'Swathi Muthyam' Review

Introduction

'Swathi Muthyam' is a family entertainer movie under Sithara Entertainments' production. Swathi Muthyam's narrative focuses on a young couple named Bala Murali Krishna and Bhagyalakshmi and how their lives altered because of getting married. A girl's phone call on the day of their marriage causes chaos, drives Bala into a rage, and ultimately causes the marriage to be canceled. Will Bala find a solution? Will they ultimately come together? It is all about the plot.

Cast and Crew

The main lead roles in the movie are played by Bellamkonda Ganesh as Bala Murali Krishna and Varsha Bollamma as Bhagyalakshmi alias Bhagi. Besides these, Vennela Kishore as Dr. Bucchi Babu (Bala's best friend), Rao Ramesh as Venkatrao (Bala's father), Pragathi as Bala's mother, Divya Sripada as Sailaja and Surekha Vani as Bhagi's mother are some of the other supporting actors. The movie was written and directed by Lakshman K Krishna and produced by Suryadevara Naga Vamsi.

Plot

In the movie, Bala Murali Krishna is seen as a simple and pure-hearted person; he works in a government office. His family begins looking for a future spouse for him; Bhagyalakshmi, aka Bhagi (Varsha), is one of those girls. The girl asks for some time to decide to get married. To understand each other better, they meet occasionally. After some time, they quickly fall in love, and Bhagi decides to wed Bala.

Bala receives a call from his office on the day of his wedding. When Sailaja (Divya) walks into his office, he is taken aback. It has come to light that Bala provided his sperm for an unauthorized surrogacy a few months ago for a woman in Dubai. Sailaja was the surrogate mother who gave birth to the child. He is told that the woman has passed away and that no one can access her.

Bala extends an invitation to Sailaja and promises to resolve the situation later. She misinterprets Bala's conversation with his friend, Bucchi Babu, about ways to deal with the surrogacy situation and abandons the marriage, leaving the kid with Bala. Everyone present at the wedding believes that Bala has a relationship with Sailaja and is the father of the child. He tries to convince everyone of what took transpired, but no one pays attention. His marriage is thus canceled.

After some time, Bhagi learns about the surrogacy controversy and realizes Bala is innocent. Her parents find her a different partner. To permanently avoid pregnancy, she undergoes female sterilization surgery at the hospital. Bala visits the hospital as soon as he learns about this. Bucchi Babu and Sailaja additionally come to their aid in resolving the issues between Bala and his family. At last, the family of Bala and Bhagi recognize their love and purity and approve of their marriage.

Review

'Swathi Muthyam' is marketed as a comedy movie and features Ganesh, who is making his acting debut. But the fundamental struggle and unusual central idea of the movie are compelling. "Sperm donation" is the most difficult element to add in a script aimed towards family audiences. Bollywood movies like 'Vicky Donor' have a primary protagonist who works as a sperm donor and makes money doing so. The protagonist of "Swathi Muthyam" is not a sperm donor.

In this movie, the hero is a generous person. He describes himself as a "virgin." However, he continues to donate sperm for a reason that ends badly and causes him a lot of problems. This is an effective feature in the movie. Telugu cinema rarely includes this kind of issue.

A compelling conflict has been developed by the new director for this kind of scenario. But the movie has a drab start. The first half of the movie has a definite nostalgic vibe to it. The office humor skits and the love theme featuring Varsha and Ganesh all seem to have been lifted directly from vintage movies. It appears that the director placed a lot of emphasis on the central idea.

The movie starts to seem intriguing as soon as Divya Sripada shows up in the narrative. Fortunately, the second half is led by actors like Goparaju Ramana and Rao Ramesh, who deliver some sincere laughs. Fun scenes are sprinkled throughout the second half. Furthermore, the climax is impressive.

Lakshman Krishna begins the narration of Swathi Muthyam slowly and methodically. He has introduced different personalities one at a time while passing the time by making amusing remarks about them. Viewers begin to move quickly after the first half's conclusion because there wasn't much action in it.

Although the plot of Swathi Mutyam is identical to many past hits in other languages, the director manages to create situational humor involving the entire cast in the second half.

Goparaju Ramana engages the audience with his eccentricities which help in bringing the plot twists. Despite his typical responses, Rao Ramesh is still admirable. It's entertaining to watch Subbaraju, who portrays a 40-year-old bachelor; the 'Baahubali' actor has the talent to liven up situational comedies. As an RMP physician, Vennela Kishore has a lot of potentials, but his character is poorly written.

The movie begins straightforwardly, but right before the pre-intermission point, a twist is introduced that is both unexpected and well-executed. The events appear genuine, and it has been introduced in a humorous yet acceptable way as to how the twist affects the wedding.

Varsha Bollamma is impressive and received another fantastic role. She has ample opportunity to act in each of her first-half interactions with the protagonist. Subbaraju is given a humorous role, and he excels in it. However, the character actors Gokaraju Ramana and Rao Ramesh are the actual stars of the movie. They make the movie's mood enjoyable the entire time.

Positively, the sentiments of small communities and minor problems that arise at weddings have been highlighted. The second part of the movie is remarkable because an innovative screenplay incorporates the surrogacy perspective. The lack of drama produced by the makers engrosses the audience. Instead, they set up scenarios so that the procedures are enjoyable.

Around the halfway point, when the plot twist appears, the actual story starts. It is what the trailer alludes to but does not explicitly say. We won't reveal it either, but suffice it to say that everything will be good. What continues to work is that the level of entertainment never wanes. Even when there is drama, it is instantly followed by a snappy comedic line or a block. However, it's impossible to avoid the feeling that the dramatic parts should have been handled better.

Drawbacks

The drama of the central couple in this kind of plot would have taken saccharine twists in the hands of an antiquated cast. Instead, the screenplay focuses on the amusing dialogue taking place at Bala's home. Rao Ramesh, who plays his frequently caustic father, has numerous opportunities to show off his comedic side. The seasoned character artist shines in the second part, providing funny dialogue.

Unfortunately, the movie doesn't exactly capture Bhagya's psyche correctly. Beyond hazy response shots, her viewpoint is never clearly understood. She mends things with Bala so quickly that it seems as though a disastrous event never occurred. VK Naresh and Surekha Vani, her parents, only receive a few minor hilarious reaction shots. The discussions leading up to the climax might have been more varied.

The plot is somewhat predictable and offers not much original. Several passages involving surrogacy and how it should have been included in the story at strained family moments seem a little over the top. It would have been much better if there had been a couple of more intensely emotional scenes.

Technical Aspects

It has good background music by Mahati Swara Sagar. Although a few of the songs are nice, they slowed things down. The locations of Pithapuram are spontaneously depicted through Suryaa's cinematography. Although Navin Nooli's editing is acceptable, the first part could have been made more dynamic. The banter that occurs during the routine is entertaining with Perfect production values.

This movie was made on a low budget by Sithara Entertainment, but it doesn't reflect in the scenes. The conflict point is intriguing, especially those composed for Gokaraju Ramana and Rao Ramesh. Both the music and the background music are suitable. Camera work is also appropriate.

Public review

IMDb: 6.6/10

Times of India: 2.5/5

Greatandhra.com: 2.8/5

Verdict

Overall, Swathi Muthyam is a straightforward family drama with humor as its main strength. The conflict, the entertaining second half, and the short runtime are all great elements. Except for the film's predictability, the director has kept the audience interested with his breezy narration, making this an enjoyable movie.