Director: Vikram Kumar
Cast: Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Nagarjuna, Naga Chaitanya, Samantha and Shriya
Rating: 3.5 stars
Late Akkineni Nageswara Rao’s last film ‘Manam’ finally comes out. The film has generated a lot of curiosity because of the three generations of actors of the Akkineni family in this film. This is the second film in India after the Kapoor family, where three generations of actors from the same family have starred together in a film. This is also one of the reasons, the film has got lot of hype. Vikram Kumar is the director of the film while Shriya and Samantha are the female leads.
The story begins with the couple Radha (Naga Chaitanya) and Krishna (Samantha) preparing for the birthday celebration of their six-year-old son Bittu alias Nageswara Rao. The couple argues over some small issue. They decide to separate and while going to meet the lawyer their car meets with an accident and both die and the date is February 14.
After few years Nageswara Rao (Nagarjuna) becomes a big business tycoon but he lives with his parents memories. One day he accidentally sees Nagarjuna (Naga Chaitanya) in a flight and feels that his father Radha is reborn as Nagarjuna. Then he thinks that his mother Krishna is also somewhere and starts searching for her and finally finds her in the form of Priya (Samantha). Then Nageswara Rao decides to unite both his father and mother.
Meanwhile an old man Chaitanya (ANR) enters the scene . Chaitanya met with an accident and he was saved by Anjali (Shriya) and Nageswara Rao. At the hospital Chaitanya sees both Nageswara Rao and Anjali and identifies them as his parents who lost their lives in an accident when he was a young boy.
Here comes the flashback of Chaitanya. The rest of the story is how the two couples reunite again, did they know about their past life and what is the connection of the date February 14?
When three generations of actors, it’s not an easy task for the director. But Vikram Kumar has come out with a nice story and screenplay and created a classic masterpiece.
Though there are past life regressions and rebirths, the director’s intelligent screenplay makes you to see more comfortably without any confusion. There are a few sentimental scenes and dialogues and especially the three Akkinenis together. Another major plus point for this film is cinematography by PS Vinod who has come up with nice visuals. Apart from the dialogues, Anoop Rubens music is also one of the plus points for this film.
When it comes to the performance Nagarjuna and Samantha steal the show. This is his best performance till date. He is perfectly balanced with the younger and older generation of actors.
For Samantha, this is going to be one of her best performance till date and she has been constantly getting very good roles. She perfectly fits into the two characters she played. She steals the show along with Nag. Naga Chaitanya has done a decent job and compared to his earlier films he matured a lot as an actor.
ANR is a legend and there is no need to review his performance. Shriya has done a great job in the second half. Most of the story runs on these five characters. Comedians MS Narayana, Ali and Saptagari provide you with some laughs. In the end Akhil also makes an appearance for a few minutes.
Though there are a few loopholes and drawbacks, like Shriya and Nagarjuna’s flashback episode and too much of alcohol promotion, finally ‘Manam’ is a good film to watch and a fitting tribute to Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Director Vikram Kumar is the winner.
