Producer: Surya shekar
Director: Govinda Menon
Cast: Rekha, Mallika Sheravath
Music: Anu Malik

Govind Menon’s ‘Theneteegalu’ is a complete potboiler aiming to provide complete entertainment. Treading in the line of comic territory, this flick is loaded with two glamour dolls of Bollywood – Rekha and Mallika Sherawat who play cons here. In spite of having such glossy stars to its credit, this film nevertheless fails to take off at the box-office.

Subhadra (Rekha) is Padmini’s (Mallika) aunt. They are used to a life of great wealth and comfort, which they manage to live by conning millionaires. Together they go around duping innocent but rich males who are smitten by their love and beauty. Their mantra is to tempt wealthy affluent guys, hook them, marry them, later divorce them and mint in great wealth as alimony.

In their hunt for men and wealth, they manage to hook in big shot Madhu (Paresh Rawal). Subhadra entices him with her killing demeanors and forces him to marry her while Mallika later enters into the scene only to seduce him away from his wife. The result is a divorce followed by a big fat alimony. The girls take the money and fly off to Malaysia where they continue to carry on with their tricks and trades. They get hold of a rich millionaire there and swindle away all his money.

Unable to forget his wife, Madhu goes to Malaysia to get her back. There he gets to learn about their plan to cheat another guy of his money. Upset with their deceit, he demands his money back. To facilitate the return of the money, Padmini fakes the same game with her present boyfriend whom she really loves. Realizing that his demand is ruining her love, Madhu decides to give up on his claim. But till then it is too late to make up for the loss. The film winds up with Subhadra realizing her idiocy and bringing together Padmini and her boyfriend before joining in Madhu for a happy conjugal life.

Rekha simply looks stunning in her role and gives Mallika Sherawat a good competition in context of glamour. Paresh Rawal and Satish play the main leads but their presence is somewhat eclipsed by the dazzling heroines.

A good helping of comic scenes well executed by the director adds to the entertainment proportion. Moreover, the glamour part is also well thrust. The actors sometimes run over the top while delivering but then that’s what the script essentially demands. Menon’s rib tickling coarse humor and Mallika’s grooving hip shakes makes for a fun filled watch.

On the whole, this film is bawdy in parts and cannot be best advised for a family watch.