Showing posts with label Superstar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Superstar. Show all posts

December 31, 2012

"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.

July 18, 2012

Rajesh Khanna R.I.P. The Original Superstar


Rajesh Khanna. Usually Anand. Kabhi Kabhi Gum. Made blockbusters out of living life for others. Became the First Superstar and encouraged the Next Superstar big time. Shows his large-heartedness at the time. Gave Musical mileage to Kishore Kumar, RD Burman and lyricists. His taste for music was so great that his solo songs with melancholic touch are still playing at cocktail parties and get-togeth...ers with karoake mikes. His band of music goes magically well with nostalgia and single-malt whiskey parties. Without an iota of remix temptations - so much for his blend of music. Rajesh Khanna. Anybody with such a rich timber-sounding filmy name ought to have a whole generation of fresh graduates, housewives and self-employed abide by his name. And so it was with many in my family - my parents and closer elders included. He has taken the pre-liberalisation era of limited opportunities to new cinematic highs by taking a dagger to the hearts of men - and endeared himself to the ladies as a forlorn lover. Of course, this may have encouraged alcoholism and primitive brands of Teacher's whiskey - jocularly called "preacher's whiskey". Rajesh Khanna - also pushed the door open for South-Indian producers and directors and artists (other than heroines) who are not usually mobile. He was also protective of his persona till the very last - similar to Shobanbabu in Tollywood - not acting much in roles below that of the main protagonist. He has his lows in personal life but the highs make it a life worth being celebrated and remembered for. RIP.
 
 

January 18, 2012

"Businessman" is indeed a hit!

Its now final - "Businessman" is a hit amongst the movies released for Sankranti in Tollywood.  ("Bodyguard" is also an average hit and has its supoort and patronage but thats not sufficient to upstage "Businessman"). And Mahesh Babu seems to be the New No.1 in Tollywood. Collections don't lie - from Rs.13 crs. gross +satellite rights of Rs.7.27 crs. It has already made money for the distributors and producers. Credit goes to both Mahesh and Puri for snatching a quick and cool hit - with tight schedule and tighter control on costs. If the trend continues this year, looks like Tollywood will be on a song because of more multli-starrers planned and faster rotation of reels between Superstars and technicians. If heroes like NTR, Mahesh, Prabhas act in 4-5 films per year and compete with the likes of Ravi Teja and Allari Naresh in more productions per annum - it is the best thing to happen for Tollywood desperate for more churnouts and more hits and more employability for its crew and cast. Last year, Tollywood saw a unique statistics. The no. of dubbed films in Telugu was 120 in 2011 whereas the no.of straight films in Tollywood were 118. That should tell how the technicians of Tollywood would have fared. Well begun is half the victory..So the tidings will be glad for another busy movie season coming up in February where many Star films are expected to release. Cheers Tollywood and Telugu Cinema.

"Jailor" (Telugu/Tamil) Movie Review: Electrifying!

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