Telugu

Budget Padmanabam
Wasted effort
What are remakes? They are films that the director has to work on even if they are just lifts from the original versions. The director has to make a better product by adding or removing some characters and sub-plots. At least that is what one expects from a seasoned director like SV Krishna Reddy. But while remaking Budget Padmanabam, he has religiously followed the original and dished out a mediocre fare despite having artistes like Jagapati Babu and Ramya Krishnan. Already with an overdose of comedy, the director could have done away with the sub-plot of Vidya but he has stuck to it though it deviates from the protagonist's ambition to own his father’s house by saving money.

Jagapati Babu, a middle-class employee, is very calculative in his spending and saves money in order to get his father’s house back from the clutches of the financiers. He also looks after his sister’s family. His colleague (Ramya Krishnan) falls in love with him despite knowing that he is a miser. When she convinces him that she would give her salary to him, they get married. Against his plans, Ramya delivers three kids and his expenses shoot up when his sister’s family also comes to stay with him. To stop Ramya from resigning, he brings home a maid (Vidya) to look after his children and Ramya begins to doubt her husband’s fidelity. Atlast, after some tense moments, he finally retrieves his house.

The touching moment of the film is when Jagapati, despite getting back the house, leaves it for the financier to live in since his children are unwilling to vacate the house, thus reminding him of his childhood when he was thrown out of the same house.

Poorly choreographed title songs and shoddily picturised flashback portions mar the film.

BVS Prakash