It is one thing to unabashedly celebrate a mass masala template and another to do it without a trace of innovativeness. Macharla Niyojakavargam, written and directed by M S Rajashekhar Reddy alias S R Shekhar, is a cliched film that looks dated by a few decades. The Nithiin and Krithi Shetty starrer stands as an example of everything redundant and stereotypical in a contemporary Telugu movie.
The film has a bunch of stunt sequences, song and dance routines varying from romantic to massy, a special dance number, dialogues and slow-motion shots that try too hard to build a larger-than-life image for the hero, a villain who gnarls and grunts all through the film and banal lines in the garb of comedy.
The story begins in the 1990s when Rajappa (Samuthirakani) unleashes terror and stops elections from being held in Macharla, Guntur district. For three decades, the town has not witnessed elections and people continue to live in fear. What prompts Siddhu or Siddharth (Nithiin), who is waiting for his posting after acing the civil service examinations, to head to Macharla and turn the tide forms the rest of the story. The 159-minute film narrates this story in a cliched manner that can make one wonder if the entire story belonged to the 1990s.
Macharla Niyojakavargam
Cast: Nithiin, Krithi Shetty, Samuthirakani
Direction: M S Rajashekhar Reddy
Music: Mahati Swara Sagar
The first hour rolls by with random action sequences to show how brawny the hero can be. Until a character reveals that Siddhu is waiting for civil services posting, he comes across as just another guy who would taunt a pretty girl (Krithi Shetty as Swathi) he meets on the beach. The meet-cute is far from cute. It sounds apt when she asks him why he is talking in a manner that makes no sense at all.
Much of the drama involves the hero and the villain; other characters are of minimal consequence. Nidhi (Catherine Tresa) keeps pining for the hero while he considers her a friend; she is used for the glam factor and dispensed with after a point. Krithi Shetty’s character, despite having a backstory, does not get to do much except to play the damsel in distress. Murali Sharma and Rajendra Prasad are thoroughly wasted in insignificant parts.
The one who is saddled with a convoluted character is Vennela Kishore as Guru, supposedly an egomaniac. He loves to see tattoos praising him on his wife’s and son’s forearms. The way he suddenly turns into a maniac when his ego gets the better of him is like watching an Aparichitudu transformation for no reason.
The narrative gets no better even when it shifts to the thick of the action in Macharla. The story makes no room for any smart game plan by the protagonist who is now the district collector. All we get is another handful of mundane action sequences. Instead of one, we get two Samuthirakanis. Both characters remain one-note caricatures.
In an action sequence, Nithiin references movies of Trivikram Srinivas, Boyapati Sreenu, S S Rajamouli and does an elaborate nod to Kamal Haasan’s Vikram. If only this film had slivers of innovative masala elements that those films had, it would have been watchable. From performances to music to visual appeal, nothing stands out.
Macharla Niyojakavargam is a punishment to sit through.
