Akhil Akkineni: The Next Superstar?

Link to the latest article on Akhil:

http://www.telugu360.com/akhil-audio-launch-a-perfect-platform-for-the-next-superstar/

"Gopala Gopala" (Telugu Film Review)

Now that PK has re-tested the fun from challenges posed to Gods and Godmen, the concept originally seeded in OMG has reached heights of receptivity and curiosity. But "Gopala Gopala" is a well-timed remake of OMG completely dumbed down for the Telugu masses used to wafer-thin stories and hysterical drama. It has taken a colossal collaboration of sorts from Suresh Productions to Venkatesh to Mithun Chakraborty and director Kishore Kumar Pardasani alongwith ruling disc composer Anup Rubens. When Venkatesh jumped at the role of Paresh Rawal, he asked the producers to find the perfect playing mate - the man who would play God. Their search ended with Pawan Kalyan agreeing to do Akshay Kumar's role. Must say, Pawan Kalyan dazzles in his role as Krishna in modern costumes. And Venkatesh shines better than some of his previous films in doing justice to his role as Gopal Rao - the hapless seller of god statues whose shop gets struck down by a devastating earthquake; it hits his shop only and leaves everything intact.

The original story has a purity unheard of in a country smothered with religious motifs and blind beliefs of scary dimensions and milked by God-heads and Godmen and Godwomen promising manna from heaven. In 152 minutes, a tad too long, director Kishore Kumar has taken a clean approach to present a reasonably entertaining and authentic remake of the original story which made heads turn in Bollywood. Screenplay  is pacy and narration quite clear, music by Anup Rubens good but not the best of scores except two songs showing both Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh. How Good are the stars in this multi-starrer? Venkatesh aces up his role better what is cropped from his films recently - he is aging but in portraying the resilience and grit and the humanity, Venky proves his acting prowess again. Of course, he will be compared with Paresh Rawal, the legend but personality-wise this role is tailor-made for him. The one who lends an extra-sensory dimension to the role is Pawan Kalyan. He comes, just as in the original right before the Interval Block in a swashbuckling sequence that sets the audience in a tizzy. His role is less chirpy than Akshay Kumar and therefore, the characterisation is a tad more elevated that reaches a crescendo post-interval. Because the Telugus have both propensity and tendency to deify heroes on celluloid, Pawan's characterisaiton gets a special touch from the makers in adding as much chutzpah. So the director avoids the original paraphernalia used like a single-round Kireetam or a necklace; instead he retains the blazing key chain, the occasional bamboo flute and wears prima donna white costumes. Pawan is shown like a zen warrior who has been doing years of Vipassana meditation; he packs punch in all his dialogues carefully crafted to suit his king-maker political career so far and portrays himself as the Lord in all divinity, humility and serenity. His characterisation will get full marks and  get burnt into the frenzied consciousness of the Telugu audience for this generation as much as the earlier characterisations did for icons like NTR. 

In many ways, this plot of God coming to Earth is a tailor-made script for Tollywood more than any other "Wood". For decades, Tollywood has been making films on mythologicals for every generation right from inception. Even in modern settings, they never lost an opportunity to make films where the God connects to a mortal in distress and descends down to mentor and guide him to a path of liberation or clarity. Allu Ramalingayya, Chiru's father-in-law once produced a classic film "Devude Digi Vaste" which was remade in Hindi with Sanjeev Kumar. Then we had Rao Gopal Rao play Lord Shiva in "Maa Voollo Maha Shivudu" - both films had Satyanarayana as a distressed mortal. Bapu made "Buddhimanthudu" with a role of a lifetime for ANR and Sobhan Babbu as Man and God. From that viewpoint, "Gopala Gopala" stands out in creating a  message-rich canvass of what the original film in Hindi successfully made - it has all the right emotions of joy, laughter, tears and pathos, fear and courage that run undercurrent to the story. A story where man is guided by his Creator towards objectivity beyond objectification. Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh created a good characterisation on screen time where Pawan Kalyan gets atleast 45 minutes of mesmerising presence that will linger on for a long time. Venkatesh packs more energy and pace into his delivery whereas Pawan choses a path of calm and deliberate poise and Godly equanimity  - so the effect is altogether terrific on screen. 

How faithful is the remake to the original? That's a question that is better answered by the Box-office verdict. My view is that there are quite a few deviations in the rendition to suit the Telugu sensibilities but the overall effect is as dramatic as the original. The original has no  stunts and dialogues that choke you by Paresh and Akshay. GG has too many emotional scenes between Venky and PK and shows atleast three stunts. Original fight introduction of PK riding on the bike and saving Venky was more intense and effective in Hindi; in Telugu it loses fizz but then you realise it's all about Pawan Kalyan's introduction and less about the omnipotent bike. Original shows a balanced characterisation about Paresh Rawal's family and the Godmen who combine to defeat him; in GG, Shriya Saran, Venky's wife is reduced to an insignificant role without a variation in characterisation. If only Shriya realizes her folly of deserting her husband in dire straits after Pawan Kalyan counsels her, her role would have got highlighted.Of course, Mithun Chakraborty shines well in both the films - his mere presence with a snigger and a palm that cups his mouth makes him both a provocateur and a credulous character. Posani Murali overdoes his role but evokes laughter. The court scenes are as dramatic as the original but the earth quake that brings down the house for Venky was captured better in Hindi. 

On the whole, the film is a winner and deserves a one-watch for Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh. There is a treat of a song or two which shows the two stars shake a leg. To a large extent, Venkatesh holds the screen with his presence and dialogues well in the first half building to the crescendo created by Pawan Kalyan in the second half. There are mighty bloopers though which shouldn't have crept in the first place. For instance, instead of giving butter to Pawan Kalyan, Venky pulls out a cup from the fridge that clearly looks like butter-scotch ice-cream. Despite a few slipups, director achieves a rare feat of transmitting the feelings and key messages drummed in the original for the Telugu audiences. For those who have not seen the original before, it is a sure-shot entertainer with two stars who don't throw tantrums together. For those who have seen the original, watch it for Pawan Kalyan - his performance will win hearts. As for the talk about religion and all that, forget it. Mithun still had the punch line: "There are no God-loving people here. There are only God-fearing people. As long as people are God-fearinng, our ashrams will continue to see people fill in." 

Rating: 3.5/5

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"Manam" (Telugu) Film Review

"Manam" is a beautiful film -  a flowing tribute to ANR and his lasting legacy. In the works for over two years, the film was making news for many happy reasons until it became clear that this will be ANR's last screen appearance. Directed by Vikram K Kumar ( "Ishq" fame) and produced by Reliance Entertainment, the film has all the elements of a sugar-syrup family comedy with minimum distractions. No villain, no side-tracking comedy and no vulgarity - it has a stamp of class and well-directed sweetness all-round. There are not many families in the Indian film history which had the luxury of appearing on screen in all the 3-G glory. The last time such an act was performed, according to me, was "Kal Aaj Kal" (starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Ranadhir Kapoor). Now, it is the turn of ANR, Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya to give us a magical story of improbable origins.

The improbability is the only weakness in the plot - where Nagarjuna is the son of Naga Chaitanya and Samantha and ANR is the son of Nagarjuna and Shriya Saran. How these five people you will not otherwise meet in heaven actually get enmeshed with each other's lives in a cute inter-mixing of two love stories spread over two generations is the bone of the matter. Beyond this, it would be puerile to elaborate the story as it may snatch the thrills of watching a clean film not seen since  the likes of SVSC. The implausibility of the plot is tolerable as today's films have more illogicalities than the subtle cinematic liberty taken by the story-writer of this plot. So the illogicality is passable in the name of delectable entertainment that the film offers.

What are the highlights of the film? Undoubtedly, the scenes between Nagarjuna and Samantha as some of the best supermom moments get unfolded on screen in a rarely seen combination. Then the scenes between ANR, Naga Chaitanya and Nagarjuna - the drinking scene, even if slightly overdone. Then the delicate scenes between Nagarjuna and Shriya in the rural backdrop where bucholic charms haven't erased the purity of some souls. Finally, the roaring screen chemistry between Naga Chaitanya and Samantha for the nth time which makes the film youthful. Performance-wise, Naga Chaitanya gives the best shot amongst everybody as he shares screen space with Nagarjuna and ANR for the first and last time. This is his film, not really Nagarjuna's or ANR's. Samantha and Shriya get their sunshine moments and naturally have a blast. Nagarjuna looks old but carries himself better than some of the commercial roles we are used to seeing him. He should quickly migrate to being part of more such meaningful cinema such as "Manam". ANR is seen for less than ten minutes but by making a delayed entry minutes before the interval and staying the course right till the end, he gives out a dignified performance before he bowed out. Director Vikram used the limited availability of ANR's footage deftly by spacing him to re-surface again and again until that last shot of his where he smiles and waves you goodbye.

Whichever way you look at, "Manam" is a terrific film to watch that doesn't bore you despite the over-extended goodwill messages and sweetness. Infact, the emotions in the film choke you at times and remind you of the beauty of life and the miracles that pour out of love of all kinds. Vikram Kumar is quite a talent in the way he used a venerable starcast including Brahmanandam and MS Narayana. After a long time you get a feeling of confidence of a director in showcasing his mastery with a clean narration, good performances and messages that won't embarrass you in front of your mom. Except that little cheeky jingle of why we say "ladies first", nothing is offensive in the film. What makes the film different is the treatment of the story playing out between different generations of characters and the quality of output. Music by Anup Rubens, his 25th musical score deserves a high five. All the songs are exceptionally peppy and melodious. By using three different scores for each generation of Akkineni family, Anup Rubens has shown he has a talent for matching  song composition skills with a standout BGM. The director's class also shows in his selection of team in dialogues, cinematography. Vikram Kumar sure has a fresh mind that needs more backers  - how he thinks in telling a good story better is a case study. One example, in the song "Ta...Taaa....Tatta Tattaa...." which has Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya shake a leg with the old clippings of ANR song, any other director could have used an item girl to add to the stomping on the floor. But by not going for the predictable, Vikram proves he is different. More power to such directors and cinema. In many ways, Vikram's style of commercial cinema reminds me of the class of Radha Mohan, the Tamil director who made many successful films for Prakash Raj.

You wished the film's length of 163 minutes were cut down but I sense some scenes of ANR were not possible because of his passing out so they had filled in with other stuff. Good to see Amala and Akhil get roped in this family drama for the records. Akhil's entry in the end gives an inkling he will also join the family business soon. No less a person than Amitabh Bachchan did a 45 second cameo as a tribute to ANR. What a way to finish off a glorious career! In as much one feels compel to judge a film, "Manam" has surprisingly few shortcomings - which I have already qualified. You will walk away with many good feelings after watching it.

My rating: 3.5/5.

"Poola Rangadu" Movie Review

Poola Rangadu" is comedian Sunil's third film as a hero. Directed by Veerabhadram, it is as entertaining as any mass hero's commercial project. Unlike in "Maryada Ramanna" where he puts an apprehensive face, this time, Sunil gives a treat of a range of emotions from his characteristic comedy, slapstick, punch dialogues et al, and mixes with sentiment well. Sunil has got a good support from other... actors like Kota Srinivasa Rao and heroine Isha Chawla and the two villains. Director Veerabhadram seems to be adept at story-telling with grip on entertainment and the pace never slackens till the end. He shows command over all departments of directing with a touch of mass appeal that could get another hit for Sunil as he comfortably struts from one range of emotions to another, jumps like an acrobat, runs like a cheetah, serenades Isha Chawla, dances like the best of Tollywood heroes now and like Salman Khan bares his newly-sculpted six-pack body in the climax.


Music by Anup Rubens and dialogues by P.Sridhar are both good and classy. Even if the plot is average, the screenplay and story-telling skills of the director make it a little better than average commercial films. Sunil the hero shows that with the backing of a good script and deft direction, a talented comedian can also do what superstars do on screen - with good dancing skills, timing sense of dialogues, average screen presence, and a body that pumps iron. From an expectations point of view, Sunil should find his rewards as the audience will find the movie thoroughly entertaining. Because of an effort to give a 360 degree view of what a full-fledged hero out to display on screen, the movie gets a bit longer at 150 minutes. But fun watching with some thrills and good laughs.

"Andari Bandhuvaya" Movie Review

As summer demand for movie content shoots up - "Andari Bandhuvaya" releases this week. Its one of the lighter movies but not enough to rock the Box Office. Its a half-hearted attempt on Altruism, starring Sarvanand and Padmapriya. The movie lacks intensity and impact and drags despite some good comedy. Padmapriya looks gorgeous and might sparkle if shaped up. Music by Anup Rubens is outstanding in this movie of good samaritan cliches. Sarvanand is turning into the new Raja style actor with offbeat themes and maverick story lines. But the movie is not upto the mark of Chandra Siddhartha and has some lewd jokes. Nevertheless, its passable if you are tired of  IPL, 20-20 and violence-laden movies.