Interview with Nani, the Natural Star

My interview with Nani:

https://www.telugu360.com/interview-with-nani-gentleman-movie/

"Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gadha" (Telugu Film Review)

My review:

https://www.telugu360.com/kvpg-analysis-career-peak-for-nani/

"Bhale Bhale Mogadivoi" (Telugu Film Review)

My review of Bhale Bhale Magadivoi:

http://www.telugu360.com/bbm-non-stop-family-entertainer-with-loads-of-comedy/

"Evade Subramanyam" (Telugu Movie Review)

Nani's new film releases had seen so much drama amidst the confusion created by release of two films of the same hero on the same day. The last time this happened was for Balakrishna's film which saw release of two films "Nippu Ravva'' and "Bangaru  Bullodu" on the same day. "Nippu Ravva" was released in 12 out of 25 main theatres in Hyderabad and both became hits. Nani is not so lucky, he has no Godfathers, he was a Radio Jockey and married his beau some time back - the girl is the grand daughter of legendary journalist Khasa Subba Rau, thats all. In the morning, when I went to "Jenda Pai Kapi Raju" first, the multiplex returned my money saying the show was cancelled because the producer didn't release the print yet. Then we booked for ES movie.

ES turned out to be one of the most soul-stirring,  beautiful films ever made in Tollywood - and the experience of watching a director Nag Ashwin tell a story of friendship, romance and adventure of finding out one's true purpose in life has been rewarding. In 145 minutes, the director takes us on a magical tale of self-discovery that connects to most human beings who mistake their jobs for life, chase materialistic dreams and neglect the self within that never stops asking searching questions. The story is unusual for a commercial film especially in the way nutty delights churned out in crass and zombie plots of Tollywood: Nani is an IIM graduate who is a fast-rising corporate executive, a cerebral and cut-throat investment banker who is baited by Nazar, owner of a growing seeds company to buy out all the shareholders of a rival Seeds company run by a man with unimpeachable morality - Krishnam Raju. Nazar tempts Nani with even an offer to give his daughter Ritu Varma in marriage to him if he succeeds. Nani almost succeeds but the sellers do a U-turn. Nani finally approaches Krishnam Raju to cash out of the company with loads of money but being a man of principles he disagrees. Back to square one, Nani has a final warning from Nazar - either get the company shares back or both  the carrot and the sweetner of his daughter are off. At this juncture, Nani's childhood best friend Vijay Devarakonda enters the scene  - he has been an adventure-seeker and an iconoclast all through the growing years - he sees life as job and doesn't see through the paradigms of a 9 to 5 career-seeker, he takes risks every second and goes out of way to help people in distress. The two long-time friends bump into a third party who is just like Vijay - bindaas and backpacking good-samaritan. They make an odd three-ball but soon there is a twist in the film  - the girl is someone who can bail out Nani out of his current dilemma - she holds a lakh shares of the most crucial "Class-A" shareholders of the Seed Company. Vijay rekindles an old dream of making a trek to Doodh Kashi, high up in the Himalayas. Will Nani make it ? Who make it finally? Does Nani change? What happens to the Krishnam Raju's company finally? Does he lose out his company? Who will Nani marry finally? Questions galore - and a riveting narrration albeit  a bit slow scores convincing answers to all the Qs.

Tollywood should salute the film for the breadth of the canvass covered in this visual treat covering a story that gives you goosebumps at many places. It is a spiritual film finally as it connects with the concepts of what determines our career choices, our values, our financial goals decoupled with notions of enjoyment and coupled with delayed gratification. This is not for the faint-hearted in the sense those who believe in structured ways of building wealth that covers the Templeton Plan of building retirement nest egg. The director speaks innately to voices that brew in most people who live pipe-dreams and stop living in the moment. Nani gives a fluent performance that shows the cascade of a memorable character from a "caterpillar" to a "butterfly". After "Pilla Zamindar", this is the movie that delivers for Nani. It's a pity that none of the ruling big producers and distributors picked the tab for the film. Malavika Nair who debuts in the film  shows promise of a new star  - she has glamor and sparkle to ooze intelligence and class with her looks. Vijay Devarakonda essays the most memorable role in the film as the starry-eyed youth who breathes fire into his one-liners and lives life like a child - his character sashays  the crux of the message that the director wants us to take home. Krishnam Raju gives a neat performance, his lines and character stand out after a long time - infact, his dialogues haunt you for whatever they are worth. All others who do a cameo including Prathap Pothan and Sowcar Janaki come out good. The freshness of the starcast  is a new high for Tollywood - you don't see this happening often - right from the child artistes to the adults who played the weighty roles, you can see the spark. One wonders why the directors and the casting directors don't think so fresh instead of typecasting the same people again and again like over-used balls in death overs. Music by Radhan is not spectacular but every song gives you new sounds. By borrowing one of Ilaiyaraja's most famous songs as the romance track between Nani and Malavika without remixing much, Radhan shows class and creativity. Even the BGM is above-par for a fresh composer. Cinematography and other technical crew's output give the film a backpush into higher orbit. The film has humor hidden in almost every scene without the director making efforts; because of the narrative, the audience may miss it here and there. Producer Priyanka Dutt deserves appreciation for backing a film that is not a leaf out of regular films which her dad Aswini Dutt produced. How often do you get a Clean U Certificate Telugu film that too on a Ugadi?  You miss this movie, you miss a part of yourself and history in the making. Watching this film will make you wince at all the regular greats you greet in Tollywood with epithets like "creative director", "magician of words" and feel sympathies for the superstars of Tollywood who can't risk their careers on scripts like this.  Although this is the first film, director Nag Ashwin shows class and caliber  in making a film that doesn't bore you but leaves you happy and fulfilled with remarkable clarity. "Evade Subramanyam" is Tollywood's answer to critics of zombie movies. Hope it heralds a new era of hope and promise.

Rating: 4.25/5

#MovieReviews #EvadeSubramanyam #Nani #ActorNani #Tollywood #NagAshwin #Radhan #MalvikaNair #Vijaydevarakonda

"Aaha Kalyanam" Telugu Film Review

"Aaha Kalyanam" is the second film of Nani to release in a fortnight. After the debacle of "Paisa", expectations were high for this film because it is coming from the second-most powerful production house in the country - Yash Raj Films  - with interests in home videos, music, domestic and overseas distribution rights etc. Yash Raj Films has produced this film as a bilingual in Telugu and Tamil with the same starcast  - Nani and Vani Kapoor playing the lead pair played in the original "Band Baaja Baaraat" by Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma. The original was a sensation that created stars out of both the Hindi actors. This film is Yash Raj Films' first foray into Telugu and Tamil. 

Story

The story is replicated without a frame being altered: Shakti (Nani) bumps into Shruti Subramanyam (Vani Kapoor) at a wedding reception. Shruti is keen to learn the trade of wedding planner and in a tiff with market leader (Simran) starts her own firm focusing on wedding plans called "Gatti Melam". She admits Shakti as a partner on condition that they do not mix romance with finance. However, one fine night, in a frenzy of success celebrations, passions flare up with both as they end up cosying in bed. Their attitudes change afterwards and soon they split to start individual agencies. Business suffers as their complementary skill sets no longer support each other. In the grand finale, both of them team up again for a wedding  on the insistence of a client who knows them since inception. They succeed in making the wedding a success and make a hard stop at expressing their love for each other. Happy ending for a couple who look good on screen - both Vani Kapoor and Nani.

Performances

Nani as the guy who runs through a roller-coaster of emotions delivers well with his effortless acting and high-variety voice modulation. As a former World Space radio jockey, he is one of the few actors who embellishes his characterisation with exceptional dubbing that gives depth to his voice.  His performance in the climax scene is worth the wait as he mixes it up with emotions and jokes well. 

Vani Kapoor is quite a glamorous find who is at ease in her role even if she lacks the vivacity of Anushka Sharma. She looks good in all the costumes but evidently has a typical North-Indian appeal. Her face resembles strikingly with Meenakshi Seshadri and Ankita in one face. At times, she dominates Nani which is a rare thing because Nani steals the show with heroines most. Simran as the industry leader makes a good comeback in a cameo. The rest of the starcast is nondescript and unknown - YRF has picked  anonymous actors which might have made the film less dramatic.

How Good is the film?

"Aaha Kalyanam" despite a rich baggage, banner pedigree, tested story that aced up the box office in the original and a lead pair that sizzles is a big dud and having seen the original, the fault may lie entirely on the YRF banner besides the lack of chemistry between Nani and Vani Kapoor. Firstly, the original storyline had lot of sizzle in typical Punjabi language which got lost in translation by dialogue writer Sashank Vennelakanti. The dialogues are  insipid,  written with military precision not emotional value that appeals to masses. Often, the editing of the film is flaky and at crucial scenes like Simran provoking Nani and Vani or when they take up assignments or separate into different units, the narrative turns abrupt.  

Two, entire sequences of the film have Tamil flavor rather than a Telugu touch. If this film is a remake of BBB, why couldn't YRF make a remake in Telugu instead of dubbing the film from Tamil? This is a big mistake because at several places, you don't get a feeling of involvement because everybody is a Tamil except the lead pair. There were four weddings or wedding receptions shown in the film and not one of them is a Telugu wedding. Infact, one gets a feeling there are two Tamil weddings, a muslim wedding (which was interesting and well-shot) and a Malayalam wedding but not a single Telugu attire is shown. At another place, where the families are visiting the wedding planner firm, there are four couples all of them wearing traditional Tamil or Kerala dress. With two assistant directors helping him,  director A Gokul Krishna could have done better in adaptation. Simply changing the registration plates of vehicles plying on the scene is not enough dubbing, YRF should have take better care. 

Three, YRF has been distributing Hindi films in AP as Vandana Films for the past 30 years. It would have understood the pulse of the local market better because in the past films like "Chandni" and "DDLJ" and "Dil to Pagal Hai" have been dubbed into Telugu with mixed success. Proper dubbing would have ensured the film registers well with the masses and the classes. Even the name of "Gatti Melam" appears as "Getti Melam" a couple of times.

Four, except for the climax song which mixes up the mannerisms and dialogues of three superstars  - Mahesh Babu, Prabhas and Rajinikanth, the film moves with a routine straight-lift of the Hindi original giving sometimes predictability in the second half. Hindi sensibilities are quite different from those of Telugu and the production team should have reflected them. 

Five, in 143 minutes, there is no comic relief as it is the story that sucks you in, no punchlines or typical adaptations that would have enhanced the cinematic experience for the mass Telugu viewer. It may be pertinent to note that an year back, Nandini Reddy made a film starring Siddharth and Samantha "Jabardast" which liberally borrowed the basic concept of BBB and made it into a loud entertaining film, which failed to click at the box office. This film by YRF, however, does justice to the basic plot but fails to hold the attention of the viewer with a non-native touch that is insensitive to the demands of two Telugu states who eat, drink and sleep entertaining movies. 

Lastly, Nani is a talented actor who seem to have been stopped by the iron-clad rules of YRF when they make films. Because of the loyalty to the script and story by Maneesh Sharma, Nani was not given much leeway in improvising his performance to get a few good laughs. His potential got capped in this film which could undermine its reception at the BO.

What's good

Technically, the film has outstanding production values. Cinematography is brilliant and captures the mood of the weddings in colorful variety with minimal deviations - the camera is faithful to the narrative and characterisations of the  principal  characters in the film and delivers a visual feast. Music by Dharani Kumar is another high. While the original score of BBB was composed by Salim- Suleiman, Kumar composes a few hummable songs that stand out, especially "No one dancing here" which was also choreographed well by Brinda. BGM by Kumar also shows command over instrumentation and rhythm. Director A Gokul Krishna extracts decent output from all the sundry cast and presents a blockbuster story in its most faithful format, perhaps insisted by a production house which is testing waters in the South but some dilution in the plot to accomodate Telugu nativities would have worked wonders in this clean film which brings a breath of fresh air for its contemporary plot, decent fare, rich production values, family fare without an iota of lewdity, violence and intimacy (except in one crucial pre-interval scene of passion). There is no villain, no stunts, no item dance and no multiple-meaning dialogues. For the quality of the film and the message of being positive and being entrepreneurial, the film deserves atleast an average rating of 2.5 on 5. Because of the ineptness of adapting it locally to the vernacular sensibilities, the film fails to rise above that. If you have seen the original, you needn't miss this one. But for those who have not seen the original, you will be drawn to the film.