The Family Star

• Threats of sexual assault
• Violence, blood

• Cast: Vijay Devarakonda, Mrunal Thakur…
• Director, Writer: Parasuram
• Music Director: Gopi Sundar

Govardhan falls in love with his tenant only to find out she was exploiting his life to write her thesis about people facing economic struggles. Out of spite, he obtains a job in a real estate company to make more money but finds out that she is now his boss. Despite this, he stubbornly stays to see the job through and make money for his family.

With a predictable storyline and little innovation, this story has no redeeming factors.

• Direction: Multiple creative choices unnecessarily slowed the movie down. Why the actors couldn’t speak while walking around a room is a baffling question this movie leaves you with. Add to that the mechanical and slow cadence the characters were speaking with. Every slow motion shot that happens between dialogue could’ve happened at regular speed with the dialogue simultaneously, without the slow motion. Scenes depicted during the songs moved quicker than the plot in between. There was also no need for the story to be set up as being narrated by Indu – more of a time waste. On top of all these factors that slowed the movie down, there were ideas delivered too many times. For example, the scenes of Govardhan being stubborn and petty with his boss, Indu, went on for thrice as long as they needed to be. Things like that needed to be either shown faster or cut down.
• Acting: Vijay’s attitude towards his role is nonchalant. He fulfills the role going right over the bare minimum and not an inch more. Mrunal’s acting was clean and adequate to the role she had, doing well in the scenes she has no dialogue as well. Best performances were given by Ravi Prakash who played Govardhan’s elder brother and Vasuki Anand, playing his sister-in-law.
• Production Design: Sets for this movie were alright. Some scenes do try to convince you of their “poverty.” Other scenes where that is not the focus convey a family that is not so strained – like the shiny cooking utensils and Govardhan’s clothing. The transition to the US was well done. Indu gets a shift in wardrobe when she is in her workplace.
• Editing: Not much in this department to say other than we needed less of this movie.
• Music: The background music, while catchy, was misplaced and didn’t support all the scenes it was utilized in. The songs were a medium for depth to be introduced to relationships through the screen time they provided. The actual music and lyrics were mediocre.
• Dialogues: The audience questions so many dialogues which, in a way, works out because the ridiculous words and fluff do catch the audience’s attention. Maybe not in the way they hoped.

• Before the fight sequence, when Govardhan takes his family to the loan shark’s (Ravi Babu) workplace, he starts off by telling the kids he will teach them lessons that won’t be taught in books or schools. He says he will teach them what to do when someone comes after their family and proceeds to do the following:
  • He bashes one of the henchmen’s heads repeatedly against the ledge the kids are sitting on and tells them not to be scared
  • He threatens to rape the loan shark’s family women in any place, going as far as to name a tree as a place – making it clear that the women to be respected are only his own family members and not anyone else #familystar
• That dosa scene was the most painstaking sequence of that movie. For someone that can barely seem to handle any kind of kitchen duties (cutting vegetables and making dosas, both scenes in the movie), it seems apt his character has no understanding of feeding kids.
• The amount of time hyping Govardhan was not just in vain, but also boring – the ladies in the ration line talking to him, all the music whenever he breathes, moves or walks; and the number of slow motion shots
• Govardhan showed some beliefs and behaviors, take note of what kind of person has romantic or heroic music behind them. Question what that does to us consumers.
  • He makes up his own narratives about what Indu is thinking. Even when her behavior shows otherwise, he continues to believe those narratives. This comes hand in hand with his inability to communicate, for example, with his brother who becomes an alcoholic, with Indu, and with his grandmother who he is constantly rude to while justifying it with his “good intentions.”
  • Saying in different ways that women outside his family don’t deserve the respect his family members deserve
    • Rape threats to the loan shark’s family members who threatened his sisters-in-law
    • He is only polite and respectful (in his own way) to women that are related to him or ones that appease him (he is dismissive of his coworkers)
  • Impulsive and angry reactions to frustrating situations
  • He shows a scarcity mindset which along with his ego makes him selfish
    (Scarcity mindset – a pattern of focusing on what a person lacks, without acknowledging what a person already has) *not a complete definition
    • His need for a relation with his brother makes him spend money on his drinking over feeding his nieces and nephews
    • When he gets his two-year advance, he spends a lot of money not to make himself or his family happy – but to spite Indu
    • When working for Indu, he continues to obsess over what he thinks he doesn’t have (which to him, is what Indu has) – demanding to have everything she has
• Now Indu’s turn – Indu continuously buys people’s affection and lies to people
  • Her writing about Govardhan positively doesn’t absolve her of lying and invading his family’s personal life for her own gain
  • She consistently resorts to people pleasing when she recognizes that she crossed a boundary, to make herself feel better
    • Taking Govardhan’s family to the mall and spending money on them – this was just weird, knowingly throwing money around people (and their kids!!!) that don’t have access to that sort of splurging is just disgusting
    • Allowing Govardhan to work for her on the real estate project in America after he finds out about her thesis
    • Giving Govardhan money and accommodations he asks for (along with things he doesn’t ask for i.e. Indian food)
    • Being victim to workplace harassment from Govardhan without giving him rightful consequences as his boss
• Why does he expect to continue to receive a salary when he took two years’ advance? I want a math breakdown, ya know?

No. The only person I see enjoying this is probably Vijay Devarakonda, he can watch over produced shots of himself.

• The moment that stole the show for me was when Govardhan described the houses he designed for NRIs and said there would be “peratlo aavu.” Full discretion, I was looking for one when they showed the completed homes.

• Movie Rating: 2/10
• Maguva Impact Scale: -3