Movie review 'Srimanthudu': Mahesh Babu delivers

Director: Koratala Siva

Rating: 3.5 stars

He meets Charusheela (Shruti Haasan), who is doing her MBA in Rural Development, and falls in love with her and joins the same college. But once Charusheela comes to know that he is the son of billionaire RK, she distances from him. When Harsha asked her the reason for not talking to him, she tells him about his roots in a village called Devarakota. There is no development in the village thanks to local goon Sashi (Sampath) who controls the ar-ea along with his politician brother (Mukesh Rishi).

Harsha goes to the village and decides to adopt it. What follows is how Harsha tu-rns things around in the village and the connection between the village and his family. Kudos to director Koratala Siva for coming up with a content driven subject. Like in his earlier film Mirchi, in Srimanthudu too, Siva has chosen a village backdrop.

When you have a superstar like Mahesh Babu, the expectations are high and the director elevates the star and at the same time narrates the story well. The subject he has chosen is also a topical one, that of adopting villages. Siva has also written the dialogues, some of which are thought-provoking.

When it comes performance, it is Mahesh Babu all the way. Most probably this will be the best in his career. Apart from the emotional scenes, which he has pulled off with aplomb, he looks handsome as always and dances superbly.

For once, the female lead is also important. Shruti Haasan not only looks beautiful, but her performance is brilliant. She has a strong role and for her too, the film will be one of her best. Her onscreen chemistry with Mahesh is also great.

Jagapathi Babu as Mahesh Babu’s billionaire father is perfect. He is definitely one of the strong characters in the film. Another senior actor, Rajendra Prasad, plays a villager and lives it. Tulasi and Sukanya are also perfect for their roles. As usual, Sampath and Mukesh Rishi play the baddies with Rahul Ravindra doing a cameo. Madhie’s cinematography is one of the highlights of the film. The action scenes, especially at the wedding, have

been choreographed well. Devi Sri Prasad’s music is quite good and the songs have been choreographed well. Rama Jogaiah Sastry lyrics should get a special mention.

Though there are a few hiccups, Srimanthudu is a good emotional drama with excellent performance by Mahesh Babu, supported by good content with neat dialogues. The film will hopefully give him the much-needed break.