Godari Gattupaina Review

After proving himself as a talented actor with his debut film, Mem Famous (2023), upcoming hero Sumanth Prabhas has teamed up with writer and director Subash Chandra for a romantic comedy film titled Godari Gattupaina. Nidhi Pradeep played the role of the female lead, while Jagapathi Babu played a very crucial role in the film. Yesteryear actress Laila portrayed the role of the lead actress’s mother. Producer Abhinav Rao produced the film under the banner Red Puppet Productions. After being promoted aggressively as a breezy entertainer, the film was released in theatres today. How did Sumanth Prabhas perform in a lead role? Did writer and director Subash Chandra deliver a breezy entertainer as promised during the film’s promotions? How did Jagapathi Babu and Laila perform in their crucial roles? Most importantly, does the film have the potential and substance to fill the void at the Telugu states’ box office this summer? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Sam Babu(Jagapathi Babu), a middle-class family man who works as a security guard, loves his daughter immensely and takes care of her to the best of his abilities. He also believes that everything in life is destiny and is written by God and nothing is a coincidence in life. Maaya(Nidhi Pradeep), the daughter of Sam Babu, loves and respects her father. She never does anything that hurts and disappoints her father. What happens when a well-mannered and kind-hearted guy, Raju(Sumanth Prabhas), enters the life of Maaya? How did, Raju, an auto driver, end up impressing, Maaya, an engineering student? How did Raju win the trust of Sam Babu and end up marrying, Maaya? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Sumanth Prabhas, in the lead role did a very good job with his performance. He appeared effortless in romantic, comedy and emotional sequences. With careful planning and good script selection, he seemed to have the potential to turn into a dependable lead actor. Nidhi Pradeep, looked like a girl next door and delivered a very confident performance. The chemistry between the lead pair worked out well throughout the film.

Jagapathi Babu in a crucial role made his experience count and delivered a very restrained performance. In a couple of sequences, the way he emoted through his eyes, was a treat to watch. The show stealer of the film, without a second thought, is Sudarshan. His dialogue delivery and comedy timing were very commendable. He managed to generate quite a few laughs whenever he appeared on screen. Yesteryear actress, Laila, in a passive role, made her presence felt. Reenu SK, deserves a special mention for generating a few laughs. The character she played had scope to generate fun and she utilised it well and came up with a good performance.

Rajeev Kanakala, Devi Prasad, Raj Kumar Kasireddy, Viva Raghav, Harshavardhan, Rohit Krishna Varma, and Srilasya Bhallamudi, All of them did their roles well with good performances.

Technicalities:

One of the major positives of the film is the music scored by, Naga Vamshi Krishna. He came with soulful and soothing songs and a pleasant background score. He certainly lifted a few sequences with his heartfelt background score. However, a couple of tunes gave a déjà vu feel. Editing by Anil Kumar P, would have been better. A bit more care in editing, particularly in the latter half, would have made the film better.

Sai Santhosh’s cinematography is pleasant and colourful. He managed to capture the beauty of the rural Godavari districts very well with his camera. Production values by, Red Puppet Productions, were near. It seemed like the production team provided the required resources to give the film a good look and feel. Let’s discuss more about the debutant(technically not a debut. His debut film as a director is yet to be released) director and writer’s work in detail in analysis section.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠Comedy Quotient
2.⁠ ⁠Music
3.⁠ ⁠Dialogues
4.⁠ ⁠A Few Heart-felt Emotional Episodes

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Predictable Narration
2.⁠ ⁠Dragged Out Climax
3.⁠ ⁠Cliched Family Drama(s)

Analysis:

The Boy’s Characterisation – Endakaina poni… emaina kani…naavele andari kastalu (I would love to go to any extent to help people).

The Girl’s Father’s Characterisation – Naa kuthuruki jeevithanantham premane chupisthanu (I will love my daughter and do everything possible to keep her happy).

The Girl’s Point of View – Nuvvu & Raju…Meeriddaru okate nanna. Nuvvu nannu entha baga chusukuntavo…Raju kuda alane chusukuntadu ani nenu nammutunna (When it comes to loving me unconditionally and caring for me, you and Raju are the same. I firmly believe Raju will look after me as much as you have all these years).

We have seen multiple films in the past with the above characterisation and conflict point, haven’t we? In fact, the director of ‘Godari Gattupaina’, revealed(though a bit misleadingly), the plot and conflict point at the very start of the film and then started narrating the story. By doing so, he made it clear that there’s nothing new in the film that we haven’t seen in the past. However, the director succeeded in coming up with a fairly engaging and entertaining film with good comedy, a neatly executed romantic track, well-written dialogues and good music.

When was the last time we heard a Telugu movie song where the music never dominated the lyrics? The music director, Naga Vamshi Krishna and the director, Subash Chandra, deserve appreciation for coming up with pleasant songs for the film. The soothing music and the well-written lyrics, helped to give a pleasant look and feel to the film throughout. The writer and director, utilised the character played by, Sudarshan, to make sure the film has enough comedy. With his comedy timing, Sudarshan, generated a good number of laughs throughout the film. Another plus point of the film is that it has sensible & meaningful dialogues.

‘Nenu techina sambandham lo….nee bhavisyathu kanapadutundi raa’, ‘Mee kuturune kadu.. mee kuturu paina meekunna prema ni kuda premistunnadu vadu’, ‘Manchi neeru…uppu neeru… rendu veru veru swabhavalu vunnavi aina… Godavari Sangamam lo entha baga kalisipoyayo kada… alane bhinna swabhavalu vunna manushulu kuda kalisi jivisthw entha baguntundo kada’, ‘Na kuthuruki jeevithantham morha premani matrame chupinchali anukunna… ne valla naa kopam chupinchela cheyaddu’ – Apart from the aforementioned dialogues, the film has quite a few of such sensibly written dialogues. Throughout the film, we can also see the director’s wish for a noble society where people love each other irrespective of caste, religion and social stature. The director deserves a special mention for blending noble intentions seamlessly into the narrative without getting preachy.

Though it has quite a few positive points, the predictability worked against the film to an extent. Right from the start to the end, at no point does the film surprise the audience. It runs on a very predictable note and we can guess almost everything up front. Also, in a desperate attempt not to end the film on cliched note, the director dragged the climax of the film at least by ten minutes. Also, after creating enough curiosity by keeping the character played by, Laila, passive for a majority of the film, the director did not come up with either an impactful payoff to the character or an intriguing backstory to the character. At the end of the film, we get to wonder the reason behind keeping her character passive.

Overall, Godari Gattupaina is a pleasant film that remained truthful to its genre but the comedy quotient, neatly executed romantic track and good music, made the film, fairly engaging. You can give it a try watching in the theatre if you are fine with a film with a predictable premise but has enough entertainment to keep you hooked. It is certainly a better film compared to most of the Telugu films that have been released in the last few months. A bit more care at the writing table, would have made the film even better though.

Bottomline – Routine. But, Pleasant Godari

Rating: 2.5/5