Mallela Theeram lo Sirimalle Puvvu Movie Review

Cast: Kranthi Chand, Sri Divya, Ronson Vincent, Rao Ramesh
Direction: Rama Raju
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 2 minutes

Story: Newly married, Lakshmi (Sri Divya) is trapped in an unhappy marriage. Her life changes for the better when she befriends a likeminded lyricist, Kranthi (Kranthi) and finds love.

Review: The movie is laden with truckloads of seemingly profound and philosophical ruminations about love, pursuit of happiness, advaitam, freedom and the works. The lyrical nature of the dialogues, augmented by a background score which is a mish mash of hit Ilayaraja compositions and nifty cinematography, all add up to create a wistfully poetic visual aura to the proceedings. But we're afraid it's all a little too indulgent and pretentious at the core.
The characters are over simplistic, their conflicts too superficial and the film takes itself a little too seriously by trying to champion the cause of gender parity in the institution of marriage. For one, the movie implicitly celebrates losing oneself in your beloved's love and terms it the ultimate elixir of life. Nee lo nanni koli paya... (I lost myself in you) pronounces Lakshmi to her lover Kranthi. Maataki andani paata la manaiddaramu kalisamu ga Mallepula daralo oka swasaayi manamiddaramu kalisamu ga (the two of us have met like a song that cannot be captured in verse come together like a breath of air in a jasmine garland) go the lines of the central song.
The characterizations of the protagonists are doused in metaphor. Lakshmi is an unhappily married woman who loves oil lamps and her lover Kranthi is a Telugu cinema lyric writer who wishes to be reborn as a flower. Their romance blooms over unending pseudo-philosophical conversations while having coffee in the rain or walking in a lawn.
If you are the sort whose idea of romance is all about indulging in the little pleasures of life, you will love it. But the rest of us might just struggle to see what the big deal is about the whole thing. Their love is so pure that the lovers only touch each other three times in the entire first half, sharing just one affectionate embrace in the entire length of the movie!
There are quite a few ideological issues with the movie as well. Though the movie suggests that woman must have the right to live their lives on their terms like men get to do, it also suggests that finding a man that will love and understand her is the ultimate goal in life. Had you tried to be a loving husband, I would have stayed with you whether you physically abused me or even killed me, declares Lakshmi before leaving him to live with her lover. How liberating is that? You decide.
Note: If you have a thing for poetry, this is the movie for you. The lesser mortals though, might have a more difficult time of sitting through it.