The title capitalises on the popular television show. Barring one incident, nothing justifies its choice. Posani Krishna Murali plays a millionaire who has lost all his wealth. He chances upon an advertisement by Murali Sharma’s company that calls for an idea, to moot a business that will incur loss, and the prize money is a crore.
Having recently lost all his wealth, Posani comes up with a sure shot plan — make a film! For every Baahubali , Srimanthudu or Pellichoopulu , he points out how the industry makes scores of duds, leaving producers in a lurch. It seems an interesting story, to turn the focus on the film industry through lengthy spoofs. Raghu Babu plays a director known to deliver flops. Prudhvi is an actor who’s always been on the sidelines and all of a sudden gets the spotlight. He laps it up and quickly adds ‘variation star’ to his name.
The reason why Murali Sharma, a successful businessman, wants to incur losses is attributed to his daughter’s (played by Shruti Sodhi) love story, which he disapproves. It’s the usual rich girl and poor boy story. Prashant (Naveen Chandra) turns the tables on the millionaire father, telling him he wouldn’t know what true happiness is unless he incurs losses at least once before winning again. So the father is on the lookout for a loss-making business proposition!
Partly a spoof on the film industry and partly a story that tries to convey something to parents who stand in the way of romance, Meelo Evaru… weaves in different elements. We see a film within a film where Prudhvi, supposedly a studious college student, falls in love with Saloni and wins her against all odds.
There are several hat tips to leading actors and recent hits. Prudhvi is called Mahesh and Saloni is Samantha. The film is titled ‘Tamalapaku’. There’s a bit of fun poked on television channels that can generate curiosity over a non-existing issue.
Spoofs are fun when kept short. Stretch them and they end up being a yawn. In how many films can one watch Prudhvi indulge in thigh slapping and reeling off Balakrishna’s dialogues? And, the college segments inspired by Srimanthudu are way too long to sustain interest.
Every comedy actor is loud and speaks non-stop. Saloni is the only one with some appeal and is stuck in that mess.
The actual love story, between Naveen Chandra and Shruti Sodhi, isn’t convincing. In fact, the initial 30 minutes or so are cringe worthy — the inebriated girl cannot fathom why the hero would have been gentleman enough to just drop her home safely.
It takes an effort to sit through this film.
Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu
Cast : Naveen Chandra, Shruti Sodhi, Prudhvi, Saloni
Direction : E. Satti Babu
Rating : 1.5
