Crazy Fellow Movie Review: A comedy of errors that entertains, mostly

Aadi Saikumar has been dabbling with diverse genres and is pushing the envelope as an actor with his every film. With Crazy Fellow, his fourth release of 2022, Aadi, in a way, stepped out of his comfort zone and is back to form with a simple yet complicated script.

Movie: Crazy Fellow
Cast: Aadi Saikumar, Digangana Suryavanshi, Mirnaa Menon
Direction: Phani Krishna Siriki

In the film, Aadi plays Abhiram, a rich, flamboyant, self-centered youngster, who lives life to the fullest. Abhiram loses his parents at a young age and he lives with his brother and sister-in-law, who liken him to their son. To put things on track, Abhiram's brother helps him get a job at a software company. Right from day one, Abhiram has a stormy relationship with his colleague Madhumita (Digangana Suryavanshi). The duo interact with each other through a dating app with fake identities and eventually, love blossoms between them. A big brouhaha is being created when they plan to meet.

To be fair, there are sequences of Crazy Fellow that are so funny that your sides will strain from laughing. But for the most part, it's a silly comedy that goes for slapstick gags and juvenile jokes that may work well with the youth. Debutant director Phani Krishna has come up with a simple yet surprisingly enjoyable tale of misunderstandings and mistaken identities.

The film's first half unfolds leisurely as we're introduced to the main characters one by one. And just when you begin to feel its predictability, the director throws an unexpected situation that triggers off a chain of events, which leads to a comedy of errors.

Crazy Fellow feels more surefooted in its second half when it slips into a confusing comedy mode. The unfolding of the conflict, the drama, the frenzied moments, and the twists leading to the climax keep you excited. However, the climax feels simple and doesn’t pack the punch.

The film's storyline seems whacked from Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde and Lovely. But Phani Krishna gives it a different spin with a sarcastic tone. There are so many instances where the humour seems integral to the story and the director deserves applause for not getting overly smart. He succeeds in delivering an engaging comedy of mistaken identities. Although it is not a spectacular story or a film where you bite your nails out of curiosity -- it's quite complicated, but thoroughly keeps you entertained till the end credits. On the flip side, the director has taken cinematic liberties to propel the narrative and as a result, the film, at times, loses its momentum and emotional connection. The romantic track between Abhiram and Chinni (Mirnaa Menon) could have been gripping and fleshed out better.

It's a relief to see Aadi be part of a non-serious entertainer where every act and expression needs to be active and entertaining. He approaches this role with sincerity and passion as director Phani Krishna gives it a compact ending. That’s not all, Aadi also plays his comic part to perfection and capitalizes on the witty dialogues with good timing and shines. Digangana Suryavanshi is pretty and comes up with a commendable portrayal of an angry girl, who is miffed with her colleague. Mirnaa Menon impresses with her realistic portrayal, while Narra Srinivas and Vinodhini Vaidyanathan get enough space to take potshots at the protagonist and have fun in the process. Vinodhini is a revelation! Despite being his first directorial, Phani Krishna impresses with his clever writing and gets the best from all the characters.

The songs don’t really integrate into the narrative, but they are watchable owing to some cool moves from Aadi.

Overall, Crazy Fellow has all those ingredients and entertaining moments, making it a good time-pass watch for this weekend.