'Annapurna Photo Studio' is produced by Yash Rangineni of Big Ben Cinemas. Since the producer has previously made 'Pelli Choopulu' and 'Dear Comrade', he is deemed a producer to look up to. With the latest release, though, Yash squanders away his goodwill. In this review, we tell you how hopelessly bad 'APS' is....
Story:
The story is set in a Godavari village in the 1980s. Chanti (Chaitanya Rao) is in his late 30s and is yet to get married. He falls in love with Gowthami (Lavanya Sahukara), a beautiful girl from a neighbouring village. The entry of Sindhu (Mihirah Gurupadappa), a rich woman from the US who is on a brief visit to the village, brings a headache to Chanti and threatens to ruin his peace. Meanwhile, he must also manage to save his own skin from an unexpected crime he may have committed.
Performances:
The actors in this film perform like they are practising for a college skit at worst and a TV show at best. Chaitanya Rao of '30 Weds 21' fame is the only one whom we can stand somewhat. His boy besties are laughably poor in their comic timing, especially Viva Raghav, whose acting range is limited to oscillating between two expressions. Uttara Reddy as Chanti's sister is okay. Lavanya Sahukara could have been way better. Vasu Inturi of 'Amrutham' fame is seen as a constable whose character tries to manufacture suspense and confusion for reasons best known to him. Producer Yash himself is seen in a prominent role with relatively less screen time.
Technical Departments:
Composer Prince Henry's background score is purely functional in nature. The song 'O Muddhugumma' and the briefly flashed 'Rangamma' are good. Pankaj Tottada's cinematography is sub-par. D Venkata Prabhu's editing is another minus.
Even low-effort OTT shows these days are doing better in terms of production values. This film doesn't have any technical quality worthy of the audience's admiration. In an attempt to take back the audience to the 1980s, the film transports itself to the era when making values were underdeveloped.
Plus Points:
Chaitanya Rao's performance.
The songs.
Minus Points:
Laughable twists.
The painfully slow second half.
Juvenile, derivative and outdated humour. The jokes are all about mocking the male lead's age. The dialogues never show a single ounce of spark.
Red herrings in the story.
The stagnant characterization of Chanti.
The unremarkable love track between Chanti and Gowthami.
Vox Verdict:
'Annapurna Photo Studio' is primitive in terms of its narrative structure, dated dialogue, and low-quality execution. It is shocking that a banner that brought out 'Pelli Choopulu' and 'Dear Comrade' has made this absolute dud.
Rating: 2 / 5
