Mahanubhavudu: A clean entertainer

Mahanubhavudu has laugh-out-loud moments, but doesn't come close to the director's previous  work Bhale Bhale Magadivoy
Mahanubhavudu: A clean entertainer

Mahatma Gandhi believed in the saying ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’. He emphasised the importance of having a clean body and healthy life. And the protagonist of director Maruthi’s Mahanubhavudu is an exact replica of Gandhi’s beliefs.

The film starring Sharwanand and Mehreen goes on with two interesting aspects, one in which everything works well for the protagonist and the other in which everything makes things clumsy for him. The story develops quite slowly and Maruthi touches on the quirks of people who suffer from obsessive cleanliness.

An IT professional Anand (Sharwanand) leads a freaky lifestyle and suffers from a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). He uses a tissue to put a clip on a girl's hair, blow drys his toothbrush, checks the car doors though it is locked and does all kinds of peculiar things to keep everything clean and also expects everyone around him to be neat. This peculiar habit of his leads to distance in his relationship with his mother. But, then, he gets attracted to Meghana (Mehreen) and presumes that both of them are like-minded. As the film progresses, Anand loosens up a little as he begins to deal with the people who find him completely weird and uninteresting.
 

Cast: Sharwanand, Mehreen, Nasser
Direction: Maruthi
 

The fresh story is engrossing and most of the first half entertains with situational comedy on OCD, romance blossoming between the two principal characters, a funny chase-turned-fight scene and an interval bang.

In the second hour, Sharwa keeps you in splits with his fixation on neatness. Specifically, the river bath, mango pickle and boozing scenes are a laugh riot. But his sufferings have no end and he gets to deal with different issues, albeit forcefully. That’s not all, he also lives with misconstruction by his mother, girlfriend and family. Amidst all this chaos, Anand gets a respite from Meghana’s father Rama Raju (Nasser), who empathises with him. Unlike the adamant father in Maruthi’s earlier outing Bhale Bhale Magadivoy, Rama Raju is kind-hearted and arrives with a solution to Anand’s issues.

Sharwanand gives a relatable performance and is true to his character. He shares a crackling chemistry with Mehreen and their enchanting presence makes the tale engaging enough. Mehreen has got an effective role, but she is no show stealer. Sharwa gets able support from Vennela Kishore, who plays his cousin in the film. Nasser plays his part well, but his role lacks lucidity.

Everyone has their share of positives and negatives, and Maruthi strikes a chord by drawing a thin line and stuffing the story with adequate entertainment. It's challenging to execute a story with such complexities, but credit to him for churning out a clean family entertainer with the love-hate-love relationship. Once again, the director relies completely on the comedy, and has arrived with a simple story of a young man suffering from the disorder and his struggle to win his love. Definitely, Mahanubhavudu has laugh-out-loud moments, but it does not come close to his blockbuster hit Bhale Bhale Magadivoy.

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