What’s it about?
Nisha (Varshini Sounderajan) believes her husband Vikram (Sumanth), a chef, is a self-centered man and doesn’t derive joy in spending time with her. She wants a divorce as quickly as she fell in with him. Nisha hires Pavithra (Naina Ganguly) as a lawyer to argue her case. Since Vikram relents to her request, their divorce is granted easily.
Vikram gets attracted to Nisha’s lawyer Pavithra. He also gets enrolled into the services of Pavithra’s new company – Restart, a matrimonial platform for divorcees. What problems lie ahead for Vikram?
Analysis
‘Malli Modalaindi’ starring Sumanth, Naina Ganguly, and Varshini premiered on 11th February on ZEE5.
There is a saying in Telugu – “Annam Udikindani Cheppataaniki Oka Methuku Chaalu” (A grain of rice is enough to know if rice is cooked or not). So, I always wonder why do these OTT companies buy lousy films after watching them beforehand? Thirty minutes into ‘Malli Modalaindi’ is enough to understand that it is an amateurish work.
One of the biggest problems that I have also noticed after the onset of OTT platforms, is that some of the young filmmakers are not working on constructing scenes. Scenes for them are just fillers, a single-line plot suffices everything, it seems.
“Malli Modalaindi” is all about life after divorce or falling in love again after a failed relationship. It would have been a relatable tale, as divorces and second marriages have become quite common in today’s times. But the writing is weak.
The film begins with an award presentation in 1999. And the anchor talks about ‘in our Telugu states’, not the state of Andhra Pradesh. When the writers and directors don’t know the basic thing of when the state was bifurcated, you know how bad the writing is. This is a minor issue. The film has many problems, the first being silly scenes throughout the film.
For a love story, the director and actors have not put any effort into achieving chemistry. Sumanth acts cluelessly, and Naina Ganguly also does mechanically. Vennela Kishore jokes about Prabhas’s marriage, Sang Chi, Christopher Nolan’s movies, and whatnot, but none of them evoke laughs.
Despite having a contemporary storyline, the poor writing and sluggish narrative have not helped in any way. Forget about the restart, better not to start to watch it.
Bottom-line: ‘Malli Modalaindi’ is boring to the core. The biggest problem is amateurish direction.
Rating: 1.75/5
Reviewed by: Jalapathy Gudelli
Film: Malli Modalaindi
Cast: Sumanth, Naina Ganguly, Varshini Sounderajan, Pavani Reddy, and others
Music: Anup Rubens
Cinematography: Shiva.GRN
Editing: Pradeep E Ragav
Producer: K.Raja Shekar Reddy
Written and directed by: TG Keerthi Kumar
Release Date: Feb 11, 2022
Streaming on: ZEE5 Telugu
