Sankranthiki Vasthunam Review - A Pleasant Outing for the Target Audience!

Ashwin Ram

Sankranthiki Vasthunam is a comedy drama starring Venkatesh, Aishwarya Rajesh and Meenakshi Chaudhary in the lead roles. The film is directed by Anil Ravipudi and produced by Dil Raju.

Premise:

The Government is keen on bringing back Venkatesh, an expert ex-Police officer for a rescue operation of the Central Minister. The hero is currently a house husband and what happens after he takes over the offered mission forms the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction:

The one-line might sound serious, though the director is clear in his approach to deliver it in an entertaining manner. The major elements he has incorporated are a joint family and the Pati-Patni concept to evoke laughter. The logical errors exist all over the place, right from the core plot as to why go for an ex-cop who voluntarily quit the job when there are thousands of officers out there. But the factor doesn’t affect the film even by a bit as it is not some realistic thriller for us to expect practical reasoning. The first half is very much engaging with plenty of hilarious scenes, the story flow was organic too. The Bulli Raju character played by a little boy literally brought the roof down and swept the audience off. The conflict between the heroines largely works due to the liveliness in the aspect, powered with the reaction and comments by the supporting artists in the picture. The interval block cleverly conveys the nature of the second half that it’s going to be nothing short of madcap humour. Towards the end, it does suffer from how to move forward the subject by introducing new characters and there are quite a bit of dry patches in the screenplay where the jokes land flat as they become repetitive. Yet there are moments that settle up for the flaws, the funky face-off between the cops and the final fight sequence being commercially viable with the hero communicating directly to the viewers by breaking the fourth wall. Foreshadowing the schoolteacher in the first hour works for the small twist that lies in the climax.

Performances:

Venkatesh looks so handsome in two different looks, he has scored a sixer with humour both by giving counters and also pulling his stature down. Apt casting choices with the leading ladies are concerned, while Aishwarya Rajesh is a homely innocent wife, Meenakshi Chaudhary is pitch-perfect as the modern girl. Both have enough to contribute in the flow and they nowhere look plastic or overly glamorous like the usual masala flicks, their looks and costumes are in the thick of their characters. The cute and chubby child artist Revanth is hands down the unique selling point of the film. The other supporting artists do help in maintaining the momentum of the movie.

Technicalities:

Bheems Ceciroleo’s music is a major plus to the output. The good songs get used in certain scenes as a throwback, the choreography is simply superb too. The rousing background score elevates the humour quotient several notches higher, mainly due to the wacky bit sounds. Top quality camera work with admirable colours and great grading, also showcases the locations and the emotions the characters undergo effortlessly. No cheesy effects with respect to editing just to hype the shots, neat work with an overall fine runtime, a little trimming of the lags post interval would have made the package even tighter.

Bottomline

Typical comedy entertainer that comes along with the tag of ‘Keep the logic away and enjoy the humour’. A convincing no-brainer storyline with a hilariously packed first half and a passable latter with a bunch of hiccups.

Rating - 2.75/ 5