The long-delayed movie Month of Madhu, starring Swathi Reddy and Naveen Chandra, is now officially available in theatres. See what this movie offers by reading our review.
Story: Lekha (Swathi Reddy) and Madhusudhan Rao (Naveen Chandra) decide to divorce after 20 years of marriage. Madhumitha, a teenager from an NRI, arrives in Vizag at the same time to attend her cousin’s wedding (Shreya Navile). She meets Madhusudhan by chance and gets involved in his personal life. What will happen next? Does she strengthen their bond or cause it to fall apart more? Lekha wants to leave Madhu, but why? What decision does Lekha end up making? These questions have answers in the film.
Performances: Swathi Reddy, who is known for giving passable performances, once again puts on a spectacular show by convincingly juggling two different stages of her life—as a young girl and as an adult. She does a great job of illustrating the huge emotional contrasts between these two phases.
In his performance as a man dealing with rage issues and ingrained gender stereotypes, Naveen Chandra impresses. His depiction of a troubled drinker is accurate to current events.
The actress who played Madhumitha, Shreya Navile, plays a crucial role in the movie because she fits the stereotype of an NRI who lives life on her own terms and is not constrained by conventional expectations. The rest of the cast gives adequate performances in each of their assigned roles.
Technicalities: Even though Srikanth Nagothi is both the writer and the director, he struggles to create a story that is intriguing and has interesting dialogue.
Although adequate, Achu Rajamani’s score doesn’t leave a lasting impression. Rajeev Dharavath’s cinematography provides sporadic moments of pleasure, but Ravikanth Perupu’s crisper editing may have shortened the running duration.
Analysis: The main flaw of the movie is its flimsy plot, which is drawn out across a lengthy 2-hour and 20-minute running period. The power of the key actors’ performances is diminished by weak writing and a disjointed screenplay.
As seen in Month of Madhu, a steady build-up is okay in the beginning but becomes a huge obstacle when continued into the second half.
The presentation by writer-director Srikanth Nagothi is shallow, which makes the narrative struggle to hold the audience’s attention. Manjula Ghattamaneni and Raja Chembolu are characters that barely register in the movie. Harsha Chemudu’s comedic scenes should have been scripted more effectively. The score doesn’t have much of an impact, and the songs from the movie are quickly forgotten.
Verdict: Despite the excellent performances by Swathi and Naveen Chandra, Month of Madhu overall gives a bland and uninteresting movie experience. The film’s plodding storyline, weak narrative, and inclusion of pointless scenes in each half drag it down. It could be a good idea to think about other movie possibilities for your weekend amusement.
Rating: 2/5
