"Dear Comrade" (Telugu/Tamil/Malayalam/Kannada) Film Review

The most hyped Vijay Deverekonda in recent times comes with an elaborate buildout of 169 minutes about a love story which has many overt and subtextual messages - of which the main message is about how a lady cricketer fights sexual harassment at work with help of her lover who stands like a wall for her - whom everyone calls "Dear Comrade". Bharat Kamma directs this colorful film with dazzling cinematography and enchanting musical score by Justin Prabhakaran. The film takes you into the world of Bobby and Lilly (played by Vijay Deverekonda and Rashmika) whose journey has many fateful turns, most of them predictable and self-created. Performances-wise, the film's honors go to Rashmika first and Vijay Deverekonda next for raising the bar. Rashmika gets a role of a lifetime which even top-paid heroines don't enjoy these days, she seems to speak a lot with her eyes and packs quite a punch with classy costumes and neat acting without much ado. Vijay must be complimented for taking on a role that supports the heroine's character throughout.

How good is the film? To be fair, the treatment is honest and leisurely but the director misses out in leveraging the right mix of emotions at crucial moments. The first half is painfully slow and listless, takes too much time to establish the character of Bobby and Lilly, their divergent paths, their friends and their world views with too many songs. The number of songs and scenes in the college could have been cut down brutally just like the 'canteen song' which got removed n the film. After a series of lovely films on cricket like "Jersey" and "Majili", here's an opportunity to create a feast of visuals about Women's cricket (and what ails it from taking off?) but crucial moments fall flat as the director jumps-cut to another scene. Like in the first half, when Lilly begs to play in gully cricket played by the boys, the director should have shown how she batted then itself instead of jumping to the stadium scene where she plays with a flourish to win in a big match. Cricket is an adrenalin-pumping game for Indians which can surcharge emotions in any scene but in the entire second half, Lilly's cricketing exploits were missing in action. Moments like this were under-capitalized which makes the film drop into a lower orbit of a routine love story where hero's antics are shown more mileage than a lady cricketer's struggles to build her dream innings. In both the first and second half, many scenes give you a deja vu sense of earlier films of Vijay like "Evade Subramanyam", "Geeta Govindam" and "Arjun Reddy"; most of the early scenes seem a modern version of Nagarjuna's "Shiva". For Vijay Deverekonda, this film doesn't add much to his powerhouse acting skills that he seems to possess because at times he subtracts the film's intensity with his performance. Focus on him in the first half is the fatal flaw which deprives the audience of that extra wow factor. Add to that there is an unexplained inconsistency towards the end where the hero is unrepentant, impulsive and emotional throughout the film but capitulates to admission of guilt in the end in a crucial courtroom scene - could that be better handled to raise the heroism quotient or was it necessary to get the "heroininism" we leave at that. Despite that Vijay's histrionics and stunts come out good but he has to quickly re-invent himself to change the diction and body language lest it fall into the zone of lazy acting, for want of variety. His dancing skills have definitely got better, it must be said.

Technically, film's editing and dialogue-writing departments are lackluster and could have done a lot better with sharpness. Director Bharat Kamma has good sensibilities to create stories with strong underlying messages but he has to somewhere overcome a struggle between commercial intensity and visual aesthetics a'la Mani Ratnam. The films which became cult classics are usually films with intensity, laser-sharp focus on main plot without detours and distractions. Unfortunately, "Dear Comrade" touches upon many small themes like student politics, communism, anger-management, career aspirations of modern lovers and finally kicks the can down too late with the main theme of sexual harassment in cricket's highest echelons. If this was driven home earlier, it would have created a massive impact. It doesn't. Music composer Justin Prabhakaran deserves a hat-tip - his album will sail through the tunnel of time for its versatility and melody. His music has more maturity, finesse and balance between Indian and Western music than some of the new-age composers we have heard. His BGM with half-violin strings and rhythmic percussions shows his class and makes it one of the most exciting scores in recent times. One cameo that stands out is co-producer Yash Rangineni's outburst as a BCCI chairman - that whole episode upholds the dignity and seriousness of the world's richest cricketing body. On the whole, you can watch it but once though with lots of patience but don't go with great expectations and let it sponge on you.

Rating: 2.75/5

#DearComdrade #RashmikaMadanna #VijayDeverekonda #YashRangineni #BigBenCinemas #MytriMovieMakers #JustinPrabhakaran #Tolllywood #Mollywood #Kollywood #Sandalwood #Telugufilms

"Oh Baby!" (Telugu Film Review)

 Apart from consuming Korean smartphones for years, we Telugus have been served Korean film content indirectly in many of our films - mostly unacknowledged. But "Oh Baby" is the first official remake of a Korean film "Mrs Granny" now brought to you in India by a crew of producers including D.Suresh Babu who is now famous for entering a good script film late like a Series A Venture Capitalist. Nandini Reddy, one of the most endearing directors who is known for DVD Classic catalogue films variety crafts a delightful family entertainer. The film runs for 160 minutes but you rarely feel the duration as it takes you on an improbable though intensely emotional roller-coaster ride of an old woman who can reverse-age.

The highlight of the film is the characterization of four actors - Samantha (in the lead role), Lakshmi (as the Granny), Rajendra Prasad as Granny's best friend and Rao Ramesh as Granny's son. The rest of the crew hang around with their lines but the soul of the film revolves around these awesome four who treat us with their range of nuances deftly directed by Nandini Reddy. I have never figured out how Nandini Reddy gets such a fine balance between poignancy (in showing weighty family sentiments), subtlety (in caricaturing moms and dads like we find in our midst) and light-heartedness (in painting heavy emotions with a humorous touch). But she indeed pulls off a coup this time with iconic and experienced actors. For example, the delicate and platonic friendship between Rajendra Prasad and granny (find out who she is really in the movie!) is a rarity in Telugu films who are used to typecasting a man and a woman as either lovers or as friends. Similarly, Rao Ramesh's presence in the film and the magical outburst on at least two occasions in the film make you squirm and cry at the same time. Then I realize the word magic is created by Lakshmi Bhupal who has been minting for Nandini Reddy in all her films so far. Samantha definitely steals the show all the way right from her first appearance on screen and this film will get her more accolades than "A.AA". It must go to the credit of Nandini again for reining in Lakshmi's over-acting urges to give sublime performance. Otherwise, any crossing the line would have made this film no different than "Jeans" performance for madam Lakshmi. Naga Shourya is effective as Samantha's brief lover and carries potential to hold his own screen presence against a Diva's. One point to note: this is perhaps another rare occasion where mother (Lakshmi) and daughter (Aishwarya) act together!

Technically, the film's songs by Mickey J Meyer were average and could have been better except for the title song. One expected special output from Mickey after the enchanting score in "Mahanati". What he slipped in songs, he covered up in BGM. Editing by Junaid Siddiqui is quite sharp and different without seeming like a commercial format - only in the second half, some chopping would have energized the overall output. Personally, I felt the film's intrinsic value and the messaging deserve to get picked up by Annapurna Films more than Suresh Films - because the overall stardom of Samantha and the cameo by her darling would have been picture-perfect for ANR family production. Overall, "Oh Baby" is uproarious, intense yet light-hearted, clean and classy, and soul-satisfying film for all generations of family audience. Missing the film will mean missing a part of your childhood and memories with loved ones. I hope the film by Nandini Reddy will soon be celebrated in all South Indian and other languages. Go watch it!

Rating: 4/5
 

"Super 30" (Hindi Film Review)

 Films about academicians and pedagogy rarely make an interesting script, least of all from Bollywood's point of view which seeks drama in every real story. But Hrithik Roshan's "Super30" achieves that rare distinction. In 154 minutes, director Vikas Bahl re-constructs the surreal life story of a living legend Anand Kumar who's academy in Bihar has been handpicking thirty students every year for making it to the IITs for the last decade or so. From that point itself, the film deserves appreciation - because a subject of how a poverty-stricken passionate Mathematician finds his mojo in life after failing to muster all the money to go to Cambridge University, and later strikes gold by getting paid a bomb at corporate coaching centers where the rich pay princely sums to get their inert kids through the IIT entrance and finally, leaves all that addictive remuneration to start an academy which proves a leveler, on behalf of the poor students from humble backgrounds. The story of the film is an exaggerated cinematic depiction of that struggle of Anand Kumar (who is today celebrated all over Bihar and India as a poor man's passport-giver to the rigorous IITs) but Vikas Behal creates an exciting screen output of a story that needed to be told, aided by the Roshans (minus their in-house music director), a sharp technical crew of writer (Sanjiv Dutta) and editor (Sreekar Prasad) and an acting ensemble who know their lines well (including Pankaj Tripathi and Aditya Srivastava).

What makes the film authentic is the attention to detail in every frame, even if parts of that are dramatized for emphasis. And in doing so, the director never misses an occasion to milk emotions - whether it is the fleeting romantic moments with Mrunal Thakur (she shines even in the briefest lover role ever in a Hrithik film), or with father (Virendra Saxena) or the brief but frustrating encounters with the librarian, or the home which takes papads from him and immediately thrusts his Cambridge letter into a fire pyre (but how did Hrithik have the heart to wrap his papads into it?). The director's precise thinking can be seen from just one scene in the library: Hritihik smuggles himself into a corner of a library trying to steal visuals of one Mathematical Gazette that could be his passport to glory. Any other film-maker could show another corner of a library, but Hrithik is shown in the corner of books about Post-War British History and Economics ( a corner which we can safely assume will be undetected by the librarian who later yanks him out). Throughout the film, visuals like these show a director in command of his craft and wants to pack as much excitement into telling an inspiring story. The build up to the interval is interesting as are the different episodes in the second half which show his innovative pedagogy (methods of teaching concepts in maths, physics and chemistry), the Holi sequence (which is the only lovable item song in the film) and the electrifying climax (where the students distract and destroy an enemy camp out to eliminate them).

Music by Ajay-Atul is one of the most haunting scores in recent times which meet the criteria of a real-life reel drama - measured, melodious, heart-stringing and comprehensive. All the five songs show the class, range and mettle of the composer duo as they have the ability to trigger the right emotions, capture the ethos and yet make the music sound so distinct and clear. Reminded me of the times when Amit Trivedi burst on the scene many years before. If the songs are good, the BGM score is a different class apart - using sanskritised voice-overs of prayer song to invoke the blessings of Goddess Saraswati, the composers build a crescendo in the second half throughout that is at once piercing, soothing and brilliant in orchestral magic. That song that culminates in the climax and throughout the second half is unfortunately, not in the OST but will surely linger on long after you leave the theatre. Performances-wise, Hrithik Roshan is apt and comes out alive after a long time since there is no iron-pumping or Greek beauty to show - he practiced his Bihari accent well and delivers a neat performance that should get some brownie points (pun intended). What subtracts from the film is that the kids (whom you wanted to know more about after the Basanti Song) should have been highlighted more in flesh and bone. But I fully subscribe to the view that the film is dramatized to full measure because of which it has become so engaging to watch - any other treatment would have rendered it less exciting. If only the director spent a little more time to dig into the pedagogy happening in these money-spinning corporate centers, and the suicides happening into IITs, this would have been a seminal film. But overall, a soul-satisfying film and one for the Roshans to be remembered for. Never a dull moment, even for the kids. Go all out for it!
Rating: 3.5/5
#Super30 #Bollywood #HrithikRoshan #VikasBahl #AjayAtul #MrunalThakur #PanjajTripathi

Dear FM, Please remove customs duty on Imported Books

As a compulsive book-buyer and an avid book-collector, I strongly protest the imposition of customs duty on imported books. Earlier, it used to be Nil duty on imported books but now we have to pay five per cent. This is quite absurd and ruinous for those who love books and share knowledge. One of the greatest good that India's first Prime Minister Nehru did for our country (himself being a book-lover) was that he said NO to imposition of even Sales Tax on books. Because he felt knowledge should move seamlessly and cross borders and nobody should think twice about buying books. Books never attracted sales tax or any other indirect tax. If the NDA government thinks that books should also follow the MAKE IN INDIA doctrine, it is making a grave mistake with regard to knowledge acquisition in particular, and book-buying in general. As it is, most books now imprinted by global publishers like Random House, Hatchette and Bloomsbury follow the simple INR pricing model where global titles are assumed at a static foreign exchange conversion rate. This is because these publishers play on large volumes which ensure the absorption of royalty to foreign authors, a higher currency rate etc. Imposing customs duty and getting GST through the backdoor on imported books will eventually hit Indian publishing industry growing at 30 per cent annually and is the second-largest in English-speaking world. Publishers like Pearson, Cambridge, Oxford etc have so many reciprocal arrangements with concessional pricing in South East Asia with India as a major hub - now a lot of that trade will shift out of India. That makes educational books a tad costlier for Indian students as well. Only an uninformed and short-sighted policy maker will take such an extreme step of bringing books under customs duty and nipping a booming book trade in the bud  - at a time when paper costs are high and digital trends are disrupting many publishers out of business. Getting customs duty on books is also a gross violation of a constitutional commitment that Jawahar Lal Nehru made  - never to tax books. You can tax imported items like Gold, liquor, cigars and cigarettes, even petrol and diesel, but please do not tax books and get GST through the backdoor. Start thinking like a knowledge-worker and do what it takes to create a knowledge-economy. Otherwise we will only be reading the glorious books of the past and history books. By the time you read this post, there will be a knowledge-intensive imported book that is waiting to be opened in the container ship in India or so many new imported books just released for purchase on Amazon.

 #CustomsDutyonImportedBooks #ImportDutyOnBooks #GSTonBooks #NehruVsModi #KnowledgeSociety #KnowledgeEconomy #IndianPublishing