Producer Siva Lenka Krishna Prasad did everything right for Mithrudu. Yet he will soon realize that, you can’t do enough things right if you fundamentally chose to do the wrong thing. And that is trying to tell a story where there is none to be told.

What is it about : It is about the story of Aditya (Balakrishna) who is introduced as a hard-drinking lonely man who (in his own words) is “waiting to see himself die”. Into such a life, walks Indu (Priyamani) who longs for him, loves him and then (rather) quickly marries him. We are then treated to the first twist in the tale. Indu does not love Aditya. She married him because her jathakam says her first husband will die within 30 days. After his death, she wants to marry her true love Madhu . Aditya though reluctant at first takes Indu to his heart and forgives her for her childishness and decides to protect her. Immediately after her wedding to Aditya, Madhu with the help of her mama J.B.Dhan (Brahmanandam, as usual well cast and effective) decides to elope with Madhu to India. Balakrishna intervenes and decides to teach Madhu a lesson. Once in India, they meet Indu’s father (Ranganath) who repeatedly insults Aditya as an orphan and a vagabond. Madhu then implicates Aditya in a murder and as predicted in the Jathakam Balakrishna is knocked down in an accident and lies in the hospital “awaiting his death.” And then director Mahadev introduces us to the second twist in the tale. This is about the circumstances that lead to Aditya becoming an orphan. We are shown how Ranganath is unwittingly responsible for a tragic accident that wipes out Aditya’s entire family. A grief stricken Ranganath repents and welcomes his son-in law. Director Mahadev builds up a reasonably pacy climax which shows Aditya bashing up the baddies and reuniting with his wife.

What is Good: Music by Mani Sharma, comedy by Brahmanandam and of course Balakrishna’s performance. Unfortunately for the film these are only good in parts – especially in the first half. The first half has three good songs, neat situational comedy by Krishna Bhagwan and Brahmanandam and measured performance by Balakrishna. Chandramohan’s villainy in the second half has a neat directorial touch and is a surprise element. Dance sequences in Malaysia are well choreographed as are the fights.

What is bad: Balakrishna’s movies are famous for their punch dialogues. Mithrudu has none that are good enough to linger on! The second half is very weak and even die-hard Balakrishna films will only term it average. In fact, it looks like a rehashed version of Okka Magaadu. Balakrishna acts well, but his age shows – puffed cheeks and dreary eyes do not render well in a phase where heroes flaunt six-pack abs. Same is the case with Priyamani. She looks awful and could do well with a physical trainer. One wonders if Balakrishna is nearing his sell-by date as a hero. The music in the second half lacks energy and the songs are thrust to fill in movie time. A bad second half will definitely overshadow a good first half and therein lies the fault line of the whole movie. Like all movies that has a “crowded comedy cast”, a lot of them (like Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam) are wasted.

Me Thinks:Watch it for an easy paced first half. You will like Brahmanandam’s and Krishna Bhagwan’s comedy. Balakrishna’s songs too are well shot.

Tailpiece: Even after 2 ½ hours I could not figure out the relevance of the title “Mithrudu.” Except for Priyamani, Balakrishna is either rude, sarcastic or indifferent to everybody else he meets in this movie. What is so friendly about that? Looks like the director knows something we don’t