Story
This story is set in 2007. Malli (Suhas) and Padma (Saranya Pradeep) are twins born into a family of barbers in a village called Ambajipeta. Venkat (Nithin Prasanna) is a young landlord who controls the lives of poor people in the village by lending money and thereby grabbing their properties when they fail to repay. He is an extremely casteist person who doesn’t like people from lower castes. Malli falls in love with Lakshmi (Shivani Nagaram) who is Venkat’s sister. Just when everybody thinks Venkat is going to retaliate, something unexpected happens. Rest of the story is about both Malli and Padma fighting for justice and self-respect.

Artists Performance

Suhas is very natural in this intense film. He is jovial and innocent in romance scenes and extremely fiery in action episodes. His character is designed very realistically, hence we find everything he does in this film is natural. The surprise package of this movie is Saranya Pradeep. She was given an author-backed role with a strong characterisation and she nailed it with her performance. She is the focal point of the entire film. Entire second half belongs to her. Actress Shivani Nagaram is beautiful and performed well. Nithin Prasanna shines in a baddie role. He is a promising talent. Jagadeesh Pratap Bandari is excellent as a band member and it is also an author backed role. He makes us feel for him with his performance. Goparaju Ramana is good as a senior member of the band.

Story - screenplay - direction: Story of the film is about self-respect of lower caste people. Director Dushyant Katikineni comes up with a raw and intense subject. And treat the film in a realistic space (like in Malayalam films). The first half of the film gives us an impression that the conflict is above the lead pair's love. However, the director has handled the interval sequence with a lot of dexterity and creates a class conflict from an unexpected angle. The best shot/scene in the film is an actor drawing Saraswathi painting on the top of a nude sketch and the girl looking at it through a partly opened window. There are so many dynamics to this shot. It’s brilliantly conceived and executed. Second half deals with Malli and Padma fighting for self-respect and eventually getting it. Just when we expect a violent second half, we get to see a peaceful demonstration of the victims in the 2nd half. The police station episode is powerfully executed in the 2nd half. Climax of the film also has a surprise. However, putting a baddie in a cage for years doesn’t look convincing (as law wouldn’t allow it).

Other departments: Cinematography by Wajid Baig is decent. He has succeeded in adding a raw palette to the visuals with his work. Music by Shekhar Chandra is good. Background music helps the movie. Dialogues in the film are an asset. Some of the dialogues are thought provoking. Action sequences in the film are realistic. Production design is authentic, I liked the lake view from the barber shop which adds visual beauty. Editing by Kodati Pawan Kalyan is fine. Production values by Dheeraj Mogilineni Entertainment banner are good.

Analysis: Ambajipeta Marriage Band is a film made with the concept of class divide which we usually observe in Tamil and Malayalam rural rustic movies. Director Dushyant Katikineni has succeeded in sticking to the genre and narrates it very faithfully. Generally we do expect a voilent second half because the victims want to retaliate. But, the director used a peaceful process in the second half and in the climax. This aspect offers variety. On the whole, Ambajipeta Marriage Band is a hard-hitting film made with the right intent and you may give it a try!