An ode to friendship

Ram Pothineni has had a see-sawing career from the time he was launched with the hit flick 'Devadasu'in 2006.

His latest release however has been largely expected by his fans, as he had enough to appeal to them with his changed get-up and the presence of two heroines, Anupama Parameswaran and Lavanya Tripathi, who are quite hot in the local film market.

A home production of his- 'Unnadi Okkate Zindagi'- is an unabashed ode to friendship which is popularly acknowledged to be above all, in this fickle world.

Superficially at least, it looks to be a takeoff on the Hrithik Roshan starrer 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' with its strong basis on male bonding with the female characters relegated to secondary role plays. Director Kishore Tirumala however does not risk going the whole way with this kind of an approach. He brings in the right range of melodrama and emotions, attempts to add a love triangle which settles itself all on its own and tries to adopt a youthful zing to the proceedings.

Packing in the now-in-demand Priyadarshi, the comic friend of the hero in many recent films, the movie narrated in flashback mode to an extent has an old world feel and thus drags on and off. If the young tone to the narrative in the first half enables it maintain certain kind of pace, the 152-minute film falls into excruciatingly slow speed in the second.

Ram is of course a notch above what he is usually seen in his kind of films, but his snazzy looks and chic kind of an appearance does not enable the elevation of the screenplay turning repetitive and run-of-the-mill. The misunderstanding which crops between the closest of the two pals – Sree Vishnu being the other- does not tug at the heartstrings, which it is supposed to be, given that each of them sacrifices others in their lives to stay together forever.

DSP is of course best suited for such teeny bopper crowd kind of movies, but strangely his songs leave behind a feeling as if he is remixing his own numbers in recent times. Anupama has a longer role to play of a beloved torn between two suitors,like what the yesteryear heroines like Sridevi, Jayaprada or Vanisri for that matter would have played in the earlier eras. Lavanya's contrived histrionics fail to impress, while one does not understand how she was roaming in shorts in a hill station in her role as a wedding planner!