Middle Class Melodies - Bombay Chutney

 

Middle Class Melodies

2020, Telugu

Directed by Vinod Ananthoju

Stars Anand Devarakonda, Varsha Bollamma, Chaitanya Garikipati, Divya Sripada

Mohan's Measure ✼✼✼✼

Inspired by Malayalam cinema, both Tollywood and Kollywood are investing in these little slice of life films; and for me, it is a pleasure and a blessing to watch them and share my thoughts with you.

Middle Class Melodies is set in the quiet little hamlets that serve as satellite communities to the bustling trade city of Guntur.  It is a coming of age tale, which in the spirit of Mystic Pizza, creates an allegory that the secret to living life well is like understanding the ingredients that go into Bombay Chutney.  Famous actor Vijay Devarakonda's younger brother Anand plays Raghava, a young chap in this village who wants to make it big in the nearby city by opening a restaurant that specializes in what he feels is the best chutney in the known world.

That world, however, like all small town life, is a refreshingly small one.  Anand occupies his time with a handful of well-chosen friends, his family, his community, and of course, the girl he loves, Sandhya.  All of these are ingredients in his own spices to life, but there is something missing.

His friend Gopal, thinks he has found in the answer, in astrology.  Using Google, Gopal scrolls through the many techy sites to determine his decisions, including his friends and love interest.  And yet, here too, there is something missing.

The missing ingredient to life is found in this slowly evolving, actor-driven, coming of age tale.  I found my hunger for good movies satiated by it.  I hope I have made you develop a craving to watch it.