Shailaja Reddy Alludu Movie Review

Rating : 3.0/5
Shailaja Reddy Alludu Story: Chaitanya and Anu are neighbours who fall for each other. However their path towards marriage is far from easy. A haughty would-be mother-in-law complicates the proceedings. The couple put up a united front to clear their roadblocks.

Shailaja Reddy Alludu Review: This is a year where formula-driven cinema in Telugu has faced outright rejection. Yet, director Maruthi times the revival of the once-famous atta-alludu trope that brought the roof down in the 90s for a festival. How successful is he? To put things straight, he doesn't disappoint. Shailaja Reddy Alludu is another film where egoist character(s)-creates-mayhem in the house after Geetha Govindam. Though it may be the lead actors Naga Chaitanya, Anu Emmanuel and Ramya Krishna who do the crowd-pulling act, it's thanks to the supporting actor-lineup featuring Vennela Kishore, Prudhvi and Murali Sharma for laying a neat foundation for the film's entertainment quotient.

Both the male and female protagonists Chaitanya and Anu are named after the actor's screen names. For those who enter theatres believing this to be a guy-taming his-would be mother in law story, you are in for a surprise. The story is more Chaitanya's, a 20s something boy sandwiched among a bunch of egoists as the plot traces his attempts to be an ice-breaker between unlike poles. He comes a cropper often, yet director Maruthi amid all the predictability in the narrative makes this journey mostly hilarious. The filmmaker may have moved on from employing his lead characters with a disorder; although in Shailaja Reddy Alludu, it's man-made ego and haughtiness that create a mess.

There's some progress shown in the writing of its female characters, despite the patriarchal backdrop. Anu doesn't mind fighting for her career despite opposition from her mother. The girl puts her foot down in the need of the hour, even with Chaitanya. Ramya Krishna as Shailaja Reddy could've got a better character arc, had she channelised her repertoire beyond a Sivagami-like act. It's also time that Telugu cinema stops antagonising women who have an identity of their own. Shailaja Reddy Alludu doesn't indulge in this aspect much, but portraying Shailaja Reddy's husband Venu (Naresh) as a victim of his wife's domineering qualities could have been avoidable. Even in the overdone climax, Ramya Krishna deserved her moment of glory, while the director prefers Chaitanya to do the goon-bashing as a protective son-in-law.

The film's heart is still in the right place in its lighter moments. Vennela Kishore as Chari is in inimitable form in another role as a hero's friend. Watch out for the sequence where he hides himself with a bedsheet from Ramya Krishna. Prudhvi and Vennela Kishore share infectious on-screen camaraderie. Murali Sharma is ever-dependable, he's an equal match to Ramya Krishna in terms of priortising self respect over common sense. A sub-plot in the film too talks of the importance of wedding rituals, the difference between this and Srinivasa Kalyanam being that the former makes it much more relatable to this generation.

Promising films end well, that's where things don't fall in place for Sailaja Reddy Alludu. While a hat-tip to the 90s cinema is okay, the director is often stuck in the other era. The pre-climax fight is ill-timed and just when you expect curtains to be down, there's another marriage number. Gopi Sundar's music deserved better situational value. Naga Chaitanya shows restraint in the need of the hour although he could do more with his on-screen ease. Anu Emmanuel plays the quintessential damsel-in-distress part to the hilt. Some preaching, some family drama, some humour and Sailaja Reddy Alludu plays safe for a festive release.