Anni Manchi Sakunamule: Neither SVSC nor Brahmotsavam but somewhere in between

Anni Manchi Sakunamule has a few beautiful moments that families will surely enjoy. It’s a filter coffee film for homes.

Hyderabad: Anni Manchi Sakunamule is the latest family drama released today in theatres. The film is written and directed by Nandini Reddy. Swapna Cinema produced the film. Santosh Sobhan and Malvika Nair are the leads of the film. Anni Manchi Sakunamule also has a great and huge star cast.

Anni Manchi Sakunamule opens with the story of two families who are fighting for generations about the rights of a coffee estate in Victoriapuram, a fictional town on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Rao Ramesh and Rajendra Prasad are the respective heads of the two families in the current story. Santosh Sobhan (Rishi) and Malvika Nair (Aarya) are two youngsters from their respective families. How will Rishi and Aarya put an end to this conflict between the families is the rest of the story of Anni Manchi Sakunamule. Meanwhile, Rishi and Aarya share friendship and love between them.

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Nandini Reddy sets up an interesting point from the story in the first 10 minutes of the film. This point is not revealed anywhere in the teaser or trailer. The film looks similar to that of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. The rest of two and half hour film is predictable with no surprises.

Anni Manchi Sakunamule has a few beautiful moments that families will surely enjoy. It’s a filter coffee film for homes. The film has two layers blended. One is the story of friendship and love between the leads, and the other is the drama between the two families. The first layer worked out very well and the second layer looked over-coated and extended.

The first half of the film has a very slow narration. The second half looks better than the first when emotions come into play. The production values from Swapna Cinema are brilliant. They make the film a beautiful family summer outing for sure. Mickey J Meyer steals the show. One cannot imagine any other music director for this film. Mickey’s tunes are blended smoothly.

Santosh Sobhan and Malvika Nair are fine in their roles. They pulled out the emotions and chemistry with ease. Santosh plays Rishi, a free-spirited man with no goals or responsibilities. Malvika Nair is seen as Aarya who is always calculated and hardworking in life. Vennela Kishore is used just for a couple of comedy scenes. He is wasted. Vasuki who made her comeback did not get a meaty role.

Rajendra Prasad, Gauthami, Naresh and Rao Ramesh grab the major characters and screen time in the film other than the leads. The audience would expect much quality film from the makers who gave us stories like Sita Ramam. But unfortunately, for Anni Manchi Sakunamule, a strong story is what they missed out on. However, the film can be still enjoyable for a few moments. Anni Manchi Sakunamule is not as perfect as Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu and at the same time, it’s not torturous like Brahmotsavam. It has its moments and flaws in parallel halves.

– Kiran