Story:
The story of the film is based on the life of Mallesham, a Padma Sri award winner who invented the Asu machine. Mallesham(Priyadarshi) and his parents belong to a rural village in Telangana. Mallesham’s mother(Jhansi) is a handloom weaver who works very hard. After staying for long hours on the handloom work, the doctors reveal that if she does any more of the weaving job, her hand can get paralyzed. Seeing this crazy situation, Mallesham decides to invent the a special machine for her mom. Rest of the story is as to what kind of difficulties does Mallesham face in inventing this machine and how he became an over night famous person in his region.
Plus Points:
The setup of the film is so natural that you get a feel that things are happening right in front of you. The aesthetics of the Telangana culture are quite real as there is no cinematic liberty that has been taken to depict the troublesome lives of hand loom weavers.
It is a big leap for Priyadarshi in terms of acting with Mallesham. Many might think as to how would a man who is termed a comedian can pull off a biopic. But Priyadarshi proves everyone wrong and is a perfect fit as Mallesham. The manner in which the young actor showcases his helplessness and troubled times through his body language was very good.
Debutante actress, Ananya is a superb find as he is top notch as Priyadarshi’s wife. She suits the role well and things become interesting once she enters the scene. One scene where she denies to give money and her jewelry to Darshi was nicely executed and Ananya’s performance was superb.
Last but not the least, Jhansi surprises you with her emotional act. She looks natural as the lady who is going through health issues. The manner in which she spoke the Telangana dialect and acted with a lot of warmth looks real.
Minus Points:
The film takes way too much time to get into the actual point. Many scenes were wasted in showcasing Mallesham’s childhood which was not that necessary. The narration was a bit slow and a crispier screenplay would have made matters better.
The pain which Mallesham goes through does not come across that much which is needed in the film. Some more hard-hitting episodes depicting Mallesham’s struggle would have made a lot of impact. The film is a serious village drama and all those who are looking at time pass stuff can stay away from this film.
