Manu Charitra Movie Review

Shiva Kandukuri is juggling with films and Web Series on OTT. He is back to films and he teamed up with newcomer Bharath for Manu Charitra. The film is a youthful love story laced with crime. Will Shiva break the jinx? Will Manu Charitra appeal? Let’s find out.

Plot:

Manu (Shiva) and Jenni (Megha Akash) love each other. But family and circumstances separate the duo. Not able to forget Jennie, Manu turns to alcohol addict leaving his bright career. Manu’s life turns upside down. He ends up working for thug Rudra (Dhananjay). He meets Janu (Pragathi). Can Manu get his life back? Or is it too late? The film has answers.

Highlights

Few Moments In First Half
Background Score

Drawbacks

Confusing Sub-Plots
Story Lacks Freshness
Dragged Second-Half

Analysis

As the title says, Manu Charitra is the story and life of Manu, the protagonist. His tryst with love and crime is the film is about. There are two conflicts – one is Manu’s heart-break with his love Jennie and second is Manu’s work with rowdy Rudra (Dhananjay). Both are two separate themes. Director Bharath struggles to strike a balance between love and crime. He gets lost in this confusion and ends up serving a confusing story. There are many subplots and many characters who come and go. The second-half supposedly where the actual story to be unfolded, here the director introduces new characters like Stella (tution teacher in neighbourhood) and Janu (Pragathi), a student in NIT Warangal. The film in the second-half goes haywire. The film drags and drags to the core. The second-half is a big fat bore.

Performances-wise, Shiva Kandukuri is decent as Manu. His character has multiple shades – failed love, losing career. But the character trait is unusual. There is a scene where he carries a gun to university in the latter half, this is unconvincing. Megha Akash shines in her role. She emotes well. She is a blessing in disguise. Rest of the actors are just passable. Suhas is alright as friend of Nandu. Pushpa fame Dhananjaya wasn’t used well. Pragathi Shrivastav looks too young to play the heroine. Otherwise, she is okay. Priya Vadlamani has nothing much to perform. She is confined to a sequence. Harshita Chowdary is seen as Stella. Her episode acts as an obstacle to the story flow in the second-half. Comedian Madhu gets a limited role.

The treatment of Manu Charitra on several occasions reminds us of Arjun Reddy and some other previous movies. Especially after the heart-break with Jennie, Manu indulges himself in alcohol. Even the heart-break song of Manu has shades of Arjun Reddy. The point to be noted is Manu Charitra lacks the freshness. Director is heavily inspired from several previous films and made a khichdi. It is a template movie that Telugu audiences are very familiar with.

Manu and Jennie’s romantic track reminds us of Ye Maya Chesave including the hero’s fight with the heroine’s brother albeit unintentionally. All these take away the freshness. The problem with Manu Charitra is its writing. The film is predictable on one side and it continues to give unwanted twists involving Jennie and Nandu’s roles towards the end.

The sequence of Rudra (Dhananjay) and Janardhan Kaka (Srikanth Iyengar) is also not new. And there is some blog about Manu going viral. It doesn’t work in the film’s favour. The film’s dragged narration is a big letdown. The songs are decent and give a soothing impact. The background score by Gopi Sundar saves the dragged narration to an extent. Technically, the filmmaking is adequate. But it appears to be an old and stale product owing to the film’s delay. Overall, Manu Charitra tests patience. It is old wine in an old bottle.

Bottom-line: Forgettable Charitra

Rating: 2/5