Men Too Review: An Underwhelming Attempt

Men Too is a Telugu language youthful drama that is written and directed by Srikanth G Reddy. The film has Naresh Agastya, Mourya Siddavaram, Kaushik Ghantasala, Brahmaji, Harsha Chemudu, Sudharshan, Riya Suman, Priyanka Sharma, Ashritha, Karthik Adusumilli & others in important roles. The music is composed by Elisha Praveen G & Osho Venkat and the film is produced by Mourya Siddavaram under Lantern Creative Works banner.

Story:

Three Friends Aditya (Naresh Agastya), Sanju (Kaushik Ghantasala), and Munna (Mourya Siddavaram) are friends who regularly hang out at an exclusive Men’s bar named “Stags Only” pub for a drink every day after work. They keep seeing all sorts of men who are regularly troubled by women in the bar and one day, they see Rahul (Harsha Chemudu), an IT employee who gets fired from his workplace due to sexual harassment allegations. What is Rahul’s story and how did it change the lives of the three friends is all about MenToo.

What about on-screen performances?

Naresh Agastya is excellent in his role. He has the mettle to become a solid actor and he once again proves it with his settled portrayal of Aditya. His body language & close shots especially in the presentation scene & the climax part shows how good an actor he is.

Mourya Siddavaram who acted as Munna is funny in his part as the guy who believes that all women are cheaters.

Kaushik Ghantasala as Sanju also gets an important role and he does good justice to it.

Riya Suman & Priyanka Sharma are fine in their respective roles as the love interests of Naresh & Kaushik respectively.

Harsha Chemudu gets an emotional role and he is passable in his part.

Brahmaji and Sudarshan’s characters are routine and their roles could have been established better.

Jabardasth Rohini makes us laugh in her small track while Ashritha is fine as Naresh’s mother.

What about off-screen talents?

The story is very weak and so is the screenplay. The backstories of the characters aren’t engaging or entertaining. The emotions in the film also never hit us hard. The writers should have written these subplots of showcasing the problems of all three lead characters more engagingly.

Director Srikanth G Reddy’s work in the film is not up to the mark. His presentation is neat but his narrative isn’t steady. The idea to showcase that men also have problems and that some pseudo-feminists use the victim card against men, ultimately portraying them as offenders is good but the path he chooses to say this isn’t that effective to be made into a film.

The dialogues by Rakendhu Mouli are well-written and strike a chord with today’s youth and their language.

The cinematography by PC Mouli is outstanding. His framing is impressive, especially all the mountain shots during the trek in the second half look beautiful on screen.

The music by Elisha Praveen G & Osho Venkat is poor. The songs fail to click and could have been easily removed from the film. The background score too doesn’t make an impact.

The editing by Karthik Vunnava could have been better, and many scenes needed to be trimmed.

The production values by Lantern Creative Works are good.

What’s Hot?

* Naresh Agastya’s Performance
* Few Good Comedy Scenes
* Cinematography
* Meaningful Climax

What’s Not?

* Wafer Thin Story
* Weak & Sluggish Narrative
* Lack Of Character Depth
* Unnecessary Songs
* Ineffective Back Stories

Verdict: Except for a few funny scenes and the message the film tried to convey that men are also victims in most cases today, Men Too doesn’t have anything novel to offer. The narration is not so effective and with a weak story, the film ends up being a below-average affair this week.

Telugubulletin.com Rating: 1.75/5