‘Pelli Pustakam’, which had all the pre requisites to be a decent hit and for the ‘family audience’ the director adulterates the smooth going story with unpalatable scenes and unnecessary characters after a point and makes the viewer restless even as the film is seemingly headed for a routine but a decent message.
Rahul (Rahul Ravindran) and Niti (Niti Taylor) are consanguineous cousins and have a normal and a healthy family background despite coming from a family where each member is related to the other by blood or marriage. The grandfather (Nagineedu) believes such families stay together without differences and insists Rahul and Niti get married when they are just 21 and 19 respectively. While Rahul has absolutely no feelings for her, Niti as a teen has a crush on a college mate; despite resisting the alliance she is not averse to the marriage with Rahul as he is open minded and she believes she can have her way. While the grandfather is thrilled, all is not right with the married couple. The girl is dating her friend and the husband is patiently waiting for her to come to his arms oblivious of what’s happening in college.
The rest of the story is about how Niti learns that it was just an infatuation and returns to her husband. Even if the story had a regressive and an outdated message, one would have sat through it, but to extend the script the college episode is included in which Rahul joins Niti’s class as a lecturer and a teacher who speaks Telangana and a few of Niti’s friends are shown piling over him just to make Niti jealous.
At home to show how their relationship progresses, the director thinks of the unthinkable. A decent and cute love story begins to turn into a crass youth film where there are suggestive and sometimes straight with repulsive scenes. The climax is skewed, amateurish and the scene meant for a college anniversary is used for a re union of the couple.
Rahul Ravindran’s energy is the only saving grace and consistent buoyant expressions keeps the film going. Niti confines herself strictly to two expressions though she is capable of doing more. This is the second film for the lead pair who made a decent debut last year but if they don’t read the entire script and fall for such seemingly superfluous family stories, they would be bracketed as C grade stars in no time.
Pelli Pustakam
Cast: Rahul Ravindran, Niti Taylor
Director: Ramakrishna
Music: Shekar Chandra
Plot: True marriage happens only when minds meet
Genre: Family Drama
Bottomline: Promising lead pair make a wrong choice
