Mosagallu movie review: Vishnu Manchu, Kajal Aggarwal's film inspired from the IRS scam is a missed opportunity

Language: Telugu

Mosagallu, written by Vishnu Manchu, narrates the story of two siblings, Anu and Arjun, whose childhood is anything but rosy. Having seen their parents struggle to make a decent living, the siblings dream of a better life, and they firmly believe that money is the solution for everything in life. Their father tells them that only the money earned through honest means is theirs, but as they grow up siblings, their opinion on money and the means to make money changes so much that they get caught in their own web of lies and scams. And they scam thousands of Americans, by posing as IRS (Internal Revenue Service) members, to get rich within a short time.

There’s so much potential in Mosagallu’s story, right from the way it introduces the backstories of its principal characters to the various methods they use to scam others, and the scale at which they scam people in the US. Although it doesn’t try to be too inventive in its methods, it pretty much has everything in place to tell an engaging story. But then Mosagallu doesn’t deliver what it sets out to achieve. The storytelling is drab and it doesn’t give any reason why one should care about the proceedings. It tries to convince us that this film was made by an American filmmaker, Jeffery Gee Chin, when you can’t even trace an iota of difference in the way the story is told. It tries to force us to take the story seriously when most of the actors themselves look terribly out of place in their roles. And more importantly, it expects us to feel pity for the downfall that the two siblings witness in their lives, but it feels so superficial that you just about manage to watch the film rather than get immersed in it. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the makers don’t seem to understand how to make the film’s scale bigger than what it looks. The ingenious tricks which the characters use to pull off their scams don’t quite dazzle you.

Still from Mosagallu

The whole premise is mounted on the angle of the scamsters pulling off ‘World’s Biggest IT Scam’, but you neither feel the stakes rising nor do you get a sense of how big a deal this is. Part of the reason is the casting and most of the actors are treated like props. Vishnu Manchu, who played the lead role, wants to do something interesting, but then, the narrative doesn't explore what’s brewing in his mind. Through his dialogues we know that he’s grappling with greed and guilt, but this is lost in translation. It’s anybody’s guess why Suniel Shetty is cast as a cop who wants to stop the scam, and Ruhi Singh is left with practically no role to play in the film. Navdeep and Naveen Chandra are relegated to the sidelines and their presence hardly makes a difference. Among the lead actors, Kajal Aggarwal has a better character arc and she leaves an impression that she is at least trying to make the role work. Mahima Makwana does a good job in a supporting role with a moral compass.

It’s not just the drama that’s amiss in Mosagallu. It doesn’t have any sense of emotion either. In an attempt to find its rhythm, where things happen at a quick pace, it loses its soul. Films are often made of moments where the triumph and downfall of a character resonate with you. But there’s a big gap between what the film wants to show and what it makes the audience feel. For that matter, one doesn’t truly know what you are supposed to feel while watching the film because most of the characters themselves are devoid of a personality. Mosagallu is a missed opportunity and a big one at that. The drama in the story doesn’t translate to screen, and it barely skims the surface of its emotional depth.

Rating: **1/2