‘Santhana Praptirasthu’ movie review: An uneven social drama with a few silver linings

More than a decennary ago, the Hindi movie Vicky Donorsparked conversations connected sperm donation, fertility issues and intersexual health, and addressed societal stigma astir these topics with sensitivity. It triggered a question of films that discussed taboos with a dash of humour — from Good Newwzto Shubh Mangal Saavdhaanand Mimi — spawning a sub-genre of issue-based comedies.

However, films dealing with specified topics often look the aforesaid problem: a claustrophobic communicative that begins and ends with the stigma, with small other to say. Santhana Praptirasthu, starring Vikranth and Chandini Chowdary, astir falls into this pattern, but thankfully manager Sanjeev Reddy recognises the value of giving the communicative an individuality beyond the fertility issue.

Santhana Praptirasthu does not flash its intersexual health-awareness placard from the connection go. Its superior absorption is connected the interpersonal relationships among its 3 pivotal characters, Chaitanya (Vikranth), Kalyani (Chandini Chowdary), and Eshwar Rao (Muralidhar Goud), yet starring to its halfway struggle that is not solely restricted to a man’s intersexual anxiousness issues.

A decent hook is successful spot to unravel the trajectories of these 3 characters done a casteist goon named Jack Reddy (Tharun Bhascker), who is successful the temper to perceive to Chaitanya’s emotion story. Having mislaid his parents aboriginal successful life, with lone a sister arsenic family, Chaitanya is successful hunt of companionship and falls for Kalyani, who is preparing for authorities occupation exams.

A generic boy-meets-girl romance ensues. Chaitanya is an mean IT worker who would spell to immoderate magnitude for love. A emblematic do-gooder concern seals the narration betwixt the pb couple. However, Chaitanya and Kalyani’s begetter (Eshwar Rao) are perpetually astatine loggerheads, placing Kalyani successful an awkward position, caught betwixt the 2 men.

The play intensifies arsenic the mates struggles to person a child. Frustrations vessel up, tempers flare. Despite its not-so-novel premise, Santhana Praptirasthu moves on smoothly, sticking to basics. The breeziness notwithstanding, the fluff is minimal, and by intermission, you are reasonably wide astir what the cardinal characters basal for.

However, undoing a astir neat commencement successful 1 changeable is an insensitive agelong post-interval. Suddenly, Chaitanya keeps uttering lines similar “I request to get her large successful 100 days”. A drama way involving Dr Bhramaram astatine a wellness session becomes an excuse for jokes with intersexual innuendos. There are tasteless references to yogasanas that boost antheral libido.

Several metaphors are employed to sermon his virility — substance successful a vehicle, charging a powerfulness bank, and truthful on. Bhramaram rattles disconnected a database of reasons to explicate wherefore men are failing astatine thing they are expected to execute effortlessly. Provocative dialogues necktie masculinity to fatherhood, portion inconsequential scenes, similar a reunion enactment wherever the woman gets jealous, oregon a random drunkard intruding connected the couple’s home, adhd to the chaos.

The workplace sequences revolving astir Chaitanya’s sperm number are hardly funny. The movie besides goes excessively acold successful vilifying the girl’s father. The last half-hour, however, regains immoderate momentum, shifting absorption to Kalyani’s conflicting emotions and wherefore she deserves to beryllium heard amid 2 men trying to overpower her with their mentation of love, without genuinely knowing her wants.

Still, the effort to presumption the concern done a pistillate lens feels similar an afterthought, a hopeless bid to people brownie points. The penning is excessively uneven and inconsistent. Sunil Kashyap’s euphony doesn’t permission overmuch of an content either. Vikranth has improved since Spark, but his show remains excessively detached to onslaught an affectional chord.

Chandini Chowdary is elegant, composed, and expressive capable to fto the character’s symptom resonate contempt the inadequacies successful writing. Muralidhar Goud delivers the goods, though a definite redundancy is creeping into his performances owed to repetitive roles. 

Tharun Bhascker is terrific successful an extended cameo, portion immoderate of Abhinav Gomatam’s gags work. Vennela Kishore’s mannerisms and retorts consciousness somewhat repetitive, portion Anil Geela and Jeevan Reddy walk muster.

The last lines successful Santhana Praptirasthu drive location an important point. Despite being the astir populous federation connected the planet, India is besides a spot wherever fertility clinics mushroom astatine each corner, with the unit of parenthood weighing heavy upon couples. 

The movie succumbs to clichés arsenic overmuch arsenic it tries to situation them. With tighter penning and sharper editing, its ideas could person landed acold better.

(The movie is presently moving successful theatres)