Mental Madhilo, Fidaa, Pellichoopulu: How Tollywood is turning weddings into a powerful narrative

In Mental Madhilo, Telugu cinema’s latest addition to wedding-themed films, there’s a scene where Aravind Krishna (Sree Vishnu) goes to meet Swetcha (Nivetha Pethuraj) for the first time at the latter’s house at the behest of his parents. It’s an arranged marriage scenario (called ‘Pellichoopulu’ in Telugu).

Shekhar Kammula’s Fidaa, one of the biggest hits of 2017, has a fiery female protagonist Bhanumati, played by a terrific Sai Pallavi, who has her own ideas about the life she wants to live. She loves the place she spent her whole life in, and she’s so worried about her father’s failing health that the idea of leaving him alone after she gets married worries her a lot. Although Bhanu does fall in love with Varun (Varun Tej), an NRI, she decides to say no to him when he overhears him convince another girl to leave India for good because “there isn’t much to do here.” In the end, when she is told that it was a clear case of misunderstanding, she agrees to marry Varun; however, it’s only when he tells her that he has decided to respect her decision and stay back in her village that she’s truly happy about choosing the right one.

For the longest time, stories about jilted lovers have been a mainstay in films, and Nani, Nivetha Thomas starrer Ninnu Kori went a step further to put a different spin on it. After Uma (Nani) comes to know that the girl he loved, Pallavi (Nivetha Thomas) has gotten married to someone else, he convinces himself that she’ll never be happy in her life and that it’s his responsibility to convince her to leave her husband.

Although Pallavi acknowledges that she got married reluctantly, she isn’t the same person anymore and she’s actually in love with her husband Arun (Aadhi Pinisetty). Pallavi tells Uma that she’s very content and happy with her life, but she’s equally worried about Uma’s current state of mind. As a result, she invites him home to prove how happy she’s with Arun. Soon, the film explores the concept of marriage, and how strong the commitment is, even a character from a previous chapter of someone’s life walks into the their current one.