Mosagallaku Mosagadu Review

When the male lead behaves in a way that is glib at best with his girl, who has just done something which has the potential to put his future at risk, you know you are watching superficial stuff.  When there is nothing substantial in a scene where a most wanted international smuggler has a tryst with the most ruthless cop on a rampage, you know the story itself need not be taken seriously.

Krish (Sudheer Babu) is a small-time swindler who accidentally lays his hands on two valuable idols, like Nikhil had in 'Swamy Ra Ra'.  He and his girl friend (Nandini Rai) might well fall in big trouble because Rudra (Abhimanyu Singh), a dreaded smuggler, has high stakes in getting the idols into his kitty.  Riding on crores, the gamble that Krish plays is too flippant to be good.

Bose of 'DK Bose' fame makes a crime comedy but not all the characters are buffoons.  Rudra is a consummate criminal who can eliminate lives at the drop of a hat.  Krish has to con him if he has to become super-rich overnight.  How he makes use of the comedy villain Kaushik (Jayaprakash Reddy) and his sidekick Duvvasi Mohan in accomplishing his mission forms the formulaic stuff.

As long as Jayaprakash and Duvvasi are seen, the film manages to be evoke some laughter  -  not because it acquires a semblance of being a crime comedy, but because of the comic timing of the two and the chemistry they strike.

For how long will our films show professional con men talking foolishly at the scene of crime, saying things like, "We have planned it for one year. We have to execute the heist perfectly," and that too with a terrorist's expression on their face?

Style over substance would be an apt description because it is all about the excellent cinematography and Sudheer Babu's looks.  Sudheer came across as a promising actor in some of his films (including his debut 'Shiva Manasulo Shruti') but here he is reduced to a clone of Nikhil, by design or otherwise.

Nandini plays a librarian and and her traditional persuasions take the form of bizarre preferences.  Writing the 'quotes' of superstars in a library is hardly funny because the film is not mature enough to be a farce either.  She has no starry grace and the way the director has made her enact, she has no option but to be a caricature and nothing more.

It is now Nth film in which Bahubali is referred to.  Fish Venkat gets to parody Mahesh Babu.  The climax plays out like  a semi-joke; it is too simple-minded to be serious and too insubstantial to create space for any comedy sans the formidable Sapthagiri.

Cameo by Shakalaka Shankar makes more impact than Chandra Mohan's.

Technically, apart from the cinematography there is nothing home to write about other departments.

Verdict: It could have been a farce..  It could have been a sincere-minded crime comedy.. All that it ends up being is a half-baked flick with simplistic writing and there is nothing to suggest that the chap is indeed a 'mosagallaku mosagadu'.