“This guy looks like he is 37, and he is supposed to be in college?” I asked mom, as the two of us watched the 2021 Telugu movie “Rang De”. Directed and written by Venky Atluri, the plot is about how two neighboring kids of the same age group fall in love with each other, after feuding most of their lives. A quick search revealed that the male lead Nithiin is 38-years-old, while his co-star Keerthi Suresh is 28-years-old in real life and the age difference shows. I don’t understand why we are still making movies with 40-year-old men playing college boys? And every time I watch such tosh, I am going to complain about it. (Mom picked this one)

This movie keeps getting sillier and ridiculous by the minute. So Arjun (Nithiin) pretty much hates the neighboring girl Anupama (Keerthy Suresh), but the latter has a gigantic crush on him. The two of them hope to study in the same college in Dubai, however, when only Anupama gets accepted, Arjun tries to ruin her chances. Due to some ridiculous twist that is supposed to be funny, the two end up getting married and study in Dubai together. That’s where the romance brews. Even their eventual ‘enemies to lovers’ transformation happens due to contrived circumstances.

For example, Anupama flirts with a college professor, hoping to get Arjun jealous. She however immediately regrets the decision, but the professor doesn’t back off and even threatens her, claiming he’ll get her in trouble. If Anupama is as intelligent as the movie supposes her to be, and if the college they are attending is minutely reputable, it would be the professor who would be the one in hot soup for pursuing a student. This is not some random school in an unknown village, where one can victim shame a girl for merely mildly flirting with a teacher. Ugh.

Anyway, Arjun fights the bad prof and you can only guess what happens next. Neither the comedy is funny enough, nor is the romance sweet. It’s just a silly movie that perhaps only fans of the stars would enjoy. Such a regrettable watch. I didn’t even watch the climax, completely lost interest. So I am not going to rate it.

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Listen to episode 29 for some fun movie recommendations.