MenToo movie review: Good premise, insipid treatment

The movie #MenToo tries to establish the fact that men are a harassed lot too

Hyderabad: In today’s world of #MeToo, where (sexual) harassment of women gained significance, the movie #MenToo tries to establish the fact that men are a harassed lot too.

The story opens at the pub ‘Stags Only’ run by Brahmaji where three friends Aditya (Naresh Agastya), Sanju (Kaushik Ghantasala), and Munna (Mourya Siddavaram) meet up regularly and find solace in each other’s company by sharing their life stories.

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Aditya, the only guy in a female-dominated sales team, Sanju, an ultra-rich and confused NRI in a relationship with a female stand-up comedian, and Munna, a mechanic who believes women are cheaters, have their own set of issues. At the pub, they meet Rahul (Harsha Chemudu), a software employee who loses his job because of sexual harassment allegations by a colleague.

Despite his limited screen time, Rahul’s story becomes the major part on which the film is built because it’s the decision he takes that impacts the lives of the three friends and the other characters in the film. So, questions like what is the decision, is the allegation against Rahul true, are the friends willing to go the extra mile to champion men’s cause will all be answered in the second half of the film.

The premise of the film about men also becoming victims and targets of so-called pseudo-feminists is good but the treatment is tedious and fails to capture attention. The three main actors do a good job, especially Mourya brings some humour into the story. Harsha’s performance is the highlight of the film. Senior actor Brahmaji is somehow wasted in the role of the pub owner with his own back story of a harassed husband.

Neither the music nor the script does much to elevate the story. Director Srikanth Reddy could have handled the plotline well but it feels as if he let the story take its own course and didn’t have much control over it. At times, the story feels quite monotonous as the characters and situations aren’t well-etched out.

One positive point is that it’s less than 2 hours long. So, if you are done watching all the other releases, have nothing else to do, and don’t want to venture out, you can watch the film streaming on aha.