Kiran Abbavaram's next titled Dilruba

Despite working with a rather conventional story, director Subbu Mangadevvi offers many interesting ideas and elements in his latest offering starring Allari Naresh

- BH HARSH

Anyone actively following Indian cinema for the past couple of years knows that "anti-hero" is the new trend among protagonists. They behave in unconventional, often morally dubious manners, and yet there's an aspirational coolness to their portrayal. In Bachhala Malli, we get a stylish action sequence with Malli (Allari Naresh) early on, showcasing him in all the swagger that a hero is expected to carry. And yet when the title credit drops, it's after a visual of Malli being literally down in the dumps. For all the bravado he possesses, Malli is ultimately a wronged man with a tragic past.

Director Subba Mangadevvi stays true to this brief for a large part of his film. On the surface, Bachhala Malli is a formulaic drama, riddled with familiar devices like class-barrier, business rivalry, dysfunctional families, et al. However, Subba, working with a screenplay by Vipparthi Madhu, weaves in plenty of ideas that lend a sense of emotional novelty to the film. In his late teens, Malli finds himself deserted by his biological father, and slowly lets himself being consumed by abandonment issues. And while he tries to redeem himself many years later, Malli never really succeeds in overcoming his trauma.