Nuvve... Nuvve Review

"Charminar, Taj Mahal, naa lanti kurrallu... choodatanike, konataniki meeru sariporu" - an intractable repartee by Rishi (Tarun)!

Three stars is the basic rating for Nuvve Nuvve. However, you should add half a star to that rating if you're an adult and thus able to appreciate its wittier (and novel) verbal repartees, another half a star if you're a soon-to-be idealistic lover, and half a star again if you're a fan of Tarun/Shreya. That more or less makes it a four-star movie, which will perhaps explain the movie's victorious opening.

In essence, Nuvve Nuvve is the story of a sweet bunny-hugger called Anjali (Shreya), who is torn between the convictions of her sensible, caring father (Prakash Raj) and those of her lover boy Rishi (Tarun). The film begins on a comic note, but increasingly becomes a serious battle of words. It ends up the same way as any other movie written by Trivikram - Anjali is forced to marry the guy of her father's choice but ends up marrying the choice of her own.

The acting is enjoyable, headed by Tarun and Prakash Raj. But the major problem I have with Tarun in this film is that he pretty much relies on a particular facial expression for the whole film. That pouty "don't mess with me" look remains constant throughout his performance of a character which is actually quite complex and is undergoing tremendous emotional shifts all through the story. There's no passion and no desire - not that the desire is a requirement for such a character, but just that he seems to be making the same damn face the whole movie. Nevertheless, in the light of latest (raucous) Telugu movies (bar Show), one can safely say that all of the performances are first-rate.

Koti makes a respectable comeback with an attractive mishmash of both plagiarized and creative tunes. The premise of the music, as in all other Koti compilations, appears to be that 'there is something in it for everyone' - good thing or bad, you decide. The title song, "Nuvve Nuvve", inevitably reminisces one of the last track of Nuvve Kaavali, and "Kallaloki Kallu Petti Choodavenduku" and "I Am Very Sorry" of two very famous numbers in Hindi and English. That aside, the music is quite imposing and situational.

Of late Tollywood offerings have accustomed audiences to a zippy, amped-up rhythm - that is not just dialogue but the guerrilla style of stand-up dialogue, where you hit a scene hard and fast then move on to the next one. Precisely, this is where the director Trivikram steers clearly away from the crowd.

Nuvve Nuvve, more often than not, dawdles. It's terribly talky - not the one-liners but the kind of well-rounded speeches that'll have young kids kicking their chairs in frustration. There's a fussy, adult feel to the movie (ahem!), which is reflected in its rather mature dialogue. Nonetheless, there is not one uninspiring scene in the whole movie, thanks to its novel treatment and well-executed dialogues.

The film is definitely worth watching, thanks to its tight script, decent music, decent performances, novel treatment and brilliantly written dialogues.