Mithra Mandali tries hard to recapture the spark of Jathi Ratnalu, but the magic simply isn’t there. Every few years, a film breaks the rules, mocks the system, and becomes a cult by accident. Jathi Ratnalu did that it celebrated nonsense with clever self-awareness and made absurdity look like art.
But that success also created a strange curse. Since then, many filmmakers have tried to repeat the same chaotic charm and Mithra Mandali, produced by Bunny Vas and starring Priyadarshi, is the latest casualty. Despite paid premieres and high expectations, the film opened to negative talk.
The movie starts with a bold disclaimer: “Ee Katha Leni Katha” – a story without a story. The problem is, where Jathi Ratnalu turned chaos into witty stupidity, Mithra Mandali turns it into plain fatigue. The jokes drag, timing falters, and the fun feels forced. When a film aimed at “meme-loving youth” can’t even make them laugh, you know something’s off.
The real reason Jathi Ratnalu worked wasn’t luck it was Naveen Polishetty’s innocence, Anudeep’s playful writing, and a rare chemistry that made its madness infectious. Mithra Mandali, on the other hand, confuses randomness with comedy and noise with writing.
Telugu cinema needs to stop chasing the “next Jathi Ratnalu.” That film was lightning in a bottle a perfect mix of timing, audience mood, and creative chaos. Trying to engineer that again only kills the fun. Comedy made under pressure never feels spontaneous; it feels tired.
The moment you set out to make another Jathi Ratnalu, you lose what made the first one special its effortless stupidity that never tried too hard.
