Maa Alludu Very Good

It's been a while since there's been a comedy with this much bling-bling. The last time someone really laughed this hard was when Arnold became the governor. Apart from politics, there aren't many objects that can match up to the syrup in this one. Spoofs, gags, double entendres, toilet humor, satire, stupidity and a wholehearted lack of grey matter. The only thing really missing is a Speaker screaming occasionally, "Maintain the decorum of the house, please!"

Not brave enough to face the bitter-cold weather and a Telugu movie all alone, I tagged along a friend who couldn't even spell Telugu. "NRI", he calls himself. He started laughing as soon as Allari Naresh (hero) appeared. But when I broke the news that he was the hero, he paused for a moment and then laughed out even louder. Supposedly, they had chosen the right kind of "dork" to play the lead in a comedy. So started the bumpy joyride that demanded complete absence of logic and decorum.

Allari Naresh and his sidekick are thick pick-pockets who have perfected the art of goofing up. Even we thought they were related to Anu Malik and Bappi Lahari, but they've learnt it on their own, it seems. When these guys are robbing

a ladies hostel, the heroine (Mounika) steals Naresh's heart. This starts his cycle 'impress girl', donning every disguise possible and pulling every gag possible. In the process he gets into some really messy situations with Rajendra Prasad. And it turns out that he's the heroine's dad.

Then starts another cycle of 'impress prospective father-in-law', doing some more gobbledygook and fake emotions to make sure Rajendra Prasad feels Naresh is capable enough to marry his daughter. Then there's a sidetrack of the romance between Rajendra Prasad and Ramya Krishna. To cut a long story short: we're not sure who the heck wants to know the story, but there it is.

Now for the comedy bit: the first few shots are wacky parodies of scenes from Okkadu and Jayam. But the real show stealer has to be the spoof scene of The Matrix. Naresh is halfway in the air, posing like Trinity while the camera does a 360. Man, that is something. My NRI friend however got offended because we were mocking a Hollywood movie. Shucks - and I wasn't to get offended when he laughed at the all the logic holes, thinking they were part of the comedy.

Rajendra Prasad probably had déjà vu working for the film. In his heyday, he did many a laugh-riot, though none this wild. The fun in this one slipped often into stinky toilet humor, which was well received by the masses. Well received was also an item number that had a lady the size of Australia, gyrating and hip-shaking. Now I know why they're called the "masses".

This apart, there's enough cracks in the flick to make for some decent chuckles. The rating has been helped by a brilliantly written song, too. Get the dope right - the entire song is nothing but titles of Telugu movies. Yes, the entire song. And they make perfect sense, too. At least more sense than A M Ratnam's lyrics. Anyway, eventually it's not a snooze fest at least, so be it a dumb way to spend 3 hours. Dumb is better than Aargh, Eeew, or Zzzz!