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After Arjun Reddy, it was director Parashuram Petla who tamed and toned down the image of Vijay Deverakonda in the charming, but forgettable, Geetha Govindam. With Family Star, he now presents Deverakonda as a middle-class man, weighed down by family responsibilities and yet playing a superhero who bends steel rods at will. Given the film is designed as a blockbuster with Dil Raju producing, the middle-class sensibilities often slip, revealing it to be the big extravaganza it was always meant to be. Even that would have been acceptable to the Telugu audience if the film was entertaining. However, Petla favours style over substance, delivering a simplified film that is often bland.
Vijay Deverakonda plays Govardhan, a middle-class man single-handedly keeping his joint family afloat. He is the eponymous Family Star who rustles up gossamer-thin dosas to ensure the dough lasts longer. One of his elder brothers is a drunk who is nursing past wounds, while the other is struggling to establish his own business. Indu (Mrunal Thakur) comes into their family as a tenant in their house. A postgraduate student at the Central University, she slowly ingratiates herself into their family, falling in love with Govardhan in the process.
That’s when the film introduces its Big Twist; a secret about Indu is revealed that severs their relationship. Govardhan feels cheated and decides to keep away from her at all costs. How they reconcile their differences as they are forced by circumstances to work together forms the rest of the story.
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While the film harps on middle-class life, its hero is hardly a face in the crowd. He beats villains to a pulp as his family watches. Vijay Deverakonda brings earnestness to even this implausible character, but the writer-director doesn’t offer him enough to carry the film. Mrunal Thakur looks ravishing on screen and compared to Sita Ramam, her presence in this one is a lot more glamorous. However, a sketchily written character offers her little scope to perform. Even the central conflict between Deverakonda and Thakur is illogical and unrealistic, and has to be trumped up by the actors with unrealistic and ego-centric dialoguebaazi in cooked-up scenarios.
Family Star has some good songs by Gopi Sundar, and the camera work by Mohanan is also top-notch. The biggest drawback of the film perhaps is Parashuram’s writing. The story itself is utterly dated and the treatment has no spark. The dialogue also lacks any originality or brilliance.
Rohini Hattangadi makes the Dadi lovable despite the narrow scope. Other actors including Jagapathi Babu do their job adequately.
Family Star movie cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Mrunal Thakur, Rohini Hattangadi, Vennela Kishore, Jagapathi Babu
Family Star movie director: Parashuram Petla
Family Star movie rating: 2 stars
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