Gentleman Review - 2/5

Rating: 2/5
Starring : Posani Krishna Murali, Arthi Agarwal, Natasha
Director : Posani Krishna Murali
Producer : Nallam Padmaja

Posani Krishna Murali has been one of the very few directors in Telugu Film Industry who have never shied away from any controversies. It is this brazen attitude which has led him to make films like ‘Operation Dhuryodhan’ and most recently ‘Mental Krishna’, ‘Raja Vari Chepala Cheruvu’. His latest film ‘Gentleman’ is yet another bold film which has an important message for the society. Posani Krishna Murali, Aarthi Agarwal and Louis play the lead roles in this film. Nallam Padmaja produced the film on the ‘Veerabhadhra Productions’ banner. The film is about a married couple and how their relationship changes over a period of time.

What is it about : Posani Krishna Murali stars as Muddu Krishna, who works in a software firm. He’s married to Neeraja (Aarthi Agarwal) who believes that her husband is extremely loyal to her and would even die for her sake. However, Muddu Krishna has a different side to his personality. He’s a womanizer who indulges in multiple extra-marital affairs for pleasure. One of them is Louis, a girl from UK working in the samesoftware firm. One day, Neeraja decides to test her husband’s loyalty towards her and hatches a plan with the help of a friend. Will she succeed in her plan? Will Muddu Krishna’s skeletons tumble out of the box? That forms the rest of the story.

What is Good: Posani Krishna Murali’s unconventional stories, peculiar characterisation and slap-on-the-face kind of dialogues make it difficult to watch his films like any other film. He sets his own rules and in that sense, Posani definitely excels in everything he does. Within ten minutes intothe film, the ‘Posanian’ school of thought raises its flag and it doesn’t matter if the society agrees of not, Posani would do what he believes in. Hence, don’t be surprised if you find him boozing on the road while he lets his wife have her share of privacy with her boyfriend. Don’t be surprised if you see that:

1) Posani drinks acid like it’s a cool drink and doesn’t get hospitalised.
2) Posani drinks ‘Baygon Spray’ and get well within 30 minutes.
3) Posani donates his liver to his own wife.
4) Posani argues that it’s okay to manipulate woman irrespective of their marital status.
5) Posani’s “Coffee-Love” hypothesis to test his wife’s love quotient for him
6) Posani can make any girl fall in love with him. ANY GIRL!
7) Posani’s version of ‘7 stages of a project’ with a girl enticing boy twist!
8) Posani can rap and play saxophone!
9) Posani can hack passwords and make Login.js file disappear.
10) Posani can handle multiple ‘encounters’ with women on the same day.

What is bad: The film suffers from a bad casting. Aarthi Agarwal recites her lines meticulously without any emotions for the most part. The only part where you genuinely sympathize with her is the scene where she discovers the true nature of her husband. She’s loud throughoutthe film and could have done a much better job. Newcomer Louis has a meaty role apart from having to show lot of flesh. While she succeeds in the latter part, she fails to make a mark in her role. It would have been a lot better if Posani had retained her dialogues in English, instead of giving her dialogues to speak in butler Telugu. She hardly moves an inch of her facial muscles and the only expression which comes out when she’s angry and kicking Posani’s butt all over the garden. Kota Srinivas Rao’s role as a scientist who’s conducting an experiment on the sex lives of ‘Rats’ is poorly written and unnecessary inthe film . If this wasn’t enough, Posani (the writer) writes an essay on what differentiates Human Beings from rats/pigs. It’s an insult to the community of Rats and if they could understand our language, probably they would revolt or maybe ‘fast’ to teach humans a lesson.

Bottom Line: ‘Gentleman’ has an important message and it’s a 2 hour guide of ‘What Not to Do when you are married!’ The film has been shot mostly inside bungalows or guest houses and the cinematography required for such a film is adequate. Background score is decent and thankfully it never gets too loud. In the end,the film belongs to one man only, Posani Krishna Murali. Love him or hate him, you can’t ignore him for what he is. He wrote the story, dialogues and screenplay forthe film apart from acting and directing in it. His trademark style can be seen in the dialogues and acting more than anything else. To watch a Posani Krishna Murali’s film requires some prior homework to be done. Do watch his earlier films like ‘Mental’ Krishna, Raja Vari Chepala Cheruvu to get an idea of what kind of films Posani makes.The film is high on testosterone and surprisingly the humongous amount of sleaze depicted in ‘Mental’ Krishna has been reduced here. ‘Gentleman’ is strictly for fans and admirers of Posani. You wouldn’t want to take a risk of going to one of his films without any mental preparation.

P.S: Medically, a human being would die within minutes if the ‘Liver’ is removed from the body. However, in ‘Gentleman’ the actors spare a full 2 hours to listen to Muddu Krishna’s version of why he had to donate the liver. Phew…anything is possible in ‘Posanian’ world!