Maruthi Nagar Subramanyam review: An enterprising idea rendered intentionally low-brow

Like millions of Indians, Subramanyam from the modest town of Maruthi Nagar, dreams of securing a government job. When this dream remains unfulfilled over the years, the situation, inevitably, becomes complicated and disheartening.

For Subramanyam, the fine line between optimism and delusion keeps him motivated. However, those around him, including his wife Kala Rani (played by Indraja), are unlikely to view his situation positively. You might have growing debts, folks who have stopped respecting you and you are forced to borrow pocket change even to buy a couple of cigarettes. But things could be worse, feels the very jolly Subramanyam.

Maruthi Nagar Subramanyam, written and directed by Lakshman Karya, rides on this interesting premise and shapes itself as a comedy romp that wants to entertain and engage at the same time. It borrows the core idea from the real-life 1998 occurrence, wherein, nearly two thousand DSC (Departmental Service Commission) qualifiers were denied jobs in Andhra Pradesh, triggering a court case that lasted 25 years.

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A relatable protagonist 

The protagonist here is one among them but his attempt to be part of a government institution— the RTO, a bank or whatever it may be—actually dates back to a decade prior. Nothing ever comes to fruition and our middle-aged guy, with his 25-year-old son Arjun as his ally and wingman, still looks forward to coming of age.

Lakshman Karya lends each of his characters a quirk—a hypochondriac old lady, a wife who is a poor cook, a son (Ankith Koyya), who believes he is the Allu Arjun counterpart from Ala Vaikunthapuramloo and so on—and kicks off proceedings on a breezy note. Subramayam’s dilemma to win back respect and to keep the promise of building a home for his wife takes a prominently comical route, but the same humour starts to turn a tad too loud and redundant.

While silly and comic-relief scenes might seem justified at the beginning, the same approach, in which nothing happens but the runtime feels wasted, doesn’t help the film in the long run.

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Unnecessary frills in writing

A major plot point occurs in the first half when Subramanyam finds his account to have been credited with a large amount of money from a mysterious source, thus teasing him of life without debt. He could choose to either be watchful of what he does with the money here (not spend it, perhaps?) or just go berserk having struck gold for once in his life. Subramanyam, of course, chooses the latter. But instead of hooking on to that interesting turn of events and running with it, Lakshman Karya distracts himself and fills the narrative with one unnecessary contrivance after another.

As I walked out, all I could feel ringing inside my head were those countless, blaring sound effects used in the background score. Maruthi Nagar Subramanyam is one of those movies wherein almost every single line uttered is deemed as a mic-drop moment and at least a couple of minutes are sent down the drain every time a comedian wants to have his or her moment. The twists, too, can be spotted glaringly from afar.

Needless romance portion 

The romance portion featuring Ankith Koyya and Ramya Pasupuleti is one such major distraction. At first, it is suggested that the writer-director wants to employ this track for a solid reason: to underline just how out-of-touch Subramanyam is with the current zeitgeist including the dating culture, smartphones, etc. However, he only fleetingly touches upon those topics and instead uses a barrage of scenes to elicit laughter that never existed in the first place.

Had the writing been more focused and solely emphasised the protagonist’s conundrum (along with his relationship with his wife, his son and society at large), Maruthi Nagar Subramanyam would have fared as a much better experience. That is to say that the scope to explore elements that are a lot more significant and poignant (even with humour) is inherently present in the premise. Subramanyam is a man with an affable exterior but he is hurt inside. And the whole narrative, through well-designed comical errors, should have intended to bring this dichotomy out. Instead, it rests all the onus on a climatic twist that, although amusing in its own right, doesn’t manage to salvage.

Performances

Rao Ramesh is as reliable as ever playing the central character and boasts a few entertaining sequences with Ankith Koyya, Harsha Vardhan and a couple of others. But he is made to pull too many unfunny faces and take part in hijinks that aren’t worth the effort he puts in.

Final take

Maruthi Nagar Subramanyam could perhaps still be enjoyed if you can overlook all the writing shortcomings, but the problem is there are a few too many of them to ignore.

(Views expressed here are personal)

(Edited by S Subhakeerthana)

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