Mangalavara Rajaadina Movie Review: A sentimental comedy drama

Being an active theatre person, Chandan Achar gained popularity in Sandalwood for his performance in Chemistry of Kariyappa. Now the actor is back with new comedy-drama ‘Mangalavara Rajaadina’ (Tuesdays holiday for barbers), where director Yuvin weaves a sentimental drama around a school dropout son and a middle-class touchy father, who works as a barber with a disciplined lifestyle. ‘Mangalavara Rajaadina’ is all about a middle-class family with their struggles and aspirations. The director drives home the point that the joy of parents knows no bounds when their children achieve success and do something for them. The film focuses more on Chandan Achar and Gopalkrishnan Deshpande’s characters.

The film begins with Kumara (Chandan Achar), a school dropout, landing in his father Madheva's (Gopalkrishnan Deshpande) salon to carry on the family business. His one wish in life is to style the hair of actor Kicha Sudeep. Kumara’s friends Seetal (Lasya Nagaraj) and Abhi (Rajinikanth) introduce him to Martin Luther (Jahangir) who poses as a close associate of Sudeep and promises to help him fulfil his fanboy dream. Kumara takes Martin into his confidence and shares his family story and friendship with Seetal and Abhi.

The effort of the director to keep the audience engaged in the first half with double-entendres works well as Kumara tries to impress Sheetal and ends up being friends forever. The director and dialogue writer must be given credit for narrating flashback loaded with fun, emotions and sentiments.

The second half explores the father-son relationship. How Kumara saves his father from illness and manages to make his dream of meeting his favourite actor come true form the rest of the story. The second half doesn’t offer much by way of concept, execution, or the narration. The director narrates it in typical old style with a dash of sentiment in the second half. But the director gives a hint of a sequel in the end.

There isn't enough meat in the script. The narration should have been handled better with a tight screenplay and could have avoided Koole, a don. Chandan shines as the lead actor, and Gopalkrishnan Deshpande as middle-class barber and Kumara’s father is truly impressive and Jahangir gives a stand-out performance.

‘Mangalavara Rajaadina’ is nothing out-of-box and still a one-time watch.

Written by Nischith N