User reviews

A poignant peek into how everyday lives are easily disrupted by flooding. Director Sujana Rao makes her debut with Gamanam, a film that unfolds the lives of normal, everyday people - laying bare their beauty, innocence and strength. And seeing as how the film is an anthology,

"Gamanam" (2021) is a poignant anthology film that weaves together three distinct stories, each exploring the struggles and triumphs of ordinary individuals facing life's challenges. While the film's narrative may not be particularly groundbreaking, its sincere portrayal of human emotions and Shriya Saran's compelling performance make it a worthwhile watch.

Shriya Saran delivers a standout performance as Kamala, a hearing-impaired mother struggling to make ends meet while yearning for her husband's return. Her portrayal is both nuanced and heartfelt, capturing the character's resilience and vulnerability with remarkable sensitivity.

The film's three interwoven stories explore themes of love, loss, hope, and resilience, offering a glimpse into the lives of individuals from different walks of life. While the narratives may not always be fully developed, they effectively convey the challenges faced by ordinary people in their pursuit of happiness and fulfillment.

The film's visuals are striking, capturing the essence of Hyderabad with its vibrant colors and bustling cityscapes. The music, composed by the legendary Ilaiyaraaja, adds another layer of depth and emotion to the narrative.

While "Gamanam" may not be a cinematic masterpiece, it offers a sincere and heartfelt portrayal of human emotions and struggles. Shriya Saran's compelling performance and the film's exploration of relatable themes make it a worthwhile watch for those seeking a poignant and thought-provoking cinematic experience.

After watching movie I browse IMDB. Few are saying it's masterpiece. Master pieces must have some pleasure or some interesting or intense in the movie. Nothing here. Watched for Ilayaraja sir's music and loved it. Charu Hasan and Shriya Saran not helpful to this movie. Weak story and screenplay spoil everything. Moral of the story about floods. But not conveyed well. Many scenes are lagging.

It is a slow paced movie with parallel stories. Director made every effort to show the world how people are affected during unprecedented flood.

Movie watcher will be able to connect and get a feeling of "going through the events" along with characters in the movie. This is award winning type and it is good to occasionally watch these types of movies.

Dont know how to put it the entire movie is as if some one with burger in hand is trying to tell story of a starving person without any emotion but just to prove and get applause for creating a hard hitting movie in which he failed. Can't blame the actors they did their job right. Some thing some where seems to be completely wrong as if all actors are made to over react to get audience sympathy and ultimately an award. The movie did not touches the viewers as it should have considering the subject almost most of scenes are forced one with no emotion.

Will not recommend.

This film unfortunately falls short of expectations, with its subpar quality evident throughout. The characters are clichéd and fail to evoke any real interest, while the story itself lacks excitement and fails to captivate the audience. The screenplay lacks creativity and fails to engage viewers, leaving them uninterested in the narrative. The direction of the film is lacking, unable to bring out the best in the story and its characters.

Although the effort put into creating the flood scenes is apparent, they fail to make the desired impact on screen, diminishing their effectiveness. However, it is worth mentioning that the performances of the two child actors stand out, showcasing their talent and skill in acting.

Regrettably, the film suffers from cheap special effects and uninspiring music, further detracting from its overall quality.

What can I say about this Film. December 2021 is blessed with 2 Beautiful Masterpieces. First Skylab & Now Gamanam,Telugu Film Industry is Blessed with these Realistic Films. I'll give 5 out of 5 Stars 🌟 for Gamanam.

Direction, acting, dialogues, all at the level of a school play. One of the main characters, a national cricket team aspirant, shows no talent whatsoever, let alone exceptional skills, and is seen being coached on the basics of cricket! He also happens to be a very bad actor! In this cricket and cinema obsessed country is it really that hard to find a decent actor who can play good cricket as well? A deaf girl who speaks fluently. There are such people but their speech does have certain afflictions, not like what is shown in this film. Shreya Saran is miscast in this role. She looks too polished. All the characters in the slum storyline are just so stereotypical, it irks. The relationships among the characters within a storyline are so laboured and unrealistic. Lazy, talentless production.

What a beautiful movie . Slow and steady wins the race suits this movie exactly . Shriya Saran what a matured performance. Shiva and Priyanka did good and the kids were amazing. Loved the music by Ilayaraja sir . Sujana did good Job as its 1st movie . Gyanashekhar is an amazing cinematographer. Love it . Btw it's not for everyone.

Not a movie for time pass or entertainment, but apt one for the awards. Editing could have been better.

Avoidable tragic ending.

Not a feel good one. Acting is good and all actors have given good performance.

Movie has very good cast. Director, being this her first movie, she was able to convince the actors to sign this movie. But I dint understand what was here selling point. The movie dint impress me, of course not many audience I feel. The movie is slow. The script was poor. She would have taken some strong emotions to elevate well on the screen. She should have highlighted some critical issues that were faced by the poor. She did good story telling, but story is incomplete.

Story of reality.. Everyone's acting is just perfect.. Especially those two kids.. 2nd half has all nail biting sequences.. People live with hopes.. And for some it works for some it fails.. don't know what happens next.. Excellent direction.. It's story of reality.. Maybe Ali story is little exaggerated but Kamala's story and two kids story exists everywhere.. Director has done excellent work..

There are negative reviews criticising acting and direction.. I don't know what they're expecting.. I think they haven't come out of typical Telugu movies.. one punch many people flies everywhere on air..:)

Director Sujana Rao makes her debut with Gamanam, a film that unfolds the lives of normal, everyday people - laying bare their beauty, innocence and strength. And seeing as how the film is an anthology, the newbie has the task of not just giving all her characters satisfying arcs but also delivering satisfying conclusions for each of them. The flooding might have been the 'conflict' of the story, but the way these characters are set up make subtle commentary on privilege, gender, class disparity and most importantly hope.

Absolute Masterpiece. Hats off to Sujana Rao for such an outstanding film. Even the actors nailed. Shriya Saran,Siva Kandukuri,Priyanka Jawalkar & even special appearance Nithya Menen everyone one lived in their characters. This film deserve 💯 out of 💯 Marks.

That said, Gamanam might not be the film for everyone. If you're someone who gets impatient unless the film is 'fast paced' and needs masala moments, this is definitely not the film for you. But if you're someone who has been waiting for Tollywood to tell poignant stories, this is for you. Sujana's debut film might be a mixed bag but it's worth a watch if you love such cinema.

Beautiful Movie of recent times after Skylab. This movie give very important message to the Society. This movie is very emotional. We need more & more Beautiful movies like Gamanam & Skylab.

Sujana reveals at the end of the film that she was inspired to make it after witnessing the devastating flooding in Hyderabad first-hand. And when that is the story that she aims to tell, it's too much to expect anything 'entertaining' in this tale. However, the ways some moments play out leave you wanting more, lacking the emotional heft that's required of such scenes. She even reveals some of the best dialogues of the film in the trailer, making one wonder if she should've saved those for the film for the desired impact. Some of the tracks will seem reminiscent of Vedam or Kaaka Muttai in the way they're set up or played out, but the similarities end there. Ilaiyaraaja's score for the film is surprisingly lacklustre.

Hope is at the soul of the film, lending warmth to otherwise dreary lives. Kamala (Shriya Saran) is a hearing-impaired tailor who works at a mass-production clothing sweatshop and has a little baby to look after. She hopes not just to regain her hearing someday but also lies in wait for her husband to return from Dubai, even if he hasn't been in touch since he left. Ali (Shiva Kandukuri) trains hard in cricket and hopes to make it to Team India someday even if his grandfather (Charu Hassan) believes he should be a medico like his late father. His girlfriend Zara (Priyanka Jawalkar) lives in a strict household but harbours dreams of a beautiful life with Ali. Two little rag pickers, who live in a dump yard, work at a birthday party one day and hope to make enough money to experience a puttinaroju. The little one of the duo wants a 'topi shaped' cake even if he doesn't know the date of his birth.

Good message ,showing the real life obstacles and problems faced by below poverty line people and kids .......natural acting by all cast ...don't bother slow pace in movie, go watch it....

Great peice of work...The essence of this movie is humanity.....Just being human everything will shortout. Asha hai movie makers aese hi motivated rhe..So that they give more grounded movie...A big heart.

If you are a real movie lover then support both Skylab & Gamanam,Because both Skylab & Gamanam are real movies & both deserves equal respect. Don't call yourself as a Movie lover if you insult anyone of these movies. If you are a Real Movie lover then give both Skylab & Gamanam equal rating because both gave very important messages to society & in return one is appreciated & other is underrated & insulted & if this continues then Telugu Film Industry can never improve. I'm giving 5 out of 5 Stars 🌟 for both Skylab & Gamanam,Because Skylab is all about Village life & Gamanam is all about City Life & both are unique masterpieces in their own ways. Hatsoff to both Skylab & Gamanam.

Wonderful film, well worth watching, the film introduces you to the world of the poor and needy and their suffering in this world in a very realistic way , all the actors, including the kids, were amazing.

She is wise enough to select Crew for Gamanam, all of them did an excellent work which Made this Film. Special. On screen all Sriya to children every cast delivered their best as well. As Behind the screen. Photography, Editing, Screenplay and The 🎶 Music.

Ilayaraja is known for his Miraculous works with Background score which injects very theme of picture into hearts of all. Number of Films became Ordinary to Extraordinary with His Magical work of scoring. ( Ex : Sitara, Anveshana, Maharshi of Vamsy and Gitanjali, Agninachatram, Nayakan of Maniratnam and many of others. Became Blockbusters with his work) He gives His Best to all Movies Irrespective of Director Big film Small Film. Thank you Srujana Rao.

Few days back we saw the best movie about innocent villagers(Skylab). Now we are witnessing Best movie about poor people in City(Gamanam). Tollywood is doing miracle these Days.