Paddanandi Premalo Mari Review

'Paddanandi Prema Lo Mari' is quite an inappropriate title.  For here we see the main leads, along with one or more other characters, keep on running because of their love or someone else’s marriage/love.  The number of people running and the distance for which they run with the least tension on their faces, depends on the stage of the film.  So, it is not really falling in love.

Varun Sandesh plays Ram, he is seen doing pretty much the same things that he has been doing since ‘Happy Days’.  But there is a small ‘innovation’.  He is seen parodying Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu and Pawan Kalyan for, thankfully, blink-and-you-will miss-it moments.  Vitika Sheru  as Sravani spots his academic certificates lying unattended in a bus stop, calls him up and asks him to take them from him.  Moments before, Ram hit the same girl with a football and forgets to say sorry because he is left speechless by her beauty.  For a good 15 minute or more, Sravani is seen disturbed by the certificates she has to carry while Ram keeps waiting at the bus stop for another tryst with that beauty, and this is the one phase she is seen emoting disproportionately.  So much so, when she and others are chased by goons and being caught by them can mean hell for the rest of her life, the expressions on her face are so light that it is easy for us to believe that the certificate episodes were the bigger adversity.

In the first half, we are expected to keep guessing about the fate of Ram’s love story.  Call it a faulty screenplay or whatever, Ram is seen with a near happy expression on his face, failing to help us anticipate a particular kind of flashback.  This works against the tempo for sure.  When the suspense is finally revealed, it leaves us feel ridiculous.

Gone are the days when miscommunication or communication gap creating troubles for the lead pair’s love life were deemed entertainment.

If the twist is second-rate, the villain with his villainism thanklessly outdated.  The more he is that merciless lover devil who believes in just one thing, rakshasa marriage, the less he entertains.  The more he bays for the blood of Ram, the less genuine the film looks.  The more Ram and Sravani are chased, the less thrilling the experience becomes.

Telangana Shakuntala (late) and MS Narayana (late) both are seen in small roles.  Posani Krishna Murali as a brainless corporator is a disappointment.  ‘Tagubothu’ Ramesh’s portions should have had some substance, coming as they do at an important stage of the film.  However, he is a big bore and the scenes involving him are downright boring.

Varun Sandesh gets a dud this Valentine’s Day.  His previous outings like Chammak Challo and Priyathama Neevachata Kushalama are definitely much better, doubtlessly.  Vitika Sheru is a not-so-good find as she looks like an attenuated version of Trisha.

The technical departments downgrade the film’s value.

Verdict: A story that doesn’t pass muster, this one is eminently fluffy.

Rating: 1/5