An overdose of lady-killer image

Revisiting a 17-year old hit original with Nagarjuna essaying the title role, turning it on its head with a foreign locale like Portugal and showcasing the vivaciousness of Rakul Preet Singh, the latest A-lister in southern cinema is a sure-fire track for providing reasonable entertainment.

That's what young director Rahul Ravindran does, when he depends heavily on the lady-killer image of his hero and adapts a French film to present it before the Telugu audience.

'Manmadhudu 2' begins sluggishly, but after a running time of around 40 minutes picks up considerable momentum.

The fit-looking protagonist by then is firmly established as a perfumer, an instinctively good one at that, who has a way with women obviously as he believes in making and not falling in love.

There are enough double entendre dialogues to tickle the male audience, who are quick to catch the nuances and come up with appreciable responses.

The mother sentiment (an understated performance by veteran actress Lakshmi) provides the jolt to his runaway life and here is where he enters into a contract with the heroine to pretend falling in love with him and ditch him at the wedding altar, to make things smoother for his unbridled lifestyle.

Things go as per plan, but what is commercial cinema if it does not introduce its twists and turns to keep the viewers interested?

Despite having most of the characters constantly referring to the age gap between the pair, both pointedly and casually in their dialogues, the screenplay ensures that the duo end up in each other's arms as the film comes to an end.

By then, a sub-plot of the heroine's sad past, the hero's dilemmas and the comic interludes of Vennela Kishore take up much of the screen time.

Keeping the sensibilities of the young audience in mind, the chemistry levels of the stars in love are kept functional, if it can be described thus.

Yet, whether Nagarjuna can ride one more time on his appeal among the female fans of a generation which has seen him for nearly 35 years is a question which is awaiting an answer.

The sizzling presence of Rakul Preet Singh can draw in the young crowd to an extent and she justifies her appeal with a top-notch performance.