Maa Nanna Superhero
Maa Nanna Superhero

Maa Nanna Superhero review: This road-trip drama takes the safer, cliched route

A stellar performance from Sai Chand fails to salvage this half-baked relationship drama from writer-director Abhilash Reddy Kankara
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Maa Nanna Superhero(2 / 5)

In a vulnerable moment towards the end of Maa Nanna Superhero, an aged man talks to his younger companion about the amount of time they spent together, making you realise the enormity of it. Imagine two strangers embarking on a 2000-kilometre road journey. Even if your trip companion is aloof or withdrawn, there is so much one would still end up learning about them or exploring their nature, their inner life. That holds true for the audience as well if a large chunk of a screenplay is focused on two characters in each other’s company. Unfortunately, it strikes you only when the protagonist points it out—and you realise, the film is about to be over, and you still don’t feel that you know these characters intimately enough—and more importantly, how they feel about each other. 

Director: Abhilash Reddy Kankara

Cast: Sudheer Babu, Sai Chand, Sayaji Shinde, Annie, Aarna, Vishnu Oi

Written and directed by Abhilash Reddy Kankara, Maa Nanna Superhero had great potential to tell a layered and complex story of a young man and his two father figures. And with it’s road trip element, the film had such a lovely opportunity to organically delve into characters in a way that is not common to Telugu cinema. Sadly, Abhilash fails to realise the full promise of his material, as his script ignores emotional complexities in favour of the lost-and-found trope. The cracks appear early on in the second half as we realise there is not enough about the two central characters to keep us invested. 

There is a poetic element to the film, with how the story unfolds with a father going to prison and again leads towards a major conflict only when another father figure lands up in jail. Abhilash also displays a flair for philosophical dialogue every once in a while. At one point, when a colleague asks Prakash what if he doesn’t find the son by the time of Sankranti, a deadline that Prakash has set for his search, Prakash smilingly says, “There are many more festivals in the calendar.” It’s this optimism and open-heartedness that makes Prakash such an endearing character, and Sai Chand does complete justice to his part. There is also a great monologue in the flashback sequence about courage being the true force to exist, whereas fears need to be treated as lies or myths.

However, Abhilash’ script lacks the necessary thoroughness to bring out the emotional core of the story at hand. The emotional punches do not land well because the characters and their interpersonal dynamics aren’t etched out with enough depth. We are told that Johnny has been raised well by his father Srinivas (Sayaji Shinde), which leads to a major payoff towards the end. However, we aren’t granted enough evidence to establish any sense of guidance that Srinivas could have provided to his son, despite being distant—it almost feels like Johnny raised himself. The other equations are all undercooked as well, be it Johnny’s relationship with his work friend Satya or with his girlfriend . There are so many potential segments that could have been used to underline the evolving relationship between Johnny and Prakash. There are standalone moments that make an attempt to reach out to you emotionally, like the first time Johnny addresses Prakash as his father, but in its totality, Maa Nanna Superhero is not consistent as a character-driven drama.

Johnny is an interestingly grey-shaded character because he can play between the moral extremes. He might be capable of con and deceit to meet his personal gains, but he is also prone to showing great empathy towards a mean man, because the latter also happens to be a father to a little girl. No matter how a man conducts himself morally, his stature as a good parent should never crumble down, Johnny tells the mean neighbour at a point. Sudheer Babu plays the character with the required aloofness, never trying to make Johnny too likeable or sympathetic. Sayaji Shinde as Srinivas is sadly underutilised, though, except for a few scenes early on and in the climax, the actor barely has anything to do.

There is a lovely, poignant moment between Johnny and Srinivas early on, where Johnny slyly inches towards Srinivas while the latter is getting a photo clicked. He has tried to remain almost delusionally positive about this relationship, but the truth is Johnny longs to be close to his father in all ways possible—and this longing here is so palpable, it hurts. Abhilash Reddy Kankara clearly has the flair for capturing moments that convey the poignance of his themes. If only he also had a script that was more coherent, with more of these moments woven in, moments that say a lot without saying much. For most parts, though, Maa Nanna Superhero keeps us devoid of these simple pleasures of watching a film.

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