Film: Sundarakanda
Cast: Charmee, Naresh, Prema, Suneel Sharma, Ranganath, Sangeeta, Kota Srinivasa Rao and others
Story, screenplay, and dialogues: Mullapudi Ramana
Cinematography: KRK Raju
Music: Vidyasagar
Co-producer: Bhanu Prakash Reddy
Producer: K Aparna
Directed by: Bapu
Release date: Feb 08, 2008
CBFC Rating: U
K Vishwanath, K Balachander, Bapu..these masters made some memorable movies and classics in the past but their recent offerings bring blemish to their illustrious career. Bapu's latest Sundarakanda is another example. No one can associate with this old-fashioned movie that told in boorish manner. Bapu and his famous jodi Ramana (writer) seem to have stuck still in the 70's.
A jamindar marries a poor girl without the knowledge of his royal parents and the poor girl is thrown out of their home with a blame put on her. She raises her child far from the royal family. And the child takes on mission to reunite her separated parents with her own tricks.
No, we are not telling the story of Bapu - Ramana's classic Mutyala Muggu. Sundarakanda's basic story is similar to that one. The only difference is that the kid here is a full-grown woman called Pinky (Charmee) and it is not entertaining like the original masterpiece.
Sundarakanda is completely out of the sync with the current times. The story, the narration and the language that the characters speak are archaic. From scene one, it lags on and moves on with outdated screenplay.
Charmee in the role of Pinky Without A Tail and Penki Pilla has done full justice to her role but her character is uninteresting. Prema as Charmee's mother doesn't like look a mom to a 18 year old girl. Nor does the director take any effort to show difference to young Prema and when she turns mother.
Allari Naresh plays a journalist who rides on bicycle with a camera on his shoulder and takes photographs. His character is enough to show how old-fashioned the film is. Kota is the only saving grace. Music by Vidyasagar is nothing to rave about. Photography by KRK Raju is neat, though. A shot where decreasing of shadow to depict the time passed till the dusk is quite interesting. Background score (not done by Vidyasagar) is good.
Bottom-line
Anyone who respect for Bapu - Ramana, for their great earlier movies, feel disappointed with this old-fashioned flick. Quite boring!
Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewed by Navya Vaitla
