Chandra Siddartha earlier made Aa Naluguru, about altruism, and also Idi Sangathi, about greed. His Andari Banduvaya seems to be again on altruism and this time he works with talented actors like Sarawanad and Padma Priya. Together they all would ideally like to endear the audience with film!

What is it about : Nandu (Sarwanand), a village guy working in the city, is a man who can do anything possible to help anyone. His colleague, Paddu (Padma Priya), is self righteous girl who fights for every single rupee she spends. Both are surprised with each others’ attitude towards ‘helping’ and yet become friends. When for some reason they together end up at Nandu’s village Paddu sees why helping others is a great attribute. What cost do both Nandu and Paddu pay for wanting to help others makes the rest of the story.

For Telugu audiences it isn’t new that the protagonist goes all out to help others. However, this story doesn’t try to reason why altruism is great. It just talks about two altruists, and what they do and what they don’t! Sarwanand’s character is unique in the sense that he doesn’t mind taking, borrowing, working hard or giving away his body parts to those who need help - without expecting anything in return.

What is Good: The most positive thing about Andari Banduvaya is that it got its heart in the right place. There is one scene in which a family and its guest is getting ready for lunch. When the guest who knows that nothing was cooked enquires, she is surprised to see that people from different homes bring delicacies to serve them. While this isn’t a great scene in the film, it surmises its spirit - “whoever does good, gets good in return”.

Sarwanand who excelled in the role of rich arrogant boy in Gamyam and a politically powerful boy in Prasthanam, easily fits into the role of this poor but helpful guy. We will have to see which other actor in Telugu industry has so much to offer in three successive films. He is improving, and if his next two films will go right, he will have proved something to actors (both present and old) on how to choose films.

Padma Priya looks and acts decent in most scenes. She manages to look like a working woman in the film but also eases into designer wear for the songs with oomph. It is a surprise that this belle who debuted in Telugu film six years ago, took so long to do another Telugu film. Obviously she has the talent and penchant for roles that go beyond four songs and few dialogues.

Also having someone like Naresh to do the key role was like walking on a tight rope. Naresh doesn’t just deliver what he is required to, but also manages to get laughs and tears.

The story also showcases the broadmindedness of today’s ‘materialistic’ youth who prefer emotional attachment and take ‘physical attachments’ easy. This concept was treated in a lighter vein because it is a bit too daring for Telugus.

What is bad: One key problem with the script is the way it resolves the problems it created. While few problems are too hackneyed, few others take two or three songs more to be solved. May be this was the director’s way of showing how good happens – it takes time!

While the story sidetracks way too often, the ending, though fairly done, could have been better reasoned. For reasons above the graph of the movie wavers heavily, and leaves you unsure of what to finally say. May be the director wanted the audience to get their own conclusions.

Technical Departments: Dialogues by Balabhadrapatruni Ramani are funny and the little spoof on Bommarillu’s climax dialogue is outright hilarious. But they too vary from being too clichéd to sometimes heartwarming. Cinematography by Gummadi Krishna left something more to be desired. Editing wasn’t great too. It was Anoop Rubens’ background music which becomes a good part of the story telling, and manages to cover the drawbacks in the film. Art too was worth noticing.

Bottomline: A film like this is tough to give a final judgment on. But Andari Banduvaya is about today’s youth, and while this isn’t the main topic of the film, it talks about where youth stands today. It touches topics like Altruism, Money and argues about them taking both sides. While it is good to see Telugu movies finally happening on such topics, the directors need to look at the length of the film, the costs such lengths incur, and the lost audiences because of it.

Watch this movie without hoping to see a wonderful movie. You will enjoy most of it.