Oh Manapenne movie review: The performances of Harish Kalyan and Priya Bhavani Shankar are the highlights of this engaging rom-com

3.5/5

Story: A care-free youngster decides to get married owing to parental pressure. However, his life witnesses a drastic change after interacting with the girl who was chosen by his parents. Will they tie the knot?

Review: Kaarthikk Sundar's Oh Manapenne is the third remake of successful Telugu rom-com Pelli Choopulu, which made Vijay Deverakonda and Ritu Varma household names. Remaking a notable five year old film which has good number of fans among the Tamil audience is no mean feat. 

The chemistry between Vijay and Ritu was one of the prime highlights of the Tollywood movie, and getting it right was considered to be the biggest challenge for the makers of Oh Manapenne, ever since they announced the project. Harish Kalyan and Priya Bhavani Shankar, who played the lead roles in the film, were last seen in Kasada Tabara, but they didn't share the screen space in it. 

Quite similar to the original version, the movie begins with Karthik (Harish) and his family, which involves a nagging father, a doting mother and a care-free grandmother, along with his two friends going to meet a girl for him. An aimless, happy-go-lucky guy who has completed his engineering, Karthik is clueless about what he wants in life. Due to pressure from parents, he decides to get married. But little did he know that his life would change in many ways after meeting Sruthi (Priya) who has been chosen by his parents. 

With a devil-may-care attitude, Karthik hardly has any future plans while Priya is bold, ambitious and wants to be a successful entrepreneur. Despite having no commonalities to share, except for the aversion to arranged marriage, they get along like a house on fire. However, a small misunderstanding among their parents lead to their separation. 

But fate had other plans for them. They meet again, become friends and decide to start a food truck business. Meanwhile, Karthik agrees for a marriage with another girl upon his parents' suggestion. Can he lead a happy life with a girl who he hardly knows? Will Priya be able to become a successful entrepreneur?    

Oh Manapenne is a faithful remake of Pelli Choopulu, thanks to the chemistry between the lead pairs and performances by other artists. Harish and Priya effortlessly manage to pull off what Vijay and Ritu did in the Telugu version. The boy-next-door image of Harish helps him deliver a convincing performance in the role of an irresponsible guy who suffers from a few insecurities, while Priya does the job of portraying an ambitious girl charmingly. 

Abishek Kumar and Anbuthasan, who play the characters of Harish's friends, are apt in their roles; the latter scores in many scenes outsmarting others. Venu Arvind as the grumbling dad also stands out with his performance. Despite the change in nativity, the humour element, too, work which helps elevate some of the sequences.

Vishal Chandrasekhar's background score is impressive, especially in emotional scenes, though the songs are okayish. Krishnan Vasant's vibrant cinematography has managed to match the visuals of the original and is a delight to watch. Though a scene-by-scene remake, Oh Manapenne is entertaining from the word go, thanks to the gripping screenplay and compelling performances. This is one of the finest Tamil remakes in the recent times which lives up to the expectations. Interestingly, Harish's last theatrical release, Dharala Prabhu, a remake of Vicky Donor, too, was a decent remake.      

Verdict: A faithful remake of Pelli Choopulu, Oh Manapenne does justice to the original version in all departments, and is a thoroughly entertaining watch. 

Oh Manapenne is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.