Story:
Lakshman (Vinod Kishan), a B.Tech graduate, is unemployed. He dreams of becoming a real estate broker and earning crores, while living off his wife Varalakshmi’s (Anusha Krishna) earnings. On the other hand, Varalakshmi works small jobs to support her family. In this background, Lakshman meets NRI woman Swetha (Rethika Srinivas) and becomes close to her. This leads to fights between Varalakshmi and Lakshman. They separate. How do their lives change after that? Does Lakshman, who built castles in the air, become successful? Or does he not? How many hardships does Varalakshmi face and finally stand on her own feet? This is the story of the film.
Plus Points:
- Director Neelagiri Mamilla has written this script with good nativity and natural characters based on the lives of lower-middle-class couples, which is a plus for the film.
- The drama woven by the director around an unemployed husband and a wife who tolerates him is also good.
- Vinod Kishan has acted very well in his role as the hero.
- Anusha Krishna, who played the heroine, also acted wonderfully. She acted very naturally in some scenes.
- Vinod Kishan and Anusha Krishna, both with their performances, have shown how middle-class lives are.
- Rethika Srinivas, who played another key role, also acted very well and impressed.
- The way the character of Lakshman, the husband, has degraded as a human being is also good.
- The way it is shown how wives who are subjected to harassment should grow in their lives is also good.
Minus Points:
- Even though the natural characters written by director Neelagiri Mamilla and the realistic scenes that revolve around them are good, the screenplay of this Pekamedalu is slow.
- The director took a long time to establish the characters’ behaviors.
- The scenes that take place until Rethika Srinivas’s character enters are also very simple and uninteresting.
- Even though the scenes around Rethika Srinivas’s character are good, the ending of that character could have been better.
- Similarly, a stronger conflict should have been written between the characters of Lakshman and Varalakshmi.
- The climax sequence is good, but it could not be fully impressive.
- Overall, the director took the film with interesting content but diverted the story with unnecessary scenes.
Technical Department:
- Talking about the technicians, the songs provided by music director Smaran Sai are good.
- Similarly, the background score also impressed in some scenes.
- When it comes to editing, if the lag scenes had been trimmed even tighter, it would have been a plus for the film.
- Hariharan’s cinematography is good. The slum visuals have been shown naturally and beautifully.
- The production values of producer Rajesh Warre are good.
Verdict:
This ‘Pekamedalu’ film, which is based on the lives of a middle-class couple in the slums of the city, is impressive in some places. However, the simple storyline and the lack of interest in the screenplay in some places stand as weaknesses for the film. However, the performances of Vinod Kishan and Anusha Krishna and the slum drama in the film are impressive. Overall, some elements in this slum realistic drama will connect well with a section of the audience.
