MIDDLE CLASS MELODIES (Telugu) REVIEW

Jyothi Venkatesh

Reminding the viewer of the erstwhile late Basu Chatterji films of yore, Middle Class Melodies is a heartwarming gem light hearted comedy which sets out to depict the dramas surrounding the congenial middle class lives in a small village and deals with the aspirations of a young ambitious man who moves to a nearby city in order to pursue his dream of being the owner of a small restaurant. To sum up, the plot is all about a coupe fo middle class families, their dreams, beliefs, struggles and also hope that is there at the end of the long tunnel when their dreams come true.

Raghava (Anand Deverakonda) lives with his parents Kondala Rao (Goparaju Ramana) and Lakshmi (Surabhi Prabhavati) in Kolakaluru, a village near Guntur. His family runs a small hotel, but Raghava believes in moving away from his village and starting his own restaurant as not only is their income meager but also the customers are more interested in reading newspapers and gossiping, rather than the food that the family serves.

Sandhya (Varsha Bollamma), who plays Raghava’s love interest, is stuck between her father and Raghava. There is a parallel story revolving around Gopal (Chaitanya Garikipati), who grapples with his obsession with horoscopes and also his love for Gautami (Divya Sriprada). Sweekar Agasthi’s music and Vikram’s background music are woven into the narrative quite well, stands out beautifully and Sunny Kurrapati’s cinematography literally transports you to the streets of Guntur and  sets out to bring alive the sights and sounds of the small village.

Anand Deverakonda is fit for the part and reminds you automatically of his brother Vijay Deverakonda (of Arjun Reddy fame) while Varsha is endearing and very cute. Chaitanya Garikipati’s parallel trackjk is hilarious while Divya Sriprada is brilliant. So do Goparaju Ramana as Raghava’s dad and Surabhi Prabhavati as his mother leave their mark with their impressive performances.

All said and done, I should say that though it is a fact that Middle Class Melodies tells the old as hills tale of an underdog , it’s a beautiful and heartwarming film which tastes as delicious as the typical Bombay chutney made with love, by Raghava, the protagonist of the film which makes the film directed by debutante Vinod Ananthoju  worth a dekho.