Mowgli Review

After making his debut with Bubblegum in 2023, Roshan Kanakala, the son of Rajeev Kanakala and Suma Kanakala, teamed up with the director, Sandeep Raj, the director of ‘Colour Photo’, for his second film. People Media Factory, which produced Roshan’s first movie, was onboarded to produce his second film as well. The director turned actor, Bandi Saroj Kumar, was roped in to play the antagonist role in the film and Sakkshi Mhadolkar, onboarded to play the lead actress role. Did Roshan Kanakala score his first hit? After winning the national award for his debut film, did the director, Sandeep Raj, deliver his first theatrical hit? How did Bandi Saroj Kumar, do in the antagonist role? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Murali Aka Mowgli(Roshan Kanakala), a boy from a village in a forest, falls in love with Jasmine Aka Varsha(Sakkshi Mhadolkar), a group dancer in a film’s unit. Just when everything seems to be going well between the lovebirds, the producer of the film, tries to mislead Murali by letting him believe that Varsha sleeps around with the producer. Who is Christopher Nolan(Bandi Saroj Kumar), a police officer, and how is he connected with Murali and Varsha? Did Murali and Varsha’s love story, get a happy ending? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Roshan Kanakala’s performance improved considerably compared to his first film. He looked at ease in romantic and action sequences. A bit more improvement is needed during the emotional sequences though. Sakkshi Mhadolkar got a good role and she utilised it very well. The way she performed through her eyes is very commendable.

Bandi Saroj Kumar in the antagonist role got an author-backed role and he performed it with utmost ease. He looked very confident and entertained well with his effortless performance and dialogue delivery. Harsha Chemudu got a role with varied emotions and he did very well both in comedy and emotional sequences. Suhas appeared in a cameo role. Although the role looked unnecessary, he did a good job with his performance. Krishna Bhagvaan and Srinivas Avasarala appeared in blink-and-miss roles.

Technicalities:

Kaala Bhairava came up with a decent background score in parts but the songs he composed did not work and ended up becoming one of the major drawbacks of the film. Cinematography by Rama Maruthi deserves appreciation. He captured the scenic beauty of the forest beautifully and a few frames in the film deserve a special mention.

Editing by Kodati Pavan Kalyan should have been better. The climax of the film was dragged out forever and the pace in the first half tests patience at times. At least twenty minutes of the runtime would have been easily edited. The production values by People Media Factory, are good. The film had a rich and pleasant look throughout.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠Initial 20 Minutes In The Second Half
2.⁠ ⁠Antagonist Characterisation
3.⁠ ⁠All Three Lead Actors Performances

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Poor Music
2.⁠ ⁠Leisurely Pace
3.⁠ ⁠Uneven Execution
4.⁠ ⁠Lack of Emotional Depth
5.⁠ ⁠Length of The Film
6.⁠ ⁠Predictable Screenplay

Analysis:

The chemistry between the lead pair, heart-touching emotional drama, a relatable conflict point and last but not least, a chartbuster album, are the necessary ingredients for a romantic drama film to work out well with the audience. Three to four chartbuster songs are a must for a film based on a love story that is aimed at youngsters. Especially, when a director chooses to give the deaf and dumb traits to one of the lead characters in the film, the songs become even more important. It is where the director, Sandeep Raj, and his team fell short in Mowgli. None of the songs in the film delivered the desired impact. At least two soul-stirring & impactful songs would have made the film better.

It appeared the director of Mowgli is a huge fan of the director, Teja and was heavily inspired by Jayam while writing the script. We can see a lot of similarities with Jayam and we also see Teja’s style of screenplay in executing the payoffs. The director did well in selecting the actors for the four crucial characters in the film. The director also did well in extracting good performances from all four actors, apart from the acting in a couple of emotional sequences. However, he failed to come up with a gripping narration. Also, the romantic drama between the lead pair did not get established properly. The romantic drama films work out only when the audience gets emotionally connected with the characters. But in Mowgli, we are hardly able to feel the pain of the lead characters. We can see the drama unfolding on screen but it is not gripping enough to excite us and get us connected with the characters.

The film had a decent twist at the interval block, a good twenty minutes of drama at the start of the second half and a few good moments here and there in the first half. Instead of concentrating on creating beautiful moments between the lead characters, the director used a lot of screen space to generate comedy in the backdrop of the hero worship, fan association presidents and fan wars. All of those attempts failed to generate any excitement and ended up testing patience. The antagonist characterisation and the way Bandi Saroj played the role, worked out initially but ended up becoming monotonous after a point. There was an attempt to resemble Ramayana and a few sequences indeed worked out but the uneven narration and a few dragged-out sequences, worked against the film.

Overall, the setup of Mowgli had the potential to instantly connect well with the youngsters and masses but the not-so-engaging direction and screenplay play along with poor songs, made it a disappointing film. Roshan Kanakala may have to wait for his third film to register his first hit as a hero.

Mowgli – Poor Man’s ‘Jayam’

Rating – 2.25/5