"Akhanda" (Telugu Film Review)

 

“Akhanda” (streaming on Hotstar) is worth the wait for Balayya fans who didn’t dare go near the theaters. A perfect Boyapeeti Seenu mark movie with all the right notes about woman power, climate control and those incredulous, blood-curdling, surreal stunts in slow-motion. Balakrishna shows restraint and composure in both the characters elevating the two roles of a farmer and an Aghori. Screenplay is concise and taut, and dialogues hit the bull’s eye for Balayya fans besides making a point about Hindu culture’s new-age recalcitrance. Music by Thaman is the soul of the film; take it away, and most of the Akhanda’s phenomenal screen-presence would have fallen flat. What can subtract the film is the over-dose of physical violence- when in fact, a brilliant opportunity was lost to showcase the spiritual and the subtle powers of Aghori played by “Akhanda”. 

 

Overall, performances by Poorna, Srikant, Pragnya, Jagapathi Babu give good support to another powerful performance by Balayya. If only some of the stunts got subtler or even cut out at the editing table, the second half would have been more engaging in this 167 minute extravaganza. Still, "Akhanda" lapped up more adulation in Telugu states than "Pushpa" in the way it showed larger-than-life effects without lowering the dignity of women. 

 

A few years from now on, "Akhanda" will be remembered for the taut screenplay and straighter narration sans humour, of telling an improbable story of an Aghori inserted in the most unthinkable way as a twin. Music by SS Thaman will be remembered for the burdens of interpreting the world of mendicants meditating upside down in his own fusion style music which has layers of mantras, strings, and techno plug-ins blended into one long spell of Buddha-bar-resembling sound tracks. It lacks the simplicity we saw of Thaman in the whole of 2020 and most of 2021 but what can he do if the idiom demanded it?

 

My rating: 3.25/5

"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

"Bruce Lee" Movie Review (Telugu)

My review:

https://www.telugu360.com/bruce-lee-nothing-striking/

"BruceLee" (Audio Review)

My take on "BruceLee" audio and on music of SS Thaman and on Ramcharan's choice of music in films:

http://www.telugu360.com/brucelee-audio-trendy-and-technobeat/

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/

"Pandaga Chesko" (Telugu Movie Review)

The movies in 80s mostly are about hero dancing with the heroine on the slopes of Ooty or Kodaikanal and then wear a disguise and get into the dens of the villain and tame him. Hundreds of films are mostly about this theme which now seem ad nauseum. In the 90s, Tollywood followed the "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun" formula with films like "Ninne Pelladithaa" for many films until the audience clamored for new ways of story-telling. That came through Sreenu Vaitla's team with movies like "Dhee" in the 2000s and perfected with "Ready". The dizzy cinematic experience of watching a romantic couple unite two disjointed families and rekindling affections for each other has been primed to perfection with "Atharintiki Daaredi" - which crossed Rs.100 crores. That means the plot is beaten to death. But PK's protege on screen, a portly and smartphone version of Pawan Kalyan, Ravi Teja and Mahesh Babu - Ram continues the tedium of the plot mixed in all these movies aforesaid in "Pandaga Chesko" and gives us one of the most cliched and low-energy entertainers of the year. 

The story is exactly like "Atharintiki Daaredi". Ram is a multi-billion dollar scion of a family in Portugal about to marry a business partner Sonal Chauhan that will create a mega conglomerate. On the verge of marriage, his organisation gets slapped by a notice to cease the Indian factory on a PIL from GreenEnergy (Or Greenpeace?) headed by Rakul Preet Singh who cares for the environment more than Al Gore and Dalai Lama. Rakul Preet Singh, at home, gets divided between  a doting father Sampath  and an affectionate uncle SaiKumar who were once thick friends but we gather,  later, become estranged because of Sai's involvement in the elopement of Sampath's daughter with Rao Ramesh. Ram is born to that wedlock and hence has to come back to atone for the misunderstanding and re-unite the families sparring in hatred. How Ram tames the ugly side of his uncles and gets the family rooting for each other is the second half. 

The film runs to 162 minutes length enough to bore you out because neither the story-telling nor the jokes are anything new. Director Gopichand who made films like "Don Seenu" has shown his capability hasn't embraced higher levels of cinema despite the penmanship of Kona Venkat. Kona's dialogues hardly fire with a few pistol shots here and there. Performances by Sai Kumar, Sampath stand out. Brahmanandam clearly is struggling to fire up despite one of the longest roles in recent times - he shows right in the beginning and stays till the end. Brahmi's characterisation is a travesty of modern sensibilities of Tollywood. He is seen leching at heroine, happening more frequently in Telugu films. Can you ever imagine the greats like Padmanabham, Raja Babu, Relangi act voyeuristically and get laughs and respect. Film makers should note this approach is the beginning of the end of Brahmanandam. MS Narayana, lucky to see more of him but since he has passed out before dubbing his own trademark voice, the voiceover does only half justice to his impact. Yet, he has a key important role which gets few laughs. 

Music by Thaman sounds deja vu but somehow gives the sole energy that is lacking in a Ram film. His peppy music alongwith Sameer Reddy's cinematography are the two bright spots of the film. Sonal Chauhan actually outsizzles Rakul Preet Singh in the film with her looks, and glamor. Rakul cannot act beyond her pouts and angry looks and too much exposure with too many heroes is going to undermine her long-term sustainability. Ram  is a super-suave hero and metrosexual to the core but his energy levels have dropped in this film. He concentrated more on his looks and dances rather than performance which is usually in sync with his good looks. Except for one more climactic outburst, Ram the actor is invisible throughout but if you want to see what power-dressing is all about Ram's dress sense takes the cake.  Comedy is cliched and fails to create big impact moments despite a rich talent. On the whole, the movie is not novel, the treatment nothing new and the screenplay average - Tollywood will be better the sooner it comes out of this tried Mayabazar screenplay trappings.

Rating: 2.5/5

#PandagaChesko #MovieReviews #SridharSattirajuReviews #Ram #RakulPreetSingh #SSThaman #Tollywood #TelugufilmReviews

"Masala" Telugu Film Review

Masala is a ridiculous film with retrograde humour imported from Bollywood's hit film "Bol Bacchan". Infact, its a remake of the same film made by Rohit Shetty. In Telugu, quite a few big names got associated with the remake - Suresh Productions, Victory Venkatesh (plays Ajay Devgn), Ram (plays Abhishek Bacchan) and the female leads, played by Anjali and Shahzad Pudamjee. Directed by K Vijaybhaskar, who was the titular head in most of the hit films enriched by the vigorous penmanship of Trivikram Srinivas. 

The story is set in a village called Bhimarajapuram where Venkatesh is the chieftain who settles disputes and lords over the village folk. Posani Krishna Murali is the antagonist to Venkatesh. Into this village enter Ram and his sister Anjali, who lose their house and savings in a court dispute. Ram tells one lie after another to win the trust of Venkatesh, that he has a lookalike brother, a mother who has a lookalike and so on. The drift of the story is all stretching this absurdity further and making Venkatesh a joker in the pack led to believe all the drivel that Ram and his gang dish out. A comedy of errors is what unfolds as  the story moves in garrulous overtones of cheap drama with just a few good laughs and a banal ending. 

Venkatesh provides the good laughs in the film with his Butler English. Infact, that is the only saving grace of the film and but for that, most of the plot is crass and unequal to the standards of Telugu film comedy seen in recent times. Telugu film comedy is far superior to the levels of no-brainer comedy imported by the remake of the Hindi film and its an insult to the audience. Anjali, who looked so bright and promising in SVSC has a forgettable role in the film. Ram who plays the twin shades of a Gay metrosexual and an innocent youth carries off well. 

Venkatesh, despite a frivolous role that doesn't elevate his stature or earmark his career with the portrayal as a village don. He pulls off a fiery performance despite the shortfalls in the characterisation. He has the best lines in the film and what he speaks in English should make this film a brand ambassador for Russell's Spoken English. Here are some of the best lines which are the only paisa vasool in the film. "Today, I want everybody down to earth." "It is not hell, it is pine apple." "Let's give her a supervise (surprise)." "What a family hysteria." (history). "I want one night stand with your family." "I suspect all religions." (respect). "Take my sarees." (sorrys). "Please pest control yourself." "Shut up in the mouth and get out of the house.". "Without interest, I trust you." "Honesty is the best mutual policy," (you mean, mutual fund or insurance policy?) "Bloody burgar take him to jail." "You are my brother in law please become my sister's umbrella." "Cat under my hand, searching the whole motherland". "This is not normal marriage sir, this is pot exchange marriage." And finally, he says,"Watch the climax in my IMAX". Jayaprakash Reddy is the only other character who fires salvos and heightens the impact of Venkatesh's faulty one-liners ("My English better than the British!") by riposting as "Horrible Sir Horrible Sir! or "Bull Shit Sir Bull Shit Sir!). 

Music by SS Thaman is average and could have been better. Duration of the film is 140 minutes and but for the dialogues by Venkatesh, it would have been a tastless comedy. 2.5 out of 5.

"Greeku Veerudu" Telugu Film Review

"Greeku Veerudu" is a rehash of past films and despite  familiar tweaks, is going to be a forgettable film of Nagarjuna. Nag is a vagabond businessman in America who only believes in living life without commitments and value for relationships. His philistine ways land him in a financial mess, and he suddenly gets a missed call from his native place in AP to let his ailing grandmother catch last glimpses of him. He takes off with Nayanatara who happens to be his bete noire's (Aashish Vidyarthi) sister. The sparks fly and Nag ropes her in to play his wife. The family bonds with him and he makes amends with some familiar drama. I have never seen a film where a director (Dasaradh) has cannibalised so many of his own films  - "Sambaram", "Santosham", "Mr.Perfect" in order to create an umpteenth version of sentimental, sick family drama. He has remixed a few of scenes of "Athadu" and "Manmadhudu". The travails of the film do not end there and I will spare you the onslaught I faced for 150 minutes with a feeble mention of the tortures inflicted.

They used what is called "Demat" (sounds like a Stock Exchange term) technology to shoot sequences in US - New York and San Francisco. But what I noticed in credits is a mere mention of Zurich Airport whereas most of the American shots are all floor-adjusted in a clearly visible frame looking out of sync. For example, the Statue of Liberty is shown as a fixed shot but it looks dangerously similar to our own Tank Bund Buddha statue. NASA space centre is shown with graphics like you are floating in Birla Planetorium. Entire sequences are shown with backgrounds suggesting Europe (must be in Switzerland) but the background is meant to be in the US. It is obvious that producer of Kamakshi Movies - good friend of Nag - has cut corners with everything to give the sloppiest film of his career. Despite his 800-calorie diet and botox injections, Nag looks woefully old like never before in this movie which has an oft-beat role of lover boy-turns-saint. His body language also looks inept - in some scenes with Nayanatara and K.Vishwanath, he doesn't know what to do with his hands - the typical dilemma of a public speaker. Comedy with MS Narayana and Brahmanandam is inspid because Dasaradh uses an over-familiar terrain to crack lewd jokes and cheap tricks with Kovai Sarala in remix of blockbuster duets. When a director is overawed by the starcast and a Superstar, he will get a performance worthy of rotten tomatoes. Thats the bane of this film - something that fan-serving websites and star-struck reviewers will never accept. Watch it if you are a hardcore fan  - atleast there are a few good songs and one by S.P.B in which he creates new steps. For others, including Nayanatara and Kota and Brahmanandam and MS Narayana and Aashish Vidyarthi, this is not going to be a film to remember. Thaman SS scores a few good songs but seven songs will breed contempt in a film elongated with needless sequences, lazy shots, cheap photography and deadpan dialogues. It should be a below-average film that deserves no better than 2 out of 5.

"Shadow" Film Review (Telugu)

"Shadow" is one of the most-publicised films of Victory Venkatesh. The publicity was imperative because in an era of fast-changing tastes of the audience, Venkatesh has fallen way behind both in terms of recent content and record. His films were becoming monotonous and shallow - the same family drama, trump-like character played by Venky, out to sacrifice his lover at the altar of marriage with another, and then the banal ending sometimes happy and sometimes sad - he even slashed his tongue in a film. No wonder, for the last year's Sankranti, his "Bodyguard" became a washout and couldn't stand the onslaught of "Businessman". Earlier in 2013, he co-starred with Mahesh Babu in "SVSC" which became a classic hit re-starting the trend in multistarrers. But his market-cap was clearly on the wane, he got paid a mere Rs.3 crores for the blockbuster while his co-star walked away with Rs.8.5 crs. (which was more than the satellite rights earned for the entire film Rs.7 crs. won by Gemini TV). Venky and Nagarjuna, who entered Tollywood a good decade or so after Megastar Chiranjeevi never could reach the dizzy heights of either Chiranjeevi or afterwards the range of box-office collections achieved by the likes of Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, Ramcharan and Allu Arjun. Venky and Nag might have touched a bare Rs.30 crs. if you count all the multiplex price collections and openings overseas. 

Why am I plodding on such long preface in a film review of "Shadow"? Thats because, given such a background, Venkatesh tries to don a different role in every sense. It has a negative shade but is positively highlighted in a manner that fits his body language and persona. "Shadow" directed by Meher Ramesh ("Billa" fame) shows Venky in a dashing new Avatar that could be lapped up by his thick-like audiences. It shows him as a multi-masked hero who  comes in different getups to finish off each villain responsible for the killing of his father Nagababu. Each time, he uses a different manner of slaying the villains from Shinde to Aditya Pancholi. How does he do it? By tail-gating Srikanth, a cop who almost nabs the villain only to pip him at the post.  Quite a fast-paced narration and gripping story with a few pointless excursions into comedy that sucks and a passable light-hearted love track with Tapsi. On the whole, what sustains the film is a commanding narrative with an occasional comedy by MS Narayana to give relief. Venkatesh, contrary to what the press and twitterati lambast, is quite good in the many costumes and hairdos. He remains the same rugged, tough-looking Venky of the earlier years, even if age catches up with him. A dignified swagger, controlled heroism, and stunning stunts make Venky a treat to watch. The composer of the season, SS Thaman scores peppy and trendy music including a haunting BGM  that uplifts the film and moves the narration. Picturisation of the songs and choreography by Raju Sundaram is quite a treat to watch. Srikanth and Tapsi hold their own in a film which tries to show Venky in his full-blooded range in all frames. Aditya Pancholi is an impactful villain whose dubbing lets his screen presence down. MS Narayana gets a few laughs with Krishna Bhagwan though he gets repetitive later. His jibes at casteism by commentating on a character called KammaReddy KapuRaju is hilarious.  Meher Ramesh's strengths are in slick direction, moving narrative and good editing (unlike in "Shakti"). He seems at home in shooting sequences in Malaysia, maybe he bootstraps the film's budget with grants from Malaysian Government to promote tourism. What bores the film is the insincere characterisation of Venky as "Chanti" before interval. 

Every actor goes through a hump in a career that gets truncated by invasions from nextgen of actors. Venkatesh, who has had an amazing run of box-office successes has given some of the most-watched Telly films in Tollywood with a selection of themes that appeals to family audiences and loyal audiences. There have been worse films in the past but "Shadow" is definitely worth a watch as I found it slick, riveting and different from the last five films done by Venky. It is not as bad as many reviewers have rubbished it to be. I am a fan of Tollywood, not a fan of Venkatesh and feel that everybody deserves a second-chance  and change of image - whether it is Balayya, Chiranjeevi, Mahesh, NTR Jr. or Prabhas or Nagarjuna. An actor like Venkatesh  deserves better reviews for "Shadow". It was a paisa vasool for all of us who watched the film. 3.25/5 it deserves.

"Badshah" film review (Telugu)

Badshah" heralds the second big season of Tollywood with a swooshing sound of big-scale entertainment in the school of direction of Sreenu Vaitla and his style of family values - atleast four villains and seven side-kicks, a bigger family of character actors, a hero who is never bigamous, a heroine who falls for the hero easily only to be beguiled, an epic, almost explosive spraying of comedy scenes usually inter-linked with the story by the one and only Brahmanandam. This pattern of film-making has been remarkably patented by Sreenu Vaitla especially from the film "Ready" till "Dookudu". Each time, the under-currents were the same only the backdrop changed.  

In "Badshah", he tries to salvage NTR Jr.'s chequered career so far to give him a new cut-out which may go down well with his fans. He lets him keep the reel name his grandfather gave him - N.T.Rama Rao and weaves plenty of screenplay twists to make a career-high for him although it appears tedious at times. 

160 minutes should be an editor's delight but hardly a viewer's delight. Since the editors must have gone napping and Sreenu Vaitla makes films in the conventional three-act format, he cannot get to the main point without moving linearly from the previous watermarks in the frames he releases for us to make a sense of all the drama and melodrama. He needs something different everytime to make audiences drool over his largely endearing universal brand of entertainment, so this time he gives NTR switch into two variations: One, as a police officer who infiltrates a mafia from Italy to Macau and later, as a wedding planner in India who spoils the party for his lover about to marry someone else. Lot of characters get thrown in to pad up the whole storyline till the end - collapsing all the elements and the emotional highs and lows Sreenu Vaitla wants us to experience including some meaningless and boring stunts - the worst in NTR's films. 

Is the film watchable? For a large part yes and thats because of the devastating comedy scenes between MS Narayana and NTR and Kajol in the first half and later, between Brahmanandam and Nazar and MS Narayana in the second half. If you thought "Dookudu" was the ultimate in Brahmanandam comedy, seriously, watch "Badshah". Brahmanandam steals the thunder yet again in one of his most boisterous performances till date. MS Narayana, Vennela Kishore and Nazar too add to the outstanding comedy track in the film which are the sole highlight of the film. Kajol Agarwal is fading out fast and probably getting burnt out with her ho-hum expressions. NTR Jr. gets his best shot at dialogue delivery in just one or two scenes and excels in dance sequences. His Telangana accent is better than the slick expressions as a Mafia Don. Like many heroes hungry for box-office success in the past, NTR Jr. pulls out all the stops to make himself count amongst the contenders for the top slot. He ropes in the best comedy duo Brahmi and MSN to sizzle with their rapturous chemistry, a vintage medley of old NTR clubsongs (, and some splendid locations to give audience the variety even though the story itself is not that novel and an in-form SS Thaman to score trendy music (though forgettable). He even ropes in two stars and a superstar to bring him  luck - Actors Siddharth and Navdeep in brief roles and Mahesh Babu to give the commentary. Sreenu Vaitla does a clean job in his KV Reddy style of film-making  - a rollercoaster ride of emotions but lags at a lot of places. Writers Gopi Mohan and Kona Venkat give some memorable lines. Sreenu Vaitla should know that every director who relies on excessive screenplay and comedy without variety hits a glass ceiling one day. It happened with great directors of comedy genre like Jandhyala, EVV, Krishna Reddy, Siva Nageshwar Rao and Mouli. "Badshah" may be a paisa vasool film for now but if Sreenu Vaitla doesn't re-invent himself, he is a few films away from becoming ad nauseum. NTR Jr. should relax if this film becomes a hit for all the sweat equity - it is not his sweat but so what it nudges him to better days still. I rate it 3.5 on 5 for the hilarity of Brahmanandam.

"Naayak" Telugu Movie Review

“Nayak” starring RamCharan is a sensational winner and a film worthy of duel under the “Sun”kranti. Sankranti is the grand-mother of Tollywood movies and is not for the faint-hearted. Even the best of stars don’t take a shy at the stumps for Sankranti because of the weight of expectations and the stakes riding on the season. It is the equivalent of Diwali for Kollywood and Bollywood, but unlike Bollywood, Tollywood Sankranti separates men from the boys because there will be a clash of atleast two, if not three or four star-studded films. This little intro is for setting the tone for the year and “Nayak” proves to be an auspicious start for Tollywood. It has all the elements of entertainment – a rising star of a Megastar, romance, drama sans melodrama, villainy that justifies heroism, twists in the interval that shakes you up and comedy that is of an unprecedented scale, plenty of action and glamor of two cute heroines – Kajol and Amala Paul. Well-directed by veteran VV Vinayak.

The story is not dramatically different from dual-role stories in which Tollywood has taken a world patent. Set in Kolkata, Cherry is a happy-go lucky software engineer who falls in love  with Kajol. His side-kick is Brahmanandam playing the role of “Jilebi” who bumps into the gang of Rahul Dev and Jayaprakash. In the many romantic twists of the romance between Cherry and Kajol there is another character of Aashish Vidyarthi who is a CBI officer investigating gruesome murders of a goon, a police DIG (think of it!). He thinks it is all the work of Cherry and prepares to nab him next at a pre-announced Kumbh Mela where Pradeep Rawal gets a threat to get killed. At the Kumbh Mela where generally two doubles get lost from each other in olden movies, the bizarre twist that the one who is killing off all the villains is not Cherry, but Naayak, his look-alike. Then a lengthy interval which justifies the violent spree of killing by Naayak of all the guys who wronged him and his brother-in-law’s family. And then the proverbial climax after 160 minutes spaced with six spicy songs, about six to seven slick but needless fights and plenty of comedy from Jayaprakash  Reddy, Posani Krishna Murali, Brahmanandam and MS Narayana.

VV Vinayak is a director who excels in screenplay and story-telling and this is going to be a well-worked out example of his capabilities especially after the debacle of “Badrinath” but what can make his movies a family-draw is an abject reduction of grating violence with sumos, sickles and gunshots. While he has got great narrative grip in giving a story full of twists and flashbacks, he needs to be  a responsible film-maker of family sensitivities and tone down violence. In this film, he inter-mixes a lot of themes from movies like “Tagore”, “Aadi”, “Bunny”(all his films) as well as films like “Sivaji”, “Stalin” and “Businessman”. There are social themes touched upon like child prostitution and child beggary after maiming the children (as shown in “Slumdog Millionaire”). Couple this with violence, and you have a full-blooded “A” certificate. Personally, I feel “A” certificate films mar the fesivity of Sankranti season and should be avoided. But unlike  a movie like “Businessman” released last Sankranti, this film doesn’t have adult-level profanities. What redeems the film from its mediocrities of double-role tamashas seen from the times of “Ramudu-Bheemudu” is the fantastic comedy and entertainment right from the first few minutes. The first fight in a series of never-ending stunts comes only at the fortieth minute so it sets the characters well with the show-stealers being Jayaprakash (this must be his career-best), Posani Krishna Murali (he steals the show in second-half). Brahmanandam, Venu Madhav and MS Narayana have not get the better deal in this film and atleast their characters are not etched out to milk their potential. Ramcharan looks very stylish and “Orange”cool throughout the film and even the mass role of “Naayak” looks classy for him, he probably had the least dialogues in the film as a hero compared to all his previous films. But he proves a point again, that he can dance as well as his dad and his cousin Allu Arjun. All the songs carry  a signature step and a classy twist of a leg. There are so many others dominating in this film that Charan’s space comes only in the songs and fights a few one-liners with  the villains and Kajol. Both Kajol and Amala Paul look passable despite their skimpy clothes and sizzle in the navel. Kajol looks jaded and Amala Paul is guilty of horrible makeup; her lipstick and dressing sense has gone haywire. Aashish Vidyarthi, Kota Srinivasa Rao make their mark in their respective roles. Music by Thaman gives the classy feel to the mass numbers in the album with one song starring item girl Charmmee quite a foot-tapping number. The song remixing “Shubhalekha Raasa” (“Kondaveeti Donga”) is well-shot in Iceland but the song’s interludes are outright copied from the original song by IlayaRaja. I thought the interludes by IlayaRaja have given an iconic status to the song but by copying it fully right through the notes, Thaman  disappointed us. What is the meaning of a remix then?

On the whole, the film is marred  only by excessive violence but carries the day for some extraordinary entertainment and good songs and convincing performances by the entire starcast. Tollywood has patented few themes for eternity and ATM-cash-withdrawal from the box office. Examples, “Yamudu” theme, “Dual Role and sometimes triple role” themes – lost and found kind, “Shakespearan themes” of Taming the shrew/Comedy of errors/King Lear/Macbeth/All’s Well that ends well kind. The dual role concept is given an exhilarating treatment by VV Vinayak who should take a bow with this film. But for the violence in the film which extends the film by atleast 20 minutes, I subtract 0.5 and give the film an above-average 3 out of 5.

"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.

"Bodyguard" Telugu Movie Review

“Bodyguard” is the last of the films made under the same title in every language in South India and also in Hindi. Venkatesh plays the role of “Bodyguard” in Telugu – bodyguard to Trisha Krishnan. The movie’s main weakness is lack of depth in the storyline itself – not much romance can spring up between a bodyguard and his subject, so a romance gets built up out of thin air – Trisha (Her name is “Keerthi” for the third time in this Venky-Trisha combo) keeps calling Venky as a mystery caller and makes him pine for her. The story then goes through the twist in the last half-hour which is the most convincing part of the film. Venky seems to have changed the rules of bodyguard a bit - to induct more of his brand of humor and get more sympathy which is commonplace. I have watched both Hindi and Telugu versions now and can say but for some more humor introduced through Venumadhav, the Hindi version was better because of Salman Khan’s diginified performance – he had the body and the stoic stature. Even Kareena’s characterization was more consistent and justified. In the Telugu version, Trisha’s character is weakly etched and lacks justification at the point where she falls in love with her bodyguard. Venkatesh, is no doubt, a fine performer always but this role doesn’t suit him and however much he tried with his tired looks and trite melodrama, he looks more like a homeguard than bodyguard. Somewhere, he has failed to improvise on his performance over the last several years – goes for minimum risk family fare. He should take more risks at this stage of career or invest heavily into better storylines which families will anyway come to watch because he has the niche – in that sense, the movie’s cleanliness and family-friendliness is intact. (Unlike the other movie “Businessman” which caters to the under-30 segment with its adult fare).


There is a scene after interval where Venky and Ali sneek into the ladies ‘ hostel with lady attires. Only difference, unlike Ali (who can dress to kill like a lady), Venky doesn’t take his moustache off but still creates a laugh riot with a “Dookudu” number. The impact would have been magnified if he has taken off his moustache. That’s what I call risk-appetite - which is missing. Nag, Balakrishna, Pawan, Mahesh, NTR, even Chiranjeevi experimented with their face and removed moustache even if for one scene but not Venkatesh. Not that it would make a difference but I feel its high time for Venkatesh to think of something dramatic to re-invent himself. If he is doing “Swami Vivekananda” role, why couldn’t he be clean-shaven for a fleeting pause?



Forget this excursion, but back to the movie, “Bodyguard” is barely watchable because the story lacks depth and variety without a scope for getting more bang for bucks –and appears long because you can feel some sequences were inserted only for Venky flavor. But it will get the votes for better songs (atleast three melody numbers), clean family fare, and some good laughs. There are some needless stunts which drag on with excessive slow-motion and threading work – the make the movie that bit unbearably long. The pace and the plot was such that I went snoozing a couple of times. I may have missed Nagarjuna movies often in the last five years, but family always insist we watch a Venky film – afterall Venky gave so many Sankranti hits in his career except some famous duds like “Devi Puthrudu”. My family said they felt they have seen this movie before – it was that old, not that it is a remake of Hindi film but a rehash of Venky films itself. Venky has more potential and talent and a better personaility than plots like this. Even if the movie makes money - which I am sure it will because of the mutual exclusivity of the audience it caters to than the other Sankranti blockbuster "Businessman" - I hope Venky takes bold steps to re-launch himself and take more risks.

"Businessman" Movie Review

“Businessman” has opened to unprecedented fanfare and release with some 1600 prints and 134 theatres in Hyderabad alone. Being a Mahesh Babu-Puri Jagannath combination, its naturally on the cusp of heightened expectations. To a very large extent, the movie delivers with extra-ordinary entertainment in the first half and almost into the second half just on the basis of terrific screenplay, dialogues and maverick story-telling ability of Puri Jagannath with the magical screen presence of Mahesh Babu shows his natural knack of being an angry young man under tight leash and delivers a stylish performance with uninhibited looks, surprising close chemistry with Kajal (heroine) and dances that show him in better light than in recent times.


Most of the improved trappings of “Dookudu” in terms of better eye-contact, body language and finesse are what makes this movie mostly watchable except some portions of the second half which drag and sometimes bore. Fans will be delighted to hear so many mouthful and height-of-manhood dialogues in one movie – if there’s a soundtrack of dialogues – I probably will buy one – Puri’s pen shows sharpness and wit – this movie will probably have more one-liners than all his previous movies and don’t get misled by the cheesy advertorials of the hero vowing to make Mumbai piss in its pants – there are much more. Kajal is perhaps shown in more skimpy clothing and this is her boldest look after “Dhada” (Nag Chaitanya). Atleast two songs are well-choreographed and well worth – “Saarosthara” and “Chaavve”.

Even though the first half is under-fed on graphic violence, Puri compensates well in second half – the violence of “Pokiri” fame and even a liplock with Kajal. What mars the movie is this violence in the second half and the flimsy grounds on which the hero justifies it saying that since we kill so many mammals and amphibians daily - even this is justifiable - is ridiculous. Mahesh has shown so much restraint and responsibility in filtering out violence in “Dookudu” embraces it with both hands and plenty of guns in this movie – this can put anybody out of mind. The other bane in the movie is lack of a single-card Villain of the piece. Who is it? Not Prakash Raj. Not Nazar. Not Shinde. Not Subbaraju.

Nobody successfully contests Mahesh as a villain for too long – and nobody gets the lines or attention that’s worth their salt. And comedy – none of it in the second half. Most of the comedy, if you notice it, is in the first half and comes as fleeting in bits during the way the romance gets built up between the hero and his muse. Story-wise, there are many shades that resemble most of Puri’s films even though he gives a new extra-constitutional, legalistic license to create arson and loot by the hero who acts like a Robinhood- a law unto himself – in a bid to correct corrupt politicians and ill-bred criminal elements in the system. No Brahmanandam, No Ali (surprise) and No Jeeva – no comedy track at all but still the movie sustains very well until the 9th reel *(out of the 14 reels). With so much analysis for and against the movie, is the movie good to watch? It is mostly watchable– because of the narrative speed and story-telling of Puri Jagannath and Mahesh’s magical presence. Music by Thaman is good in BGM and atleast three songs. Some experiments in the movie are breaking a pattern – like no song till 30 minutes of the movie, no formal comedian, no villain of identifiable length – will have to see whether the fans lap it.