Movie: Most Eligible Bachelor
Rating: 2.75/5
Cast: Akhil Akkineni, Pooja Hegde, Murali Sharma, Pragathi, Vennela Kishore
Director: Bhaskar
Produced By:  Bunny Vasu and Vasu Verma under GA2 Pictures
Release Date: 15th October 2021

Most Eligible Bachelor is not just a massive test for Akhil Akkineni, but also director Bhaskar who is returning to direction after 8 long years. The film has created decent buzz with the promos and lyricals getting positive feedback. Gopi Sundar’s peppy tunes and a number of special cameos have evoked enough curiosity and the film’s advance bookings show that. Does the film has enough to sustain itself over the festive weekend? lets find out.

Story: Harsha (Akhil) is a calculated and smart young professional who follows every stage in life methodically. Owing to his orthodox environment, he has some pre-conceived notions about marriage. He comes to India for a period of 20 days where his plan is to get married. Here he meets Vibha (Pooja Hegde) who has a contrasting approach to life. How he woos her and what he learns over the course of time forms the story.

Performance: Akhil’s performance can be divided into two halves. While the first half is quite breezy and fun-filled, he does a decent job and is not challenged as an actor. It’s in the second half that he has to deliver heavy scenes and emotions where his weakness is quite visible. While this is one of his better performances, there’s still a lot to improve. Pooja Hegde for a change has a meaty role and gets enough screentime. Unlike other films, she is not here for glamour but for actually driving the story ahead. Despite a well-written role, her acting weakness is also exposed and she looks out of sorts in a lot of places. Murali Sharma and Pragathi have got great moments and excel in their parts delivering solid fun as well as emotions. The rest of the supporting cast of Vennela Kishore, Sudheer, Posani Krishna Murali do a decent job.

Analysis: Most Eligible Bachelor is a story that we have seen a number of times on screen. A guy meets a girl and his vision of life changing after is a cliched trope having done to death. What works in this film is the fun first half and solidly written pre-climax and climax. While there are a lot of silly scenes in the film which defy logic, Most Eligible Bachelor is clear about its path from the beginning. It’s not a serious and preachy film but fun and emotion-filled story. Better writing and crisp editing could have helped the film big time. The film’s music by Gopi Sundar is another plus point helping the overall experience.

Plus Points:

First half

Gopi Sundar’s music

Visually appealing

Minus Points:

Lack of chemistry between Akhil and Pooja

Silly scenes

The second half is dragged

Verdict: While Most Eligible Bachelor is not exactly old wine in a new bottle, it would still remind you of some films like Mr. Majnu, Shaadi Mubarak, etc. The similarity in the plot along with Akhil’s looks in the film give you a constant deja vu. Despite these challenges, Bhaskar has succeeded in delivering a breezy film and if only the writing was crispier, the festive release would have got more fun to watch.