Manu Charitra Review: The Shiva Kandukuri, Dhananjaya, Megha Akash starrer is lengthy, but has a few passable moments that hold your attention

2.5/5

Story

Manu(Shiva Kandukuri) is a young man who takes the wrong route in life after his breakup with Jennifer(Megha Akash). He joins hands with a local goon named Rudra Pratap (Dhananjaya) and becomes a rowdy. His only aim in life is to beat up people and drink like there is no tomorrow. But things change when a girl named Janu(Pragathi Srivastav) falls in love with him. She keeps convincing him to come out of his breakup but Manu says no to her. The rest of the story is as to how Mano comes out of the mess he created personally and professionally and finally finds a new lease of life.

Review

Director Bharath Pedagani's Manu Charitra is a break up story which is on the lines of Arjun Reddy when it comes to hero's characterization. The film has a decent first half and things become slow in the second half. The hero falls in love with multiple girls to come out of his breakup and suddenly ditches them one after the other. Scenes related to all this have been showcased quite well. The reason behind the hero's character is also clarified properly in the second half.

The romantic drama has very good songs and they do not disturb the narrative and credit should go to Gopi Sundar for his wonderful score. The emotions in the love story are neatly conveyed in the first half as scenes related to Shiva and Megha Akash are delightful to watch in the film. The struggles they go through are neatly highlighted by the director and until the first, things are on track.

One of the biggest issues of Manu Charitra is the length of the film which is close to three hours. There was absolutely no need to drag the proceedings for so long. Also, there is a political angle in the film featuring Dhananjaya and Srikanth Iyengar. This takes up a lot of time and looks a bit outdated as well. Scenes related to this backdrop should have been cut short to give the love story more importance.

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Manu Charitra is a big project in Shiva Kandukuri's career and he does full justice to his role. He, as an abusive drinker and a man with a broken heart, has done quite well. The rugged look suits him quite well and Shiva is neat with his sincere performance. When compared to his previous films, Manu Charitra is a better project for Shiva and gives ample scope for Shiva to showcase his acting prowess and he makes full use of it.

Megha Akash gets a mature role and she impresses. All her scenes with Shiva have come out quite well in the film. Dhanunjaya, the seasoned artist is sincere in his negative role though his track looks dragged. Srikanth Iyengar did his bit in his small role. Priya Vadlamani has a small role and she was okay. Harshita Chowdary plays a school teacher and she too was perfect in her role.

Manu Charitra moves back and front in time and the screenplay is decent. But the biggest drawback of Mano Charitra is that it lacks novelty. There is nothing new that is showcased in terms of romance or drama. Also, the editing is a disappointment as close to half an hour should have been trimmed to make things better. The camerawork is decent and the background score was impressive. Also, the production design showcasing the period scenes were good.

Lead actor, Suhas plays a key role and he was impressive in his character. Director Bharath could have made this film better by adding more drama but that does not happen in the latter part. In a way, if Mano Charitra would have been a two hour film, it would have been a decent watch. Nevertheless it ends as a passable affair as there are no cringe worthy scenes and boring episodes where the audience are forced to look at the exit door.

Verdict

On the whole, Manu Charitra is a romantic drama that has a simple storyline and lengthy run-time. But the performances, decent emotions in the first half and simple narrative without many boring scenes make this film a passable watch.

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