Something Something - Anything-goes Brahmi saves the day

A sure way for a writer to show his dumbness is to not have a sense of proportion.  Janardhana Maharshi displayed it in ample proportion in last week's release, 'Pavitra'.  In this film, Shriya Saran doesn't take as much time to rise in the field of politics as to put an insignificant baddie behind the jail.  We taste a similar flaw in C Sundar's film.  There is so much of Brahmanandam (much as his part is enjoyable) that there is little attention to the Sid-Hansika chemistry which was crucial for an admittedly breezy, romantic film like this. In fact, every time Sid meets Hansika, except in the climax, it becomes an excuse for a duet and nothing more.

Another way of botching up a film is by forgetting the setting of the story.  Going by the way the scenes were written, 'Something Something' would have looked like a film set in a college campus and not a high-end software company.  It is only in a college peopled with obsessive boys that we will see them leering away at a fellow classmate oozing oomph and beauty, not in an MNC office.  The way a sensational rumour on Hansika spreads like wildfire among the employees, one would have felt that he/she was watching a film set in a village.  A director might say that it is after all a "commercial" film and logic is not to be looked for, but it is a lame excuse.  Such films, whatever the adjectives one may use to get away, will never be found relatable by the section (in this case the urbanites) they want to cater to.

Yet another incredible idea that emerges from this film is of creating an artificial conflict where none exists, between two major characters.  What makes one of them think of the other one as "fraud" (which he clearly is not) and try his buffoonic best to prove that he is a brothel frequenter?  It might be good enough to pull wool over the eyes but not substantial enough to sustain the audience' interest.

Sid's characterization leaves much to be desired.  He comes across as two different personalities at home and at the office.  We don't understand whether he is a thinking person (as he appears when he decides to tell the truth about his tricks to Hansika) or an irresponsible white-collar employee who goes to the town saying sorry in a dreamy sequence-like scene.  His facial expression in a scene, which was expected to be a strong prelude to the next scene, didn't forebode a painful decision (of suicide) that he was going to take.  Actually, the superficial characterization is part of a larger malaise that the film suffers from - the malaise of keeping things as simplistic and unrealistic as possible so that the family audiences are not strained while watching it.

The whole idea behind such a thinking is flawed.  As long as a film, be it a comedy or a tragedy, is satisfied with scratching the surface under whatever pretext, the audience won't be able to connect with it.  And definitely not when the male lead is an actor who has done serious cinema, and kiddish comedy is not his forte.

Using an idea a bit more intelligently is what differentiates a mediocre from a sensible director.  In one scene you show the employees using the mobile phone technology to spread the news that Miss Sanjana is attending a marriage ceremony and in the next, the hero doesn't even remember to use his mobile to ask a colleague to wait for him.  The same idea of a well-meaning relative ending up being problematic could have been used in a better way.  The scene in the hospital stands out for its irrational writing: neither Sid feigns surprise in front of Hansika nor does Hansika go through a pleasant emotion at the sight of her new boy friend coincidentally helping her father.  A seemingly small mistake but getting it right would have made a difference.

It is indeed a good idea to show a funny character (Brahmi in this case) have a past with an emotional baggage.  But even this is not fully utilized to add a new dimension, hitherto unrevealed, to him.  All it ends up looking like is a travesty.

Given all this, one might want to give up on Something.., but it is, overall an okay film.  Brahmi, the film's Anything-goes Superstar, entertains in every scene.  The evergreen comedian that he is, he makes us laugh from the word go.  His repartees, his mannerisms, everything was perfect.

Some scenes were really well-executed, like Brahmi's date with Sid's family and it was used to parody SVSC a bit.  The chemistry that Brahmi worked out with Sid was interesting.  However, Sid could have avoided imitating SRK here and there.

A cameo each by Samantha and Rana Daggubati fit well with the film's mood.

The performances, barring Brahmi, were so-so.  Sid did not get to express the emotions he is good at and instead got only the comic-type scenes.  Hansika as a glam doll entertained in the duets, while Sid was sadly made to dance like Karthi (is one such dancer not enough?) in a song.

Technically, it is a sub par musical output by Sathya.  Gopi Amarnath's cinematography is fine and the locales were apt.