Movie Review 'Gaalipatam' : Innovative marital drama

Director: Naveen Gandhi

Cast: Aadi, Erica Fernandes, Kristina Akeeva, Rahul Ravindran and Gayatri Bhargavi

Rating: ***

Director Sampath Nandi turns producer with Gaalipatam. Kristina Akheeva and Erica Fernandes are making their debut as the female leads opposite Aadi in this film, while Naveen Gandhi is making his debut as director.

The story is about a working couple, Karthik (Aadi) and Swathi (Erica Fernandes). They get the best couple award in their office and the two plan a special party. But in reality, both are unhappy and their differences come out in the open at the party. Karthik reveals that he had a lover Parinithi (Kristina Akheeva) before marriage, and Swathi also reveals the presence of Arav (Rahul Ravindran) in her life.

Karthik had differences with his girlfriend regarding the institution of marriage, which had resulted in him marrying Swathi. On the other hand, Swathi only wanted to get married to a person chosen by her elders, hence she rejected Arav (Rahul Ravindran) and married Karthik. They are both unhappy and decide to part ways.

But the couple is under pressure from their respective families not to separate.  Do they stick to their mutual decision to separate or stay together for the sake of society? This forms the crux of the story.

Kudos to Sampath Nandi for coming up with an innovative subject which reflects the mindset of today’s youngsters. This is not the regular masala formula of action-song-action kind, as some of the scenes are close to the reality. He has also written the screenplay and dialogues for this film. After the light-heartedness of the first half, the film becomes more emotional in the second half and remains till the climax. Naveen Gandhi has done good work as a debutant director. Dialogues by Sampath Nandi are good, especially the dialogues between Gayatri Bhargavi and Bharath Reddy. Comedian Saptagiri appears in couple of scenes and provides a few laughs. Posani Krishna Murali and others have essayed their characters well.

Till now, Aadi had done regular pot-boilers, but this film displays his acting prowess. His subtle and mature performance is one of the film’s highlights. He has two shades to his character as a happy-go-lucky boy and a serious guy. Both Kristina Akheeva and Erica Fernandes have done well. Erica shows maturity in her acting. Kristina suits her character well. Rahul Ravindran has done a good job. Another surprise element is Gayatri Bhargavi, who plays an understanding housewife with two kids. She excels in a particular scene where she talks to Bharath Reddy.

The cinematography by Bujji is good and has captured beautiful locations. The music is good and highlighted by the song picturisation.
There are a few boring scenes like the drunken scene of the old ladies. This particular scene is embarrassing and the forced comedy is in bad taste.
Other than these minor flaws, all in all it is a watchable film.