Middle Class Melodies premiered on 20th November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video. Directed by Vinod Ananthoju with a screenplay by Janardhan Pasumarthi and Vinod Ananthoju, the Telugu-language comedy-drama film stars Anand Devarakonda, Varsha Bollamma, Chaitanya Garikipati, Divya Sripada, Goparaju Ramana, and Surabhi Prabhavati alongside other cast members.
Bombay Chutney!
Middle Class Melodies revolves around the life of Raghava (Anand Deverakonda) who belongs to a middle-class family and helps his father Kondal Rao (Goparaju Ramana) run their small food serving business and believes he makes the best Bombay chutney in town. Raghava is one of those people who go unnoticed in a crowd and aims to build a hotel for himself in Guntur with his tastiest Bombay chutney.
Raghava’s days are mostly around arguments with his father and working in and around their small food business while his mother tries to be the peacemaker. As the story progresses, we are introduced to Sandhya (Varsha Bollamma) who has a soft corner for him and so does he. What follows is a story of Raghava’s dream, love, and road bumps as he tries to change his destiny and succeed.
A lot of times when we see middle-class families through a lens there is the glorification of the idea of belonging to that tier of society. But Middle Class Melodies offers a lot of room to its story and characters so that they don’t look like caricatures. A mother who is often subjected as just the householder and peacemaker is shown here as someone rational, real, and affectionate. While the entire idea of the film is about dreams, the film has more to it than what is there on the surface.
The idea of bringing warmth and connection to the screen flourishes here. Middle Class Melodies gives viewers enough time to relate and connect with the blooming character in various shapes and forms. Even characters with small screen times accounted to them are stars and resourceful to the screenplay. The film sets itself in the boundaries of reality, we see people of Kolakaluru, at one moment, talking about Trump and his nuisance and on the other, calling each other out to witness a brawl.
Deverakonda as Raghava plays the role of a small-town boy with aspirations and determination with perfection. You not only see his strength and love but also his vulnerabilities as he keeps it all out there. He is not only bothered by the entire idea of money and hotel but also by the mango tree that covers his hotel and is right in front of it. And with all this, there’s his father who just won’t quit.
Bollamma as Sandhya is impressive and graceful. She loves Raghava but his father just won’t agree and she struggles on the inside with a lot of thoughts and her family and love. Chaitanya Garikipati as Gopal, Radghava’s best friend, is a friend almost everyone wishes for as he stands through the thick and thin with Raghava. However, he is a believer in stars and astronomy and hurts the girl he loves just because their DOB is different and they don’t match astrologically.
Each and every character in the film has depth and detail to them. Nobody is there just for the sake of it and adds to the narrative idea in Middle Class Melodies.
Stream It or Skip It
STREAM IT! Middle Class Melodies is a heartwarming film that doesn’t aspire to run beyond its idea and narrative. It is not just about the hero and how he grows and stumbles but also about everyone who aids him in this journey of dreams and love and how everyone adds their own spice to Raghava’s Bombay chutney. Now whether he will ever win, or if his Bombay chutney was worth eating in the first place is for you to find out!
Middle Class Melodies is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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