“Endukante Premante” (Because it is Love) is the new film on the block. Stars a twinkling Diva Tamanna. And energetic star Ram – who carries himself like a miniature Pawan Kalyan cum Mahesh Babu cum Ravi Teja. Produced by his Chartered Accountant uncle “Sravanti” Ravi Kishore whose family consists of CPAs and CAs and Wall Street MBAs except this movie-crazy Ram who has been on a purple patch since “Kandireega”. Who is the Director? A.Karunakaran – a creative director and Ad-Maker who was pulled into films accidentally. After a decade plus and about half a dozen movies later, he is still remembered for films renowned for rich texture and neat family entertainment values – “Tholi Prema” (First Love), “Vasu”, “Happy”, “Ulhaasanga Utsaahanga” (which became a tagline for Red FM), “Darling”. Karunakaran has got a penchant for making different films with sonorous music and ROFL entertainment that never left the patronage of Balcony audiences. He lives up to that promise in most parts with this movie with about 165 minutes of rollercoaster ride of emotions using some bizarre twists that are sometimes inexplicable and mostly inexorable. Overall, it is quite watchable but for some lazy editing.
The film’s essential theme, sorry to poop the suspense, is about two estranged lovers in one lifetime and later how they re-unite in current lifetime where one lover (Tamanna) faces a near-death experience and the never-say-die spirit of her body guides the hero (Ram) through the maze of Interlaken, Zurich and Paris to set up a climax in Hyderabad where eventually she battles for her life and comes back to life. So, its all about that spirit and mortal combat but the journey evokes shades of every movie that tested these waters and scenes are almost cut-and-pasted. You get a feeling of seeing this movie before – in the scenes and the thread of the storyline – in “Avatar”, “Magadheera”, “Aatma Bandham” , “Ghost”. The climax even reminds you of the near-tragic twist in “Vasant Kokila” (“Sadma” in Hindi) where once the body wakes up to life and the spirit of Tamanna vanishes, the subject’s life protector Ram is forgotten by Tamanna. Like in “Black” movie. There is a sequence that reminds you of “3 Idiots” where the spirit guides the man how to resuscitate a person from cardiac arrest. Rings a bell?So, its quite a complicated plot made longer because comedy, action and entertainment is enmeshed into the story. Karunakaran has got the talent to extract uproarious comedy from his actors, he gets the laughs with super ease. Despite the plot sounding implausible and bizarre, the director knits it well and creates a ruckus pre-and-post-interval. Performances by both Ram and Tamanna are vibrant and competing in scale with each other. Tamanna is indeed the surprise package in the film and she delivers her finest performance – thoroughly enchanting and professional. It is not Ram’s film, it is Tamanna’s – credit uncle and nephew for that. Almost everybody else sizzles – old and new.
There are enough punchlines for every character and that makes this film the second-most exacting in terms of A-320 Airbus-filled starcast by the director after “Darling”. Bigger than “Darling” and more daring and audacious. Kona Venkat adds a weighty presence both as a dialogue-writer and villain. Rishi as the main villain is intense too. Music director, GV Prakash Kumar, nephew of A R Rahman, is becoming a source of worry. His output is getting inconsistent, he uses the wrong notes at the wrong time. While the songs are a bit too westernized to resonate well with all classes, his BGM score needs avuncular help from Rahaman. Just because he has talent, doesn’t mean you underscore or embellish when, frankly, the best way is to do the opposite. Composing BGMs is an art- let him learn from legends like Ilayaraja and Rahaman or guys like DSP and Mani Sharma.
To sum up, this may not be Karunakaran’s best film till date but it won’t disappoint you because it’s a new genre, a fresh starcast, neat family fare and a cracker of a comedy. You can watch it once. You can watch it more had the movie been shorter by 2 reels. Maybe the director who wears a cap, has felt a surge of creativity from too many movies but it is important for this director to thrive – he may falter on the execution side occasionally but never gives a crass output or one that makes the family audiences cringe.
The film’s essential theme, sorry to poop the suspense, is about two estranged lovers in one lifetime and later how they re-unite in current lifetime where one lover (Tamanna) faces a near-death experience and the never-say-die spirit of her body guides the hero (Ram) through the maze of Interlaken, Zurich and Paris to set up a climax in Hyderabad where eventually she battles for her life and comes back to life. So, its all about that spirit and mortal combat but the journey evokes shades of every movie that tested these waters and scenes are almost cut-and-pasted. You get a feeling of seeing this movie before – in the scenes and the thread of the storyline – in “Avatar”, “Magadheera”, “Aatma Bandham” , “Ghost”. The climax even reminds you of the near-tragic twist in “Vasant Kokila” (“Sadma” in Hindi) where once the body wakes up to life and the spirit of Tamanna vanishes, the subject’s life protector Ram is forgotten by Tamanna. Like in “Black” movie. There is a sequence that reminds you of “3 Idiots” where the spirit guides the man how to resuscitate a person from cardiac arrest. Rings a bell?So, its quite a complicated plot made longer because comedy, action and entertainment is enmeshed into the story. Karunakaran has got the talent to extract uproarious comedy from his actors, he gets the laughs with super ease. Despite the plot sounding implausible and bizarre, the director knits it well and creates a ruckus pre-and-post-interval. Performances by both Ram and Tamanna are vibrant and competing in scale with each other. Tamanna is indeed the surprise package in the film and she delivers her finest performance – thoroughly enchanting and professional. It is not Ram’s film, it is Tamanna’s – credit uncle and nephew for that. Almost everybody else sizzles – old and new.
There are enough punchlines for every character and that makes this film the second-most exacting in terms of A-320 Airbus-filled starcast by the director after “Darling”. Bigger than “Darling” and more daring and audacious. Kona Venkat adds a weighty presence both as a dialogue-writer and villain. Rishi as the main villain is intense too. Music director, GV Prakash Kumar, nephew of A R Rahman, is becoming a source of worry. His output is getting inconsistent, he uses the wrong notes at the wrong time. While the songs are a bit too westernized to resonate well with all classes, his BGM score needs avuncular help from Rahaman. Just because he has talent, doesn’t mean you underscore or embellish when, frankly, the best way is to do the opposite. Composing BGMs is an art- let him learn from legends like Ilayaraja and Rahaman or guys like DSP and Mani Sharma.
To sum up, this may not be Karunakaran’s best film till date but it won’t disappoint you because it’s a new genre, a fresh starcast, neat family fare and a cracker of a comedy. You can watch it once. You can watch it more had the movie been shorter by 2 reels. Maybe the director who wears a cap, has felt a surge of creativity from too many movies but it is important for this director to thrive – he may falter on the execution side occasionally but never gives a crass output or one that makes the family audiences cringe.
