Starring : Priya Darshi, Harshith Malgireddy, Mani Aegurla, Sri Gouri Priya Reddy
Director: Uday Gurrala
Producer: Priyanka Dutt, Swapna Dutt
DOP: Uday Gurrala, Shyam Dupati
Music Director: Sweekar Agasthi
Editor: Hari Shankar TN
Story
The film is set in a remote village called Kombalapally in Telangana. Ravi(Harshith Reddy) is a young student who is fascinated by the computer. He wants to pursue computers but his village does not have that course. So, left with no choice, he takes BCOM. This is the time, a man named Hybath(Priyadarshi) brings a computer to the village, and this attracts Ravi. An excited Ravi creates an email and gets a message that he has won a big lottery. What is the email all about and how it lands Ravi in trouble is the story of Mail.
Performances
The film has only a few actors and Ravi aka Harshith Reddy plays the lead role. He as the innocent youth is amazing. Though he is new, the young actor brings out a lot of emotions through his role. He is naive and does well as a scared boy who gets into trouble. Priyadarshi gets a mentor’s role in the film and he is also pretty good. His bearded look and the manner in which he brings a whole new comedy angle in the film is good. Priyadarshi’s subtle humor was good to see. The actor who played the hero’s friend was also impressive.
Analysis
Kombalapally Kathalu is one kind of a new age Malgudi days from the past. Set in a remote village and dealing with the lives of young people, this startup story is very unique. How the village youth gets attracted to the computer, how they get fooled, and the whole stigma around it was quite impressive and is very engagingly brought into the narrative.
The set up in the small town, the innocent and cute emotions have been brought out so well by the director Uday Gurrala. He has a supreme talent and it is proved in this film. The manner in which he derives the story and sets the tone of comedy through basic computer usage and weaves around the village was good.
The only part is that the story takes its very own time to unveil. Once you gel into the setup, this film surely impresses you with its simple narration. In a nutshell, Mail is a very earthy drama that wins your heart. Just bear the slow pace and you will like it.