Rana has come before Telugu movie lovers on Ugadi with the romantic entertainer ‘Naa Ishtam’. The movie has Genelia as the heroine and Prakash Tholeti is the director. Paruchuri Kireeti has produced the movie and Chakri has scored the music. Let us see how the film is.

Rana is a Telugu youth who lives and works in Malaysia and he is an extremely selfish person. He always thinks about himself and his benefits first. Into his routine life comes Genelia unexpectedly and everything gets disturbed. Krishnaveni loves Harshavardhan Rane and she elopes from home as her dad Nasser does not approve of her choice. But Kishore doesn’t turn up and she feels cheated. Gani’s selfish nature gets him to lie to Krishnaveni and he takes her home to Naidu in the hope of making some money.

But Gani realises his mistake once he sees Naidu and family and he gets Krishnaveni back to Malaysia. As a cheated Krishnaveni begins rebuilding her life with Gani’s support, love blossoms between the two. Into this situation walks in Kishore and he is desperate to win back Krishnaveni’s love. Meanwhile, Naidu is furious about the whole episode and he engages the services of Malaysia Don Salim Bhai (Shawar Ali) to trap Gani. Gani uses all his guile to thwart Salim Bhai and throw Kishore off the track, but is he successful? Who will Krishnaveni accept in the end.Rana looks good and he has tried out some new mannerisms and dances in this film. His dances in the title track are good and his tall frame is an asset in fight sequences. His dialogue delivery in the East Godavari slang works out well. He tries his best to shoulder the film. He appears a little stiff in emotional scenes and he should work out on that aspect.

Genelia looks good but she does not have much to do in the film. Still, when it comes to conveying emotions through her eyes, Genelia is an expert. Harshavardhan Rane is ok in the role of Kishore. It was good to see the Jogi brothers onscreen and they entertain in their brief role. Ali is ok.

There are some light hearted moments in the film and the first half is pretty fast paced. Some of the romantic scenes between Rana and Genelia have come out well, especially the scene where Rana appears in a Robin Hood hat to propose to Genelia.

direction is a big minus. There is no conviction or clarity in his story telling. The second half has way too many songs and they severely affect the movie’s flow. Logic has gone for a toss big time and some of the scenes will leave you scratching your head.

The movie’s pace in the second half is very bad. Nasser is wasted in a silly role. Same is the case with Brahmanandam, Ahuti Prasad, Subba Raju and Raghubabu. With such an ensemble comedy cast, one expects a laugh riot but except for a few damp squibs, there is nothing worthwhile.

The climax is very badly executed and the whole sequence is needlessly prolonged. Some of the visuals have not been shot in Malaysia and it looks like a blue mat was used to create those scenes. Those scenes have come out very poorly and it is very easily understood that ‘special effects’ have been used.

The triangle love track has not been established well and there is no emotional depth to the proceedings.There is a lot of confusion in the plot and it looks like director Prakash actually forgot what he wanted to say.

Cinematography is very good and Malaysia has been shot well. Rana’s dialogues have been written well and they are good. Editing is just about ok. Dances have been choreographed nicely and fight sequences have been conceived well.

VFX work is very shoddy and it should have been taken care of with more seriousness. Chakri’s background score and music is a big letdown. There are too many songs in the film and since.

Rana tried out a lot of commercial elements in this film. He experimented with dances and fights and he has put in a lot of effort. Sadly, it is all let down by a poor script and bad narration. Genelia does not have much to offer in the movie. Too many songs in the second half and a confused plot make the film tedious to watch. On the whole, ‘Naa Ishtam’ disappoints.