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Home > Telugu Movie Reviews > Amma Cheppindhi Heart-Wrenching Cute Kid Flick APK | July 28, 2006 Rating: *** (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad) Cast: Sharwanand, Sriya Reddy, Suhasini, Tanikella Bharani, Suman, Nagababu, Pawan Malhotra, Krishna Bhagawan, LB Sriram, Gundu and Others. Art: R. Ravinder. Cinematography: Sandeep Gunnam. Editing: Mohan-Ramarao. Music: MM Keeravani. Story, Screenplay, Choreography, Dialogues & Direction: Gangaraju Gunnam. Producer(s): Urmila Gunnam & KR Sai. Presenter: Sai Sindhu. Banner: Just Yellow Media Pvt. Ltd. Release Date: 28th July, 2006.  No big budgets, no huge star casts and not the usual done-to-death plots. Gunnam Gangaraju and co. have given us some good movies in the past-one of the most popular children's films ever, Little Soldiers (his last directorial venture), Aithe (the success of which shocked the conservative industry) and Anukokunda Oka Roju. Amma Cheppindhi is a sweet and sensitive story about a special child...well, at least it starts off that way. Read on.Plot Bose (Sharwanand) is a special child-a 21 year old in 3rd standard. The typical Forrest Gump (or the Indianized version of Gump-Rohit in Koi Mil Gaya) type of character; cute to a fault, sweet, caring and victimized by the entire township of Bharath Rocket Centre in which he lives. His mother (Suhasini) loves him deeply and doesn't want to put him in any institution, while his rocket-scientist father would rather have him off his hands. Razia (Shriya Reddy) enters his life as a music teacher in the school, but she is an officer from the Intelligence Bureau to look after the security of the township which is known to be in danger from ISI bombings. How Bose gets involved in this whole issue, and how he finally ends up saving them all (but obviously!) constitutes the rest of the story. Story, Screenplay and Direction Why the serial Amrutham and the movie Little Soldiers worked, among other things, was the simplicity. In the first half we keep thinking its one sweet little candy floss film about a 'mentally challenged' individual. But then the whole ISI, Pakistan, Bomb-squad and what-not things creep in. If they were a little clearer and not so haphazardly put together, then it would have made much better viewing, but that is not the case. The part with Bose and his family, his neighbors and his friends are all interesting to watch-Gangaraju Gunnam pulls at our emotional strings throughout without being melodramatic, which is a good thing, but the whole Bomb game is shabbily put together, not slick and neat like Aithe or AOR. The movie goes on smoothly till the break, but after that, it loses track for a while. But once you get the hang of what's happening, it's fine till the part before climax. All those freezing shots and dialogues-the intensity of the moment is lost. But all is forgiven with the climax, heart-wrenching to say the least. Predictable, but beautifully narrated in the end, although it raises some questions-like why was he chosen for the deed? Just because he was not as smart as his contemporaries, did he have to be singled out like that? It's watchable, and the little moments in the movie are what really make it or break it. In this case, all those lovely little incidents and emotions are not lost out on the audience. If touching hearts was the intention, then the movie totally succeeds and one might ignore the tacky second half, the half-hearted attempt at mystery in the middle of an emotional movie, and the unfair reasoning of the characters before the climax. The scene where he first meets Razia, the scene where he celebrates his birthday and the one in which he celebrates Razia's after a long wait are really good. Editing (Mohan-Ramarao) is not up to the mark. The cinematography (Sandeep Gunnam) is good.  Performances Sharwanand is a synonym for cute, and we should have known it when we watched the psycho in Vennela that we have an amazing actor with us, sure to go places. This is just the beginning for Sharwanand. He still looks like a baby, which is why he fit the role to a T, but he's proven his prowess as an actor early on and is unafraid to experiment. He has good presence and is an effortless performer. Suhasini finally got a role which she deserves and a director who doesn't demand constant glycerin supply. Thankfully, she does not overdo the 'mother' bit, which is so easy to ham. She performs well, and it is nice to watch Sharwanand and Suhasini together. Shriya Reddy does justice to her role, and totally underplays it. Pavan Malhotra as Bose's father has been given better roles by the same co. before-he is a good actor, but we don't see much of him anyways. Tanikella Bharini is good; LB Sriram hams. The actor who played Bose's smart brother is very good-he looks just the part. Naga Babu and Suman have bit roles which they manage pretty well.Songs Cute numbers, Keeravani specials. Need we say more? There are no sudden dances with 50 uniformly dressed extras gyrating away. All the numbers are situational and melodious. And the verdict is.. Guaranteed to touch your heart-if you promise to stay on till the end. There is no loudness in the movie, and it is a refreshing change. But the whole ISI part could have been dealt with in a better way. Performances are good, and the story interesting. If hundred killings, two heroines, three duets and two item numbers are not mandatory for you to watch a particular movie, then the sugary sweet first half and the heart-wrenching climax might be watchable. |