"PK" (Hindi Film Review)

Aamir Khan's latest film has raised enough curiosity while in the making and post-production stages. This year's most-awaited film combines Aamir Khan's starpower and universal appeal with the production values of Vinod Chopra and Raj Kumar Hirani and the stamp of quality associated UTV Motion Pictures. It delivers mostly in a 153 minute saga of an atypical story of an alien who lands on our planet without a bonafide reason but meanders his way through the deserts of Rajasthan to the din of Delhi. To a large extent, the promo preceding the release of the film gave away the plot - a nude Aamir Khan is stranded on a railway track holding a 1980-model two-in-one transistor that is diagonally held to cover his vital parts. But what does an Alien know about Earthlings? What does he know about human beings? How does he communicate with them? In which language? What binds him to stay on and move from Rajasthan to Delhi and back to Rajasthan? These are the questions that move the needle  in a dramatic way characteristic of Raj Kumar Hirani who gave India some of the memorable films of the 21st century. 

Raj Kumar Hirani's speciality is unique in Bollywood. He works with familiar starcast of lesser-known but proficient stage actors. He only collaborates with Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire as the duo who compose music and lyrics. His producer is Vinod Chopra who believes his stories have an evocative emotional appeal. His best-man for the job of writing, editing and dialogues is Abhijeet Joshi except whenever an extra dimension of a blockbuster novel is borrowed. He picks his lines from one kernel of an idea and then expands that to build layer after layer of experiential wisdom and learning on the theme to come up with a winning script. His films touch the Hindi heartland but resonate across the spirit of India everywhere. He doesn't rely on too much jazz, special effects or extravagant settings to work his magic on celluloid. He choses topics that test your integrity levels at the most basic levels and then weaves a credible human drama spruced up with enduring values of compassion, affection, honesty and faith. His films take you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions and end up usually on a high note - of optimism, of hope and cheerfulness. His films make buzzwords out of simple words that convey the central messsage of the film - like "All's well" or "Jaadu ka chappi".  ("Wrong number" in this film). His films are extremely high on cinema literacy - meaning the messages that are intended by his team in the process of content delivery are symbolically apt and exceptionally easy to digest by both the intellectuals and the unevolved. His films combine responsible film-making with entertaining comedy - a combination that makes him a nonpareil. No wonder, Aamir Khan chose him twice in his career. If you observe Aamir Khan's filmography so far, he hardly repeated his directors. Early on, he worked with director and uncle, Mansoor Khan in two films - QSQT and JJWS. Later, between 1990 and 1999, he worked with director Inder Kumar in "Dil" and "Mann". Afterwards, in spite of working with some exceptional talents like Asutosh Gowarikar , he never repeated directors until Hirani directed him in "3 Idiots" and now "PK". That speaks of Aamir Khan's faith in the scripting and execution capabilities of Hirani.

The story of the Alien stranded with a transistor needs to be told. Someone plucks a filament of thread from Aamir Khan's neck. That thread has a pendant  embedded with a  signal transmmitter that re-connects him to the starship which helped him descend to earth. So he cannot go back to his world unless the transmitter is found. This takes him to unusual places and people including Sanjay Dutt who plays a delectable character that protects PK to learn and grow into the worldly ways of Earth. Aamir is called PK because everyone thinks he is drunk and doesn't know what he is talking. But Aamir is clever, logical and intuitively smart - he can pick the lingos of people just by holding their hands and lo! he can divine their past and current intentions. PK's quirky nature kills the curiosity of most people except Anushka Sharma who is a TV anchor in search of breaking news stories. She works for a TRP-hungry Bomman Irani who reluctantly meets PK and piqued by his unfamiliar refrain and laser-sharp intellect. Anushka eventually wins the confidence and love of PK but the real twist in the film comes here where at least one of the two men in Anushka's life who had a great spell on her hold the key to his "return passport" - one of them is her lover Sushant Singh Rathore; the other is a Godman Futurist Sourabh Shukla. The conflict between PK and Sourabh Shukla is the central point of the film as director weaves a fantastic deconstruction of what makes people flock to faith and faith-healers and how religion has come to occupy a lion's share of our minds and dictates our choices. Roughly reminding of "Oh My God", "PK" takes a tangential tour of all the major faiths and puts threadbare questions that we don't seem to be asking while taking everything as gospel - why is white color used by Hindu widows and new Christian brides? Why do Hindus and Muslims take out their shoes entering the holy places of worship whereas we enter Churches wearing them? Why is black inauspicious for Hindus but good for Muslims? What if forecasts come true only because of coincidences that are not apparent to us at the time they occur? What about the superstitions that abound in every religion? Why are we not seeking logical explanations in the name of blasphemy? 

To be fair, the film raises valid questions last revisited in "OMG" about the overarching role that religion has come to occupy in our lives. There are a number of bad examples that improve the veracity of the claims of the agnostics and the intellectuals. But there are some omissions of what blind faith can sometimes do in improving the lives of people. But for that, the movie gives you a candid camera view that will influence us to revisit some of the responsibilities that we have abrogated ourselves from taking while handing over the baton to Gods and Godmen. For all that, "PK" deserves a rich rating which could have otherwise been a perfect five. Performance-wise Aamir Khan gives a five-star performance with an incessant glare that must have hurt his pupil in the shooting. He has proved again why he is India's finest actor who can make you think and laugh and cry with his histrionics, with lines or without lines. While this movie is an entertaining take on some of the themes touched upon in the "Satyamev Jayate", it has the potential to generate fresh controversy in the treatment of scenes - like entering a church with cocunuts and incense sticks but nothing sacrilegous inside a temple or a mosque. But respect for Aamir Khan goes up as he showed the courage to tackle sensitive topics through visuals like polygamy amongst muslims or the proliferating soothsayers who thrive on the fear of devotees. Anushka Sharma fits easily into a role cut out for her personality and she lives upto her reputation for "kissing" - the only thing you never expected in Raj Kumar Hirani's films. The romance between SS Rathore and Anushka is cute. Music by Shantanu Moitra befittingly elevates the moods of the film and never tries to dominate the scene itself - how many music directors in India can do that? Sourabh Shukla has given a masterly performance as a cold-blooded Godman. Don't remember if this was his best performance till date after "Satya".  Entertainment-wise first half rocks with hilarity oozing out of every scene as an alien comes to terms with life and living on earth. Second half dullens after a prolonged debate about religion takes over the script with half-hearted attempts. But the climax finishes off the movie and takes it to new high in true Hirani style of talking turkey and clearing the air on matters of life and death. 

Notwithstanding the vulnerabilities of the script and the occasional slippages, "PK" gives a paisa-vasool feeling and leaves you with searching questions that linger on. 

It is mostly suitable for family viewing despite some double-entendre dialogues in Bhojpuri on sex and memory. I rate the film 3.5/5 for the movie, warts and all.

#AamirKhan #PK #Bollywood #ShantanuMoitra #RajKumarHirani #VinodChopra #UTV #PKMovie #MovieReviews

"Linga" (This is not a Movie Review)

What made Rajinikanth select a shallow story shows a grandson as a joker and the real hero as a a learned Raja Lingeswara? The contrast was not compatible with each other till the end.

Why the same makeup, hairdo and cowboy costumes used for both the dual roles? When you are showing two generations, the simplest copybook rule is to show contrast in characterisation.

Why does Anushka the heroine for the grandson Rajini insist on taking him to the village of his grandfather? What is her connection to the village or the legend of Linga? Not very well answered.

Was the film based on true story? Why does it give an impression it is based on the life of Sir Arthun Cotton  - who built a bridge, splitting the tributaries of rivers Godavari and Krishna which were anyway flowing into the sea and changed the livelihoods of Andhra farmers forever? Was there any king who built a dam like this? The nation wants to know.

Why was the film so low on entertainment? Why did we not have more of Santhanam in the second half?

Why director Ravi Kumar who relies on good story-telling and drama give such a weak characterisation for everybody? 

Who is the main villain in the film? Is it the Britisher who opposed Linga's efforts to build the dam? Is it Jagapathi Babu who abuses the people of Singanoor? If it is Jagapathi Babu, as he's lasted out, why is he under-utilised? Rajinikanth's best blockbuster hits have been movies where the antagonist gets equal if not meaty footage. 

Why are there so many lags in the film? What happened to director's sense of energy and speed in story-telling? Why do you have to show a museum robbery for 25 minutes? Why do you have to show a dam construction in such detail? Is this a documentary or a film on dam construction? Why is the shot selection so bad? Where did you highlight Rajinikanth? Did the director do justice to Rajinikanth's charishma and  one-liner witticisms? 

In the scene where Rajini and Anushka get ensconced in a close room, when Rajini tries to open up the locked door by using magnets to attract the keys up the path he navigates on the other side of a strong wooden door, does the director know that wood is not a magnet conductor? 

Why were there only one duet song with each of the heroines? While full marks for the lavish settings and the extravagant picturisations, why was there no other relief moments in second half with the heroines or atleast a mass song? 

What was Brahmanandam doing in a film with star comedian Santhanam? Why did Brahmi get such poor lines? Why did his appearance go waste?

Why is the interval so weak? Even if you use flashback for over two hours, did it not occur to the director Ravi Kumar to use current time period to bring a good interval block? Even inexperienced directors do not use flashback scenes for interval bang effect.

The period drama dates to 1939 when the ruling queen of England was Queen Elizabeth. But the pictures show Queen Victoria all the time. Why? You could have used Mona Lisa if you had to use a lady's picture. More masses would recognise her.

When the only conflict in the film is between the Britisher and Raja Lingeswara, why didn't the director concentrate more on that in revving up more emotional quotient - through feelings of patriotism, righteousness and fight against poverty? The only highlight of the film is the dialogues between the Britisher, his wife and of course Linga the Senior. That could have got more mileage and emphasis.

In the opening shot of the introduction of legend Lingeswara, Rajini sits cross-legged reading a seminal book rated amongst the most influential books ever released: Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces". The scene looks impressive with shots in the dark on a moving train where a group of bandits try to kidnap Rajini. The shot had all the elements of a firebrand sequence but gets lost in translation into special effects. Why? And why use a book which was originally published in 1949 when the period setting pertains to the last stage of the second war? But the book highlighted was good - it has inspired many film-makers world over.

Why were there so few songs in the film when the scenes lag? The resonation of AR Rahhman's music with Rajini fans is so good that there is room for more songs in a film dominated by too much flashback. The background music, as usual is good but the scenes were not dramatic for a commercial film. So Rahman's effort looks wasted. But the songs  - "Mona Mona" and the song with Sonakshi Sinha stand out in picturisation and feel of the sound.

The dam is in Singanur but the king Linga is from Gadwal. Agree it is a dubbing mistake. But what is the connection?

Director KS Ravi Kumar shows woman as strong and powerful characters. But in this film an over-weighty Anushka and a naturally plumpy Sonakshi Sinha are used as mere paper weights in visually-rich songs. Rest of the time, they have no screen presence. If you take the "Padayappa" or "Muthu" for Rajini or for Ravi Kumar's previous films with Kamal Hasan like "Tenali", "Panchatantram" and "Dasavatharam", the heroines got great screen-shares with the hero. Why? And why is Anushka over-dressed? And why is Sonakshi  so under-dressed?

Why make films with 2 hrs. 55 minutes? At the end of this unbearable duration, why are  commercial elements awfully missing? Where is the swagger of Rajini Kanth? Where is the style of the style icon? What is so creative about this film which got completed in less than 100 days?

Why am I writing such a long post-mortem for a dud fillm? Why are you even reading this?

My rating remains at 1.5/5

#Linga #LingatheMovie #MovieReviews #FilmReviews #Kollywood #Tollywood #SuperstarRajini #Rajinikanth

Music Director Chakri No More! If only...

Music Director Chakri's premature demise due to heart failure is a grim reminder to all of us  to take care of the address that holds the key to the length of our stay on this planet - our body. My doctor friend tells me that the heart is the only human organ that stops working just like that one fine day without telling us. But it gives us warnings. Yet, one third of heart attack patients never make it alive to the hospital, he says. Chakri's must be unfortunately one of those unfortunate one-third who had a fatal attack. 

I saw Chakri's live music performance at a family friend's Shastipoorthi birthday a few years back. He was lively and humble but rarely smiled unless people greeted him. But he showed greater resilience in his career of over 100 films composing some of the best chart-busters that created mass following. He embarked into film music at almost the same time as RP Patnaik but lasted a wee bit longer than the latter - scoring hit tunes for Ravi Teja, Nagarjuna, Allu Arjun, Nitin, Siddharth, Sumanth, Gopichand, Ram, NTR Jr, Prabhas, Venu,Tarun, Jagapathi Babu and lately for Balayya and Vishnu. Only Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Mahesh Babu and Ram Charan did not sway to his tunes. Directors like Puri Jagannadh swore by him for a long time before moving on to others as it happens in a film industry seeking success than substance. But directors like Krishna Vamshee, YVS Choudhary, and Vamshee himself have hired his services as a composer where he belted out some amazing numbers - "Jagamantha Kutumbam Maadi..", "Neeve Neeve..." and "Vennello Hayi Hayi..".

Chakri's music had some essential qualities that ensured his tunes the staying power - rhythm, stylish arrangements, energy, speed, simple instrumentation, buzzwords repeated with hypnotic effect and the occasional melodies. It had an uncanny resemblance to old film tunes and hip hop music but rarely his music lagged. That is because in a career spanning films with so many directors bursting at the seams and so many stars, there was little room for error and Chakri fit the bill pefectly - even if his music had shades of Ilayaraja, Bappi Lahiri and several old film songs. For instance, remember that mass song in Ravi Teja's "Krishna": "Nee Soku Maada, Ammo Nee Jimmadaa..". I pointed out immediately while watching the film that this song is a fast-tempo replica of the famous Ghantasala song composed, sung and enacted by the legend himself himself: "Sesha Sailaa Vaasa Sri Venkatesaaa..". He had the knack of improvising songs like that - straight-lift some black and white melodies and remix them to modern settings. Perhaps this is what made directors like YVS Choudhary and Vamshee seek him out for giving some of the best hit films in their second innings. Nobody could mix up the Ileana item song in "Devadasu" from the old L.R.Maheshwari "Mayadari Chinnodu.". Even Vamshee sought his compositions and Chakri returned his faith with great numbers in some of his films which resembled the old magic of Ilayaraja-Vamsee tunes which had an atypical mixture of hummable melodies with simple dialogues and peculiar sounds created by mouth.

Amongst the new crop of music directors to enter Tollywood in the nineties, few have had such a run of success that Chakri had - with the only exceptions of MM Keeravani,  Mani Sharma, DSP and Thaman. Chakri seemed to have created his mark with clever remixes, smart composing and a legacy of hummable songs that had a modern tinge, simple rhythms and a melody mix that made him a sought-after for a major part of his career. If he had failures, that would have come only with his inability to handle success, not without an ability to persevere and re-adapt himself to the new demands and new heroes.  How else would you explain his awards from Filmfare to Nandi for "Simha" quite recently! His untimely death could have been prevented and he could have given more breaks to many other new singers like Kaushalya, Simha. It is a stark warning for all of us who die out empty in their brains every day  but may wake up dead one day in the body. Chakri may not be a maestro, may not have given us the best lyrics to be proud of or set the highest standards of composing  - but success sought him mostly before success took him away from us. May his soul R.I.P.

What is the legacy of his best five melodies? Methinks the following five:

1. "Jagamantha Kutumbam Maadi"  (Chakram)

2. "Rama Rama Rama Neeli Megha Shyama" (Sivamani)

3. "Vennello Hai Hai Mallello Hai Hai" (Avunu...Valliddaru Ishta Paddaaru)

4. "Konchem Gaaranga ... Konchem Kaaramga" (Chakram)

5. "Bangaaru Kondaa...Maru Malle Danda" (Simha)

NTR - Renaming after a Legend

I am not at all for either re-naming airports or universities after the initial signature is done. But people in both Telugu states should spare a thought or two for NTR as a brand name. He has done a lot for carving out an identity for Telugus in a world bisieged by South Indian motifs mostly thought of as Tamils or Madrasis. What is the legacy that NTR created for the Telugus?

Films to start with - playing roles that nobody else would have enacted - as a eunuch, as the main villains in Ramayan and Mahabharat, as tragic poet who crooned over women and died a pauper, as an Indian Nostradamus, as the grandsire of Mahabharat, as the architect of the Vijaynagar Empire, many social roles and of course, as Lord Krishna and Rama. He was perceived as Vishnu-blue avatar long before we switched to color films. His image as Vishnu avatar got so much burned in South India that when BR Chopra was making the Mahabharat serial on DD, the maker team approached NT Rama Rao for playing the role of Krishna. NTR said," Chopraji, the roles I played as Krishna and Rama is the exclusive privilege of Telugu people. I don't want any other language to get access to that privilege." Of course, the critics panned it as old-fashioned parochialism or inability to wear grease paints to come out looking fresh as Krishna. But the point is made - NTR loved Telugu language and culture, sprinkled Telugu films with high falatun Telugu dialogues which almost run into pages for each scene.

Film theatres and amphittheatres. Apart from Tarakarama and Ramakrishna theatres which were top of the tree cinema halls in those times, he created the RK Studios and produced hugely successful films. He created an open theatre without entry ticket for the masses at Public Gardens known as Lalitha Kala Thoranam - but even that legacy is shamefully erased by the likes of T Subbirami Reddy.

Self-Esteem for the Telugus. He was quick to snatch the opportunity when Rajiv Gandhi rebuked T Anjaiah at the Begumpet airport. He spared no effort in entering politics because he felt the Telugu pride was wounded. Nobody else built a party in that short a period to get elected as CM. But of course, there is also ambition and delusions of grandeur behind this move as some would say. About an year before NTR thought of politics, he was asked to star in a short film on the great Indian Nostradamus - the 14th century Sage Veerabhrahmendra Swami from the Andhra who made many famous predictions. Amongst the many predictions he made were these: That a bania would bring freedom to India from the British. That a widow would rule the country. And NTR read  another prediction: A man with a painted face will rule Andhra. And he thought why can't it be him? Thats how some say he plunged into politics. And he went about it methodically. He hired the greatest tax consultant of the time - NA Palkiwala, filed his returns spick and span - distributed around Rs.125 crores of his networth at that time into eleven parts to his children, willed all his property and started Telugu Desam Party. The rest is history.

Love for Telugus died with him. All through his career in politics, the love for Telugus never dimmed. When the late PV Narasimha Rao became the Prime Minister of India, NTR got a great chance to prove his love for Telugu pride. A contest was shaping up in Nandyal constituency as PVNR had to win to stay elected in the parliament as an MP and he was already a Prime Minister. NTR decided to give full support to Narasimha Rao even though he was from Congress-I. He said  the Telugus will not fight against one another in electing their beloved son. Rao got elected and expressed his gratitude to both NTR and Telugu people.

Video lessons on Telugu language. NTR loved Telugu language so much he wanted to create a lasting legacy for the next gen of Telugus. He asked the great Bapu Ramana team to create a video series on the language and its nuances. He gave a lavish budget and the duo went about diligently, created a master series on which the copyright is with the state government. It was 80 per cent complete but got stopped after the next incumbent government that came after NTR's loss in the 90s stopped the project itself. Thats how others think - they failed to see the thread of Telugu culture and heritage.

Telangana government should recognise this atleast - that NTR was a ubiquitous brand for the Telugus and raising holy hell over his name attached to the Airport terminal is in bad taste. As somebody said, if NTR is an anathema, you have to rename your son too. I am not saying NTR is a Yuga Purusha or a God, but he did his best to raise the market cap of Telugus in a world full of South Indian stereotypes dominated by others.

#NTR #RenamingRGIA #TeluguPride #Telugu #TeluguLanguage #TeluguCulture #NTRamaRao #HyderabadAirport

"Memu Saitam" : Gemini TV strikes back with a Winner.

"Memu Saitam" program on Gemini Television yesterday gave a new high in Star-struck  entertainment. The last time we got such a high from Tollywood was when MAA TV telecast the three-day fest celebrating the 75 years of Tollywood with a galaxy of talents including the venerable ANR who was alive then. "Memu Saitam" was a telethon  - a marathon on TV running for upwards of 13 hours - the longest in a single day. What struck me was the range and the repertoire - catching our stars doing what they are good at - entertainment all the way. The program itself was well-coordinated and orchestrated to near-perfection with plenty of interludes and breaks to mitigate any monotony from watching such a marathon.

The programs were light on content and crisp on delivery  - most of them except the two dud shows by the ruling music composers - Thaman and DSP who were stuck in old-world ways of boot-licking their demigods. What was Thaman doing when a CM was gracing the audience I could never get. Or, what was he really thinking in insisting on his nautanki drumbeats with every passing hero or director he worked with I failed to realise. DSP could have sung the latest songs from "Legend" etc. but he is stuck on the much-repeated song of "ShankarDada MBBS".

Moving away from those few jarring notes - the rest of the programs deserve a five-star  rating - the well-contested Kabaddi matches with refereeing by Mohan Babu and the outburst by Brahmanandam, the cricket games with the lightest ball and the lightweight overs - 6/6 format. Comedy inputs by Brahmi, MSN and others was impactful. Balayya's feat at showing his multiple talents outside of acting was neat and entertaining. All the other music directors but for DSP and Thaman who got their six minute hall of fame were dignified and mature enough to present their better songs for the occasion - Mani Sharma, Koti, Ramana Gogula, RP Pattnaik, Raghu, Srilekha etc. Interview by the giggly girl Samantha with Mahesh Babu was becoming quite frivolous and personal until director Trivikram intervened and brought the much-needed seriousness to the show. Yet, it was one of the better off-beat interviews seldom seen of Tollywood superstars - it had spontaneity, fun and the surprise elements in a tete-a-tete.

Two segments stood out taller than the rest of the program in terms of their uniqueness and innovation - one was Nagarjuna's short program on some of the silent heroes behind the HudHud relief efforts - it resonated well and elevated the program to a worthy level. The other program that wowed you with content and delivery was the culinary competition set by the producer of blockbuster in making "Bahubali" to the team that is making the film  - Rajamouli and Gang. Set in poetic motion, the struggles by the various pairs from the Bahubali team in coming up with award-winning delicacies was brilliantly shot and set to lovely music by Keeravani - the maestro who will hang up on the high of the movie's soundtrack release in December 15.  That program was the most creative one not seen in recent times anchored well by the ruling Divas - Suma and Jhansi.

On the whole, for a film-crazy public, the rewards of watching a Sunday full of entertainment is its own reward. The collections so far of around Rs.16 crs. are better than the individual awards announced in the immediate aftermath of the program. As the competition hots up on the Telugu satellite space, GeminiTV strikes back with an ace of a memorable program by the who's who of Tollywood for the HudHud victim relief. I won't be surprised if yesterday's "Memu Saitam" gets one of the highest TRPs.

#MemuSaitam #Gemini #SunTVnetwork #Tollywood #TFI #TeluguFilmIndustry

Raghuram Rajan is Right in post-poning Rate Cuts

The markets can take a walk for today but they will come back to re-appreciating what RBI Governor Rajan did when they can. Even if Rajan hadn't made the signal announcement on rate cuts, we better listen to what he says. In the 15 months since he took over, currency has stabilised, stock markets have rebounded to lifetime highs, bond markets have seen bigger FII participation than stock markets, gold imports have fallen until recently, and bond yields have fallen over 150 per cent insinuating a big fall in sovereign borrowing rates which should augur well for the borrowers generally. Today, the INR Bond has become one of the best fixed-income investments in the world - giving positive dollarised returns - better than many G8 economies. Even if the Fed Taper is pre-dated in 2015, Rajan is leaving no stone unturned to ringfence the economy from shocks coming from hot money flows. Remember the last time he warned a few quarters back: "We must use this window of capital flows to strengthen our economy". The markets were not expecting a rate hike then. He hiked for a solitary reason to attract short-term inflows and prevent a run on Indian bonds. Again, two quarters ago, he warned the world is not yet out of the woods as if he got premonition about a second crisis coming. The last time around, he was the only one who saw it coming  - earning the wrath of Gods like Greenspan and Goldman CEO. This time not many paid heed to his warning again but we just saw the European unravelling and the rumblings in the US and Japan forcing most Central Banks in the world to think independent of each other, to fend off their wounds. 

I followed his press conference closely today and feel there is a lot he says that is still work-in-progress before India can expect a rate cut even if the path is now more or less visible. His concerns are valid: Core Inflation is still high, we got relief on Crude Oil prices yes, but we may again see a sharp shoot-up in gold prices putting pressure on the current account deficit, we have yet to see the clouds lifting on the road ahead for savers and producers, we have yet to see the big banks cut rates despite bank rate lowered some time back, we have to still clear the projects on Infrastructure and clear the cobwebs on coal and power issues,  the issues of reducing the fiscal deficit, we have to address the issues of accountability of big promoters running away with bad debts (a quick rate cut will once again make the banks run with the wolves again) and we have to address the whole issue of return of confidence on financial market investments. Anyone who read the book "Faultlines" by Rajan, especially the chapter on India will find all these concerns well-highlighted by him. I am sure he is not going to give away the concessional cuts Corporate India unless he addresses these bottlenecks or fixes themfor good. He has talked about why growth is crucial for India but he wants to see growth on a sustainable path - a path that will not just appear as a false-start but run course for several years taking the step-up approach from 5.5 to 6.5 per cent and beyond in GDP growth. 

Unlike the previous RBI Governors, Rajan has an immaculate gentlemanly nature to explain how his policy translates into action and what it means for all the stakeholders in the economy. He was not talking down to the audience today like Dr.YV Reddy,  he didn't make it sound like rocket science like Dr Rangarajan and he was not sounding amateurish and out-of-control like Mr Subba Rao - although all of them gave RBI its much-revered autonomy better than three-fourths of the world central banks. Indians in general and markets in particular should weigh his words more seriously because this is a home-grown talent that is being sought after by world leaders. When the BRICS Bank was set up early this year, the Chinese Premier sought our PM's green signal to make Dr Raghuram Rajan its first Chairman. Modi rightly said no because Rajan has been a lucky find for India. Let's not push our luck fast by pressurising Rajan to do tokenism. He is capable of more than that. Let him decide that. If he has his way, now that his batchmate has joined Ministry of Finance as Minister of State Jayant Sinha, then the duo will herald a golden era for Indian Banks and Financial Markets and also restore the confidence of the savers and investors in the Indian Rupee assets. Amen.

#RaghuramRajan #RBI #CreditPolicy #RBIMonetaryPolicy #RBIGovernor

"Brother of Bommali" (Telugu Film Review)

In a film industry dominated by male chauvinism, a team of new writers pair up with director Chinni Krishna to give a heroine-oriented role. Allari Naresh must be lauded for agreeing to share the screen with Karthika - the tall, dark and muscular daughter of yesteryears' star Radha  calls the shots all the way in a fresh story not seen in Allari Naresh films of late. 

The story goes like this: Naresh and Karthika are twins born seconds apart but they grow up differently. Contrary to the pink brain-blue brain syndrome seen in twins of a girl and a boy, Naresh and Karthika turn out to be gender-atypical extremes; Naresh is a sheepish boy and a non-confrontist. Karthika is  tomboyish, no-nonsense girl who is at once abrasive and aggressive. She is the shield protecting her elder  brother infact. Naresh falls in love with a cute girl and is about to settle down. That is when their parents force him to postpone marriage until his sister ties the knot. It is interval time and the suspense moves at fifteen nautical miles per hour with Karthika revealing she has, o wonder of wonders, fallen in love with a boy Harshavardhan Rane. The twist takes a new level post-interval when the boy Karthika falls in love with is about to marry a girl who is loved by the real villain of the film who keeps running into Allari Naresh - his name is Abhimanyu Singh - that intense-looking guy last seen in "Ram-Lila : Goliyon Ki Rasleela". The girl he is in love with is none other than the "Varudu" girl - Bhanu Mehra. With all these twists, there has to be one man who will be needed to bump the villains and straighten the gang that acquieses to the perfect marriage of hearts. Thats when Brahmanandam enters and brings the story to the end as predictably as he is good at. 

On the whole, "B/o Brahmali" is an entertainer mostly with 143 minutes of comedy and dramatic scenes of women empowerment rarely seen in Tollywood. The second half lets you down with lot of lags and needless scenes that remind you of "Kandireega" and Sreenu Vaitla's films. Yet, the film makes an impact because of freshness in treatment in the first half and the dialogues that pack a punch in ever scene. Music by Sharath Chandra shows lot of variety usually missing in his recent output. Allari Naresh has done an EVV Satyanarayana act by starring in a film scripted to back a heroine more than the hero. That heroine and the sole fulcrum of the plot is Karthika  - she may not have the looks but she carries the film right through. I found she has better screen presence than Naresh. The film has gaping holes - the familiar flaws of Tollywood plot, of tomfoolery, over-simplicity in plots, hyper-comedy situations out of common situations. But it is mostly watchable and few dialogues linger on your mind long after the din of comedy dries - like the dialogue of the heroine when faced by sexual harrassment at work. Despite the overtness of the comic effort, as a viewer, my mind rewound to the classics of EVV on the power of the feminine - like "Aame", "Chaalaa Bagundi" etc. Had this plot got made with a star like Tamanna or Samantha with a Superstar hero and got a classier treatment, the movie would have been a runaway blockbuster. Right now, it is not and we can watch it but once. But the effort deserves patronage. 

My Rating: 2.75/5

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