Ganesh (Dinesh Tej), who is from a conservative family from a village near the port city of Visakhapatnam, has been crazy about movies since childhood. His aim is to tell a story on the silver screen and believes in his work. Ganesh falls in love with Divya (Payal Radhakrishna) who is also from his village. Divya’s mother (Jhansi) finds out that she is in love with Ganesh, and forces her daughter to marry her off to a wealthy family in the same village. In order to fulfill his dream, Ganesh lands in Hyderabad where he meets Anu (Hebba Patel).
Why didn’t Ganesh stop his lady love Divya from getting married? What are the obstacles Ganesh has to face in the process of becoming a film director? — is the crux of ‘Ala Ninnu Cheri’.
Analysis
As a debutant director, Maresh Sivan should be appreciated for weaving a love story with rural and urban backdrops. Bearing a few comedy scenes and the climax, the story is a routine mix of commercial elements making the screenplay a bit stretched.
For a low-budget film like Ala Ninnu Cheri with reasonably good production values, the story and screenplay could have been better. The scenes pertaining to the protagonist Ganesh who struggles after coming to Hyderabad in search of a good producer are well conceptualised. However, the execution should have been better.
Maresh Sivan handled the first half well but the story loses its pace as it enters the plot in the second half. By incorporating an item number, the makers might have thought of raising the entertainment quotient but there is a slight dip. Towards the climax, story gives a logical ending with feel-good moments.
Performances
Dinesh Tej, who has been impressive with his roles in small-budget films earlier, has put up a great performance in Ala Ninnu Cheri. Dinesh has a natural ability to pull off any realistic characters with aplomb. His dance moves and action scenes were good in the film. His love interest Divya (played by Payal Radhakrishna) is also convincing with her role. Good chemistry is cultivated in romantic scenes. And Hebba Patel has impressed with her glamour in the second half. Hebba amped up the chemistry in the second half. Other characters like Chammak Chandra, Mahesh Achanta, Shivakumar Ramachandrava and senior artiste Jhansi have done their bit to add flavour to the story.
Music and technicalities
When it comes to technical performance, Andrew’s cinematography makes every frame rich. The music composed by Subhash Anand is good. Songs like ‘Kodi Baye Lachchamma’ are good to watch. Chandra Bose’s lyrics have made a good difference. The editing part took a backseat — you might feel that a lot of scenes in the second half should have been edited. The production values practiced by new entrants Kommalapati Sai Sudhakar and Sridhar are good.
Verdict
As a debutante, director Maren has dealt with the project very well. Ala Ninnu Cheri is a mixture of fun, emotion and a triangular love story. The story of a young man, who sacrificed his love to achieve his career goal, is well written and executed in the first half. But the second half should have been better. However, ‘Ala Ninnu Cheri’ has its moments.
Rating 2.75 / 5
