Sankranti Movie Ratings (Telugu) "Darbar"/ "Sari Leru Neekevvaru"/ "Ala Vaikuntapuram lo"/ "Entha Manchi Vaadavura"

Sankranti films are always special. And I have seldom missed in the last twenty years. Didn't have the time to review in detail, though because reviews hardly matter for Sankranti releases. You will somehow watch with your gang of birds flocked together in urban or rustic settings. But I will give my strong opinions (as strong as ever) if it still counts:

1. "Darbar" (starring Thalaivaa Rajnikanth)...Telugu

Average film with below-par story and straight narration by AR Murgadoss. We expect nothing but mediocrity from Rajni and yet fall for his swagger and mechanical drills but are more harsh in our expectations when it comes to other Tamil Superstars like Kamal Hassan, Suriyaa or Vikram. It seems to get incurable and hopeless with each passing year for Rajni except last year when "Betta" had electrifying Rajni effects.

Rating: 2.5/5

2. "Sarileru Neekevvaru" (starring Superstar Mahesh Babu)...Telugu

A routine story with high dose of entertainment and commensurate performances by actors alongside Superstar. Notable are Prakash Raj, Rajendra Prasad, Rao Ramesh and Vijay Shanti. Rashmika is cute but over-the-top in the movie with her ibby-jibbies. Highlight of the film is Mahesh Babu's out-of-comfort-zone acting and body language that reminds you of films like "Khaleja" and "Dookudu". His characterization is also refreshing as to how a soldier would mend civilians losing their civic sense and sense of civilization. If only he allowed more space for etching out Vijay Shanti's character, the film would have gone to another level. But the soldier's take on society is both pleasant and rapturous thanks to Anil Ravipudi's directing. Despite the film moving on predictable lines post-interval, his clarity and grip on what he wants the audience to take away from the film is complete. Tamannah Bhatia gets the most flattering item song for any item girl in the industry so far. Length could have been shorter by 25 minutes. If there is anything for Mahesh Babu to consolidate his position, he should reduce focus on his good looks and screen time and invest in better and more interesting stories. Yet, 169 minutes is mostly watchable once.

Rating: 3/5

3. "Ala Vaikuntapuramlo" (starring Stylish Star Allu Arjun)...Telugu

Trivikram created an entertaining narrative of 165 minutes about a theme stealth-borrowed from an old Telugu film classic starring NTR and R Nageshwar Rao "Inti Guttu". He re-interpreted the film for the new-age audience well but there are fatal flaws in the film which are not discernible to the audience. Yes, you can ignore baby-swapping as a doable crime 20 years back. But Trivikram who defends middle-class moralities and lectures on their upkeep has created a story which has faultiness on middle-class morality. Firstly, no middle-class father foregoes his baby boy to enter a billionaire family so he may get ahead in life and riches. Secondly, no adopted son disowns his past upbringing to crave for a billionaire's mansion at the very moment the secret unfolds. Thirdly, it is irresponsible on Trivikram's part to paint the picture as rosy as a "Lion King" destiny in picturing Allu Arjun's moment of destiny just like in Walt Disney tale where a baby Simbha learns that his blood is leonine and hence cut out for bigger things like ruling the kingdom. Yes, blood is thicker than water but in reality your upbringing and environment makes all the difference in how you shape your daily moments and destiny. In characterizing the contrasting roles played by Sushant and Allu Arjun, director shows as if none of the inputs or parental guidance provided by either set of parents has any bearing on the way their personalities are shaped. This is ridiculous and self-perpetuating myth which only leads to inequalities in society. The most famous case is the "Nobel Prize Winner Sperm Bank Experiment" where someone thought it is best to impregnate as many women with the sperm bank of Nobel Prize winners so that mankind will get more geniuses like Nobel winners. Trivikram's thesis in the movie is that outrageous and preposterous. I am appalled that along with many other flaws as pointed earlier, it is middle class audiences who are raving about the film as a cult classic. Nonsense. Despite that, the film is carried entirely by Allu Arjun with a never-before performance that stands out in all departments. Thaman's BGM and musical score are also a stand-out; his transformation from copying fast-track western albums to creating new sounds with refreshing mix of traditional and western instrumentation is the story of the last three years as to who is ruling the sound waves in TFI. Stunts are always creative in Trivikram's films but when you are surrounded by so many bashers, how does anybody get so creative to wield a woman's dupatta or a car windshield to polish off the villains beats me! Entertainment quotient is high though comedy content is low. What disappointed me is lack of clarity in Trivikram's taking in the film right from points mentioned above to Murali Sharma's unrepentant characterization. At least a minute out of the 165 minutes could have been taken to round off Murali Sharma's litany of crimes. Watchable once.

Rating: 3/5

4. "Entha Manchi Vaadavuraa" (Starring Kalyan Ram)...Telugu

Vegesna Satish comes with interesting concepts that hold some message for the new generation drifting apart from the world we grew up in the 60s and 70s. This time he comes with a theme of filling the void left by growing generation gap in our society. Like buying bottled water and twiggy-ordered food, he builds a beautiful plot around hero Kalyan Ram and his fiancé Mehreen. Kalyan sees every family has an emotional bond missing with the loss of a dear one be it a grand-father, son, sister, daughter or an aunt and so he sets up a company which "leases" the missing kin until the emotional needs are fulfilled. It is a slow narrative of 144 minutes with only three songs but content is unique and layered with good performances by hero and heroine besides a galaxy of vintage actors like Annapurna, Suhasini, Sarath Babu and Giri Babu. Like "Shatamaanam Bhavati", Satish has a knack of presenting relevant messages to keep our social structure intact in the wake of increasing nuclearisation of families and isolation of the elderly generation with the dawn of new technologies and general apathies. It is tough to expect jazzed up entertainment in this kind of narrative but if you are patient for the first thirty minutes, you will get some moments of epiphany in the film. Music by Gopi Sundar is outstanding. Watchable once with the elders.

Rating: 2.75/5

#Darbar #SarileruNeekevvaru #AlaVaikuntapuramlo #EnthaManchiVaadavuRaa" #SankrantiReleases #SankrantiMovies

"S/o Satyamurty" (Telugu Film Review)

The much-awaited film from ace director Trivikram starts out with an ominous censor certificate that puts the movie length at 162 minutes. You expect plenty of fireworks because the starcast itself calls for a Tollywood party - Stylish star Allu Arjun, Kannada Superstar Upendra, Mollywood cutie Nitya Menen, Samantha, Rajendra Prasad, Sampath, Rao Ramesh, Ada Sharma, Sneha, Sindhu Tholani, Vennela Kishore,  Kota, Brahmanandam and of course, late MS Narayan. With that kind of a starburst and the scale of budgets of a generous producer like Radhakrishna, one would expect Trivikram to deliver a blistering output that will glow on screen. Instead, what you get is a not so entertaining stuff and despite a lavish extravaganza and touchpad characterisation - the persona of the film slips and something  pulls down the rating of the film in the wake  of Trivikram’s celluloid capabilities.

Get it straight, there is nothing wrong with the film or the plot or the characterisation. The story itself is narrated first like a trailer of thirty seconds with visuals cut and pasted across the length of the film and then winds its way back to the inception. Anand (Allu Arjun) is the son of Satyamurty (Prakash Raj) with a networth of Rs.300 crores. Prakash Raj dies in a car accident and the world of Anand and his family of brother, his mother and himself is turned upside down. They lose the crores because half the net worth is leveraged or no, half the networth is in equity shares or wait, there is a land parcel. Whatever the rigmarole, Anand sells the assets and pays the dues disregarding the advice of Rajendra Prasad (friend of Prakash Raj) to dupe the public and make away with the debts. Because of the values that Prakash Raj instilled in Anand and because of the goodwill of his father, Anand takes the onus of repaying all the debts by fair means. And he embarks on a journey - first to earn something to pay off his niece’s school fees. This journey takes him on voyage of self-confidence as he gains good name wherever he goes - Rao Ramesh who breaks the marriage of Allu with his daughter Ada Sharma, Samantha who gets smitten by his level-headedness in giving up three hundred crores. Destiny takes him to Rajendra Prasad again because his daughter Samantha  is in love with Allu (Anand). Anand now enters into a bet with Rajendra Prasad to get original title deeds of a property in the custody of a quasi-government authority Upendra who heads dozens of villages and maintains an army of 600 (Looks like double the number of “300”) and marry his daughter. Upendra has another daughter Nitya Menen - and there is a twist in the tale but that comes after  a lengthy characterisation. On the whole, the story despite a complicated structure is not inexplicable. It is just about a young man who is determined to keep the reputation of his dead father high long after he’s gone  and how he succeeds thanks to a strong set of values imparted by his father.

What helps the film is the framework of story-telling with utmost dignity and class. Performance by Allu Arjun breathes life into many listless moments of canned jokes and quotations and the pet peeves of Trivikram on middle class moralities and values. His dancing skills are outshined by his emoting this time - using variety of accents and impressive one-liners, Allu Arjun packs quite a punch. Upendra with a baritone voiceover by Ravi Shankar makes his formal screen appearance after interval and gives an electrifying performance - something steals the thunder from everybody including Allu Arjun. His character has the X factor that elevates the second half despite everything else coming unstuck. Rajendra Prasad whose chemistry with Allu Arjun worked in “Julayi” extends that in this film with greater length and impact. He gets many genuine laughs especially the scene where Ravi gets killed while eating lunch with Upendra. Rajendra Prasad gets the best one-liners in the film. Samantha doesn’t have the depth in her acting to supplement the over-dosage of giggly vivacity she gave us since her first film. Nitya Menen has been grossly under-utilized and she gets short shrift in every frame  - at the cost of Samantha. Since Nitya’s next film is a Mani Ratnam release, this role is neither fulfilling nor memorable. Prakash Raj - whose character is the reference point for the entire movie and climax hardly gets to speak. His dialogues must be about half a page, Trivikram could have highlighted more instances of what made Prakash Raj such a principled man - you could have built a few scenes highlighting him because the message kept ringing that he was a man who stood for public good through Anand but not from Satyamurty himself. Others like Kota Srinivas Rao and MS Narayan have a handful of impactful dialogues. MS Narayana, especially brings out tears with his hug with Rao Ramesh - it’s a pity he died while shooting for this film. The result: dubbing for MSR is done by- someone else. Brahmanandam’s character has become ad nauseum - again, demand for a “Bakra” and all that. There has to be a saner way to bring Brahmanandam to life. If one has laughed heartily in the film  - and that happens in 3-4 scenes, it is not always with Brahmi on screen.Sampath is wasted. Fights by Peter Heins are well-composed: the fight with water hosesand the one in Upendra’s house stand out for their variety. Music by DSP is not in the same league of Trivikram’s or Allu Arjun’s earlier films. All songs are mass beats or fast beats. 

What undermines the film is the length - you could knock off forty minutes and still convey the kernel of the message. Trivikram has, for the first time faltered in this film. IN his bid to make an intelligent film, he lost his sharpness and clarity of thought. It is not clear how the Rs.300 crores networth ended up, how  it shrunk the lifestyle of the hero, what the company’s business is that suddenly skyrockets the valuation to ten crores, what is the connection of property papers lying with Prakash Raj and the business he is in. There is title justification but if only Satyamurty’s character is illustrated well, more key messages of relevance to today’s youth would have registered; it is important to inherit the values more than the assets of your elders. For a long time, Allu keeps mouthing clever aphorisms from Ramayana and Mahabharata which bore you like a vegetarian meal without salt and sambar. In spite of the load taken by the hero in preserving his dead father’s goodwill, there are inconsistencies in Anand’s character. He uses a short cut to fabricate stamp papers at the behest of his friend, he doesn’t reveal to Upendra first that he is not in love with his daughter but with someone else. There are inconsistencies with Upendra too - for twenty years, everybody except his wife knows his super-violent streak - that is highly implausible. Treatment-wise, the film is burdened with the same  genres that Trivikram likes to deal with. If you take “Julai and “Atharintiki Daaredi”, and mix them up with a bigger starcast, you get the experience of “S/o…”. Trivikram has mellowed in his aggression in violence and his story-telling is still a pretty above-average throwback to the old movies of B&W era where producers and directors collaborated with a mission to deliver quality films  - high in production values and high in morality. In fact, if you take many of Trivikram’s dialogues which have received dizzy heights of popularity, there is an undercurrent of old movies’ one-liners which are repackaged with modern makeup. For example, “Luck has come to give you a shake hand but Misfortune has jumped the gun to give you a lip-lock kiss.” Or something to that effect. These kind of dialogues were dime a dozen in old Tollywood films but Trivikram’s copywriting approach has sharpened the wordiness - despite sounding repetitive. He will also use one or two Telugu words which are incomprehensible to the current generation who ceased to have Telugu as their third or even optional language in curriculum. For example, in this film just like “Ayimoolagaa (Or Diagonally)” used in “Jalsa”, he uses “Manovarthi” or “Manovyatha” in the context of divorce. He creates that spark of curiosity to learn a word or two in Telugu which is lost on today’s generation. But if he has to take his story-telling to the next level, he has to prove his mettle lies beyond assembling an army of artistes, giving stars a good push, and trying genres different from each other. Otherwise, the dangers of familiarity will breed contempt. This film is alright in frames and conveys a compact story but there is no extra factor or layering in the screenplay or characterisation that makes you watch his movies again and again  - hoping to catch a new glimpse every time. He has the spark to move out of comfort zone - this movie should be a wakeup call to move out of that comfort zone in making films that test new genres and content delivery; he has the grip on narration, sense of good cinema with appeal for family audiences - even if he forgot to entertain much in this film - but he has to concentrate on more aspects than verbosity that got him massive fan base. “S/o…” finally ends in a climax that surprises you and despite a rocking first half, it leaves many things unanswered and a big void in entertainment that he forgot to fill. You can watch it once with many lags and drags but don’t bet on this film becoming a blockbuster.

Rating; 3/5

#S/oSatyamurty #AlluArjun #Trivikram #Tollywood #MovieReviews #Upendra #MSNarayana

Tollywood Donations for Vizag: Enough? Good Enough?

Tollywood has donated Rs.2.4 crores so far to the city of Vizag via CM's Relief Fund. Good initiative. But is it good enough? If you look at the history of natural calamities that hit the coastal Andhra both in late 70s or the early 90s, the Telugu Film Industry (TFI) played a pivotal role in mobilising resources in kind and cash for the ravages caused by nature. Both NTR and ANR and others led from the front in touring the state while they were flanked by all the leading actors and actresses of those times. I was a toddler in 70s when NTR, Jamuna, and several others passed our two-room house in Narayanguda - my parents donated cash and clothes. Those kind of initiatives are what are needed by the Industry that churns out movies - truly the opium of the masses. Each generation of TFI owes it on them to take such leadership initiative because the effect of such efforts galvanise many others to participate in the rehabilitation work as against mere tokenism. Today, it has become more a "you start- I will also announce something" trend. At a time when Vizag  has created the infrastructure to make a film hub and the city and its vast beach-side were exploited by many film-makers from Balachander to Jandhyala to EVV to Trivikram, the TFI should go a step beyond making chequebook donations to the "city of destiny" (a sobriquet given by Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Visweshwarayya).

The figures also don't just add up to the math or the effect of inflation. Vizag and its surroundings usually quote at a slight discount to the distribution rights of Nizam territory. "Aagadu" was sold for Rs.5.5 crores in Vizag, "Govindu Andari Vaadele..." for about Rs.5 crores and so on. So, you get the idea. Contributions by the superstars and mega omega stars is not even five per cent of the distribution rights for one film. Infact, a contribution of Sampoornesh Babu's contribution is technically greater than the stars because this Babu acted in just one film and he must have given ten per cent of his takings from the film! In those days, the days of NTR and ANR, the donations were given out either as a percentage of their networth or a percentage of their annual takings which when compounded with the overall mobilisation of public monies that get enlisted by propaganda and canvassing - the benchmarks were higher than what today's generation of top heroes give out. Cinema has a symbiotic relationship with the society and during bad times, cinema has to reach out better than giving out token amounts - because it is the only medium that cuts across the lines and mobilise mass support. Better than most TV media which are clueless, heartless and woefully cynical. It's a shame if TFI can't rise to the occasion. 

#Tollywood #VizagCycloneRelief #HudHudReliefEfforts #TFI #MovieReviews #FilmStudio #Diviseema #TollywoodDonates

"Race Gurram" (Telugu Film Review)

"Race Gurram" has come in the middle of a season that is seeing the race of our lives in election.  Directed by Surendar Reddy, "Race Gurram" gets off to a good start  but in the bid to make a blockbuster, Surendar Reddy errs on the heavier side of entertainment with too many twists in a bizarre tale that takes your head for a spin especially in the second half with logic and sanity hit out of the park. 

The story casts Allu Arjun in the title role, which means a horse trained to compete at races. But there is no justification of the title except a footage of horses at the outset and towards the climax besides a cursory mention of the qualities of horses and horsepower. The plot is about two brothers, Ram (Shaam) and Lakshman (Allu Arjun) who grow up teasing and fighting with each other, developing a strong disaffection to each other. Shaam becomes a cop while Allu becomes a vagabond. As their animosity grows stronger, Allu falls in love with Shruti Hasan who keeps her emotions masked under a tough-looking demeanor. Shaam, in one fit of a rage to level the scores with his brother needles his love story with dire results. As a tit for tat, Allu levels scores by hoodwinking his brother  about to nab gangster Siva Reddy (Ram Kishan) with solid evidence before Siva Reddy files his nomination papers for MLC. Allu lifts the police jeep and speeds away with the file unbeknownst. The villain Siva Reddy, having got wind of Shaam's intentions to nail him sends a task force to polish him off but alas, the jeep has Allu, it gets pulped by the villain's gang and thrown into the valley. Allu survives the ordeal and decimates Siva Reddy after hearing of his plot to actually kill his brother. Suddenly, Allu undergoes a paradigm shift that starts a series of confrontations with the villains. The second half shows the massive confrontation between the family of Siva Reddy and that of Allu Arjun that ends with agonizing twists and mind-numbing   concepts liberally followed from films like "Kick" (director's own),"Oke Okkadu", "Singham" and "Arya-2". 

The fundamental flaw that may go against the film itself is the story of confrontation between two brothers which is anti-sentiment. Both brothers go to any extent to undermine the other and this goes on since childhood with parents remaining mute spectators. No film with screwed up sentiment like this has ever succeeded. (Examples, "Chennakeshava Reddy", "Brothers"). Even if Ambani brothers compete with each other, they are doing it in separate homes, never under the same roof. Dragging this sentiment further, director Surendar Reddy introduces a twist before interval block of Allu waking up to the basic DNA of his brother and aligning himself with Sham to fight the villain. The story of the  brother, being a senior cop, unable to dote on his younger brother is quite a flaw that hampers the feel-good sentiment even as the narrative moves at break-neck speed. While the entire story can be summed in three lines - two brothers fighting, cop confronting a criminal and the younger brother also joining the fight, Surendar Reddy builds fat tissue after fat tissue in building the narrative, elongating the sequences and getting sloppy comedy that enumerates a jumbo starcast. 

The starcast has Shruti Hassan as Allu Arjun's love,  Prakash Raj as Shruti's father, Ram Kishan, Mukesh Rushi and Kota Srinivasa Rao as villains, Shaam, the cop in "Kick" playing again as a cop and also Allu Arjun's brother and three ace comedians, including Brahmanandam, Jayaprakash Reddy,Ali and MS Narayana besides new-age comedy artists. There are too many distractions in the narration of the main story which make it tedious despite a whole-heartedly valiant attempt at making a blockbuster. The trouble is, when you set out to make a blockbuster, you should have checked if there are too many blocks to bust your film's chances at box office. Surendar Reddy missed wholly in this giving a free running time of 163 minutes to cover five songs, repetitive run-ins between the brothers, a comedy track with Shruti Hasan in a romantic setting and the cliched introduction of Brahmanandam as the supercop who will bring down the house of the villains, the film travels at a velocity that will gradually numb your senses in the second half.

Shruti Hasan gave her dumbest performance in years despite looking demure and cute in songs. Her role of a girl who conceals her emotions is apt for her insipid acting that oozes mannequin beauty without substance. Prakash Raj and Shaji Shinde bore you with their trite antics. Shaam comes out good in his role as the cop even if its a leaf out of "Kick" performance. Bhojpuri superstar Ram Kishan steals the thunder as a villain with comic timing. Brahmanandam tries to get the biggest laughs, he almost succeeds but how long will his stereotype magic work - the kind of role that comes in the wee minutes of climax and knocks the socks off everybody including the hero and the villains? How long will heroes and directors let him ride out this sucker punch comedy that has become staple fare? The nation needs to know!

Allu Arjun is a high-calibre star who has earned the spurs of a Style Icon with a wonderful mix of attitude, hardwork and impeccable behavior. He has also delivered cinema that moves the needle of content towards different genres and acceptability beyond the borders of Telugu Cinema. As a package of dance, metrosexuality, presentability and personality projection, he is a case study on how one can get catapulted into supertardom without conventional good looks and low-timber voice. With that kind of halo, Allu Arjun has done well in the film by himself. There are atleast three scenes where his words spell magic on screen. He emotes fluently and delivers a knock-out performance in all scenes, dances and stunts. Perhaps, with an eye on the growing Malayalam market, Allu also uses a heavy drawl in accent to emphasise words like "Devudaa" differently which gets good laughs throughout his utterances. 

But for that, and a few good laughs, the film falls short of a supergood tag because of hopeless editing, zero attention to logic and consistency and silly comedy in the name of entertainment. If the film is cut by 35 minutes, it would have been a different experience, to cut a long story short. The film is watchable once but only for a while after interval. Music by Thaman is peppy and catchy but the picturization disappoints except in "Gala Gala". This may not be Allu Arjun's worst film but this is not his best. Surendar Reddy's direction has energy but it is time for him to take a calorie count on how much of it is needed to collapse the genres of entertainment with that of action and comedy. He has failed with "Oosaravalli" and "Athidhi" and "Ashok". It's time to go back to the basics of unhurried story-telling. Despite the highs in the film - the dialogues of Allu Arjun, the heavy starcast, the clean comedy, the new villain, the lows of the film outnumber - the length, needless scenes of sibling rivalry, Brahmanandam ad nauseum, bizarre twists that are completely irrational, overdose of everything, the film deserves a rating no more than 2/5.

"Yevadu" (Telugu) Film Review

RamCharan strikes back. And he strikes gold with a sure-shot winner in "Yevadu" - a high octane commercial potboiler from Dil Raju. "Yevadu" has been the most-postponed film in recent times and with the release syncronising wih Sankranti today - his film might fare better with the festive audience longing for family drama and simple entertaining fare. Is the film different? Not different from the commercial fare - same old stunts and bone-smashing violence, item girls and cussed duets with cute girls. Infact, the film is longer too with 166 minutes of typical masala fare with a surfeit of villains  - Saikumar, Kota Srinivasa Rao, etc. Then what makes this watchable. Its the plot with a unique cinematic twist that comes in the first half hour and then again at interval block. I do not want to spoil the fun for your viewing experience by telling you the story. But suffice it that, Ramcharan takes off after half hour with a trail of sequences left by the other cameo star Allu Arjun in combating regular villains until a routine revenge drama takes over. 

Director Vamshi Paidipally weaves a simple story with a Shakespearan twist which gives an excitement in watching. Intermixed with loads of comedy from Brahmanandam on lines you have seen him before, the film takes off with good narration, characterisation and screenplay leaving the hero without any romance in the first half. Infact, much of the romance is on the side of villains with a new girl before Shruti Hasan takes over in second half. It is quite a typical commercial fare but novelty in treatment makes it eminently watchable. I believe the storyline with a twist is invested into by Vakkalanka Vamshi (the effervescent ETV newsreader of an era) and director Vamshi. Music by DSP has been the most hummable in this season and atleast two songs are chart-busters already. BGM score amplifies the emotions and the peformances well. 

Allu Arjun and Kajol Agarwal create a looming presence for themselves by selecting a role that gives them their own space in a film dominated by Ramcharan and Shruti Hasan. Dialogues are quite classy even if they occasionally hark back to vainglorious family fame. It is the violence that makes you squirm which doesn't usually have Dil Raju's sanction as he prefers everything toned down to family melodrama. First half is better than the second half because of tighter grip on narration and screenplay. Since everything adds up to the climax in the second half, director had brought in lot of elements and formula points for Ramcharan fans post-interval. That gives you some predictable and boring moments. If Tollywood continues to make films in this format, it may not get us anywhere in creative highs, but it will continue to ring in cash registers. Ramcharan improves his poker face and looks tidier and portly. He dances well and sustains himself in both the flashback and the first half. He doesn't grade his storylines well enough to select different films and infact uses regressive methods to taste success at Box Office like use of excess violence,  old comedy fare, over-mention of family tree and dynasty, and tried emotions. This time, the elements of family drama, revenge, emotions of mother-son sentiment and power-packed action with a unique twist could ensure a sustained run at the box office for "Yevadu". It should be the first hit of 2014 and could wipe out the deficit of the ten-odd films released so far. My rating for the film for its surprise thrill and watchability despite cliches is 3.25/5

"Iddarammayalatho" Movie Review (Telugu)

Puri Jagannadh is one of the cleverest directors in Tollywood who churns out more than three films per year, sometimes four by preparing scripts that encash the flavor-of-the-month phenomenon. Between last year's Sankranti and now, he directed four films including the current offering with Style Diva Allu Arjun. But I am afraid, his decline has started with the film "Businessman", reached a nadir with "Devudu Chesina Manushulu", and later on, became known as a director who creates controversy for promoting the film. As an audience, I feel betrayed whenever I see a Puri film because he has scant respect for social responsibility and is least sensitive to sentiments of women audience (even if many of them perversely watch his films). In "Iddarammayalatho", he tries to camouflage his obsession with making films for the galleries with a little more maturity but the basic plot and lacklustre screenplay gives away in this 137 minute action thriller.

Despite the hype, and despite a sterling performance by Allu Arjun  - in dances, action stunts, and romantic scenes, the film doesn't deliver on many counts - and the reason could be the fatigue setting in for Puri's stereotypes - of machismo heroes, over-glamorised heroines and sadistic villains. I feel he is misguided in all his approach to film-making which makes even icons like Mahesh and Pawan Kalyan and Allu Arjun flock to him for direction in the hope of adding  a hit to their credit. Every frame in the film is fraught with dishonesty and deceipt - to manipulate emotions of the audience. And all this he takes liberties with the storyline frothed up from a basic one-line. The story goes like this here. Sanju Reddy (Allu Arjun) is a guitarist who falls in love with Komali (Amala Paul) who is learning violin under Brahmanandam - in Barcelona, Spain (Thank God, it's not Bangkok again!). One day, she shoots, by mistake, a murder being committed by a Gangster villain on the beach. The villains chase her down, kidnap her and make many attempts to eliminate her. Meanwhile, as the parents of both agree to come down to bless them as married, the villains kill the parents of both even as Komali and Sanju escape. This is the flashback portion, the narration actually moves in the voice of  another girl Akanksha (Catherine Theresa) who is reading a diary of Amala Paul (which itself turns out to be another twist). In learning about the diary, Akanksha falls in love with Sanju and then it takes a routine turn except that the diary itself is "planted" by Sanju so that Akanksha reads it and falls in love with him because her father, a minister (Rao Ramesh) and the gangster are partners-in-crime for a Rs. One lakh crore scam. Sanju takes revenge and settles down, we are to believe, with the two glam dolls. The storyline appears long but the screenplay is better. 

Even if the first half is more entertaining than the second half, the film's watchability is because of Allu Arjun. His uber cool dresses, stylish body language and his repertoire of dancing skills and acrobatic stunts makes him a good draw despite the presence of two glamorous faces. The best paisa-vasool moment of the film is the action sequence before the interval. Anyone wanting to make a transition from ugly looks to handsome looks should study the career graph of Allu Arjun - it is quite unparalleled. Amala Paul's performance is below-par and it appears this Kerala lass is incapable of outgrowing her shy looks and demure body language. Catherine Theresa has carried herself far better - she seems effortless in Indian dresses, has better scenes than Amala and has a screen presence. Comedy track is a big let-down for the film. Puri's obsession with Ali is not yielding success and the scenes between Brahmanandam and Ali are pure disaster. Puri is losing touch with what can fire up comedy. He also has to treat the audience with more respect, intelligence and sensibilities. In a scene where Catherine is packing off to Spain, she wears scantiest dress which you don't wear in front of your mother. And it is the father in whose presence, she is packing the clothes. In most other scenes, when the narration is pathos, he shows Catherine in min shorts baring her thighs and cleavage, that is absurd sensibility. Puri's respect for intelligence is also well-known; there are references to mining scams and CBI without reason or rationale, the second heroine Catherine who comes to Spain for studies doesn't go to college even once, all she does is to read Amala's diary and date Allu Arjun. And most of the dialogues are sexist - there are atleast four dialogues on why boys are taken for a ride by girls in the name of love, why boys losing virginity is never an issue, why girls are insensitive to boys' advances...it is these kind of dialogues that are corrupting the society and increasing crimes against women. Puri's count of felonies doesn't end with these manipulative dialogues - he talks casteism through characters which was unwarranted. He coins a word "Bapinese" to connotate converted Brahmins and also makes mockery of "Reddys" while insinuating grandeur. All this is not serious stuff, but Puri's style of directing, characterisation and story-telling smacks of a certain irresponsibility which will appeal to basic instincts of men not elevate them. According to me, his films will one day be housed in the "Hall of Shame". 2 out of 5 is my rating.

The Chiranjeevi Phenomenon

I wrote this piece on the occasion of Chiranjeevi's 57th birthday on August 9, 2012 which was published on http://www.frontpageindia.com/views/chiranjeevi-hero-love/36403

Chiranjeevi, the Hero we all love


When Chiranjeevi burst open his innings in Tollywood with “Praanam Khareedu” on Septemeber 22, 1978 (One month after his birthday), not many would have given him a half-chance. Tollywood was already in the grip of multiple matinee idols across multiple generations from NTR and ANR to Krishna, Shobhan Babu and Krishnam Raju besides star directors from Dasari Narayana Rao and K Vishwanath to Bapu and K Raghavendra Rao. Around the time his first movie was released, Chiranjeevi’s only claim to filmdom was as an actor struggling to find a foothold. Chiranjeevi had nothing to offer to what’s already not on fare – he is not hugely charismatic like NTR and SVR, nor had a lineage of filmy family. He could get hold of one such bargepole in the fomr of Allu Ramalingaiah when he married the latter’s daughter in 1980.


But Chiranjeevi had that killer instinct and the deep desire to create a unique position for himself – he tried various family fares playing the rogue liar in “Kothalarayudu”, the shrew-taming dummy husband in “Mogudu Kaavali” and the self-righteous do-gooder middle-class householder in “Intlo Raamayya Veedhilo Krishnayya”.

Almost all of them met with unexpected success at the most embryonic stage of his film career – one of them running for more than a year in some theatres. Fans – mostly toddlers, teenagers and housewives growing up in the anarchic years of the 1980s were hungry for a star who will project their aspirations, rebellions, frustrations and dreams on celluloid – they wanted a hero who is as rebellious as Krishnam Raju, a hero as dashing and daring as Krishna , a hero who is lovable like Shobanbabu and someone much more than all of them combined.

Chiranjeevi started feeding what the generation demanded from him very quickly acting in many movies, rotating directors and dialogue-writers and acting with the best in the industry – K Balachandar, Dasari, Raghavendra Rao, Bapu and Vishwanath. Fans loved the intensity of his eyes, the depth of his acting, and his dancing prowess quickly became the toast of a whole new generation who were fed on insipid dancing steps of veterans acting with half-opened shirts and bell-bottom trousers.

Chiranjeevi delivered the blockbuster “Khaidi” which positioned him as the new dashing hero and quickly followed more movies from Raghavendra Rao, Kodi Rama Krishna and Kodandarami Reddy – a director who relied on action dramas with light-hearted romances and the incredible storylines of ace novelist Yandamoori Veerendranath.

Chiranjeevi quickly became the darling of the masses as he belted out jubilee after jubilee hit with “Abhilaasha”, “Challenge”, “Raakshasudu” and “Marana Mridangam”. Like Amitabh Bacchan in Bollywood, movie scripts were written for him and artistes and heroines, technicians and writers all vied with one another in working with the first megastar of Tollywood.

Amongst the many trends he started, Chiranjeevi is famous for bringing in elegant dancing and stylish way of acting in tune with the rising tempo of music. He started the import of villain talent from Bollywood, and gave many technicians - choreographers (Raghava Lawrence), music directors (Mani Sharma, Raj-Koti), character actors (Amrish Puri, Prakash Raj, Kannada Prabhakar, Sarath Kumar) their major breaks.



Now with 149 films to his credit, Chiranjeevi’s career spans the most momentous period of Tollywood that marked the new decade after color productions, multi-starrers with excellent story scripts, the invasion of heroine as a star attraction, introduction of true item songs, choreography as a focal attraction of films, elevation of directors and dialogue-writers to cult status, intelligent use of fans and satellite and social media to enhance a star’s longevity, craze for audio release functions, and the undying craze for first-day-first-show tickets, heroes taking a cut in the distribution of movies as part of the remuneration, the list goes on…


Every five years or so, despite the unavoidable flops, Chiranjeevi systematically used the collective and imported talent in Tollywood to push new boundaries for himself, his family and for the industry. Today, Tollywood enjoys the best monetary status because of a huge star power and in-house talent of technicians from cinematographers and directors to music composers and story-writers, the credit goes to heroes like Chiranjeevi who pushed new boundaries for business of Tollywood.

When “Indra” was released amidst truly the first major audio event for Tollywood in the last decade, there was unprecedented frenzy – it sold close to a million cassettes on day one – there aren’t that many CDs sold even today.

Chiranjeevi, despite all the massive fan following is probably the second actor in Tollywood, after NTR, who has used the medium of Cinema to feed the adulation of the masses and gain symbiotic relationship to accelerate his family’s fortunes in Tollywood.

Because of his direct allegiance with fans, he has created many platforms to interact with them on a continuous basis. He is cognizant of the spinoffs that accrued to him over the years, and the payoffs that continue to others who turned up into films from his family – Pawan Kalyan, Allu Arjun, Ramcharan Tej.

Chiranjeevi and his brother-in-law Allu Aravind created fan clubs, organized them into strategic business units, fed their frenzy at all eventful functions, created websites that offer biographical wikipedias of the Chiranjeevi phenomenon, offered a bankable platform called “Blood Banks” which galvanized more of them into purposive actions which though met with unexpected controversies, and finally harmonized all the fans into one mega family of fans of Chiru the actor.

Even though he was lured into politics a good five years ago before he burst open on the scene with Praja Rajyam Party, Chiranjeevi is the second star-turned politican in the history of Tollywood to create some eyeball impact on the politics. Though his party fizzled out at the hustings in 2009, unable to create any impact with the themes of “social justice” and “inclusive growth”, the PR party managed to grab 17 per cent voting share of the population.

Even though he failed as a politician, Chiranjeevi continues to make attempts to avoid being sidelined by contemporary politics or where his heart lies – in Tollywood. He is now at the heart of Kapu politics in the Congress and continues to spar with the other Kapu politician Botsa in creating a position of power for himself and his community.

As a Tollywood biggie, his family continues to corner the best technicians and talent to turn out hit after hit and strive to be in heightened public currency from Pawan Kalyan’s “Gabbar Singh” to Ramcharan’s “Raccha” to Allu Arjun’s “Julayi”.

Chiranjeevi’s brother-in-law Allu Aravind who produced over 15 films (his best-ever producer) has created a triumvirate monopoly in Tollywood with control over distribution of movies along with producers Dil Raju and D Suresh Babu. As an investor, Chiranjeevi has been careful with his star remuneration and hasn’t over-invested in movies like other stars or created studios that lose money. He has invested in prime real estate and prime time television channels like MAA TV. As on date, MAA TV is rising to the top as a close contender to Gemini TV.

Now, he ponders over the next move whether to remain in politics or plunge back into movies to star in his 150th film now that the stars are aligned for his younger family members to take over Tollywood. As a towering hero in Tollywood, Chiranjeevi has been a phenomenon that’s hard to beat . But as a politician, he has been marginalized. What can beat him in happiness at this crucial birthday milestone is another movie after his own heart. Happy birthday, Chiranjeevi!
By Sridhar Sattiraju

Link: http://www.frontpageindia.com/views/chiranjeevi-hero-love/36403
http://www.frontpageindia.com/views/chiranjeevi-hero-love/36403

"Julayi" Movie Review (Telugu)

“Julayi” is definitely one of the most anticipated movies of 2012. It is an acid test for more than a threesome – Director Trivikram who struggled with form in “Mahesh Khaleja” , Allu Arjun who didn’t deliver a hit for a while, Producer Daanayya who’s missing his crores and dusky actress Ileana D’Cruz who is unable to capitalize on her early successes in Tollywood. All four of them needed a hit to resurrect their fortunes . I can’t say whether it’s a hit but the movie doesn’t disappoint – it is quite a wholesome family fare that’s worth a watch.

Director Trivikram Srinivas is one of the star writers who sharpened his narrative skills to make an Olympic triple jump into the hall of fame in Tollywood with terrific screenplay sense, story-telling with verve and an ability to weave many genres into one film. Besides, he can write dialogues that tug your hearts and make  classes and masses clap. Naturally, he is so skilled at writing, screenwriting and directing that one of the three has to outshine the other two. It started to happen around the time when he stopped writing for others (except “Teenmaar” recently) and went into directing. There’s an eclectic mixture of Western cinematic sensibilities with Telugu nativities in most of his narratives where he played a pivotal role in giving a tailormade script. “Manmathudu” drew inspiration from Mel Gibson movie “What women want”. “Athadu” which is a gold standard in modern Tollywood DVD collection is inspired from “Assassins” and so on.

There was some trouble with “Jalsa” and “Mahesh Khaleja” because he was carried away by the star charishma of Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu and the result was either a concoction of neo-Indian pseudo-mythologicals (like an Amish Tripathi novel) or an an urbane take on Naxalism and other economic issues. At heart, Trivikram is a socialist who is inspired by an array of writers from 1920s onwards and all his movies bear a stamp of egalitarianism, inclusive growth and a society that should benefit many not just a chosen few. In between, Trivikram can pack a punch of dialogues that spark off uproarious laughter with both senior and junior artistes. Over the few films he has made, Trivikram has graduated from making unoriginal, punny, school-boyish. joke-book-collection of snippets into more classy, ingenious and Wodehousian sense of humor that sticks. Nothwithstanding this long digression into Trivikram’s style and its origins as seen by a consummate bystander, “Julayi” is an outcome of a renewed Trivikram who has learnt from his experiments that were indulgent in the past. It shows Trivikram’s amazing sense of dialogues that are sharper, wittier and also a return to responsible film-making - a'la the likes of Sreenu Vaitla and Shekar Kammula. However, unlike Shekar Kammula, Trivikram has the ambidexterous knack of appealing to A-class audiences while giving what the masses want to see – non-preachy entertainment, plenty of action, dances and romance that sizzles.

“Julayi” is a balanced film in all of that – it has a huge starcast from Brahmanandam, Ali, Tanikella Bharani, MS Narayana and Kota to veteran Rajendra Prasad, Sonu Sood besides Allu Arjun and Ileana. The story is quite average but the narration is pulsating. Ravi (Allu Arjun) is a naïve youth who believes in making money in a non-linear route; he bets with his father one day that a 10k bundle of cash can be converted into 100k in just two hours. Obviously, Ravi had plans to bet on the IPL matches when he challenged his dad with the deal. His bravado leads him to an episodic run-in with professional killers led by Sonu Sood and Kota Srinivas Rao who plan to usurp a bank’s millions. It sets him off as a cat amongst pigeons because the villains realize that Ravi is a smart aleck who needs more than their mite to be outwitted. The ending is happier even if smaller - the hero polishes off the villains and returns to a cosy job that nets a salary of 25k per month. The message is loud and clear: – hardwork and accumulation of money through self-effort is sweeter than Manna from heaven or mad pursuit of speculative endeavours. The movie has  dramatic flashes of car chases, stunts and a sweet romance with Ileana and oodles of comedy with Rajendra Prasad, Brahmanandam and gang. Allu Arjun is clearly a striking style icon who has finally got a plot that showcases his acting prowessand a director who will give the outreach that he deserves. He is at ease with himself and with the mature starcast that shares the screen. According to me, he is the best dancer in Tollywood and his dancing skills need no attestations. In this movie, DSP’s music has given enough footage to Allu Arjun to get foot-loose. He excels himself again but the dance movements could have had a better frontal view than a sideward, silhouetted slideshow. He could have bettered there.

DSP’s music has topped the charts well before the movie and he has created just the right moods for all the songs. Picturisation of the songs could have been better for a couple of songs. The song before climax and the song before interval are quite vivid and memorable. Ileana would have wanted this movie to give a fresh lease of life. Unfortunately, her acting skills and the range of expressions never permit this – she is stubbornly stale and hopeless. The outage of glamor we saw of Ileana after “Kick”, I am afraid will continue nothwithstanding her role in this film. Rajendra Prasad stands out with a full-length performance that almost runs parallel to the hero – this should be heartening to all his fans.

One last word on the flaws of the film. Trivikram sometimes takes logic to onerously outlandish levels for one part of the story while implanting inscrutable logic to other parts. The manner in which the heist is done by the villains of a bank and their escape from custody with lot of bloodshed is illogical even as the hero Ravi tries to second-guess every move of the villain even as the police look downright dumb beats sanity out of mind. Nevertheless, Trivikram has taken the genre of entertainment to new highs with his characteristic ease of blending action and intelligent-looking plots with a rich ensemble of talent and still penning dialogues that haunt you forever. Even the best writers need better editors , Trivikram will realise– but for now, even 160 minutes of a not-so-sublime plot is good enough reason to open the champagne for those who like to see his report card. He’s earned an A not an A-plus and I will give atleast 3.5 out of 5 for the film.

"Vedam" Movie Review

"Vedam" is a rare treat by Director Krish which packages the gist of scriptures - human values that matter most amidst poverty and plenty through five characters who see life through five different perspectives. But all the five characters played by Nagayya (Textile weaver), Anushka (prostitute), Manoj (Rockband guitarist), Manoj Bajpai (Muslim who thinks he is treated like a terrorist) and Allu Arjun (Cable Raju who lives in slum but lives it up by lying about his lifestyle for a good cause - wooing his rich girl friend). All characterisations are done with lot of conviction and care and though the movie is lacking in entertainment, it is hard-hitting and touches your soul at times with humanity in each frame, without dialogues that sound didactic. Within 150 minutes, Krish makes his points succinctly well with enough justification in story, characters and their worlds which converge in a climax which is a bit violent. Allu Arjun outshines everybody but there are some good cameos by Posani Krishna Murali and Brahmanandam which stand out. Keeravani scores a lifetime high note in this movie with rich compositions and impressive background scores. Krish presents his movie with level-wise script and that itself is a great innovation for Telugu cinema. He also does great justice as a dialogue-writer and a screenplay-writer.He has endeavoured to give a rare delicacy to Telugu audience not used to having such storylines in commercial format. Its going to be talked about for a long time.

Varudu verdict

Its difficult to pick a bone with the first half of  "Varudu" after I watched it after a busy season of marriages. This being the season of marriages - Varudu  - shines bright in the first half. There's impeccable  settings, a demure heroine, some heart-tugging dialogues and some extra-ordinary recount of the typical Telugu marriage. This  makes the movie mesmerisingly good till interval - then all hell breaks lose with the entry of Aryan - the villain. And the movie loses plot with weak characterisation, unconvincing villainy encouraged by impotent police and implausible subvention of the system by the villainy. Its here that Gunasekhar  - who does a fair effort in comeback  - goofs up. The villain part - the Ravana in the Ramayana piece of the movie - is overdone with unwarranted intensity and implausible sadism and cruelty. But for this which rankles the whole of second half, Varudu manages to strike a chord with everybody who believes in both arranged marrriages or love marriages. Allu Arjun tries hard but can't stand the onslaught of the intense-looking villain - Aryan - who charged a crore for the film. Two songs by Mani Sharma get you paisa vasool.

Missing something?

Heard that "Varudu" movie is not that great - has been made into a remix of Ramayana and Okkadu. Looks like Gunasekhar has not done much homework behind going into one set-wonders for each of his movies - the care he takes to make one grand opulent setting the centrestage and backdrop of his movies is not there in other aspects of film-making. This one may have been made for appeasing Allu Arjun.

Good website for Bollywood? What about Tollywood?

Is there a website you can zero in on all the block-busters right from Sholay to Maine Pyar Kiya, from Ghajini to Guide, from 3 Idiots to DDLJ? Go to http://www.boxofficeindia.com/ for a low-down on all block-busters. They may not be inflation-adjusted, but they give a way out of the maze of figures thrown in by media reports - whether MNIK (My Name is Khan) is Rs.150 crs. or 64 crs. Its a good site to compare apples vs. oranges and oranges vs. mangoes. But dismally, there's no credible website which tracks down the prolific Tollywood and its numerous releases - speculation and hearsay dominate Tollywood more than reality check. Its grown appreciably in the last many years but now comes an inflection point for more transparency so that we grow bigger and brighter. Any suggestions? One guy who I admire is Allu Sirish (brother of Allu Arjun). His take on Tollywood is different and enjoins the important thread between creativity and commercial viability. Check his views at : http://www.allusirish.in/

"Aarya 2" Movie Review

"Aarya 2" had an opportunity to become the first sequel in Telugu to sustain the sizzle of "Arya". But over-kill of reverse-gear antics of Allu Arjun in the name of variety, style and twists make movie plot tedious, unconvincing, jarring and illogical. Only bits and pieces post-interval pull it off besides hero's masterly dancing.
28.11.2009