Nuvvunte Chaalu Review

"It is different" may be one of the biggest clichés employed to market movies, but you've just got to admit that this one is different. A budget that makes shoestrings look lavish; actors who have never been seen before and most probably will never be seen again (hopefully, at least); a producer making a directorial debut unfortunately unable to set aside his habit of keeping the expenditure low... I guess that about covers all the elements necessary to make a fiasco that is doomed from the word go.

Let's start off with the lead pair, Sai (Adarsh) and Bujji (Sadanand)... in case you are wondering, they both are men, and no, this is not a movie on gay rights. Anything would be an improvement. Of this Laurel and Hardy duo, Sai seems to have ignored his parents' advice to eat a balanced diet, and disappears each time he turns 90 degrees. Bujji on the other hand makes up for the food surplus caused by Sai's inadequate dietary tendencies.

Varalakshmi (Soniya Raj), supposed-to-be-heroine and last seen in a dubious movie named Jackpot, is a strange breed, enamored by a chess champion who... we'll come to the chess champion later.

Point to be noted - no love affair between so-called hero and so-called heroine here. Wow, this is different. Sigh! What tangled webs we weave when we practice to deceive. In an effort to be different, and that too with such a budget, the movie goes for a six.

Now I shall narrate the story á la Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura. Deep breath... Varalakshmi's marriage is fixed to an inspector who has murdered a girl who he was supposed to marry, and this murder is witnessed by Sai and Bujji, who tell Varalakshmi this, and the three run away to Hyderabad where they meet the chess player; and the chess player and Varalakshmi fall in love after which there is the marriage, which is interrupted by bad guys and followed by fight followed by happy ending... gasp, gasp, gasp! Well, I did it! Ol' Jim makes it look difficult!

Well, now for the finer points. There are none. Then for the coarser points, i.e. the nitpicking session. Can't pick many nits as far as the hero... er, Adarsh is concerned. Not much of him to pick. Just one small note. Appearances can be deceptive if the director takes the audiences for a fool, as there is this scene where Adarsh is shown beating an incredible hulk at arm-wrestling (if the rules had been followed Adarsh would have disqualified on the grounds of not having the necessary equipment).

The actual hero of the piece is Sadanand, an arm-wrestling champ who loses the crucial matches, dances with women in tights that are tight cause they don't have an option, and fights with 20 people while Adarsh takes care of the burgeoning mosquito problem.

And now as promised, it's time for the chess player. Looking like he'd have to be told the game starts with white and that the game ends when the king is cornered, the guy is a total loser. And he gets what's coming to him when he is married to the girl in the end. Serves him right!

Music... no comments; cinematography, well, you need money to hire professionals; and of course, the editing - well, they made do with shooting just what they needed. And as for the direction, let's hope D Achyut Reddy sticks to production.