You can't describe the tragedy of Priyudu by any other word. The idea of the film is an insult to all Valentines out there. This frustratingly puerile love story throws up a set of immature and whimsical characters, who invite troubles out of sheer unthinkingness or emotional impulses. If Varun Sandesh's behaviour complicates matters for himself and the girl in his life, his heroine loses her mind when she most needs one towards the climax. The latter, in a moment of idiocy, reciprocates her love to another and calls it sacrifice because that is what her boy wants her to do. Surely, the director's sentimentalism is bewildering and mind-numbing. To the impatient amongst you, it will be nauseating and stupid.
Karthik (Varun) values freedom a lot. So much so, when he has to marry a girl (Prithika Rao as Madhu Latha) as per his parents' wishes, he resorts to the unthinkable to get rid of her. He fields a wannabe lover (Ranadhir), who has been wooing Madhu in vain for two years, and constantly gives him ideas and lessons in love.
However, Karthik, for whom love is a restriction and no more than a freedom-curbing attachment, doesn't know how much Madhu loves him. Considering the fact that all such opinionated Telugu heroes have had a history of getting converted before the climax, you can guess the rest of the story. But, what you may not be prepared to watch is a raft of painful scenes that lead to the predictable ending.
Priyudu is an assault on our senses and an insult to the Valentines community for the following reasons:
- Karthik bails out Madhu by paying her supermarket bill. Madhu is impressed.
- Karthik drinks Madhu's coffee to the finish even though it is full of sugar. Know why? Because he doesn't want to hurt her. Madhu is even more impressed.
- Madhu gets her chance to pay back Karthik's magnanimity. She makes up Karthik's friend whom her lover's parents are coming to see. Karthik is impressed because without Madhu, his friend would have failed to impress her would-be in-laws because she doesn't know how to wear a saree. Karthik is emotionally thankful to Madhu for the 'great' help. (Soon, we find Madhu neurotically chewing the bubble gum in Karthik's style. Keep in mind that Madhu loves Karthik, but Karthik doesn't love Madhu. Any reason? There is one. Even in the beginning of the film, he tells that love is all about fulfilling responsibilities and pulling all stops to keep one's Valentine happy. Which is why he won't fall in love).
- Much to the dismay of Karthik, his dad and Madhu's dad are great chums. After they come to know that their children are MCA and MBA professionals, they decide to marry off their progeny to each other. Quite laughably, they had never met in years, but take this decision on the same day as they meet after decades!
- Here is a scene which every girl will find baffling. Madhu confesses her love to Karthik in front of all the elders, telling him how much she is mad about him. Imagine a girl going into a trance before her elders while telling 'I Love You' to a guy whom she is not sure whether he loves her or not.
- When things seem to be going well, our heroine invites another guy for coffee. Absolutely unconvincing and puzzling.
- What adds salt to the wound is the anti-climax where she reciprocates her love to another guy. Terming it, laughably, as 'sacrifice.' This particular scene will be found disgusting and ridiculous by both men and women.
All through, you will keep wondering why no body - neither the girl and the boy or the parents - want to sit around the table and solve the problems. They have mobiles in hand, but they prefer the audio diary. These are the reasons why Priyudu is a shock to all of us.
Besides these, the film boasts of much more unqualified crap: Pointless songs, humourless comedy, routine performances (though, we should say, Varun Sandesh's talent is wasted in poor scripts like this), and a senseless story. Great!
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