There was something charming about Venky Atluri’s debut directorial, Tholi Prema (2018). The story was nothing new, was simple, but reasonably well told and enacted. In his second outing, it’s impossible to not see the hangover of the first one, as Venky deals with the same genre.

Akhil Akkineni plays the part of Vicky, a Casanova who has a way with every woman that crosses his path. The longest he’s been in a relationship, so to speak, is a month. The hookups and breakups happen casually.

Mr Majnu takes a while to get its rhythm. The opening portions that seek to establish Vicky’s effortless charm don’t translate on screen that naturally. The extra effort to ride on the star lineage doesn’t always hit the mark. It sounds a bit forced when Vicky reels off a line borrowed from ANR’s films. But the hat tip to Nagarjuna’s Hello Brother is good fun. For each lie uttered by Vicky, childhood friend (Priyadarshi brings the house down, yet again) takes a pounding. Comic bits like these keep the narrative from getting boring when the trajectory of the story and its lead characters don’t throw up any surprises.

In most rom-coms about a Casanova having a change of heart, you know how things will shape up. Mr Majnu takes this familiar route. Nikki (Nidhi Agerwal) desperately tries to win over Vicky. She celebrates weekly anniversaries, love cheesy romances, wants her man to talk and behave the way she’d like him to be. Vicky’s claustrophobia is understandable. There’s also a fun aside in the form of a ‘Doberman theory’ the boys in this movie discuss about unlikely partners. In between, there are some force-fit segments to establish that Vicky has a heart of gold and would do anything for his family.

Post the inevitable heartbreak when the narrative moves to London, it loses its momentum. There’s nothing that makes us root for Vicky and Nikky.

Hyper Aadhi brings in a few laughs with a fictitious ‘Hyderabad Rockers’ website, alluding to a notorious Tamil website that pirates new releases.

Akhil looks at ease and has a natural flair for acting. He emotes as though he’s not overawed by the camera. There are portions where his voice bears uncanny similarities with that of Nagarjuna. The others, including Rao Ramesh and Subba Raju, don’t get much scope to perform. If there’s a bone to pick on the acting front, it would have to do with the female lead. Coupled with the lack of an interesting screenplay, it further makes the proceedings dreary.

Mr Majnu feels like a film that’s stranded somewhere in between, not coming into its own. It’s one of those films where you notice a few good moments, the comic bits work to an extent, but nothing stays with you long after.