The Family Star Review

Govardhan is the ultimate family man. When his reckless older brothers neglect their responsibilities, Govardhan (Vijay Deverakonda) steps up and runs the entire household on his modest salary. He pays the house bills, and his nieces' and nephews' tuition fees, skimping and saving at every turn like the consummate middle-class family man. And he does it all without complaining, out of a sense of duty and pride.

In a movie culture that revels in extreme personalities - bad boys, rebels and fighters - Family Star appears, at least at first, to celebrate the everyday man. Routine, discipline and moderation are the tenets of Govardhan's life. At the petrol pump, he only fills up the precise quantity needed for his daily commute: Rs. 23. Rather than riding elevators, he takes stairs to stay fit. He drinks, but only a peg a day, marking out the quantity on the bottle before taking a pour. Biryani is an indulgence reserved for on the fourth Sunday of the month. Such a realistic depiction of middle-class life is endearing to watch.

Yet, Director Parasuram (of Geetha Govindam fame) decides that a domestic protagonist like Govardhan won't cut it and contrives to dramatize him. It starts with a fight scene where Govardhan takes on a real estate shark occupying his babai's land. Moments before, a character asks if it isn't enough that a man cares for his family and lives a modest life, must he also "bend the iron" to be considered a hero? Govardhan gives us the answer: he breaks an iron rod in half and beats up a round of goondas.

The family-man theme gets further corrupted with the arrival of Indu, a gorgeous student who begins renting out Govardhan's penthouse. She endears herself to the family downstairs, and before long, Govardhan is pumping in extra petrol to give her rides to the university. Their languid romance slow-rolls to a rooftop kiss. "But I am very stubborn," he warns her. "Men should be stubborn," she says.

At this point of the film, having apparently run out of things to say, or bored by its own protagonist, the story has an incredulous twist. Almost overnight Govardhan throws his values out the window to pursue wealth and status by running off to the US. Suddenly it isn't about middle-class sentiments, or even his family. He seems to be driven, like all heroes are, by a massive ego.

The confused second half sputters around, undoing the demure themes of the first. Govardhan and Indu are at odds with each other, their rivalry causing a bewildering effect on Govardhan. He throws childish tantrums, sleeps and bathes at the office, and parades Time Square until he is mistaken for a male escort by a gang of white girls who "pay" for him. And what about the family he left behind? After a year of alcoholism, his older brother miraculously recovers - no explanation needed.

Taking first spot in a punishingly-long list of illogical elements in the film is a thesis written by Indu. It becomes the flashpoint in Indu's and Govardhan's fight. Nothing about this notorious document is convincing - it wouldn't make the cut for a blog post, much less a defendable piece of research. Yet, everyone is up-in-arms about it, quoting from it, lauding her for it.

The film's pace is as languorous as that of a soap opera. The background score is oppressively hammy. Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur don't seem able to pep up the bland writing, and the jokes are dead-on-arrival. Even the cutesy family scenes between Govardhan and his grandma fall flat. Mrunal and Vijay's chemistry is frigid, forced, and at times, bafflingly out-of-step.

The tragedy of Family Star is its jumbled messaging. It puts the middle-class man on a pedestal comparing Govardhan to Lord Hanuman for carrying the weight of the mountain of responsibilities on his little finger. It is not enough that he runs a home - he must do it heroically. But soon, even that isn't enough. It reveals that Govardhan's "poverty" is his own choice, because he can be rich and successful if he just decides to be so. If Parasuram's goal was to honour the hardworking, conscientious family man, then you might say Family Star does that, but only in a perverse way that ends up undermining itself.