Mast Review

Mast is about 3 people whose professions have made meaningless existences of their lives â€" the first (Sivaji) gets blinded by flashlights at his own photo shoot, the second (Srinivas Reddy) loses his voice at his own music lesson, and the third (this reviewer) would not have returned to work from Mast if, at office, payday weren't round the corner.

So the first two, not being able to afford medical help, are now meaninglessly existing. They are assisted by their friend Pandu (Ali), who hauls them out of uncomfortable social situations using ventriloquism (for the mute one) and Bluetooth technology (for the blind one). Then there is their landlord (Brahmanandam), who has a thing against physically challenged occupants but who is fooled by these blokes into thinking they are normal. Yes, these guys would do anything for a roof over their heads. But then, so are we.

Meanwhile, Anupama (Anchal) is a simple girl with a very bare midriff, running away from a grimy-haired, unshaven villain Bahadur (Mukul Dev) who looks for her even inside the bathrooms of every ladies' hostel in the locality. Many people thought that was ridiculous. Why would a midriff-baring girl stay put in her hostel - why didn't he search at her college?

Anyway, Anupama bumps into the protagonists, asks for a place to stay, and they take her in. But since their landlord clearly doesn't want female occupants, they need to find a way out of this predicament. So whenever Anupama appears, they get Brahmanandam to think it's a ghost. Sivaji also starts hitting on Anupama, and she still doesn't know he is blind. She just thinks he signed a long-term contract with Ray Ban, and starts hitting on him too.

Or so we thought. However, she already has a boyfriend. This clearly shows that we have been thinking way too much. Unfortunately, the makers of this turkey never did. Anyway, after she comes to know that these men were faking all along, hiding their physical disabilities from her and lying to her, she tells them about a popular government scheme that will take care of them. No, it's not called 'encounters', she is talking about Arogyasri.

By now, you forget if the interval is coming or has already come and gone. It doesn't make a difference now, as the film proceeds emptily towards the ending, which is at a hospital where all confrontations take place.

Mast has a saving grace in the form of a comedy track by Raghu Babu, Uttej and Sunil, which is truly hilarious. Otherwise, the film is a yawn. There are no great performances to specially mention â€" except the heroine's midriff, that is, which performs adequately. The songs deserve a special mention too, for being such horrendous insults to your eardrums.

Like its title, Mast is irrelevant to everything else. Watch it only if you are irrelevant to this world.