The Telugu film industry is known to possess a shortlived memory and trends here change at the drop of a hat. At a certain point of his career till a few years ago, it was impossible to watch a Telugu film that didn’t star actor, comedian Ali in a prominent role. Strangely, it seems there’s hardly any space for him in any Telugu film for reasons unknown. Wisely enough, with his talk show on ETV and his production house that’s slated to produce web shows soon, Ali has taken to alternative avenues with reasonable success. His latest endeavour on the small screen is Yamaleela..Aa Tharuvatha, the sequel to his hit film Yamaleela, that went on air on ETV yesterday.
Yamaleela..Aa Tharuvatha is being made under the directorial supervision of S V Krishna Reddy; only Ali and Manju Bhargavi have been retained from the original. Some of the prominent new additions to the serial include Nikita Thukral as the protagonist’s wife (originally played by Indraja) while veteran actor Suman steps into the shoes of Kaikala Sathyanarayana as Yama. The actors appear to be well cast and it’s definitely not a bad time to recall fond memories associated with the 90s film.
Yamaleela, the film, ends with Ali’s (Chinnababu) on-screen mother Manju Bhargavi being granted a boon by Yama, that she would remain eternal. The first episode in the sequel establishes Chinnababu and Mahi as husband and wife; the latter is pregnant and is due to deliver a baby. There are a few dramatic portions where the couple talks about their unborn baby, Ali’s mom says she’s blessed to have a son who loves her to death. The couple then meets with an accident, Mahi miraculously ends up delivering a baby, Mahi and Chinnababu are severely injured and have remote chances of survival. Yama is back in the fray to come up with a miracle to save them.
S V Krishna Reddy and Ali must be reminded that it was quality humour blended with the right emotions which made Yamaleela a hit. While television gives adequate scope for drama to flourish, one hopes the humour element in the story doesn’t go for a toss. It’s certain to draw viewers onto the small screens in the initial episodes and the makers must make the most of it; lest it would become Yamaleela 2, the disaster of a film that released a few years ago and starred KV Satish, Diah Nicholas, Mohan Babu and Brahmanandam in lead roles.
