Mallepuvvu – Just OK

Director V Samudra's latest film Mallepuvvu raised the expectations as the in form Bhumika is playing the title role. All her earlier films in which she played title roles were big hits. But the director could not encash on the popularity and successful track record of Bhumika and the film ends up as a half-baked and hotch-potch attempt. There is no fragrance whatsoever in this Mallepuvvu.

Story

Koti (Murali Krishna) is a worker at a big construction site. He is working there since five years and save every penny so that he can go to Dubai and earn big money. He applies for a passport and is waiting for it. Abhinayasri, Suman Shetty and others are th workers at the site. The workers are controlled by Kovai Sarala.

One day a boy named Malli joins for work at the site. But it is not a boy but a girl, (Bhumika) who wears a man's dress and works there. She shares the room with Koti. Mlli is very weak so Kovai Sarala asks Malli to make tea and meals for the workers and asks Koti to do hard labour instea. This makes Koti very angry and he wants to tk reveng on Malli.

But he comes to know that Malli is not a boy but a girl and he immediately loses his heart to her. He also does not revel this to anyone. The police is on the lookout for Malli. Even some dreaded gangsters are looking for her. One day some gangsters kidnap Malli. Koti then decides to save Malli.

He finally traces Malli to a brothel house run by Telangana Shakunathala. Malli then reveals her true identity and tells Koti how she ha been mistakenly branded as a terrorist from Bangladesh and why she is hiding from the police. The rest of the film is how Koti manages to rescue Malli and help her to prove her innocence in court. The climax scene shows Malli admitting her love to Koti but she nevertheless leaves for her home in Bangladesh promising to comeback. Koti presents her with a bunch of Jasmine flowers before she boards the plane.

Performance

Newcomer Muralikrishna has worked hard but he still needs to home up his acting skills. Bhumika has done such type of roles before and to the disappointment of her fans, she appears for most part of the film disguise as a man. The director fails to utilize her glamour as a result.

The rest of the star cast from Kovai Sarala to Telangana Shakunathala, Venu Madhav, Suman Shetty, Abhinyasri, Sameer etc have very brief roles but are adequate in their roles. There is some relief for the audience in the form of an item song by Farzana. Ilayaraja's music is melodious and reminds us of the olden (golden) days of music.

The director tries to make a patriotic film by talking about Jihad and terrorism. The reference to the bomb blasts in Hyderabad, Delhi and elsewhere are included to make the film look contemporary. But the story is very weak and the screenplay is also not gripping enough to hold the attention of the audience.

The film can be safely given a miss.

Cast and Crew :

Banner: Sri Samudra Silver Screens
Main Cast: Muralikrishna, Bhoomika & others
Music: Ilayaraja
Producer : Mohan Vadlapatla
Director : V Samudra

Date of release :20th-Sep-2008