Laila review: Totally gibberish and crass

What’s it about?

Sonu (Vishwaksen) runs a beauty salon and is romantically involved with a fitness enthusiast named Jenny (Akanksha Sharma). His mother founded the beauty salon, which holds emotional significance for him. He even declines offers from prominent actresses to serve as their personal makeup artist in order to manage this salon.

He encounters problems with local don Rustum (Abhimanyu Singh) and SI Shankar (Babloo Prithveeraj) following an incident, resulting in the vandalism of his parlor.

So, Sonu switches to a new identity as Laila, a lady, to evade capture and restore his business.

Analysis

Telugu films have experienced transformation in content and presentation over the past decade, with stories using “double meaning” dialogues and masala scenes having ceased production long ago. Vishwaksen, a representative of the new generation of actors known for his different attempts including “Gami,” surprisingly chose to act in this film, which reminds us of a Bhojpuri movie. 

I haven’t recently seen a Telugu movie with so many regressive sequences or episodes with ridiculous gags. I usually watch movies through to the end credits, but this one has been difficult for me to see. A film can be tedious, but reinstating obsolete sexist tropes and backward ideologies is another matter altogether. We can bear if one scene or two goes overboard or presents in a lewd manner, but when the entire film is an assault on our senses and sensibilities, it is too much to endure. “Laila” falls in this category.

The primary issue resides in the script. Director Ram Narayan has developed a script featuring concepts that are totally outdated. The screenplay is entirely formulaic. Scenes such as the protagonist visiting the heroine’s gym and observing her physique, discussing her shape, and the heroine thereafter developing an immediate infatuation with him and jumping into a duet with him are reminiscent of K. Raghavendra Rao’s films from the 1990s.

Additionally, we see the antagonist’s father is fervently enthusiastic about Chiranjeevi’s films and desires his daughter-in-law to be as “hot” as Chiranjeevi’s latest releases. Scenes depicting the heroine consuming “oranges” utilized by the hero in his bra when he disguises as a woman are utterly vulgar. The many dialogues referencing “balls” take things too far.

The purported comedic segment regarding a girl’s dark complexion, along with succeeding scenes, illustrates the director’s and writer’s regressive attitude.

Many actors and stars have pulled off roles disguising as a woman, from Kamal Haasan (Bhamane Satyabhamane) to VK Naresh (Chitram Bhalare Vichitram). Vishwaksen might have been excited at the prospect of donning a similar role, but he should have chosen a script that is tolerable, if not sensible. While his efforts are okay, he will not get any appreciation for this portrayal.

Newcomer Akanksha Sharma liberally shows off her skin. Other than that, she has no purpose in the film. Abhimanyu Singh and Babloo Prudhveeraj’s performances are just okay. 

Bottomline: “Laila” puts the audience to the test right from the start, and as it goes on, it becomes evident that it is completely nonsensical and crass. It’s an utter tedious effort, replete with lewd dialogues and retrogressive notions.

Rating: 1.75/5