'Chal Mohan Ranga', starring Nithin and Megha Akash in the lead roles, hit the screens this Thursday. Here is our review of the rom-com.
Story:
Mohan Ranga (Nithin) is a below-average guy at studies, waiting to have a tryst with destiny. And destiny means a life in the US for him. By a quirk of fate, he reaches the land of opportunities. By sheer luck, he bumps into Vilas (Madhu Nandan), a proud professional in America.
Richie rich Megha Subrahmanyam (Megha Akash) is yet another new-found friend in the foreign country. By and by, friendship blossoms into love. They want to confess to each other. And this is when they realize that it doesn't take a catharsis for a relationship to come to a pause.
Post-interval, the film is all about how Mohan Ranga seeks to marry Megha, only to realize that she has moved on.
Analysis:
An American dream. A dream job. A friend (that too, a girl) who finds his antics quite cute. A bunch of elders who are ever-so-willing to be bystanders, almost laughing at their own fate. The lead pair is afforded the luxury to understand each other over a series of small-time tragedies. This is the escapist world of 'Chal Mohan Ranga', complete with the eccentricities of a Trivikram Srinivas ecosystem.
His middle-class father (played by senior Naresh) is an ordinary clerk who can't afford luxuries like paying Rs. 5 lakhs for an American job. If this is a catastrophe in anybody's life, what follows in Mohan Ranga's life is the stuff of fantasies. Vilas seems to have been born to help our hero in the Trumpland. Without much of an effort, MR meets a Telugu girl named Megha Subrahmanyam (Megha Akash), who hails from a rich family and thus also seeks liberation, as a rich girl in a typical Telugu film should. "I will take dowry and settle down in life," the hero says with calculated coldness. She almost says that he is a money-minded jerk. And then, she falls in love with him. Liberation, finally.
So, what happens to the rich elders (Rao Ramesh and Lissy as a class-conscious lady)? They watch on, embroiled as they are in the 'Leelas' of Mohan Ranga (the party scene in the second half is a laugh riot).
Like in 'A Aa', a subtly fun portrayal of the rich is an enduring feature of 'CMR'. Like in 'A Aa', Rao Ramesh's character is condemned to laugh at himself in the end. It's also a distinct feature of this film that everything seems to conspire to help the lovers patch up (why do those road accidents happen at the right time?). Remember Paulo Coelho's quote?
'CMR' is a rom-com that essentially involves only MR and Megha, the two characters who matter. Madhu Nandhan, Prabhas Sreenu (as an arrogant yet comedic boss), Narra Srinivas (as a semi-funny psychologist) who ends up treating the lead pair in Coonoor, comedian Sathya and Nithin's sidekick- these are there to either fill up the gaps or be silent witnesses to the unfolding drama.
If the dialogues come with a Trivikram-esque wit, the story is largely predictable once MR tells Megha that she has got no clarity of purpose in life. If the scenes in the US are interesting in isolation, the pace of the story is as sluggish as MR's life before he leaves India. In the second half, it becomes clear that it's all about how soon the divided lovers come of age.
Nithin gets to do a largely lighter-veined role which makes demands on his intense side only in a couple of songs. He does show conviction. Megha makes an impact in this performance-oriented role. The comedians (Madhu & Prabhas Sreenu act sophisticated in an affected way and it's humorous), Rao Ramesh, Naresh, Lissy, and others are good enough.
Thaman's songs (the 'Pedda Puli' song lives up to expectations) coalesce into the narration and the background music is impressive. Natarajan Subramanian's cinematography is a huge asset.
Verdict:
Writer-director Krishna Chaitanya comes up with a conventional storyline. But the imprint of Trivirkam Srinivas and some quirky elements make for an entertaining watch. Good performances, sensible dialogue, and noteworthy technical values help.
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