Manmadhudu 2 Review: A Breezy and An Entertaining Watch!

An official remake of the French box-office hit, I Do, Manmadhudu 2 stars Nagarjuna Akkineni and Rakul Preet Singh in the lead roles with National-award winner, Rahul Ravindran, helming the project as the director. Unrelated to the 2002 film (Manmadhudu), this rom-com deals with a refreshing storyline and a distinct supporting cast including Lakshmi, Jhansi, Devadarshini, Nishanthi and Vennela Kishore.

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Set in Portugal, the plot of the movie kicks off with Sam (Nagarjuna), a perfumer in his mid-40s or 50s who likes hangin’ out with girls, believes in one-night stands, prefers living alone and suffers from a terrible OCD problem. Eventually, when his family intimidates him to marry a girl well within three months, he conspires a silly master plan which will involve Avanthika (Rakul), a waitress at a bar, playing a significant role.

Similar to the 2002 movie of the same name, since the very beginning, Manmadhudu 2 overwhelmed the viewers with consecutive comedic scenes which are extremely humorous. Toeing the line between clean and adult comedy masterfully, the splendidly written dialogues by the talented Kittu Vissapragada allowed the narrative to continue with the breezy vibe, at least, in the first half. Additionally, within the first sixty minutes, the film also did a decent job setting up the characters, who are the most important part of the narrative. The charming womanizer side of Sam and the bold-yet-sentimental side of Avanthika was set up accordingly to showcase more profoundly post-intermission.

After ending the first half on such a high note, the second half of the film isn’t necessarily great for the most part. Quite a few scenes were extensively long for an unnecessary amount of time, and the narrative felt tedious to a certain extent. However, outweighing the negatives, the movie picks up towards the climax as the character’s intentions, pivotal thoughts and their emotional state were explored and concluded on a comprehensive note.

More on the positive side of things, the supporting cast also had some to do with the storyline, and everyone had done a tremendous job performance-wise. Vennela Kishore, who is more or less the primary source of comedy, once again impressed from the beginning till the end with his impeccable timing and splendid dialogue delivery. Moving on to the lead pair, the female lead, Rakul Preet Singh, in my opinion, stole the entire show. Her appeal, bravado and elegance flawlessly suited her character, and she did a phenomenal job by not disappointing even for the slightest second. Nagarjuna, on the other hand, as always, impresses in the comedic sequences, but, struggled, at least a little during the emotional scenes at the end.

On the technical side, the production design and the cinematography are up to the mark. The exterior locations in Portugal were extremely alluring to watch and added a fresh new feel to the film. The music and background score by Chaitan Bharadwaj (RX 100 fame) were on-point and had a contemporary, traditional feel to it which was once again creative.

Overall, Manmadhudu 2 is a contemporary take on a love story which had quite a few laughs and well-written characters. The music, camera work and the direction by Rahul Ravindran helped the movie for an entertaining 155-minute watch. Despite its flaws and issues in the second half, this rom-com is breezy and delightful at the same time.

Rating – 3/5 | Grade – B

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