"Genius" (Telugu) Movie Review

“Genius” is an unconventional film in a commercial film format. When the audio was launched, it created lot of buzz when some of the acclaimed writers of Tollywood got together to announce a film that will strike a chord with different segments of society who are exploited by some stakeholders. The writers were Chinnikrishna whose claim to fame are movies like “Indra” and “Gangotri” and of course, mass dialogue writers Parachuri Brothers. The director is somebody hugely popular on the telly – Omkar or Omkar Annayya, who does dance shows with toddlers dancing to gyrating tunes in Tollywood. Omkar directed this film which has a running time of 150 minutes with a one-film hero Haavesh, his own brother Ashwin and another upcoming youngster Jeeva. The storyline is quite simple: Three characters – Haavesh (Nivas), Ashwin (Yasser) and Jeeva (Koti) they all have an obsession with a personality respectively in their areas of interest. For example, Nivas is a blind follower of Pradeep Rawat, a politician. Yasser eulogises a batsman cricketer Nizamuddin (rings a bell?). And Koti is head-over-heels with a superstar/megastar/Call what you will ¬– played by Aashish Vidyarthi. The story then moves forward on how these respective demigods idolized by the three youth become more and manipulative eventually destroying their respective lives – until the three realize they are being exploited and short-changed at every turn of their Gods’ march to mega glory. Pradeep Rawat the typical politician stabs Nivas in the back, Nizamuddin pockets Rs.20 crs in match-fixing, and Peda Babu the film star uses the fans as a ladder for success but doesn’t care a dime when the fans are in need.




That’s quite an explosive story and you can imagine what happens when a jingoistic story writer and an iconic writer-brother team of Parachuri surname gang up together to give a story that breathes fire into screen. To be fair, Omkaar has done well doing justice to the explosive theme and building the plot and characters well which itself is quite many-layered. The casting is near-perfect except for Haavesh who lacks the intensity to be the big hero; he is handsome and has a great voice and body language but is low on emotional intensity which is required to carry a film like this on his shoulders. He falters in first half but heuristically delivers in the second half as crescendo builds to a good climax. It’s the other two - Jeeva and Ashwin who have an impactful screen presence. All the three villains – Aashish Vidyarthi, Pradeep Rawat and Adarsh (Nizamuddin) make their weighty presence in the film. The two heroines are non-entities in a film of this story depth and one of them shines a bit in a song amazingly shot in Leh Lake. In order to build engagement with those who expect more glamour in the film which is deadpan serious, Omkaar inducts a heavy-dose item song with three starlets who have seen better days – Rekha (“Anandam”), Sweta Pandit (“Kotha bangaaru Lokam”) and Anita (“Nuvvu Nenu”). That song “Dibbari Dibbari” is a raunchy number on the hazards of the casting couch in films. The opening song with Raju Sundaram master is also evocative of mass appeal which connects with fans of Omkaar who expect an inkling of his choreographic flair in the films. Dialogues do stand out in some places and appear consistent with the characters. However, contrary to what is expected, Brahmanandam doesn’t get enough smiles.

On the whole, a cool attempt despite few expectations belied – in comedy, pace and casting of the heroine. It is high time a theme of this kind has been attempted in Tollywood which makes more films for the masses but fewer films with a message-orientation. In the last 75 years, Bollywood made about 9200 films. Tollywood made 6200 films while Kollywood made about 6300 films. But nowhere is the manipulation of film fans more rampant than in Tollywood – this especially happens at a level where most fans connect so emotionally well with their heroes but are often overlooked when it comes to proper guidance about their career interests and long-term life goals. Right from the time of ANR and NTR to Krishna and Shobanbabu and Krishnamraju to Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna to the new crop of Gennext superstars, it’s the fans who are being exploited in the selfish pursuit of mega success that heroes get at the cost of substantial sacrifice of the film fans. No doubt, the madness has reduced, but at a basic level – at the level where the audio is release or the coconuts are broken at the morning show or the day before the release when cutouts are mounted to suit the inflated egos of these heroes, there are still many fans who are hapless and gullible – it is their savings and their precious time and their family sacrifices which are invested into the present market value of the heroes and their clans – and the system is self-perpetuating. The wisest fans are the metro crowds and the NRI crowds who moved on in life. The examples of how heroes egg their fans to rush for first day first show tickets, some of them getting crushed, some of them committing suicides gets a lot of pathos.

“Genius” is good in parts and is watchable once and despite the “A” certificate which is given because of the revenge-orientation of the story, it is decent. What is not well-researched is the psyche of the cricket fan and the political fan – the volunteer. Those could have been better analysed and projected. Music by Joshua Sridhar is quite soothing and I have been following his music since the movie “Prema” was released – he is a music director who is attempting to break new sound barriers without sacrificing melody which is the lynchpin of long-lasting music. I will give this movie 3 on 5 because it is reasonably well-made, holds out powerful messages that can strike a chord and has good technical, performance and family values.

"Onamaalu" Movie Review (Telugu)

"Onamaalu" in Telugu is an expression used for learning the first letters of the alphabet in school. It is the latest film starring veteran actor Rajendra Prasad. He is an actor who has always had a time-neutral following from NRIs and Indian Residents alike because of associating himself with the most celebrated directors of creative cinema. He has worked with Bapu, Vamshi, Jandhyala, EVV, Krishna Reddy and Krishna Vamshee and has starred in some of the most preciously-revered DVD films of all time in Tollywood. According to me, his defining work in the second avatar as a mature, aged artiste came in the last four films - One, was "Aa Naluguru" (literally means, "those four people who carry our corpse after we are gone"). Second, "Mee Sreyobhilaashi" ("Your Well-Wisher"). Third, "Quick Gun Murugan" (which became a flippant Hollywood co-production that got him international fame). "Ayyare" came and went, but not so much adulation greeted him because he was hardly present in the first half. Now, "Onamaalu" is a fitting fifth film that will enshrine Rajendra Prasad forever in the hearts of Telugu audience. It is a different film and requires a context and patience thats hard to come by in today's multiplex and theatre-controlled environment where the big star movies alone run.

What's the story all about? Its about the scorching pace of Urbanisation and its undermining influence on the source of our values rooted in village. So, Rajendra Prasad is a retired master who gives holistic value-based education in a village in AP and trains batch after batch of students. He is happy being part of a village ecosystem where everyone from Sarpanch to the Post-master live in simple living and high thinking and more importantly, benevolent sharing of the good and the bad, rising above religious and sectarian difference. Time flies and we cut to the scene where, after the passing of his wife Kalyani, he is persuaded to re-locate to the US with his son's family. As he yearns to come back to re-visit his roots in the village, he returns only to find the idealistic world of his former village turned upside down - mass migration of the young generation, deserted look at the school where he taught and apathy of the village folks to what's going on at large. Technology drift has put a spanner in most careers like that of a postman and the teacher, while there's no more large-heartedness of the people and the rustic charms were visibly absent. Does he recreate the old magic? Can he connect with today's generation in loving their roots and going back to the source? That takes the brief climax of the film in a narrative that's reasonably good with occasional flashbacks and cross-flashbacks - take it like "pitta kathalu" (short-story within long story).

There are some hard-hitting dialogues by Mohd Khadeer Babu on the current scenario of nuclear families, hitech lives with low-touch approach, our continuous debasement of everything traditional thinking its not modern.Director K.Kranthi Madhav has characterised well a gentle story of a teacher who teaches all his pupils to be good samaritans without caring about monetary gains. The highlight of the film is the flashback with one batch of pupils taught by Rajendra Prasad - who are quite apart from each other but end up with the value system thats fallen on deaf ears today. Koti has given excellent songs and BGM score. He lifts off the tunes from Adimieus and "Secret Garden" albums, embellishes them with Indian instrumentation to give a memorable feel to the mood of the film. If you want to see a different film with some preachy content, the film will surprise you with the depth and the tearsjerker - you will have to use the handkerchief many times - the content is that touching even if sometimes didactic. Movie length is ideal for the theme - just 125 minutes in all. But watching the film made me nostalgic about the village life. Its heartening to see some memorable old artists like Giri Babu and Chalapathi Rao get meaty and affectionate roles. Rajendra Prasad steals the thunder, yet again  - he has reinvented himself to stay relevant for the times. Comedy is intertwined with the narrative and quite okay.

There are some exceptional scenes in the film which promote tolerance of all religions. No wonder, most sectarian violence or acts of religious hatred and bigotry happen outside of villages in India Today, in cities and towns, hardly ever in villages. The movie also makes fantastic commentary on the generation of NRIs and RIs who, on one hand, send off their kids to opulent schools without knowing what they teach and whether what they teach is relevant to our society or not. On the other hand, they either pack off their parents to Retirement Homes or Old Age Homes or send them lumpsum remittances to upend their maintenance needs while staying apart. The result: they are running away from the source of their origins (parents) and making kids alienated from the very source that made their worlds. Both these trends are gnawing at the roots. There are some soul-searching questions on what constitutes modernity and what is the end-use of all modern-day-living which will go well with the elite. Powerful statements are made on the way some hi-tech schools teach our kids - that milk actually comes in sachets, water actually originates in bottles and rice comes in sacks. Many years ago, Uncle Anant Pai told us that it is important to know the route to your roots through the history and value system thats relevant in India - thats what got him interested to combat the onslaught of Marvel comics  - of Batman and Phantom and Superman comics with relevant and man-making content of Indian stories through Amar Chitra Katha. This movie is closest to that attempt on celluloid. Though there have been movies like "Devasthaanam" etc. in recent past, this movie is more effective. But I doubt, producer and director Kranti Madhav will make enough money. But some movies are always made with the heart- not with an eye on satellite rights. A movie like "Aa Naluguru" or "Sankarabharanam" was never made with a lucrative motive - that they are still watched and count amongst classics is all that matters. Watch this movie too with that expectation - it is far better than "Devasthaanam" because Rajendra Prasad, unlike SPB doesn't over-act. And it makes far more relevant points, despite being didactic.