Naalo Unna Prema Review

You are quite unlikely to have ever done it, but if you have ever read Telugu novels by women authors, you will recollect absolute senti dramas of the unexpressed love of various people for various others, none of whom is anything remarkable - everyday people like you and us. These were slow tales of emotions and sacrifices churned out by housewives for other housewives, and are hardly characterized by any slickness or page-turning narration.

Pratap and the rest of the crew of this one seem to think plenty of those audiences are still around. And so here's a tale that looks exactly like one of those old-time Telugu novels of the housewives, for the housewives and by the housewives. Only, those novels were published at the cost of a few thousands and at the right time, and this one would have cost a few tens of lakhs and is absolutely anachronistic.

Sai Krishna (Jagapathi Babu) is the MD of some small-time company (for the purposes of this film he could have been anything), and, in true filmi style, is in love with an unknown voice that sings the title song (which is incidentally the only claim to fame of this film). At a marriage in Vizag he finally sees The Voice, and of course, it is a very pretty woman Hema (Laya). He also happens to rub the sister of the lady, Raji (Raji), a prankster, the wrong way, and so when he sends fan mail to Hema after reaching Hyderabad, the sister decides that she will do the replying as Hema to make a fool of him.

In the process the sister herself falls in love with our man, and a tortuous half of a film later, our man finds out that he's been conned all through. We could end this with "what will Sai Krishna do now? will hema accept an unknown man as her husband because he has been wronged? what of Raji? will she sacrifice her love for the happiness of her beloved?" and more like that, but it is simply not worth it.

The plot, like you'd have made out, will not give Wodehouse any complex, and the performances are average. Raji has the meatiest role, and is the poorest performer. Her dialogues on the seaside that were intended to take the film to a plane of profundity make your stomach churn. But for her pretty looks, there is nothing you can say for her. Laya is just a glorified extra. And Jagapathi Babu is his usual self - you should be very clear about what you should expect from him.

The biggest drawback of this film is the lack of the strong comedy line that, combined with 2-3 good-looking heroines, usually makes Jagapathi Babu's films watchable. You associate these films with Sudhakar, Brahmanandam and that lot, and none of the really popular ones is around here.

The music is average, with the title song being an exception, and the picturization of the songs is normal Telugu film stuff. Nothing in this film is remarkable, and it is strictly for the reviewers.