Arjun Reddy Movie Review

I am late to this phenomenon. I watched this movie last week on Amazon prime. And then, I couldn't help myself and ended up watching it a few more times. I think Vijay Devarakonda and his friend who plays the Shiva character have pretty much lived in their roles and have given a fantastic performance. On one hand, I am unable to digest that the hero literally forces the relationship on the heroine and the heroine is so docile, yet on the other hand, I have seen this happen so many times during college days and therefore, to a certain level the story is believable, at least to me. I could relate to the movie a lot, as the story is based on Medicos and I was reliving so many moments from my college life. The story in essence is not much different from a Mills a Boon template or Fifty Shades of Grey series for that matter. Very good looking, intelligent and rich guy falls for an innocent, mild mannered girl and then some shit happens and all the loose ends are tied up and they get back together again. I think, the way this story has been told unapologetically is what makes it engrossing. This movie has literally triggered so many memories from my college days. One incident from my first that I remember, a couple of friends and I were napping in the last bench in a lecture hall. A senior who happened to pass by, was awestruck by this scene and called one of the sleeping beauties and declared that he was in love. His female class mates came to the hostel to make sure this friend of mine, accepted this proposal. Quite like how the female friends of Arjun Reddy interrogate the heroine when they come to know he is interested in her. My friend declined though. I am embarrassed to admit, at that time, I wondered, why this guy didn't pick me. I don't know, if this thought process was due to hormones or if girls have been conditioned to think to a certain degree that love happens this way just like how our soup boys have been conditioned to think that stalking is pure love. The hero is shown to be extremely arrogant and I have come across so many arrogant students/professors/doctors during my college days. And surprisingly a lot of girls fell for such arrogant/brilliant guys. Regarding the fat chick comment, I was appalled when he made that comment. But youngsters can be cruel. When I was in my first year, I was stopped by a senior in the hallway and was asked if I knew that all first year students should be clean shaven ( This is all too much information, but I am someone who has generous supply of facial hair). I remember this moment so well, I literally wished the Earth would open up and I would be swallowed. The drinking/addiction problem was believable as well though it was difficult to watch a brilliant person reach his rock bottom. I was reminded of a young intelligent orthopedic PG from my college, who unfortunately passed away in a road accident. He was extremely drunk when he met with the accident. He happened to have a beard too. Looking back, who knows what demons he was dealing with. More than anything else, I think this movie depicted how normal young people would behave when they are in love/angry. I think, I would any day take these kissing scenes to item songs or heroines parading in itsy bitsy costumes in dream songs. Maybe I feel, that my current life is so boring that I found this movie to be a breath of fresh air. Come to think of it, I have had an extremely adventurous early twenties. My husband and I met online, when I was in Med school and after a few months of chatting, he came down to meet me in the city where I was studying. In those days, we didn't have mobile phones, proper cameras. So we shared very low resolution pictures of each other and decided on a spot where we would meet. A thousand things could have gone wrong but somehow we ended up together. We pretty much had a long distance relationship for over 2 years, it is just that our goodbyes happened at railway stations unlike the airports in this movie. I can’t believe that we both took a giant leap of faith barely knowing each other. If my son were to tell me that he has met someone online, not sure what my reaction would be. Who in their teens/early twenties listens to advice anyways? After several years of hiatus, atleast the movie has inspired me to write a blog post.