Very pedestrian

Hari Yeleti chooses the theme of love and friendship -- an oft-chosen path for his debut Telugu film Ankith Pallavi & Friends (APF) which somehow fails to hold attention despite efforts to do so.

Ankith, Pallavi, Sunil, Raja and Gopi are a group of friends just out of college. Rather Ankith (Nikhil Siddarth) has flunked graduation but aspires to be a musician. He is totally steeped in music and hopes to make an album one day. He is a guy who believes in luck and destiny.

Pallavi (Meghha Burman) believes in hard work in achieving success. She works in a software firm. Raja has done his MBA but wants to do social work. Gopi wants to go the USA and lead a good life there. Sunil wants to turn a businessman.

Agreed the movie is about happiness (according to the director) and how to find it in life but there are perhaps more interesting ways of doing so.

The first half of the movie moves at a slow pace and delineates the group of friends' interests, ambitions, etc. None of them taste success in life. Very soon we find Ankith and Pallavi falling in love. There is not much build-up to their romance. And then there is the separation between the two. The reason? Different views and outlook towards life. Haven't we seen such things umpteen times before on screen?

The film is rather simplistic and tackles the situation between the lovers in a basic way. Perhaps Hari Yeleti could have added more dimensions to this love story to make it more engaging and appealing. This way, he relegates it to yet another pedestrian love story.

The performances are just about average. Malini Dasari's camera work is pleasing to the eye. Some musical compositions of Vinu Thomas' are good.

As there is nothing new or different in APF, the viewer may feel disappointed at the end of it.

Rediff Rating: