Tollywood produces more movies than Bollywood – more quantity than quality. Most of the telugu movies are run-of-the-mill, me-too types. That does not bother me as I have a larger population of movies to choose from when I visit my local Indian store.
During the Holidays I saw several telugu movies and one was “outstanding” – I mean standing out – not because it was spectacular or something – more so because of the title – Neeku Nenu Naaku Nuvvu.
Now be ready for a Telugu primer
Neeku = You
Nenu = Me
Naaku = Me
Nuvvu = You
Actually means I am for You and You are for Me – Hum Tumhaare Liye, Tum Hamaare Liye. End of primer. Class dismissed.
The Nuvvu Syndrome:
Ever since Nuvve Kavali – meaning ’’I only want You’’, became a runaway success in 2000, every Tollywood movie released on the fourth day before the full moon seems to have a Nuvvued title:
Nuvvu Nenu = You and Me
Nuvvu Naaku Nachaav = You are liked by me (whatever happened to the simplistic “I like You”)
Nuvvu Leka Nenu Lenu = You are not there, I am not there (where ?)
Nuvvu Nuvvu = You and You only
The last one I guess is an extreme case of the Nuvvu Syndrome. It wont be long before we have “Nuvvu Nuvvu Nuvvu” which will bag the National Award for Originality in Title.
The Plot:
Raghavayya (Krishnam Raju) is a rich industrialist. Years ago he was humiliated by his own daughter at her wedding. In a true melodramatic fashion at the auspicious time of tying the knot, the bride was missing. She eloped to London with Prasad (Suman), a trusted employee whom Raghavayya had sponsored since childhood. Raghavayya then goes to a local orphanage, picks up a boy and raises him as his own son – who becomes Anand (Uday Kiran). There is no love lost between Raghavayya and love marriages.
Fast Forward to the present times. Prasad (Suman) returns back from London along with his grown up daughter – Seeta Lakshmi (Shreya) and lo and behold – Seeta and Anand end up studying in the same college.
Anand and Seeta go through the initial phases of hate, friendship and then love. Seeta’s father realizes that Anand is the adopted son of Raghavayya and all three of them plan on winning over the heart of the old man. Seetha enters Raghavayya’s household on the pretext that she has fought with her parents and establishes herself in the house. Raghavayya starts taking a liking to her till he realizes that Anand loves her and wants to marry her. Since Raghavayya is against love marriages – he asks Anand to leave his house.
You would have guessed the ending by now – all is well that ends well.
The Performances:
# Krishnam Raju as Ragahvayya. He was a good actor during the 80’s and now he has had so much face lifting done that one can see sheer agony when he has to open his mouth to say something.
Advice: In future, please opt for roles portraying a dumb character.
# Uday Kiran as Anand. I never really liked him. He still looks like a boy and speaks in a squeaky voice.
Advice: Get rid of the permanent stubble, improve your dialogue delivery and please visit a gym and put on some bulk on your puny body.
# Shreya as Seeta: She looks good.
Advice: Continue looking good.
The rest of the supporting cast is mediocre. The script is loose and the direction is average. The songs are just hummable.
A word on the costume designer:
Hats off to the costume designer. Shreya’s outfits in the song sequences had to be designed with the utmost precision – there is no room for that extra stitch.
What beats me is while singing in the snow – our hero is fully clothed with ski pants, parka and thermal underwear and the heroine’s handkerchief was bigger than her outfit.
Overall, I would give this a 2.5 out of 5 and you can watch it if you do not see any “wet paint” sign around.