Jaanu Telugu Movie Review

            Notwithstanding the fact that the film is a remake, it is a proud moment for Tollywood to tell a tale of a man-woman relationship with out the predictable shades of our main stream cinema. It is also a moment defying film.  Yes, a section of the audience fed on block busters and the heroics of the mainstream may find the goings dreary but the discerning sits up to watch this rare chunk of life emotive tale of a love story where things go wrong, people do not.

             Ramchandra (Sharwanand), a travel photographer is the strict master who apart from wild life photography is also the stern master for his interns. His long-lost classmate Murli (Vennela Kishore) and Satish (Tagubothu Ramesh) decide an aluminii meet of the school mates. One of the main organizers is Shuba (Sharanya Pradeep) a firebrand. A long if needless time is spent in establishing the calf love in school between Ram and Jaanu (Samantha).

            The love story back in school is aborted by circumstances. While Janu has moved on, Ram is stuck emotionally and is still a bachelor. After a few light moments at the rendezvous of the class mates the two finally find time for each other before she leaves for Singapore. Sometimes the narrative is painstakingly slow. Even a spoonful of rice from the plate to the mouth takes a minute. However, this is clearly by design, the film maker Prem Kumar who is instrumental in making the Tamil version ’96 is very clear about the speed poise. The grammar is akin to the Audrey Hepburn: It Happened One Night but even more noteworthy is the fact that Samantha matches the all-time great actor. Everyone in the film add their bit to the credibility and class of the film.  Vennela Kishore is subtle and is in a light hearted role not reduced to buffoonery. Sharanya Pradeep as Shuba warrant special mention. Varsha Bollamma (Cinematography), Govind Vasanta (Music) add to the class. Sharwanand is called to reappraise the role of Vijay Sethupathy which is an easy task. The main stay is surely Samantha: grace personified she underplays and is in a style defying genre and a grammar alien to Tollywood fits her or vice versa.

            The film is strongly recommended to all those who are ready to invest a few hours for the cause of good cinema. In case you still want the hero to insult your intelligence, be gender insensitive and have dust and dirt all around you then this is not for you. For those yearning for a good Telugu film experience run and get your ticket. Here at last is an outing that respects womanhood, exorcises the hero prizes emotions values relationships and respects the intelligence of the audience. A rare happening. Go for it.

L. Ravichander.