5

Krishna Vamsi is a director who has a considerable following for his aesthetic taking and message oriented movies. He has come up with Mogudu, starring Gopichand and Tapsee. Shraddha Das is seen in an important role. The movie has hit the screens worldwide today, so let us see how it fares.

Story :

Bujji (Gopichand ) is the only son of a wealthy and influential farmer Anjaneya Prasad ( Rajendra Prasad ). The family is well knit together and has strong values and attachments. Bujji comes across Raja Rajeshwari ( Tapsee ) in unexpected circumstances and falls in love with her. Raja Rajeshwari is the daughter of a powerful politician Chamundeshwari ( Roja) and Naresh. The families agree to the marriage and just when everything seems nice and happy, unexpected circumstances cause a rift between them.

Into this scenario comes Jo ( Shraddha Das ) who is madly in love with Bujji. This further escalates the tensions. The rest of the movie is about whether Bujji sorts out the differences between the families and wins his wife back.

Plus Points :

There are some powerful performances in the movie. Dr. Rajendra Prasad deserves a special mention for his superb portrayal of an elderly and mature father. He looks regal and it is such a pleasure to watch him on screen. Full marks to Krishna Vamsi for utilizing Rajendra Prasad in the optimum way.

Gopichand looks macho and delivers a strong performance. He looks dashing in the beach song and his histrionics are perfect. Tapsee and Shraddha Das have really upped the glamour quotient of the movie, especially in the songs. Their skin show will be a major draw for the movie. Krishna Vamsi is a master at showcasing the beauty of a heroine in a very sensuous way and this fact is reaffirmed with Mogudu.

Naresh and Roja did well in their roles. Ahuti Prasad shines in the brief cameo and his act is quite humorous. The first half is decent with some nice family comedy and a decent love track between Gopichand and Tapsee. The pre-interval twist is good.

Minus points :

Tapsee has dubbed for the film herself and it is quite painful on the ears. She should get a professional to dub for her. Her histrionics also need to improve fast.

The engagement song ‘Ettanti Mogudu’ does not gel with the feel of the scene.The second half is extremely melodramatic and there are many instances where the scenes remind you of Krishna Vamsi’s past hits. The interval episode where everyone keeps slapping everyone else in succession is a little comical. The nice family clash that is set up fizzles out with a weak and illogical climax.

There are quite a number of loopholes in the second half. Care should have been taken to tone down the emotional drama and focus on the family feud.

Harshavardhan, Maharshi and Venumadhav are wasted. They have hardly any scope to perform. Gopichand’s intense rivalry with Tapsee’s brother just fizzles out abruptly without conviction.

Technical Departments:

Cinematography is pretty good and production values are rich. The songs are choreographed well and are shot in typical Krishna Vamsi style. The screenplay suffers in the second half and is full of illogical moments. Music is good and lends a nice support to the songs.Editing is decent.Dialogues are ok.

The only fight of the movie is shot very stylishly.

Verdict :

Mogudu is a movie that could have been a solid family entertainer. Sadly, it is not. The movie starts off promisingly and the first half is pretty decent. It is in the second half that things start going bad. There is too much melodrama and in the interests of sentiment, logic has been mercilessly sacrificed. There are some positives in the movie. Rajendra Prasad’s riveting performance and Gopichand’s dashing looks coupled with Tapsee and Shradda Das’s hot skin show are the positives. But the messed up second half lets down the movie.

– Mahesh K.S

123Telugu.com Rating : 2.75/5

Legend: 5 – Flawless

4 – Must Watch

3 – One Time Watch

2 – Wait for the DVD

1 – Stay Away