Pradeep Machiraju, the superstar of small screen is testing his luck as hero with 30 Rojullo Preminchadam Ela which carried decent reports, thanks to wonderful response for Anup Rubens scored songs. Will this film provide first break for him as hero?
In the pre-Independence era Abbayi (Pradeep) and Ammayi (Amritha Aiyer) love each other. Abbayi’s love for boxing separates them and they even end their lives. Cut to the present, Arjun (Pradeep) is a happy go lucky guy who loves boxing. Amritha (Amritha Aiyer) is a bright student who is his class mate and they hate each other. God swaps their gender -- Pradeep as Amritha and Amritha as Pradeep, but their appearance doesn't change, only behavior does. What happens next forms crux of the story.
Munna for his debut directorial seems to have heavily inspired by Magadheera, Jambalakidi Pamba etc. 30 Rojullo Preminchadam Ela is mix of these two and few other Telugu films. While re-birth concept to win love is adopted from Magadheera, the gender swapping is lifted from Jambalakidi Pamba. Both the films worked because of freshness in story and novelty in execution. But, here both the elements lacked, plus the routineness in narration double the torment. Anup Rubens scored couple of wonderful songs and Neeli Neeli Aakasam stands out best. His background score is other big asset. Cinematography by Dasaradhi Sivendhara is middling, wherein Praveen KL’s editing work add to negatives. Production values of SV Productions are good.
Onto artists, Pradeep played a role with two different shades and he’s okay in both the roles. However, he as a boxer is a bad idea. Amritha Aiyer is decent in two roles. However, she looks pretty ordinary with specs in current day episodes. Subhalekha Sudhakar is good in the role of Swamiji, wherein Posani Krishna Murali played his part efficiently. Harsha Chemudu and Bhadram were funny in few episodes and Hyper Aadi fails to provide laughs in a brief role.
Anup Rubens Music
No freshness in story
Lack of novelty in narration
Loopholes in script
Predictability
Weak direction
It’s definitely wrong to expect innovative stories every time. But, what filmmakers need to make sure is to narrate at least known stories in engaging manner with different setups. 30 Rojullo Preminchadam Ela reminds us of many old films and we don’t even get to enjoy even 30 minutes of the film.
The film begins interestingly with Subhalekha Sudhakar narrating his protégé a pure love story of Pradeep and Amritha that happens in pre-independence era. In any way this love story looks pure as Pradeep doesn’t wish to give up boxing for Amritha and on the other hand Amritha fails to understand him. Then, current episodes in college remind us films like Anandam etc. Harsha and Bhadram somehow provide some laughs here and there. Moms attacking girls hostel is inspired by the scene from Pataas where moms attack boys. Twist in the tale arrives just before interval with gender swapping.
The real torment begins in second half with Pradeep and Amritha trying to degrade each other. When they finally decide to go to Subhalekha Sudhakar after 30 days, he is no more and his protégé advises them to fall in love with each other in 30 days, so that they can become normal. Few emotional sequences- Pradeep helping Amritha during her sister’s delivery time and Amritha helping Pradeep to understand the pain and love of his parents somehow were narrated convincingly. Then, climax portions are much predictable.
On the whole, 30 Rojullo Preminchadam Ela is a poorly made film with outdated script. Although Pradeep did his role convincingly, he should opt for roles which suit him. Anup Rubens music is the only saving grace of the film. CJ goes with 2 star rating and it’s better to avoid watching this film.