Miss India Movie Review
T360 RATING : 2/5
Story :
Miss India film focuses on women empowerment as its core theme. Ms. Manasa Samyuktha is a middle-class girl from Lambasingi, Andhra Pradesh. Taking inspiration from her grandfather (Rajendra Prasad) an ayurvedic doctor renowned for making Herbal Tea, Manasa aspires to be an entrepreneur. However, her family circumstances become obstacles to reach her dreams. Finally, with a job offer for her brother, she moves to USA along with the family. Things turn around for the better, Manasa finishes MBA in USA, and pursues her dream of selling Indian Chai in the USA. The rest of the story is about is her journey as she tries to make her brand ‘Miss India’ a success.
Analysis :
‘ Miss India ‘ is a nice subject on paper. The film got its casting right – the heroine and support characters are played by seasoned artists. Being shot in USA and in good sets, the production values are very adequate. With all these advantages, the director could have delivered a much better product. Unfortunately, the script and direction are a big letdown for this film.
The director has used up first 35 minutes, a very long period, to establish the struggles within heroine’s family. Manasa’s (Keerthy Suresh) dad suffers with Alzheimer’s, her grandfather dies, sister elopes & gets married to her boyfriend etc… every cinematic struggle known to the film industry is attributed to Manasa. Once the story moves to USA, things get better but now another problem starts, this time with the script. In the process of portraying Manasa as a self-confident lady, the director has chosen cinematic liberty path rather than intelligent and inspiring one.
The protagonist’s path to success credits no creativity, its simply modeled like any other mass hero film. The over emphasis on the taste of Indian tea gets irritating real fast. Jagapathi Babu’s character seems immature, could have been so much better designed. The conflict point i.e. the showdown between Keerthy Suresh & Jagapathi Babu‘s business did not work well. All in all, the second half of the film is as dull as first.
Manasa‘s characterization as a self-made woman, a dare to dream woman entrepreneur is the only saving grace in the film. Few scenes highlighting women capabilities came well.
Background score & music by Thaman is a positive, theme music is good. Other departments are mediocre.
Performances:
Keerthy Suresh as Manasa is top class. She looks gracious and handled the role of an ambitious girl with ease. Other artists, Jagapathi Babu, Rajendra Prasad, Naresh, Nadhiya etc… have done justice to their roles but there is not much substance to their characters. Naveen Chandra, Kamal Kamaraju played the roles of her boyfriend, brother respectively.
Verdict:
‘Miss India‘ is a film made with big ambitions that achieved only a little. Women audience may find this film as an average one, for other sections it offers nothing. Huge star cast is wasted in this insipid script in the name of Women Empowerment.
TELUGU360 RATING : 2/5
Actors : Keerthy Suresh, Naveen Chandra, Nadiya, Jagapathi Babu
Director: Narendra Nath
Producer: Mahesh S. Koneru
Music director: S. Thaman
Languages: Telugu, Tamil