London Babulu Telugu Movie Review
LONDON BABULU STORY:
While there is nothing wrong in aspiring for a better life abroad, the means are as equally important as the goal. Making use of forged certificates and lying to the authorities in the desperation for getting a visa will eventually result in nothing but trouble.
London Babulu, the Telugu remake of Manikandan’s critically acclaimed Aandavan Kattalai, follows the lives of two friends — Gandhi and Pandu — who hail from Antarvedi, in the hinterlands of Andhra Pradesh, and how their desperation to earn money by working abroad leads them to make a series of wrong choices. The film, directed by B Chinnikrishna, is filled with surprises, not just in terms of its characters and incidents in their journey, but also how closely the film sticks to its original essence.
At this point, I must add that I had not seen Aandavan Kattalai, which had Vijay Sethupathi and Ritika Singh in lead roles. And considering that the remake has been directed by a filmmaker whose previous films include comedies like Brother Of Bommali and Veedu Theda, I was skeptical about how the remake of Aandavan Kettalai was going to be handled. Thankfully, the film is a pleasant surprise on multiple levels —
1) It does not go overboard in its portrayal of comedy
2) The actors make you believe in them
3) The plot is so interesting that you are forced to overlook a lot of things which could have been better.
LONDON BABULU REVIEW:
London Babulu Movie is directed by Chinni Krishna. Produced by Maruthi. Music by K. The film released on November 17th, 2017.
Cast: Rakshith, Swathi Reddy, Murli Sharma, Raja Ravindra
Gandhi (Rakshit) is a graduate from a village who stays with his ailing father. His sister is married to a cruel-hearted person (Raja Ravindra) who lends his dowry amount to Gandhi as a loan and threatens to leave his wife if Gandhi doesn't repay it. Gandhi then decides to go to London along with his bosom friend Pandu (Satya), to find a way out of their troubles. They land up at the office of a broker Kumar (Jeeva) who advises Gandhi to lie in his passport application that he is married as this would convince the Embassy officials of his sincerity to come back home. Out of the blue, Gandhi types in the name of Suryakantham. Nevertheless, his visa gets rejected whereas his friend Pandu is successful. Gandhi then lands a job as an accountant in a theatre company run by Sharma (Murali Sharma). Impressed with his sincerity, Sharma promotes him to manager and puts him on the list of his troupe going to London for a performance. Since, Sharma believes that Gandhi is a bachelor, the latter has to get the name of Suryakantham removed from his passport.
Enter Suryakantham (Swathi Reddy), a TV journalist who keeps exposing the various scams in society. Left with no other option, Gandhi and his friend Babji (Dhanraj) approach Suryakantham for help requesting her to act as his wife and appear for a divorce in Court. Gandhi pretends to be dumb in order to win Suryakantham's sympathy and she falls for the bait. There unfolds a series of events which lands them all in a huge mess. Does Gandhi get to go to London? Does Suryakantham find out the truth about him? What happens to Pandu in the UK? And does Gandhi eventually express his feelings to Suryakantham with whom he has fallen in love?
Primarily, London Babulu is a love story set against the backdrop of the visa hassles of Gandhi and his friend Pandu (Satya). Newcomer Rakshit does a good job as Gandhi. He never goes overboard with his histrionic and suits his character well. Swathi looks charming on screen and carries her role of Suryakantham with complete ease. She is clearly underutilised in the film which would have definitely benefitted from more of her screen presence. Dhanraj as Babji gets a meaty role but there is no justification for his character albeit it's a breeze for him. Satya as Pandu is convincing in a pivotal role. Ali and Sathya Krishnan as lawyer Kutumba Rao and his assistant have a well-etched comedy track. The cinematography by Shyam K Naidu is apt as are the songs and background score by V. Where director Chinni Krishna falters in is the insufficient and unconvincing romance between Gandhi and Suryakantham. The chemistry between the lead pair is just not established and it is unfortunate because there was ample scope for it. This results in a passive climax. Other than that, he can be credited for coming up with a clean film sans any vulgarity.
LONDON BABULU STORY:
While there is nothing wrong in aspiring for a better life abroad, the means are as equally important as the goal. Making use of forged certificates and lying to the authorities in the desperation for getting a visa will eventually result in nothing but trouble.
London Babulu, the Telugu remake of Manikandan’s critically acclaimed Aandavan Kattalai, follows the lives of two friends — Gandhi and Pandu — who hail from Antarvedi, in the hinterlands of Andhra Pradesh, and how their desperation to earn money by working abroad leads them to make a series of wrong choices. The film, directed by B Chinnikrishna, is filled with surprises, not just in terms of its characters and incidents in their journey, but also how closely the film sticks to its original essence.
At this point, I must add that I had not seen Aandavan Kattalai, which had Vijay Sethupathi and Ritika Singh in lead roles. And considering that the remake has been directed by a filmmaker whose previous films include comedies like Brother Of Bommali and Veedu Theda, I was skeptical about how the remake of Aandavan Kettalai was going to be handled. Thankfully, the film is a pleasant surprise on multiple levels —
1) It does not go overboard in its portrayal of comedy
2) The actors make you believe in them
3) The plot is so interesting that you are forced to overlook a lot of things which could have been better.
LONDON BABULU REVIEW:
London Babulu Movie is directed by Chinni Krishna. Produced by Maruthi. Music by K. The film released on November 17th, 2017.
Cast: Rakshith, Swathi Reddy, Murli Sharma, Raja Ravindra
Gandhi (Rakshit) is a graduate from a village who stays with his ailing father. His sister is married to a cruel-hearted person (Raja Ravindra) who lends his dowry amount to Gandhi as a loan and threatens to leave his wife if Gandhi doesn't repay it. Gandhi then decides to go to London along with his bosom friend Pandu (Satya), to find a way out of their troubles. They land up at the office of a broker Kumar (Jeeva) who advises Gandhi to lie in his passport application that he is married as this would convince the Embassy officials of his sincerity to come back home. Out of the blue, Gandhi types in the name of Suryakantham. Nevertheless, his visa gets rejected whereas his friend Pandu is successful. Gandhi then lands a job as an accountant in a theatre company run by Sharma (Murali Sharma). Impressed with his sincerity, Sharma promotes him to manager and puts him on the list of his troupe going to London for a performance. Since, Sharma believes that Gandhi is a bachelor, the latter has to get the name of Suryakantham removed from his passport.
Enter Suryakantham (Swathi Reddy), a TV journalist who keeps exposing the various scams in society. Left with no other option, Gandhi and his friend Babji (Dhanraj) approach Suryakantham for help requesting her to act as his wife and appear for a divorce in Court. Gandhi pretends to be dumb in order to win Suryakantham's sympathy and she falls for the bait. There unfolds a series of events which lands them all in a huge mess. Does Gandhi get to go to London? Does Suryakantham find out the truth about him? What happens to Pandu in the UK? And does Gandhi eventually express his feelings to Suryakantham with whom he has fallen in love?
Primarily, London Babulu is a love story set against the backdrop of the visa hassles of Gandhi and his friend Pandu (Satya). Newcomer Rakshit does a good job as Gandhi. He never goes overboard with his histrionic and suits his character well. Swathi looks charming on screen and carries her role of Suryakantham with complete ease. She is clearly underutilised in the film which would have definitely benefitted from more of her screen presence. Dhanraj as Babji gets a meaty role but there is no justification for his character albeit it's a breeze for him. Satya as Pandu is convincing in a pivotal role. Ali and Sathya Krishnan as lawyer Kutumba Rao and his assistant have a well-etched comedy track. The cinematography by Shyam K Naidu is apt as are the songs and background score by V. Where director Chinni Krishna falters in is the insufficient and unconvincing romance between Gandhi and Suryakantham. The chemistry between the lead pair is just not established and it is unfortunate because there was ample scope for it. This results in a passive climax. Other than that, he can be credited for coming up with a clean film sans any vulgarity.
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