This film 2 Countries is testimony to how a string of initial successes can trap an actor in a certain image and make him lose sight of his strengths. Sunil’s on-screen appearances now feel so self-conscious and rehearsed. He steps into the shoes of a naïve yet money-minded Ullas Kumar in this ‘dramedy’, a remake of the Malayalam blockbuster by the same name. The joke is on the audience here though; nothing of what he does works — neither the Maryada Ramanna like antics, the indulgent ‘mega’ references nor his breathless, sarcastic dialogue delivery with a deadpan expression.
Exaggeration and cinematic liberties drive old-fashioned escapist comedies, but 2 Countries takes a viewer’s intelligence for a ride. Ullas is a wastrel in Venkatapuram. In a bid to challenge a politician by the same name in the forthcoming elections, he contests for a party represented by a frog,whose speeches begin with lines like ‘bek bek bek, who let the frogs out’. The character changes his marriage plans in the last minute when he finds a wealthier girl. He misleads Laya (Manisha Raj) into thinking he is a good guy and yawn, the two share a flashback where as children they drank ‘kallu’ without their parents’ knowledge and have a soft spot for each other. When the story shifts to US in the second hour, it gets so absurd that a flawed character like Ullas helps his wife’s transformation from alcoholism to normalcy.
- Cast: Sunil, Manisha Raj
- Direction: N Shankar
- Music: Gopi Sundar
- Storyline: A wastrel tries to transform his drunkard wife
N Shankar does much to salvage the film, to no avail. The girl’s drunken ways are attributed to a troubled childhood, both their parents are separated and have married again. Sunil addresses these characters as first mummy, second father and so on. A glass of vodka is symbolised as American culture and Telugu is painfully anglicised. There are frequent voyeuristic innuendos and also lines like ‘ vadu gay, vaditho games adaku ’,a marriage being defined as ‘seven steps, a triple knot, two people and one bed’. It’s a film where humour is about the couple addressing each other like ‘country pumpkin’ and ‘dustbin’.
How Telugu cinema perpetuates racism is clearly evident; every second character is defined by his/her colour tone, one of them is also named Boggu Babji.
Actors like Chandra Mohan, Naresh, Jhansi, Sithara and Srinivas Reddy get a raw deal. Prudhviraj, though in a predictable part, brings some comic-relief to a drab narrative. Gopi Sundar’s music comes a cropper. Manisha Raj tries too hard to weave sense into a poorly etched character. The curtains are down for 2017 with a whimper.
