143 (I Miss You) Review

Just a scary thought: Suppose there is a law that no film in India should be made with love theme, what will happen? Quite simply, almost all the filmmakers would go out of business.

Puri Jagan would certainly be one among them.

Romance is his lifeline.

But in 143 (I Miss You) it almost suffocates you with its stale story and silly handling. It is almost impossible believe that Puri Jagan has chosen such a simple subject and given it a simpler handling to launch his own brother as hero.

It is the story of Siddu (Sairam Shankar) an orphan in love with Sanjana (Samiksha), sister of four loving brothers. The duo meets typical opposition and hence run away. As it happens, they get separated when the bus they travel in is attacked. Sanjana ends up with naxalites while Siddu is wrapped in the protective arms of a journalist (Flora Saini). Siddu thinks Sanjana is dead while Sanjana thinks to be so.

After blood and violence and some maudlin sentiments ,they unite. But by then, your patience is stretched and you are almost stretching in your chair.

Sairam Shankar looks okay. He is robust and energetic in fights and dances. Being his first film, there are bound to be rough edges. It will take time to evaluate him; but the good thing is that he is promising. But the same cannot be said about Samiksha. She misses all the tricks and comes across as very mediocre. Asha Saini has also got nothing much to do. The relationship between her and Sairam is also on very typical lines. The rest of the cast just flit in and out of scenes. Naga Babu is good as a cop while Satya Prakash has cut a nice cameo.

Chakri's music suits the film (though he has borrowed a few tunes from Arabia-Africa singers). Shyam K Naidu's photography is one of the attractions of the film.

Puri Jagan as a director begins promisingly. But he fails to sustain the tempo and ends up giving a typical fare. He sure has a flair for comedy. But he takes it ridiculous extent and almost spoofs television scribes and naxals.

Pity that anyone who has seen the movie will never tell `I Miss It.

143 --- certainly not the winning number.