Mana Kurralle Review

This one is yet another old-fashioned story that pits India against Bharat and parades the myth that all farmers irrespective of region, religion, caste and gender want to stay in farming.  Yet another film that romanticizes village life and economy and demonizes Development through its characters.

This one tells the story of certain characters who are fascinated by Hi-Tech jobs, only to be disillusioned when the 2008 recession consumes their jobs.  Even as they are left in the lurch because of capitalist excesses, their village is in danger of being overtaken by a corporate mafia.  Rao Ramesh is an incorruptible Sarpanch-saviour of the heroes’ (Arvind Krishna, among others) village, promising to save the land from being gobbled by a draconian SEZ.

Veera Shankar’s idea may appeal to certain youngsters who see relevance in the romanticism of a Che Guevara or the extreme socialism of a Subhash Chandra Bose.  Sans creative storytelling, all that ‘Mana Kurralle’ offers is a different shade of a red film that presents Rao Ramesh as the new sophisticated Narayana Murthy.

This one is a thankless throwback to certain pro-communist films made in the 90’s when a majority of youngsters, unlike today, believed that all globalization is a racket and a pack of cards and that the answer to misery lied with long-dead Marx.  Since much change has taken place in youngsters’ outlook, a film that projects recession as proof of the unreliability of Growth may end up appealing to not many, at least in urban areas.

Cinema can’t avoid a bit of dramatization, but showing Arvind Krishna blaming software boom for making the girls commercial-minded is asinine.

After platitudes and exaggerations, the film gets into the Medha Patkar mode of agitation by thousands of college-goers and youngsters, who come into the picture in less than 2 minutes from the time Real Star (played by Venkat) refuses to throw his weight behind the movement!

Three good elements that are like oases are: Rao Ramesh’s studied portrayal of an idealistic village head; this one is one of his career bests for sure.  Krishnudu playing a swindler out to defraud illiterates is another.  His comic timing with Srinivas Reddy in tandem can’t be missed.  Arvind Krishna shows some promise in the role of a villager.

The narration is not gripping enough.  Enough hints are not thrown from the start that a character who is introduced in scene X is as important as Rao Ramesh or Arvind Krishna.  Until he has a song with his would-be wife, we can’t make out that he is male lead no.2.

Venu Madhav evokes laugher, even reminding of his ‘bokkalu chura chura chesta’ line from ‘Sye’.

All in all, this one is takes potshots at the luxurious lifestyle that well-paying jobs engender in Hyderabadi youngsters while suggesting that being connected to one’s roots is the sustainable way to live.

The music needed upgrade to keep in tune with the times.

Verdict: A film that certainly would have passed muster had it released years ago.  Portraying the same ideology in a nuanced and imaginative manner might have got it many audience.

Rating: 2/5