Movie Review - Maine Pyar Kiya (Telugu) - An apathetic love story!!

National Award winning director Pradeep Madugula lightens the screen with his second film, Maine Pyar Kiya. While his first film Billa Ranga revolved around two irreverent youngsters in a flippant tale of social activism, this one draws in a multitude of characters that tread the movie across different dimensions with their definition of love. The director shows a stark contrast from his previous film in the way he chose this story, but in an attempt to flood the canvas with more light the narration loses its heat, which kindles few emotions. The movie is based on the premise that love is an emotion and marriage is a system, and every love story need not end up in a marriage.  

The movie begins with few characters lashing a whip on the protagonist and while taking all the pain he starts narrating a back story, which pulled him into these troubles. Naveen (Pradeep Ryan) is a happy-go-lucky guy known for his offhand behavior and easy going with the fairer sex. He is a software engineer who struggles to get into a relationship with this HR manager Bhargavi (Komal Jha).

A gorgeous new recruit Shalini (Isha Talwar) causes a stir in his heart and he shifts his interest to her. There’s another side of the story where Naveen and Shalini share a not-so-good past as childhood buddies. The rest of the film surfaces some characters from the past and the causative factor for a tainted relationship between both of them.

Writer - Director Pradeep picks an old storyline and garnishes it in an urban setting with a software company and its employees in the backdrop. Most part of the first half, though pointless, ends up as a breezy, candy-floss romance. The second half wears a serious tone, and even there it showcases restrained performances are controlled emotions. The director never makes way for some melodrama to seep in.

The problem with the narration is that till the interval the audience is unaware as where the movie is heading. And even after the so called twist arrives, there’s very less fuel to keep the wagon running. On top of it, to add loads of agony to the proceedings, there’s an overstretched, excruciating gay comedy subplot involving unbearable Posani Krishna Murali.

The director tries to fill the air with few good laughs and well conceived scenes. However, they are so distanced that the fillers cause a lot of boredom. There’s a fatal flaw in the storytelling when a character opens a flashback narrative. She just reveals the climax of that episode much before it’s on. Now, this leaves the entire effort as a mere process of reinventing the wheel. 

The graph of the protagonist fluctuates throughout the film. He is neither a serious lover nor a philanderer. The character only flourishes when he triggers his atonement to set things right and culminate into a decent hero’s journey. 

The true revelation in the film is actor Satya Dev who effortlessly juggles between a young and an old, mature role. His conversational scene with Madhumitha alone pumps lot of emotion than the whole film intends to do.

The music of Maine Pyar Kiya calls for an applause. New comer Pradeep Kumar elevates the scenes, especially the romantic and emotional ones with his background score. His work is a crossover of traditional and modern. However, in many scenes the tracks have been cut off without a proper ending leaving the audience high and dry. 

Although there are 3Ps – Pradeep Madugula, Pradeep Ryan and Pradeep Kumar, they couldn’t get on board the quintessential 3 Ps – Poignancy, Performance and Perfection. 

My Rating: Expectation - 7/10; Reality - 4/10

This review was originally written for Metro India newspaper. 
An edited version of this piece can be found here.