Jaanu Movie Review

Telugu360 Rating 3/5

Iconic Tamil hit 96 is remade into Telugu as Jaanu starring Sharwanand and Samantha Akkineni in the lead roles. The Tamil version is a runaway hit at box office and piqued the interest of movie buffs beyond boundaries in all other languages. Telugu audience also embraced 96 very well and producer Dil Raju roped in director Prem Kumar who helmed the original version to recreate the magic in Telugu. Prem Kumar has slightly tweaked the story line to suit the sensibilities of Telugu audience.

Can the Telugu version evoke a similar response like 96 ?? Let’s find out.

Story:

Ram, a travel photographer visits his native place Vizag. While passing by his school, where he first met his love Janaki two decades ago, Ramu becomes nostalgic and contacts all his school friends via whatsapp group. They plan a reunion in Hyderabad where Ram meets Janaki first time after school. Rest of the story is how Ram Janaki open up too late about their love

Analysis:

K. Ramachandra decides to pay a visit to his school en route. Like any other film which deals with coming of age theme, majority of the first half revolves around the infatuation of 10 th grade students Janaki and Ramachandra. Ram, being a shy guy, was unable to express his love towards Janaki. When they enter 11 th grade Ram’s family relocates to a different town. Since then Ram Janu never meet each other. Set in 2019, school reunion of 2004 batch turns into a reunion Ram and Jaanu. First half of the film is decent and sets the premise for emotional second half.

The purity in their mutual love is the underlying reason for the success of this script. It is not an easy task to engage the audience while narrating a whole story between four walls. Be it hotel room or Ram’s house – majority of the second half runs indoors but still engage the audience.

Jaanu film portrays true love shared by two beautiful souls. In present day’s society, it is impossible to expect a love story like Ram and Janu. But their characterizations make you root for them. Director C. Prem Kumar deserves the whole credit for his skill in handling a sensible subject.

The slow-motion shots make us feel the emotion of characters and their moral dilemma. Music composer Govind Menon’s score is a big plus for the film as it helps us feel the happiness, the dilemma and the purity that the characters have to deal with. Telugu dialogues writer Kiran Kumar Reddy ( Mirchi Kiran) did a commendable job.

Performances:

Sharwanand as Ramachandra is a good fit in the role. Samantha aces her performance as a woman. Younger sharwa is cool as well.Vennela Kishore , Tagubothu Ramesh play Sharwa’s Childhood friends roles. Remaining characters are less significant

Positives:

• Heartwarming emotions
• Hero, Heroines performance
• Good Songs, music
• Clean film

Negatives:

• Slow Paced narration

Verdict:
Jaanu is a faithful remake that is able to recreate the essence of its original. Second half has many heartwarming scenes and dialogues. Sharwanand, Samantha’s great performance and background score are excellent. It would be interesting to see how Telugu Audience will lap up this matured love story.

Telugu360 Rating 3/5