Some movies give you a headache, some give you euphoria. Some barely register in your mind, neither good nor bad, the kind of movies where you think of your phone a dozen times, and keep drifting. Jodi is one such movie. It is not egregiously bad, but it’s pointless. And its story arc, at any given point, almost flows as if the next point has been picked by a random number generator. No ulterior plot, no ulterior motive, lesson or moral.
The romantic drama is neither dramatic nor romantic, although it pretends to come close at times to being both. The movie has three distinct storylines. The romance between Kapil (Aadi Saikumar) and Kanchana (Shraddha Srinath) is the first of the three, where there are no strong reasons for why the duo fall in love with each other. I mean you don’t really want to marry someone because a person gives money to beggars or avoids using a straw for coconut water, do you? But they do. They are just two people who were probably waiting to fall for someone pleasant-looking, and fall they do.
Enter second storyline: Kapil’s rivalry with Avinash. There is no enmity per se, but the two bump into each other twice, and twice comically egoistic business tycoon Avinash is humbled by good samaritan Kapil, and now Avinash is out for blood. (Like seriously, guys?) In the world of clichés, this will get the bottom rung, probably. The third semi-decent storyline is that of Kapil’s father and his gambling addiction that has somehow interwoven itself with Kanchana’s past. Most of the story is about Kapil trying to impress Kanchana’s uncle, who holds a grudge against Kapil’s father for being a bad influence on his own elder brother (Kanchana’s father).
While the storyline is okay (I mean, what can we expect these days when producers are randomly investing hundreds of crores to blow up automobiles without worrying about a good plot?), the movie is all about fortuitous events. Hero saves an old man and the girl he is crushing on and trying to find turns out to be the man’s granddaughter. Hero has a rivalry with someone he barely knows, and yet their fathers are friends. Hero wants to prove himself, someone in his lover’s family falls seriously sick. Hero wants the solution to a problem, and he randomly comes across the one weakness of his rival. What’s the fun really?
Technically, the movie is pretty and the music by Phani Kalyan has a nice soothing touch to it. The camera work by Vishweshwar is clean. But director Vishwanath’s movie takes weird turns. There is zero script, zero logic. It is just a bunch of things happening randomly because well, how else can the story reach its ending and liberate the audience. Thankfully, the movie has only one, albeit clichéd, annoying one-sided fight. Thankfully, the movie has Vennela Kishore, who gives you a good laugh or two. Thankfully, it is a short movie with a couple of good actors who do the job their scriptwriters don’t deserve to have.
Shraddha Srinath, who is almost getting typecast into a ‘meaningful-role-female-protagonist’, plays a dumbed down version, and yet turns in a fairly good performance. The camera loves her and she dominates every frame she is in. She is expressive and emotes well. Aadi does what Aadi always does - clichéd, predictable stuff. He is a better actor than that, mind you, but he is probably caught in the whorls of being the all-rounder alpha. He doesn’t fit the part; the sooner he understands that, the better. Naresh, one of the most underrated actors in our industry, is thoroughly wasted in the avatar of an unshaven betting addict. Gollapudi does a fine role as the grandfather, despite his frailty.
All in all, Jodi is a movie that you’ll yawn through and forget the moment you step out of the movie hall (Ya, ya, I made notes, so I remember bits!). It is not jarring or loud, but you wonder what exactly is the movie about. It doesn’t even try to sell itself. Unlike annoying movies that try too hard and get on your nerves, Jodi is a movie that literally tells the audience, ‘why bother!’
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.