Story
Gowtam (Nani) works as a reporter for a television channel. He is nursing a heart break after his girlfriend (Kriti Karbandha) dumped him for another guy. He attends the wedding of his girlfriend where he meets the another girl Nitya (Nitya Menon) dumped by the groom (her boy friend). They hit off well and become instant friends. Nitya stays in Bangalore and Gowtam stays in Hyderabad. They keep bumping in to each other over a period of years. Though both these people like each other, the fate intervenes to separate them at crucial moments. The rest of the story is all about how this couple finally realises that they are made for each other after few years of courtship.
Artists Performance
Nani is completely natural, at home while playing the character of Gowtam. He has also shown different variations. His voice is an asset and he used it effectively. Nitya Menon should be lucky to get a role that has lots of substance in it. She epitomized Nitya character with her fabulous performance. She looks beautiful in all kinds of dresses. Nitya Menon's is the best debut in recent years of Telugu cinema after Samantha in YMC. She dubbed her voice and it suited the character to the tee. Sneha Ullal had a reasonable length character and she is fine. Kriti Karbandha and Chaitanya Krishna did cameos. Rohini and Uppalapati Narayana Rao (film director) adds freshness to parents characters. The friends gang of hero (Mirchi Hemantha, Raja Valluru, Pinky and Rhea) is also appropriately cast. Asish Vidyardhi gave a balanced performance in a crazy character. The guy who did the the role of drunkard software engineer in climax breathed life into the scenes.
Technical departments
Story - screenplay - direction: It is a typical romantic comedy in which the main leads keep bumping into each other after years of gap. We have seen these kinds of movies in Hollywood like 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'A Lot Like Love'. This film is more similar to 'a lot like love' because whenever one of the couple try to propose to other, they realise that the other person is in relationship with another person. Debutant director Nandini made sure that there is fun and humor in the movie though it's not a typical commercial film. I liked the way she constructed the screenplay with spaced flashbacks and how Asish Vidyardhi becomes an integral part of the story by the end of it. There are a few moments in the movie that shows the brilliance of the director (the thread of Asish Vidyardhi, the gay allegation ruining a marriage, Using Sneha Ullal character effectively for the break-up in pre-climax, the 4-years dialogue in hospital). It is pretty difficult to have an engaging second half when the separations and misunderstandings form the core basis. Hence the initial part of the second half is slow-paced. However, the director has made sure that the scenes leading to climax are gripping and entertaining. Nandini Reddy knows her craft and she comes up with a nice job.
Other departments: Music by Kalyani Malik is melodious and soothing. Except the Sneha Ullal's song, all other tunes go with the flow of the narration. Dialogues by Lakshmi Bhoopal are natural and witty. Cinematography by Arjun Jena should have been more consistent with visuals. The DI (color grading) is also not properly done. Editing by Marthand Venkatesh is good, but a bit of trimming in the initial part of the second half will help the movie. Producer Damodar Prasad deserves an applause to make a light-hearted and unformulaic urbane entertainer.
Analysis: First half of the movie is decent and has sufficient humor though there is no emotional impact. Second half becomes slow-paced, but picks up towards the end. The plus points of the movie are casting and humor. The negative point is the story-orientation. The relationship shown in this movie suits the lifestyle of west. The 'non-committal' attitude of lead pair and a relationship that goes on for years might not suit the mentality of our Telugu guys who take every chance at girl to express their love. Hence, the emotional impact of the story will not be there for audiences. Despital of the low emotional quotient, Ala Modalaindi scores well on humor and lighter-vein entertainment aspect. You may watch it.
Source: Idle Brain
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