'Paarijatha Parvam', produced by Mahidhar Reddy and Devesh, is helmed by Santosh Kambhampati. The film hit the screens today. Let's find out what are its hits and misses:
Plot:
Chaithanya (Chaitanya Rao Madadi) and his friend (Harsha Chemudu) want to do a film together. The former is a wannabe director, while the latter wants to don the grease paint and prove himself. Seenu (Sunil), another aspiring actor, has accidentally turned into a gangster.
Film producer Shetty (Sreekanth Iyyengar), meanwhile, is in a clandestine extra-marital relationship with a woman. When Chaithanya and his friend hatch a plan to abduct Shetty's mistress to extort money, the whole plan turns topsy-turvy.
The rest of the film involves something of a cat-and-mouse chase after elaborate phone calls result in a comedy of errors.
Performances:
Harsha Chemudu's adept comedic timing rescues this talentless comedy escapade, albeit in fits and starts. While Sunil delivers a half-decent performance, Sreekanth Iyyengar tends to linger excessively in his scenes; his style of overblown acting is becoming wearying. Chaithanya Rao's portrayal often demands a degree of deadpan humor, something he strains to do. Malavika Satheesan's portrayal of Chaithanya's romantic interest is not impactful at all.
Shraddha Das of 'Guntur Talkies' fame gets to play an underwritten character whose reactions are inconsistent. Surekha Vani, Gundu Sudarshan and others don't leave any impact.
Techincal Departments:
Cinematography: Bala Saraswati's work is undermined by lacklustre production values.
Music: Ree's background score is not loud and that's the only merit.
Editing: Sashank Vupputuri's output needed to be crisp in the second half.
Art Direction: Barely there.
Merits:
1. The situational humour involving Viva Harsha is natural in some scenes. The film needed someone like Sathya to complement his talent. Instead, his character is saddled with someone whose strength is anything but comedy.
Demerits:
1. Weak characterizations, which are further aggravated by generic situations.
2. Too many convenient coincidences.
3. The creative liberties are too desperate.
4. Some actors, especially Chaithanya Rao, struggle to elicit laughs with their monotony.
5. Stretched-out segments are present in both halves.
Vox Verdict:
'Paarijatha Parvam' is a mediocre kidnap drama that is woefully derivative and inadequate.
