Sarangapani Jathakam, produced by Sivalenka Krishna Prasad of Sridevi Movies, was released in theatres today. In this section, we are going to review the latest BO release.
Plot:
Saranga (Priyadarshi) is flummoxed when an occult palmist (Srinivas Avasarala) predicts that he will kill someone for sure. With just a month to go before his wedding to Mythili (Roopa Koduvayur), Saranga believes he is in deep trouble. As an irrational believer in astrological predictions, he is in a fix. What does he do now? Will he try to escape his fate, or will he script his own future? That's what the film is all about.
Post-Mortem:
The storyline could have led to a coming-of-age script. However, director Mohanakrishna Indraganti charts a different route. He turns the story of a funny fatalist into a crime comedy with loads of slapstick humour serving up uneven laughs. Does he succeed? With Indraganti, there are no easy answers.
A major plus is that Sarangapani Jathakam doesn't bore you even when its protagonist seems to be acting crazy and eccentric. Why can't he pause and reflect? Indraganti's characters don't do that at the beginning. Imagine Swathi Reddy's 'Mahesh'-obsessed character in Ashta Chamma showing maturity. The fun would be gone. EVV Satyanarayana was a name Indraganti often mentioned while promoting Sarangapani Jathakam. And justifiably so. Sarangapani is singular-minded and grey much like Apparao (Rajendra Prasad) was in Appula Apparao. Anything goes as far as he can marry his sweetheart.
The first half is hilarious for the most part. Some of the jokes land like Indraganti didn't age since Ashta Chamma. Or, at least, since Ami Thumi. But the second half is where the fun fades. As a chiromancy specialist would have predicted, Indraganti would murder believability and fall in soup.
The laughs wear thin in the second half as the situations go out of control. Coincidences keep happening at an unreal pace, with new characters adding little to the comedy quotient. Viva Harsha, as a waiter at a star hotel, is just average in most of his scenes. We expect Tanikella Bharani's character (Ahobil Rao, a Vijay Mallya Lite billionaire) to get more screen space; he doesn't. The character played by Raja Chembolu is conveniently creepy, literally committing the offense all those stock 420 characters do in run-of-the-mill movies.
The screenplay is not random; it is just not exciting enough despite the occasional laughs. For a slapstick comedy relying on spontaneity and retorts, this film's second half is quite a dull one.
Indraganti's strong comedies don't go helter-skelter. They have a sense of direction even in the apparently bloated portions.
That said, the film under review suffers from a degree of predictability. The climax plays out in a templatish manner, bringing all the key characters under one roof.
Priyadarshi and Vennela Kishore act with conviction. Many scenes work because of their synchronized performances. Srinivas Vadlamani's character should have been played by VK Naresh. Roopa is okay. Vivek Sagar's songs are a drawback, while the BGM is passable.
Closing Remarks:
A promising premise and a genuinely funny first half are ultimately undone by a chaotic and predictable second act. While Priyadarshi and Vennela Kishore shine, Sarangapani Jathakam struggles to maintain its comedic momentum, resulting in a mixed bag that doesn't fully deliver on its initial potential.
