves their home without informing his uncle at the age of 24. Three years later Venkat Ratnam Naidu goes to Kashmir searching his nephew in the military area. What happens then?

Analysis

‘Venky Mama’ brought Venkatesh and Naga Chaitanya together sharing screen space as an uncle and nephew, their real-life characters. This has raised curiosity and the film offers mainly the bond they share. Director Bobby seems to be pretty clear about what fans would expect from this movie. He has tried to serve them the same – some funny sequences between Venkatesh and Chaitanya and the emotional moments. Even though the story is pretty old and clichéd with the shades of Mahesh Babu starrer ‘Murari’, the director has used back and forth narration to hold the interest. The movie begins with Venkatesh appearing at a military base in Kashmir in search of his missing nephew and the entire story is told in a series of flashback episodes.

The first half of the movie makes a fun watch as Venky and Chaitanya have brought josh to the screen with their entertainment and their chemistry. Moreover, the story is completely driven by Venkatesh. With Venkatesh showcasing his typical tricks and funny side, the movie makes a good watch in the first half. But like in the case of many recent releases, the director ran out of ideas post interval. His forced setup of 30-minute lengthy army sequences towards the end has not worked at all. Moreover, this portion has killed the fun mood. The reason given for Chaitanya’s leaving their village is also not convincing. 

Coming to the actors, the film completely Venkatesh’s show. Venky is in great form these days. After ‘F2’, he has again showcased his funny acting well. Chaitanya as Venkatesh’s menalludu is neat. He not much character in the film but he has done justice to it. Hyper Adhi’s comedy has worked. Of the two heroines, it is Paayal Rajput who gets a better role and she’s good as a pair to Venky. Raashi Khanna had done the typical girlfriend’s role. 

Among the technicians, Thaman’s musical score and Prasad Murella’s cinematography need mention. As a writer and director, Bobby has resorted to the safe game of telling in a time-tested way.

Bottom line: As long as 'Venky Mama' focuses on Venkatesh and Chaitanya's bonding and fun portions, it makes a decent watch. But the final portions and rest of the clichéd scenes don’t work.

Reviewed by: 
J
Rating: 
2.75/5