A movie-review:- "AKKA MOGUDU"

[Dr. Gururaja R. Vemaganti]

Subject: A movie-review:- "AKKA MOGUDU"

Although the name appears to be little crude, as soon as Dr. Rajasekhar's name
appears along with Suhaasini's name in the titles, we are relieved that the movie
must be atleast above average. (Could someone tell me why most of Rajasekhar's
movies start with the alphabet "A"? for example "AAHUTHI", "ANKUSHAM", "AHANKAARI" etc). There is a clear indication that this is a telugu remake of a tamil original. The story is new and well plotted and is substantiated by a strong screen-play by Rajasekhar. But, too much melodrama in several instances spoils the impression of a good movie.
Ganga (played by Suhaasini) is the eldest(AKKA) of five sisters whose father (played by KOTA) is way-ward drunk who has deserted them for all practical purposes.
So, Ganga takes the role of their late mother in bringingup the younger sisters and
the complete responsibility. Their father marries this other woman who has some links with the oldest profession in the world (KOTA doesnot know about it till the end)
and she wishes to somehow get the five sisters into the business she is familiar with. Raju(Rajasekhar) is an ex-criminal who spent seven years in the jail for a murder he
committed for a noble cause (in order to save a woman who was being raped) and
starts an auto-repair shop in front of the house where the sisters live. After
some initial misunderstanding, Ganga realizes the noble character of Raju and falls for
him. Kota's second wife kidnaps the younger sisters and forces Ganga to marry her brother
so that she can accomplish what she wants. Raju rescues the sisters and stops the marriagewith the help of a cop friend he knew when he was in the jail. But before marrying Ganga in front of every body, he has to take an owe (as challanged by Kota) of taking the responsibility of the weddings of the younger sisters. Raju has to struggle hard to keep up his promise in the world of misunderstandings and scandals. In addition
to the problems he already has, he acquires a killer decease as revealed to him by the lady
doctor (why would he go to a lady doctor? I am immuned to these kind of things in telugu
movies), the same woman he saved from being raped few years earlier. Ganga is pregnant and Raju's days are nearing and still he needs to find the boy for one of the sisters. This boy's father is a politician and hides the boy somewhere Raju cannot find. Now, Raju on his
last day on earth (the same day his wife goes into labor and the sisters get married) has to
fight umpteen number of hoodlums with hands, legs and head, (as they get paralyzed one by one) releases the fourth bride-groom just in time before the weddings and breathes his last.
The younger sisters pay homage to their brother-in-law (AKKA MOGUDU) by carrying his body
to the grave, against the tradition.
What's good about the movie? the projection of values (old fashioned, yet noble)
by Rajasekhar who does it in all his movies, the informal but loving relationship shared by the sisters and of course the music provided by Illayaraja. It's a kind of relief to see
this movie among several junk movies we see these days.

Gururaja Rao Vemaganti

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