MLA Review: A mockery of a political drama

Another week, another endurance test of a Telugu movie. MLA is a concoction of all the worst elements of a commercial film -- a stalking song, vulgar comedy, irrelevant songs at inappropriate moments, a too-good-to-be-true hero, a damsel in distress, and some revolting moments. 

Director: Upendra Madhav
Cast: Kalyan Ram, Kajal Aggarwal, Ravi Kishan, Brahmanandam

Kalyan (Kalyan Ram) is a happy-go-lucky boy and an MLA (manchi lakshanalu vunna abbayi), who falls in love with Indu (Kajal Aggarwal) at the first instance of meeting her at a mall. He follows her and irritates her to spend time with him. She rejects his proposal and storms away. Well, what comes next is the tried and tested formula of most commercial films in Tollywood -- a stalking song. Perhaps there are two stalking songs in the film.

Posani Krishna is a philanderer boss, who lusts over every woman in his office. He gets a call from his superior stating his daughter will join the company for two months for a project. In the meanwhile, Kalyan too joins the office in the CSR department. He realises that Indu is the boss’s daughter. He still imposes his proposal on her. Indu’s company lands in a trouble with a local goon Mahathalli (Ajay) encroaching their land. Kalyan says he will solve the issue and if the results are positive, Indu should accept his proposal. Yes, even I lost my mind here. A girl’s feeling is supposed to change based on how a guy solves her issues.

He solves the problem with the help of a corrupt lawyer Pattabhi (Brahmanandam). The twist now is Kajal is not the real boss. Who she really is and why she had to keep her identity under the wraps surprises Kalyan.

Veerabhadrapuram Gaddappa (Ravi Kishen) is the main villain of the film. He is the MLA of Veerabhadrapuram who wants to attain Indu at any cost. Indu’s father wants her to marry a man in power and thus doesn’t approve of Kalyan. Well, as expected, Kalyan challenges him to become an MLA to marry his love.

He contests against Gaddappa, who thinks being in power is his prerogative. Kalyan tries to woo people with new taps and borewell water (something every politician does during elections). He learns about Gaddapa’s glass factory and how he vehemently forces the children in the village to work in his factory. He even kills a journalist who tries to expose about how kids in the factory are dying of silicosis.

Kalyan learns about the scam, educates the parents on how important it is to educate children and promises to fund their education. And thus he earns the love of the children and parents, and naturally wins the elections.

Kalyan’s evident imitation of his uncle Balakrishna, and sometimes superstar Rajnikanth, is quite excruciating to sit through. Kajal’s role is confined to being a damsel in distress, and looking pretty. Brahmanandam and Pridhvi Raj attempt some wisecracks and induce some laughter in this painful movie. Though the funniest scene is when a woman flies in the air and beats the goon up.

The cinematography is decent, while music isn't very catchy. The story falls flat with its tired plot and foreseeable twists. 

Bottom line: This is not for those who are looking for fresh and thought-provoking films. It is just another lifeless commercial film.