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'John Appa Rao 40 Plus' Review: Can Be On Plus Side

'John Appa Rao 40 Plus' Review: Can Be On Plus Side
Film: John Appa Rao 40 Plus
Rating: 3/5

Cast: 'Feel Good Star' Krishna Bhagawan, Simran, Ruthika, Venu Madhav, Melkote, Rajesh etc
Music: Kiran Varanasi
Editor: Naveen
Cinematography: Gopi Nath
Story, Screenplay, Dialogue, Production, Direction:  Kuchipudi Venkat
Released On: 20 Mar 2008
 
Story:
Appa Rao (Krishna Bhagawan) is a dress designer who is kind at heart and clean in habits. He delays his marriage due to family responsibilities. By the time he decides to get married he turns 40 plus.
 
He tries to find a suitable bride but fails in all the attempts. Finally he happens to fall in crush with Pravallika (Simran), who comes to him as a client.
 
But Pravallika is not the woman who comes to Appa Rao in serendipity. She comes with a mysterious purpose. The mystery makes the rest of the story.
 
Performances:
Krishna Bhagawan is at his best in the film but his character doesn't blend the expected dose of comedy. There are 'nava rasas' in his character but pathos dominated to some extent.
 
Simran cannot be a commercial heroine anymore. She doesn't have the charm that was there a few years back. Her personality suits for decent characters like the ones played in this film.
 
All other characters in the film are run of the mill and worked standing in their shoes. Director Kuchipudi Venkat's hard wok is seen in the film. His dialogues also hold sense and sensibility to good extent. He did an experiment with visual graphics, new theme and new style all together and it has to be seen how far those will be in tune with the box office results.
 
 
Analysis:
To start on a lighter note, from now we have to call Krishna Bhagawan as 'Feel Good Star', the starry title given to him with this film. He enacted his role with equal ease like that of his earlier films. Although the onus is laid on his shoulders for being the hero, he carried everything normally. The aspect to be underlined is that Krishna Bhagawan dealt with sentimental scenes in effective and subtle way on par with his trade mark comedy.
 
(-) Aspects:
And coming to the narration aspect, the editing gave a few jerks but ok on a whole. Visual graphics also have gone over dosed. The abrupt cuts in the songs also disturb the music lovers. The frames are too short in many instances. Energy levels are found less in some scenes.
 
(+) Aspects:
And coming to the flip side, it is something commendable to make the audience give ear to old songs with new BGMs. Although new music is given, many songs are going unnoticed these days. Kuchipudi Venkat's idea to blend comedy, sentiment, suspense and message should be appreciated. The film works well if audience can connect themselves to the sentimental aspect of Appa Rao's character in second half.
 
Simran was given a better role in the film and it seems to be the only better role given to her in her second innings. She played the role that blends mystery, cunningness, sentiment and social responsibility. 
 
The humor elements are blended well in right mix. Krishna Bhagawan's speech on banana brings many laughs in theaters. On the other hand his trade mark dialogue cuts also worked well. On a whole, the film recalls Bhagyaraja's earlier movies to some extent and unexpected theme to large extent. It is not the widely assumed 'full length comedy entertainer' that narrates the problems of a 40 plus rich man. It is something different all together. How well the audiences connect to that 'different theme' makes the difference.
 
(SiraSri can be reached at [email protected])
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