LoL - Leave out Lazy
Plot:
The opening credits of the film gives a long commentary about RBI and how it is at the forefront of bringing ‘Unclaimed accounts’ in banks to light. With this premise, the movie shifts gears to a bank and its employees Naveen (Naveen Chandra) and Devi (Lavanya Tripathi). There’s some tu tu main main type of comedy coupled with blooming romance. The bank manager Somayajulu (Jayaprakash Reddy) fills the air with his antics brimming with laughter. In this milieu, there are other wicked elements Mahesh (Ajay) and his moll scheming things that may put others in jeopardy. At frequent intervals, there are multiple twists and double crosses, which bring the true intentions of every character. And towards the end, there’s also a ‘burning’ surprise in the end.
Performances:
Naveen Chandra: He tries to act, make fun, dance, fight and everything that’s archetypal of a commercial hero, but gets typecast in this role and couldn’t spill much humor in the narrative.
Lavanya Tripathi: She gets some solid meat to her role. Her bubbly and breezy self in the first half takes a turn when she dons two different hats, in the second, to run the chills.
Jayaprakash Reddy: Of course we need a comedian in a mainstream cinema, and all those blank spaces are filled by this actor. He is the only LoL factor for the film. Wait, that’s not all. May be in a jarring way, he also shows his dancing skills.
Sampoornesh Babu: The 'Burning Star' walks in late with his burning cameo (yes, he's literally seen holding a torch) towards the fag end when the ship is about to sink. However he holds no spice or surprise with couple of cliched lines and a contagious smile.
Ajay: He is the antagonist of the film and is less brooding and menacing than his previous outing. Not his fault though. When there is no scope for performance how can he pile his acting chops?
Brahmaji: He gives a blink-and-miss appearance as a Police officer. Just there are two scenes where he can be seen, and nobody knows why he was seen.
Bhadram: He sparks in few scenes, but again a poorly-etched character who works as a plug-and-play option.
Merits:
Few doses of laughter by JP and Bhadram.
Lavanya Tripathi is in her elements and got to pull out a fine performance.
A delight to her fans.
Above all , the film unleashes a lesser known concept of unclaimed accounts.
Demerits:
Everything starting with the narration to poor flow of events, and aimless characters who wanders through every scene.
They say they got some objective but when it unfolds on screen it’s so cheesy and tacky to palate.
Analysis:
This film is a classic case of a things going wrong at ease and elan. Albeit the premise offers loads of promise and the audience expects something intriguing to unfold, things go awry with poor narration and lazy direction. Director Jagadish Talasila had some high quality dough, which he could not bake properly. And the end result is a charred bread. He plays his card well in wooing the audience with a wacky title with a classy and massy tinge. However, all that glitters is not gold.
Music:
As we still rack our brains to figure out why this movie is made, the next bogging question is why M M Keervani was roped in for music. The songs come in bits and pieces. Even the full songs don't make a mark. Most of the scenes are peppered with silences where we felt a string of melody or melancholy would add vigor to the drama.
Others:
The movie’s run-time is under 2 hours and still carries lot of excess fat. The editor could have trimmed that. Few overstretched scenes, esp. the one where JP dances during the climax (im)perfectly fits in the chaotic proceedings.
Verdict:
After you finish watching the film, you leave out lazy from the cinema. The title of the film turns out to be a misnomer as you don’t LoL with the film but LoL at the film.
P.S. All through this review, LoL means Laugh out Loud.