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 What’s the story? :
Pawan Kalyan stars as Micheal Velayudham. He’s based in Cape Town, South Africa and aspires to be an investment banker. One day, he bumps into Meera Shastri (Trisha) at a pub and the two fall for each other. Meera believes in long term relationships and marriage, but Pawan is quite the opposite. He doesn’t want any commitments and prefers to show his love in the most casual of terms, just like the way he leads his life. When Meera decides to go back to India, he convinces Meera to break up their relationship; however the two agree to be friends. Meanwhile, he meets Senapathi (Paresh Rawal) at a coffee shop. The latter is aware of the unusual relationship which Micheal and Meera share. And then, he tells Micheal the story of his friend Arjun Palvai (Pawan Kalyan), who 30 years ago in Varanasi, fell in love with a girl named Vasumathi (Kriti) and fought with every possible person around to marry her. How this story affects Micheal’s outlook on life and love in particular forms the rest of the story which has been poignantly written.
The film is a remake of Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal which pitched an interesting perspective of how the definition of love has changed over the past few decades. Yet, at the core of its existence, love remains the same. Once it strike’s someone’s heart, it’s hard to control the emotions until it’s expressed. The good thing about Teen Maar is how it has been adapted from the original. For once, an adaptation doesn’t make mincemeat of the original and thanks to some brilliant work by the trio – Pawan Kalyan, Jayant and Trivikram, the film assumes a new life of its own. The major change can be seen in the parallel story of Arjun Palvai. He’s a hot blooded young man who wouldn’t tolerate anyone wagging their tongues on Vasumathi and comes across as a righteous man who would always stand up for what’s right. On the other hand, Micheal Velayudham’s anger and frustration of having lost the girl, whom he can’t live without, is very well captured.
Teen Maar is a Pawan Kalyan’s show all the way. His presence in almost every other frame in the film is proof enough. He’s incredibly funny at times and also quite serious when it comes to issues related to love towards the end. There are glimpses of Pawan Kalyan last seen in films like Suswagatham and Tholiprema; the very aspect of him which made him a household name. And the fact that he has done two roles in the film comes as an icing on the cake. If Arjun Palvai owns the screen with his straight forward approach, Micheal Velayudham is like a lot of us who still cling on to our memories and ultimately succumbing to that overwhelming feeling called love.
Among other actors, Trisha is adorable as Meera. She is independent and quite aware of the consequences of her decisions. Her conversations with Pawan Kalyan are well written and she does well in the emotional scenes as well. Paresh Rawal plays a good supporting role and so does Donna, who plays the role of Michelle. Except for the make-up, Kriti Kharbanda does justice to the important role she plays. Her character, Vasumathi is quite meek and the role requires her to convey a lot of emotions through her eyes.
The film isn’t however without its share of minor flaws. As the film unravels, the pace of narration becomes a major issue. Also, the first half of the film throws up a lot more questions than required about the characters it introduces. The re-recording and dubbing aren’t in sync at times. The aspect of live-in relationships is quite new to Telugu cinema which has shied away from embracing this change. Perhaps, that’s one reason why most of the story is set in South Africa. It’s quite common there, you know! And to expect people, who have been brainwashed to believe that love is forever and all issues pertaining to love after the girl’s marriage to someone else be laid to rest, to appreciate this latest fad and the twist in the tale would be walking on a tight rope. Also, the unnecessary fights to elevate the hero’s character could have been avoided. It’s a different issue that the film is narrated convincingly and a happy ending ensure that such minor glitches doesn’t hamper the film.
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