Review : Mem Famous – Partly engaging youthful drama

A small-budget film named Mem Famous grabbed public attention through its innovative marketing campaign. Sumanth Prabhas is the writer-director of this flick, and he also played the lead role. The movie, backed by Lahari Films and Chai Bisket Films, has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it is.

Story:

Set in the village of Bandanarsampalli, the movie is about three best friends Mai aka Mahesh (Sumanth Prabhas), Durga (Mani Aegurla), and Balakrishna (Mourya). These three good-for-nothing guys often face the wrath of the villagers for their irritating behavior. Mahesh and Balakrishna will be in a relationship with Mounika (Saarya) and Bubby (Siri Raasi), respectively. One day they decide to do something useful in their lives. They choose to start a tent house business with the intention of becoming famous in the village. But God has other plans for them. What is it? Did the three become famous in their lives? Did Mahesh and Balakrishna succeed in their love lives? The film has the answers.

Plus Points:

Sumanth Prabhas is too good as an actor, and he performed with aplomb throughout the movie. Though it is his first feature film, Sumanth got into the shoes of a village guy effortlessly. Though it was the last-minute call of the team to have Sumanth Prabhas in the lead role, it turned out to be helpful for Mem Famous.

The first half moves at a good pace, and there are some well-written scenes here. A few comedy scenes work well, and from the time hero and his gang decide to do something worthwhile in their lives, the movie becomes sensible. The first half ends with a crucial scene, and this really came out pretty well. The emotions were neatly captured here.

Though there are a lot of first-time actors, everyone did their jobs pretty well. Mani Aegurla, Mourya Chowdary, Saarya, Siri Raasi, Kiran Macha, Anji Mama, Narendra Ravi, and Shiva Nandan performed well and did justice to their roles. The climax was nicely handled. Showcasing the plight of the village through a song looked good.

Minus Points:

The biggest drawback which the team could have totally avoided is the usage of sync sound technology. Unfortunately, this has totally spoiled the viewing experience, as most of the dialogues weren’t audible. Even the scenes which were good lost impact because of the sync sound. For films that are shot outdoors, it would be better if makers don’t prefer synchronized sound recording.

The movie looked sensible in the first half when the hero and his gang commence their tent house business, but all this has been marred with some bad writing in the second half. There is also a considerable amount of lag in this second hour bogging down the impact. Scenes showcasing the protagonist and his gang’s efforts to gain a good reach for their Youtube channel looked pale. Though there was a bit of entertainment here and there, the majority of the second half was bland.

Also, the pacing becomes extremely slow in the second half, and many scenes are prolonged. The editing team should have trimmed down the movie by 10 minutes. The love track of the hero’s friend hasn’t been etched well.

Technical Aspects:

Kalyan Nayak’s music is good, and a few songs were nice to hear. His background score is also neat. The cinematography by Shyam Dupati is exemplary, and the village locations are well captured through his lens. The production values are neat. The editing should have been better. As mentioned earlier, the sync sound affected the movie significantly.

Coming to the director, Sumanth Prabhas, he did an okay job. There are some really good scenes, but on the whole, the film isn’t that great. Particularly, the second half lacked gripping moments and was dragged heavily. The movie actually could have been a very good youthful drama had there been more emphasis on the key issues mentioned. Nevertheless, the potential is visible in Sumanth Prabhas, and he would definitely go places if he could focus on the flaws.

Verdict:

On the whole, Mem Famous is a partly engaging youthful drama. Sumanth Prabhas and all the cast did extremely well, and there are some genuinely good moments in the film. But the second half fails to carry the momentum, and hence the film ends up being just an okay watch this week.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.75/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

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