100% Love (2011)

Heard it being referred to as the best baava propaganda film, and I must say that I agree partially- hey, nothing beats Ninne Pelladatha, but this one is a close second. I did find myself getting quite emotional about the main couple at one point; baava propaganda: 1, A: 0.

My favourite part in this romantic comedy was undoubtedly the comedy. I loved how ridiculously petty Balu was, I loved his meltdowns, and of course, the fact that he had "crying time" in his time-table. If he wasn't such a stubborn and incurable misogynist, I would have included him in my list of most relatable characters of all time. I had (and still have) reservations about Naga Chaitanya's acting abilities, but mashallah, he worked well here. And so did Tamannaah, who was just perfect as Mahalaksmi in all her phases. The supporting cast was of course the real hero here: Naresh as Balu's dad was the best man in the entire movie; M.S. Narayana sir who stole the show with his few scenes, and most importantly, K.R. Vijaya who won my heart with that iconic feminist scene. 

Speaking of feminism though, I wish they had made Balu Sr. and Jr. acknowledge their dickheadedness at some point during the reconciliation. I think that's my only complaint with the movie- they made the conflict appear as if it was a problem on both sides... when it clearly wasn't. Or maybe this is Sukumar's way of telling us that men never change? We'll never know. Unless he writes in his memoirs that this was his intention, along with showing how even strong and talented women have to settle for men completely undeserving of them because society has both conditioned them this way, and also made the alternative look decidedly less appealing. 

In conclusion, it is worth pondering over that the best and second-best baava propaganda movies have father & son Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya respectively, while the headstrong and loveable female lead in both is named Mahalakshmi, who enters baava's house at first to further her education prospects (Tabu as Pandu is way more loveable though, I just have to say). I don't know if anyone else has thought about this yet, but it's fascinating how the universe and Telugu Film Industry work. Sairam, now all we need is a Ninne Pelladatha sequel (this has nothing to do with this "review", I just wanted to put it out there for manifestation purposes) to make our lives complete.

PS- I am so totally the ring-leader of the little kids' army.  

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