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Fitting Master sermonises

Last updated on: January 15, 2009 11:33 IST

The title of the Telugu film Fitting Master is intriguing. It is to do with the protagonist Sampath who is a master at fitting things. Producer-director E V V Satyanarayana, who also scripts the film, has given his son 'Allari' Naresh a huge role to play. Unlike a typical E V V film, the humour is negligible. He also laces the film with a message.

The first half of the film shows Sampath ('Allari' Naresh), an instructor at a gym as a good guy with values. Meghana (Madalasa Sharma) falls for Sampath. He however does not return the favour. In fact he does not believe in love.

The first half is full of songs and moves at a slow pace. The unfolding of the story leaves the audience thinking about Sampath's behaviour. Obviously he is disturbed by something which is unclear. And this is known only in the second half.

E V V manages to arrest the attention of the audience by not revealing the truth behind Sampath's life. It is only post-interval that we learn of the horrific incidents in his life -- about how he loses his parents and sister, all because of three men. And so the hunt for these three men begins.

At one level, Sampath argues for showing respect to parents as they nurture the children and at another, he does not hesitate to resort to violence. There is quite a bit of sermonising and parents would perhaps even think twice before buying a mobile phone for their daughter if they go by what is shown in the movie. The movie also shows the all-pervading 'interference' of the media (particularly the television channels) in people's lives.

Naresh is the soul of the movie. He carries it on his shoulders and is impressive as the good guy as well as the angry action man. Madalasa Sharma keeps him good company though she can improve on her performance a bit. Sayaji Shinde looks and sounds a bit ridiculous as a cop mouthing lyrics of Telugu film songs. Ali too is not his usual self.  

In a nutshell, movies that sermonise do not generally fare well. It would be interesting to see how this one turns out.

Rediff Rating: 

Radhika Rajamani