"S/o Satyamurty" (Telugu Film Review)

The much-awaited film from ace director Trivikram starts out with an ominous censor certificate that puts the movie length at 162 minutes. You expect plenty of fireworks because the starcast itself calls for a Tollywood party - Stylish star Allu Arjun, Kannada Superstar Upendra, Mollywood cutie Nitya Menen, Samantha, Rajendra Prasad, Sampath, Rao Ramesh, Ada Sharma, Sneha, Sindhu Tholani, Vennela Kishore,  Kota, Brahmanandam and of course, late MS Narayan. With that kind of a starburst and the scale of budgets of a generous producer like Radhakrishna, one would expect Trivikram to deliver a blistering output that will glow on screen. Instead, what you get is a not so entertaining stuff and despite a lavish extravaganza and touchpad characterisation - the persona of the film slips and something  pulls down the rating of the film in the wake  of Trivikram’s celluloid capabilities.

Get it straight, there is nothing wrong with the film or the plot or the characterisation. The story itself is narrated first like a trailer of thirty seconds with visuals cut and pasted across the length of the film and then winds its way back to the inception. Anand (Allu Arjun) is the son of Satyamurty (Prakash Raj) with a networth of Rs.300 crores. Prakash Raj dies in a car accident and the world of Anand and his family of brother, his mother and himself is turned upside down. They lose the crores because half the net worth is leveraged or no, half the networth is in equity shares or wait, there is a land parcel. Whatever the rigmarole, Anand sells the assets and pays the dues disregarding the advice of Rajendra Prasad (friend of Prakash Raj) to dupe the public and make away with the debts. Because of the values that Prakash Raj instilled in Anand and because of the goodwill of his father, Anand takes the onus of repaying all the debts by fair means. And he embarks on a journey - first to earn something to pay off his niece’s school fees. This journey takes him on voyage of self-confidence as he gains good name wherever he goes - Rao Ramesh who breaks the marriage of Allu with his daughter Ada Sharma, Samantha who gets smitten by his level-headedness in giving up three hundred crores. Destiny takes him to Rajendra Prasad again because his daughter Samantha  is in love with Allu (Anand). Anand now enters into a bet with Rajendra Prasad to get original title deeds of a property in the custody of a quasi-government authority Upendra who heads dozens of villages and maintains an army of 600 (Looks like double the number of “300”) and marry his daughter. Upendra has another daughter Nitya Menen - and there is a twist in the tale but that comes after  a lengthy characterisation. On the whole, the story despite a complicated structure is not inexplicable. It is just about a young man who is determined to keep the reputation of his dead father high long after he’s gone  and how he succeeds thanks to a strong set of values imparted by his father.

What helps the film is the framework of story-telling with utmost dignity and class. Performance by Allu Arjun breathes life into many listless moments of canned jokes and quotations and the pet peeves of Trivikram on middle class moralities and values. His dancing skills are outshined by his emoting this time - using variety of accents and impressive one-liners, Allu Arjun packs quite a punch. Upendra with a baritone voiceover by Ravi Shankar makes his formal screen appearance after interval and gives an electrifying performance - something steals the thunder from everybody including Allu Arjun. His character has the X factor that elevates the second half despite everything else coming unstuck. Rajendra Prasad whose chemistry with Allu Arjun worked in “Julayi” extends that in this film with greater length and impact. He gets many genuine laughs especially the scene where Ravi gets killed while eating lunch with Upendra. Rajendra Prasad gets the best one-liners in the film. Samantha doesn’t have the depth in her acting to supplement the over-dosage of giggly vivacity she gave us since her first film. Nitya Menen has been grossly under-utilized and she gets short shrift in every frame  - at the cost of Samantha. Since Nitya’s next film is a Mani Ratnam release, this role is neither fulfilling nor memorable. Prakash Raj - whose character is the reference point for the entire movie and climax hardly gets to speak. His dialogues must be about half a page, Trivikram could have highlighted more instances of what made Prakash Raj such a principled man - you could have built a few scenes highlighting him because the message kept ringing that he was a man who stood for public good through Anand but not from Satyamurty himself. Others like Kota Srinivas Rao and MS Narayan have a handful of impactful dialogues. MS Narayana, especially brings out tears with his hug with Rao Ramesh - it’s a pity he died while shooting for this film. The result: dubbing for MSR is done by- someone else. Brahmanandam’s character has become ad nauseum - again, demand for a “Bakra” and all that. There has to be a saner way to bring Brahmanandam to life. If one has laughed heartily in the film  - and that happens in 3-4 scenes, it is not always with Brahmi on screen.Sampath is wasted. Fights by Peter Heins are well-composed: the fight with water hosesand the one in Upendra’s house stand out for their variety. Music by DSP is not in the same league of Trivikram’s or Allu Arjun’s earlier films. All songs are mass beats or fast beats. 

What undermines the film is the length - you could knock off forty minutes and still convey the kernel of the message. Trivikram has, for the first time faltered in this film. IN his bid to make an intelligent film, he lost his sharpness and clarity of thought. It is not clear how the Rs.300 crores networth ended up, how  it shrunk the lifestyle of the hero, what the company’s business is that suddenly skyrockets the valuation to ten crores, what is the connection of property papers lying with Prakash Raj and the business he is in. There is title justification but if only Satyamurty’s character is illustrated well, more key messages of relevance to today’s youth would have registered; it is important to inherit the values more than the assets of your elders. For a long time, Allu keeps mouthing clever aphorisms from Ramayana and Mahabharata which bore you like a vegetarian meal without salt and sambar. In spite of the load taken by the hero in preserving his dead father’s goodwill, there are inconsistencies in Anand’s character. He uses a short cut to fabricate stamp papers at the behest of his friend, he doesn’t reveal to Upendra first that he is not in love with his daughter but with someone else. There are inconsistencies with Upendra too - for twenty years, everybody except his wife knows his super-violent streak - that is highly implausible. Treatment-wise, the film is burdened with the same  genres that Trivikram likes to deal with. If you take “Julai and “Atharintiki Daaredi”, and mix them up with a bigger starcast, you get the experience of “S/o…”. Trivikram has mellowed in his aggression in violence and his story-telling is still a pretty above-average throwback to the old movies of B&W era where producers and directors collaborated with a mission to deliver quality films  - high in production values and high in morality. In fact, if you take many of Trivikram’s dialogues which have received dizzy heights of popularity, there is an undercurrent of old movies’ one-liners which are repackaged with modern makeup. For example, “Luck has come to give you a shake hand but Misfortune has jumped the gun to give you a lip-lock kiss.” Or something to that effect. These kind of dialogues were dime a dozen in old Tollywood films but Trivikram’s copywriting approach has sharpened the wordiness - despite sounding repetitive. He will also use one or two Telugu words which are incomprehensible to the current generation who ceased to have Telugu as their third or even optional language in curriculum. For example, in this film just like “Ayimoolagaa (Or Diagonally)” used in “Jalsa”, he uses “Manovarthi” or “Manovyatha” in the context of divorce. He creates that spark of curiosity to learn a word or two in Telugu which is lost on today’s generation. But if he has to take his story-telling to the next level, he has to prove his mettle lies beyond assembling an army of artistes, giving stars a good push, and trying genres different from each other. Otherwise, the dangers of familiarity will breed contempt. This film is alright in frames and conveys a compact story but there is no extra factor or layering in the screenplay or characterisation that makes you watch his movies again and again  - hoping to catch a new glimpse every time. He has the spark to move out of comfort zone - this movie should be a wakeup call to move out of that comfort zone in making films that test new genres and content delivery; he has the grip on narration, sense of good cinema with appeal for family audiences - even if he forgot to entertain much in this film - but he has to concentrate on more aspects than verbosity that got him massive fan base. “S/o…” finally ends in a climax that surprises you and despite a rocking first half, it leaves many things unanswered and a big void in entertainment that he forgot to fill. You can watch it once with many lags and drags but don’t bet on this film becoming a blockbuster.

Rating; 3/5

#S/oSatyamurty #AlluArjun #Trivikram #Tollywood #MovieReviews #Upendra #MSNarayana

"Atharintiki Daaredi" (Telugu) Movie Review

"Atharintiki Daaredi" is a smashing film power-packed with terrific performances by Power Star Pawan Kalyan, Nadia, Rao Ramesh, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana and Ali. It is definitely the most awaited film of the year because it involves star director and ace wordsmith Trivikram who can make the screen dance with his style of comedy, emotions and words that stir your senses. After a long drought since Ravi Teja's film, Tollywood's magic comes back with "AD" and credit must go to the entire team that made a family entertainer dripping with action, comedy, romance and emotions. 

"Atharintiki Daaredi" is a familiar phrase in Telugu which is played with babies held up close in arms - it begins with a few poetic lines and ends with an affectionate hug that tickles the baby. The film also oozes out the ticklish tone filled with one man's quest to find a place in the hearts of the people residing in his paternal aunt's home in India.  Siddhu (Pawan Kalyan) is the heir to a billion dollar industrial empire in Milan, Italy run by his father (Mukesh Rushi) and grand-father (Bomman Irani). His grand-father has become a vegetable on a wheel-chair but his only wish in life is to see his daughter who he threw out of his home because she dared to marry someone despised by him. That couple, Nadia and Rao Ramesh, now live in India with a huge family and their pretty daughters - Samantha and Praneetha. Pawan Kalyan vows to get his aunt back to see his grandfather. How does Pawan Kalyan charm the household by first masquerading as a Chauffeur and later on, as Siddhu as his aunt already knows is the story with a narrative that runs like a non-stop comedy show with a rich assemblage of characters  - the usual characters seen in a Trivikram film except two missing members - Tanikella Bharani and Dharmavarapu Subramanyam. A major plus is the music by DSP, almost all the songs including the one sung by Pawan Kalyan are hummable with high melody score, one song that shows DSP on screen with Pawan borrows the kinky style of Ilayaraja in one "Charanam".

Trivikram has returned to a thorough family theme that shows only the non-invasive villainy for the sole purpose of showcasing Pawan Kalyan in some fabulous stunts. Otherwise, the film doesn't have villains in a conventional sense, most of the screenplay is between the central characters of Pawan Kalyan, Nadia, Rao Ramesh and Bomman Irani. That's a healthy comeback for Trivikram because that puts him miles ahead of the rest of the pack of directors who tend to be caught up with crass commercial sensibilities. A Tollywood film today runs on few pillars  - narrative that runs with a straight bat, comedy that fires on all fours, characterisation that can run its full course with consistency and distinctiness for each principal and peripheral character that shows up as minutes pass, screenplay that ties you to your seat, technical mastery over the aspects that make up the medium- cinematography, shot selection, logicality, editing, aesthetics and of course, music. Besides all these, dialogues that sync so well with the many worlds we live in daily life. In almost all these aspects, Trivikram has been a pro who is at the peak  and this film is a fine showcase to all those who want to see him taste mega success. The thing with Trivikram, I noticed from his first film (Is that a film with actor Suresh, "Praarthana" or Venu ("Churunavvutho"?) that he has this ability to weave a narrative with a built-in thermostat that guides when to explode and when to stay under a leash, it is almost like a sleeping volcano that erupts only at the cusp of a major twist or defining moment of the story. Even if his filmography in the earlier films have been occasionally nativised adaptations from Hollywood films or best-seller novels ("Manmadhudu" was a Mel Gibson film, "Athadu" was a Sylvestor Stallone film, "Nuvvu Naaku Nacchaav" was a Ben Stiller film; try google out yourselves), his films have a shelf life that ensures repeat magic on successive telecasts on TV or your own DVD re-views. In this film, Trivikram falters only with editing  - he might have had constraints in chiselling huge portions which do not add value like that club song with Mumtaaz or those long Brahmanandam tracks which could have got shorter to make a point. Clearly, 169 minutes is a bit long even if the director, to quote his own words in the film hasn't told a "story of Ben Hur in Burra Katha format". 

Trivikram has ensured every character in the film gets a line that makes them stand out. For a change, he has breathed new life into the characters of MSN and Ali. Nadia as the title character "Athagaaru" has given a stylish and dignified performance making her role one of the most nuanced "Aunt" roles in Telugu Cinema, never once loses class in her portrayal. Rao Ramesh gives another well-articulated performance, he and Pawan Kalyan together get the best lines of the film, but more on Pawan later.  Brahmanandam's performance is sometimes puerile sometimes garrulous but overall just-above average. His best laughs come in the elongated skit of Ahalya, Gautama and Indra. Between Samantha and Praneetha, Praneetha has a better screen presence and looks more gorgeous even if she appears in one song. Samantha will fade out faster than a one-trick pony at this rate of exposure, pun unintended, even if she is a lucky mascot.

Pawan Kalyan seems to have a magical chemistry with Trivikram that sets the screen on fire. As a practioner of Vipassana meditation, martial arts and Zen Buddhism, Pawan has shown a lot of class, effort and style in this role with a body language that's a hit with his fans. His dialogue delivery has been a unique trademark that pack a punch in every scene, of course penned by the director; he seems to have outgrown some of his whimsical mannerisms as he gets quite comfortable under the skin of roles of a lover boy, responsible heir and a star performer amidst other comedians. His dancing skills, surprise, have also improved considerably even if he chooses to uncomplicate his movements, its a sign of a maturing actor who is aging but at peace with his world and his body chemistry. If "Jalsa" has been voted one of the best all-time Telugu hits, then "Athaarintiki Daaredi" will be another feather for Pawan Kalyan because his contribution if the film does well will be huge. Obviously, he has developed as an actor a quixotic mixture of non-chalance, innocence, poise and confidence that can sometimes ooze out more doses but so what if the fans like him. He has experimented with choking scenes in "Teenmaar" and he repeats more in "AD" which will connect with families well. In quite a few scenes of "AD",  like in "Jalsa", Pawan shows a repertoire of improvisations in acting that make him an explosive actor almost impossible to predict. His stunts have always held out a special charm because he is a warrior of sorts in real life too. In this film, Peter Hein composes stunts but the best stunts come later, the first two stunts are wasted. There is a jingle thats already popular sung by Pawan Kalyan himself in the film thats uproarious and electrifying that comes at a particular climactic comic scene with Brahmanandam. 

"AD" bears the stamp of Trivikram and the magic of Pawan Kalyan and makes it a riot  that will make it one of the most watched family entertainers ever. It is generally clean, upholds the traditions of entertainment of Trivikram  (even if some themes recur from his earlier films) and gives a rich treat of wholesome family fare. The triumph of this film will ensure directors and producers pay special attention to family themes. At a time when Telugu pride is wounded and at an all-time low, this is a proud showcase for a fun-filled, chimerical entertainer that makes you cry and laugh out loud.  My rating: 4.25/5

"Julayi" Movie Review (Telugu)

“Julayi” is definitely one of the most anticipated movies of 2012. It is an acid test for more than a threesome – Director Trivikram who struggled with form in “Mahesh Khaleja” , Allu Arjun who didn’t deliver a hit for a while, Producer Daanayya who’s missing his crores and dusky actress Ileana D’Cruz who is unable to capitalize on her early successes in Tollywood. All four of them needed a hit to resurrect their fortunes . I can’t say whether it’s a hit but the movie doesn’t disappoint – it is quite a wholesome family fare that’s worth a watch.

Director Trivikram Srinivas is one of the star writers who sharpened his narrative skills to make an Olympic triple jump into the hall of fame in Tollywood with terrific screenplay sense, story-telling with verve and an ability to weave many genres into one film. Besides, he can write dialogues that tug your hearts and make  classes and masses clap. Naturally, he is so skilled at writing, screenwriting and directing that one of the three has to outshine the other two. It started to happen around the time when he stopped writing for others (except “Teenmaar” recently) and went into directing. There’s an eclectic mixture of Western cinematic sensibilities with Telugu nativities in most of his narratives where he played a pivotal role in giving a tailormade script. “Manmathudu” drew inspiration from Mel Gibson movie “What women want”. “Athadu” which is a gold standard in modern Tollywood DVD collection is inspired from “Assassins” and so on.

There was some trouble with “Jalsa” and “Mahesh Khaleja” because he was carried away by the star charishma of Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu and the result was either a concoction of neo-Indian pseudo-mythologicals (like an Amish Tripathi novel) or an an urbane take on Naxalism and other economic issues. At heart, Trivikram is a socialist who is inspired by an array of writers from 1920s onwards and all his movies bear a stamp of egalitarianism, inclusive growth and a society that should benefit many not just a chosen few. In between, Trivikram can pack a punch of dialogues that spark off uproarious laughter with both senior and junior artistes. Over the few films he has made, Trivikram has graduated from making unoriginal, punny, school-boyish. joke-book-collection of snippets into more classy, ingenious and Wodehousian sense of humor that sticks. Nothwithstanding this long digression into Trivikram’s style and its origins as seen by a consummate bystander, “Julayi” is an outcome of a renewed Trivikram who has learnt from his experiments that were indulgent in the past. It shows Trivikram’s amazing sense of dialogues that are sharper, wittier and also a return to responsible film-making - a'la the likes of Sreenu Vaitla and Shekar Kammula. However, unlike Shekar Kammula, Trivikram has the ambidexterous knack of appealing to A-class audiences while giving what the masses want to see – non-preachy entertainment, plenty of action, dances and romance that sizzles.

“Julayi” is a balanced film in all of that – it has a huge starcast from Brahmanandam, Ali, Tanikella Bharani, MS Narayana and Kota to veteran Rajendra Prasad, Sonu Sood besides Allu Arjun and Ileana. The story is quite average but the narration is pulsating. Ravi (Allu Arjun) is a naïve youth who believes in making money in a non-linear route; he bets with his father one day that a 10k bundle of cash can be converted into 100k in just two hours. Obviously, Ravi had plans to bet on the IPL matches when he challenged his dad with the deal. His bravado leads him to an episodic run-in with professional killers led by Sonu Sood and Kota Srinivas Rao who plan to usurp a bank’s millions. It sets him off as a cat amongst pigeons because the villains realize that Ravi is a smart aleck who needs more than their mite to be outwitted. The ending is happier even if smaller - the hero polishes off the villains and returns to a cosy job that nets a salary of 25k per month. The message is loud and clear: – hardwork and accumulation of money through self-effort is sweeter than Manna from heaven or mad pursuit of speculative endeavours. The movie has  dramatic flashes of car chases, stunts and a sweet romance with Ileana and oodles of comedy with Rajendra Prasad, Brahmanandam and gang. Allu Arjun is clearly a striking style icon who has finally got a plot that showcases his acting prowessand a director who will give the outreach that he deserves. He is at ease with himself and with the mature starcast that shares the screen. According to me, he is the best dancer in Tollywood and his dancing skills need no attestations. In this movie, DSP’s music has given enough footage to Allu Arjun to get foot-loose. He excels himself again but the dance movements could have had a better frontal view than a sideward, silhouetted slideshow. He could have bettered there.

DSP’s music has topped the charts well before the movie and he has created just the right moods for all the songs. Picturisation of the songs could have been better for a couple of songs. The song before climax and the song before interval are quite vivid and memorable. Ileana would have wanted this movie to give a fresh lease of life. Unfortunately, her acting skills and the range of expressions never permit this – she is stubbornly stale and hopeless. The outage of glamor we saw of Ileana after “Kick”, I am afraid will continue nothwithstanding her role in this film. Rajendra Prasad stands out with a full-length performance that almost runs parallel to the hero – this should be heartening to all his fans.

One last word on the flaws of the film. Trivikram sometimes takes logic to onerously outlandish levels for one part of the story while implanting inscrutable logic to other parts. The manner in which the heist is done by the villains of a bank and their escape from custody with lot of bloodshed is illogical even as the hero Ravi tries to second-guess every move of the villain even as the police look downright dumb beats sanity out of mind. Nevertheless, Trivikram has taken the genre of entertainment to new highs with his characteristic ease of blending action and intelligent-looking plots with a rich ensemble of talent and still penning dialogues that haunt you forever. Even the best writers need better editors , Trivikram will realise– but for now, even 160 minutes of a not-so-sublime plot is good enough reason to open the champagne for those who like to see his report card. He’s earned an A not an A-plus and I will give atleast 3.5 out of 5 for the film.