Manamey Movie Review

Sharwanand last appeared in touching sci-fi film Oke Oka Jeevitha. Now getting back to his Run Raja Run style, he joined hands with Sriram Aditya for Manamey. The movie was released in theaters today and here is the review from one of the US Premieres.

What Is It About?

Vikram (Sharwanand) is a fun-loving flirtatious guy living in London. His friend Anurag (Adith Ram) and his wife Shanti die in a accident leaving their baby boy Kushi. Vikram and Subadra (Kriti Shetty) had to become the caretakers of two year old baby boy Kushi. What happens to their caretaking journey? How their lives take a new turn? Manamey answers these questions

Performances

Sharwanand did well as the happy-go-lucky guy and his playful character is amusing. However, the weak narrative overshadowed Sharwa’s performance. Kriti Shetty looked good but her performance has nothing to boast about.

Seerat Kapoor and Ayesha Khan sizzled in guest appearances and they made their presence felt. Vennela Kishore’s few jokes worked well. Rahul Ramakrishna appears in a routine role. The baby actor Kushi is cute.

Sachin Khedkar, Thulasi, Mukhesh Rushi and Seetha did their part in supporting roles. Adith Ram appears in a guest role. Shiva Kandukuri fits in the role he played and he is fine. Rahul Ravindran appears as a bad guy and he is very bad at it.

Technicalities

The production values are good. Cinematography is great. The background music could have been better. There are so many songs in the movie, but none really helped. For the cliched style making scenes the screenplay is alright.

Thumbs Up

Sharwanand
Cinematography

Thumbs Down

Cliched Narrative
Songs

Analysis

Manamey has a fresh thought of two individuals taking care of their friends’ baby in an unexpected scenario. Except for that line and a few jokes of Sharwanand, Manamey falters everywhere else.

Manamey starts on a slow note and it could not get any better in the first half. The way the hero and heroine agree to take responsibility for the baby as caretakers is unconvincing. The establishing scenes of their hurdles as caretakers failed to make any impression.

The interval block is purely predictable and the second half follows the same route. There were a ton of movies where the lead pair bumps into an older couple and then realizes that they are in love. To make it even more typical, there is a suit-wearing villain, a restaurant that needs renovation, an accomplished fiance, and many other things. Also, the villain role ends in a abrupt way and the restaurant is forgotten totally.

The cinematography is too good but the background music was not good enough to match the great visuals. Most of the film was shot in Europe and hence the visual appeal. The combination scenes of Vennela Kishore and Sharwanand managed to bring some laughs.

The plot of Manamey could have been an emotional ride but is lost in execution due to the routine template of many yesteryear love stories mixed in a parenting drama. The lack of impactful scenes with the baby appears like a sore thumb in a story that revolves around the baby. The director’s uneven and emotionally incomplete narrative, the love drama, and their bond with the baby appear like two separate tracks. The climax is again the most stale concept and the whole movie gives a feel of lengthy run time due to the dragged and boring episodes.

Overall, Manamey topples while creating an emotional drama due to an old template narrative with overused episodes like sacrificing the fiance and barging into the wedding and more. Sharwanand’s energy and his jokes save it up to an extent, but Manamey needs much more than that.

Bottomline : Emotionally Incomplete

Rating: 2.5/5