Mental Madhilo
Directed by	Vivek Athreya
Written by	Vivek Athreya
Produced by	Raj Kandukuri
Starring	Sree Vishnu Nivetha Pethuraj Amrutha Srinivasan
Cinematography	Vedaraman Sankaran
Edited by	Viplav Nyshadam
Music by	Prashanth R Vihari
Production company	Dharmapatha Creations
Distributed by	Suresh Productions (India) Freeze Frame Films (Overseas)
Release date	24 November 2017 (2017-11-24)
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Mental Madhilo (lit. 'Crazy at Heart') is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Vivek Athreya in his directorial debut, and produced by Raj Kandukuri (well known for Pelli Choopulu) for Dharmapatha Creations. The film features Sree Vishnu, Nivetha Pethuraj, and Amrutha Srinivasan in lead roles with Sivaji Raja, Madhumani, Raj Madiraju and Anita Chowadary in pivotal roles. This film marks the Telugu debut of Nivetha Pethuraj and Srinivasan. The songs and background score for the movie are composed and arranged by Prashanth R Vihari. The film's title was taken from a song from OK Bangaram.

Plot

Decision making? That's tough, given that options before you are equally luring. That's nearly impossible for a guy, Aravind Krishna (Sree Vishnu) is a guy affected by Borderline personality disorder, a fickle-minded person since childhood who gets confused when faced with regular options. The kind that could answer everything on a theoretical paper but returns the objective paper blank. Not just getting confused, like any one of us generally happen to be,  but he yearns for the option that he didn't choose after deciding. Additionally, an incident from his 12th year makes him uncomfortable to talk to or be around girls. As he becomes older, the situation doesn't get any better. Aravind, now 29, almost gives up on the hope of getting married after messing up 12 match-makings. Reluctantly, he attends the 13th and to his surprise, he finds himself at ease when he talks to Swetcha (Nivetha Pethuraj), a clear-headed straightforward girl in contrast to Aravind.

Swetcha, who sees the plainness in his heart, agrees to marry him. The two spend some time together before getting engaged, as they get to know each other, they start liking each other. Being with Swetcha helps Aravind to get over his discomfort with girls. While waiting on their engagement, Aravind is obliged to go to Mumbai for a project. On his way, he meets a joyous and unpredictable girl called Renuka (Amrutha Srinivasan), from Vijayawada and an architectural student who leaves an impression during their bus journey but disappears as he reaches Mumbai. She is a strong believer in destiny and Aravind, too, subconsciously starts believing in it and searching for her in Mumbai. The same destiny has them meet again in Mumbai and she became a roommate with Aravind along with Saki (Kireeti Damaraju) and some other friends. Meanwhile, Aravind finds himself drawn to her as he spends more and more time with her. He becomes infatuated with her and, one night, they both share a kiss. Later, she shares her past saying that she had a boyfriend who died in an accident. She confesses her feelings for Aravind and abruptly vacates the apartment the next day. In a confused state of mind, Aravind calls off the engagement with Swetcha but gets nervous and manages it as a prank. The next day, Swetcha gives a surprise visit to Mumbai and befriends all of his friends. She enquires about Renu, they somehow conveniently take care of the situation, but Swetcha manages to find her in a restaurant, and they both become good friends.

While returning, Swecha admits to Aravind that she understands everything about Aravind and Renu, shows anguish on him and leaves to Hyderabad. In Hyderabad, Aravind's father (Sivaji Raja) makes him realise how the risk of choice-making manifests a positive change in life, by narrating a real-life example he had to face in his youth. Realising his mistake, Aravind, for the first time, takes a decision and goes over to apologise Swetcha, but to no avail. He meets Renu, confesses his feelings for Swetcha and apologises Renu. Albeit hurt somewhat, Renu encourages Aravind to propose to Swetcha and they both part their ways. The same night, Aravind goes to Swetcha's home to talk about it, but her mom (Anitha Chowdary) informs him that she is on a bus going out of the station. Aravind catches the bus along with his father successfully. He proves that he has overcome his disorder by making a firm decision and apologises to Swetcha. After a moment, Swetcha accepts his proposal, but with a tight slap, and they get together again.

His father comically encounters another passenger on the bus(Nara Rohit) and invites him to his son's marriage. Aravind and Swetcha get married and lived happily.^[1][2]

Cast

Soundtrack

Mental Madhilo
Film score by Prashanth R Vihari
Released	2017
Recorded	2017
Venue	Chennai
Studio	AM Studios
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	32:47
Label	Madhura Audio
Producer	Prashanth R Vihari
Prashanth R Vihari chronology
Vellipomakey (2017) Mental Madhilo (2017) Adhugo (2018)
External audio Audio Jukebox on YouTube

Music composed by Prashanth R Vihari.

Production

The film was written by Vivek Athreya, who also made his directorial debut with this film. It completed its production in 40 days, across 3 schedules and is shot in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Goa.

Once the production was completed, the film was taken over and presented by ^[3] Suresh Productions.

Release

After Suresh Productions took over the film, there were regular previews to audience and critics a few days before the release.^[4] The film was released in India on 24 November 2017. Overseas, it was distributed by Freeze Frame Films LLC.

Reception

The film has garnered positive feedback from the audience and critics. Actor Sree Vishnu received accolades for his ease of acting from critics and so did Nivetha Pethuraj, the female lead.^[5] The film had a good gross collection across the released theatres and made its mark overseas.^[6][7][8][9] Producer Raj Kandukuri along with actor Nani released its first song, "Gummadikaya Halwa", on 30 June at SIIMA 2017.^[10][11]

Awards

References

External links

• Mental Madhilo at IMDb