The audio of Maaro was release few years ago, and for reasons unknown, the movie has been released today, that too with a noon show! Inspite of a delayed release, Maaro manages to surprise with some clever moments, but somehow it just doesn’t rise to the occasion!

What’s it about : Few days after a bank is robbed in the city, Sundaram (Nitin), an imbecile, is looking for a job, taking the reference of one Mr. Murthy. When he visits an ex-minster (Kota) with the same talk, the politican, hatches a clever plan invovling Sundaram, Sundaram’s elder brother Rajmohan (Abbas), and Murthy. Sundaram, is involved in a loan fiasco with Venu Madhav, who himself borrows money from strict moneylenders Ali, Krishna Bhagawan and others. Also, Sundaram calls up a TV Show anchor Priya (Meera Chopra) to get his estranged brother talk to him, knowing that Priya knows Rajmohan. Priya is revealed to be the daughter of the manager of the bank, which was robbed. She and her family, sympathise with Sundaram’s ‘unadulterated’ mind, and offer him shelter in their home. Priya soon discovers that Rajmohan hadn’t deserted Sundaram, but Sundaram has been avoiding him. She also realizes that Sundaram seems to supply one of his friends, an IIT dropout, with drugs. Coming to realize shocking truths about a person who has saved her family from few big troubles, Priya confronts Sundaram. Who is Sundaram, what is his story, why does he supply drugs to a friend, what does he say that his brother estranged him and who is Mr.Murthy form the rest of the story.

What is Good : Even though confusing at the beginning, Maaro’s clever moments come from good screenplay. It has numerous stories involving Sundaram and Mr.Murthy, and is woven with many threads. Had this movie been released few years ago, the screenplay writer could have benefitted a lot by now. Another person who missed out on getting benefits from this movie is Meera Chopra. Irrespective of how she plays her role, her character has been etched well. It is refreshing to see a Telugu film, where the hero and heroine do not have a proper love story attached to them, until almost the pre-climax.

Nitin, as the imbecile Sundaram, is convincing to an extent, and ditto with Abbas. The comic situations involving him, Venu Madhav, Ali, Krishna Bhagawan are hilarious and give the audience breathing space from the tight screenplay. Kota Srinivasa Rao lights up the climax, never realizing who Mr.Murthy actually is. That said, there are visible loopholes in the film.

What is bad: The number of cinematic liberties taken in the film is too many. Once the major twist in the screenplay comes, the story becomes quite predictable. Nitin’s acting in key sequences is a disappointment; he never is as heroic as he should have been, while the villain isn’t as villainish. The biggest problem with Maaro is that the director couldn’t handle the intense emotions in the film in key scenes well. As a result, the film ends up like an ordinary revenge drama.

Technical Departments : As already mentioned, screenplay is good, and the dialouge is consistent. But the combination of editing, cinematography and music somehow don’t match with the story. Songs could have been shot well too, but atleast two could have been completely done away with. Nitin seems to have put some effort for the dance sequences and fights too, even though he looks chubby. The director should be appreciated for coming up with a story line such as this one, but it proved to be too complex a task for him.

Bottomline : Maaro is definitely not a bad movie, with complex story threads, and well-acted comic situations. Problem is it lacks ‘something special’.