Onamalu Telugu Movie Review Coverage
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Cast :: Rajendra Prasad & Kalyani and others
Music Director :: Koti
Director :: Kranthi Madhav
Producer :: Kranthi Madhav
Release Date :: 27-07-2012
IdleBrain:- (3.25/5)
Story: Narayana Rao (Rajendra Prasad) is a retired village school teacher and a widower who stays with his son in USA. Narayana Rao longs to go to his village in India. But his son and his family in USA are too busy to take him India. He leaves a message to his son and returns to India without informing him. Narayana who has been living in his memories of village for the past few years goes to his village. But everything is changed. The people are not same anymore. So is the village. The rest of the film is all about how he tried to change the people in his own way.
Performance: Rajendra Prasad has owned the role of Narayana and carried it on his shoulders with his ultimate performance. His dialogue delivery and body language suited the role of a teacher so well. Kalyani is appropriate for the role of teacher’s wife. Siva Parvathy has got a vital role in the film and she has lived that character. We see lot of veteran actors like Chalapati Rao and Giri Babu speaking in nice Telugu and doing roles with dignity. Five kids and their grown-up versions have done exceptionally well. You see only characters in the movie, not actors. Raghubabu entertains in the role of a cab driver.
Analysis: First half is little slow. The satires and meaningful episodes in the second half will attract you. There are certain hard realities we prefer ignoring in our real life. The director has made sure that such incidents are well presented. Onamalu is a good attempt to remind us of our roots and responsibility towards our villages. It is a clean and green film that takes us into the memory lane. And a heart-touching film that should be encouraged not just by awards, but also by revenue.
123Telugu
Analysis: Onamaalu is a brave attempt from director Kranthi Madhav and it has a commendable performance from Rajendra Prasad. This is not your average commercial film and it will not have any masala elements.It suffers from being too preachy and some of the scenes are way too idealistic, without taking into account ground realities. Watch it if you want to see something different and wish to experience the simplicity of village life in a bygone era.
TimesofIndia
Narayana Rao (Rajendra Prasad) takes the flight back home without even informing his son who is too busy with his work in the US. The change that has taken place in the village, with the new generation pursuing its own goals, disturbs the former school teacher. Not that he himself wanted to go to New York, but his dying wife Rukmini (Kalyani) pleads with him that he should go and live with their son abroad.
Director Kranthi Madhav who makes his debut with the film, weaves the entire story around Narayana Rao to take a dig at changes that have taken place in the society. There’s not just one message, but a whole lot of them that the director wants to give. And this is not in SMS form.
In one of the scenes at a hotel, Narayana Rao is aghast to see how the mobile phone is being used by people to communicate even though they could be standing just behind their back and walking from right in front of them.
One of the most tragic things he witnesses is when he finds a woman, whom he once regarded as his sister, has been sent away to an old age home by her wealthy son who thinks it would not be appropriate for her to be in his house because of the cultural changes in society. A deeply moved Narayana Rao brings her back to her own house. The message: don’t neglect your parents.
Narayana Rao even cannot understand why one should buy mineral water at all in the village, as he believes potable water will have to be supplied in a country which has many rivers. A student of Narayana Rao gets electrocuted when he goes into the fields in the night to switch on the motor. That is something he cannot comprehend and wonders why farmers cannot get electricity for 24 hours.
The movie may not be entertaining, but those looking at things from Narayana Rao’s perspective will agree with all that he is upset about.
Rajendra Prasad excels in his role. For all those in Silicon Valley and everywhere else, the call is to come back to their roots and meet with their dear ones every year on October 2, which should be celebrated as `Mathru bhoomi dinothsavam’. Over to you.
Teluguone
‘Onamalu’ movie has got a simple logic, “Serve the people as much as you can, god will take care of you”. Director and producer Kranthi Madhav needs to be appreciated for coming up with such a message oriented film. Dialogues are the major asset for the film and you can hear some fresh lines which we generally hear in villages. Rajendra Prasad, once a comedy king, has once again delivered one the best ever performances. Nothing to complain about story, screen play, dialogues music etc. The narrative style of the director is perfect and clear.Dialogues like ” Swaathantram vachi 64 yeellu aina 24 gantalu current ivvalekapothunnaru pallelaki” really reminds us where we are in terms of development. Audience can really sit back and enjoy the film and once they are out the theaters, they can really relate the movie to their day to day lives.
InfoOnlinePages
Onamaalu is not a ‘commercial cinema’. The first half is about showcasing incidents of goodness in the picture-perfect rural community, the second half is all about how life has “degraded”. The gender of films are not liked by masses and romantic movie lovers. The people who love Aa Naluguru and Mee Sreyobhilashi movies will like the movie. The director shows the ideal village in India