Band Melam Movie Review

Harsh Roshan and Sridevi Appala, the popular pair from Court, have teamed up once again for a romantic drama titled Band Melam. Backed by writer Kona Venkat, the film released today. Has this hit pair continued their success run? Has Kona Venkat finally found success after a long time? Read our detailed review to find out.

Plot:

Raaji (Sridevi) and Roshan (Yadagiri) are in love from a very young age. While Raaji is good at studies, Yadagiri is a school dropout. As time passes, Raaji moves ahead in life and ignores Yadagiri. An upset Yadagiri decides to win Raaji back and focuses on his music career. The rest of the story is about how Yadagiri wins his love back by going through many tough times in life.

Performances:

Roshan and Sridevi proved their mettle in Court and continued the same in Band Melam. Harsh Roshan, in particular, is very good in his role as a rustic lover. There is an innocent aura he carries, which suits his village boy character. Though he is still in the early stages of his career, Roshan does well and carries the film on his shoulders. Sridevi is very good as Raaji. Her screen presence and personality suit her character well. The best part of Band Melam is the chemistry the lead pair share. The confrontations and drama they evoke are good to watch. The rest of the cast is ordinary, with nothing much to talk about.

Technical Aspects:

Vijay Bulganin has composed the music, and his songs are good, especially the “Tippukontane” track, which looks vibrant on screen. His background score is neat and serves its purpose. The writing is weak, as the story is outdated and offers nothing new. One of the biggest drawbacks of the film is the editing pattern, which is dull and lethargic. The screenplay is also weak, with hardly any standout moments. The production values are decent, but the production design is not very impressive.

Positives:

Lead pair chemistry
Songs

Negatives:

Weak story
Silly narration
Lack of emotional drama

Analysis:

Multiple films getting made in succession without even having a proper script, to cash in on the success, whenever a lead pair deliver a hit film is a trend which is being followed in Tollywood for a long time. One such classic example is the film ‘Chirujallu’ in 2001. That film was made just to cash in on the fame and success of the lead pair, Tarun and Richa, after the blockbuster success of, Nuvve Kavali, in 2000. Just like the makers of Chirujallu and multiple other such filmmakers, the makers of ‘Band Melam’, seemed to have rushed to make and release the film to cash on the success of ‘Court: State vs a Nobody’s’ lead pair Roshan and Sridevi. Apart from a few fun moments here and there during the first half, the film offers nothing to engage the audience. And, during the second half, you start to wonder – what exactly is the purpose of making this film?, how in the world the makers finalised the script before deciding on going to the floors?

The interesting moments which the film offers were already shown in the teaser and trailer. Apart from what we have already seen, there’s not much in the film to hook the audience. The director, Satish Javvaji, took an outdated story and executed it in an equally outdated manner throughout the film. There was an attempt to engage the audience with an interesting twist but it was not used effectively. There is a scope to add interesting drama but for some reason, the director filled the film with many unwanted sequences one after the other which tests your patience.

At a time when audiences are mercilessly rejecting routinely made films by even the top stars and are willing to watch well-made films of any language, it is baffling to see a bland film like, Band Melam, being made, promoted, and released in theatres. Overall, the film hardly has any engaging moments and is likely to disappear from theatres without a trace within a day or two.

Bottom Line: Same old romantic drama

Rating: 1.5/5