Movie Review - Galipatam (Telugu) - A new age love story!!

In recent times, Telugu cinema has witnessed some new age love stories. They were either too trendy or too far-fetched to be plausible, and it’s needless to say about oodles of double entendre that fill the film’s template. Many operated in the mold of commerciality and the truth, which such movies wanted to convey, was hidden deep under multiple layers of gloss. Galipatam tries to break that jinx with a fresh treatment of love, marriage, family and how far can anyone go in resurrecting their strained relationships. All these were brought to good effect with a subtle dose of sugar and spice.

Karthi (Aadi) and Swathi (Erica Fernandes) get into the wedlock recently. For the world, they are the best couple, but on the flipside, they are brimming with indifferences and marital woes. The story slides back to their past where Karthi has a fling with Parineeti (Kristina Akhheva), which couldn’t last long owing to their contrasting viewpoints about the institution of marriage; and Swathi has a staunch admirer in the form of Arav Reddy (Rahul Ravindran), whose loves gets rejected as the former is a non-believer of love and is inclined towards an arranged marriage. The rest of the story is about the overplaying emotions, twists and turns in their life’s journey and how they deal with it.

At times, Galipatam suffers with a heavy Bollywood hangover. There are some shades of films such as Shaadi Ke Side Effects, Desi Boyz, Love Aaj Kal et al. Some scenarios may give you a feeling of déjà vu and the youth may instantly connect and emote with this film, and few dull moments get a proper seasoning to look alive and kicking. The film culminates into a heated and over-stretched debate of clash of generations and their attitudes. Just at this place, it inches into a preaching zone but the director adeptly pulls it off to dish out an unconventional ending.

Aadi shuns his regular avatar and flies high with a refreshing look and restrained performance. Erica does a tight rope walk by juggling between the roles of a comely lover and a demanding wife. She is a bundle of talent. Kristina looks promising and her histrionics justify her lovable returned-from-Canada character. However, Rahul Ravindran’s role is limited and he fills the gaps with an understated performance. It would have been better if they had delved into a little more of his story. The supporting cast also fetches brownie points as their stories turn crucial for the film.

Galipatam is a dauntless attempt by Naveen Gandhi to bring to the fore the grim realities of life, albeit in a sugar-coated way. The razor sharp dialogue of Sampath Nandi brings the house down alongside rolling few tears down your cheek. The film balances every aspect of relationships and presents the views of everyone. The character sketches, emotions and proper reasoning to every strange scene make it a high-flier. Though few comic scenes are blown out of proportion, they are plugged in to satiate the formulaic requirements of the script and clear the air of emotions to play it to the gallery. 

My Rating: Expectation - 5/10; Reality - 6/10

This review was originally written for Metro India newspaper.