Jyo Achuyutananda Review: Where Bromance Rules over Romance

Sethumadhavan

A tale of two close friends or brothers falling in love with the same woman is nothing new right? Usually in such cases one of them either midway or at the end goes on to get the lady, with the other person happily bowing out of the race. What if you were to instead come across a tale where neither of them actually manages to win over the heroine in pursuit? If you are thinking of David Dhawan’s Deewana Mastana, then let me add a point of difference over here, both the men end up getting married to someone else and that’s how the story actually begins. Confused? Does it sound interesting or different? Well I’m referring to actor Srinvas Avasrarala’s second film as director, the latest Telugu release, Jyo Achyutananda. With Oohalu Gusagusalude (2014) Srinivas showed that he has the potential to be a good director. And now the same producer (Sai Korrapati of Vaarahi Chalana Chitram) has backed him again for his second film.

The promos and songs promised a youthful, breezy entertainer, but it also looked like a triangular love story of sorts and hence I was a little unsure of how this would turn out. But having seen the film by now I can certainly say that my apprehension has been taken care of quite easily by Srinivas Avasarala. The film’s slightly peculiar title (Jyo Achyutananda) refers to two brothers- Achyut (Nara Rohit) and Anand (Naga Shourya) and Jyotsna (Regina Cassandra), the pretty young lady who enters their lives and goes on to leave a lasting impact on them. Achyut and Anand are not just brothers but also best buddies who share just about everything between themselves. Jyotsna is a dentist who is aspiring to go to the U.S for higher studies and she lands up as the tenant on the upper floor of their house. Soon the three of them go on to become a friendly trio, but both Achyut and Anand fall for Jyo.

However she isn’t interested in either of them and looks at them only as friends and moves away to the U.S. 5 years later she returns back and by now both Achyut and Anand are married and busy in their own world. But there seems to be some sort of a barrier that has come up between the brothers who were once the best of friends. What happens post the re-entry of Jyo in their lives and how does it impact their married life are what we see from the rest of the film. Srinivas Avasarala has gone in for an interesting style of narration as he starts off by introducing us to Achyut and Anand and their current family status. We then go back in time as both the brothers go on to talk about the entry of Jyo in their lives in contrasting fashion. The first half is relatively lighter than the second and filled with fun moments. Post interval though the tone changes and the emotional aspect takes over, one cannot but avoid thinking of Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu during a few moments.

The film has a slick look and the cinematography (Venkat C.Dilip) brings alive the various colours on screen wonderfully. The production design and the choice of locations (especially the house where the 3 principal characters live in) deserve their share of appreciation. Kalyan Ramana (originally Kalyan Koduri)’s music works with the flow of the film and at a run time of just 127 minutes the film is quite a breezy watch overall. The film basically revolves around the 3 main characters and hence the spotlight is never on any of the supporting characters. Even a cameo by Nani doesn’t really take us by surprise as such. Nara Rohit and Naga Shourya do justice to their characters and they certainly carry off both the fun moments as well as the heavier portions comfortably.  Regina Cassandra is pretty and can act well, Jyo Achuytananda being another reminder of her talent.

Bottomline

Jyo Achyutananda is not really a trendsetter as there is nothing outstanding about it. But it’sa reasonably good follow up act to his previous outing as director and Srinivas Avasarala manages to keep the momentum going for most part of the film. The film starts off well, sputters a bit in between and manages to get back on track towards the end. This could be a good way to spend a couple of hours at the cinemas this weekend.

Rating: 3/5