With Ashta Chamma, he brings back the good old Telugu on screen. Mohankrishna scripts an entertainer, and in the process, comes up with a winner. It makes it refreshing to see the word play in Telugu. But what sets it apart is the freshness in scripting, the treatment, the characterisation, the subtle humour, good direction and performances which elevate the film. One gets to see clean, genuine comedy and not an unnecessary, enforced one.Īshta Chamma has mainstream features like songs, familiar elements of storyline like lost-and-found-baby on train, romance, bucolic and urban imagery. The youngster quartet completely entertains. Seeking 'Wilde' inspiration (as the credits say To Oscar for 'Wilde' Inspiration), the film treads a wacky path. Should we say the Comedy of Names? Is Mahesh really Mahesh?Īshta Chamma is a rib-tickling romantic comedy from the word go. She is Mahesh's sister who lives in the village and Anand too poses as Mahesh (as she too only wants Mahesh whom she has heard about from her brother). Anand see Varalakshmi's (Bhargavi's) photograph and falls in love with her. Anand befriends Mahesh and then introduces him to Lavanya. Anand comes across a Mahesh (Nani) in a pub. Her neighbour Anand (Srini Avasarala) who can't bear the noise of listening to Mahesh Babu's songs day after day takes on the responsibility of finding a Mahesh for her. In the end, after much coaxing Lavanya agrees to marry somebody named Mahesh. Her aunt is tired of finding matches for her because of her Mahesh fixation. When Mahesh marries Namrata, all the women - young and old are heartbroken.
She even sports a tattoo with his name on her arm. Lavanya ( Swati) is like any Gen-X girl - but slightly quirky, as she is besotted with film star Mahesh Babu. And the 'romantic' yarn Mohankrishna spins is a laugh riot all the way.
Seeking Inspiration from Oscar Wilde for just the central thread of the story, Mohankrishna weaves a narrative about the heroine's fetish and fascination for Mahesh Babu, the Prince of the Telugu screen. What's in a name one may ask? But it's all in the name for Lavanya, the protagonist of Mohankrishna Indraganti's Telugu film Ashta Chamma.