uninspiringly yours

Whenever an indie film comes out in Telugu, hopes and expectations are high. Could this be a film that will improve the diversity of our stories and show us a path to alternative cinema? ‘Meeku Meere Maaku Meme’ disappoints on that count. Neither does it stand as an example of good commercial cinema. It is a confusing film with confused characters.

The distinguishing characteristic of all the characters in the film is that they are uninspired. Adi (Tarun Shetty) is a final year engineering student who does not seem to be interested in anything except playing video games in his friend Kireeti’s (Kireeti Damaraju) bachelor pad (which seems to be on the floor above where he lives with his parents, who are either cool with the goings on there or are not smart enough to find out).

This apart him playing psychological games with the heroine (Avantika Mishra). She 'loves' him even after he tells her he is a fraud. She too doesn't seem to have much ambition in life. They start a relationship that has no foundation and two have different ideas about what to do with their time: one wants to go to the temple while the other wants to get drunk and play video games. The fights begin.

The movie starts by satirising the clichés and stereotypes regarding how a girl falls for a guy in typical Telugu films. But it’s all downhill from there, making you question your movie choice for the weekend. The writing neither rises above the clichés nor does it make good use of them. We are left with a garbled plot with lots of mundane scenes.

Amidst this, Adi is frustrated at the state of the relationship, but is not able to communicate what he wants. They both bicker throughout, not addressing the problem, leading to break ups, all the while harbouring feelings towards each other. In the end, they come to a conclusion that lots of fighting equals lots of love. So they start over again. Oh, no!

The insipid characters are made worse by incompetent acting. If your lead actor cannot say 'aalochista' twice in the same sentence properly, maybe he is not ready for it yet. His diction is jarring and the dialogues are neither witty nor have depth to leave an impact. The heroine is better may be the experience of having done a film (‘Maaya’) earlier helped. The few laughs come from Kireeti, but he misses more then he hits.

Music is probably the only silver lining in the film. It's the only thing that gives the story some sense of emotion. Cinematography at best is average and the less we speak about dubbing the better it is. The efficient editing saves the film from being a complete mess. There’s a scene in the middle of the film where the hero gives a long sermon about something, and the heroine asks “What are you talking about?” The hero replies, “I don’t know, really.” Kind of sums up the effort!

Film Name : Meeku Meere Maaku Meme

Cast : Tarun, Avantika Mishra and Jenny
Direction : Hussain Sha Kiran
Genre : Romance
Likes : Music
Dislikes : Acting talent and dubbing

By Pranith Maddirala