Iddarammayilatho Movie Review : All style, No substance

From the outset, it is not a run-of-the-mill Puri Jagannadh story. His trademark style is to focus on hero's characterisation, dialogues and squeeze an item number. Instead, it is romance this time around - the genre which paid rich dividends in his early career. But wait- that regular 'hero avenging his personal loss' and 'criminals outside inside India but operate within the country' formula which cemented his place in the industry was not far off from this latest drama too.

Taking time to start off, the filmmaker succeeds in presenting it like a good romantic novel and once he decides to give it a serious turn, the film goes off key and ends up like a standard Puri pot-boiler. But since the very elements that made him one of the most sought-after directors in Tollywood are missing, 'Iddarammayilatho' ends up as a typical action drama when it had the potential to be more of a romantic/action entertainer.

Akanksha (Catherine Teresa), daughter of Central Minister (played by Rao Ramesh) arrives in Spain to pursue psychology degree. She rents a big mansion where she stumbles on a diary which belongs to Komali (Amala Paul). Bowled over by the episodes of Komali's love story with Sanju Reddy (Allu Arjun), a street guitarist/singer, in the diary, she begins to develop a bond with Sanju who lives in the vicinity.

Posing as the one who is well-versed with psychology, she narrates the diary episodes to Sanju- much to his surprise. However, as the diary comes to an abrupt end without revealing what transpired in the love story, she approaches Sanju to hear out the truth. To her shock, he reveals that Komali is murdered. Politicians and criminals get tangled into the drama as Akanksha starts loving Sanju. A Puri story is not without twists and turns, right? What are they?

Inconsistent scripting affects the film big time. Puri appeared to be short of ideas, and the resultant scenario is a comedy track between Brahmanandam and Ali which in turn marred the already labourious proceedings. If cinematography by Amol Rathod deserves a hi-fi, Kecha's action sequences simply stand apart. Especially well conceived and executed is the half-way down block sequence where Sanju goes on a rampage to save his girl (Komali) from the clutches of goons. The film is high on fashion too. If Arjun lives up to the stylish star tag, newbie Catherine, too was not far away from him.

In shorts, cool tops and denims, she gives Arjun a run for his money. However, Amala's fashion scores above all - her transformation from a langa voni girl to the ultra modern-day woman in Spain was very convincing.

Blame it on the inconsistent writing; Arjun was unconvincingly loud at places. Catherine has a long way to go, as she hardly fitted into the scheme of things performance-wise. Of the three, Amala walks away with the acting laurels as she lights up the screen whenever it was her turn to perform. Meeting the role requirements of 'innocence mixed with caution', she was a treat to the eyes.

On the whole, 'Iddarammayilatho' is all style without substance. It's a film that can be viewed for neatly-packaged action, the first half romance, Arjun's swift moves, and Amala Paul's screen presence. And guess what? Puri justifies the title with a 'Badri' kind of climax.

- Nagaraj Goud