Minnaminungu review: Surabhi makes the movie praiseworthy

Surabhi Lakshmi is the only thing that is great about Minnaminungu and guess what? That itself is a big reason to watch this film. Built on the usual mould of melodramatic hardships of the under privileged people, this movie gets a huge boost from its leading lady thus leaving us emotionally disturbed at the end of the film.

A middle aged widow is our leading protagonist. She has a father and daughter to take care of. She works at multiple places to meet with the expenses. Her daughter one day asks her a whopping amount of 6 Lakh Rs for higher education. The poor lady had no idea on what to do and the movie is about her struggle to get this money in a short time.

Like I said, it is the usual story of misery and poverty. In the past we have liked some movies that belonged to this category because of the rooted characters and performances. In the case Minnaminungu, the writing isn’t that engrossing and the melodrama is a bit too much. The predictability of the proceedings is also a villain. But when Surabhi steps in to her character, the film gets a great push and because of her earnest honest performance we finally get to feel the emotion that drives the story. In the last quarter of the movie her performance as that lonely mother is heart wrenching.

Even if it is the body language of the character, Surabhi finds the grip easily. The slang was spot on and she never misses the beat of the drama in the dialogues. Excluding an honest Krishnan Balakrishnan, the rest of the cast can’t really find the correct balance. You could clearly see the stark difference between a good and bad performance as Surabhi was there in almost all frames.

There aren’t any desperate measures to make this film an offbeat movie. But what the treatment from Anil Thomas lacks is uniqueness. Manoj Ram Singh can’t really reduce the amount of clichés in his writing. They could have reduced a lot of verbal explanations and should have made visual exclamations. Cinematography was nice and the background score was okay.

Minnaminungu minus Surabhi Lakshmi is an underwhelming drama that won’t create any emotional impact on you. With her riveting performance as the leading protagonist, the story gives you that much needed ache at the end.