Ashta Chamma - Review , … a hilarious laugh riot with a conniving comedy of errors
Friday, September 5th, 2008
The Cast and Crew
Nani, Swathi, Srinivas Avasarala, Bhargavi, Tanikella Bharani, Jhansi, Hema, Ragini, Shivannarayana, Ramakrishna, Vasu Inturi, Goparaju Ramana, Srinubabu and others
Dialogues: Mohana Krishna Indraganti
Camera: P.G. Vinda
Art: Ravinder
Choreography: Tara, Noble
Music: Kalyani Mallik
Lyrics: sirivennela Seetarama Sastry
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Producer for Art Beat Capital: G. Geetha
Producers: P. Ram Mohan
Co-Director: S. Suresh Kumar
Presenter: D. Suresh Babu
Banner: Art Beat Capital (P) Ltd.
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Mohana Krishna Indraganti
The film
Ashta Chamma is a simple story of human frailties and youthful foibles told very well with loads of laughter interludes and without any erotic quirks or irrelevant emotional quotient.
The Synopsis
Like many young Telugu girls, Lavanya (Swathi) is an ardent fan of Tollywood hero Mahesh Babu. She is somehow certain that she would marry her heartthrob. But on the day when Mahesh Babu marries Namritha, this young fan gets a huge psychological shock. She plays truant and rejects all marriage proposals.
Anand (Srinivas Avasarala), a childhood friend of Lavanya, does a good turn by bringing a young man named Mahesh (Nani). The girl promptly falls in love with Mahesh and ready to marry him to the delight of her aunty (Jhansi).
Mahesh then reveals that he is actually Rambabu from Lakkavaram. From then on the scene shifts to Lakkavaram. With unexpected turns and twists generated by a conniving conspiracy of errors the story moves forward just like the game of ashta chamma.
The Performance
Swathi is ebullient and gives an energetic yet very convincing performance as the hero smitten crazy fan. The debutants Nani and Srinivas Avasarala surprisingly give very good performances.
The senior characters give their usual competent performances. All other supporting actors give adequate performances as per the demands of their roles.
The Techniques
The USP of the film is the entire body of story, screenplay, dialogue and direction, which has been flawlessly and effectively executed by the award winning director Mohana Krishna Indraganti.
The lyrics are easy on the ears and the music quite enjoyable. Cinematography and editing are of good quality and add to the quality of narration.
The Verdict
Ashta Chamma is a clean feel good film that makes you believe in the dictum that laughter is the best medicine.
Please go to the nearest theatre and thoroughly enjoy yourself.
Rating
3.5 out of 5
Review by Deen Kumar
September 18th, 2008 at 3:21 am
I am from Hyderabad and I now live in France. After having watched this movie Ashta Chamma I just want to tell the Director and the script writer that you have just copied the English movie \”The importance of being earnest\”. So please don’t take the credit of being creative and intelligent. The remake is fantastic. Well done.
John David
November 13th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Hi
The movie you are talking about i.e. ‘The Importance of being earnest’ is an adaptation of the play by the same name by the 19th century Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. Ashta Chamma director has acknowledged that at the end of the movie and also mentioned in many of the interviews that it was based on the play. You seem to have misconceptions about adaptations. Also you don’t seem to have read the play. Ashta Chamma has developed many new angles that are not in the play. Some of the greatest films in the world are literarty adaptations. Don’t think that is easy. The play is open to adaptation by anyone! Ashta Chamma is not a remake as you have thought! By the way, if you ask me and if you read the play, you will realize that Ashta Chamma is far better than the English adaptation of the play.