Manmatha Leelai Movie Review

Filmmaker Venkat Prabhu owns distinct craftsmanship in keeping the audiences engaged with his movies irrespective of genres and is here with Manmatha Leelai. The filmmaker, who witnessed a massive success with last year’s release ‘Maanaadu’ comes up with a quickie titled ‘Manmatha Leelai’ featuring Ashok Selvan, Riya Suman, Samyuktha Hegde, and Smruthi Venkat in the lead roles.

The year 2010

Sathya (Ashok Selvan), a playboy, who has been chatting online with a beautiful girl Poorni (Samyuktha Hegde) feels a sigh of relief when her father (Jayaprakash) is away from home. His attempts to enjoy the night get hampered when the father returns.

The year 2020

Sathya, a reigning fashion designer is married to Anu (Smruthi Venkat) and is blessed with a daughter. When she is away from home, he invites a bootylicious girl Anu (Riya Suman) to his house for a no-strings-attached night. But the history repeats when the family is back in an uncalled-for manner.

How the protagonist manages to tackle the situation and save the ship from sinking forms the crux.

It is worth mentioning that Venkat Prabhu made this movie for the OTT platform release, and it is so much evident with the shoestring budget. The locations and characterizations are limited, but his screenwriting looks promising. Well, the first half is dedicated to the teens, who are in for a treat, but then, the unexpected twist by the second hour shifts us to a different domain with thriller moments. That’s where Venkat Prabhu shines brilliantly.

The musical score by Premgi Amaran and cinematography by Tamizhalagan are the biggest plus. When everything looks perfect, VP’s finishing seems to be a problem here. He is capable of giving the best completion in all his movies, but this one looks like the one completed in a hurried manner.

As cited above, it’s an OTT platform material. Yes, if you’re watching the movie in theaters, you won’t be disappointed, but it’s not the greatest showpiece from this versatile filmmaker.