Santosh Sobhan is known for his feel good entertainers and his upcoming film Sridevi Shoban Babu attracted the attention of all with the interesting title. The film stars Gouri R Khan and is directed by Prashant Kumar Dimmala. The film released on 18 February 2023 as a Shivratri special. The film's OTT rights have been bagged by Disney+Hostar and streaming will be done after the end of its theatrical run. Let us find out how Sridevi Shoban Babu entertained movie lovers.
Sridevi Shoban Babu's story is about two youngsters Sridevi and Sobhan Babu and their relationship and the happenings in their families and how they dealt with them. Sridevi (Gouri G Kishan) daughter of Sekhar (Naga Babu) is a fashion designer. Much against the wishes of her father Sridevi goes to Araku and Anakapalli for her project, lying to him that she is going to Coorg. Why Sridevi's father implored her not to go to Anakapalli and how she is related to Sobhan Babu (Santosh Sobhan) and his mother Kamala (Roshini) form the twist.
Santosh Sobhan is known for his hard work and dedication. He scored a decent hit with the adult comedy Ek Mini Katha and he got flooded with offers. He performed well in the role of Sobhan Babu. His mannerisms, dialogue delivery, slang, accent, and attire suited him giving him a mass appeal. However one gets a feeling that he is not trying out something new as he is coming up with the same expressions and showing the same body language in all his films. Even in this film, in his role, one gets a feeling that he just passed through the motions.
Gouri G Kishan is ok as a female lead. She played the typical character and she did not get much scope to show her acting talent. Naga Babu played the role of the heroine's father and his role is routine to the core. Roshini Moleti played the role of the hero's mother and she tried to elevate the scenes with her performance in her limited screen presence. Others performed according to their roles.
Sridevi Shoban Babu's story penned by Prashant Kumar Dimmala is all about two youngsters from estranged families falling in love. Many such stories came in the past and Prashant Kumar Dimmala seems to have been inspired by such blockbusters. But there ends the comparison and Prashant Kumar Dimmala apart from it, tried to attract movie lovers with the film's title, naming them after legends Sridevi and Shoban Babu.
Prashant Kumar Dimmala's story is beaten to death to the core and mundane. Even in the 70s, it wouldn't have passed the box office test. Each and every character is predictable and the narration tested the patience of the viewers. His screenplay did not come with any conflict point or at least one interesting scene and twist that could excite movie lovers. Even two decades-old serials would have made a better watch. Comparing this film to any webseries and serials is an insult for them. The direction did not inspire any confidence and the entire process of filmmaking is about how not to make a film. Within minutes into the start, people started rushing towards the exit doors and those who waited patiently for the interval were left banging their heads. Finally, after a tedious first half, the interval comes much to the relief of the viewers.
Poor people who expected a better second half were in for even more torture. Finally, when the end came after more than two hours, everyone heaved a sigh of relief and was heard discussing that their other bad experiences were better than this one with Sridevi Sobhan Babu. It is an insult to the legends.
The music of Kamran is just ok. Songs acted as speed breakers. However the song Ninnu Chusaka is well-shot and is beautiful on the screen. His background music failed to make an impact. Siddharth Ramaswamy's cinematography failed to beautify the film. His camera work failed to impress and looked shaky. Shashidhar Reddy's editing disappointed everyone. But one cannot find fault with him as the story turned out to be weak and had he done his work honestly, there wouldn't have been a single scene in the film that would have passed through the editing scissors. Dialogues are pretty ordinary and outdated. Production values of Sushmitha Konidela and Vishnu Prasad's Goldbox Entertainment are substandard.
Altogether, Sridevi Shoban Babu is the most atrocious movie of all time. The makers took it movie lovers for granted and the way they proceeded ahead with the project with such weak content is an insult to the intelligence of the viewers. The entire project turned out to be substandard. Even school kids could have come up with better stories and films with passion. Everyone boasts of passion while promoting the film, this film proves that none of the cast and crew had any passion for filmmaking and they just want to see their names on the big screen and this, in turn, gave immense torture to the movie lovers. Santosh Sobhan's expressions and mannerisms which viewers watched in many films, this time irritated everyone and Prashant Kumar Dimmala's turned out to be a complete failure with his story, screenplay, and direction. Wonder what made everyone proceed ahead with the project. Considering all these points, Cinejosh goes with a 1 Rating to Sridevi Shoban Babu.