Cast: Sudheer Babu, Aditi Rao Hydari, Naresh (Senior), Pavitra Lokesh, Bharani, Rahul Ramakrishna
Director: Indraganti Mohan Krishna
Indraganti Mohan Krishna is a sensible director and brings a different kind of movies. His latest, Sammohanam, featuring Sudheer Babu and Aditi Rao Hydari, carries his mark. The promotional videos were interesting, and the film created a buzz ahead of its release. Vijay (Sudheer Babu) is a cartoonist who draws mostly for children and is looking for publishers. His father (Naresh) is fond of movies and wants to act in at least one. Vijay doesn’t like the film industry because he feels it is filled with fake people. Sameera (Aditi Rao), a top actress, lands up in Vijay’s house to shoot her film Kummesta. Vijay is not interested but once Sameera asks him to teach her Telugu, he begins to get attracted towards her. The rest of the film is about whether it works out for the unlikely pair of popular actress and struggling cartoonist.
Indraganti is one of the gifted directors because his narration of a film is like meaningful poetry. He gives importance to the Telugu language, a trademark from his first film, Ashta Chemma to his last Ami Tumi. For Sammohanam, he chooses the story of two opposite personalities. There have been films about actresses like K. Viswanath’s Seethamahalakshmi and Ram Gopal Varma’s Rangeela, but they deal with a common girl becoming a top actress. In Sammohanam, the story begins with the actress at the top. Indraganti introduces the characters in a realistic, entertaining way. The satire on the film industry, how non-Telugu actresses pronounce Telugu lines are hilarious as are the dialogues, through Rahul Ramakrishna, on gossip websites.
The romantic sce-nes between Sudh-eer Babu and Aditi Rao are a showpiece of Indraga-nti’s command. All the elements connect emotionally, supported by good dialogue. The first half is more entertainment especially thanks to Indraganti’s conception of Naresh’s role. The second half does drag a bit and Aditi Rao’s flashback is not much interesting. Indraganti then returns to form with the pre-climax scenes featuring Naresh, Sudheer Babu, Rahul Ramakrishna and others, and the climax. Coming from a literary background, Indraganti once shows his grip on every scene and dialogue. This creates space for his actors to be natural. Sudheer Babu surprises with his brilliant performance and his scenes on the terrace and the interval stand out. This is clearly his best, and he has grown with this film. The performer of the film, however, is Aditi Rao. She is superb and the way she carries her emotions is stunning. She has also dubbed her own lines. Sammohanam marks a powerful start for Aditi in Tollywood.
Naresh gets a lengthy role and the Indraganti uses him perfectly. This definitely would be one of his more memorable roles. Pavitra Lokesh as the mother is decent, Rahul Ramakrishna provides a few laughs. Hari Teja does a neat job. Kadambari, Thanikella and others support well. The camera work by P.G. Vinda is one of the pillars of the film. His visuals carry the story and enhance the scenes between Sudheer and Aditi Rao. The music and background travels with the characters. The songs are nice with good lyrical values. Despite the drag in the second half, Sammohanam is an entertaining and fun romantic film. it is after a long time that you get the feeling that you are watching a complete Telugu film with meaningful and emotional dialogues. Credit goes to Indraganti for this decent film which is like a breath of fresh air.
