"Vakeel Saab" (Telugu)

 

Worth the wait and an engaging comeback film for Pawan Kalyan. Not in the same intense class as the original “Pink” which was shorter by 25 mins, but well-adapted to suit the larger-than-life sensibilities of PK fans and his current political career’s work-in-progress. Director Sriram Venu drives the film in graded gears - establishing the plot of how working women land in distress and get out of it with belated but avuncular steering by Vakeel Saab Satyadev (PK), once he steps in rustic contrast, pitted against a sophisticated lawyer Nandagopal played by the mercurial Prakash Raj. Their rivalry, energy and sparring in the court, makes it the most riveting part of the film despite the strange goof-ups in cross-examination. Thaman’s melodious songs and his sonorous BGM score makes the narrative well-nuanced and memorable at times. Pawan Kalyan, undoubtedly, steals the show in the climax, aided by another famous performance by Prakash Raj, Anjali, Nivetha and a surprise cameo by Sharath Babu. Dialogues are sharp and contextually concise within the perimeter of the script. Proud memento film for producer Dil Raju to bring one of India’s most intense and meaningful film to the Telugu audiences, in reasonably entertaining and dumbed-down format about a film that redefined this generation how Indian society paints stereotypes of girls as “Pink” and boys as “Blue”. Watchable, though not with the toddlers - both for the theme and the expletives.

Rating: 3.5/5

#VakeelSaab #PawanKalyan #PinkRemake #PrakashRaj #SriramVenu #DilRaju #amazonprime #ThamanS

"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

How Tollywood fared in 2013 - An analysis by Sriram Karri

Your intrepid film critic has been quoted in the New York Times for views on how Tollywood is faring. Written by Sriram Karri. Of course, much has been said but only few quotes taken. Good analysis and interesting views on the shifts happening in the Telugu film industry.

Please read the article from the link below:

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/

"Ramayya Vastavayya" (Telugu) Movie Review

"Ramayya Vastavayya" is a hummable line from one of Raj Kapoor's most famous films. It became a title for a Hindi film also earlier this year starring Shruti Hassan and a new Bollywood hero which was a remake of "Nuvvosthaanante Vaddantaana". Now, Dil Raju produces it in his banner-SVCC with NTR Jr. in a title role and Samantha and Shruti Hassan. It has been a major disappointment for those who go to Dil Raju's brand of family entertainment with a healthy touch and also for NTR fans. Harish Shankar who made "Gabbar Singh" got caught in his own elusions of grandeur and consequently made a film full of mind-numbing violence and pathetic story. "RV" will go down for Dil Raju as an aberration in his catalogue of films as he must have gone missing on the sets.

Once again, a wafer-thin line becomes fodder for 167 minutes of head-banging violence and entertainment that heckles your sensibilities. Ranjeet (NTR) falls in love with Aakarsha (Samantha) and stalks her at college. Samantha gives in to Ranjeet's overtures and invites him over to her village for attending her sister's wedding. Mukesh Rushi, her father, faces threats from two brothers who honk him with life threats often. On receiving one such call, Mukesh Rushi gets trapped into confiding into NTR about an impending life threat. This time, NTR takes them to a safer enclave but actually becomes the dreaded assasin himself killing Mukesh on the spot. Flashback: NTR and his two brothers are actually victims of Mukesh Rushi's atrocitiies; the latter eliminates most of NTR's relatives and even  his first-love called Ammulu (Shruti Hassan). The second half is all about NTR's attempts to explain the flashback to Samantha and justify the killing of Samantha's father and how he finishes them off. Such twists are not uncommon in Tollywood scripts; it appears that most of such films appear to be dug out of a dark tunnel sitting underneath the main road of entertainment. No matter how many stories come out of such dark tunnels, its a null void full of sand and mud coming out of the director's minds and we have to watch such drivel in the name of entertainment. 

Director Harish Shankar's flawed handling of the megaphone extends our pains. He succeeds in getting Dil Raju his first "A" certificate in his catalogue of family films by sprinkling "double-meaning" jokes, sadistic and atavistic violence and characterisation of a voyeuristic villain Ravi Shankar who is maniacally obsessed with sex all the time. Harish also misses out on casting mainstream comedians - and instead gets quite irritating humor from Rohini Hattangadi and others. Only Kota Srinivasa Rao gives a flash of humour in a four minute sequence.He misses milking entertainment which got him name in "Gabbar Singh" and "Mirapakay" and also diluted the emotional quotient in the film that could have got highlighted at few places. An example is, the best song of the film -"Jabilli Neetho Cheppamma..." which comes after interval. Even though the song is great and picturisation good, because Samantha yet doesn't know that NTR is the guy who knocked her dad off, the nuances of the song didn't allow NTR to get highlighted. There are many instances like that which were missed opportunities for Harish to raise the bar of emotionality. Even the dialogues penned by him didn't enhance the impact because of an over-dosage of violence and under-recovery of humour. 

NTR Jr. shines well in the film, his gait is ever confident, his dancing skills show greater variety and finesse (his body above torso is moving better than before) and his timing of comedy has got some impact and improvisation, fans will love his imitation of a few stars in Tollywood. After "Adurs", Chota K Naidu must get credit for showcasing NTR Jr. so well in the many shades that NTR shows up in the film. Stunts could have been shorter and less graphic in portrayal. Amongst the many stunts, one thing noticeable is that NTR comes up with a new weapon everytime - he starts with a mace ("gadha"), a hockey stick, an iron chain, a pick-axe and then guns galore...probably, this is Harish Shankar's idea to show him as the new heir to the 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Between Samantha and Shruti Hassan, Shruti steals the show in the flashback. Both Chota K Naidu and Harish Shankar seem to have got smitten by the cute girl who is getting bolder on scene. Since this is Harish Shankar's second film with Shruti Hassan, her character got etched out better than many other characters. Rao Ramesh gives another cool performance but his characterisation loses conviction in the second half. Music by Thaman SS is fine but only two songs stand out. There is lot of strain that can make us feel worn out on his music.

NTR Jr. should realise that the days of relying on family tree and thigh-clapping as a sign of machismo are over, not many heroes except those who benefit from such references are resorting to gimmicks. Veering away from violence and making entertainment as a form of team effort is the real recipe for success, not aiming to ambitiously carry the film on the hero's shoulders. Those heroes who rallied forth to undertake projects of benign entertainment are climbing up higher than reliance on hackneyed scripts and party symbols such as bicycles. My last two cents to heroes is: don't bank on directors who don't bank on solid stories. Tollywood today has a dozen heroes of bankable box office potential and has more severe competition amongst themselves than any other film industry - more competition than even entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley, if you have to build embankments to keep yourself afloat for atleast 30 films in a career, bank on variety, invest in different stories and support family entertainment. 

"Ramayya Vastavayya" reminds at times the story of "Athanokkade" without any dramatic appeal or intensity. But for a less violent and better half before interval, it gets a rating of no more than 2.5/5.

The Business of Tollywood: An appreciation of film costs

"Julayi" movie collects over Rs.11 crores in Nizam region. "Eega" movie collected over Rs.15 crs. in the same region during its 50-day run. "Sudigaadu" collected over Rs.2 crores in Hyderabad region alone in its first week clocking over 91 per cent occupancy on opening weekend. So, Tollywood has had a better run this year compared to previous year as many of big-star releases turned out to be good hits starting with "Businessman". The run of Tamil film releases this year dubbed into Telugu hasn't been that great despite increasing openness and awareness of Kollywood films in Andhra Pradesh.

Now that the starting bets have been good for Tollywood, the season in the second-half of the year is hotting up with some spectacular releases lined up. "Life is Beautiful"(Shekar Kammula), "Shirdi Sai" (Nagarjuna), "Rebel" (Prabhas), "Cameraman Ganga tho Rambabu" (Pawan Kalyan) and so on...looks like September - October will see some big-ticket releases including the much-awaited multi-starrer "Seethamma Vakitlo Siri Malle Chettu" (Mahesh and Venkatesh), we'll call it "SVSMC".

Let's guess how the costing of "SVSMC" will add up. I have taken a ball-park estimate based on some simplistic back-of-the-envelope calculations of how these costs will add up and later how they will be marked to recover. They may be wrong but I hope the thought process should clarify to you how film costs generally add up in budgets which are becoming huger and monstrous. It becomes necessary to understand them because the blind bets are placed by the group who are not impervious to the speculative nature of films - the Movie Distributor. Lets see an example, first, before we conclude:

"Seethamma Vakitlo Siri Malle Chettu" Movie Costs:

Superstar Mahesh Babu's Remuneration:  Rs.8 crores.
Victory Venkatesh's Remuneration:          Rs.4 crores.
Director's Remuneration/Music Director   Rs.2 crores.
Samantha's remuneration                          Rs.1 crore.
Miscellaneous artists remuneration            Rs.2 crores.
Miscellaneous technician's remuneration    Rs.3 crores
Shooting cost for 100 Days @Rs.5 lacs    Rs.5 crores.
                                                              -----------------
Total cost so far for SVSMC                    Rs.25  crores.

Since it is unlikely that the producer will bear all the costs by self, he will take loan @ 3 per cent from the money-lenders and financiers to fund this cost. That will be about Rs.4.50 crores. Or roughly, say Rs.5 crores. That means the total cost without budgeting any contingency run-ups and other escalations by delays caused due to other reasons comes to Rs.30 crores.

We haven't added the distribution and marketing costs including the audio function which is becoming an eye-ball attracting event. Considering these, it becomes imperative to keep costs and shooting schedules under tight leash and you have to raise the buzz about the movie well-before the release so that you can out-sell and recover the costs as effectively as possible.

How do we recover the costs?
Satellite rights recover a good sum, say Rs.6-8 crores. Then comes overseas territory sales which can fetch about Rs.3-5 crores. Then comes the big stakes of Andhra Pradesh which will be sold at whopping sums. Take Nizam Region, for example. Assuming each show sells Rs.20,000/- multiplied by 7 days multiplied by 5 shows average multiplied by 350 screens will give Rs.24.50 crores. Thats how the bets will start at first- then they will negotiate it down or up based on the eyeballs and added attractions in the movie. In this whole game, commercial banks play it safe in recovery of costs - they will not fund above Rs.5 crores and get away with their interest and principal repayments well before the release of the film.

The riskiest category will be the distributor who can expect a return in binary numbers, zero or one, meaning hit or flop. If its a hit, they rake it in. If its a flop, they are finished.

But coming back to the crux of the budgets, this is broadly how they stack up and this should give you an example of how film costs are incurred, how they are marketed and how they are recovered.

"Love Failure" Movie Review

"Love Failure" is an Indian euphemism usually branded for emotional wrecks and one-sided lovers. Siddharth, who loves giving breaks to debutant directors has starred in a fantastic movie that must become another career-defining milestone after "Bommarillu". Dil Raju surely might regret missing a chance to back Mohan (director) and Siddu the third time because this film has universal appeal universal applause. Siddharth has boldly backed himself and the script and silences all his critics of the past half a dozen movies. The only way to answer your critics is to let your work speak loud for itself. An untried and fresh-looking starcast, a sans-makeup Amana Paul, a plot about two, no, many Engineering students and infact several couples of diverse traits and different age groups as to how they think, act and feel towards each other - all these could happen because Siddharth after many flops has chosen to trim his anchor role and make way for many others to perform and entertain. For most part, Siddharth runs a narrative staring at the audience trying to talk like a John Gray - getting under the skin of lovers as to why they break up and bid farewell. For the first time, Balaji Mohan attempts an honest overview of the state of mind and thinking pattern of today's generation in a way that will surely bridge generation gap. All this with minimum hassle and maximum clarity - thats the high point of the film.


There is occasional comedy again from unconventional-looking freshmen and right-dosed sentiments from under-exposed character actors - so they all stand out. Music by SS Thaman, surprise surprise, is enchanting and melodious without any mass strains of pied piper tunes that he has been, of late, playing. Thaman has created a different texture to the sounds in the film with BGMs and songs unconventional. Balaji Mohan's work and class in scripting, shot-selection, screenplay and mature handling of the subject of Love and Relationships smacks of a lot of promise in the freshness he brought. Movie's length also an advantage as its done with in two hours. Though there is a didactic touch to the movie because the hero (Siddharth) narrates as the main interpreter of maladies that besiege love. He metastasizes love as a serial with many characters and couples who run to the edge of divorce. What's impossible feat in the film - No fight, no item song, no action stunts, no sleaze, no exotic sets or SOTC world tour packages - there is not even a trace of a duet between Siddharth and Amana Paul but still the sparks are flying! Refreshing and welcome break from formula fares. Siddharth deserves a high-five after a long time for a bold and engaging script.

Sankranti and Tollywood Movies

Tollywood movies this Sankranti are likely setting the tone for what to expect in 2012. Two reclusive Babus are releasing movies whose titles start with "B" and have the same music director. The same Babus are later starting work on a multi-starrer to be produced by Dil Raju. How the fans of each other behave now will cast a shadow on the way the multi-starrer later is received. The situation is ...so upbeat between the movies - "Businessman" and "Bodyguard" that "Nippu" that Ravi Teja's movie got postponed beyond Sankranti. The only movie with village backdrop is Nandamuri Tarakaratna's "Nandeeswarudu" but I am not sure it will grab the eyeballs between two reclusive Superstars. Sankranti is not for the fainthearted and only established heroes test their appeal at the Box-Office for this season - the rest try their luck during "safe periods" - December, Diwali-Dasera and Summer holidays after EAMCET when chances of assured student audiences abound. Since we come from Village background, my family revels in Sankranti season - we watch all movies in those 3 days - back-to-back almost - and have usually found the Sankranti winner is usually a Surprise packet - the "Pandem Kodi" is actually the one you haven't bet on. But for those who feel happy about it, Mahesh Babu has beaten the record of Allari Naresh in getting a movie out within just 100 days of his previous movie "Dookudu". I hope 2012 brings out more such welcome developments where stars act in more movies, take on experimental films, co-star in multi-starrers, and take Tollywood to greater heights. Last year, we had dubbed movies like "Rangam" usher in the Sun's transit into the Northern Hemisphere. This year, its Telugu all the way - hope the year will be the best for Tollywood.

"Mr Perfect" - Movie Review

Mr Perfect - is a light-hearted family entertainer starring Prabhas, Kajal Agarwal and Tapsi from the makers of "Bommarillu". Director Dasarath gives a delicately-poised and cute love story on today's love dilemmas of the young on what is compatibility and all that. It reminds you of the earlier film - "Santosham" and the plot carries you to the end in a breezy fashion. Dil Raju ensures that Prabhas - the action hero - plays second fiddle to Prabhas - the romantic, do-gooder, endearing hero loved by masses and classes. Kajal gets better scope for performance and stands out. Dialogues by Abburi Ravi are effective and classy - and go straight to the heart. Music by Devi Sri Prasad is average but not outstanding. Great film to watch with family.

"Rama Rama Krishna Krishna" Movie Review

Ram, who thinks, he is a sporty version of Pavan Kalyan for the 2000's generation disappoints in this flick of mindless violence, routine fare and disappointing story with throwbacks to retrograde plots. Frankly, it is adding to the list of flops that Dil Raju is accumulating in the last few years, after the blockbuster "Bommarillu" faded from memory. Nothing redeems the movie, and the less said the better.