"Gravity"-3D (English) Movie Review

You cannot make a bad film with a good script. "Gravity" is the film of the year so far that celebrates the spirit of American Cinema where script is the most sacred thing and everybody plays second fiddle to it, including a studio like Warner Bros. "Gravity" is all about living in outer space, up above the world so high, as the rhyme says. It's about two people Mathew Kawalsky (George Clooney) and Dr.Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) who are out on a mission to outer space called SKS-157 alongwith an Indian scientist. Their mission gets hit by debris from space from other Satellites exploding and soon the Indian engineer is gone. It's now down to two survivors but more disaster strikes the two Astronauts as they are routinely space-walking.  Matter of time before George Clooney lets himself untethered out of Sandra's rope to become a speck in space. 

It's now upto Sandra playing the role of Dr.Ryan Stone to come to terms with finding the remnants of the mission SKS and also  to tell the one helluva story that Mathew egged her on to tell even after he's gone, sitting on the edge of space. There's a second coming of George Clooney for fans who are disappointed to see him vanish within forty minutes of this out-of-this-world adventure. Thats the only cinematic flash by director Alfonso Cauron to bring back Clooney to his cooing fans. Be that as it may, "Gravity" is a visual extravaganza that captivates you till the sole survivor Sandra makes it back to Earth. With nothing but deafening silence and your own thoughts and your own voice with space-suits silhouetting your body weight maybe three or four times and yet floating uneasily like a feather in a no-gravity zone, Sandra Bullock packs a punch. George Clooney sharing screen with Sandra less than half the time than her space-suit once again shows why he gets the top bucks at Hollywood. Alfonso Cauron and his son who co-wrote the story give us a new high in cinematic experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life.  Music by Edward Rice takes the experience to ecstatic levels mixing a combination of philharmonic orchestra music with gentle bass and church-bell chords. 

Once calamity hits the lead pair and survival seems remote, you wonder whether this space odyessey has any twist or any elements that sustain your interest. But voila! thats where the screen-writing sizzles. Dialogues between Sandra and George pile up and a story for each character emerges. Sandra is a doctor who needs to be nudged and George is a retiree Mission specialist who inspires her to survive even as he is ready to blaze out of O2 supply and perish. Some visuals and dialogues here will make you freaked out on the experience and empathise with those mortals who leave our planet for extra-terrestrial explorations. How does the Sun Rise look from the above? How beautiful Earth looks from above while we have nothing exciting eking out our daily living? George Clooney gets the best lines even as he fades out faster from the screen: "There's nobody up here to hurt you", "One of us will have to survive to tell the story thats one helluva story", "How beautiful the Sun Rise is on the Ganges" and so on. 

Sandra's second innings is also worthy of note. She had to be in cruise-control for the entire film as per the plot but she pulls it off with depth and glory. Her monologues after it becomes clear she is the only one to report back are well-handled. There's one beautiful scene where she tunes into radio waves and hears a Chinese spy satellite guy. She yearns to decipher the other guy but couldn't make out Mandarin from Mandrake, she gives up and soon hears a dog howling mildly and she howls back matching the dog in tone, reconciling to the fact that when you are alone in space, any "other" voice is good enough. Experiences like these run their course in a short movie of less than 100 minutes but they remind you of the insignificance of life's petty issues when you are on the planet's surface and the significance of survival itself when you are a loner in a space thousands of miles above the Earth's atmosphere. 

Whatever be the intention of making this film, director Alfonso Cauron and his cinematographer have achieved a rare feat in Hollywood's history to create a blissful experience of a lifetime. It is like buying tickets for a space odyessey that orbits our own planet at comfortable speeds. Credit must go to the entire team of Warner Bros. for selecting a theme that will resonate with all Earthlings. Everytime you use your mobile phone or tune in to FM Radio or send an email or watch the Television, remember there's somebody up there who has gone forward in space but gone backwards in time so that we have our frills. Don't miss this film for the world! The 3-D effects are okay but not purposive.But if a rating be pinned, I am not going to be accountable for overlooking the few lapses that may be visible only on a second viewing. It deserves 4.75 out of 5.

"Ramayya Vastavayya" (Telugu) Movie Review

"Ramayya Vastavayya" is a hummable line from one of Raj Kapoor's most famous films. It became a title for a Hindi film also earlier this year starring Shruti Hassan and a new Bollywood hero which was a remake of "Nuvvosthaanante Vaddantaana". Now, Dil Raju produces it in his banner-SVCC with NTR Jr. in a title role and Samantha and Shruti Hassan. It has been a major disappointment for those who go to Dil Raju's brand of family entertainment with a healthy touch and also for NTR fans. Harish Shankar who made "Gabbar Singh" got caught in his own elusions of grandeur and consequently made a film full of mind-numbing violence and pathetic story. "RV" will go down for Dil Raju as an aberration in his catalogue of films as he must have gone missing on the sets.

Once again, a wafer-thin line becomes fodder for 167 minutes of head-banging violence and entertainment that heckles your sensibilities. Ranjeet (NTR) falls in love with Aakarsha (Samantha) and stalks her at college. Samantha gives in to Ranjeet's overtures and invites him over to her village for attending her sister's wedding. Mukesh Rushi, her father, faces threats from two brothers who honk him with life threats often. On receiving one such call, Mukesh Rushi gets trapped into confiding into NTR about an impending life threat. This time, NTR takes them to a safer enclave but actually becomes the dreaded assasin himself killing Mukesh on the spot. Flashback: NTR and his two brothers are actually victims of Mukesh Rushi's atrocitiies; the latter eliminates most of NTR's relatives and even  his first-love called Ammulu (Shruti Hassan). The second half is all about NTR's attempts to explain the flashback to Samantha and justify the killing of Samantha's father and how he finishes them off. Such twists are not uncommon in Tollywood scripts; it appears that most of such films appear to be dug out of a dark tunnel sitting underneath the main road of entertainment. No matter how many stories come out of such dark tunnels, its a null void full of sand and mud coming out of the director's minds and we have to watch such drivel in the name of entertainment. 

Director Harish Shankar's flawed handling of the megaphone extends our pains. He succeeds in getting Dil Raju his first "A" certificate in his catalogue of family films by sprinkling "double-meaning" jokes, sadistic and atavistic violence and characterisation of a voyeuristic villain Ravi Shankar who is maniacally obsessed with sex all the time. Harish also misses out on casting mainstream comedians - and instead gets quite irritating humor from Rohini Hattangadi and others. Only Kota Srinivasa Rao gives a flash of humour in a four minute sequence.He misses milking entertainment which got him name in "Gabbar Singh" and "Mirapakay" and also diluted the emotional quotient in the film that could have got highlighted at few places. An example is, the best song of the film -"Jabilli Neetho Cheppamma..." which comes after interval. Even though the song is great and picturisation good, because Samantha yet doesn't know that NTR is the guy who knocked her dad off, the nuances of the song didn't allow NTR to get highlighted. There are many instances like that which were missed opportunities for Harish to raise the bar of emotionality. Even the dialogues penned by him didn't enhance the impact because of an over-dosage of violence and under-recovery of humour. 

NTR Jr. shines well in the film, his gait is ever confident, his dancing skills show greater variety and finesse (his body above torso is moving better than before) and his timing of comedy has got some impact and improvisation, fans will love his imitation of a few stars in Tollywood. After "Adurs", Chota K Naidu must get credit for showcasing NTR Jr. so well in the many shades that NTR shows up in the film. Stunts could have been shorter and less graphic in portrayal. Amongst the many stunts, one thing noticeable is that NTR comes up with a new weapon everytime - he starts with a mace ("gadha"), a hockey stick, an iron chain, a pick-axe and then guns galore...probably, this is Harish Shankar's idea to show him as the new heir to the 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Between Samantha and Shruti Hassan, Shruti steals the show in the flashback. Both Chota K Naidu and Harish Shankar seem to have got smitten by the cute girl who is getting bolder on scene. Since this is Harish Shankar's second film with Shruti Hassan, her character got etched out better than many other characters. Rao Ramesh gives another cool performance but his characterisation loses conviction in the second half. Music by Thaman SS is fine but only two songs stand out. There is lot of strain that can make us feel worn out on his music.

NTR Jr. should realise that the days of relying on family tree and thigh-clapping as a sign of machismo are over, not many heroes except those who benefit from such references are resorting to gimmicks. Veering away from violence and making entertainment as a form of team effort is the real recipe for success, not aiming to ambitiously carry the film on the hero's shoulders. Those heroes who rallied forth to undertake projects of benign entertainment are climbing up higher than reliance on hackneyed scripts and party symbols such as bicycles. My last two cents to heroes is: don't bank on directors who don't bank on solid stories. Tollywood today has a dozen heroes of bankable box office potential and has more severe competition amongst themselves than any other film industry - more competition than even entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley, if you have to build embankments to keep yourself afloat for atleast 30 films in a career, bank on variety, invest in different stories and support family entertainment. 

"Ramayya Vastavayya" reminds at times the story of "Athanokkade" without any dramatic appeal or intensity. But for a less violent and better half before interval, it gets a rating of no more than 2.5/5.

"Jump Cut" by Krishna Shastri Devulapalli

A little context before we talk about the author - KSD and his second book "Jump Cut". Anyone who carries a surname as revered as Devulapalli ought to carry the stamp of a literary colossus. Let's start with the grandfather, the author's namesake, written the other way around - Devulapalli Krishna Shastri. If Telugu is called the Italian of the East, some credit must go to this man who wrote the most sonorific and lilting lyrics of Telugu language. There were producers who entered films only to make movies with songs penned by Devulapalli. At one time, somewhere in the 80s, when the rate of inflation remained pegged below the Hindu rates of growth, Devulappli was rumoured to be paid anywhere from Rs.15000 to Rs.30000 per song! A sum more princely than what the Nizam of Hyderabad used to pay his Prime Minister! Devulapalli became the most loved and endearing lyricist of his time and commanded premium even after he lost his voice. Then came his son, who is a cartoonist of redoubtable fame. He became famous too as "Bujjai" and one of the cartoonists to be counted. With that kind of a legacy of writerly gene and artistic flair, it is unlikely to have a muted gene that's neither. K.S.D is one such writer who combines the flashes of his grandfather's brilliance exquisitely in his writings but probably chose a range of careers as an adman, illustrator, children's book-writer and maybe even as a standup comedian before the writing bug bit him.

His first novel "Ice Boys and Bell Bottoms" was a coming of age novel, a kind of a Forrest Grump for Indian ethos with all the improbable things quirky and hilarious that happened to Krishna that got trapped in the book. Anyone who survives boyhood has enough material to write for a lifetime, so goes some writer's tip for overcoming writer's blocks. Krishna's first book as above is ample proof of this as he mixes the genre of autobiography and fiction effortlessly with lot of indefatigable humour which seems to distinguish his writerly career. It has won Krishna plaudits from writers like Anita Nair and discerning readers who don't necessarily buy and read only books recommended by Crossword bookstore owners and Landmark shortlists. I even heard one top Tollywood producer recommending it highly for ROFL effects.


Like Puri Jagannadh of Tollywood fame, I liked the audacity of Krishna who announced in 2012 HLF in Hyderabad that his next book will be based on film industry and it is titled "Jump Cut". Puri also, for the record, announces tantalising titles with unintended consequences. So, Krishna, as he spoke at the book-launch took almost two years to write this book which includes one year spent at the editor's table of Harper Collins. "Jump Cut" is itself a snappy title which demands a google or two, maybe even consult Warner Bros. or our own Annapurna Studios to decipher what it means and why the title.

Jump Cut, in film parlance, means an edit between two shots that feels abrupt or discontinuous usually intended for expressive or dramatic effect. Jean-Luc-Godard, a pioneer, is associated with "jump cut" even if he may have accidentally created it. It seems to now form a blind followership by directors of South Indian action films who love to challenge the illusions of continuous space and time within a shot that seeks to maintain continuity. It has become a motif for stylised action and dramatic shots. So, Krishna has selected a wacky title that is set in a different setting than what his first book talks about. It's about a protaganist aptly named Satyajit Ray-Raman who returns to Madras to be with his ailing father Raman, an Assistant Director to ace director Rajarajan and others in Kollywood (Tamil Film Industry). Raman passes away but not many come to the funeral which surprises Ray-Raman. His investigations lead him to a character called Rajarajan, the same guy who milked his dad without due credit and cash. He decides to fight one grand battle against Rajarajan for blatant plagiarism or violation of intellectual property rights. He weaves a surreal masala mix that reminds you of the loud eighties where the hero, his side-kick and a lady who needn't be his muse take the villain on a trip, work him into becoming more greedy and lead him to the scent of a woman and money trap that bring the house down. Three characters, Abie, Sumi and Selva are roped in by Ray in the most clandestine manner. There is also Padmini, a bold woman who turns on the hero's libido one night before her engagement to another guy. Would Ray succeed ? Will he go back to US? Will he get Padmini? How much will Sumi stoop to conquer Rajarajan? Read on to have these answered.

Krishna Shastri is quite a skilful writer who can collapse a potboiler of a South film plot into some salacious prose thats rich in variety, pace and narrative. Krishna delivers a punchy, naughty, sometimes raunchy but mostly energetic output in less than three hundred pages that must score high on entertainment. Except for the first seventy pages, when he takes time to set the tone for the launch of an offensive by the protagonist of the book - Ray, I found the book mostly riveting and intensely racy with delicate turns of phrase and even over-turns of the phrase, as someone pointed out at the book launch. Krishna has the gift of an eloquent story-teller who has a voice of his own (evident even in his first book) and an incurable flair for humor that refuses to go away all through his prose. Krishna has an additional gift of an observant eye that is as precise as detailed as a camera on prowl: he compares a plate of "jantikalu" (a salty delicacy) as a collection of "infinity" signs (as in mathematics), he spots the Sun coming out of the ocean like "a swimmer jumping for a breath of air", he defines a particular movement of hands like "doing a Shahrukh". Get the point? "Jump Cut" reads like an engrossing screenplay with tens of similes, metaphors, and expletives which remain recessed in most people's memories but seldom float on paper.

When you read the book, you know you are reading a new master of English prose with a dazzling voice and a narrative dipped in good humor and occasionally, very rarely, below the belt. Krishna Shastri, at the book launch, which I attended mentioned that he has plans to launch himself for a film-writing career too, which is not contextually far-fetched from the palette he is painting his life with right now - children's books, copy ads, humor columns and novellas. I am sure, South film industry will beckon him soon as humor and imagination are both in terrible short supply and KSD with his top-of-the-tree lineage is well-suited to command a price tag with a premium not unbeknownst to his family. Just in case, you think this is ending like a panegyric the way Ray drives Rajarajan into committing harakiri, wanted to remind you, dear reader, what not to expect and what isn't happening in the book?

For a change, there is some Tamil in the book which could have got translated for a wee-bit better appreciation, atleast as a foot-note or in the appendix. I could not digest the proportion of Tamil words hurled at me at the cost of a few Telugu words, whatever be the arguments for elevating a classical language to that of the national language. Two, there are flashes in between chapters which justify the title "jump cut" but they remain a style but do not enhance the narrative or the characterisation. Three, there could have been more research into the issue of Intellectual Property issues of a film industry which copies unabashedly from Korean and American films and everything in between. Just a passing reference to an imaginary website pilferingpenis.com (It doesn't exist, don't try!) doesn't help the cause. Four, despite a promising start to fiction, the plot doesn't have multi-layered depth that goes beyond the three-act filmy drama. At one stage, the plot gives away when Rajarajan becomes more gullible and naive than the most idiotic and rotund villains of films like "Adavi Ramudu" and "Sivaji" and there is not much drama coming.


Despite these shortfalls, "JumpCut" is a thrilling and luminous read from one of India's freshly-minted talents in writing. KSD will be a treat to read whatever he writes and if he works on the elements of drama and depth in his plots, he will be a phenomenon to watch out for.


"JumpCut" by Krishna Shastri Devulapalli, pp.296, Price: Rs.299.00, Pub. Harper Collins India

"Besharam" (Hindi) Film Review

It happens to every superstar. It happened now to Ranbir Kapoor. After hitting a purple patch in recent films, Ranbir Kapoor has starred in a disastrous film that is neither a love story nor an action film. Directed by Abhimanyu Singh Kashyap, "Besharam" must go down as one of Ranbir's most insane and inane film till date.

The story is like a line that is lifted from TV serials - not suitable for a film befitting Ranbir. Bablee (Ranbir Kapoor) and his flunkie keep stealing imported cars by knocking off the locks with a magic knob. They are chased by an about-to-retire police couple (Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh) in the first case. Bablee keeps running as a furgitive and gate-crashes into a pretty lass Pallavi Sharda (debutant). He bumps into her mother and finds it easier to serenede Pallavi through her mother. He succeeds after many false starts. One day, he flicks her own car from her office and then "shamelessly" tells her to drive down with him to Chandigarh to track the owner who bought her "stolen" car. Pallavi relents after her mother persuades and that loosens the romantic track between Ranbir and Pallavi. There is an anti-hero also for the first time in a Ranbir film - it is Javed Jaffrey  - the boogie-woogie judge - who engages Bablee on "car" assignments. The twist is that the car stolen from Pallavi contains a bagload of crores of rupees which he is coming after. In a climactic chase for that car, Javed Jaffrey, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh and Ranbir and Pallavi all come together in a gun-dotted sequence that lasts 25 minutes before the end comes soon. Happy ending but troubled viewing for those who went with expectations. 

What went wrong? Story thats loosely fleshed out with poor characterisations and half-baked convictions. Director doesn't have clarity on giving what he wants the many characters to speak out. Javed Jaffrey could have been menacing for a change but he is made a joker in the end. Pallavi Sharda has promising looks but her characterisation lacks punch; her melting point to accept Ranbir's love was inconsistent with her overall tone. Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh look slightly over the top with their inspid lines; they fight, they differ, they want to adopt a child and end up adopting a grown-up like Ranbir in the end - some sort of picturesque justice to a family drawn in the film for the sake of it - a purely avoidable situation.  Ranbir is quite good in his role and carries off his performance effortlessly, he fits the role of a "Besharam"  - flirtatious, mischievous, innocent and kind well but he could have passed up this role, either he okayed the script after his parents listened to or he must have got sentimental about playing a role with both of his parents seen as a screen couple. The law of averages seems to have caught up with Ranbir in this film - it is slow, cliched and woefully anachronistic plot. Screenplay could have been done by a clap boy, it was that simple or redundant. Music by Lalith Pandit, whoever he is, must be one of the forgettable scores of Ranbir's career so far. It neither enriches the film nor energises it. Comedy in a few scenes is sprinkled which get a few laughs but enough to redeem the film of its cardinal sins - lazy direction, sloppy screenplay, lacklustre story and frivolous handling. 138 minutes is not that long yet found the duration tortuous. What helps is the screen presence of Ranbir, Javed Jaffrey, a few laughs and the engimatic cuteness of newcomer Pallavi Sharda. For all that, it deserves a rating of 2/5.

A lesser known fact about Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri also shares his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi, on October 2,as we all know. Even though he ruled for just over two years, it was one of the most eventful tenures for an Indian Prime Minister - the time when Pakistan fought a fierce war with us. 

A lesser known-fact was revealed by my father today at a dinner conversation as he was reminiscing those tough days of war-years circa 1965-66 (and I was not even born yet). He said India was short on food grains and was importing them from outside. USA had a notorious scheme called PL-480 which restricted the import of food grains by India especially because Pakistan was in a bloody war with India and the US tried its best to upstage us - thinking we could be bull-dozed as it was a new man after Nehru. But Shastri was short in stature, not short in size of thinking or easy to be bullied. He lashed out against US for exploiting the situation. He also realised that the food grains were not enough to feed India's millions; there is a food crisis at hand if all Indians were to consume three meals a day. He went on air to exhort all Indians to show their patriotism for the country in a much more dramatic manner than what today's Raghuram Rajan or Chidambaram would ever make to save dollars and import bills. He asked all Indians to make a supreme sacrifice: Miss A Meal once in a week. The savings combined with this single act of a meal saved will save India millions of import bill of food grains and also a national embarrassment. It worked, it seems. Except infants and aged, most people volunteered to miss a meal, even some restaurants closed down for one session a week, and it became a national cause that everyone loved to stand for in one of India's greatest food crisis. Today, we are reasonably self-sufficient in atleast 20 out of 24 varieties of food grains but those days, a measure like this which was more a request from a Prime Minister carried far greater response; it resonated because politicians like Shastri came up from humble origins and lived like farmers, simple, honest and out to make a difference to the country without amassing fortunes in benaami accounts. Shastri was a true leader who commanded a rare respect that only diminished with time in sync with the shrinking moral compass of today's politician leaders.

My father adds that the simple "Miss A Meal" became a rage at one time. He remembers a famous cartoon too which shows women at Beauty pageants parading with their respective country banners: Miss America, Miss Soviet Union, Miss England, Miss France and so on. When India's turn came, it was a woman with a banner which read "MISS A MEAL". Good night, friends and remember this soul whenever you remember Gandhi too. I hope we don't reach a situation when someone remembers Ravi Shastri more than Lal Bahadur Shastri. That will be tragic.

"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

"The Lunch Box" (Hindi Film Review)

Some films are born great, some films have greatness thrust on them and some films attain greatness, to borrow a bard's phrase. "The Lunch Box" is a film that is earmarked for greatness because of a mesmerising story, bewitching script, almost flawless execution and a starcast that comes tailor-made. It has already been premierred on most film festivals from Toronto to Cannes and has won rave reviews before being showcased in India.  Director Ritesh Batra has given one of India's finest film in years with a story that is as improbable as a six sigma error in the delivery system of the famed "Dabbawallahs". 

The six sigma error is  what changes life for a middle-aged wife Ila (Nimrat Kaur) when the lunch box that she packs with utmost affection and consummate culinary skills gets swapped by the Dabbawallahs with a box that reaches one Mr Fernandez (Irrfan Khan) who is on the verge of retiring as a Senior Accountant in an Insurance Company. He has a new under-study Nawazudding Siddiqui who is deputed by the owner to learn the ropes quickly. A subtle romantic track develops between the exchange of the "Dabba" between Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur every day, appendixed with handwritten letters inserted in the box. "The food was tasty but salty" and other inane messages soon develop into gut-level communication between two adults caught in their own worlds of loneliness and desperation; Nimrat has a happy home with a school-going girl and a workaholic husband who is insensitive to her, her sole refuge is an elderly neighbour Aunty who stays one floor above her flat but helps her with all the recipes and the sage counsel she needs. Irrfan, on the other hand, is a loner (lost his wife) who is good at work but unfriendly coach to over-enthusiastic Nawaz. His zest for life and empathy for others including kids who ball around in his home environs were inscrutable, until  both Nimrat through her tasty cooking and Nawaz through his simplicity and cheerleading enthusiasm  mend Irrfan's mental makeup for better. 

The film builds up in 110 minutes of pacy narrative with sharp characterisations. Ritesh Batra has earlier made a documentary on "Daabwallahs"; now he creates a story of a lunch box mistakenly delivered by them. That could be a reason to fuss and file defamation charges from the gangs of dedicated workers who were invited for Prince Charles's wedding and etched into a Harvard case study. But the film stands out for transmitting the DNA of the times, for telling a story with a freshly different pair of Director's eyes, without pretensions, different values and uninhibited by the compulsions of cinema. Entirely shot in Mumbai's local trains and the nerve-center of Mumbai's concrete jungles of Malad and Dongri, there must be around 350 picture shots that make you live in the office and residential spaces of a society that thrives on chaos, packed with people like swarms of bees yet friendly and humane. Soundtrack of the film is by some foreigner, makes a point with regular musical instruments at just three to four instances in the film but by and large relies on the natural sounds of the deafening dins of moving locals, orchestral nature of an office canteen bustle. Occasionally, the kids on the moving locals break into a hit Kumar Sanu song and that becomes a lead sound track for the next few scenes. 

Personally, I felt a cute connect between visual and verbal literacy in this film. At a time when the biases of the film-makers are mostly towards song-and-dance and surrealistic and loud entertainment, Ritesh Batra re-creates a story that gives out as much from the imagery as from the words spoken by the three main characters - Irrfan Khan gives his best messages to Ila only in English and he gives almost a Thoreau-like commentary on issues of happiness and misery, Nimrat Kaur (that Cadbury girl caught in traffic jam with a mouthful of Five Star) is innocent, adventurous and vulnerable at the same time. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is at his entertaining best rubbing shoulders with an elegant Irrfan but has occasionally stolen the thunder; all three characters speak as much with words spoken as with their body language. In that sense, the verbal literacy is probably taken to newer highs than the visual literacy of the film. References to the 80s TV classic, "Yeh Jo Hai Jindagi" and old victorian values of diligence and restraint are messages the director wants the audience to take home despite an ending that is not so poetic. There are references to Bhutan's Gross National Happiness as opposed to our own GDP fixation.

When a film's reputation darts faster than the buying interest in India, you have to expect the Goliaths of the industry to rally behind it. No wonder, "The Lunch Box" is now a collaboration of Indo-German-French productions and the two Goliaths here are Karan Johar and Ronnie Screwala. That must give all the push needed to qualify this as India's sole entry to the Oscars. Because of the screenplay and the pacy narrative, you wouldn't feel bored even for a second. But there are flaws in this notable experiment, mostly loose ends the director forgot to tie in his stickiness to the main storyline. When Ila's husband tells her why she is making Aloo Gob every day for lunch, we don't get that. When the Dabbawallah refuses to accept the mistake of  swapping of boxes, he doesn't give a credible answer but a Harvard student might know what the director concealed. Again, not once does it occur to the two characters corresponding over lunch box to connect with the new modes of mobiles and emails. One more, Ila discovers she is trapped in a sex-less marriage because her husband is having an affair, but that is left unconfronted till the end. Obviously, there are quite a few gaffes in a film that seeks to break new ground in story-telling. But as the line in the film goes, sometimes, " A wrong train also can take you to the right destination." Ritesh Batra and team deserve a thumping watch for "The Lunch Box". My rating is 4.75 out of 5.