Beauty is the title of the latest box office release in Telugu. It features Ankith Koyya as Arjun, a mild-mannered, pet-loving young man who enters into a serious relationship with Alekhya (Nilakhi Patra), a college-going late teen from a lower middle-class family.
The film takes off on a typical rom-com note. At first, the drama appears to be toying with less-explored themes in Telugu cinema. Alekhya is not your ideal-type female lead who makes sacrifices for her parents. She is adamant about owning a colourful scooty, no matter how unaffordable it might be for her cabbie father (played by VK Naresh, who looks increasingly uninvolved as the story progresses). Arjun's total attention and affectionate behaviour mesmerizes her.
The film goes on and on with its contrived coincidences in the second half. Many incidents are exceptionally artificial. For example, the female lead loses her smartphone, only for it to be found by the one person who should (or shouldn't). In another instance, a middle-aged character bumps into a male person he had been told is a terrible person. A street fight ensues between them, leading to the kind of tension that adds nothing to the narrative.
Vasuki Anand of Pawan Kalyan's Toli Prema is turning out to be a cold performer with a limited emotional range. Prasad Behara and Muralidhar Goud play light-veined characters, robbing the film of its dramatic heft.
Directed by JSS Vardhan, Beauty is produced by Adidhala Vijaypal Reddy. Vijai Bulganin is the music director.
