Young and handsome Akkineni scion Akhil’s second film Hello from Manam fame Vikram K Kumar is out today in theaters. With massive promotions steered by producer Nagarjuna himself from the front and introducing Priyadarshan’s daughter Kalyani as heroine, let us see what this musical romantic entertainer is all about and how is this Akhil’s re-launch?
Seenu and Junnu are childhood friends. While Seenu is an orphan and professional at playing Ektara musical instrument, Junnu comes from a well laid off family (Anish Kuruvilla, Sathya Krishna). Despite differences in economical status, they end up getting separated when Junnu’s parents migrate to Delhi. 15 years down the timeline, Seenu adopted by adorable parents (Jagapathi Babu, Ramya Krishna) and renamed as Avinsh (Akhil) is still in search of his soul mate Junnu whose actual name is Priya (Kalyani). Destiny plays a surprising game as Avinash and Priya meet again without revealing their back stories. How, where and when did they recognize each other is rest?
From story perspective, Hello followed the age old formula of childhood buddies separated and reunite again in teenage to win their love passing through the hurdles. Honest love is always destined to triumph is the bottom line message. Despite a beaten line, Vikram K Kumar’s poignant narrative and visionary craftsmen skills made whole lot of difference. His script sailed as smooth as a fresh breeze with clean, neat direction. Apparently, storyline itself wafer thin doesn’t provide much needed room to supplement extra tracks. Yet within the given room area, Vikram’s poetic storytelling weaved a magic between just four main characters of Akhil, Kalyani, JG and Ramya Krishna. Like almost every film from Vikram K Kumar faces a similar drawback of story stagnating at a point in second half, Hello fell into the same category only to get back by climax. Love stories require strong technicalities to bind the essence together. PS Vinod’s brilliant camera work appends the visual glare when romance directly pinches at heart. The soulful music from Anup Rubens both for situational songs and full of life background score leaves a firm impact. Editing by Prwin Pudi is top notch keeping the things to freely flow. Parkour, free running stunts and chases composed by Bob Brown are top notch. Art department also needs a special applause. Production standards from Akkineni Nagarjuna and Manam Enterprises are just excellent.
Onto performances, after high duty action in Akhil this time Akkineni Akhil showed controlled spill of energy levels. He is handsome at looks with a glowing face. His adroitness at dances, stunts surely leaves a mark. Even in crucial emotional blocks (including the climax), he came up with a matured show. Kalyani has fit in perfectly for Priya aka Junnu. Though not a stunning beauty, her expressive facial features makes her a right choice for cute romantic tales. Ramya Krishna, Jagapathi Babu emoted well in adoption episodes and the one crucial scene when Akhil addresses them as Amma and Nanna stood out. Of the remaining, Anish Kuruvilla and Sathya Krishna along with Vennela Kishore, Praveen, Krishnudu made their brief presence felt. Rest of the artists may not need a big mention.
Akhil, Kalyani, Ramya Krishna
Camera Work
Music
Production Standards
Storyline
Slow Narrative
Predictability
Second Half
As captain of ship, it is the primary responsibility of director to present his exemplary vision as it is on the screen with assistance from an able technical team in sync. A simple storyline also leaves a long lasting impact when directors like Vikram K Kumar are at helm of affairs. Well, there are many areas to complain about his lazy episodes, low IQ, unnecessary cinematic liberty at treatment but when we talk about overall impact, he is class in touch.
First half begins with Akhil’s voice over introducing Avinash and his daily visits to Ramakrishna Junction to meet his soul mate Junnu aka Kalyani. Throwing a bright light onto almost 30 minutes of childhood tale between orphan boy and a rich girl, Vikram exhibited the same creativity as one found in Manam. Of course, the story proceeds on at its own slow pace, brilliant technicalities keep us glued to the main screen. In between the adoption track written on Jagapathi Babu, Ramya Krishna is sentimentally heartwarming. Phone theft and taking story into a sidelined Mobile Mafia world missed in logic to elevate Akhil’s heroism and that’s interval.
Second half starts off on a slower note. Baddie Ajay in centre, some action part goes illogical. It’s all in destiny and one more time Akhil goes to one week back flashback episode when he meets Kalyani in airport. In these portions, Ramya Krishna and Kalyani’s tasteless fun element in flight can be little chopped. Tyre puncture in rain, diamond ring and the follow up scenes meant to bring Akhil, Kalyani together worked to an extent. Towards pre climax, pace of the film further drops to culminate for an emotionally charged up climax at a musical meet.
All in all, Hello despite having a thin storyline stood firm on its spine for refreshing pair Akhil, Kalyani, extra ordinary technicalities from Vikram K Kumar team and Nagarjuna’s awesome production values. One can expect a god Box Office run for the film in metro, A centers and final commercial verdict depends on how B, C centre public embrace. For sure, Hello is a wise choice from Akhil and CJ goes for 3 stars recommending all the audience for clean, neat entertainment.