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South Indian (especially Telugu) films, like those from any busy industry, can range from awesome to awful. Happily, this one (which I watched in Hindi) is nears the ‘very good’ tag and is a thorough entertainer. It is a tad stretched near the climax but in the larger scale of things, one can overlook that. Also, we can ‘ignore’ elements like the protagonist being shot, ditto her brother-in-law, and suddenly finding them both hale and hearty in the happy ending!
Swarna (which means ‘gold’ while the film’s title also means ‘The gold in our family’) has had a love marriage with Dr. Anirudh (Diganth Manchale) against his family’s wishes. But she insists that she will win over his entire joint family when they decide to go to his home in a different town as his sister is getting married.
Swarna (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) is no typical housewife material. She cannot cook to save her life, is not adept at doing any household or traditional work and she is very unused to religious duties in any family.
But she tries very hard, and takes the secret help of her bestie, Kiranmayi (Manjusha Mukkavilli) who is an ace cook. In the process, she begins to make her sister-in-law, Anusuya (Sreemukhi) jealous of her, as until then, Anusuya was the family’s all-in-one as a daughter-in-law who looks after everyone’s needs. In fact, Anusuya was considered like bangaaram (gold) in the family. But things change and get consolidated when Swarna’s determination and driving skills save the family when their car is chased by goons and she singlehandedly outwits them.
And the reason for that is Swarna’s past. She was an orphan who got sheltered by a criminal, Karuna (Gulshan Devaiah) who convinces her that he is a revolutionary for a cause and inducts her into his ‘group.’ Swarna’s name then was Jhansi, and Jhansi is trained by him to become an ace shooter and fighter. However, when she comes to know that Karuna is an evil soul, she rats on him to the cops, so that he is jailed, and runs away, after which she meets her future husband. As she wants acceptance in her new life, she does not reveal her past to Anirudh.
But now, just as she is winning over everyone in her husband’s family, including his recalcitrant politician father, Ramaiah Raju (Anand), Karuna, who is in jail, is told of her whereabouts by his acolytes, and breaks out of jail. Unaware that she is the one who betrayed him, he lusts after her and decides that he will kill her entire family just to make her his.
But though Swarna may now be a beloved wife, daughter-in-law and family member, she remembers all of Jhansi’s fighting skills. And so now she will, if need be, give her life to protect her acquired family, and deal with Karuna once and for all.
This narrative is peppered with a lot of humor and some intense action, and the package is aimed at overall entertainment. Samantha is brilliant, making this film a one-woman show despite many standout characters who complement her but do not dominate. Gulshan Devaiah is impressive in parts, while the most delightful turn after Samantha comes from Manjusha Mukkavilli as Kiranmayi. From the rest of the ‘clan’ the actress playing Anirudh’s grandmother makes a robust mark.
The script is racy, though it does get a tad stretched in the confused climax that attempts to be funny as well as violent. Director B. V. Nandini Reddy must be commended for definitively making a ‘different’ and women-centric actioner, though the film could have, with a little more application, reached the heights of last year’s delightful crime-and-comedy blend, Sankrantiki Vasthunam.
Rating: ***1/2
Tralala Moving Pictures’ Maa Inti Bangaaram Produced by: Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Raj Nidimoru & Himank Duvvuru Directed by: B. V. Nandini Reddy Written by: Raj Nidimoru, Vasanth Maringanti & Prahas Boppudi Music: Santhosh Narayanan Starring: Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Gulshan Devaiah, Diganth Manchale, Manjusha Mukkavilli, Chaitanya Krishna, Sreemukhi, Anand,Gautami,Sri Lakshmi,Srinivas Gavireddy, Aryan Ippili, Rachana Sahadeva, Vadlamani Srinivas, Gemini Suresh & others
