S. Saraswathi - Fantasy Prone Disorder

S. Saraswathi 

2026, Telugu

Genre: Thriller

Director:. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar

Stars:. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Prakash Raj, Priyamani, Rao Ramesh, Nassar, Kishore

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐

The Telugu movie industry is on a mission to prove something we already know - men are pigs. This latest saga brings in some big names, and some really good acting, and enslaves both to work in very weak, and hardly believable courtroom drama. 

Akin to a certain set of files I will not mention, a group of dirty old men do some very nasty things to the little girl whose name is the title of this movie. An honest lawyer takes on the case thirsty for justice. But in his investigation, it becomes clear that the victim does not exist.  To add to that the dirty old men being accused of this false murder have been murdered themselves. 

Just reading the above would probably make movie lovers stock up on popcorn. Truth be told, the  Malayalam industry would have thrown in a couple of altar boys and turned this story into a masterpiece. 

But, this is Andhra, mere jaan. That means melodrama and the opportunity for Prakash Raj to  pontificate to the audience while the rest of the cast looks at him with awe. 

Varalaxmi Sarathkumar strives to convince us that she can take on a passive role. Quiet, contained and conservative, hers are occasional tears to mourn extreme loss. Her dramatizations of mental illness, however, are convincing only because she handles them with due poise. 

Rao Ramesh stands out in a sober role, being a judge over a court that serves more as a psychological evaluation than a trial. There seems to be a limit where a story can go overboard, and as director, Ms. Varalaxmi crosses this in the second half. She seems to be desperately. searching, it would seem, for effective closure to a complex plot. Not finding a straightforward one, she doubles down on the complexity, only to stretch the obvious. 

But, like her character in this film, Varalaxmi has this fantasy -a film that questions reality will make the audience doubt their common sense.