Reviews

'Super' Review: Eccentric Entertainment

Film: Super
Rating: 3/5
Banner: Rockline Productions
Cast: Upendra, Nayanthara, Tulip Joshi, Ali, Jeeva and Others
Music: V Harikrishna
Cinematography: Ashok Kashyap
Director: Upendra
Producer: Rockline Venkatesh
Release date: 11/02/2011

Variety star Upendra has always been known for his unconventional approach in his cinema. Yet again, he has arrived with this rather untitled film and only a gesture which suggests Super. Let us see how super it is…

Story
The film begins with India in 2030 and it is ultra developed. Even Warangal becomes international airport and cab drivers, servants at home are foreigners.

Only cars like Porsche, Bentley are used by the cab drivers while skyscrapers, clean roads take over. A foreign journalist Edward comes to Hyderabad to know the reason for this change in just 20 years.

This leads him to a flashback journey of one Subhash Chandra Gandhi (Upendra), a multi-millionaire based in London but very Indian at heart. His patriotism gets him closer to the rather domestic looking Indira (Nayantara) and he marries her. However, Indira has a strong motive to destroy Gandhi.

What is that motive? How did Gandhi change India? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances
Upendra as usual is at his eccentric best and his variety get ups, funny hairstyles, funny dressing fits the bill. Performance wise, he has given a decent act.

Nayantara looks alright but after cutting down her weight, she has lost that charm and glow. While her eyes contain most of the magic, she did her bit as required and made her presence felt.

Tulip Joshi looks sizzling hot, Ali was alright, Jeeva was usual, Sadhu Kokila was okay, Dhandapani was loud, Sudarshan was standard, Nagendra Shah was natural, Rockline Venkatesh made a brief cameo.

Highlights

• Idea of assuming India in 2030
• The unconventional narrative
• The characterization of ‘negative’ Narayana
• Visual effects

Drawbacks

• Crazy scene sequences
• More of mass touch than class in scenes
• Illogical situations
• Second half

Analysis:For starters, this is a film that can be understood by those who are already used to the Upendra flavor of films.

As such, his intention is noble in this film but then it is the way he has presented it that gets the quality down.

While there are some really notable and praiseworthy points in his contention, it is the mass way he presents it which takes away the feel. In a way, some might argue that what the film tries to convey is absolutely difficult but there are those who feel it is the ideal way of shaping up the society and what Upendra has shown contains lot of truth.

The film appeals on technical aspects especially at the start, the mass audience will connect. At the box office, this has a strong chance of landing in profit zone.

Bottomline: Thoughtful message in twisted bottle..

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'Aha Na Pellanta' Review: Comedy Entertainer

Rating: 3.25/5Banner: A K Entertainments
Cast: Allari Naresh, Ritu Barmecha, Srihari, Subbaraju, Anita, Nagineedu, Brahmi, M S Narayana etc
Lyrics: Bhaskarabhatla, Ramajogayya, Sirasri, Bhuvana Chandra
Music: Raghu Kunche
Story, screenplay, direction: Veerabhadram
Producer: Sunkara Ramabrahmam
Release date: 02/03/2011


Allari Naresh has arrived once again with yet another entertaining treat but this time it got bigger with the presence of Srihari, let us see how good it is


Story: Subramaniam aka Subbu (Naresh) is an honest, intelligent, kind and hardworking IT professional. However, one night at a party organized by his boss Balaraju (Brahmi) changes his life.

Next morning, Subbu finds himself in bed with Sanjana (Ritu) and feels that both got intimate in the night. Trouble begins as Sanjana has got three brothers (Srihari, Subbaraju, Samrat) who are powerful and feared a lot, their father J J (Nagineedu) is another kingpin.

Despite all his pleas and requests, Subbu is compelled to get engaged to Sanjana. Did something happen between Subbu and Sanjana that night? Why did Sanjana’s brothers target Subbu? All this forms the rest of the story.


Performances: Allari Naresh has come up with a matured performance and played up to his role very well. His trademark dialogue timing and soft humor tickles the audiences from time to time. He shouldered the movie till the last to entertain the masses in his own way.

Ritu Barmecha looks cute and her innocent sex appeal makes her attractive. She has to work on her expressions a bit and get that lip sync right if she wants a career in Tollywood. 

Srihari shines with his typical Telangana accent and his adjectives and one-liners deliver that punch which will entertain the masses.

Brahmanandam deserves a special mention as his track with Srihari is hilarious. Despite seeing him in eight out of ten movies, he doesn’t bore and has a good sense of comedy timing.

Subbaraju was handsome as usual and was effective, he must be given more opportunities and lengthy roles. Samrat was good looking and showed confidence. Nagineedu was natural and elegant, Ahuti Prasad was brief, Vennela Kishore brought few extra smiles, Anita looks hot and sexy, M S Narayana was regular, Hamsa Nandini was there to fill the screen but no dialogues. The others added to the comedy in their own way.


Highlights

• Three songs, especially the remix ‘Chinukula raali…’
• Glamour quotient of Ritu, Anita
• Direction
• Comedy track of Srihari- Brahmi

Drawbacks

• Few scenes were rehashed from other films
• Hiccups in editing
• Lengthy ending

Analysis
The true mark of a director is known in the way he handles the narrative despite having a story which may not be that appealing. Here, the director has shown his mettle though it is his debut attempt. Agreed he has picked up quite a share from different films like 'Dhee', 'Welcome' and other Bollywood flicks, he has sensibly mixed them with Telugu nativity and covered it up.

There is no link with Jandhyala’s ‘Ahana Pellenta’ as told by its makers. This new ‘Aha Na Pellanta’ is the film that entertains the masses with punch dialogues by Srihari in Telangana slang and Allari Naresh’s humor.

Coming up with a breezy screenplay and delivering doses of humor at the right points, the film becomes a smoothie.

However, this is a film that is targeted for the B, C center audience and those who seek pure time pass without much logic or sensibility.


Bottom-line: Go and enjoy with mass outlook!!

Courtesy: Greatandhra

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'Mangala' Review: Not Up To Expectations

Film: MangalaRating: 2.5/5
Banner: Mantra Entertainments
Cast: Charmy, Subhash, Pradeep Rawath, Shyamala, Uttej and others
Music: Vishwa
Cinematography: Dasaradhi Sivendra
Story, screenplay, direction: Tulasiram
Producer: Ch.V. Sharma
Release date: 02/03/2011


The impact of ‘Mantra’ was quite strong at the box office so director Osho Tulasiram has come up with a similar concept. Yet again, he has roped in his favorite Charmy who is currently going through a lean patch of her career. Let us see how it worked for both.


Story
Mangala (Charmy) is a famous heroine and she has many fans. One among them (Vijay Sai) is not just obsessed about Mangala but he is sensitive as well. He decides to gift a car to Mangala and asks his father (Pradeep Rawath) who does black magic, for money. The doting father takes money from a rich man and uses his evil powers to kill a child and gives the amount to his son.

However, when the fans comes to city and meets Mangala, a misunderstanding makes her think that he tried to misbehave and the fans gets beaten by Mangala’s driver/confidante (Subhash). Hurt by this, the fan attempts suicide. He is unwilling to take the medicine in the hospital till he sees Mangala. Despite several requests from his father, Mangala is unable to come due to her shooting and takes it easy. The fan dies and the enraged father unleashes the horrifying ‘Sakuchi’ – a spell that will lead to death. What happens from there forms the rest of the story.


Performances
Charmee is the life and soul for the film. A remarkable performance from her end which is mixed with the right body language, irresistible sex appeal and haunting expressions. Overall, a good show.


Pradeep Rawath looks scary and though his role is brief, he has done enough to create an impact in the audience.


Subhash has come up with an adequate performance and he supports Charmy with his act.


The duo of Uttej and Saptagiri and their woes with the Tamil director bring some funny moments but sometimes it gets overboard.


Highlights

• Charmy’s performance
• First half
• Screenplay
• Background score
• Shock points

Disappointments

• Second half, especially the climax
• Directorial flaws
• No conviction in the solution of problem
• Songs
• Silly comedy

Analysis
After the success of ‘Mantra’, the Tollywood circuit realized that there are audience which welcome such genres. Osho Tulasiram wanted to cash in on that and added an extra dose of shivers.

However, he got lost midway. What started as an excellent plot goes haywire as he is unable to decide whether to term it as a horror flick or a thriller flick. He was successful in scaring the wits out of audience at many places but all this happened during the first half which raised the expectations in the second half. And all that build-up turned out to be hollow in the second half. The climax scenes got dragged which makes the audience squirm and feel bitter about the whole thing.

Overall, there is improvement in the technical values, the plot was wonderful but the execution was poor. At the box office, this might land in the safe zone due to its moderate budget but scoring a hit doesn’t have a great chance.


Bottomline: Good line gone bad with confusion

Courtesy: Greatandhra

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'Kudirithe Cup Coffee' Review: A Scenic Poetry

Rating: 3/5
Banner: Siva Productions
Cast: Varun Sandesh, Suma Bhattachaya, Bheemineni, Tanikella, Sukumari and others
Music: Yogeswar Sharma
Dialogues: Abburi Ravi
Cinematography: Santosh Rai
Director: Ramana Salva
Producer: Mahi
Release date: 25/02/2011


Varun Sandesh who has been dabbling since a while for a hit has arrived with another venture and the title raised the curiosity of many. Let us see how good it gets..


Story
Venu (Varun) is a person who follows his heart and is not keen on taking up any career until he gets the right connect. However, the suicide of his close friend due to love failure disturbs him and Venu develops hatred for love and romance.

The story takes a turn when he is told by his father (Bheemaneni) to go to Dakshinagiri. They have a coffee shop in the hill station which is managed by his father’s teacher Malathi (Sukumari). Venu is asked to go and help her so that the financial debt she has with Decent Mohan (Bharani) can be revealed. Now, the former teacher has got a grand daughter Lasya (Suma) whose dream is to come up with a resort from the coffee shop and marry the person she loves. She comes home to find Venu in charge of things but seeing his abilities and qualities, she falls in love with him. What happens from there forms the rest of the story.


Performances:Varun Sandesh has come up with a strained performance which is quite unlike him. He is always filled with energy but not this time. The serious look on his face and the stiff body language didn’t work. And his clean shave look is also disgusting for the kid of role he played here.


Suma Bhattacharya is cute and looks nice in few places but due to poor hairstyling and make up, she was not able to appeal at all places. Overall, she did a decent job.


Sukumari was brief, Tanikella Bharani was not used to his full potential, Bheemineni was superb, Sivannarayana brought few smiles, Prithvi was adequate. The others did their bit as required.


Highlights

• Locations
• Cinematography
• Music and three songs
• Production values
• Nice animation

Setbacks

• Weak direction
• Not gripping screenplay
• Re-recording could have been better
• Second half climax
• Not enough depth in emotional scenes

AnalysisThe film comes across as a variety love story embedded with deep emotions but then such attempts require strong grip over the script and a screenplay that captures the attention of the audience.

However, despite some rich production values and mesmerizing locations, the director was unable to get the feel into the film. But the music and RR saved the film to good extent. Also, the presence of veteran and efficient support cast was not utilized to create an impact. Songs and cinematography were the saving grace for the film.

A strong etching of characters is important and that was missing here. This will require a strong word of mouth publicity to click at the box office.

Bottomline: Beautiful locations and pleasant music

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'Prema Kavali' Review: Commendable Debut

Rating: 3/5Banner: Max India Productions
Cast: Aadi, Isha Chawla, Brahmanandam, Dev Gill, Sindhu Tolani, Naga Babu, Jayasudha and others
Music: Anup Rubens
Cinematography: Chota K Naidu
Editing: Goutham Raju
Story, screenplay, direction: K Vijayabhaskar
Producer: K Atchi Reddy
Release date: 25/02/2011

‘Dialogue King’ Sai Kumar is a tense father as his son Aadi is making his debut in cinema today. It is also a comeback of sorts for veteran director K Vijayabhaskar. Let us see what both of them have been upto

Story: Prema (Isha) is the darling daughter of a honest and strict police officer (Nasser) but she is currently being blackmailed by one person (Shafi). Prema’s tension catches the eye of her sister-in- law (Sindhu Tolani) and this reveals a flashback. The story is about Srinu (Aadi), Prema’s classmate and his love for her. However, Prema doesn’t respond to his love feelings but becomes friends with him. But an unexpected situation makes her hate Srinu and that becomes the cause of her worries. What is that situation? Is Srinu successful in his love story? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances: Aadi has made a confident debut. He has built a sturdy physique, nice dance moves, expressive body language and above all, a voice and facial countenance that reminds his father. Overall, he came up with a good job. But instead of heavy build body, he would have concentrated on lean muscle built to get a romantic look. Aadi needs to concentrate on bringing depth in emotions from his second film onwards. On a whole, he passed the debut test without any hassles.

Isha Chawla will strike a chord with the youth audience. She is beautiful, has an adorable smile, an innocent sex appeal that makes her desirable. If she can polish few of her expressions then she has strong potential.

Dev Gill has that mean look but his role was brief. Shafi is a talent whose abilities must be challenged further. Supreeth has good screen presence but then his role was minimal. 

Brahmanandam and M S Narayana gave hilarious moments, their sense of timing and their screen chemistry was excellent. Ali gave his own share of laughs. Sindhu Tolani was decent, Nasser was matured as usual. Naga Babu and Jayasudha gave guest appearances.

Highlights:

• Aadi’s ease in performance
• Isha Chawla’s glamour (don’t miss her wet song)
• Brahmi- M S Narayana comedy sequences
• Cinematography
• CG Effects
• Locations for songs and picturization

Setbacks:

• No great gripping romantic moments
• Two scenes in second half got dragged
• Dev Gill’s character should have got more strength and power

Analysis: More than the story it is the narration which plays a crucial role for any film and that’s where experienced directors like Vijayabhaskar make their mark.

Here, there was nothing special in the story but it was his screenplay and the right proportion of comedy, romance, emotions which gave a fresh look.

He was well supported by strong technicians and rich production values. Though there may not be very touching romantic moments, the film passes off without creating much dilemma.

At the box office, this will appeal to the college and youth audience. This looks like an attempt to show Aadi as an actor who can dance, fight and romance since he is looking ahead for portraying mass masala hero roles.

Bottomline: Good for time pass

------------------------------------------------------------------------'Appalaraju' Review: Just For Industry Folks

Rating: 2/5
Banner: Shreya Productions
Cast: Sunil, Swathi, Sakshi, Brahmanandam, Raghu Babu, Ajay and others
Music: Koti
Editing: Praveen Pudi
Cinematography: Sudhakar Yekkanti
Story, screenplay, direction: Ramgopal Varma
Producer: Kiran Kumar Koneru
Release date: 18/02/2011

Ramgopal Varma is back. This time, he has chosen the Tollywood circuit as the backdrop and tried to portray his views in the satirical way. Let us see how convincing they were.

Story: Appalaraju (Sunil) hails from Amalapuram and he is a passionate film buff. His dream is to direct a film and for that he already writes a script for a tragedy film with the title ‘Nayaki’. With full confidence, he comes to Hyderabad and manages to set foot in the industry.

It is here he comes across people like Rocky (Raghu Babu), creative head Pushpanand (Harshavardhan) as a team. Eventually, he manages to convince glamour queen Kanishka (Sakshi), the muse of Babu Garu (Adarsh), as the leading lady for his project. Then comes KT (Ajay), a star who hates Babu Garu and has got an eye on Kanishka. While all this is one side, a twist of events occur and Appalaraju is forced to join hands with mafia don Srisailam Anna (Brahmi) who becomes the producer of this film.

What are the challenges and experiences for Appalaraju? Is he the same man who comes from Amalapuram after the completion of his film? Will he be successful in making his ‘Nayaki’? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances: Sunil has given his best for the role and it was looking clear that he was imitating the body language of Ramgopal Varma in many scenes. His characterization was not consistent and had lots of ups and downs. But he rocks with his graceful dances every where and punch dialogues here and there.

Swathi does her bit as required and it was a different experience to see the glamour avatar of this slender girl in songs. She can do with adding few extra pounds which will make her more desirable. 

Sakshi Gulati has sex appeal written all over her, except the face. She was sensuous, gave the apt expressions and though her role was limited, she made the best use of it and shows potential. 

Brahmanandam managed to get few smiles with his one-liners. Though few scenes of his were not made with conviction, he did an okay job. 

Tanikella was apt, Raghu Babu was good, Harshavardhan imitated RGV completely right from facial expression to walk, Ajay was effective, Adarsh was powerful. Venu Madhav was irritating, Krishna Bhagawan was cool as usual, Kota was okay, Ali was not used rightly. MS Narayana, Suman Shetty, the lad with pony tail filled the gaps.

This beautiful story was wrongly handled by the director missing the spice and kick in entire drama. He ended up this film as a b-grade film without any Midas-touch by him.


Highlights:

• Ramu was successful in creating characters that both the film folks and the media folks will be able to connect with real time personalities but not for general audience.
• The song which has dupes of Balakrishna, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna doing few antics gets huge applause in theaters
• The song on film directors hitting directly with their names mesmerizes the audiences.
• The song ‘Ringu Road kaada..’ shot on Ajay and Sakshi stands as an example for technical brilliance and appealing look.
• Sunil’s dances
• Lyrics on a whole and especially ‘cinema mayam’

Drawbacks:

• The emotional anguish of the protagonist was not etched well, it is hard for the audience to connect to him.
• Weak comedy
• No flavor in drama
• The scene after interval when Brahmi reveals his lyrical talent and sits with Ali. It got dragged to nearly ten minutes with no power in content.
• The scene between Ravi Teja and Sunil. The reactions of Sunil were not right given the background he comes from in the movie. Also, it is not sure what the intention was behind having that scene. Instead of empathizing with Ravi Teja in the scene, Sunil discards him. That affected his characterization.
• The scene between Sunil, Raghu Babu and Harshavardhan at ice cream vendor and auto-wala tests the patience of audience.
• Lengthy narration

Analysis:People focused on this film just because of Ram Gopal Varma than anything else. Everything else falls after his brand name. He is known for his in depth emotions, effective screenplay, crisp, short and straight dialogues and on a whole a master style of handling. People carry some expectations coming to theatres. Adding to RGV’s image, it’s the satire on film industry and characters resembling its real time people pulled the attention of public.

On a whole, it’s the creative instinct of the director played here than the interest in carving a convincing and connecting film.

The objective of making a film is not just about fulfilling the director’s creative satisfaction. It is also about the satisfaction or to say the least, some entertainment for the audience. Well, that was missing its mark here completely. The subject chosen is something for those already in the film industry or to those individuals who are planning to join the industry. As such, the common public will not relish it.

An attempt was made to come up with an overall comedy treat but the slapstick style adopted didn’t have the crisp humor, it was dull and stale. Many a time, director assumed that many scenes would bring laughs in theatres but he proved wrong.

The film takes off very well and sets the right tempo but starts fizzling out after fifteen minutes. From then on, it is a dull journey till the end. By no means is it a film of RGV’s mettle and his masterstrokes were completely missing.

Comparatively, Puri Jagannadh’s ‘Neninthe’ was better considering the genre.

At the box office, the openings may be huge owing to the hype and controversy created but that will not sustain for long.

Bottom-line: Good story but weak narration  

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'Vastadu Na Raju' Review: Will Not Disappoint

Rating: 3/5
Banner: 24 Frames Factory
Cast: Vishnu, Taapsee, Prakashraj, Brahmanandam, Tanikella, Siva Reddy, Ali and others
Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: S Gopal Reddy
Story, screenplay, direction: Hemant Madhukar
Producer: Manchu Vishnuvardhan
Release date: 11/02/2011


Manchu Vishnu has arrived with another attempt to entertain the Telugu audience. Whether he is successful in this one or not, let us see.


Story:
Venky (Vishnu) is a happy go lucky young man and his dream is to become a Kick Boxing champion. He doesn’t believe in love as he considers it time waste.

On the other hand, there is Narasimha (Prakashraj), a henchman for the Home Minister (Sayaji) and his dream is to become an MLA. To achieve his dream, he also commits to the Home Minister that he will give his sister Pooja’s (Taapsee) hand to the HM’s rogue son Ajay (Ajay).

However, a sequence of events takes place which mislead Narasimha to think that Pooja is in love with Venky. He attacks Venky’s family and in no time Venky also shows his reaction. What is that reaction? Are Venky and Pooja really in love? All this forms the rest of the story.


Performances:
Manchu Vishnu has given a sincere attempt. He should be appreciated for cutting down ample weight on his body and choosing a far better story this time after ‘Saleem’.  However, he has to work on few areas. First, his voice modulation has to improve to deliver that heroic feel. Secondly, he must put on some mass on his body and build few muscles apart from that single tricep he shows in one scene. Being a kickboxer, he should have enough machismo and physique which was missing here. 

Taapsee looks like a doll and while she scores with her innocent looks in regular scenes, she raises the heat with her oomph factor in songs. She has improved compared to her debut film in terms of performance. But she needs to focus on fitness as this is right time. She has tendency of putting on weight faster.

Prakashraj is good and did complete justice to his role. Watching him in one of the songs in a funny get up was nice. 

Brahmanandam is good at few places, Tanikella is elegant, Tulasi was alright, Ajay is not used to his full potential, Jeeva is usual, Sayaji Shinde is brief. It is good to see Sathya Krishnan back on the screen. Surekha is humorous; Satyam Rajesh, Siva Reddy and Bobo Sasi are there to fill the screen. The others did their bit as required.


Highlights

• Songs and music
• Manchu Vishnu’s dialogue on ‘Andhra, Rayalaseema, Telangana Debba’ during the fight sequence.
• Taapsee’s glamour quotient

Drawbacks

• Vishnu’s dialogue on greatness of Telugu people. Many compared it to Mohan Babu delivering it and Vishu was unable to give that punch.
• Vishnu’s lack of energy in emotional scenes
• Physique of Vishnu that’s not convincing as a kick boxer.

Analysis:
Hemant Madhukar who made his first film in Bollywood seems to have read the commercial pulse of the audience correctly. He didn’t try to experiment too much and made it a clean entertainer. Though there were few hiccups here and there, he was able to put enough pace in the scenes and kept the audience busy.

There was a proper mix of romance, humor, sentiment which makes up for a perfect formula entertainer. He should have focused on the technical aspects and fine tuned few comedy sequences.

Especially for this kind of story line and presentation idea, the screenplay and dialogue should be filled with better humor. People may compare it with Dhee or Ready. But repeating the same wouldn’t give any impact. It should be above them to score the highest mark. And frankly to say, the humor and entertainment quotient in Dhee and Ready are above ‘VNR’.

On a whole, the dialogues were good at few places, second half got dragged a bit, this could be trimmed.  The production values were good and few scenes had rich presentation. Overall, this is a film that will appeal for B, C center audience provided they watch with no big expectations. 

Bottomline: Ok for time pass 

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'Gaganam' Review: Wonderful Experiment

Film: Gaganam
Rating: 3.25/5Banner: Matinee Entertainment
Cast: Nagarjuna, Prakashraj, Brahmanandam, Poonam Kaur, Sana Khan, Thalaivasal Vijay, Prudhvi, Bharath Reddy, Ravikanth etc
Dialogues: Umarji Anuradha
Camera: K V Guhan
Story, screenplay, direction: Radha Mohan
Producer: Dil Raju

Lately, Nagarjuna has been trying to experiment with his image and ‘Gaganam’ falls into that bracket. This is released in Tamil as well with the title ‘Payanam’ and it brings back director Radha Mohan of ‘Akasamantha’ fame. Let us see how this bilingual is..


Story: A flight which takes off from Chennai is hijacked by terrorists and they want to take it to Rawalpindi.

However, an engine failure forces them to land the aircraft in Tirupathi. The defense ministry gets alerted and in comes home secretary Vishwanath (Prakashraj) to know the demands of the hijackers.

He goes with a team to Tirupathi and keeping in mind, the need for a military operation at any instant, Major Ravindra (Nagarjuna) arrives to Tirupathi airport with his team of commandos. The demand is for the release of dreaded terrorist Yousuf Khan or else the hundred passengers in aircraft will be killed.

Just when the government gives up and decides to release Yousuf Khan, an interesting twist takes place. What happens from there forms the rest of the story.


Performances:Nagarjuna has given a balanced performance and doesn’t cross the line anywhere. He fits the bill with his well maintained physique.

Prakashraj makes his presence felt though it is a brief and important role. He showed the right kind of emotions during critical scenes.

Bharath Reddy fits the role perfectly as Nag’s assistant.

Poonam Kaur was okay, the track between the doctor and Sana Khan was annoying. Thalaivasal Vijay was impressive as usual. Prithvi was not upto the mark but his character was etched well. Brahmi failed to impress this time. The rest of them did their bit as required.

The dialogues written by Umerjee Anuradha (Ye Maya Chesaave fame) are sounding as if dubbed directly from Tamil. The nativity is missing in that. 90% of the film runs inside the flight and a conference hall in airport. Yet, no monotony was experienced with the effective cinematography of KV Guhan. Especially the tension was effectively built up with steady cameras and lighting schemes.

Praveen Mani's background score stands as a plus point in the film. A few lags were observed in editing here and there. There could have been a 10 minute cut to make the film compact. Although it's an experiment the production values are on par with regular commercial cinema.


Highlights:Direction
Cinematography
Background Score
Thrill elements
Subtle humor


Drawbacks:Jerks in editing


Analysis:Nagarjuna made several experiments in his 25 year film career. He gave opportunities to new directors and made block busters like Shiva. He also acted in devotional films when many opined that devotional genre has gone obsolete on Tollywood screen. His Annamayya and Sree Rama Dasu have become super hits that way. It is really a stunning thing to know that a film where a big hero is playing the lead carries no songs and fights. But still this film engages the audiences efficiently for 2 hours.


Radha Mohan needs a definite mention here, He dealt with soft stories like Akasamantha earlier and now he came up with this thriller. But still he has shown his caliber. He is successful because he dealt with the subject efficiently without any diversions.

Despite a serious movie, the entertainment quotient is not missed. Intelligently he grooved in a film hero and his fan in the flight to bring in humor. Similarly at the end the way the director used a junior artiste for a military operation also sounds interesting.

No logical errors can be seen in this film. But a few scenes between Sana Khan and the doctor didn’t fit into the story. The moods and emotions of the passengers those were hijacked weren’t captured effectively.

Although first half goes little dull, he took enough care in second half by making it thrilling and captivating. Although it is predictable that it will be a happy ending, the director proved successful in bringing in tension with his screenplay.


The film may lose a few mass masala audience but it clicks really well with the A center audiences. It has to be seen how it fares at box office. If that wonder works out, then we can state that ‘Gaganam’ sets a new trend in Tollywood history.


Bottom-Line: Watch it

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'JBT' Review: Content Weak-Collections Peak

Film: Jai Bolo Telangana
Rating: 3/5Banner: Mahalakshmi Films
Cast: Jagapathi Babu, Smrithi Irani, Sandeep, Meera Nandan, Nagineedu, Gowri Shankar, AVS, Janardhan Maharshi, Gaddar, Veda Kumar, Desapathi Srinivas, Mallepalli Lakshmiah, Dr Shravan etc
Music: Chakri
Dialogues: Udugula Venu
PRO: Ravi Kumar Panasa (RK Media)
Cinematography: T Surendra Reddy
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Story, screenplay, direction: N Shankar
Producer: N Shankar
Release date: 04/02/2011


With the T-movement on, perhaps it was the right time for the film to arrive but how much effect can it convey, let us see.


Story:The movie starts on a symbolic shot of a Telangana lady (Smriti Irani) feeding Andhra guy in her ashram called ‘amma vodi’. Director has explained what he is going to show in that single take off shot.


Set on the backdrop of Telangana, the story begins with the family of Bandhagi Gopanna (Jagapathi Babu) who lays down his life for separate Telangana movement. His wife Jayamma (Smriti) runs ‘Amma Odi’, a help centre for many. While those around her prompt for a movement, Jayamma’s son Varshit (Sandeep) is not interested since he doesn’t want his future children to suffer like him without father’s affection.


Meanwhile, he meets Sahaja (Meera), a girl from Vijayawada who comes to research on Telangana culture. Both fall in love but in between, the incidents of KCR fasting, the OU campus protests etc happen and at one point, Varshit gets influenced and joins the struggle just like his father. How does that effect the Telangana struggle? What happens to his romance with Sahaja? All this forms the rest of the story.


PerformancesJagapathi Babu had a brief role and for the first time, he sans glamour and did his bit. Though he could not deliver the punch or the voltage with nativity touch, he made a sincere attempt towards it.

Smrithi Irani was matured and though her lip sync was missing at the start, she picked up eventually and did a decent act.

Sandeep shows confidence in his performance but looks, body language, expressions need a lot of working if he is planning a career. 

Meera Nandan is an experienced star as she hails from the Tamil/Malayalam circuit. She has sweet looks and did her bit as required. 

Chandrasekhar who acted as Chari also made his presence felt.

Nagineedu was natural, the sequences between AVS and Janardhan Maharshi were hilarious, Veda Kumar was okay, Gowri Shankar was general, Desapathi Srinivas is adequate, KCR is seen here and there, Gaddar is there for the song and he is the highlight. The rest could not contribute much.


Highlights

• Gaddar’s song is hysterical and stands as best highlight
• ‘Ok Puvvu Oka Navvu’ song picturization
• Music for songs on a  whole
• AVS-Janaradana Maharshi comedy
• Heroine Meera Nandan
• Dialogues by Udugula Venu

Drawbacks

• Spreading dangerous message among student community
• Too much propaganda on killing and committing suicide
• Weak direction
• Technical values
• Not much content
• Using Baba Ambedkar to encourage suicide

Connection to real time characters:Garapati Venu Gopal (a replica of Lagadapati Rajagopal, Vijaywada MP)
Shiva Reddy imitating Chiranjeevi and Jr NTR holding ‘saimkyandhra placard’


Analysis:Telangana movement has respectful value.
Telangana movement shakes the hearts of every human being if understood truthfully.
Telangana martyrs and freedom fighters are diamonds in the history of Telugus
Telangana culture has got warmth, love and richness
Telangana has got great history.


But director failed to bring any of the above in the effective manner. He could have made a historical movie but missed the opportunity by committing some mistakes. But still this ‘Jai Bholo……….’ cannot be discarded as ‘nai bholo’. It’s a case study by its own.


It’s a movie banked just on hysterical aspects but not historical. Although he touched elements like Bandhagi Gopanna, he failed to prove the need for separate Telangana in logical way. The depth in his screenplay is missing and hence he couldn’t convince with the root cause of Telangana movement. Director would have worked hard to bring tears for every human being irrespective of regional barriers when this subject was chosen.


Every character in the movie behaves volatile and emotional. Logic never surfaces them. They assume certain things and move as per their whims and hallucinations.


Chari’s (a replica of Sreekanthachari who burnt himself alive) burning-alive scene in front of Ambedkar statue is connected to this. He gets disgusted with life due to financial problems at his home, he gets frustrated looking at peaceful people despite Telangana movement, he moves on the hallucination of Ambedkar who says that Telangana state will be possible if he dies and hence burns alive.


Varshit (the hero of the movie) gets perturbed and confused when KCR is arrested by police. He even deserts his love out of volatility.


Coming to director here are a few things to say:

• Director needs to learn basics in direction but EVERY DIRECTOR SHOULD LEARN FROM HIM HOW TO MARKET A FILM.
• Director failed to show his mettle but PROVED HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL IN MAKING A SMALL BUDGET FILM A HUGE ATTENTION PULLER WITH THE TOPIC HE HAS CHOSEN.
• Director didn’t excel in portraying the needful history but proved TREMENDOUSLY SUCCESSFUL IN PUMPING IN HYSTERIA AMONG MASSES WITH A COUPLE OF SONGS AND A FEW DEPTHLESS BUT INSTANT WINNING DIALOGUES.
• Director has made a film but in the standards of TV serial

When a film is made with a political or a movement agenda, it is always a plus point to focus on the sensitivity issues. Right now, N Shankar has capitalized the Telangana trouble to his advantage but was unable to capitalize it to the fullest.

Projecting the richness of Telangana culture and the affection of the people was not focused.

Instead, it was nudging on subjects which are stale and nothing appealing. The most dangerous thing is the director instigating students to commit suicide and create an atmosphere of martyrdom. Commercially, the film might appeal to the hardcore Telangana areas but subject wise and content wise, it has not enough to score.

It works in Naizam area but may not in other areas.

Bottomline: Only for TRS and other T-seeking people


(Venkat can be reached at venkat@greatandhra.com )

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'Wanted' Review: Average Treat

Film: Wanted
Rating: 2.75/5Cast: Gopichand, Deeksha Seth, Nazar, Prakash Raj, Benarjee, Subbaraju, Shafi, Chandramohan, Jayasudha, Brahmanandam, Ahuti Prasad etc
Editing: Shankar
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Rasool Ellore
Producer: Venigall Anand Prasad
Story, Screenplay, Dialogue, Direction: BVS Ravi
Released on: 26th Jan 2011


This is the movie with huge star cast, enough hype and scintillating commercial trailers. This has hit the screens today. Let us see how it performed.


Story:Rambabu (Gopichand) is the young man who has no job at all. Peculiarly, his parents (Chandramohan and Jayasudha) also encourage their son to stay only at home and eat without doing any job. Accidentally he falls in love with a medico Nandini (Deeksha Seth) who has a secret mission. Although she is a medical student, her flash back pushes her to do certain activities secretly. What are those activities? That is a facet of heroine.


Eventually Nandini uses Rambabu’s love on her to take vengeance on the criminals those made her family an ash. What is the vengeance and who put an end to her family?


There comes Basivi Reddy (Prakash Raj), a rugged gangster who killed Nandini’s family members. Hence he faces trouble from Rambabu as a part of Nandini’s revenge. What happens next is an easy guess.


Performances:Gopichand is fine with his habitual performance. There is a humor line in his characterization and he carried that well.


Deeksha Seth is just there for some glamour but that glamour is not exploited well. She has to get trained in the aspect of performance and expressions.


Jayasudha and Chandramohan are ok in their roles. Barhmanandam’s comedy is weak.


Prakash Raj’s character lacks depth. Nazar’s role is impressive.


Coming to technical aspects, cinematography scores good marks. Music is average. Story is good, screenplay is bad and dialogues are ok.

Positive Things:

• Production values
• Story line

Limitations:

• Comedy weak
• Narration meek
• Screenplay bleak

Analysis:Writer BVS Ravi debuted with this film. Huge casting, good production values and required technicians joined him. He weaved the story point impressively but goofed up with screenplay. The interval bang could be when heroine throws the pistol in hero’s hands. But the break happened after a fight which spoiled the suspense factor. Second half picked up during heroine’s flash back but again dropped with elastic narration.


On a whole, watching ‘Wanted’ is like a bumpy ride. The graph suffered several ups and downs. Director would have done enough homework to tight the loose ends. The movie could have sounded better had he made corrections in screenplay in the matter of length of scenes, comedy track and depth in villain characters.


Take off is impressive but the first half on a whole is passive. Second half picks up at a few moments but falls down at climax with routine and predictable scenes. This revenge drama would have worked really well if director’s judgment was corrected.


Bottom-Line: not up to expectations


(Sirasri can be reached at sirasri@gmail.com)

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'Ala Modalaiyindi' Review: Commendable Attempt

Film: Ala Modalaiyindi
Rating: 3/5Banner: Sri Ranjith Films
Cast: Nani, Nitya Menon, Sneha Ullal, ‘Sneha Geetham’ Chaintanya, Kriti Karbanda, Ashish Vidyarthi, Rohini, Radio Mirchi Hemant, CVL, ‘Mahatma’ Ramesh etc.
PRO: Venu Gopal
Music: Kalyani Malik
Producer: KL Damodar Prasad
Director: Nandini Reddy
Released On: 21st Jan 2010

The movie with ‘Asta Chemma’ fame Nani has hit again. This happens to be the debut of director Nandini Reddy. Let us see what is there in this film- mere romance or mere comedy or combination of both.

Story:The film starts with John (Ashish Vidyarthi) kidnapping Goutham (Nani). In their travel, John demands Goutham to say his story. Goutham starts narrating and the actual movie starts-:

Goutham (Nani) is the guy who works in TV5 as program director. He falls in love with Nitya (Nitya Menon) accidentally through friendship. But Nitya has a fiancé (‘Snehageetham’ Chaitanya). How Goutham reacts to that? That’s one phase.

Nitya off late discovers that she is in love with Goutham than her fiancé. When she returns to express that, she discovers that Goutham has a fiancée Kavya (Sneha Ullal).

How Nitya reacts to that? That is second phase.

Nitya agrees for an arranged marriage as per the decision of her parents. Goutham breaks up with Kavya on a funny reason. What is that reason? That is phase 3.

The story culminates interestingly in phase 4. That has to be watched on screen. Whether Nitya and Goutham unite? If yes, how? What happens to Kavya? And what happens to John?

Performances:
Nani is as usual at his best in delivering performance with full confidence. His voice is an asset that camouflages many of his drawbacks.

Nitya Menon scores full marks with her cute great looks and efficient performance. She can expect bright future in Tollywood provided she falls in the eyes of big banners. She added value to the film to a good extent. She must be laurelled for her talent in giving her own dubbing as well as singing two songs.

‘Snehageetham’ Chaitanya did a special role and made his presence felt.

Sneha Ullal, although did a small part, has pulled the attention of audience with her glamour and little humorous characterization. She needs to learn a lot in portraying expressions.

Ashish Vidyarthi is perfect. He carried the second half of the film entertainingly.

Rohini is ok. Radio Mirchi Hemant debuted with this film and proves to be a good comedian down the line. ‘Mahatma’ Ramesh spilled laughs in theatre with his guest appearance as drunkard.

Coming to technical aspects Kalyani Malik’s music is good, cinematography got screwed up and visual appeal is very dull.

Better Aspects:
Narrative style
Nitya Menon
Ashish Vidyarthi
Music

Drawbacks:
Cinematography
Ups and downs in emotional graph
Dull visual appeal

Analysis:
This is certainly a commendable attempt by a debutante director.

The concept is old but the narrative style chosen is impressive. The take off with unique way of projecting the titles (with infant and child faces of all artistes and technicians) is captivating but the real take off with the actual story is a bit low.

First few minutes prove to be boring and not really pulling the attention of audience. But slowly the film picks up its momentum. A few scenes prove interesting and at the same time a few lacked the luster.

First half thus suffers several ups and downs and by interval a feel of ‘not bad’ hits the senses of audiences.

Second half has the real life. The momentum picked up and Ashish Vidyarthi’s performance gave real kick for the film. And the guest actor Ramesh (drunkard guy in marriage hall) also sprinkled enough laughs with his effective performance.

Although a few moments recall ‘Hum Tum’, it has got unique material to entertain the audience.

Bottom-Line: Can be watched once for a few laughs

(SiraSri can be reached at sirasri@gmail.com)

'GHS' Review: For Cricket Loving Kids

Film: Golconda High School
Rating: 3/5 Banner: Art Beat Capital Pvt Ltd
Cast: Sumanth, Swathi, Tanikella Bharani, Subbaraju, Shafi, Hema, Sivannarayana, Ravi, Jhansi and others
Music: Kalyan Malik
Editing: Shravan Katikaneni
Cinematography: K K Senthil Kumar
Story, screenplay, direction: Indraganti Mohana Krishna
Producer: P Ram Mohan
Release date: 15/01/2011

Sumanth has been trying hard to score a hit and now he arrives with a different treat after a long time. Let us see how it goes this time.

Story:
Set on the backdrop of cricket, the story begins with the Golconda High School which housed the best cricket team about fifteen years ago.

Now, the situation changes and principal Viswanatham (Tanikella) has a big problem. The ground of the school is desired by one of the trustees Kireeti (Subbaraju) and he wants to build coaching centers there to make money.

Viswanatham decides to call Sampath (Sumanth), an ex-student and also a star cricketer during his school. He is given the task of coaching the current cricket team and ensure that they win the inter-school championship. If that happens, then Kireeth agrees to resign from his post. The challenge takes place between Sampath and Kireeti.

Who wins this challenge? What happens to Golconda High School forms the rest of the story.

Performances:
Sumanth has come up with a decent act and as always, he suits best for such roles. If he can choose such scripts, he can create a brand of his own instead of trying for commercial flicks.

Swathi looks starved. Though her eyes and dialogue delivery are attractive, it is her thin reed figure which is a put off. The good side is her performance but the role offered is not of her caliber. 

Tanikella Bharani was elegant and showed the right kind of maturity. Subbaraju was contained and did his bit as required. Shafi was competent and gives few funny moments. Hema, Sivannarayana, Manimala, Jhansi etc do their bit as required and add value. 

The actual heroes were the boys who performed without a hiccup and showed their mettle on the cricket field as well. Their chemistry worked well with each other and this gave life to the film. 

Good Things:

• Theme of the film
• Performances of young chaps 
• BEST DIALOGUE: “salahaalu ivvadaaniki desamanthaa ready..kaani sariggaa aadadaaniki 11 mandi dorakadam ledu”

Drawbacks:

• No sufficient humor
• Not so gripping screenplay
• Highly predictable ending

Analysis:
This is a film which comes across as a novel theme and it will connect with those who love the game of cricket and those who believe in an overall development of their children.

As such, this is written based on the book ‘The Men Within’ so it is a motivation tool for youngsters.

Also, there are important lessons to learn for the students. Overall, the film scores on idea but not on the ideal way of making an entertainer.

On the hiccup side, the film has few clichéd sequences and the second half gets a bit predictable.

But then, such films must be showed to the school going students and publicity must be strong as it deserves to score a hit.  

The movie can make collections only by marketing at schools and intermediate colleges. Only the cricket loving kids may enjoy this film out of heart but not for all. How Cricket or any other sport can bring overall development in students should be projected in a more convincing manner.

The people those never incline towards cricket also have got captivated watching ‘Lagaan’. But this film fails to captivate the elders those like Cricket as well.

Bottom-line: Idea is good….but could be dealt ideally

(Sirasri can be reached at sirasri@gmail.com)

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'AOD' Review: Graphics Wonder – Content Blunder

Film: Anaganaga O Dheerudu
Rating: 2.5/5Banners: Walt Disney & A Bellyful Of Dreams Entertainment
Cast: Siddarth, Shruti Haasan, Manchu Lakshmi, Vallabhaneni Ram, Baby Harshitha, Ravi Babu, Tanikella, Ali, Brahmi, Subbaraya Sharma etc
Music: Keeravani, Koti, Mickey J Meyer, Salim- Sulaiman
Cinematography: Soundarrajan
Editing: Shravan Katikaneni
Story, screenplay, direction, dialogues: Prakash Kovelamudi
Producer: Devineni Prasad, K Raghavendra Rao
Release date: 14/01/2011

The prestigious Hollywood production house Walt Disney has made its debut in Tollywood along with Shruti Haasan. Let us see how it fared..

Story:
Irendri (Lakshmi Manchu) is a serpent queen who rules the kingdom of Angadesam. She hails from the family of magical witches and seeks immortality. Her mentor reveals about a girl Moksha (Baby Harshitha) who has a divine power in her and drinking her blood would be the solution.

Irendri sends her troops to get Moksha but her bodyguard Yodha (Siddarth) the blind warrior stands as protection. On the other hand, Yodha has got his love tale with Priya (Shruti Haasan) and assumes she is dead.

However, there is a connect between Irendri and Priya. And Yodha’s mission is to take Moksha, the divine girl, to a place to save the lives of many children who get into coma with the poison showered by Irendri’s fiendish troops.

Will Moksha go and save children with her power or she falls in the trap of Irendri? What happens from there forms the rest of the story.

Performances:
Siddarth is a mismatch to the role. He can be good for the role of a prince but he doesn’t have the ruggedness or the masculinity to be a warrior. However, he tried to do his best so efforts were good though result was bad.

Shruti Haasan looks fresh, beautiful, seductive and sensuous. However, she must remember that if she continues picking up roles like this, her career will not last for long. Performance wise, she didn’t have anything to offer except show some oomph in the songs. 

Lakshmi Manchu is the saving grace for the film. Her grandeur and decoration in appearance makes up for any drawbacks and she has given a decent performance given her debut in Tollywood.  Well, there is huge acceptance for her as Mohan Babu’s daughter. She emulated him in a few scenes with her walk and dialogue.

Baby Harshitha is okay but given her character, it would have made sense if she maintained some serenity instead of prancing around like a kid who just comes after the school is over. 

Ram Vallabhaneni seems to have come through recommendation. Ravi Babu looked silly, Ali brought few smiles, Brahmi looks dumb, Subbaraya Sharma has a guest role, Tanikella was brief, the others did their bit as required.

Wonders:

• Historical grandeur of graphics unimaginable on Tollywood screen
• Make up and back ground score given for Lakshmi Manchu

Blunders:

• Blind hero with no macho look
• Dialogue
• Screenplay

Analysis:
First things first, if Prakash is looking to make a career as a director, he must go back to school and learn the fundamentals. For starters, the story must be strong, if it is not then the narrative must be strong, if that is not then atleast the etching of the characters must be convincing. He has failed in all skills department. It looks as if he was focusing on the surroundings and the colorful settings rather than the main plot and the depth it must have. A few observations regarding attention to detail that he must ponder:

• Siddharth’s appearance lacks macho look that is required for this role.
• Moreover his blind portrayal adds no value to the drama but dropped the graph down.
• The scene shows the villain piercing the eyes of Siddarth, where are the scars?
• If it’s a fantasy then the script and dialogues must suit that genre, phrases like ‘Naayala’ ‘Jaffa’ …sounds strange. There is a fluctuation in the grammar, sometimes it is authentic, sometimes it becomes colloquial. ‘nadumu chooste mara phirangulu..’ is term used in a song. Where did this ‘phirangi’ come in such a folklore backdrop?
• The movie runs beyond time and space (!) It is hard to find out the backdrop- Caribbean or Arabian or Siberian or Indian? Well, it’s understood as Fairy Tale and hence backdrop shouldn’t be questioned.
• Good narration is accompanied with gripping screenplay and enticing dialogues. Nothing worked in this movie from start till end.
• The divine girl Moksha is shown just like a normal school girl and hence her characterization lacked value.

The decorum given for Lakshmi Manchu was good but given that packing, any person would fit the bill easily. The fact that she is Mohan Babu’s daughter, her style of walking brought the connection to the audience but then it will be interesting to see how she would perform in a mainstream cinema.

Overall, the film has got some breathing moments only due to the presence of the visual effects and graphics. This is one of its kind and the first time in Tollywood. Cinematography was just average, dialogues, screenplay were amateur. While the first half is mild, things show improvement in the second half but that is purely because of the visual appeal and since there are not many words spoken.

The box office performance is a question mark. If this film is intended for kids and banking on their patronage, the result of content-weak films like ‘Clash of Titans’ should be remembered here.

Bottom line: Watch it only if you wish you must!!

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'Mirapakay' Review: Hot And Spicy

Film: Mirapakay
Rating: 3.25/5
Banner: Yellow Flowers
Cast: Ravi Teja, Richa Gangopadhyay, Deeksha Seth, Prakashraj, Kota, Ajay, Supreeth, Sunil, Brahmaji, Ravu Ramesh, Ali, Naga Babu, Chandramohan, Surekha Vani, Dharmavarapu, Sudha, Muralikrishna etc
Music: Thaman
Cinematography: Ramprasad
Editing: Goutham Raju
Story, screenplay, direction: Harish Shankar
Producer: Ramesh Puppala
Release date: 13/01/2011

Mass Raja Ravi Teja has become Mass Maharaj with this film and yet again, he comes up with a tangy entertainer. Let us see how this ‘Mirapaky’ faired.

Story:
Rishi (Ravi Teja) is a cop and though he is good at his duty, he loves the company of girls and wants to enjoy romance and other fun things. He also has a team (Brahmaji, Muralikrishna and others). He gets his chance when he is assigned on a special mission to a college as a lecturer. Here, Rishi meets the traditional Brahmin girl Vinamra (Richa) and it is love at first sight for him.

In no time, Vinamra also falls for him. The story takes a turn with the arrival of Vaishali (Deeksha) in the college, daughter of the big don Kittu Bhai (Prakashraj) and she also falls in love with Rishi. Now begins the mission of Rishi, what is that mission?

Whom does he like, Vinamra or Vaishali? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances:
Ravi Teja is the life and soul for this movie. His energy levels are extraordinary and he charges up the scene with his body language. He shoulders the film throughout and scores the brownie points.

Richa looks sweet and given her role, she fits perfectly as a gullible yet adorable girl. Her expressions and dance movements during songs are cute. 

Deeksha is live dynamite. There is a significant sex appeal she possesses and her oomph factor outweighs her performance. Her baby face mixed with her voluptuous charms is a feast for the audience. 

Prakashraj was brief, Ajay was neat, Kota was at his best once again. Ravu Ramesh and Sunil would have given better roles to perform. Supreeth was standard. Ali, Brahmaji, Jogi Naidu, Praveen provide few smiles. Chandramohan was elegant. The others did their bit as required and added value.

Highlights: 

• Ravi Teja’s performance and energy levels
• Cinematography
• Production values
• Screenplay
• Music and Background
• The scene where an analogy of Puri Jagannadh, V V Vinayak, Rajamouli films come and Kota says “meeru dhandha vadilesi cinemalu baaga mariginru..”
• Songs and music

Drawbacks:

• Climax could have been better
• Few scenes lack depth

Analysis:
Overall, the director Harish Shankar has improved from his earlier venture and he has balanced the entertainment and commercial values decently. He is showing potential as a commercial director for Tollywood in the future.

As far as this film is concerned Harish Shankar seems to have taken some inspiration from the narrative style and treatment of Puri Jagannath. Hence a bit of ‘Pokiri’ flavor is seen in this film.

The pace at which the film runs doesn’t leave many idle moments and it is more like a touch and go situation without any hiccups. The technical values, the music and the entertainment quotient were in the right proportion. If the story can be given that extra dose of punch and twists, then it will be a right recipe for the box office. However, this has a strong chance to be a commercial success.

First half runs with many hilarious moments packed with some action while the second half goes on action and love sentiment with a few lighter moments.  But the closing of the movie is very abrupt and quick.

Bottom-line: Formula entertainer, can be watched once

(Sirasri can be reached at sirasri@gmail.com)

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'PVC' Review: Outdated Narration

Film: Parama Veera Chakra
Banner: Teja Cinema
Rating: 2/5Cast: Balakrishna, Sheela, Ameesha Patel, Jayasudha, Murali Mohan, Ravi Kumar, Nagineedu, Neha Dhupia, Ali, Brahmanandam, Hema, Seetha, Kalyani etc
Music: Mani Sharma
Lyrics: Jonnaviththula, Bhaskarabhatla, Ananth Sree Ram, Sahiti and Dasari
Cinematographer: Ramana Raju
Editing: Goutam Raju
Producer: C Kalyan
Story, Screenplay, Dialogue, Direction: Dasari Narayana Rao
Released On: 12th Jan 2011

After the commercial block buster ‘Simha’ in the year 2010, Nandamuri Balakrishna has come up with his first film in 2011 with the title ‘Parama Veera Chakra’. And this film is directed by Dasari Narayana Rao who made a disaster called ‘Young India’. So, this PVC is the film in the combination of a hero who gave a big hit and a director who made a flop recently. Let us get into the details.

Story:
Chakradhar (Balakrishna) is a renowned Telugu film actor. A girl (Sheela) gets attracted to him and wishes to get close to her. Chakradhar’s mother (Jayasudha) never likes her son getting into films. She wishes to see him in Indian Army as Major. But things take different turn and Chakradhar continues as actor playing varied roles like Ravana, Komaram Bheem, labor leader etc.

A team of Army officers come to Chakradhar to narrate a story. An officer (Murali Mohan) narrates him the character of a great Army officer Major Jayasimha. Listening for a while Chakradhar gets Major Jayasimha into him. He started carrying that character with him after getting inspired to the maximum.

Then what happens? Will that story becomes a film or a reality? Who is Major Jayasimha? Why Army officers come to meet Chakradhar? That forms rest of the story with various twists.

Performances:
There is nothing to point out Balakrishna. He attained his trade mark in acting and getting continued with that. On a whole he is marvelous in the role of Ravana and labor leader. He also showed his prowess while delivering a dialogue on film actors. Except the signs of catching up age, Balakrishna looked as usual with respect to his theatrical skills.

Sheela has no proper role. She appears just for some glamour sake. Indeed, her glamour is not used properly.

Ameesha Patel has some character but that too very small.

Coming to the comedy part the Robo spoof appeared like a rotten egg. Nasty comedy with C grade taste disgusts the audiences. Brahmanandam, Ali and Hema carry in that spoof till the end. Raghu Babu and Krishna Bhagwan got wasted as they got no role at all.

Dasari pulled many film celebrities on to the screen right from Boyapati Srenu, Srinu Vaitla, Kodi Ramakrishna, Jonnaviththula, Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao etc.

Cinematography is very primitive, make up is below poverty line, dialogues are tasteless, and screenplay is dull.

Highlights:
A portion of Ravana Brahma’s scene
Balakrishna’s dialogue as trade union leader explaining the pride of khaakhi
Dialogue while elucidating the importance of film actors
Sensible dialogue in court at climax

Drawbacks:
Weakest comedy
Dull music
No gripping screenplay
Feeble dialogues
Outdated histrionics of 1980s
Predictable line
Artificiality in make up and background
Technically dull

Analysis:
On a whole 95% of the film, fails to pull the attention of audience. Entire blame goes to Dasari Narayana Rao, the captain of the movie. He would have taken enough care in pulling the interest of audiences.

• Instead of the song ‘Thalli Kadupulo..’ he would have presented a remix version of ‘jananee janma bhoomischa..’ which would have given better ignition for audience to get enticed to screen. But still, the lyric is sensible even in ‘thalli kadupulo’.
• He would have presented the terrorists and fights with them in realistic way instead of sticking on to the Before-Christ styles.
• He would have avoided the Robo spoof that brought C-grade image to the film
• He would have avoided the song ‘Arjuna Phalguna..’ as it appears the placement is wrong

The film begins with ‘Bobbili Puli’ scene of NTR. First few minutes confuse the audiences as the film takes off with Balakrishna’s ‘Ravana’ scene. The scene is very long that audience doubt if they are watching the trailer of ‘Sri Rama Rajyam’. But slowly the presentation style chosen by Dasari will be understood. There is no story in entire first half but only incidents role. The idea is good but the execution is very weak. The actual story and ploys start in second half.

The movie is not a great deal. Even the favorites of Balakrishna may be happy just for 2 or 3 scenes and nothing more. Dasari’s obsolete ideas and narration scheme disturbed the movie.

Balakrishna should take enough care in choosing the director and story line but shouldn’t jump into the project.

Bottom Line: PVC stands for Perplexing, Vexing and Confusing

(Venkat can be reached at venkat@greatandhra.com)

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'Ranga The Donga' Review: Faction 'Over'action

Film: Ranga The Donga
Rating: 1.5/5Banners: Golden Lion Films & God Father Films
Cast: Srikanth, Vimala Raman, Ramya Krishna, Telangana Sakunthala, GV, Jayaprakash Reddy, Chakri, Sivaji, Nagendra Babu, Chitram Seenu, Jyothi, Bhuvaneshwari, Sakshi Shivanand etc
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Poorna Kandru
Editing: Goutham Raju
Story, screenplay, direction: G V Sudhakar Naidu
Producer: C R Manohar
Release date: 30/12/2010


Mighty star Srikanth comes up with yet another attempt to prove himself as a mass hero while fighter Sudhakar Naidu tries his hand at wielding the megaphone.

Story: 
Ranga (Srikanth) is a notorious thief and he along with his group (Sivaji and others) spends their life stealing from the corrupt cops.

Ranga has got a grandma (Telangana Sakunthala) with whom he has fights all the time. He also has a love affair with inspector Mangamma (Vimala) and also a strong passion for faction cinema, factionists etc. His life takes a turn when he comes across Bhavani Prasad (Srikanth again), a real life factionist.

Who is Bhavani Prasad? What is the link between him and Ranga? What happens from there forms the rest of the story.


Performances:
Srikanth has given a decent performance in both roles but then the body language is quite mild. Somehow he needs to pump energy in his body and show some speed.

Vimala Raman is a seductress. Though she is not endowed with curves, she has a raw sex appeal that is enough to entice the audience. Performance wise, there is nothing for her. It is about time she thinks twice before she chooses such roles or else her days are numbered. 

Ramya Krishnan tries to be stiff and strict. Though she enlarges her eyes at all times, the impact was not that great.

Telangana Sakuntala was alright, Sivaji was okay, the actor who did the villain’s role was apt, Jayaprakash Reddy brought few smiles, Chakri looked drowsy, Sakshi Shivanand looks pale in the item song, Jyothi, Bhuvaneshwari, Taslima Sheikh made their presence felt for the special song. The others were there to fill the screen.


Highlights:

• Srikanth’s handsome looks
• Vimala Raman’s glamour to an extent

Drawbacks:

• very weak direction
• second half
• poor songs
• technical jerks
• stale content

Analysis: 
The movie carried 3rd grade stuff with weak characterizations. Every character does over-action and the director has to be blamed for that. The Godavari slang for Vimala Raman is irritating. Wearing Jasmines in Police Uniform with long plait is the most useless thought of the decade.


Director has learnt the technique of film making but he didn’t even learned ABCD in bringing conviction to the scene. He has got no assessment of audience pulse. He has shown what he wanted to show but hardly considered the taste of audience and their receptiveness.

The director failed miserably in depicting that punch or getting the momentum. Inexperience was showing in many scenes as the screenplay was very weak. Too much of build-up dialogues on faction looks silly and annoying.

Comedy quotient was literally nil and though few technical shots were appealing the film, it lacks the conviction to engage the audience into the plot. One fails to understand how actors like Srikanth agree to such projects.

At the box office, few scenes might appeal to the auto drivers and rickshaw pullers at the B and C centers but overall, this is a dud.

Bottomline: Terrible!!

(SiraSri can be reached at sirasri@gmail.com)

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‘Ragada’ Review: Mass Masala Formula

Film: Ragada
Rating: 3/5
Banner: Sri Kamakshi Enterprises
Cast: Nagarjuna, Anushka, Priyamani, Brahmanandam, Pradeep Rawath,
Kota, Dev Gill, Dharmavarapu, Raghu Babu, Tanikella, Supreeth,
Sreelatha, Sana, Master Bharat, Charmee (spl appearance)
Music: Thaman
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Cinematography: Sarvesh Murari
Story, screenplay, dialogues, direction: Veeru Potla
Producer: D Sivaprasad Reddy
Release date: 24/12/2010

Nagarjuna has been trying hard to score a hit since ‘Mass’ and now he arrived with another commercial treat. This is the last of the biggies for 2010.

Story:
Set on the backdrop of Hyderabad, the story begins with GK (Dev Gill) who is keen on taking power from Peddanna (Pradeep Rawath) and waits for the right chance. He finds a possibility with the arrival of Satya (Nagarjuna) who is brave, strong and intelligent. Satya wins GK’s confidence and in this process, even GK’s love interest Sirisha (Anushka) also falls for Satya. Meanwhile, Satya gives asylum to Ashtalakshmi (Priyamani) who has few issues.

However, no one knows who Satya is, from where he came and why he came. All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances:
Nagarjuna looks smashing as ever and he has shouldered the film very well. His looks are outstanding and as usual, he rocks with his screen presence.

Anushka has filled the glamour quotient with her voluptuous appeal and she will be a visual treat to the masses. Performance wise, she did her bit as required.

Priyamani was effective and though she cannot match Anushka in terms of looks or glamour, she made her presence felt in her own way.

Brahmanandam takes off in an interesting manner and gives few laughs. However, his role becomes weak during the second half.

The bunch of villains like Kota, Pradeep Rawath, Dev Gill, Supreeth, Shravan didn’t have much except screaming their lungs out and taking the bashings from the hero. There is no strength in their characterization.

Charmee looks sizzling hot and her moves are sensuous.

Dharmavarapu, Master Bharat were brief and brought few smiles, Sana was standard, Sreelatha was okay, Satya Prakash was standard, the rest did their bit upto the mark.

Highlights:

• Nagarjuna’s style and looks
• Glamour quotient of the leading ladies
• Opening fight sequence of Nag
• Rich presentation of songs

Drawbacks:

• Second half slows down and there is a drag
• Unwanted inclusion of songs
• Abrupt jerks in editing
• No depth in the character etching of villains

Analysis:
Overall, the film runs on pure formula of few fights, glamorous songs, a comedy track and one sentimental attachment to the plot.

Primarily, the makers tried to cash in on the star power of Nagarjuna and he has not let them down. While the dialogues at few places were effective, the screenplay was having few hiccups.

Though there were few unexpected twists in the second half, the director was not able to give it that punch. Developing the comedy track would have helped. However, this is a film for Nag fans, B and C centers. The content is weak but it is the presentation which was packed with the right ingredients for a mass masala entertainer.

Bottomline: Pure commercial formula entertainer

(Sirasri can be reached at sirasri@gmail.com)

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‘Nagavalli’ Review: Thrilling Narration

Film: Nagavalli
Rating: 3.25/5Banner: Sri Sai Ganesh Productions Pvt Ltd
Cast: Venkatesh, Anushka, Richa, Kamalini, Shraddha Das, Poonam Kaur, Brahmi, Dharmavarapu, Sarath Babu, Prabha, Raksha, Avinash, Suja, M S Narayana, Sameer etc
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Music: Guru Kiran
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Cinematography: Sam K Naidu
Screenplay, Direction: P Vasu
Producer: Bellamkonda Suresh
Release date: 16/12/2010

Venkatesh played enough of family man roles in soft humor treatment till now. After a long gap he tried something different. He came up with remake film ‘Nagavalli’ packed with huge technical elements. Let us see how the movie faired in first impression.

Story:
Ever since the portrait of Chandramukhi (Anushka) comes to a big house, strange things begin to happen to the owners (Sarath Babu, Prabha) and their family comprising of four daughters.

They suspect the presence of a large snake and things get more complicated with the death of a snake charmer (M S).

Then, the family approaches Ramachandra Siddanthi (Avinash) and he tells them that all this is happening due to the presence of Chandramukhi in their house. He suspects one of the daughters is possessed by Chandramukhi and decides that only one man can resolve this.

He is Dr Vijay (Venkatesh) and as soon as he arrives, he starts doing his investigations. What happens to his enquiries? Who is Chandramukhi? Who is Nagavalli? What exactly is happening in that home? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances:
Venkatesh rocked with this film in double role. He is good in the shoes of a psychologist as well as in the clad of Maharaja Naga Bhairava. This is the first time Venkatesh played negative role as Naga Bhairava. His debut as villain is marvelous.

Anushka is good as perfectly suited the role in dancer costume. At times, we even recall her most famous role in eth film ‘Arundhati’.

Shradhdha Das is sharp and arrogant. Her mystic performance impresses the audience and she becomes a hook in narration.

Kamalini sucks. Her lean patient-like look is not so impressive in dancer costume. But that suited well for the kind of role she played.

Richa is beautiful and she performed as required. She gets recognition with her role in this film.

Poonam Kour’s role is very short but she made her presence felt with her glamour.

Kannada actress Suja, who appeared in Apta Rakshaka, also appeared here. Her role is also small and not to do much with the main story line.

Sharat Babu and Prabha are ok in their character roles. Brahmanandam’s presence brought only couple of laughs and he was not utilized properly. Dharmavarapu and Raksha are ok.

The best part in the movie is Art Department and Graphics. That has done a fantastic job. Music and background score also functioned very well keeping the adrenaline of the audience on a high through out.

Director P Vasu did well on a whole except Venkatesh’s (with old look) part in 2nd half. 130 year old man doing stunts and dancing in the dilapidated fort on the hill are silly.

Highlights:

• Venkatesh in negative role
• Scenes with Richa
• Story Line
• Screenplay
• Art Direction
• Sound Effects
• Music

Draw Backs:

• Stunt scenes with old Venkatesh in 2nd half are silly
• Make up of 130 year old Venkatesh is not convincing

Analysis:The movie started with slow pace but picked up at the interval. When the music was released, the songs got average response on a whole. But here in the movie they were canned very impressively. Especially King Song and Kabaddi and Vandanalu songs rock in movie.

First half of the movie is ok and second half movie is good. If you like Chandramukhi movie you may surely like this movie.

Venkatesh needs high commendations for his spellbinding performance in the role of Maharaja Naga Bhairava. He apparently proved that he is on par with Mohan Babu in portraying villainy. He stands as right example for all big heroes who can certainly prove their mettle as real actors. He also shows an alternative way for established heroes to try some villainy and break monotony.

The story line of Chandramukhi that is well known for almost all the Telugu audience continues with ‘Nagavalli’. It’s a perfect sequel that way. It’s more thrilling and suspense filled. Although the treatment resembles something on the lines of Krishna’s old film ‘Ave Kallu’, this proves to be interesting and gripping till the end.

If old Venkatesh’s stunt scenes and dancing bits are trimmed, there wouldn’t be any drop in emotional graph from start to end.

Bottom-Line: Watch it

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(Venkat can be reached at venkat@greatandhra.com)