What’s it about?
Manasa Samyuktha’s (Keerthy Suresh) grandfather is an ayurvedic doctor in Lambasingi in Andhra Pradesh. He prescribes herbal tea to his patients. She learns to make the best tea from him. After his death, Manasa’s family moves to the USA.
While pursu ing her MBA studies in the USA, Manasa Samyuktha, who aspires to start a business of her own than working as an employee, realizes that there is no chai available there. She wants to establish a tea empire, much like Starbucks coffee outlets in the USA. But she has to compete with an Indian (Jagapathi Babu) who runs a business empire of coffee restaurants in the USA. Will she establish her chai brand – “Miss India” successfully?
Analysis
‘Miss India’ begins with the establishing sequences of Keerthy Suresh’s middle-class family, which lasts nearly 20 minutes.
Check this episode: Keerthy Suresh’s father is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Her elder sister gets married to her lover without seeking the permission of her parents. Her brother gets a job in the USA. He takes his father, mother, and sister along with him as if he is moving to another city in India. And her grandfather dies. Once she lands in the USA and joins MBA in a university, her brother asks not to think of venturing into the ‘business’. In the first twenty minutes or so, we get to see all these sequences.
You think these TV serial-like proceedings end here? No, another prolonged farcical romantic thread of Keerthy Suresh and Naveen Chandra goes testing our patience.
The main point of Keerthy trying to become an entrepreneur of chai outlets and her struggles come at a much later part of this lengthy movie. Until then, the story goes direction-less, helter-skelter.
Who is the main villain of the movie? The new director’s weak writing and bad execution are.
None of the actors converse regularly but talk to each other standing apart, a trait that we generally notice in TV serials. Keerthy Suresh never tries to convince anyone – be it her mother, brother, her boyfriend, or a reputed businessman, she throws a challenge to them.
Besides the messy narration, the film also disappoints on the performance side. Even the award-winning actors look clueless. This is because the characters are written poorly. Keerthy Suresh, however, shows some swag and has tried hard to hold the film. Among the technicians, Thaman’s work stands out.
Bottom-line: ‘Miss India’ is another big disappointment. An insipid film.
By J
Rating: 2/5
Film: Miss India
Cast: Keerthy Suresh, Jagapathi Babu, and others
Camera: Sujith Vasudev
Music - Thaman S
Story, direction: Narendra Nath
Producer: Mahesh S Koneru
Release Date: November 4, 2020
OTT Platform: Netflix
