Middle Class Melodies

Middle Class Melodies is a 2020 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film directed by debutante Vinod Anantoju, who wrote it with Janardhan Pasumarthi. The film stars Anand Devarakonda and Varsha Bollamma while Chaitanya Garikipati, Divya Sripada, Goparaju Ramana, Surabhi Prabhavati and Prem Sagar play supporting roles. The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on 20 November 2020. Upon release, the film received favourable reviews from critics and audience.[1]

Middle Class Melodies
Release poster
Directed byVinod Anantoju
Produced byVenigalla Anand Prasad
Screenplay byJanardhan Pasumarthi
Vinod Anantoju
Story byJanardhan Pasumarthi (Also dialogue)
Starring
Music byScore:
RH Vikram
Songs:
Sweekar Agasthi
CinematographySunny Kurapati
Edited byRavi Teja Girijala
Production
company
Bhavya Creations
Distributed byAmazon Prime Video
Release date
  • 20 November 2020 (2020-11-20)
Running time
135 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu

Plot

Raghava runs a breakfast center in his village along with his father Kondal Rao. Raghava, who believes in his ability to make the famed Bombay chutney, dreams of starting a hotel and making it big in the nearby city, Guntur. But Kondal Rao is against any such idea. Nevertheless, Raghava with his friend Gopal secretly begins to search for a place suitable for his hotel. His uncle Nageswara Rao offers him a shed for lease but Raghava politely rejects the offer, owing to his complicated relationship with Nageshwara Rao's daughter Sandhya. The shed is located away from the city center and falls behind a giant tree but given the limited sources he has, Raghava later accepts the offer. Kondal Rao reluctantly agrees to fund with the money from his chit fund.

Meanwhile, the chit fund runner defaults on his payment, and Raghava's plans go down the drain. After a hustle-and-bustle, Kondal Rao decides to sell off his land to pay for the shed. Nageshwara Rao who gets to know that the land's value would soon increase multi-fold sees an opportunity to exchange the land for his shed at a low price. Unaware of the asset's real value, Kondal Rao proceeds with Nageshwara Rao's offer. Later, upon knowing that they were tricked, Kondal Rao becomes furious with Raghava.

Raghava opens his hotel in the shed but starts off with heavy losses. Sandhya gets a match from an Assistant Engineer (AE) who works in Nageshwara Rao's office, thanks to now-increased land value. Kondal Rao who learns about his son's relation with Sandhya asks Nageshwara Rao to marry them but Nageshwara Rao favours the AE instead. Soon after, the land's value is decreased again and the AE's family calls off the match. Nageshwara Rao, with no option left, agrees on Raghava and Sandhya's marriage, but Raghava challenges that he wouldn't marry until the hotel becomes profitable.

Raghava begins to address the hotel's issues such as cleaning up the dump yard behind and improving his Bombay chutney's recipe. Slowly his business starts to pick up. Meanwhile, the AE who is now adamant about marrying Sandhya, tells Nageshwara Rao that he is ready for the match. On their way to Nageshwara Rao's house, the AE's family boards the auto whose driver intends to marry Gautami, Gopal's love interest. He accidentally runs into Gopal and hits him. Gopal calls Raghava to take on the auto driver. During the confrontation with the auto driver, Raghava slaps the AE as he tries to stop the fight. Sandhya arrives and controls Raghava, and the AE realizes that he can no longer marry her. Raghava and Sandhya arrive at the Nageshwara Rao's house, and they are married later. Nageshwara Rao transfers the land to Sandhya and its value is increased yet again. A new hotel with a similar name is opened to compete against Raghava's now popular hotel and he is seen confronting it.

Cast
  • Anand Devarakonda as Raghava
  • Varsha Bollamma as Sandhya
  • Chaitanya Garikipati as Gopal
  • Divya Sripada as Gauthami
  • Goparaju Ramana as Kondalrao
  • Surabhi Prabhavati as Lakshmi
  • Prem Sagar as Nageswara Rao
  • Prabhavati Varma as Kamala
  • Deshi as Seenu
  • Katta Anthony as Anjaih
  • Mahipal as Auto Driver
  • Chanakya Tejas as Surendra
  • Tharun Bhascker as AE (cameo appearance)
  • Vinod Anantoju as a man in Guntur (cameo appearance)

Production

The film was shot in Guntur and Kolakaluru.[2][3] Anand Devarakonda plays a middle class boy and Varsha Bollamma was cast as the lead actress.[4][5] All of the characters speak in the Guntur dialect for the film.[6][7] Devarakonda learned cooking for the film.[8] Sunny Kurapati, who worked as the cinematographer for Dorasaani (2019), is the cinematographer for this film.[9]

Music

The songs are composed by Sweekar Agasthi while the score is by RH Vikram.[6][3] There are five songs in the film.[10] The music was released on Aditya Music.[11]

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."The Guntur"Kittu VissapragadaAnurag Kulkarni2:59
2."Sandhya"Sanapati Bharadwaj PatruduSweekar Agasthi3:51
3."Keelu Gurram"Sanapati Bharadwaj PatruduAnurag Kulkarni, Sweekar Agasthi, Ramya Behara4:56
4."Sambasiva"Palnadu JanapadamRam Miryala2:46
5."Manchido Cheddadho"Sanapati Bharadwaj PatruduVijay Yesudas4:43
6."Vechani Mattilo"Sai KiranSweekar Agasthi2:35
Total length:21:49

Release

The film was initially scheduled to release in early 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.[10] It was released on Amazon Prime Video on 20 November 2020.[12]

Reception

Hemanth Kumar of the Firstpost rated the film ​3 1⁄2 out of five and wrote, "Middle Class Melodies is a heartwarming drama, and it treats its world and characters with a great amount of verve and emotional heft, while never losing its touch with humour." He added that the film makes "plenty of space" for its supporting characters, with a particular praise to Goparaju Ramana who played Kondal Rao.[13] The News Minute's Jahnavi Reddy also echoed the same, "The strong performances of the supporting cast overshadow Varsha and Anand," she wrote, awarding the film ​3 1⁄2 of 5 stars.[14] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "As much as everyone keeps touting the “big-screen experience”, the biggest boon of OTT platforms may be that they are helping these smaller films find an audience beyond the home state".[15]

The Hindu critic Sangeetha Devi Dundoo, opined that "Middle Class Melodies is a heartwarming addition to new-age Telugu cinema."[16] Haricharan Pudupeddi writing for Hindustan Times, stated that "The small town milieu is captured beautifully and as authentically as possible. It’s so close to reality that you feel like you’re sitting with the characters and having a close-to-heart conversation."[17] Manoj Kumar of the The Indian Express, who gave the film 2/5, felt that "Vinod Anantoju could have benefited from fine-tuning moments that define the very nature of the middle class."[18]

References
  1. Janani K. (20 November 2020). "Vijay Deverakonda had this to say about brother Anand's Middle Class Melodies". India Today. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  2. "Young Hero Anand Devarakonda's next Titled as Middle Class Melodies". The Hans India. 11 July 2020.
  3. "Anand Deverakonda and Varsha Bollamma team up for Middle Class Melodies - Times of India". The Times of India.
  4. "Anand Deverakonda's next titled Middle Class Melodies". The New Indian Express.
  5. "Middle Class Melodies to get OTT release". The New Indian Express.
  6. "Anand Deverakonda shares Varsha Bollamma's first-look as Sandhya from Middle Class Melodies - Times of India". The Times of India.
  7. "Anand picks up Guntur slang to play a middle class Andhra abbayi next - Times of India". The Times of India.
  8. Adivi, Sashidhar (12 July 2020). "Anand Deverakonda goes the extra mile". Deccan Chronicle.
  9. Chowdhary, Y. Sunita (3 July 2019). "A tonal shift in his lens view". The Hindu.
  10. "ఆనంద్ దేవరకొండ రెండో సినిమా రెడీ.. ఈసారి గుంటూరు యాసలో!" [Anand Devarakonda's second movie is ready .. this time in Guntur dialect!]. Samayam Telugu (in Telugu).
  11. "Middle Class Melodies Full Songs Jukebox | Anand Devarakonda | Vinod Ananthoju | Sweekar Agasthi - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  12. "Anand Deverakonda's 'Middle Class Melodies' on Amazon Prime". NTV Telugu.
  13. "Middle Class Melodies movie review: Anand Devarakonda fits the bill in a tale that's all heft and heart - Entertainment News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  14. "'Middle Class Melodies' review: A heartfelt comedy brought alive by the supporting cast". The News Minute. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  15. "Middle Class Melodies On Amazon Prime Video, With Anand Deverakonda And Varsha Bollamma: A Charming Slice Of Small-Town Life". FilmCompanion. 25 November 2020.
  16. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (20 November 2020). "'Middle Class Melodies' movie review: A charming film that rings real". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  17. "Middle Class Melodies movie review: A charming film about love, dreams and togetherness". Hindustan Times. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  18. "Middle Class Melodies review: This Anand Devarakonda-starrer hits the wrong note". The Indian Express. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
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