Manasuku Nachindi movie review highlights: The first half is visually terrific, but the pace is sluggish

Manjula Ghattamaneni’s directorial debut ‘

Manasuku Nachindi

’ hit the screens today. A love story shot in picturesque locations, the film tells the story of best friends

Nithya

(Amyra Dastur) and Suraj (Sundeep Kishan), who are supposed to marry each other. But the two run away from their wedding and start living together in Goa to discover themselves. While Nithya is a nature lover, obsessed with its minute details, Suraj is a typical youth, who just wants to party and impress girls. When Nithya starts a meditation camp, Suraj runs into one of her students Nikki (

Tridha Chaudhary

) and starts dating her. However, a fallout with a friend makes Suraj rediscover himself and his interests and that changes how Nithya looks at him. In one moment, the love story has a new twist.

Though the first half is visually terrific, the film moves forward at a snail’s pace. The filmmaker seems to be caught in a web of her own contradictions, with the nature of this film constantly changing. Amyra, though, is fantastic and owns the first half. The intermission portion is on awfully predictable lines and one would hope that there are a few surprises in store in the second half. Else, the only thing worth watching in this love story would be the visuals.