Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty

Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Mahesh Babu Pachigolla. Produced by V.Vamsi Krishna Reddy and Pramod Uppalapati under the banner UV Creations, the film features Anushka Shetty and Naveen Polishetty.

The film was formally announced in March 2021, later the film's title was revealed to be Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty. The music is composed by Radhan (songs) and Gopi Sundar (score), while the cinematography and the editing were handled by Nirav Shah and Kotagiri.V respectively.

It was released on 7 September 2023, and received positive reviews from critics.

Plot
Anvitha Ravali Shetty is a 30-year-old single independent woman working as a master chef in the United Kingdom and living with her single mother. Her mother has very little time left to live as she suffers from terminal cancer. So, she keeps convincing her daughter to get married soon. Anvitha, who is very adamant, doesn't believe in marriage and love due to her parents’ failed marriage and hence chooses to be single for the rest of her life. Later, her mother requests that she take her back to India, as she wants to spend her last days there. Eventually, after a few months, her mother dies, and Anvitha starts feeling lonely. As she doesn't believe in marriage, she tries to become a mother through IUI, as she feels she too needs a person during her last days. She feels that, like her mother, she doesn't need any man to love her throughout her life, and instead, her biological child can be her supporter throughout her life just like she had her mother.

With the help of her friend Kavya, they visit a fertilization center to get pregnant. Anvitha learns the norms and comes to know that random males are taken as donors, which concerns her. She tries to choose her sperm donor by interviewing other men. Anvitha, as clear as she is, writes down all the qualities she needs in her donor. Finally, she meets Siddhu Polishetty, a 25-year-old guy doing stand-up comedy in a restaurant. She is impressed with him at first sight and tries to talk to him about her intention, but Kavya stops her, stating it might make him awkward, so she requests that she take it slow and know more about his habits and personality first. Anvitha gets convinced and gives her visiting card to him to meet her. After a few meetings, both get along pretty quickly and gradually, Siddhu catches feelings for Anvitha, not knowing her actual intention. One day, Siddhu tries to propose to her, but it backfires when Anvitha reveals the real reason why she wants him. The concept of getting pregnant without getting married stuns Siddhu, and he gets disturbed, which causes Anvitha to leave him after he calls the concept ‘cheap’. Siddhu and his friend Rahul go to a coffee shop, where he unexpectedly sees Anvitha talking to another guy. This enrages him, and he intervenes between them and causes a scene. Siddhu, who is now unable to let Anvitha go and unable to accept the fact that Anvitha is going to be with another man if he doesn't help her, later decides to help Anvitha. He goes to her house, begs for forgiveness, and asks her to consider him. Siddhu mistakenly believes that Anvita will conceive by the old-fashioned method of intercourse, as he doesn't know the general procedure for sperm donation. Later, Siddhu is shocked to know when Anvitha tells him that it is not the usual process of intercourse and instead, it is IUI that they have to follow. He is shocked but agrees to the procedure, stating that he wants everything she has to be from him. He undergoes a vigorous diet and exercise regimen, which is monitored by her and the doctor.

Siddhu gets frustrated in the process and gets drunk. This enrages Anvitha, who begs him not to do the work if he is uninterested and confesses that she doesn't have feelings. She also tells him that she doesn't believe in love or marriage because of her parents's divorce, which happened when she was 6. Siddhu realizes his mistake and resumes his diet. One day the procedure date is fixed, and according to the contract, the donor should not be involved in her personal life and shouldn't contact her after the procedure; otherwise, legal action shall be taken. This breaks Siddhu even more, and he bids farewell to Anvitha, asking her a favor. He further requests that Anvita tell her daughter or son that their father was a person who genuinely loved her instead of just some random sperm donor when they inevitably ask who their father was. Later, Anvitha gets her results positive for her pregnancy test and goes to share the news with Siddhu, but Rahul stops her by saying she shouldn't interfere in his life as and when she wants, as he is just healing from their separation since Siddhu too can't, according to the contract, and asks her to leave him.

Anvitha, heartbroken, leaves India. When she returns to the UK, she is disturbed by Siddhu's absence and decides she needs a change of place. She moves to the countryside, somewhere in the UK, and starts spending time there. Meanwhile, Siddhu successfully gives frequent stand-ups and gains popularity. His father gets to know about his feelings and asks him to give assurance to Anvitha that he is beside her through thick and thin, as she is scared of getting left out of a relationship.

Siddhu travels to every corner of the UK to get to know her. But, in the end, when he finally meets her at the hospital at the time of her delivery and tries to talk to her, he is stopped by the staff, who state that only her partner can enter the labor room. Anvitha recognizes his voice and replies that he is the father of the child, and this moves Siddhu. He sees his name in the medical form as the father. Finally blessed with a baby, the movie ends with Siddhu doing a stand-up where he reveals he is married to Anvitha and leaves the stage saying he needs to change his daughter's diaper.

Production
The film was produced by Vamsi Krishna Reddy and Pramod Uppalapati under the banner of UV Creations. It was revealed in March 2021 that the production company had discussed having Anushka star alongside Naveen in the film, which would be the tale of a 30-year-old woman who falls in love with a 25-year-old man. Later, the title of the film was revealed as Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty. This film is a comeback film for Anushka Shetty to act as a lead after the films Bhaagamathie and Nishabdham. The cinematography of the film was by Nirav Shah, and the editing was handled by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao.

Music
The songs for the film were composed by Radhan, while the background score was composed by Gopi Sundar.

Release
The film was initially scheduled to release on 4 August 2023, but was postponed due to post-production delays. Later, it was released on 7 September 2023 along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages. Post-theatrical streaming rights of the film were acquired by Netflix.

Critical reception
Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty received mixed to positive reviews with critics appreciating the performances of Anushka and Naveen in particular.

Janaki K of IndiaToday gave the film a 3.5/5 and wrote, "Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty is a feel-good romantic drama that hits all the right notes. Sometimes, simplicity is all you need when you watch a film. And ‘Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty’ offers that and much more!". Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty is a good watch if you can't get enough of sweet, simple rom-coms. But it needed more emotional heft to leave a mark." Abhilasha Cherukuri of Cinema Express gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "a decent yet heartfelt romcom that is light without taking things lightly is harder to find than an ideal baby daddy." Sangheeta Devi of The Hindu wrote "Naveen Polishetty's flair for humour and Anushka Shetty's restrained act work but the simple, predictable Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty needed more emotional heft".

Box office
As of 25 September Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty had a worldwide gross of inr 500000000. The film initially experienced a slow start by just collecting inr 40000000 on its first day.