Mugguru Review

As one watches Mugguru, he is sure to scratch his head as to why Suresh Productions should squander away time and money on a less-than-ordinary script.  It is difficult to understand why a reputed production home which is known for its outstanding values, and a director like VN Aditya, who has had a hit or two in his kitty, should re-interpret a theme if they have nothing substantial to add - be it in terms of intelligent comedy or hilarious drama.

Mugguru draws its premise from an old theme: fit-for-nothing men getting an opportunity of a life-time to get rich, be liked by richie rich girls, be patronised by an efficient businessman uncle, you name it.  Pavan (Navdeep), Anji (Srinivas) and Maruthi (Rahul) make a livelihood in Vizag through petty thievery.  As luck would have it, they happen to save the life of JP (Ahuthi Prasad), a rich industrialist from Malaysia, when Pavan takes him to hospital on time and saves his life from death caused by a heart stroke.  As expected, a thankful JP offers a plum job offer to Pavan and his two friends in Malaysia.  Without a rhyme or reason, quite surprisingly, he also tells them that he would get his three daughters married to them.

Soon, we find Navdeep choosing the snobbish Shraddha, Rahul choosing the suicide-prone Sanjjana and Srinivas falling for Soumya who has a fetish for antiques.  Between the three couples, the film presents some hilarious scenes in the first half, with Ali as Bade Miyan evoking laughter in one or two scenes.  It doesn't take long for the cunning threesome to sweep the three beauties without brains off their feet.  However, the entry of Bala Tripurasundari (Reema Sen) threatens to change everything.

What has Reema Sen got to do with Pavan and company?  Why is she in Malaysia?  Why are the guys terrified at seeing her?  The answers to these questions are revealed in the second half.

The biggest demerit of Mugguru is its poor story which lacks strength of logic.  You are left cringing at the idiocy of the three girls who tell their fiances that they should extricate Bala Tripurasundari from her crisis whatever it takes if they would have to marry them.  Why do the girls put their future husbands in risk from a don for the sake of a woman who they had never known?

Talking about the artistic and technical values, except for Navdeep and Avasarala Srinivas who are at their natural best, others fall flat in their deliveries.  Rahul, the Shekar Kammula discovery, comes across as C-class actor lacking any earnestness.  The less talked about others, including the usually remarkable Brahmanandam (as the buffoonic don, Aamir Khan), who all come a cropper.

Amateurish songs add to the pathos.  The three landscapes (posh foreign locales, rural Andhra, gangster's den) in which the film takes place would have been quite contrasting to watch, but unimaginative screenplay fails to bring the distinction to life.

However, Sathyanand's intelligent dialogues relieves us from the pain at some places.

In a nutshell, Mugguru is a film that derives inspiration from a host of other comedies, but fails to come with anything new.

Released on: 20th Aug, 2011