"Genius" (Telugu) Movie Review

“Genius” is an unconventional film in a commercial film format. When the audio was launched, it created lot of buzz when some of the acclaimed writers of Tollywood got together to announce a film that will strike a chord with different segments of society who are exploited by some stakeholders. The writers were Chinnikrishna whose claim to fame are movies like “Indra” and “Gangotri” and of course, mass dialogue writers Parachuri Brothers. The director is somebody hugely popular on the telly – Omkar or Omkar Annayya, who does dance shows with toddlers dancing to gyrating tunes in Tollywood. Omkar directed this film which has a running time of 150 minutes with a one-film hero Haavesh, his own brother Ashwin and another upcoming youngster Jeeva. The storyline is quite simple: Three characters – Haavesh (Nivas), Ashwin (Yasser) and Jeeva (Koti) they all have an obsession with a personality respectively in their areas of interest. For example, Nivas is a blind follower of Pradeep Rawat, a politician. Yasser eulogises a batsman cricketer Nizamuddin (rings a bell?). And Koti is head-over-heels with a superstar/megastar/Call what you will ¬– played by Aashish Vidyarthi. The story then moves forward on how these respective demigods idolized by the three youth become more and manipulative eventually destroying their respective lives – until the three realize they are being exploited and short-changed at every turn of their Gods’ march to mega glory. Pradeep Rawat the typical politician stabs Nivas in the back, Nizamuddin pockets Rs.20 crs in match-fixing, and Peda Babu the film star uses the fans as a ladder for success but doesn’t care a dime when the fans are in need.




That’s quite an explosive story and you can imagine what happens when a jingoistic story writer and an iconic writer-brother team of Parachuri surname gang up together to give a story that breathes fire into screen. To be fair, Omkaar has done well doing justice to the explosive theme and building the plot and characters well which itself is quite many-layered. The casting is near-perfect except for Haavesh who lacks the intensity to be the big hero; he is handsome and has a great voice and body language but is low on emotional intensity which is required to carry a film like this on his shoulders. He falters in first half but heuristically delivers in the second half as crescendo builds to a good climax. It’s the other two - Jeeva and Ashwin who have an impactful screen presence. All the three villains – Aashish Vidyarthi, Pradeep Rawat and Adarsh (Nizamuddin) make their weighty presence in the film. The two heroines are non-entities in a film of this story depth and one of them shines a bit in a song amazingly shot in Leh Lake. In order to build engagement with those who expect more glamour in the film which is deadpan serious, Omkaar inducts a heavy-dose item song with three starlets who have seen better days – Rekha (“Anandam”), Sweta Pandit (“Kotha bangaaru Lokam”) and Anita (“Nuvvu Nenu”). That song “Dibbari Dibbari” is a raunchy number on the hazards of the casting couch in films. The opening song with Raju Sundaram master is also evocative of mass appeal which connects with fans of Omkaar who expect an inkling of his choreographic flair in the films. Dialogues do stand out in some places and appear consistent with the characters. However, contrary to what is expected, Brahmanandam doesn’t get enough smiles.

On the whole, a cool attempt despite few expectations belied – in comedy, pace and casting of the heroine. It is high time a theme of this kind has been attempted in Tollywood which makes more films for the masses but fewer films with a message-orientation. In the last 75 years, Bollywood made about 9200 films. Tollywood made 6200 films while Kollywood made about 6300 films. But nowhere is the manipulation of film fans more rampant than in Tollywood – this especially happens at a level where most fans connect so emotionally well with their heroes but are often overlooked when it comes to proper guidance about their career interests and long-term life goals. Right from the time of ANR and NTR to Krishna and Shobanbabu and Krishnamraju to Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna to the new crop of Gennext superstars, it’s the fans who are being exploited in the selfish pursuit of mega success that heroes get at the cost of substantial sacrifice of the film fans. No doubt, the madness has reduced, but at a basic level – at the level where the audio is release or the coconuts are broken at the morning show or the day before the release when cutouts are mounted to suit the inflated egos of these heroes, there are still many fans who are hapless and gullible – it is their savings and their precious time and their family sacrifices which are invested into the present market value of the heroes and their clans – and the system is self-perpetuating. The wisest fans are the metro crowds and the NRI crowds who moved on in life. The examples of how heroes egg their fans to rush for first day first show tickets, some of them getting crushed, some of them committing suicides gets a lot of pathos.

“Genius” is good in parts and is watchable once and despite the “A” certificate which is given because of the revenge-orientation of the story, it is decent. What is not well-researched is the psyche of the cricket fan and the political fan – the volunteer. Those could have been better analysed and projected. Music by Joshua Sridhar is quite soothing and I have been following his music since the movie “Prema” was released – he is a music director who is attempting to break new sound barriers without sacrificing melody which is the lynchpin of long-lasting music. I will give this movie 3 on 5 because it is reasonably well-made, holds out powerful messages that can strike a chord and has good technical, performance and family values.

"Ko Ante Koti" Telugu Movie Review

“Ko Ante Koti” is Sarvanand’s latest film directed by Anish Yohan Kuruvlla. It’s the story of a serial robber (Srihari) whose speciality is in opening any bank locker in the world. He can open these locks whether they have number combination or heavy-metal combination with multi-inch thickness. He ropes in two other characters - one a glutton who can also mash people with his obese body and two, an abettor with a broken eye and cylindrical glasses who signals to the gang in between “heist and run”. This talented trio ropes in Sarvanand during one of Srihari’s sojourns in jail. The reason? Srihari is planning the grandmother of all robberies so far. Before you wonder whether it is the Swiss Bank locker or the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (because these are the two most grandmotherly of all lockers in the world, one houses more cash than the politicians in India and Indonesia and the other stores most gold held by most central banks in the world), you are told there is one place where all the black money is kept in India itself and that is the next target after which the loot will be trifurcated, no quadrafurcated and they will all happily retire. Srihari - the gang leader baits each of the three with a thing or two dear to their hearts. Will they succeed? Will they survive the police inspector Ranjit Kumar (brilliantly played by veteran theatre actor and voice coach Vinay Varma)? And will Sarvanand get his love Priya Anand (The “English Vinglish” cutie who played Sridevi’s niece)? That’s the long story of an unsually long film which has its queer eccentricities and oftentimes humor that’s dark, obnoxious and adult-grade variety. Sometimes, the humor resembles the “Delhi Belly” profanities which grate on you, no wonder the movie got an A-grade.


In the name of experimental, obtuse humor and unwarranted twists, director Anish Kuruvilla (debut film “Avakaay Biryani”) has created a film rich in violence and crude jokes and the only thing that sustains the film is performances by Srihari, Sarvanand and stage actor Vinay Varma. For the first forty minutes, the director takes a long time to register the plot and the principal characters and gives no relief except by way of interactions between the four characters. After that, suddenly, the songs appear one after another almost in quick succession. The narrative also moves in forward play and flashback which jars the flow – such techniques will make an action drama unduly sag. Also, the film is completely unfit for family audiences and director compounds the agony by killing off some great entertainers like Chitti, PC and Inspector Ranjit Kumar. I keep reiterating that killing off the lively characters in the film is inimical to the success of any film. Even in a film like “Gambler” starring Ajith, the director Venkat Prabhu eliminates the comic characters in the film and the film met with below-par success; such actions are anti-sentiment and never received well by the audience.

The length of the film could have been better edited. Music by S K Karthick sounds better in some songs and camerawork is good. Sarvanand is a good actor but this film produced by himself is not worthy of his money and efforts. He has to build his versatility as an actor in selecting themes which enhance the range of his body language, he is getting consigned to being the metrosexual male with a thick beard, mr.cool, and a decent lover boy. If he has to make it to the next cut of mass heroes, he has to “escape gravity” to do a mass roles, the audiences will tire of his benign smiles and cool walks in background songs. Actor Raaja of “Anand” fame also went out of offers because of this monostyle acting. Fact is, Sarvanand has potential which needs better leverage. Srihari gives a  fine performance and he shows a better range of Telugu accent but his characterisation lacks consistency and mars the film in the second half. Director Anish who produced such fine films like "Anand" leaves a bad taste with this film with a lack-lustre plot thats trite and characterisations that go haywire. With regard to theatre heavyweight Vinay Varma, it is surprising he got such a brief role and gets killed; he gave some brilliant moments with his scheming looks and rich timber voice and just mouths off "Dongre" with hilarity. He certainly deserves to be noticed by Tollywood for meatier roles. On the whole, “Ko Ante Koti” is barely watchable for the jarring notes it hits, faulty screenplay and very few characters redeem the film as outlined. It deserves just 2/5.

"Saarocharu" Telugu Movie Review

"Saarocharu" is Ravi Teja in "class appearence" (note the spelling of appearance again; just to drive home the point that most vernacular titles don't get vetted for class appeal when translating into English but thats digressing). Ravi Teja is always known for mass entertainers that make even the mundane sound raunchy. So, we were warned this is is his class appearance (correct spelling). Director Parasuram has picked up reputation for making sensible films with subtle messages. He made films like "Yuvatha" (talks about youth power and talent), "Anjaneyulu" (talks about responsible news channels). His last film "Solo" with Nara Rohit has been well-received as it shows why joint families can and must survive current nuclearisation of society. He has roped in good starcast besides Ravi Teja - Jaya Sudha, Kajol Agarwal, Richa Gangopadhyay, Srinivas Reddy, and a cameo by Nara Rohit.

The story is not very different from umpteen movies which came on finding the right life partner to connect with. Ravi Teja is asked to help his colleague Srinivas Reddy to win over a girl he is seeking. That girl's best friend is Kajol Agarwal who is obsessed with her own beauty, she is narcissistic and haughty to the point she tells it is difficult to fall in love with any man unless there are points of commonality. Soon she finds herself drawn to Ravi Teja, he tells her stories from his life and finds that he is actually married and about to divorce his wife (Richa Gangopadhyay). The story gets a bizarre twist in the middle when Ravi Teja confesses he actually made up the whole story in order to woo her as he finds her to be perfectly compatible with her. Kajol rejects Ravi Teja as she finds this deceitful. She is engaged to Nara Rohit (a cameo) and then the happy ending as she goes back to Ravi Teja. While the story is simple narrative, what is questionable in screenplay is that nowadays film-makers resort to a dishonesty on the screen by creating characters who never were meant to be. In this case, the hero created a character Richa Gangopadhyay whose life is lived out by another couple who get "love-married" and divorced. Such methods of screenplay and story-telling are actually wrong even though appear creative. This technique of showing characters which are a figment of hero's imagination was last shown in Prabhas movie "Darling" which met with average success.

But is the film good and clean despite the narrative loopholes? I think it is, thanks to director Parasuram and the characters played by Kajol Agarwal and Ravi Teja. For fans of Kajol, this is a revelation as Kajol delivers a fine performance which gives ample scope to show she can be mean and many-shaded. She steals the thunder from Ravi Teja which is not usually the case in his movies. Ravi Teja is going through the crisis that every Mass Hero goes through many times. At the peak of their careers, Dada Kondke and Govinda, after delivering record-breaking box office hits sudden make a 180 degree turn with movies that are atypical of their wont. It has to be seen whether Ravi Teja's attempt at being a decent guy with family values will appeal to the family audiences and class viewers. My guess is, Ravi Teja needn't become class-conscious as there are enough heroes in that genre.  He should continue to be mass-hysterical and madcap-oriented as he always is. As far as the film goes, its quite clean and entertaining despite the different looks. Comedy by MS Narayana in the flight fills the void created by Brahmanandam's absence. Music by Devi Sri Prasad is just average and hasn't given his best to Ravi Teja as in previous films. Parasuram attempts vaguely at the dilemmas of married couples and the blues of divorce and wastes the time in the movie with 150 minutes. Nara Rohit and Jayasudha make a commanding presence in the film despite the short length of their appearances. Richa Gangopadhyay is a star who cannot turn and may find offers deserting her. What gives the movie the best moments are Kajol Agarwal and Ravi Teja  - they have shown a different side to their personalities but I must admit you get the feeling it is more Kajol's film than Ravi Teja's. Good to be rated atleast 2.5/5.

"Dabangg 2" Hindi Movie Review

“Dabangg 2” has come right on the day the world is supposed to end according to Mayan calendar. It didn't end, the world is as bad as before and “Dabangg 2” is as boisterous and larger-than-life as “Dabanng”.  Salman Khan comes with another paisa vasool film that will give the year the smooth velvet touch that has given him the megastar boost.  Dileep Shukla, the writer who collaborated in the first film with Anurag Kashyap’s brother once again penned the story with  better emotional appeal. Arbaaz Khan a.k.a Makkhi Pandey is also the director as the original director has fallen out with the House of Khans.

The movie’s length is a miracle for a Superstar film. In 128 minutes (and this includes the four minute statutory tobacco warning insertions), “Dabangg2” sizzles well especially in the first half. The story takes off just where Chulbul Pandey polishes off Chedhi Singh at Lalbagh after Chedi kills the former’s mother. Now, father Vinod Khanna and Makkhi Arbaaz Khan stay together with Chulbul Pandey (Salman) and Sonakshi. This time, its Kanpur, the Hindi heartland and the new villain is “Baccha Bhaiyya” (Prakash Raj). Chulbul being the eccentric cop with a “Dabangg” attitude, he needles the Baccha party gang of brothers enough to pick up spurs. Friction between Chulbul and Baccha builds upto bloody fights and finally the triumph of the  supercop. And of course, lots of queer comedy, Machiavellian punch lines by Chulbul, sweet romance with Sonakshi Sinha and atleast four to five incredulous fights – fights that define the superhero grade in Bollywood. On the whole, a watchable film except for a weaker second half where the climax wears off weak and soon.

Salman Khan is undoubtedly a treat to watch and has to be credited with the hugely successful characterization of Chulbul Pandey as the uber cool, super fit, wisecracking, omnipotent supercop that appeals to the rustics and the metrosexuals in multiplexes. Salman Khan has hit a purple patch in making hit films that are airlifting him into dizzy orbits out of the reach of other Khans and Kapoors. He acts in about three films every year of which most of them are remakes of  Tollywood/Kollywood superhits. And then came this homegrown lovable characterization of Robin Hood Pandey of “Dabanng” with a classic three-act model but told with an uncanny appeal intermixed with elements that the Hindi heartland folks go bonkers over. Whether it is twisting the belt buckle around the abodomen or whistling on the streets or dancing in satin shirts sans police uniform in the middle of the road, or giving cavalier repartees to the villains who try to bully you – Salman Khan has created a body language unique and machismo-enhancing of “Dabanng”.  It has all the unique elements of a super brand that has entered the second edition so  far but valued at the most ever – Rs.180 crores. That’s still a bit closer to what an average Animation movie in Hollywood budgets at but still “Dabanng 2” sizzles most of the time and doesn’t disappoint overall. When it doesn’t is when Prakash Raj looks less menacing because he hasn’t used his original voice, when the fights are too many and too long and when producer Arbaaz Khan tries to kick-ass himself.  We have to realize that all homegrown brands eventually come into their own making despite shortcomings in logic, pattern, capabilities and characterization.

“Dabanng 2” also has got some great star cast and solid performances by almost everybody. Vinod Khanna tries to redeem his characterization with some comedy, and then there are junior  and senior police colleagues to Chulbul who impress with their comedy timing. Sonakshi Sinha doesn’t dither a bit from her self-contented homemaker looks, her role is neither extra large nor refreshing as in the prequel.  “Gabbar Singh” was a successful remake of “Dabanng” but had few scenes which were reportedly bought by the makers of “Dabanng 2”. One was the Anthakshari scene which was a rage in Telugu and the other was a short scene where the policeman asks his wife not to pick up stuff for him because he believes she is not a doormat or a maid servant. As if to answer some of Salman’s strongest critics who label him as a chauvinist, Salman picks this scene straight fromj “Gabbar Singh” but drops the Anthakshari scene of singing with the criminals in Thane. That could have made a difference in second half where entertainment almost falls flat. What redeems is the breezy item song with Kareena Kapoor  “Fevicol”. Thats one heck of a number and the “Bodyguard” girl decks it up well.

Music by Sajid-Wajid and BGM by Sandeep Shirodkar are good and suiting the grammar of “Dabanng”. Music played a big part in the first part and here too, the BGM score must be a case study on how to elevate a superhero’s antics into a cult status. Dialogues are the most exceptional since whoever wrote for “The Dirty Picture”  or “Gangs of Wasseypur”.  Only those who understand Hindi well can make out except for the simple ones like “Kungfu Pandey” etc. Maybe that’s why Prakash Raj who created a laugh riot in “Singham” with his inimitable voice did not  dub his own voice. On the whole, Bollywood has got its own brand of franchisees which are surpassing Box-office takings while encashing on the mounting global appeal – “Dhoom”, “Gol Maal” and so on. “Dabangg 2” is a worthy sequel to a delightful homegrown superbrand because it has redefined Box office magic. First time, it was a sensation but this time it left a lot to be desired though, especially in the second half. For that and for the reduction of the villain to being just another piece in the Salman Khan police story from Khadi to shirtless stage in 128 minutes, it deserves 3 out of 5 – but not a point more.

"Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu" (Telugu/ “Neethane Enn Ponvasantham”(Tamil) Movie Review

“Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu” (Telugu) or “Neethane Enn Ponvasantham”(Tamil) is Gautam Vasudev Menon’s latest film whose audio was released many months before the release date. Reason: Maestro Ilaya Raja composed music for the film. Maestro Ilaya Raja had done exceedingly well in the songs which are already chart-toppers. Atleast four out of the seven songs are haunting, hummable and lullaby-melodious. Music-wise, Ilaya Raja has done his part in giving amazing songs for the season, but director Gautam Menon hasn’t capitalized well on the genius of the Maestro. This is because the BGM is hardly perceived in the film – about 65 per cent of the movie is on silent track showing either dialogues between the hero and heroine, hero and his family, hero and his friend – and there is lack of cinematic twists or oscillation of emotions to let music drive the rest. That is why, for fans of Ilaya Raja, the film is a disappointment- sans the songs – which are already a “hit”. As a composer, Ilaya Raja has had an outstanding record in giving memorable BGMs and RR with directors like Mani Ratnam, Ram Gopal Varma, Bapu, K Balachandar, Suresh Krissna, Vishwanath, BharatiRaja, Balu Mahendra, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, Vamshi and others. It is clearly director’s fault in failing to utilize such a talent that comes rarer than a Halley’s comet. Something has gone wrong with the soundtrack, in short.




What’s the movie all about? Naani and Samantha play Varun and Nithya - two mador-each-other kids who grow up in the same school, go to the same college and have the hots for each other despite huge strata differences, so different that Nithya vacations in Australia whereas Varun goes for Annavaram. And the story continues with time lapses at different periods with many cold wars and hot patchups, without any variety. Varun wakes up one day to be career-conscious while driving some sense in Nithya too that she needs to find a purpose in life beyond him. He writes CAT exams, gets into IIM Kozhikode (where else, Kerala!) and makes his career count – and then revisits his first love – who has found a new calling. She is helping out victims of Tsunami creating a new household. Varun and Nithya overcome their egos and regain each other’s love with a happy ending. Samantha is gorgeous and cute, sometimes tries to look erotic and sensual at the same time. But her style of acting will run out of steam soon if she continues with her ibby-jibbies - girly giggles, self-conscious eye gazes and half-smiles. She is also getting into a rare trap of letting her voice-over Chinmayi dictate her body language – that will make her trapped in an alien voice without giving vent to her talent. In the golden days, you had voices like Saritha, Shilpa and Roja Ramani heighten the characters with their voices dubbed for femme fatales. But Chinmayi is a good singer but comes out dramatically different in voice over – and Samantha is an easy bait for her; here, Samantha dances to the husky and superficial voice of Chinmayi on screen. Naani is a great actor and has put in the right sincerity required for a role of this kind. He is never loud, always apt and remarkably cool.



The lighter moments in the film come when Krishnudu and Samantha’s friends appear on screen. But the movie is mostly a drag and lousy to watch. It is tediously long at 151 minutes, monologous at most times, and inspid when dialogues appear. Gautam Menon couldn’t prevent the shadow of “Yee maaya Chesaave” on the film at most places – the film is again a quasi-documentary of love from K-12 days to Career days, mostly shows dialogues between the boy and girl in the form of conflicts in ego, perceptions and attitudes, and again shows a happy ending. Unless there are more episodes of variety to project on screen from Gautam’s personal experiences, Gautam should put paid to these twilight sagas of love and return to action films or police investigation stories, which are his forte. The movie could have done better with editing, and screenplay deftness. Some of the scenes are abrupt and don't  connect with the previous ones.Lastly, he should get over the leanings of documentary film-makers; every scene comes with a subtitle: Nithya and Varun in school, Nithya and Varun at age 24 and so on. The audiences are too smarter to decipher these - if you want to show an annotated photo and video album from your personal life, show it on youtube and get more clicks but why does he have to inflict them on the audiences? On the whole, a boring and disappointing film from Mr Menon. I would rate it 1.5 on 5.

Pandit Ravi Shankar - When the Sitar fell silent.

Pandit Ravi Shankar’s life was epoch-making till the very end. He was born in Benares – the holiest of the cities and passed away at 92 in North America which now celebrates his brand of music as Indian Classical Music – nobody else exists in their eyes. Ravi Shankar has mesmerized audiences across the globe with his iconic mastery of Sitar; when he played, Sitar sounds so sonorific and fluid. It inspired many who became legends in our own times like George Harrison, daughter Anoushka Ravishankar and the splendid Prem Joshua. My own friend Ram Vakkalanka who is now settled in Canada is an accomplished Sitarist who trained under one of the Master’s direct disciples.

He was awarded every progressive award possible in the planet of music and arts – the Grammys, Oscar nominations, fourteen Doctorates, highest civilian awards in France and India. Not many musicians who are contemporaries of Pandit Ravi Shankar received the Padmas in run up to the ultimate coronation in India – Bharat Ratna. Pandit Ravi Shankar understood what the audiences wanted – whether in India, Eurasia, Far East or the opera-hungry West. That he could inspire the icons of a generation like Beatles speaks of the universal appeal of his music. My first impressions of listening to Pandit Ravi Shankar was on DD channels where he played in France, in opening game ceremonies and in famous performances at International conclaves. And then came the film “Gandhi” where I learnt Ravi Shankar scored the BGM and the songs (the few that were shown in the end). Whether it was the march of the British to prevent the Salt Satyagrahis or that haunting melody for over 13 minutes when young Gandhi travels across the country in the train where he sees everything from poverty to peasantry – those visuals were powerfully enriched by the Maestro’s outstanding music. Those days, BGMs were hard to  get so I used to record the OSTs on audio cassettes whenever “Gandhi” was aired on DD. I still get ecstatic when I listen to the music scored by Pt.Ravi Shankar. He used the right mix of melodies and orchestration as demanded in a film of that stature. It was mostly unique and Indian, and yet had the aura that anybody else would have floundered for Richard Attenborough. Even Gandhi would  have been proud of “Gandhi”’s music by  Ravi Shankar.

I always felt that Ravi Shankar had the right grasp of Indian Classical Music to embellish it further with his feel for what can blend well with Western Classical Music. He can be minimalist, subtle and classy at the same time while making the audience clamor for more. While “Gandhi” may be his finest hour in scoring BGM, he was also the natural choice for the Apu Trilogy of Satyajit Ray. The title theme for Apu in “Pather Panchali” that says it all in less than 90 seconds is one of the most memorable themes in Indian celluloid. In those days, it had the class of some of the Western masters in making a theme stick forever. Of course, Satyajit Ray never engaged Ravi Shankar after the trilogy but he had admitted in many interviews that only Ravi Shankar had the synchronization with him on the role of music in the film grammar – he felt that only Ravi Shankar understood the relationship of music to the film. Satyajit Ray never forgot what Ravi Shankar wrote for his films and probably never tried any other music directors after two failed experiments with Ustad Vilayat Khan and Akbar Ali Khan. That shows the consummate genius of Pandit Ravi Shankar in adjusting his talents to the metrics of any medium – live, recorded or in-film. There were also other musicians who became music directors for films. L Subramaniam had a dash with a few films like “Salaam Bombay”, L Vaidyanathan in “Pushpak”, Shiv-Hari (the Santoorist-Flutist duo) for Yash Chopra films. But all of them met with limited success – they had to call it a day sooner whereas Ravi Shankar scored the music as a privilege to the audience. It is like a preface to the world audiences and it is still etched well in public memory.

Whether it was solo performances or jugalbandis or a collaborative exercise with a bigger orchestra, Panditji was unique and uncomprising. He  was credited to introduce many firsts  in public performances – first to give the Tabla player a solo, first to make program notes, first to introduce sound checks (which spawned an entire industry in sound recordings and arrangements), first to introduce “friendly combats”.  I have attended a live performance of Panditji and his daughter Anoushka RaviShankar in HICC Hyderabad a few years back – and he was as magical as ever with fingers that were still stringing beautifully. Unlike many other musicians of contemporary fame, he knew  when to stop, when to make it sound spontaneous, when to annotate his music, when to let the others get full limelight and when to chastise an audience if they are found to be listless.

Though I have not read his first book “My music, my Life”, I had the fortune to get hold of his second book , more of a memoir “Raaga Malika”. What an exquisite and charming book set in lovely and musical font with elegant layout and exciting photo albums. It had also got a wonderful narrative of Ravi Shankar’s journey to greatness. I am of the opinion that Ravi Shankar had gone where few other Indian musicians had travelled because he was a complete musician presentable in full  - articulate in English, intelligent, charming and famously flirtatious with the ladies, replete with all the etiquette and manners of fully accomplished Indian musicians, and always representing India at her best. At age 92, when he passed away on a day that wont come in another hundred years, he lived the most eventful life that any musician would die for. His output across classical and fusion music must have reverberated across every acoustic auditorium around the world. Panditji, you have left a legacy of love, music and daughters who will carry on your name to greater heights. R.I.P

"Krishnam Vande Jagadguru" Telugu Movie Review

“Krishnam Vande Jagadguru” is quite a resonant title taken from a Sanskrit Sloka in Bhagavatam. It has Rana  Daggubati who hasn’t yet tasted Box Office success and casts Nayanatara in her first glam role after “Srirama Rajyam”. Director Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi is known for themes which are seldom dwelled upon on celluloid. In “Gamyam” he talks about being a humanist instead of a hedonist and enjoying the journey more than the destination in life. In “Vedam” he talks about the essence of right living and right thinking taking stories of five different people and blending them in the climax to drum up  the broad message of Vedas. It broke new ground in presentation and clearly remains a unique film of sorts  - in genre, theme and vivacity. “KVJ” his current, therefore, built a crescendo of expectations  - it has the implicit backing of the king of script-judgements D Suresh Babu, and all the paternal support that comes with such backing – theatres, distribution, the works. It is touted to be the real launch film of Rana. Does it deliver? Maybe, but it’s a mixed bag, according to me.

The story is quite explosive. Loosely borrowed from the famous “Surabhi” Nageswar Rao character. The patriarch of Surabhi theatre  (Kota Srinivasa Rao) runs the troupe with new generation of artists who show mixed commitment to the craft. One of them is BTech Babu (Rana) who is the “manasa putra” of Kota Srinivasa Rao, he is 6’3”tall, handsome, built like a planet and pulls off any role from the mythologies from Abhimanyu and Ghatotkachha to Narasimha and Krishna Avatars. He is the only hope for Kota to enact his magnum opus “Krishnam Vande Jagadguru” in Bellary Mines but BTech Babu has plans to study in US. Crest-fallen, Kota  dies. Shaken by Kota’s death and his past, BTech Babu re-dedicates himself and unites the troupe to  carry on the tradition. This takes him to Bellary where he falls in love with Nayanatara (an investigative documentary film-maker on mining scam). He also meets with the real baddies of Bellary – Murali Sharma and Milan Gunajee and finds more economic and social arson leading to imbalances in the surroundings of Bellary. Then the climax in a filmy way where Btech Babu pounces on the real villain who disturbed his ecosystem: While playing Narasimha Avatar, he pounces upon the villain (find out yourself) and eventually lets the displaced villagers give a fire exit to the villain.  

Director Krish had picked an explosive theme of Mining loot and its effect on the underbellies affected by it. He blends it half-heartedly with the declining patronage for theatre arts with the influx of media and economic boom leading to evolving forms of crisp entertainment. He lacks the control and finesse to blend both. In 136 minutes, he shows half-hearted will to grapple with the issues of the movie. Unlike Bengali and Marathi theatre, why did Telugu theatre vanish after centuries of fantastic run? There must be reasons beyond the evident – could it be mass urbanization or media invasion? Could better improvisation of language (simplification, actually) helped? Could they have picked up shorter and more vibrant and relevant themes? Any craft dies not because of falling patronage but only because of lack of marketing initiatives and perceived value – those aspects were not properly investigated. If Annamacharya had sung several thousand keerthanas, how come only few are sung with telling noticeability by even the unitiated? Some soul-searching needs to be done by Telugu theatre why such a decline befell it  - those who don’t adapt to the changing times in technology, presentation, content, theme or relevance, they are bound to perish. Krish disappointingly, has done no justice to the relevance of this debate. Instead, he sprinkles a few powerful dialogues that art is that which wakes you up from dreams, not the dream itself. Point taken, but how does the art become sustainable, remunerative and fulfilling? Krish doesn’t answer:  If you use  language that’s not crisp or clear to the current generation, the theatre has no hope in hell. But if you make it entertaining and improvise, it can survive the odds as in cities like Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata etc. For every “Surabhi” example, we need to see why some others have succeeded like “Prithvi” or “Qadar Ali Baig theatre” or some noted English theatres. Everybody loves a good play and stage performance and I can vouch that given good presentation and content, people will go to any lengths to watch theatre, there’s no dearth of audience here.

Krish also under-utilises his own strengths in documenting social problems well in his assessment of the mining mafia. Even though so much has happened in Bellary, and Goa mining scams, some justice is happening in terms of export bans, invoking of the RTI, land acquisition laws,  etc. I don’t want to delve deep into this issue as there are other larger points of debate which can be tackled separately. Showing how mining barons terrorise the villagers is just old-school villainy. When you have the main villain as “Reddappa”, there is so much scope for bringing real-life characterization and depth to sophisticated villainy. Krish fails to deliver here as well as in the characterization of most roles in the film. Nayanatara is a documentary film-maker on the mining scams. We don’t think she is either intelligent nor capable of the task at hand in the way she is characterized; she is mostly seducing Rana, dancing with him or running with her camera in Ambassador car. And what is the connection between a CBI officer and a documentary film-maker? Do they authorize film-makers to shoot documentaries and give leads? Murali Sharma is a talented villain who continues to be short-changed in Telugu films, he had scope to give a fiery performance but is again given short-shrift. The three best characters in the film are L.B.Sriram as the safekeeper of sand, Brahmanandam as “Rampam” and Posani Krishna Murali as “Tipu Sultan” car driver. Infact, the lightest moments in the film are when Brahmanandam takes a dig at stage artists and when Posani Krishna Murali sizzles on screen with his antics.  Their screen presence electrifies for the moments they appear.

Rana  Daggubati definitely has a diction that is top of the tree and credit must be given for his awesome dialogue-delivery of tough Telugu. He looks very impressive in the roles of mythological characters especially as Abhimanyu and Narasimha but he needs to improve his looks and work on what is the best facial hairdo for a person of his hulk and height. He looked better in “Dum Maro Dum” and previous movies in terms of looks than in this movie. He probably looks better with a stubble or a beard and a moustache like Victory Venkatesh (btw,  Venkatesh has a guest appearance with Sameera Reddy in a song). But he delivers a heartful performance that may make him win more hearts. Had Krish concentrated on every scene one at a time, the intensity of Rana would have come alive because he has streaks of fiery acting like Venky. Krish has treaks of my uncle Bapu – he doesn’t allow a scene to fully develop to its potential (like they say in Telugu, “scene panda ledu”).  Music by Mani Sharma  sounds unlike him and lacks the class and masterly touch of his earlier films. I get a sense that Krish imposes his own restrictions on the music output expected for BGM and songs except in “Vedam”. The background song with SPB at about half-dozen moments of the film brings out the pathos well.  There are songs which abruptly break into the flow of the scenes - like the circus song. What mars the film also is the degree of violence – it has some scenes that you will cringe to watch like tongue-slaying and hot-water throat bath etc. Why do they show such scenes? Why compound cruelty with clarity? I understand the censors have ordered for 36 seconds of brutal violence to be cut but only 12 seconds are cut in some theatres and the rest are showing off.

On the whole, a movie with mixed-bag results and could have been better handled by Krish because he had a great opportunity. I hope he becomes deft enough to be equal to the themes he selects henceforth. I will give this movie 2.5 out of 5 as I was disappointed a bit. It is watchable more in the first half than the second.

R.I.P Balasaheb Thackaray

Balasahab Thackaray shares his surname with a famous English novelist (William M Thackeray) who in turn shares his first name with the world’s most famous playwright (William Shakespeare). I firmly believe that Balasaheb’s life is an interesting mixture of half a dozen Shakespearan plays and “Vanity Fair” written by the original Thackaray. He commanded a following that shames the twitter following of Dalai Lama or the facebook friends of Mark Zuckerberg and definitely commands more silent followership than the likes of Puttaparthi Sai Baba or any film celebrity. He has achieved a cult status that’s colossal and unassailable in many many years for now - because of his nationalistic fervor, unrivalled outspokenness and a Zionist love for India that’s at once messianic and heart-warming. Balasaheb was the final authority when it comes to anything that concerns Indian pride and self-respect and carefully used pulse-points that created euphoric waves of opprobrium whenever India’s masses were vulnerable to mass hysteria to do his bidding – whether it was playing a cricket series with Pakistan, Sania marrying a Pakistani, Sanjay Dutt’bail or Salman Khan’s behavior, Amitabh’s exit from politics after Bofors, or whether national security laws kept a vigil on terrorists. What Balasaheb bade was final, and woe betide anybody who went against. Balasaheb had achieved all this with a hysterical mass following outside the reaches of Sadgurus and Superstars and led an interesting life that had enough contradictions that can trigger a few hundred Bollywood films (infact many were inspired by him). There will be lot of questions that intrigued biographers and journalists always – Was he really a catnip? Were all the finest femme fatales deflowered at his bidding? Why did he favor Telugus over Tamils in the famous tirade against non-Marathas? Why was he such a mad fan of Hitler and how much of Zionism influenced his “anti-immigration policy”? What led to the parting of his nephew and the death of his son? If he was so strong, how did so many Satraps shoot up even at the peak of Shiv Sena’s meteoric rise like Sharad Pawar and Pramod Mahajan? Has Mumbai moved on during the last five years or so because of anachronistic anti-immigration stance adopted by the Shivsena? All said and done, it was a life more colorful than the most larger-than-life figures seldom seen in world history. Bal Thackeray commanded a premium right till his end and had he stuck to his calling of a caricaturist like RK Laxman who shared his desk at Free Press Journal or confined to writing “Burning Words” like Babu Rao Patel, Bal Thackaray wouldn’t have been a phenomenon as the world knows him today. We all aspire to live interesting lives. Bal Thackaray had a cracker of a life from the time he was out of the womb. Balasaheb has been the only voice outside of Congress who lent credence and vitality to every world view that mattered on foreign affairs, diginitaries visiting India across the fields, whether we should encourage multi-culturalism and what is good for our security. We should be thankful for Balasaheb that but for him and Sushma Swaraj, we would have had a foreign citizen Sonia Gandhi as a Prime Minister. History always had a place of honor for fierce patriots like Savarkar and Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Prithviraj Chauhan – Balasaheb built a business and political empire out of nationalist fervor and zeal that sometime bordered on the theatre of the absurd. May his soul R.I.P.

"How Will You Measure Your Life?" Book Review

"How Do You Measure Your Life?" is one of the most exciting self-help books I have come across in years. It starts off like a business book with a blurb that promises to help you find fulfilment using lessons from some of the world's greatest businesses. Deceptively alluring for a Senior Management book-reader, it draws you charmingly into the issues that keep us away from lasting happiness and sense of making a contribution to life.   We gather the book is a creative collaboration between three different folks who have differing views on God and Spirituality. The main author of the book is Clayton M Christensen, who wrote "The Innovator's Dilemma" which became a sensation in triggering a huge debate in what sustains market leadership.This book grew out of a speech Christensen used to give on finding a meaning and happiness in life at Harvard Business School. James Allworth, the second author, is a graduate of the same school where Christensen teaches. Karen Dillon was the editor of Harvard Business Review who helped chisel the thoughts of the duo into an immensely readable and lively commentary on what makes living worthwhile - sometimes bordering on spirituality, most times offering plenty of sage counsel on the right living without being preachy.

The book is neatly divided into ten chapters running to less than 207 pages. It seeks to answer primarily three questions that unlike the Innovator's dilemma, haunt every graduating student: 1. How can I be sure that  I will be successful and happy in my career? 2. How can my relationship with my family and close friends become an enduring source of happiness? 3. How can I live a life of integrity - and stay out of jail? Pretty simple, right? Yet we observe from Rajat Gupta to David Madoff, breaches of integrity abound, even if differing in degrees. Most folks have got a problem with atleast one of the three aspects inquired into by the authors. Christensen offers plenty of refreshed and relevant examples from the world of business, sports and celebrities to take us through a tour of how to answer these three questions so we may find if life's worth it.

Christensen divides the book into three sections each analysing the questions on finding respectively one's mojo in career, family and living a life of integrity without ending up in jail. The chapters on how to choose one's calling in life and the ones on bringing up children are brilliantly analysed with telling value and counter-intuitive evidence from business research. As the author says, " I don't have an opinion. The theory has an opinion." This is not a typical book that gives quick-fix solutions to perennial dilemmas. It gives the right paradigm-changing objective assessment of some of the simplest questions that we must really be asking ourselves in order to make our lives count. I recommend this book irresptive of how early or late you are in life. It sure tickles you to make those critical decisions that will deliver results in all the three areas of life - career, family and character.

"How Will You Measure Your life?" by Clayton M Christensen, James Allworth & Karen Dillon, pp.221, pub. Harper Collins

Lessons of 1962 Sino-Indian War: Have we learnt?

My dad has read every book there is to read on Indo-China War of 1962 (for that matter on every war!) which completes the 50th Anniversary today. According to his perceptible reading, India has never learnt any lessons for 50 years because despite the public outcry against Nehru after the humiliating defeat by China, it has yet to de-classify the Brookes Report (commissioned to study the wages of war). But primarily, much like the ill-famed Panchasheel policy of Nehru, there are five reasons why we lost the war to China:


1. A weak-willed Nehru's blind-bets on China's "peace initiatives".

2. Keeping Nehru's weak (first cousin) BrijmohanKoll as In-charge for war. He was so inept, my dad tells, he applied for "sick leave" when a full-scale war was on in Northeast. Which General-in-war want to be on "leave"?

3. A communist-at-heart Krishna Menon was our honorable Defence Minister during war - and he continued to blunder and get blindsided by China - until impeachment came his way.

4. Lack of preparedness in both skill, scale of weaponry and strategy - blundering after blunder, believing "headfakes" and "false alarms".

5. Wishful thinking, Utopian drams and Living on Mythical assumptions - that China can never attack India, that China is at the foot of Himalayas whereas India is on top of the mountain ranges, that we don't need to modernise or coordinate artillery and airforce, that we should retreat when outnumbered by the enemy (except the legendary Capt.Shaitan Singh).



According to my father, the real unexpected help to India came from two forces - one, the brave Nagas and other tribes in Northeast who never supported India at other times rallied behind the Indian Army in their weak battles with Chinese and two, United States of America - John F Kennedy - who "big-brothered" Pakistan not to take undue advantage of the Sino-Indian War by simultaneously attacking from East and West Pakistan. (Pakistan obliged until 1965 and then 1971). So, the lessons are many but after 50 years, the country is owed a full de-classification on how we lost - honor and lakhs of hectares of sovereign territory - to a fellow BRIC nation. As my dad says, "It is clear the Indian psyche is so scarred that we know why we will never admit this defeat - and Nehru also cringed, collapsed and cut short his life by atleast 8 years."



Even JP Datta or Manoj Kumar never made films on this war because as Indians, we would rather flex our muscles against weaker military nations and show off our bravado. But if we are determined, focused and realistic in self-introspection, then we should re-assess our strengths and weaknesses in the military battlefield, equip better, pulverise our disempowering myths - and avenge our defeat in economical battlefields. Thats what progressive nations humiliated in war have done - examples, South Korea (crushed by Japan), Japan (by US), China (by Japan), and Germany (by Allies). All of them regained national pride. What about India? Remember this always, on Oct.20th.

"Brothers" Telugu Movie Review/ "Maattraan" Tamil Movie Review

“Brothers” (“Maattraan” in Tamil) is the dubbed film starring Tamil superstar Suryaa directed by K.V.Anand who made one of the best movies – “Rangam” in 2011. K.V.Anand’s first film is about the rot in media and politics that’s splitting the social fabric. In “Brothers” (“Maatraan”), he takes on a much more advanced topic that’s still being discussed and the jury is still out at Biodiversity summits and conclaves – Genetically Modified Foods. But wait, that is not the basic story. It is more complicated. Its about the bonding between conjoined twins (joined at the hip) both played by Suryaa - who are born after Prof. Ramachandran (played by Sachin Khedekar) performs many experiments in artificial insemination in trying to create the ultimate gene factory – someone who is multi-talented combining the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ilayaraja, Michael Jackson and seven other people. Sounds absurd, right? Is that all? Its a little more complicated. At the outset itself, despite the efforts by Professor to implant the best sperm bank in his wife’s womb, Surya square is born as conjoined twins much against his wishes. Later, the professor forms a company called Locus Lactos Limited which makes a billion dollar Energy Drink containing milk-related contents. Soon, this energy drink called “Energion” leads the market with over 70% market share causing consternation in competition. It leadis to lot of industrial espionage from foreigners who you gather are actually from Ukraine. Why do these foreigners want to unravel the secret formulae of “Energion”? Its even more complicated. The team from Ukraine suspect that the drink made by Prof.Ram’s company is debilitating the health of the consumers by boosting the energy in short-term but flattening their lives with harmful overdoses of steroids. Or Androids. Who cares?

Our conjoined twins – Vimal and Akhil – sons of billionaire Prof.Ram meanwhile date Kajal agarwal – who is a petite Russian translator who figures out exactly what’s happening with the company and Professor. But by then, Prof.Ram and his criminal gang of overlords in factory intercept and eliminate each one of the so-called spies who uncover the real happenings in the factory – where products are inter-mixed with hazardous substances that kill millions of lives. The shocker in the film comes bang in the middle of the film at interval time – where the father of the conjoined twins hires organized labour to kill the main whistle-blower, his son Vimal. Then, in a bid to survive Akhil, the doctors transplant Vimal’s heart into Akhil so he survives. And later Akhil gets to the bottom of the murky dealings. He takes the help of Kajol to get to the real story in Ukraine which is even more complicated. Then the painful ending of realization by the father and the final confrontation between the father and the son. Phew! Quite a story that, can’t be retold without gulping down the daily intake of water a man requires.

K.V. Anand has actually steamrolled three stories into one story and like the father of the conjoined twins tried to infuse a giant killer of a plot that will be called the mother of all films. There is a story of conjoined twins, which by itself, if allowed to progress smoothly would have been a perfect entertainer. Then there is a story of industrial espionage which looks credulous. And then, there is a story of Genetically Modified foods enmeshed with animal and clinical trials of drugs tested before market release that is poorly researched and misinforms. Allowing the three stories to interact with each other in a simple plot of action and romance is the biggest mistake K.V.Anand has made. The most glaring defect in the story is the weak characterization of father - Prof.Ramachandran played well by Sachin Khedekar. How can a father be so heartless to kill his own sons right from the infancy stage to the stage they begin confronting him? By showing that a father’s sense of mammon-worshipping knows no bounds, KV Anand’s plot is the weakest I have seen in years in the manner of being absurdly wicked against one’s own children. This is why, one feels switched off after knowing the culprit is the father and the one who is massacred is one’s own offspring – it kills whatever emotion is left in the film half-way through. Had the villain been somebody else whom the twins attempt to bring to justice, it would have felt differently and maybe might have been more watchable. The initial sixty minutes of the film where the conjoined twins grow up with an overlapping body part in the hip, go to study and chill and enjoy being together in bath or baseline tennis – all of that sizzles and the audience gasp for more. But once the interval comes and goes, there ends the best part of the film and all the soul in it. The second half bores you with the tedium of the plot that’s already known well before the interval - it reminded me of the same way in which “7th Sense” (“7th Ariyu”) dragged its plot in the second half with monotonous villainy and lack of depth in characterization of the villain. In a bid to make it international (the film has atleast 15 minutes of running time in foreign languages – Russian, et al) the film over-concentrates on the dense and complicated plot without checking for its emotional content, comedy (hardly present and comes like a whiff of fresh air only in the first half).

Why does a father want to kill his own children? How can higher market share of a drink correlate with rising health hazards of children who consume it? How come everybody from Food Inspector to the highest authorities and police turn a nelson’s eye to the frauds perpetrated by the company and nobody detects except competition and eventually family members? What is the connection between a sperm bank and conjoined twins? (It has nothing to do with it. Incidentally, there has been a famous project called Nobel Prize sperm bank project which tried to collect sperm from 100 Nobel Prize winners and make a genius baby but finally the project itself became a damp squib. But that’s an interesting story). What is the most harmful substance in an Energy Drink, lets say Red-Bull? (It is caffeine and not Steroids). What is the connection between Genetically Modified Organisms and the killer product? (Again that is not explained very well by the director who made it more to sound intellectual without explaining the pros and cons of GM foods. This is not just K.V.Anand’s fault – there are several happening directors in Tollywood also who drop jargon-sounding words in the middle of a script just to pander to A-class and balcony seat audiences. By the way, this is not a conclave to discuss GMO etc. but my short take on them is that it is the most misunderstood term almost like 3-D printing - the debate should be more on who owns the seeds etc. and not on the malefic side-effects of Genetically Modified Seeds. BT Cotton seeds since introduction in India have already made India a net exporter than a net importer). There are many questions unaswered. Finally, the director should have researched on Barcelona Olympics 1992 where he says the United Team (ex-USSR republics) beats the USA because of the Energy Drink made by our Professor; it actually beat the US by a mere four medals.

What is the point? My point is that nobody denies cinematic licenses to creative directors to experiment with new genres and present different themes under one roof but why do they do poor homework, play with the wrong emotions and mess up the plot? Why over-complicate? Why not make a documentary on GM Foods or Drug trials instead of making films that suck? The real casualty is Suryaa because this film will definitely disappoint his fans despite his superlative performance as conjoined twins. Showing two different shades as conjoined twins was sheer brilliance and he excels with his all-round talents. He shows class and mass with ease unlike other heroes. Performances by Kajol is average despite huge potential of full-length role. Kajol is becoming predictable as a glamour doll without any new variations. Sachin Khedekar has got a plumpy role and he makes most capital of it after Suryaa, of course. Music by Harris Jayaraj has been good in parts. Since Harris Jayaraj has got a natural proclivity towards incorporating Russian instrumentation in his music, he composes his heart out in a few songs set in the backdrop of the Ex-Russian republics but not many memorable numbers to root for. His BGM is better than the songs but all said, Harris Jayaraj is a gifted composer whose stamp on Suryaa’s career has been most vivid and it follows here too. Cinematography and visual effects have been brilliant and atleast two songs - one starring Isha Sarvaani and another starring the conjoined twins romancing Kajol in Norway were brilliantly picturised. Stunts by Peter Hein have been very impressive. The fight before interval running for over 18 minutes is astonishingly shot with all the roller coaster and speed-revolving trains orbiting at their speeds and a frighteningly risky fight ensues between the twins and the rowdies. On the whole, the movie doesn’t deliver and has lot of mental floss that disengages you from the right mood to watch the film because of wrong emotions, lack of a good romantic track between Suryaa and Kajal. You can give 1.5 for the technical efforts of the director and one more for Suryaa’s masterly effort but afterwards you have to say “Oh My God”. 2.5 out of 5 but not a film that entertains cleanly.

"English Vinglish" Hindi Movie Review

“English Vinglish” is a lovable film that is worth the wait. If you like the English language, you will find it finger lickin’ good. If you can’t digest English language and like to stick to your native language, you will find it deliciously finger lickin’ good. No jokes here, I am serious. For fans of Sridevi who have been waiting for a film where she reinvents herself after a hiatus that’s almost a generation gone, it’s a very good comeback film. Credit must go to atleast three people besides Sridevi – the producers Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Radhakrishna Damani (both of them India’s ace stock-pickers), debutante director Gauri Shinde (an ad professional in her own right) and her backer, R.Balki (R Balakrishnan who made acclaimed films like “Cheeni Kum” and “Paa”).

As the title says, “English Vinglish” is all about a homemaker’s falling sense of self-esteem because of her ignorance of English. Mother of two, and wife to a high-flying corporate executive, Shashi (Sridevi) is bored with life and except her younger kid who adores her, her elder kid chastises her for not knowing English. (Doesn’t happen as cruelly in real life) and her husband doesn’t show much sensitivity to her blues and midlife crisis of confidence (happens). There comes a call from Shashi’s only sister Meera in US beckoning her to come early for the wedding of her daughter. With much reluctance and usual ridicule from family, Shashi leaves for US ahead of the family members by three weeks. There, in proper Manhattan district of New York, she fumbles again and again failing to communicate in English but finds accommodative nieces and an affectionate sister. And the comes a move that redeems her sense of self-pride – a secretive enrolment into a English Class – an American equivalent of Russell’s Spoken English comprising of a cosmopolitan crowd – a Chinese, a Pakistani, a Madrasi, a Russian, an African, a Frenchman (who develops a fondness for her) apart from her – all taught by an infectiously enthusiastic Gay English teacher who looks like a cross between Clark Gable and Steve Forbes.

You can guess what happens in the end – a woman driven to desperation by family finally redeems herself, gets back her mojo in life and earns her spurs with the basic character-building traits of persistence, self-awareness and determination. Towards the climax, as the story moves, the English teacher announces the date of final test as proof of proficiency in functional English wherein each one of the students has to give a speech for five minutes in English. That coincides with the day of Shashi’s niece’s wedding- the purpose of her stay in US. But she comes up trumps on the d-day, skipping the test due to her own faltering first and later delivering the speech of her life for five minutes in full glare of the guests who turned up at the wedding, her discouraging family, raving fans of her culinary skills and the students of the English class and the teacher. She delivers a speech that stupefies all with words that stir you in fully functional English that makes her earn distinction. And then, the accolades sweeter than the Laddus she is famous for.

On the whole, a good story induces a form of trance because it alters your state of awareness – of the here and now. Director Gauri Shinde’s story can take most people of both genders to an expanded awareness of an imagined world that may not always happen– to the classroom corridors with kids who shy away from the deficiencies of their parents at the PTA meetings and get needlessly “embarrassed” by their parents, to the inside of a flight you are about to take for the very first time in your life and you choke for water, to the wide-eyed canvass that never seems to strike your visual range when you get on to the last floor of a building that’s enveloped by multiple skyscrapers in New York City, to the moments of our daily life when our destiny keeps getting shaped and re-shaped and relationships build and destroyed. Gauri Shinde seems as adept as her husband R.Balki in weaving a story that’s honest, and hugely evocative. “English Vinglish” gives you a roller-coaster ride of emotions that make you cry, laugh and not necessarily choke. In 136 minutes, she stirs your senses enough to give you a fully-bathed experience of watching a nice movie. Even though the story uses tunnels underneath the conscious walls of logic to touch the subconscious, most times it is convincing and on few occasions where it seems unreal it won’t affect your growing respect for the director.

Music by Amit Trivedi including BGM and lyrics by Swanand Kirkire are exceptional. Most of the songs enhance the story and heighten the cinematic experience which is the hallmark of a good composer. The five minutes of screen space Sridevi shares with cameo artist Amitabh Bachhan is a treat for fans. Amitabh dazzles well and every artiste gives good performance thanks to the characterization achieved by the director. Sridevi should be congratulated for taking a role that suits her demeanor and her sparkling body language which is strikingly expressive – her nuances of emoting naturally with her face and her spirited body rhythms show no signs of letting up. Age definitely shows on her face with makeup that hides the wrinkles but her acting talent in her squeaky cute voice is as spotless. I am tempted to call her by a movie title: the eternal sunshine of a spotless mind. Finally, for those who want to see the US at closer shots in the inner circles of New York city, you won’t find a better film.

Comedy and entertainment come in lavish doses through the grammar grouches of native speakers in English – they form the lightest part of the film. The film can easily find its way into the cinema halls of the countries whose populations aspire to learn English. At least 45 per cent of the dialogues are in English, the level of proficiency is expected to be a basic learner’s vocabulary of less than 1000 words and the toughest word in the film is the word - “judgemental”. I wouldn’t like to be called judgemental in rating a film of this quality and sizzle; I would not give 5 out of 5 but I think it deserves an above-average rating – 3.5 on 5. Take your family to the film – whether you like subtle messages or not – you will surely have good laughs and a feeling of seeing a neat and clean film.

"Rebel" Telugu Movie Review

“Rebel” is the most ambitious film of young Rebel Star Prabhas who has had a string of hits last year. He looks like an uber cool version of veteran actor and original Rebel Star Krishnam Raju and has quite a following equaling the likes of Mahesh Babu and Jr.NTR. Prabhas has picked up director Raghavendra Lawrence – who gave hits like “Kaanchana” and “Mass” and “Style”. Raghavendra Lawrence belongs to that unique set of choreographers who took up directing in a big way – a’la Prabhu Deva, Amma Rajasekhar. It comes with a certain brazenness and some arrogance as well : since they know all the right moves for the lead pair in songs, they will probably or perhaps become a capable director. To some extent, it worked for Lawrence for a few movies but in “Rebel” he falls flat in many areas – the movie is not worth all the hype. I wonder what is that in the movie that took one year in the making.

The plot is a simple revenge story that resembles his earlier films – “Don” and “Kanchana”. Raju (Prabhas) comes to a city in search of “Stephen Roberts” whom nobody has seen before but who commands a fierce army of sophisticated gunmen who extort millions from innocents. Raju learns that only one Naanu knows who Stephen Roberts. Naanu’s daughter is a dance teacher in Bangkok, so Raju woos her to get the bag of secrets about the elusive S.R. He gets the villains finally with lot of gory action and mindless stunts but before that Lawrence shows one more lengthy flashback that reveals Raju’s original background of inheriting the kingdom of a Don (Bhupathi Raju played by Krishnam Raju). Deeksha Sheth, the second heroine in the film is also thrown into the flashback as his first love. The plot and the narration is bland and there is no twist anywhere.



What mars the film is heavy-duty violence which is glorified with graphics – drilling machines are used to pulverize knee-joints, knuckles and shoulders, all kinds of guns are used in the film and there’s relentless spraying of bullets and men are killed like mice. Action sequences are meant to elevate the heroism of a handsome and shapely hero like Prabhas but they are highly contrived and look unimpressive and surreal. All the stunts of the film are straight-lifted from recent Hollywood movies and some are inspired by “Sherlock Holmes” series - the one that shows an improvisation over “Matrix” series in the sense of slow-moving, body-part-breaking kind. Scientifically, the stunt masters know that the only part that is movable in the human face is the lower jaw – not ears, not eyes, not nose. So, animating all over the face is not really credible. Music by Lawrence is unexceptional and lacks finesse that professionals give. Lawrence should stick to his strengths than spreading himself thin. Knowing beats is one thing, drum beats is another.



I am told that the script was first rejected by Prabhas the first time Lawrence narrated it. Prabhas would have been luckier had he gotten away out of this script. It is not a film that will cap his career or one that will rekindle “Chatrapathi” mania despite the potential of the actor. Prabhas carries the film well but his costumes in choreography could have been better. His dialogue delivery is again inconsistent; that’s an area that requires great rework if he has to cement his place amongst the top three. His heroism gets highlighted in unexpected times and falls flat in moments it should've got. Tamanna is exposed to all her body parts full - she is covered most times only 15 per cent in the film and shows that despite all the beauty, she doesn’t have depth in her acting – even the song featuring her exclusively where she does a Janet Jackson-style dancing, audience take a puff break. Deeksha does a tad better in flashback. Krishnam Raju looks relatively comfortable in his elderly role compared with earlier films. The big relief in comedy comes only at three points punctuated well with the entry of Brahmanandam, MS Narayana and Ali. Good to see Ali in a better role as “KamalHasan ShivaShankar”, he sizzles in the six minutes. Mukesh Rushi as the villain shows different shades. On the whole, “Rebel” is a wasted effort by Lawrence despite the stunts, action, drama and negligible comedy because there’s nothing new he could show – it’s a rehash of his earlier films, elements he loves to show of dance, helping the handicapped and orphans, transvestites, dons, revenge, et al. Choreography, his main forte, is also amiss, maybe Lawrence should have given another upcoming a talent a chance at that. On the whole, I would not even give it beyond 2 out of 5 but because of Prabhas, I will give “Rebel” 2.5 on 5.

PM Manmohan Singh speaks on Doordarshan: Need for Economic Literacy

Keeping aside the follies of Congress-I and the pros and cons of bringing in FDI in retail, happy to see the s(p)inister Mamatha get beaten at her bluff. With 19 seats, You cannot dictate terms to a coalition partner of 205 seats. And for God's sake, when will the politicians get a tutorial in Economics? Doing a Bharat bandh and making the economy halt for a day makes life tougher for the common man. Some part of the output of the day Rs.12500 crs. plus is gone out of the mouths of poor people - daily laborers, shift workers, etc. BJP should understand that being asinine and idiotic in approach wont get them the votes in the next election.


While I am neutral to both the parties, can BJP give a declaration in writing that they will not raise fuel prices if they come to power? Can Mamatha have a bet with CPI that she will never take harsh measures against the common man? In Economic realities, you can never do it. BJP should realise that the toughest decisions in Economic policy were taken by Congress-I - they raised fertilizer prices more than 350 per cent, they raised fuel prices several times (out of compulsion not out of sadism because the crude oil prices never spiralled out of control during BJP regimes), FDI in other sectors.

BJP and the opposition in those times never did a roadshow against the raising of fertilizer prices. (Fertilizers is one of the key goods imported by India - apart from Crude oil, Coal, Gold etc.). So, the opposition is usually selective about the protests they want to do rather than fully understand the ramifications of any decision. India has become a democracy before its people became literate, as Nandan Nilekani said, which is not the case with other democracies in the world. So, neither the people nor their chosen representatives have found the time and maturity to ripen their knowledge of what drives decisions in the world - directionally and structurally. It is the responsibility of everybody involved to discuss threadbare the consequences of policy decisions.

If the ruling party hasn't done it, it is the responsibility of the media, the elite, the educated, the opinion-leaders, the state governments, the legislators, the opposition party members - everyone, has a stake in understanding and explaining how future is impacted - if we don't allow Fresh Foreign Capital, technology, management and resource inputs of other kind into Retail or any other sector where efforts to keep it indigenous have either failed or created issues of scale and profitability.

Agents who sold post-office deposits are selling mutual funds, actuaries (and everybody down the value-chain of technical qualifications) who used to be employed by LIC are today gainfully employed in private insurance companies, entrepreneurs who are happy to be small shop-keepers are going to find alternative ways of scale-up or be pushed out.

Change is inevitable and the last 10 years of window the retail has got has only seen few flourish but many stick with old ways of handling money. There are more issues at play here but the payoffs are going to be better than worse.

Tonight, when Manmohan Singh addresses the nation at 8pm, I hope we will all see the need for a healthy debate on policy reforms instead of stalling parliaments and disrupting economic activities. If you like this post, share it with as many. If you don't like this, lets talk more and discuss why. Let us develop more economic literacy.

Post-Script: Since this was posted, Prime Minister spoke on National Television. His speech was measured, informative, persuasive and hard-hitting: "Money does not grow on trees", "They did not succeed in 1991 and they will not succeed now." Here's the link to his full speech.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/pms-address-tonationfull-text_760537.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+moneycontrol%2FiOjZ+%28Moneycontrol+Updates%29

"Barfi" Hindi Movie Review

"Barfi" is one more experimental film directed by Anurag Basu which is in a different format than what we have seen in films like "Life in Metro" or "Gangster". Ranbir Kapoor once again proves that he is ready to take on any role in his march to superstardom - he plays the role of a dumb do-gooder in Darjeeling who splits his affections between an autist girl Priyanka Chopra and a conventionally good-looking, Bengali girl (Ileana D'Cruz). Movie's finest performances are by Ranbir, Ileana (she can act, finally!) and Priyanka. Some of the most exciting camera work on Indian Celluloid comes alive in this musical extravaganza with period-film touch. The touch extends to a differently sounding BGM and music by Pritham. What lets the movie down is entertainment, entertainment and entertainment as Silk would say.

The narrative is confusing - and the director is unable to strike a balance between what he wants to convey and what will appeal cinematically. Flashbacks, which are the last refuge of the skilful director, are used liberally without a method or purpose. After about 150 minutes and several times in the movie, you realise Anurag Basu wont let you go without showing the creative stuff - intermixing art film scenes, Chaplinesque comedy, extravagant landscape shots of Greens in Bengal and a touch of Hollywood musicals. All the efforts dont add up to a convincing film, it looks indulgent and irritatingly artful, sometimes. Ranbir Kapoor has done more experimentation than any Kapoor or Khan in their entire career - "Saawariya", "Rocket Singh",, "RockStar", etc. In his own career interest, he should now act in a script that enhances mass appeal than thinning his luck at the boxx office. Honestly, despite the artful touch, gaps in story-telling make "barfi" over-indulgent. For the effort, I would give it 2.5 out of 5 or else, the movie sucks but for the Emerging Star.

"Life is Beautiful" Telugu Movie Review

“Life is Beautiful” is now not just an Oscar-winning foreign film but also a Telugu film from a much-acclaimed director Shekhar Kammula, an Engineer-turned sophomore director who makes baby leaps with every film and carries youth and family audiences with him. Shekhar’s films are usually titled with English names, words or phrases like “Happy Days”, “Dollar Dreams”, “Anand”, “Godavari” and now “L.I.B” but his heart lies in Telugu household traditions. That’s what made his works ensnare a huge base of viewers across the Telugu-speaking world. Typically, his films have undercurrents of urban middle-class family values, humane and altruistic outlook in principal characters, feelings of nostalgia for things past, cute romantic tracks, autobiographical leanings and a subtle message beamed out through the narrative itself. “LIB” is no different from the above package that one expects from Shekhar. Its another film that resembles “Happy Days” in substance and texture and his earlier films. In this film, he shows the coming-of-age of three youth whose lives get entwined in a colony in Padmarao Nagar, Secunderabad (where else!).


One of them Sreenu (Abhijit) sets foot in Sunshine Colony with his two sisters to complete his Engineering final year so they can study for their courses too; they are set off by their mother Amala for a “reason”. He is joined by two more youth who have their own stories – one is a rustic good Samaritan (perhaps the best character in the film-Nagaraju played by Sudhakar) and the other is a gizmo-creating, dreamy-eyed youth almost similar to Aamir Khan’s character in “3 Idiots” called Abhi (Kaushik). The threesome run into a series of class-divide neighbourhood brawls with a gang of Rich-Dad-Rich-brats who have nothing else to do in life except party, play and all that. When they are not having run-ins with the richer kids in the neighbourhood, the three youth have their share of fun with the loves of their life. Here is where Shekhar Kammula can be faulted with because the storyline is just a leaf out “Happy Days” where for most of the screentime, youth are seen wasting their time on discussing cute women, unfriendly combats and then raproachments. The only difference is, in “LIB”, the setting shifts to a colony from college – so the next setting we can expect from Shekhar Kammula in this coming-of-age trilogy may be in the office or workplace itself – so he can create romance and fights at workplace despite the fact that time is more precious and already paid for. This is the biggest failing in the film – that people have so much time to kill for and have neighbourhood brawls. Whether in Padma Rao Nagar in Secunderabad or a colony in Gachibowli or Banjara Hills, people don’t see their neighbours in years so where’s the case of a class conflict between a B-Class flat society and a Gold-phase neighbourhood? Shekhar has to grow up and see the reality in metro – how the society lives its daily chores and how it interacts with each other segment – the basic fabric is getting increasingly exclusive so the inclusivity amongst the classes is usually idealistic. There’s little scope for any intercourse between those at the periphery and those in high standing – that’s the harsh reality of today’s ecosystem which Shekhar has grossly missed out – and while drumming up to the theme that “life is beautiful” throughout the film, he shows little glimpses of what that beautiful life is all about – its mostly about infatuation, male-female fixation, romance, Mars, Venus and little else, you get the idea.

Leave that flaw and the thing about how society is moving on, Shekhar has taken a mature approach to show as many characters as possible which gives a macrocosmic view of an Urban India that is degenerative in values and demeanor. He is immaculate in creating characters clearly etched out and distinct from each other; they flourish in a medium pace narrative that mostly slackens after the second half. What is good about these characters is they will appeal to each one of us in a manner we can relate with in daily lives. Shekhar’s films are still worthy of family audience viewing and by that I also mean what the family should know how each member of the family is thinking or moving directionally. In that sense, he strikes a chord in “LIB” in showcasing what’s on the minds of today’s youth – someone is forced into an MBBS course, someone lies to her brother of an affinity towards a boy-friend, someone saves her boy-friend’s name in mobile phone as “Radha” (girl’s name), someone gets pulled into a trap with material comforts by a friendly boss, someone is mis-guided never to cry in public (this can be hugely repressive and dangerous, as we see). Stuff like this hardly gets highlighting in films even though its happening in our lives because they are taboo topics and Shekhar gives his best shot at uncovering these for the benefit of better supervision by elders and spirited guidance of today’s youth. Shekhar gives his take on these matters in his usual subtextual narratives, matter-of-factly and unobstrusively. Shekhar also puts his trademark dialogues and creates impactful scenes. One such scene is where Abhi’s sister doesn’t make it to Nasr School (its obvious!) because she can’t speak English. In climax, the girl comes back in a spellbee contest with zeal, speaking fluently in English then lapses into Telugu because she says she can’t express herself better in any other language. That’s one of the most intense scenes apart from a few more where the director shows that life is beautiful if you can enjoy the little joys of living and there’s no correlation between making money and staying happy. But some of this comes too little too late after rambling in romance for 150 minutes.

On the whole, the film is watchable once despite the painful resemblance to “Happy Days” and the faulty assumptions about modern-day living. Characterisation is quite consistent for each character and the three principal characters and their lady-loves are livelier than the rest. Amala Akkineni is passable and don’t know why there was so much hoopla about her comeback role, she is seen for less than 10 minutes even in interspersed between first and second half. Anjali Jhaveri has a good role in the film which gets highlighted at crucial turns in the film, she looks as demure as the girl who stirred hearts in “Samara Simha Reddy” and “Preminchukundaam Raa…”. But the glamour and oomph factor in the film is Shriya Saran. With her well-toned figure and selective makeup, Shriya is sensational to watch as an older girl who is charmed by a younger boy who never tires of antics and magic tricks. She is shown in the scantiest of dresses that Shekhar wouldn’t have shown in all of his films so far as a Diva from Venus and the superstar sex appeal of an aging actress who acted with the likes of Rajnikanth, Chiranjeevi and Mahesh Babu is revived well by the director. The other two girls – the lady loves of the two youth are also impressive, one of them Shagun who played Paddu surely has the good looks that will turn her into a bankable heroine. Watch out for her, a Tamanna in the making.

A word or two about the technicals. Padmasri Thota Tharani has created sylvan surroundings that are bewildering in a simple colony in PadmaRao Nagar. Music by Mickey J Meyer is alarmingly close to “Happy Days” soundtrack in most numbers. But I guess, this is because the idiom dictated by the script is similar to that so there’s little scope for improvisation and variety in this film. What I feel is that music directors who get lulled into the same plots sometimes ruin their careers – this happened with RadhaKrishna Murthy and a few others. Mickey J Meyer has scored some great music in the film but the sounding is not different from what we have heard before. For a music director to appeal for eternity, you need a mix of exciting instrumentation, harmonical orchestration, range of rhythms and range of musical genres – if you don’t have all of these you will not make it big. Mickey J Meyer is a trained music composer in the Trinity College, London has all the trappings of an emerging Musical Mind but is not experimenting with new rhythms, richer orchestration and different instrumentation. I get the feeling, his best works are behind not ahead of him as I haven’t heard anything new after “Kotha Bangaaru Lokam’ or “Maro Charithra”. If he gets back to doing some homework on these lines, he can join the likes of DSP, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Mani Sharma, and Harris Jayaraj. Lets not talk about joining the duo of Ilayaraja and AR Rahman. That’s a far cry. The only thing that excited me is the notes using Mandolin – that stood out in a couple of songs that are always forgettable. Cinematography is great. Dialogues by the director himself are quite apt and worth their utterances.

On the whole, the movie is mostly fun even though I didn’t spot much loud laughter like in earlier films. Despite the shortcomings, “Life is Beautiful” is worth watching once because of the niche Shekhar created for himself but if he doesn’t move on from the nature of plots like these, he will meet with unexpected failures in future because a director who has a grip on all departments like him should try out different genres. It is for this reason that, had I rated “Happy Days” 3.5 out of 5, I will rate “Life is Beautiful” 2.5 out of 5 because I expected more.

"Shirdi Sai" Telugu Movie Review

“Shirdi Sai” is a biopic starring Nagarjuna playing the title role of the mystical phenomenon of Shirdi Sai Baba who is revered by millions of devotees across the world. Shirdi will be thronged by scores of visitors just like ants drawn to sugar, said Sai Baba. It has become as iconic as places of worship of major religions like Jerusalem, Mecca, Benares, Tirupati or Rameshwaram today thanks to a continuing upsurge of devotion to Sai Baba almost in every generation since the passing of the Saint on 15th October 1918. There have been quite a few films on the phenomenon of Shirdi Sai Baba but the most talked works are one by Actor Manoj Kumar involving the best of the Hindi artists and one in Telugu directed by K.Vasu starring Vijaychander in title role. Both these films are etched in public memory and are quite difficult to dislodge because they were simple, true to the main story as spelt out in “Sai Sat Charita”. In case of the latter film (“Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Mahatyam”), apart from evolved acting by Vijaychander and authentic direction without too much dramaticism there was timeless music by Maestro Ilayaraja. Normally, comparisons are quite repulsive but because of the choice of the subject and the fact that “Shirdi Sai” was most publicized before the release several months in the making, one cannot help compare the original movie with this movie.

If you leave out comparisons with the classic and also the overall essence of what made Sai Baba above any controversies, “Shirdi Sai” is good but not excellent by any standards. In fact, despite the huge cinematic exuberance shown by director K. Raghavendra Shankar Rao and the remarkable performance by Nagarjuna in giving an inimitable feel to the persona of Shirdi Sai Baba with his fitness, facial charm and charishma, the film doesn’t give a complete sense of the “Sai Tatva” or the characterization that that every devotee loves to see on screen, having read His Life Storyat least once or many times.



145 minutes is good enough time to settle all that there is to know about Sai Baba and to be fair, KRR tried his best to put forth the personality, the mystique and the salient snippets covered in books like “Sai Leela” and “Sai Sat Charita”. He has selected a reasonably good starcast but I felt that the storyline runs superfast and doesn’t register many scenes of the film like the essential grace, wisdom and guidance as a Guru that Baba gave throughout the fifty years he spent at Shirdi until his Mahasamadhi after entering the village as a youth two decades before the Sepoy Mutiny. He has chosen some lovely episodes to collapse into the narration which is edited beyond the brief. So, what I sense is that the pace of the film is so fast that for someone who has never read His Life Story as a “Parayan” (weekly reading for a wish fulfilment) or well-acquainted with His life, it doesn’t excite enough beyond a few exceptionally good songs and a neat performance.



The movie starts off with an exceptional title song that raises expectations, then wastes a lot of footage on his early origins in Himalayas and other nomadic travels and then alternates between a sketchy narration of Sai Baba’s meteoric rise as a Miracle Saint and unnecessary excursions into silly comedy with Shinde and Ali and gang. In the bid to make it entertaining, Raghavendra Rao has made it very elementary at times and fails to convey the subtler aspects of spirituality that Sai Baba has embraced all his life. Most of the film tries to be entertaining and the characterization of all the people who form part of Sai Baba’s closest disciples are shown hurriedly without extending the impact of His appeal and web of interactions with them for greater wisdom. Obviously, in an exercise of this nature, you have to be selective of the episodes that showcase the Seer’s magic but that’s what KRR should have done - if the movie is made for the current generation, there should have been more interesting elements weaved into the narrative – there were examples from Baba’s book of stories which could have connected with the young and old. For example, there was a story on Bhagawad Gita’s interpretation by Nana, there was a story of a boy who is counselled by Sai Baba not to believe in astrology when writing examinations, there is a story of how the cycle of birth and re-birth can affect our lives and our actions… My point is, a golden opportunity is wasted in most by selecting themes which are more populist in nature and appeal to a wide majority – like the unity of religions, being seen as the universal God by every visitor in Shirdi and being kind and large-hearted. The director could have done better if he had cut down on some characters like the Britisher Wales (played by Srihari blatantly imitating Mohan Babu), Brahmanandam and few others.

Out of 145 minutes of the film, atleast 30 minutes of the film is taken away by repetitive comedy which is not required in a film of this genre, another 20 minutes of the film goes in some cinematic shots of showing celestial skies, origins and establishment of the character, then the story with characters gets built quickly almost like a précis of the book without highlighting aspects that people would have loved to watch – how Baba spent his day, how he lived, how he created the customs that are followed in Shirdi today, how Shirdi looked like in those days, and how he mentored and touched millions of lives. Because of little time for maneuver in the way of the treatment, he had summarized most of the aspects in song format leaving the audience to pick what they can. It doesn’t take even two minutes to explain what are the nine paths of devotion that Baba explained to one of his closest disciples Lakshmibai Shinde, as recounted in the Sat Charita, but we have none of it that way. Baba just hands out the nine coins to Lakshmibai and then tells her to remember the nine paths of devotion (these are actually, listening, devotional music, remembering, worship, obeisance, service, friendliness, self-surrender and feet worship). There are quite many scenes like these which make less impression on a mind never exposed to Sai Tatva. What redeems the film is music by MM Keeravani and performance by Nagarjuna and Srikanth and few others. Keeravani’s music doesn’t have the trappings of Ilayaraja but it has a unique hummability that give his music the enchantment it deserves. However, one of the best songs of the album “Maanava Sevee Madhava Senani…” is cut out in the film disappointing music-lovers.

To be fair, Raghavendra Rao has done better than his previous films in this genre by sticking to near-authenticity and above all, neatness on a scale never done before – he has captured only the simplest essence of Shirdi Sai Baba and made a poetic film within a concise format without too much authenticity or care to endear to all. For example, instead of showing Queen Victoria’s portrait in a police station, we see Queen Elizabeth-II. Instead of Rotis, we see Butter Naans. And so on. Because it is neither “Mahatyam” nor “Katha”, and the title is “Shirdi Sai”, he has shown a non-linear procession of how a Saint became a Miracle Man and later became deified for generations. There are many omissions and commissions but it didn’t create the urge to want to visit Shirdi as it did in me when I watched the older films on Baba few decades back. Nagarjuna, however, should be proud of his achievement and delivers an unblemished role as Baba – if the movie clicks mostly despite the shortcomings of the director, it is because of Nagarjuna that one must feel compelled to see it atleast once. That makes this movie get rated 3 instead of 2.5. It is a good movie but no way excellent.