Akhil Akkineni shines in seen-it-all-before script

The much-hyped ‘Mr Majnu’ is the latest outing of Akhil Akkineni and it is being directed by nuanced director Venky Atluri, who received all praise for his debut movie `Tholi Prema,’ delivered another love&break-up saga bereft of novelty in script and narration. Akhil seems to have trusted the new-age director to deliver his maiden blockbuster.

We have to wait for some more time to know whether Akhil’s confidence will pay off or not. Meanwhile, Venky Atluri has to avoid giving moral lessons on ‘ideal’ love, because love is a relative term and each has his/her own set rules about love and how to go about it.
The story unfurls at London showing Vicky (Akhil) as a cool going flirt who proposes to every girl comes his way and Nicky (Nidhi Agarwal) who is tough and determined woman, gets to know about his true colours.

The rest of the story is all about how Nicky changes Vicky through their love and break-up relationship. In this messed up love story, the cynosure of all eyes is Akhil who delivers a charming performance besides showcasing his dancing prowess and also impresses in some emotive scenes. Similarly, Nidhi does a decent enough job to stamp her presence. Above all, the onscreen chemistry between Akhil and Nidhi sets the screen on fire as both look beautiful together and breath life into their respective roles.

It will be difficult to make a Telugu commercial film without comedy track and here comes Hyper Adhi who evokes a few laughs with his witty one-liners. He draws applause for mimicking legendary actors like NTR and ANR and few others.Even though the film has the potential to be a visual splendor, the director and cinematographer couldn’t exploit the stunning locales.

The movie is technically not up to the mark since there’s nothing to crow about except crisp editing. Even the music delivered by popular composer Thaman reminds us of his old chartbusters.
Also director Venky Atluri who is promising talent has to come out of his ‘Tholi Prema’ hangover. While Akhil is burdened with ‘lover boy’ legacy of his grandpa and father, he has to pick ‘rock solid’ scripts to keep the flag flying high. Or else it will be a difficult run for him.

-Hari Sriram