A story of a man who is suffering from male pattern baldness and doing his best to hide his insecurities. What happens when you fall in love, and it’s time to clarify?
Nootokka Jillala Andagadu treats male pattern baldness and hair loss:
What reveals people’s insecurities and affects their relationships. Even if the film has some good news – beauty isn’t just about how you look and how you love yourself. No matter how society perceives you, it matters.
For a while, the plot and development are too reminiscent of Ayushmann Khurrana star Amar Kaushik Bala. But where Bala manages to prove his point by perfecting the balance between comedy and self-respect, Nootokka struggles for that balance.
GSN (Srinivas Avasarala) suffers from baldness and uses a wig to cover it up. He works at a real estate company where he meets Anjali (Ruhani Sharma). The couple’s friendship soon took a serious turn when he learned of the problem. The problems that GSN faces are due to their lack of hair. And how it affects their relationship is what Nootokka is all about.
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Many Hollywood directors often believe in shame, body shame, or misogyny over humour. Rachakonda Vidya Sagar (film director) and Srinivas (who wrote it) immediately apparent that this film is just the opposite.
However, they did not do enough to penetrate deep into the essence of all matter. The film’s first half takes a long time to explain how GSN suffers from hair loss due to his father’s genes and how this causes insecurity. There’s also some humour (respect) around the issue, and the straight lines keep you hooked.
The interval curve is decreasing. The film becomes predictable, and the director tries to strike a balance between comedy and emotion. As GSN and Anjali struggle to come to terms with the truth, the speed of the film slows down. While there are plenty of opportunities to go deeper and create a strong plot, this film doesn’t leave much of an impact.
The lack of solid conflict between their characters also leaves a lot to be desired.
Srinivas does an impeccable job at GSN. He is dedicated around the clock and shows the insecurities of such people very well. His single line acting and good acting make this helpful film apart from the plot.
Rouhani did a decent job but was hesitant when it came to emotional scenes. Rohani, Ramana Bharadvai is also under the same radar. The other actors did a decent job. Shakthikanth Karthick music is decent but could be better. Editing can tighten the film, as some scenes are repeated.
For Nootokka, Avasarala has channelled her sense of humour, love for retro music and cinema to turn GSN into a kind man next door whose smile hides her inner struggles. The wig became the second skin of GSN. He never wore a helmet because he couldn’t risk taking it off without breaking his fitting made shield. He wears a hat at home even when he is asleep. The only place where GSN feels at peace is when he sings SP Balasubrahmanyam’s hit song in the bathroom.
Some funny parts – the genius with which a bald man hiding under a wig can see his other self in the crowd, as the artificial mane takes the session to do the iconic swap between Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor from Diver cut and rotate. Some humour falls, such as a play on the “pie” floor (above). To describe the girl as “ammayi (the best) paina”.
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The story is straightforward. GSN falls in love with his new partner (Rouhani Sharma):
An indifferent woman who makes him see things for what they are. So we get a movie where the GSN skit. Which doesn’t drag on to a climax in front of it. Confidence is the most significant battle to be won.
Nootokka means well and addresses the issue of sensitivity. But he lacked the spark with which Avasarala wrote letters to Oohal Gusagusalade and Joe Atchutananda.