For quite some time, I am confused about which sex the Moon belongs to, in Telugu language. Poetically, it’s called ‘Chandamama’, personifying it as feminine; on the other hand, dramatically, it’s called ‘Chandrudu’, indicating it as masculine. I am so confused of this anomaly, that I most of the times wonder why I think of it. Ok! Let’s leave it! Let’s talk about the latest Telugu film: Chukkallo Chandrudu (The Moon Among the Stars).
Confusion: Oh! Sorry! I meant the story!
The Story:
On a negative scale, confusion is an Inability --- an inability to choose! But on a positive note, confusion is a Natural --- a natural among youth. Digging deeper, Confusion is the successor of Existence of options. And anyone who has enough options on his hands is never a loser. The choice he makes decides his destiny. Confusion just makes him think twice before choosing the right option. No doubt, destiny deserves a long thought!
This story is that of a young guy, who has got nothing to Lose; but just has got to choose among the existing options so as to Gain his better-half. He has three girls in his mind: one is beautiful and ambitious, the second is smart and arrogant, and the third is hard-working and soft. On his quest to choose his life-partner, the young guy takes us through his journey of Fun, Friendship, Love and, most of all, Confusion.
The Young Guy:
In the film, his name is Arjun. He is smart, fun-loving and rich. Away from the screen, he is called Sidharth. This film totally rests on this one man. He is capable; and proved it by putting up a brilliant performance. He looks exactly the character. Fun, Romance or Melodrama --- he is perfect in every expression. And most important fact of his performance is his spontaneity. No expression has been rehearsed for long. All are at-the-go expressions. Watch his grace when he flirts with the girls --- absolutely entertaining!
The Three Women:
They represent the three shades of women ---- beauty, arrogance and innocence. On the screen the three actresses --- Saloni (playing Shalini), Charmi (playing Sandhya) and Sadaf (playing Sravani), have lived up to their characterizations. It’s Charmi’s role that got more life and in-depth characterizations among the three; and her performance was equally appealing. And luckily, for the family audience, there is no skin-show.
… and the Rest:
Veteran actor ANR has done a great job, especially with his unique style of dancing! Thanks for his energy levels even in his eighties. Waheeda Rehman, Tanikella Bharini, and others have done their jobs decently. Fortunately, in this film, there is only one comedian --- Sunil, and he is sure to bring about a lot of laughs.
Off the screen, the dominance is, obviously, of Sidharth. His story is a welcomingly new one. It’s about confusion; but it no where got confused. Thus, Sidharth succeeds! His screenplay is interesting. It goes in a cyclic fashion --- one character to another. And the script --- is thoroughly enjoyable; and, it mostly keeps away itself from the typical formula. It sounds fresh and smooth. Kona Venkat’s dialogues and Siva Kumar’s direction add more essence. Though there are some lapses in terms of pace of the film, they don’t shadow the charm of the film.
Music (Chakri), though uninteresting on listening, is good on screen. Anyway, avoiding a couple of songs in the second half could have helped the pace of the film. Choreography was brilliant. It wasn’t like any of those pretentious hip twisting steps done by some star-actors; Sidharth just enjoyed his work and that was evident in his dance. Cinematography and other technical aspects are good. The production values are adequate.
A Commercial Interpretation:
The Telugu audience is used to watching linear stories. But this film goes a bit zig-zag way. Though narrated in a convincing style, some audience may get impatient with the twists in the second half (Till the last five minutes, one cannot predict the end). And song or two, though necessary for logical balance, will seem uncalled for. The fate of this film depends on how the audience will accept this new screenplay. Favoring the film are some aspects like, healthy comedy, almost fully-decked heroines, timely cameo by PrabuDeva, ANR’s histrionics and Sidharth’s all-round performance. The female and family audiences are most likely to appreciate this film.