Santhana Prapthirasthu film assessment: An uneven social drama with just a few silver linings

More than a decade in the past, the Hindi movie Vicky Donorsparked conversations on sperm donation, fertility points and sexual well being, and addressed social stigma round these matters with sensitivity. It triggered a wave of movies that mentioned taboos with a splash of humour — from Good Newwzto Shubh Mangal Saavdhaanand Mimi — spawning a sub-genre of issue-based comedies.

However, movies coping with such matters usually face the identical drawback: a claustrophobic narrative that begins and ends with the stigma, with little else to say. Santhana Prapthirasthu, starring Vikranth and Chandini Chowdary, virtually falls into this sample, however fortunately director Sanjeev Reddy recognises the significance of giving the story an id past the fertility situation.

Santhana Prapthirasthu doesn’t flash its sexual health-awareness placard from the phrase go. Its major focus is on the interpersonal relationships amongst its three pivotal characters, Chaitanya (Vikranth), Kalyani (Chandini Chowdary), and Eshwar Rao (Muralidhar Goud), finally resulting in its core battle that’s not solely restricted to a person’s sexual anxiousness points.

An honest hook is in place to unravel the trajectories of those three characters by means of a casteist goon named Jack Reddy (Tharun Bhascker), who’s within the temper to hearken to Chaitanya’s love story. Having misplaced his dad and mom early in life, with solely a sister as household, Chaitanya is seeking companionship and falls for Kalyani, who’s getting ready for presidency job exams.

A generic boy-meets-girl romance ensues. Chaitanya is a median IT worker who would go to any size for love. A typical do-gooder state of affairs seals the connection between the lead couple. However, Chaitanya and Kalyani’s father (Eshwar Rao) are consistently at loggerheads, inserting Kalyani in a clumsy place, caught between the 2 males.

The drama intensifies because the couple struggles to have a baby. Frustrations bottle up, tempers flare. Despite its not-so-novel premise, Santhana Prapthirasthu strikes alongside easily, sticking to fundamentals. The breeziness however, the fluff is minimal, and by intermission, you might be pretty clear about what the important thing characters stand for.

However, undoing a virtually neat begin in a single stroke is an insensitive stretch post-interval. Suddenly, Chaitanya retains uttering traces like “I have to get her pregnant in 100 days”. A comedy observe involving Dr Bhramaram at a wellness clinic turns into an excuse for jokes with sexual innuendos. There are tasteless references to yogasanas that increase male libido.

Several metaphors are employed to debate his virility — gas in a automobile, charging an influence financial institution, and so forth. Bhramaram rattles off an inventory of causes to clarify why males are failing at one thing they’re presupposed to carry out effortlessly. Provocative dialogues tie masculinity to fatherhood, whereas inconsequential scenes, like a reunion occasion the place the spouse will get jealous, or a random drunkard intruding on the couple’s dwelling, add to the chaos.

The office sequences revolving round Chaitanya’s sperm rely are hardly humorous. The movie additionally goes too far in vilifying the woman’s father. The closing half-hour, nevertheless, regains some momentum, shifting focus to Kalyani’s conflicting feelings and why she deserves to be heard amid two males making an attempt to overpower her with their model of affection, with out actually understanding her needs.

Still, the try to view the state of affairs by means of a feminine lens seems like an afterthought, a determined bid to attain brownie factors. The writing is just too uneven and inconsistent. Sunil Kashyap’s music doesn’t go away a lot of an impression both. Vikranth has improved since Spark, however his efficiency stays too indifferent to strike an emotional chord.

Chandini Chowdary is elegant, composed, and expressive sufficient to let the character’s ache resonate regardless of the inadequacies in writing. Muralidhar Goud delivers the products, although a sure redundancy is creeping into his performances attributable to repetitive roles. 

Tharun Bhascker is terrific in an prolonged cameo, whereas a few of Abhinav Gomatam’s gags work. Vennela Kishore’s mannerisms and retorts really feel barely repetitive, whereas Anil Geela and Jeevan Reddy move muster.

The closing traces in Santhana Prapthirasthu drive dwelling an essential level. Despite being essentially the most populous nation on the planet, India can be a spot the place fertility clinics mushroom at each nook, with the strain of parenthood weighing closely upon {couples}. 

The movie succumbs to clichés as a lot because it tries to problem them. With tighter writing and sharper modifying, its concepts might have landed much better.

(The movie is at the moment operating in theatres)