Snehituda Review

Sai (Nani) doesn't have a home to call his own, a bed to call his own, or a family to call his own. He's an orphan, and gets to camp at a different house each day. But for an orphan who has been keeping track of locked houses ever since he was a toddler, picking one for each night - not to steal, but to eat, watch TV and sleep - Sai seems to have done pretty well for himself. He has a bike, speaks English, wears good clothes, and has generally become a proper hero-material guy.

In one of his nightly sojourns, he comes across Savitri (Madhavi Latha), a girl who piles on him eventually, making him think she's like him. However, after a long-winded encounter with a bunch of robbers, a stab victim, a pesky womanizer, and a brothel, followed by one at the police station, the truth is out.

She's no orphan like him, but actually has a humongous family with a no-nonsense, prudish, pigheaded father, Srinivasa Rao (Nasser). He's very fussy about his honour, reputation, etc. He wouldn't even allow you to sneeze without his permission.

The only way to give a person like that a heart attack would be to tell him which century it is, but Savitri had gone several steps further - she bunked her pellichoopulu. It's not her fault, because she'd already made it clear to him that she has a Goa trip and several years of student life to enjoy, and that marriage isn't on the cards just yet.

Srinivasa Rao then disowned her, and that's why she's out on the loose, she explains to Sai. Sai takes up the responsibility of bringing her back home, and they both go to her village to appease her father. He wins Srinivasa Rao's affections by deceving him and hinting to him that he's the son of his childhood sweetheart.

At Savitri's home, Sai spends his time blending in, by joking, singing and dancing. He even makes Savitri blend in, by putting her up stealthily in one of the rooms in the house. No one notices their daughter's back. You should remember that we're talking about a huge, traditional house with a huge, traditional family whose chief occupation is to be huge and traditional and not conduct irritating security checks in their rooms with metal detectors, sniffer dogs, or uniformed women poking into your handbag.

Ultimately, Sai succeeds in retreiving the alliance that got damaged, and the wedding gets fixed. The hitch is that the groom is the guy who tried to molest Savitri when she was out on the streets. Also, Srinivasa Rao has discovered that Sai's been faking it all along, and beats him up. Also, Savitri is in love with Sai now. This is complicated - you can change the groom, and you can change the names on the wedding cards, but how do you change the channel in a movie theatre?

According to Snehituda, there's a fine line between a thriller and a family drama, and the film calls it the interval. The first half has the couple trying to let off one mess after another, and has the all the makings of a thriller. However, it is a pretty entertaining watch, with Nani pitching in with his comedy. Kids certainly cannot be brought to this half, because it has several naughty jokes, and a heavy-set prostitute in a brothel.

The second half involves itself in the family drama, and some mildly funny moments with Brahmanandam and Gundu Hanumantha Rao. It degenerates into an out-dated climax, with some really cheesy dialogues that have no place in a film of any day and age. Maybe that's how they found their way into Snehituda.

And it's a proven fact now - Nani is an actor who doesn't let the mediocrity of the proceedings seep into his performance. He's perfect, but it's a pity that he has so little scope in the second half. Madhavi Latha is very girl-next-door, and acts decent - and she deserves a better stylist. The rest of the cast has experienced actors.

The songs aren't great except for one romantic number, Intaku Nuvvevaru. The visuals also are highly average. The second half is set in a rural backdrop, but there's nothing charming to take home.

You're not going to get dumped if you don't take your date to Snehituda, but you're not going to get dumped if you do either. Actually, that way, it's pretty pointless. Catch it for a couple of bland chuckles.