Butta Bomma

Cast: Anikha Surendran, Arjun Das, Surya Vashistha, Navya Swamy, Jagadish Cheekati and others.

Music: Gopi Sundar

Cinematography: Vamsi Patchipulusu

Dialogues: Ganesh Kumar Ravuri

Producers: Suryadevara Naga Vamsi - Sai Soujanya

Direction: Shouree Chandrasekhar T Ramesh

Malayalam film industry might not be superior in terms of budgets and market reach but their quality writing is far ahead of others. Their fresh stories, unique plotlines often leave you surprises. That is why a lot of their movies get remade in other languages. One such movie is 'Kappela' and it is now remade in Telugu as 'Butta Bomma'. This movie came out in theatres today after a lot of promotions and let us dive into the review straightaway to know more about it.

Story:

Satya (Anikha Surendran) is a middle class girl who leaves her studies in the middle to help her mother in running the household. They live in a small village in the Araku area. A rich guy in the village develops a liking for her and starts trying to convince her family. In the meanwhile, Satya makes a wrong call by mistake and gets connected to a guy named Murali (Surya Vashistha). Their conversation leads to love and Satya decides to meet him while her family is making wedding arrangements for her already. What happens then forms the rest of the story.

Analysis:

It is not guaranteed that the feel in the original movie will be in the remake even if it is a very faithful remake without a single change. One cannot really explain the exact reason for it. Sometimes the performance of artists can go wrong, the nativity factor may go missing sometimes and there may be artificialness in the movie too. In the same manner, 'Butta Bomma' which was released as a remake to the Malayalam film 'Kappela' couldn't recreate the magic in the original. The above mentioned three problems are visible in this movie. The story is fine and some scenes are very good but the movie gives you a feeling that it missed something.

We get a feeling that a person is a kind hearted one when we talk with him. There is a positive feeling we get when we look at someone. Also, there are people who appear very rough and their way of talking is not polished too. But we cannot judge a person based on one or two meetings with them either as a good person or a bad one. There is a saying that 'Don't judge a book by its cover'. The entire plot of 'Butta Bomma' revolves around this point. Malayali writers and directors as specialists in presenting stories that are close to us and they write very relatable characters. They narrate these tales in a very beautiful way. One wonders how they could make a movie based on this point. 'Butta Bomma' is one such movie. The story's scale is very limited but the point director said is very strong. It shocks you and travel with you after walking out of the theatres. Some characters in the movie appear in one manner when they are introduced but they appear in a completely different manner. It is the highlight of this movie.

Despite having a short runtime, the movie story takes time in taking off. The backdrop of the heroine, the characters around her, family and the scenes revolving around them in the first half progress on a very slow note. They failed to showcase the beauty of the Araku area and the scenes appear very normal too. The interest and curiosity of the audience rises only after the heroine goes to Vizag and meets one person instead of another. The second half progresses on a faster note. RK's flashback is finished at a rapid pace and him chasing the heroine and her lover grab the attention of the viewers. The climax sequences work well due to the twist. Despite a good second half, the movie gives you a feeling of an extended short film rather than a complete theatrical movie. The movie doesn't satisfy you and the lack of emotional connection with the lead characters is a big minus. The movie would have been better if there were familiar faces. This proved to be a major letdown in the movie and there is lack of naturality too. The screenplay is not sharp enough. The major attractions are plotline, Arjun Das and Surya characters along with the climax twist. You can give it a try if you want to ignore all its shortcomings.

Performances:

Anikha Surendran acted as a child artist in a lot of films which made it tough for the viewer to get used to the fact that she is the heroine now. She was selected because the role is of a teenage girl but it is tough for the audience to get connected with her character. Anikha has still not reached the level where she could carry the entire movie on her shoulders. Arjun Das might be a very good performer and has a great screen presence but he is not familiar with the Telugu audience. Surya Vashishta pales in comparison to Roshan Mathew who played this character in the original. He is weaker one of the main cast. The makers previously planned to take Siddhu Jonnalagadda for this role and he would have been a perfect option. If not him, any other noted actor would have done a good job. There are no other significant roles in the movie and the rest of the cast did not have much to do.

Technicians:

It surprises you when you see Gopi Sundar's name in the titles as he did not give the music which is usually expected from him. The significance of songs is quite less in this film and the two songs are just ok. The background score is decent. The cinematography is quite decent and the production values are adequate but not under the standards of Sithara Entertainments. Chandrasekhar Ramesh followed the original as it is. His talent is not on display in this film which is why it is tough to either appreciate him or criticise him. He made a faithful remake titled 'Butta Bomma' but the main issue is the casting of lead actors.
 

Verdict: 'Butta Bomma' - Something Went Missing!

 

Rating: 2.25/5