Itlu Maredumilli Prajaneekam starring Allari Naresh in the lead under the direction of AR Mohan has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it fares.
Story: Set in the Maredumilli forest region, the film revolves around the lifestyle of the people living in a remote area. On a by-election duty, Srinivas, a government teacher goes to the region to motivate the tribal people to participate in the voting.
Due to anger on the system, the people living in Maredumilli refuse to participate in the voting as their area left unnoticed by various politicians for the past thirty years.
How will Srinivas convince the village people to use their democratic right? How kind of hurdles will the sincere school teacher faces in the process of fulfilling forest people’s desires, forms crucial crux.
Performances: After Naandhi, Naresh did yet another social drama that exposes loopholes in our system. Looks-wise, Naresh is decent in formal wear throughout the movie. His settled acting without any over-the-board comedy expressions brings depth to the proceedings.
Heroine Anandhi is cute in half sarees and her attitude as a village bell is showcased nicely. Though there are combination scenes between Naresh and Anandhi, the film has less scope for romance and colorful duets between the lead pair.
Vennela Kishore is awesome with his comedy timing. His facial expressions while uttering one-liner punches evoke healthy laughs. Actor Praveen gets a lengthy role in which he did a decent performance.
Sampath Raj is believable in his district collector role. Surya Teja gets a meaty role as an aggressive-natured tribal guy. Other supporting artists such as Raghu Babu among others did their part decently.
Technicalities: The music composed by Sricharan Pakala is apt for the film’s genre. While the songs are situational and passable on screen, the background score elevates a few key scenes.
The cinematography work by Raam Reddy is okay. He captured natural locations in and around the Maredumilli forest region nicely. The editing work by Chota K Prasad is good as he kept the film’s runtime within limits.
Production values for this limited-budget movie which happens mostly in the forest region are fine.
Analysis: Director AR Mohan’s core concept that revolves around the lives of people in remote areas is good. Along with his on-papers ideas, the establishment scenes in the first half are presented decently.
A government teacher going to any extent to help the downtrodden is showcased in a few thought-provoking scenes. On the flip side, if the director would have focused on continuing the same momentum in the second half as well, the result would have been unanimous.
The screenplay loses grip during the crucial second half which is a minus for the film. To summarize, Itlu Maredumilli Prajaneekam is a social drama that has a fresh point but suffers from a slow-paced narrative in the second half.
Verdict: Sincere attempt! Rating: 2/5