Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu

Set on the backdrop of a place called Relangi, here lives an honorable man fondly called as Relangi Mavayya (Prakash Raj) who spread smiles and believes in helping others. His two sons Peddodu (Venky) and Chinnodu (Mahesh Babu) are contrasting natures. Peddodu is blunt, not street-smart and short tempered. Chinnodu is more sensible, smart and easy going. Both of them are unemployed and as usual the nagging keeps happening from those around. But their bonding is very strong. Meanwhile, Seetha (Anjali) is the ‘Maradalu’ for Peddodu and she is fond of him a lot. Chinnodu falls in love with Geetha (Samantha) a relative. But her father (Rao Ramesh) is more practical and believes in wealth and earning than anything else. This also creates a gap between both families. How different turns take place in their lives forms the rest of the story. Perhaps this is the first time that Venkatesh got so less dialogues. Most of his work was done with his stiff body language. Of course the character demanded it so he gave justice to it. Mahesh Babu is the key factor. He was mischievous, dashingly handsome and he also had to give the due respect in sharing screenspace with Venky. He captured attention wherever he was. Prakash Raj has merged into the role without any hiccups. His composed act and dialogue delivery is quite matured and he made his presence felt. Samantha was cute as usual and though there is not much for her in terms of performance her energy levels and her sense of dressing were really appealing. Anjali is a true performer and at the same time she also has that strong native sex appeal which is hard to miss. She is versatile and delivers a range of emotions with full ease. She will go far. Rao Ramesh was seen doing something which befits his talent after a long time. He deserves to get more of such quality roles. Jayasudha was natural and neat. Rohini Hattangadi was effective. Kota was okay, Tanikella was apt. Abhinaya was wasted. Ravi Babu was brief. The others did their bit as required and filled the gaps.

Relangi Mavayya (Prakash) a good natured gentleman who believes kindness is everything in life. He imparts the same values to his two unemployed sons – Peddodu (Venkatesh) and Chinnodu (Mahesh) – who are chided by their relatives for being jobless. Eventually the brothers make their nosy relatives eat their own words. There isn’t a single action episode or even an innuendo in the entire 159 minutes of the movie. Guess on that yardstick alone this movie lives up to the tag of being a “festive family entertainer.” Set in the West Godavari village of Relangi, the film dishes out the whole gamut of standard edition familial emotions – mother-son, father-son, brother-sister and cousins – while celebrating the “ideal brotherly love.” It is the idiosyncrasies that catch your attention. The two brothers are as different chalk and cheese. We have the petulant elder son who’s called Peddodu (Venkatesh). He’s a good natured not-so-young-looking, young man who is unaware of the ways of the world. Unable to fit into the demands of city life he comes back to his native village doing nothing worthwhile. Then there is the street smart kid brother Chinnodu (Mahesh). His good looks and sharp wit make for an irresistible combination and everybody is in love with him for he’s the trouble shooter in the family and is popular with the ladies of his village as well. He dotes on his elder brother but the two seem to be incapable of looking each other in the eye or have a normal conversation, immense love and respect for each other notwithstanding. A sister, grand mother, an orphaned cousin, father and mother complete the happy family. Then there is the extended family. A wealthy uncle who lives in Vijaywada, he doesn’t think much about the family and their archaic ways. But his daughter, Geetha (Samantha) and niece, Seetha (Anjali) are in love with Chinnodu and Peddodu respectively. That’s exactly the conflict in the story – how the unemployed brothers win the respect of their disapproving uncle and the hands of his daughter and niece respectively. The director hails from the village Relangi and seems to have done a good job of keeping the characterizations as native as possible. From the brothers addressing each others as Eraa, the children being nicknamed along the order of their birth, the language, humor, bonding, weddings in a coconut tree farm - everything has this distinct Coastal Andhra flavor to it. While the filmmakers have done a commendable job of recreating that nativity, but that could in it self turn out to be a stumbling block. Sine these nuances might just be lost on the sections of the audience not coming from the coastal belt. Also the film seems to be lacking that X-factor. Blame it on the slow paced narrative or issues of cultural connectivity, something does seem amiss here. The quality of acting over all is pretty understated, like the rest of the movie. Stripped off their usual starry airs, Mahesh Babu and Venkatesh work up some tender “brotherly chemistry”. Prakash Raj and Jayasudha do what is expected of them playing the father and mother. Samantha and Anjali have comparatively little screen time but do a decent job of it. The background music is better than the music in the film and that might be another negative. For, the songs though melodious don’t exactly spread the festivity. There are quite a few loose ends as well. For example the brothers speak with different slants in their Telugu, and what is it that Chinnodu does in Hyderabad. It is pleasant, well intended, and has some tender moments as well, but does it pack enough entertainment value? We’re not sure. You decide.