Oh Manapenney movie review: Harish Kalyan, Priya Bhavanishankar lead a faithful remake

Language: Tamil There’s always a moral dilemma when it comes to writing about remakes. Do we compare them to the original? Or do we see them as stand-alone films? Some people might prefer to watch a remake with fresh eyes. But I always watch the original before seeing a different version, just to identify if there’s a shift in storytelling. It interests me to know if the filmmaker has picked a new vantage point to the same story. Karthikk Sundar’s Oh Manapenney, a remake of the Telugu film Pelli Choopulu, stays largely faithful to the original. The very successful 2016 Telugu film had launched director Tharun Bhascker and Vijay Deverakonda as names to look out for. Oh Manapenney retains both Pelli Choopulu’s strength and a few of its weaknesses. Karthik (Harish Kalyan) is a happy-go-lucky engineering graduate who likes cooking. But, his strict father coerces him to meet prospective brides and get married. He meets Shruthi (Priya Bhavani Shankar), a gold-medallist business graduate who aspires to become a businesswoman. As they exchange stories, they see a possibility for collaboration. They revive Shruthi’s food truck business. But they are like chalk and cheese. Are they able to set differences apart and make it work?

Oh Manapenney gets its casting right. Harish Kalyan and Priya Bhavani Shankar easily slip into their roles to recreate the chemistry that anchors the film.

The rest of the film is also well cast – the most noteworthy of them being Venu Aravind, who is very convincing as the overbearing, conservative father. It also effectively retains some of Pelli Choopulu’s most important themes. Take the conversation Karthik has with Shruthi’s father. The latter had wanted a son and was disappointed that he ended up with a daughter. Karthik speaks from a place of true emotion when he says: “Had you gotten a useless son like me, then you would know how amazing your daughter is”. Some of the writing is also altered to suit its actors better. While Pelli Choopulu had a Mouna Raagam-like flashback between Chitra and her ex-boyfriend, Oh Manapenney opts for a plot that feels closer to Varanam Aayiram. And since Harish Kalyan plays the lead, references to Dharala Prabhu and Ispade Raja are made. Even Venu Aravind gets a Selvi reference. The situational humour comes across as well, even though some of the hilarious gestures from Karthik’s grandmother get pushed to the background. But Oh Manapenney also inherits some of _Pelli Choopulu’_s emotional inconsistencies. We don’t truly understand Karthik’s emotional arc. What truly prompts Karthik to give a monologue at Shruthi’s house? How did he miraculously begin to accept responsibility after being so laid back? It also skates through the business aspects. How do they get customers to come and try their food at new locations? How do they create a brand or retain customer value when they keep shifting? It would have been great to see the film sketch out some of these things in greater detail. Vishal Chandrasekhar’s music proves to be a great strength to the film. I especially loved ‘The Lazy Song’ which beautifully fuses the old with the new. (A freshTamilian take on Bruno Mars’ concept.) The album and score are vibrant, adding more zest to the colourful visual aesthetics. To sum up, Oh Manapenney is a light, breezy film about love and aspirations. It might work better if watched as a stand-alone film, without the lingering presence of Pelli Choopulu looming ahead of it. Oh Manapenney is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar Multiplex. Ashameera Aiyappan is a film journalist who writes about Indian cinema with a focus on South Indian films Watch Oh Manapenney trailer here