It gets annoying sometimes that no matter what the context/storyline/character sketches, in the end it is the hero, wearing sunglasses, bent-neck looks, smashing random people, who saves the day. Miss Match takes it two notches further.
The movie goes from social drama, to environmental drama, to sports drama, to romantic drama, and none of the parts fit with the next. For, only in such a movie can an Asiad gold medallist be made to feel like a loser, because she isn’t like other “girls”.
Siddhu/Siddharth (Uday Shankar) is a whiz kid from IIT Kharagpur, soft-spoken and shy. Maha (Aishwarya Rajesh) is a wrestling champion, outspoken, stubborn and bold (daughter of a wrestling coach played by Pradeep Rawat). Maha falls in love with Siddhu when they meet during a youth summit, and is unwavering about it. Siddhu on the other hand tries to show that they are entirely different individuals, from very different families, a mismatch.
The movie tries to differentiate between two ways of living. Maha’s family is emotional and candid, but full of flaring tempers. Siddhu’s family is conservative and traditional. It is obvious from the start that Maha’s free-spirited, uninhibited way of behaving would clash with that of Siddhu’s family (who stereotypically want her to quit wrestling after marriage provoking a fight between the two families).
But the story takes a different turn when Maha’s village is under threat due to a cement factory (that popular fixture in all Telugu movies that need a plot), and Siddhu, the recycling expert, has to come help Maha. No matter how cute their original storyline, they can’t do without rockstar heroes saving the day.
From magically shutting down a dangerous factory by turning into a pollution control officer to taking Maha to the Asian Games (car chases/fights and all that), the hero dominates the entire second half. The wrestling champion, meanwhile, becomes coy girl clapping as the IITian pulverises goons (with rock music OST).
Remember Dangal, a movie on wrestling that didn’t have one song that doesn’t further the story? But here we are, an imaginary dream song between a scientist and a wrestler, as they dance in a colourful studio somewhere. That’s how movie-makers go off target.
The movie suffers from terrible editing. One moment you are watching the hero fighting random goons, another moment you are watching the Asian Games where a gold medal is at stake but Maha is “distracted” because of the hero’s presence in the stadium. (Imagine a wrestler in the Asiad finals telling the hero “I’ve already won now that you are here”). In fact, most of the dialogues feel like they have been borrowed from random scenes.
Bottomline, the movie (written by Bhupathy Raja and directed by Nirmal Kumar) feels like a story that was probably written by someone with the right intentions before someone else decided to turn it into the typical all-about-the-hero movie. And then, the movie ends just as randomly as it starts – with Siddhu’s family “giving Maha one chance to learn how to behave the way women behave”. Kudos!
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.