‘Manchi Rojulochaie’ movie review: A mawkish take on parenthood

The Telugu film directed by Maruthi that stars Ajay Ghosh, Santosh Shoban and Vennela Kishore follows an overprotective dad, but the story falls short of impressing the audience

Director Maruthi understands the pulse of the audience, he picks a particular point and weaves a story around it. This time, it is about living with a phobia. The lead role of Gopalam, played by character artiste Ajay Ghosh, is full of fears about his loved ones. Apparently, as a child, he would wake up in the middle of his sleep, to check if his mother was around and then go back to sleep. His insecurities grow with age and now as a parent, he fears that his daughter might fall for the wrong man.

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When the film begins, Gopalam is a happy person, the neighbours’ envy. That’s until two neighbours instil the fear that his daughter Paddhu (Mehreen) could be dating her colleague. That is enough for Gopalam to get suspicious and put a blanket ban on her going out of the house. Is that caring or distrustful? Maruthi seems to falter here. The overprotective father’s fears are seemingly fed by the neighbours’s double entendre-laced dialogues on Paddhu’s escapades and the hero Santu (Santosh Shoban) constantly seeking physical proximity with her. That Santu loves Paddhu is known only later.

As the narrative progresses, the complexities pile up, the final being a COVID-19 attack. Gopalam restricts himself to a room but when his mother is infected and hospitalised, he gathers the courage to go see her. The doctor (Vennela Kishore) announces a medical miracle —the mother has survived — all because she is among her loved ones in the hospital. While this dramatic cinematic liberty, as well as puerile jokes that elicit laughter, may be excused, one does wish the dialogues were not so lengthy.

‘Manchi Rojulochaie’

  • Cast: Ajay Ghosh, Mehreen, Santosh Shoban, Vennela Kishore
  • Direction: Maruthi
  • Music: Anup Rubens

Ajay Ghosh as the chicken-hearted soul is the heart and soul of the film. Though he is engaging at times, we wait for the other characters to step in. Mehreen and Santosh Shoban fit their roles well

Maruthi shows comedy is his forte, with the arrival of Saptagiri. While the music is not quite up to the mark, the cinematography is beautiful. Though Maruthi chose a nice concept about living in fear, he seems to have lost the balance by creating excessive jokes around a sentiment.

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