‘Maa Nanna Superhero’ movie review: Sudheer Babu shoulders a patchy relationship drama

A scene in director Abhilash Reddy Kankara’s Telugu film Maa Nanna Superhero (my dad is a superhero) shows the protagonist Johnny (Sudheer Babu) taking his house owner to task and abruptly pausing when the latter’s daughter comes into the picture. He does not want to make the man seem a lesser mortal to his child. The narrative attempts to ride on the universal emotion of children seeing their father as a superhero. Abhilash wonders how far a son would go to save his father, with whom he shares a tumultuous relationship. The plot becomes more complex as it involves a father Srinivas (Sayaji Shinde) and his adopted son Johnny, and later, the biological father also returns. This idea might seem intriguing at the script level, but the film seems uneven and is held together by a few endearing moments.

In the opening segment, Prasad (Saichand), a lorry driver in need of money reluctantly leaves his infant son in an orphanage for a few days, promising to return soon after completing a job. The setting is the early 80s, before the arrival of mobile phones and when not everyone had a landline. The manager (Jhansi) of the orphanage does not ask too many questions. It is remarkable how Jhansi portrays both tenacity and empathy through her body language in the brief role where she gets to speak very little. A turn of events lands Prasad in prison. The narrative does not dwell on the details of how he is made the scapegoat for ferrying drugs. There is not even a passing mention of the actual peddlers. The story prefers to focus on the emotional plight of the father who has no way to contact the orphanage.

Abhilash uses destiny as a tool to push the narrative forward in key sequences, some of which work while others feel contrived. Twenty-five years later, Johnny (Sudheer Babu), who grew up thinking of his adopted father Srinivas (Sayaji Shinde) as a superhero, sets out to make amends and bolster his adopted father’s image that has taken a beating over the years. Gradually, the film reveals why the relationship between Johnny and Srinivas soured and what makes the son live in hope of better tidings.

In this story of two fathers and a son, other characters and relationships take a backseat. For instance, Johnny’s love story with event manager Tara (Aarna) is just perfunctory. The criss-crossing of the biological father and son happens in a cinematic so-near-yet-so-far fashion, amped up by Jay Krish’s emotional score. It takes a while for this part of the narrative to find its rhythm; it does so through a road trip. 

A road trip has often been used by filmmakers as a narrative tool to explore the bond between the characters. Here too, it might have worked had the writing leveraged it well. Instead, we get a patchy journey. Some scenes serve to highlight the easy rapport Johnny strikes with Prasad as opposed to his one-sided and soured bond with Srinivas. The portions that feature choreographer Raju Sundaram in an extended cameo come across as an afterthought rather than something in sync with the story. 

The need for money is a running thread through the narrative and the purpose of the trip to Kerala, on paper, must have seemed like an interesting proposition. On screen, occasionally the portions between Prasad and Johnny have palpable tension but not enough to make us empathise with them, despite Sudheer Babu and Saichand’s earnest performances. On the bright side, the narrative tries to treat Sudheer Babu as a regular guy stuck in a tough situation and does not try to play to his stardom. Even a fight sequence is filmed in a realistic manner.

In the final segment, the film which is patchy until then, transitions to portray a heartwarming bond between the son and his two fathers. If only the journey till this destination had been interesting enough. 

Abhilash, having directed the Telugu web series Loser, relies on some of his actors from the web series, from Sayaji Shinde to Shashank (as a lottery ticket dealer), and a few others. Ultimately, the film rests on the shoulders of Sudheer Babu and Saichand who try their best to elevate the relationship drama.

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