Mr. Majnu

Akhil Akkineni's Mr. Majnu is a romantic drama directed by Tholi Prema fame Venky Atluri. The director has once again shown his command over handling romance dramas. Mr. Majnu has enough entertainment and drama to fetch the first hit for Akhil. What is it about? Vicky aka Vikram Krishna (Akhil) has a problem with longtime relationships. Despite knowing his flirtatious attitude, Nikki (Nidhi) falls for him. However, Vicky couldn't reciprocate the love to Nikki and they separate. Now Vicky realizes his love for Nikki and goes to win her back. Performances: Akhil is stylish, suave and very much believable as the guy who can win any girl. Besides his handsome looks and fit physique, Akhil has come up with a very good performance as Vicky. He has the talent and attitude to compete against the best. Nidhi Agarwal is good looking but the character demands a better performer. Priyadarshi and Adhi offers humor as the hero's sidekicks in the first half and second half respectively. All the senior actors like Nagababu, Sitara and Rao Ramesh have done a neat job. Subbaraju is good as the tough looking guy with a soft heart. Technicalities: Venky Atluri is talented enough to make a routine story work with his narrative skills. His story doesn't offer any freshness, but the treatment makes it click with neatly sprinkled emotions and well written dialogue. He knows the elements that would click with the youth and also does a fine job in handling emotions. Thaman who had done a fabulous job in Tholi Prema has impressed with his work again. Mr. Majnu has some very good songs and a fine background score. Cinematographer George C. Williams cinematography is the highlight. The color palette and the warm tones make it a pleasant viewing experience. Editing is okay and the production values are rich. Thumbs Up: Akhil's look and performance First half Emotions Thumbs Down: Cliched portions in second half Analysis: Mr. Majnu is a straightforward film that can be easily guessed by anybody where it is headed to. It has a predictable storyline with a serious girl falling for a flirtatious guy. The breakup and patch up also could be guessed straightaway. Despite the predictable plot and the screenplay, Mr. Majnu works because of the well written scenes and good emotions. Although the film is predominantly about the differences between the boy and girl, director Venky works the family emotions around in an impressive way. The biggest challenge for the director is to convince the viewers about the serious girl falling for a guy with such a 'loose' character. And Venky has done a tremendous job in making so. There are some fine scenes between Akhil, Rao Ramesh and Jaya Prakash that will strike a chord with the viewers. Also the non-commitment of the protagonist's character towards the female protagonist has been established well. First half is very entertaining and impressive, but the second half takes the routine route like many love stories. There is an attempt to make it entertaining with the introduction of few funny characters like an animated kid, Adhi and Subbaraju. However, the fun quotient is not enough to overlook the cliches. But what works is Akhil's sincere performance and well thought out dialogue that saves the film from losing the interest of viewers. Venky does a good job in tying the loose ends and ending the film on an emotional note. Mr. Majnu has a nice soundtrack that is a must for any love story to work, cool visuals and trendy characters that click with the contemporary audience. Despite the cliches and been-there-seen-that appeal, Mr. Majnu mostly works for its sincerity and simplicity. On the box office front, it should work in A centers better compared to the B and C centers. Verdict: Akhil Steals the Show

Mr. Majnu is one film which is very important for the career of Akhil as his last two films were received with mixed response. He has pinned a lot of hopes on Mr. Majnu which has hit the screens today. Let’s see whether the film gives Akhil his much needed hit. Story : Vicky(Akhil) is a playboy who does not believe in serious relationships. This is the time Nikki(Nidhi Aggarwal) falls for Vicky and proposes to him. Left with no choice, Vicky accepts her proposal and this is the time the problems in the love story blossom and the couple fall apart. Rest of the story is as to how Vicky takes things in his hands and wins his love back. Plus Points : The premise of the film is contemporary as a routine story is set in the backdrop of London and it looks good on screen. Akhil has developed quite well when compared to his previous films. Look and performance wise he does well in his role of a playboy and dances superbly. Nidhi Aggarwal is the star of the film as she gets a meaty role and performs convincingly. She has the looks and talent to make it big and she was quite efficient in her emotional character which had many shades yo portray. Hyper Aadi saves the second half to an extent with his comedy. Priyadarshi too evokes some fun in the first half along with Akhil and his track is written well. Songs are decent and are an added bonus to the film. Minus Points : One of the biggest minus points of the film is that it lacks basic emotional connect in the romance department. Venky Atluri created superb chemistry between the lead pair in his first film but that is not the case in Mr. Majnu as the romance is water thin and the emotions between the lead pair are not carried well. The story of the film is ages old and has nothing new to showcase. The second half is where things go down as it is hard to understand as to why does the heroine takes forever to realize the hero’s true love for her. The basic drama which a love story needs is missing to an extent in the film during this time. Also, the supporting roles played did not add much to the depth of the film. A family feud is unnecessarily dragged to no extent in the first half just to establish hero’s role. Scenes like this take down the film quite often. Technical Aspects : Even though Thaman’s music score was just about okay to listen, on-screen all his songs look lovely. His background score was also quite efficient. Production values by BVSN Prasad were top notch as the London visuals were captured superbly by the camera team. Dialogues are neat and so was the production design. Editing is disappointing as close to 10 minutes could have been edited out in the second half. Coming to the director Venky Atluri, he has done just an okay job with the film. His story idea is simple but he could not generate the needed screenplay in the film. He starts the proceedings quite interestingly but does not generate the needed romance between the lead pair. There are some good comedy scenes which keep coming in between but the lack of depth in the love story makes the proceedings a bit dull. Verdict : On the whole, Mr. Majnu is a new age romantic drama which has a decent setup. But the lack of emotional connect in the love story takes things down a bit in the second half. The lead pair does well and holds the proceedings to an extent. Novelty wise, there is nothing new in the film but some comedy episodes click here and there and keeps the viewers engaged. All we suggest you keep your expectations in check and go in with the flow of this film which ends as a below average fare this weekend.

Mr Majnu Story: A charming playboy who has never had a serious relationship finds himself in a spot of bother when he finally meets the right girl. Will they end up together? Or will his fear of commitment affect their relationship? Mr Majnu Review: There couldn't have been a better title than Mr Majnu for a film that deals with a male protagonist's endurance of a heartbreak. With this Venky Atluri directorial, Akhil Akkineni has officially been given the mantle to take over the casanova roles that his father-actor Nagarjuna has specialised in. It can't get more official than this, when he's referred to his grandfather and father's iconic films in a lyric that reads 'Devadasu manavado, Manmadhudike varasudo'. However, more than the playboy side to Akhil, it's his acting mettle that impresses in Mr Majnu, the most. The film is proof to Akhil's coming of age and composure as an actor, presenting his confidence to handle a perfect masala outing. Vikram Krishna a.k.a Vicky, played by Akhil, is a heartthrob at college, a hit with girls, so much so that they fight to be his 'girlfriend'. On his return trip to India after completing his graduation, he meets Nikitha a.k.a Nikki (Nidhhi Agerwal) during a flight. After initial friction, Vicky and Nikki get a better excuse to hangout together realising that both their cousins are due to marry soon. The relationship then takes various twists and turns while Nikki is at the receiving end with Vicky's commitment issues. The plot deals with how the two stand through the thick and thin of their relationship and revive their love. For the first thirty minutes at least, Mr Majnu proceeds on a rocky terrain. Director Venky tries a tad too hard to project the flirtatious side to his lead character Vicky and the regular references to Akhil's 'glamour', 'heart throb' image seem too much to handle. The film comes into its own only during the family-drama segments, where you realise the 'gentlemanly' dimension of Vicky. The real surprise is the understated performance of Akhil Akkineni here, he's extremely efficient in striking an emotional chord. Though the film often gives you a deja vu of the director's first film Tholi Prema in terms of the narrative structure, Mr Majnu doesn't lose steam for most parts. There's some liveliness in the proceedings with Hyper Aadi's entry in the second hour, his bitter-sweet equation with Subbaraju ensuring laughs aplenty. The commentary by an animated version of a two-year-old infant makes for some very engaging sequences too. Certain quirks to the characters, like that of Priyadarshi, who suffers every time Akhil tells a lie, add flavour to the film. The dialogues remain to-the-point and the sub plots complete the story well, though the thread about film piracy could have been integrated better into the story. Rao Ramesh's role starts off with much promise, only to be ignored sooner. Mr Majnu could have even been a crispier film had the filmmaker avoided those overlong action segments. Nidhhi Agerwal gets plenty of screen space to show her scope but doesn't make any impact as an actor. It's Akhil who steadies this rocky ship, while composer Thaman remains the unsung hero of the film for its terrific music score. Be it energy, melody or a sense of calm, Thaman's music is a perfect anchor to the film's story. Mr Majnu may not be as heartwarming as Tholi Prema, but has every element in it to make for an engaging watch at the cinemas.

When your hero is flawed, Telugu film writers use clever tricks from the mediocre playbook to make him appear enormously lovable,monumentally acceptable,super cute, a great guy next door and more.