What’s the best thing that breaks
you into laughter?? – Tom and Jerry, Charlie Chaplin, SRK and his one-liners,
or Spoofs of Telugu films!! Gotcha, you’re spot on. It seems that the last one
in this series tickles your funny bone. But is it an entertaining fare or not,
is on the audience to decide. What brings audience to theatres is sheer
entertainment, and if comedy forms a major chunk of it then it’s a treat. But
Sudigadu doesn’t fall into the shoes of an entertaining ensemble because the
lion’s share is taken by comedy, leaving aside emotions, romance, characters,
and other elements.
In the past, many great directors
presented a satirical version of the society in their films, and Jandhyala was
at the forefront in etching new characters and situations that generated some
meaningful laughter. Ahanaa Pellanta, Rendu Rella Aaru, Baava Baava Panneeru
are some of his classic comical gems that stay in our hearts forever. Then came
the era of EVV Satyanarayana, where he followed the foot-steps of his mentor, but
tweaked his style of film-making without losing its essence. Though comedy
dominated the films made by aforesaid directors, other elements were also
incorporated to make it a perfect blend. But in Sudigadu, director Bheemineni
Srinivasa Rao was clear in his mind – Make us laugh and nothing else. This may
lead to some disconnect with certain sections of audience.
Ayurveda
identifies 6 Tastes by which all foods can be categorized: Sweet, Sour, Salty,
Bitter, Pungent, and Astringent. What happens if there’s only sweet in the
meal? Does it taste good? Does excess intake of sweet makes the food palatable?
Here we can strike a parallel between the comedy portions in Sudigadu with
consumption of sweet food. Excess dose of comedy made the film bland, especially
in the second half. The initial momentum provided by uncanny scenarios isn’t
driven forward in the latter part. The movie has a string of great
set of ideas, and deserved better execution, but it falters at many places. Some clichéd roles in cinema that were mocked to death are again
showcased here.
The
road less taken is taken for a reason. Sudigadu is a living
testimony to that old adage. The movie embarks on a different
journey and carves a new genre in cinema – MOCKUMENTARY!!
All the credit goes to Allari Naresh and Bheemineni Srinivasa Rao for making this
happen. The director did a stupendous job in bringing together some parody gems
that were long forgotten. He tried to induce parody into every scene rather
than into the movie. His meticulous research and eye for detail should be applauded.
In bits and pieces the movie has many moments of glory, but it loses steam when
you put all the pieces together. This main reason is its story that
doesn't count - the plot is but a rickety base on which jokes are piled on.
The
movie would have worked well had there been a decent story, and timely parodies
become part of it. But here the entire film is a parody that wears the audience
patience thin. Allari Naresh was part of many parodies earlier and with
Sudigadu he goes overboard firing all the cylinders with his comedy punches. Some
of the magical moments of the film are Omkar annaya episode, Bharateeyudu - the
serial killer, and the scene with the stamp - “An S S Rajamouli weapons.”
Directors such as S S Rajamouli, V V Vinayak, Puri Jagannadh, RGV, Trivikram,
Raghavendra Rao, Shankar etc. are part of this film, and some of their movie
scenes and stereotypes are shown to perfection.
Actress
Monal Gajjar shows promise in her role. The songs composed by Sri Vasanth are
full of beat and energy. For the first time, we are surprised to see such humongous
openings for Allari Naresh flick, thanks to the pre-release publicity that
created a lot of hype around the film. Bheemineni played safe with his
statement where he asked the audience not to search for LOGIC in the film, so
he can’t be blamed for all the mismatches and goof-ups. So, let’s make way for
this genre-defying MOCKUMENTARY.
Bottom-line: Sudigadu
is a film spoof that is more of a doting testimonial than a vile derision. There
are some very blatant digs on famous films - Businessman,
Dookudu,
Gabbar Singh, Shiva, Tagore, Robot, Boys, Prema Desam, Ye Maya
Chesaave, and a tiresome deluge of Seema/faction films. Some are so
generic that they can be attributed to any film irrespective of the hero or the
director. The comedy has some clever touches, and if you relate every parody scene
to its original, the fun quotient becomes exponential. The film is as
nonsensical as it gets, and every little banality that it makes mockery of is amplified
umpteen times over – The series of bullet episodes need a special mention. COMEDY,
thy name is SUDIGADU!!
My Rating: Expectation - 7/10; Reality - 6/10
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