R K Laxman: His work regaled the Layman

R.K.Laxman

I wanted to wait till what Times of India had to write about the passing of R.K.Laxman - the man who gave the paper unprecedented mileage. Dileep Padgaonkar was mighty right in saying such a poetic justice for a man who highlighted the plight of common man's most burning issues to die on a Republic Day - when the nation takes stock of the promises and potential in its constitution. Not just that Dileep added that R.K.Laxman's life in cartoons is a shining example of how freedom and responsibility should go hand in hand - a relevant debate after the massacre of Charlie Hebdo. After R.K.Laxman's death, I am sure, a murder of cows, armies of common men and packs of dogs are not the only ones who would mourn his passing. Of course, he made them all famous - crows, dogs and the ubiquitous common man - a statue of whom can be found in Pune - the city where he breathed his last. Infact, a serial was made on the ironies of common man back in the 90s - "Wagle Ki Duniya" which took his empathies with the bald-headed man with the caterpillar eyebrows, check shirts and toothbrush moustache to the masses who may not have yet read the papers.

To be fair, one always had the Dickensian question: Did we live in interesting times or was it Laxman who made our time interesting? Both, because India went through a sluggish period of low-growth, high-inflation and sloppy politicana. India also saw the dismantling of the single-party democracy in 1967- the year in which the Congress lost elections in eight states. That only meant more variety of politicians, and later India's most famous businesspersons, cine-stars, dons, sportspersons and celebrities. Laxman burst at the scene at the same time as his colleague at Free Press Journal Bal Thackaray but had a meteoric rise like none before. There were so many who drew before and after - but none achieved the peaks of Laxman's success. Possibly, Times of India's editors never interfered with Laxman whether he lampooned Nehru, Indira Gandhi or NTR or even Bal Thackaray and gave him more than a roomful of freedom with a canvas of many expressions. But credit Laxman only for his self-practised cartooning skills whose calibre only got better with each passing day as he churned "You Said It" cartoons on a daily basis and then those special occasion bigger cartoons.

To the layman, Laxman's talent looks prodigal and that is how it should read for this younger brother of R.K.Narayan - one of India's most-loved English writes of the 20th Century. Laxman grew up drawing inspiration from Sir David Low's cartoons in PUNCH magazine and then started illustrating his brother's cult literary works. He wrote for Blitz, The Hindu and others before joining Free Press Journal. But like all self-employed outliers, Laxman tried to get admission to the J.J.School of Arts to hone his natural abilities in carricature. He wrote to the Dean with a sample of his cartoons. The Dean rejected his admission with a letter: "I see no talent whatsoever. Please continue your studies." This kind of thing happened too often for people we now regard as legends. It didn't deter Laxman who went on to become Independent India's most famous cartoonist. He drew thousands of cartoons, designed logos for many of which we famously recognise like the boy in Asian Paints and wrote books to prove a point that he can write as fluently as his elder brother. "The Distroted Mirror" collected his short stories, essays and travelogues. "The Hotel Riviera" and "The Messenger" were his novels. His last book was "The Servants of India" in 2000 which was a compilation of his short stories. But the book that received accolades was his autobiography "The Tunnel of Time" released in 1998. You wouldn't find too many books in world literature which covered a life of letters in such crisp prose. Last year, Bob Mankoff, the Editor-at-large of New Yorker cartoons wrote his autobiography "How About Never" which tried to dissect a life in cartooning in much graphic detail. But "The Tunnel of Time" is a candid memoir giving such explicit detail of how a younger brother grew out of a literary giant's shadow to make his own mark in life. It also covers rare glimpses of the people Laxman and his first wife met with - including the great painter Picasso and the Nobel-prize winner Bertrand Russell. "The Tunnel of Time" was the first book I presented to Mr Bapu, Telugu's most-famous cartoonist. He raved about the book for days and thanked me for introducing a book that resonated so well with his own life - he too faced many rejections in his own life before Bapu became India-famous.

Laxman survived the emergency and the liberalization days, he covered every conceivable figure of history as reported in press. His cartoons had simplicity, humor and a light-hearted message that was both philosophical and deeply ironical. If India is a better republic today than it was at the time of birth, it is to the credit of cartoonists like Laxman who tirelessly highlighted the issues without didacticity and ado. No wonder, he got awards from Padma Vibhushan to Ramson-Magsaysay. But all awards got their veneer from association with the name of R.K.Laxman. There may be more interesting facets to R.K.Laxman's life just as R.K.Narayan because the former married twice unlike his elder brother. He couldn't draw for more than a decade after he hung up his boots. A lot must have gone through his life in those years of silence and recluse. Will we ever know? Must we know? Can't say. I can only take a leaf out of Bapu uncle's advice on how to view the lives of creative legends - "Don't try to get up close and know them more than what you know of their life's work. It might repel you." For Indians, R.K.Laxman was solid gold standard to us. We will continue to see his works on the walls, in museums, on special souvenirs relased by banks and doctors. His cartoons and the world he made will continue to inspire and humor us to make our lives more interesting - even if R.K.Laxman had the best day job in the world. R.I.P.

"Gopala Gopala" (Telugu Film Review)

Now that PK has re-tested the fun from challenges posed to Gods and Godmen, the concept originally seeded in OMG has reached heights of receptivity and curiosity. But "Gopala Gopala" is a well-timed remake of OMG completely dumbed down for the Telugu masses used to wafer-thin stories and hysterical drama. It has taken a colossal collaboration of sorts from Suresh Productions to Venkatesh to Mithun Chakraborty and director Kishore Kumar Pardasani alongwith ruling disc composer Anup Rubens. When Venkatesh jumped at the role of Paresh Rawal, he asked the producers to find the perfect playing mate - the man who would play God. Their search ended with Pawan Kalyan agreeing to do Akshay Kumar's role. Must say, Pawan Kalyan dazzles in his role as Krishna in modern costumes. And Venkatesh shines better than some of his previous films in doing justice to his role as Gopal Rao - the hapless seller of god statues whose shop gets struck down by a devastating earthquake; it hits his shop only and leaves everything intact.

The original story has a purity unheard of in a country smothered with religious motifs and blind beliefs of scary dimensions and milked by God-heads and Godmen and Godwomen promising manna from heaven. In 152 minutes, a tad too long, director Kishore Kumar has taken a clean approach to present a reasonably entertaining and authentic remake of the original story which made heads turn in Bollywood. Screenplay  is pacy and narration quite clear, music by Anup Rubens good but not the best of scores except two songs showing both Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh. How Good are the stars in this multi-starrer? Venkatesh aces up his role better what is cropped from his films recently - he is aging but in portraying the resilience and grit and the humanity, Venky proves his acting prowess again. Of course, he will be compared with Paresh Rawal, the legend but personality-wise this role is tailor-made for him. The one who lends an extra-sensory dimension to the role is Pawan Kalyan. He comes, just as in the original right before the Interval Block in a swashbuckling sequence that sets the audience in a tizzy. His role is less chirpy than Akshay Kumar and therefore, the characterisation is a tad more elevated that reaches a crescendo post-interval. Because the Telugus have both propensity and tendency to deify heroes on celluloid, Pawan's characterisaiton gets a special touch from the makers in adding as much chutzpah. So the director avoids the original paraphernalia used like a single-round Kireetam or a necklace; instead he retains the blazing key chain, the occasional bamboo flute and wears prima donna white costumes. Pawan is shown like a zen warrior who has been doing years of Vipassana meditation; he packs punch in all his dialogues carefully crafted to suit his king-maker political career so far and portrays himself as the Lord in all divinity, humility and serenity. His characterisation will get full marks and  get burnt into the frenzied consciousness of the Telugu audience for this generation as much as the earlier characterisations did for icons like NTR. 

In many ways, this plot of God coming to Earth is a tailor-made script for Tollywood more than any other "Wood". For decades, Tollywood has been making films on mythologicals for every generation right from inception. Even in modern settings, they never lost an opportunity to make films where the God connects to a mortal in distress and descends down to mentor and guide him to a path of liberation or clarity. Allu Ramalingayya, Chiru's father-in-law once produced a classic film "Devude Digi Vaste" which was remade in Hindi with Sanjeev Kumar. Then we had Rao Gopal Rao play Lord Shiva in "Maa Voollo Maha Shivudu" - both films had Satyanarayana as a distressed mortal. Bapu made "Buddhimanthudu" with a role of a lifetime for ANR and Sobhan Babbu as Man and God. From that viewpoint, "Gopala Gopala" stands out in creating a  message-rich canvass of what the original film in Hindi successfully made - it has all the right emotions of joy, laughter, tears and pathos, fear and courage that run undercurrent to the story. A story where man is guided by his Creator towards objectivity beyond objectification. Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh created a good characterisation on screen time where Pawan Kalyan gets atleast 45 minutes of mesmerising presence that will linger on for a long time. Venkatesh packs more energy and pace into his delivery whereas Pawan choses a path of calm and deliberate poise and Godly equanimity  - so the effect is altogether terrific on screen. 

How faithful is the remake to the original? That's a question that is better answered by the Box-office verdict. My view is that there are quite a few deviations in the rendition to suit the Telugu sensibilities but the overall effect is as dramatic as the original. The original has no  stunts and dialogues that choke you by Paresh and Akshay. GG has too many emotional scenes between Venky and PK and shows atleast three stunts. Original fight introduction of PK riding on the bike and saving Venky was more intense and effective in Hindi; in Telugu it loses fizz but then you realise it's all about Pawan Kalyan's introduction and less about the omnipotent bike. Original shows a balanced characterisation about Paresh Rawal's family and the Godmen who combine to defeat him; in GG, Shriya Saran, Venky's wife is reduced to an insignificant role without a variation in characterisation. If only Shriya realizes her folly of deserting her husband in dire straits after Pawan Kalyan counsels her, her role would have got highlighted.Of course, Mithun Chakraborty shines well in both the films - his mere presence with a snigger and a palm that cups his mouth makes him both a provocateur and a credulous character. Posani Murali overdoes his role but evokes laughter. The court scenes are as dramatic as the original but the earth quake that brings down the house for Venky was captured better in Hindi. 

On the whole, the film is a winner and deserves a one-watch for Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh. There is a treat of a song or two which shows the two stars shake a leg. To a large extent, Venkatesh holds the screen with his presence and dialogues well in the first half building to the crescendo created by Pawan Kalyan in the second half. There are mighty bloopers though which shouldn't have crept in the first place. For instance, instead of giving butter to Pawan Kalyan, Venky pulls out a cup from the fridge that clearly looks like butter-scotch ice-cream. Despite a few slipups, director achieves a rare feat of transmitting the feelings and key messages drummed in the original for the Telugu audiences. For those who have not seen the original before, it is a sure-shot entertainer with two stars who don't throw tantrums together. For those who have seen the original, watch it for Pawan Kalyan - his performance will win hearts. As for the talk about religion and all that, forget it. Mithun still had the punch line: "There are no God-loving people here. There are only God-fearing people. As long as people are God-fearinng, our ashrams will continue to see people fill in." 

Rating: 3.5/5

#GopalaGopala #OhMyGod #Tollywood #PawanKalyan #VictoryVenkatesh #MovieReviews #AnupRubens #PK #SureshProductions #Multistarrers

Two Famous Indian Journalists and the books they wrote

I studied journalism formally in 1992. And gave up full-time writing seven years later. But we never studied the journalism or the ethics of stalwarts of Indian Origin in detail except through Rangaswami Parthasarathy's books on the topic. We heard of two icons remotely - M.V.Kamath and B.G.Verghese. Sad to hear both of them passed away in 2014. 

M.V.Kamath wrote copiously even after his active press career ended and had columns in many newspapers. He was disciplined and loved to share his love of writing and thirst for knowledge to youngsters. I read some of his books; they are both scholarly and light at the same time - difficult to achieve. I hunted down his books at many places after reading just few  like "Letters to Gauri: A passage through history" and "Shirdi Sai Baba". The ones I particularly liked were the biographies of Nani Palkhivaala and M.K.Gandhi. He explored new angles and anecdotal richness in selecting his subjects. For instance, what new light can be thrown on Gandhi? So Kamath chose to focus on his lesser-highlighted dimensions of spiritual quest. Similarly, on Palkhivaala, he chose aspects of greatness of a man that overshadows everything else in the public domain - humility, time management, budget speeches and preparation, writing and lecturing, free forum leadership etc. Kamath wrote biographies of businessmen like Charat Ram and Ramakrishna Bajaj and also on institutions like Central Bank of India. I think the one on CBI was his last. I never stopped searches for Kamath's books. My joy doubled when I stumbled upon his memoirs: "A Reporter At Large" at an obscure bookshop at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Writing about other people when it is tempting to write about yourself - few are good at it. Kamath revels in this art. He gives such fine recount of famous repartees and retorts with people who live in incandescent bulbs all their life - like Henry Kissinger. Kamath wrote how he got snubbed by the condescending Kissinger and how he levelled with him many years later at a banquet. Kamath kept writing almost till 2009 and wrote books on Amul's Kurien, standards of journalism and a handbook for journalists. He never sought sensationalism unlike some of today's scribes in famous magazines. He knew his limitations, practised his faith and explored the subjects he wrote on till the very last. Poignant that he was born in Udupi and died in Manipal; not many have the luxury of nesting and resting in one pincode while orbiting the world in a lifetime.

B.G.Verghese is another journalist who passed away this year. I have had no idea who he was until I read his book: "First Draft" - one of the finest chronicles of Indian polity through the eyes of an insightful journalist. It competes with some of the best books written on the Emergency Days. My acquaintance with B.G.Verghese has been only through his books. And I read two other books. One was the biography of the magisterial press baron Ramnath Goenka. The third book was his last and I bet many journalists wouldn't have even heard of the book. It got released in 2014 as "Post Haste": a history of India's heritage and geography through stamps. It is a stunning, light-hearted journey of Indian icons and events through more than 3000 stamps issued by IndiaPost. A must-read if you love stamps and history - an engaging combination used by B.G.Verghese. His career looks picture-perfect - education in some of the finest universities in the world, awards like Magsaysay, assignments with the most tumultous political regimes and leading stints with Hindustan Times and Indian Express. Quite an eventful life that. 

May their souls R.I.P.

#BGVerghese #MVKamath #IndianJournalism #BooksbyMVKamath #BooksbyBGVerghese

The Best and Worst of My Film Reviews in 2014: A Report Card

Films Reviews rarely get rated. Even on million dollar websites and sensational TV Channels, you hardly find eggs and rotten tomatoes on a reviewer's record of the year. I have no such luxury. But I aspire in that direction. I take my reviewing seriously. When I watch a film, I look for entertainment not intelligence. I judge if the film is watchable or not. I decide if the film is a good example for family audiences. I rate it on aesthetics, refinedness, creativity, acceptability and above all, sustainability of run at the box office. And then I rate it  as honestly  and objectively as I can  - on calibrations of 0.25 on a scale of 1 to 5. If it is average, a rating has to cross 2.5. If it crosses the average rating, it has to be decently good film to touch 3 and beyond. It is really good film if it crosses 3.5; it means it is a paisa vasool. It has to be a crappy film if it doesn't even make it to 2. Then all my ratings are relatively ratable - means if you put two movies with 2.75 each, then the movie rated 3 has to be really better than 2.75 to get the rating it got. This rating business is not to my liking but it became a feature of my reviews on feedback from friends on social media who find it useful in navigating the labrynth of analysis I inflict on readers. So this year, I am giving all of you a report card of the movie reviews I have done for releases in 2014. Thirty two films have been reviewed this year as of 30th December and I have put all my ratings against them - usually reviewed within 48-72 hours of the film's release. As I see, there are some famous misses like "Race Gurram" which went on to collect over Rs.50 crs. But if there is one metric on which I like to be judged vis-a-vis others, it is consistency, dear reader. Most movies rated 3 and above have been top grossers. Movies like "BangBang", "Kick" and even "PK" have all crossed Rs.250 crores or beyond and they were rated 3.5 by me. If there are any misses, I own up to all of them. If there have been bang-on or consistent, it raises my enthusiasm to more responsible levels. As always, love your feedback and more essentially, the brickbats. Please remember, however, that films are quite personal in the way our minds process them. It is not necessary we need to agree. And there is never one way to view them or review them. Even if I take my films seriously, you needn't take the reviews, least of all mine, seriously. If the crowds vote on a film with their feet one way or the other, sometimes it is a good idea to junk all reviews and go for a film, or not, whichever applies. Happy Viewing and Happy Year ahead. Yours humbly.

Films Reviewed in 2014 and their respective ratings.

=======================================

Yevadu (Telugu) - 3.25/5

The Wolf of Wall Street (English) - 2/5

1-Nenokkadine (Telugu) - 2/5

Highway (Hindi) - 3.75/5

Aaha Kalyanam (Telugu) - 2.5/5

Legend (Telugu) - 3/5

Pratinidhi (Telugu)- 3/5

Paisaa (Telugu) - 2/5

2 States (Hindi)- 3.75/5

Race Gurram (Telugu)- 2/5

Rowdy (Telugu) - 3/5

Kochadiyaan (Tamil)/Vikramasimha (Telugu) - 2/5

Anamika (Telugu/Tamil)- 3.5/5

Manam (Telugu)- 3.5/5

Ulavacharu Biryani (Telugu) - 3.25/5

Kick (Hindi) - 3.5/5

Drushyam (Telugu)- 3/5

Bobby Jasoos (Hindi) - 3.25/5

Anjaan/Sikindar (Tamil/Telugu)- 2.25/5

Run Raja Run (Telugu)- 4/5

Aagadu (Telugu) - 2.75/5

Anna Belle - 2.7

Karthikeya - 2.5/5

Loukyam (Telugu) - 3/5

BangBang - 3.5/5

Govindudu Andarivaadele - 2.5/5

Brother of Bommali - 2.75/5

Linga (Tamil/Telugu) - 1.5/5

PK (Hindi) - 3.5/5

Mukunda (Telugu) - 3.5/5

Ugly (Hindi) - 3/5

Night At The Museum part three - 4/5

#MovieReviews #FilmReviews #MovieRatings #Ratings #Hollywood #Bollywood #Tollywood #Kollywood #IndianFilms 

"Night At The Museum 3: The Secret of the Tomb" (English Movie Review)

A good franchise is never unwelcome in any Hollywood Studio because it can give huge present value as well as potential for undiscounted cash flows. 20th Century Fox films found yet another franchise which came out of the most innocuous ideas - what happens when the museum exhibits, all historical figures, come to life when the door is bolted? The prospects of seeing a gamut of characters from history dance to life is not only preposturous but also adventurous. The first part of "Night At The Museum" established just that - Attila the Hun, Theodore Roosevelt, Jedediah, Ivan the Terrible, Genghis Khan, Stalin etc under the nightly supervision of Hollywood's most reputed poker-faced comedian Ben Stiller playing Larry Daley, the night watchman. The second part married yet another museum of Natural History in the US and brought back some plot of Egyptian history wedded to the legacy of Abraham Lincoln playing savior to many historical figures held hostage. The third part now takes the franchise to the other side of the Atlantic - the British Museum. 

The story exactly begins where the second part left off - the tourists are being treated to a sumptuous feast of nightly coming-to-life of all the museum replicas under the orchestration of Ben Stiller. But oops, the jaws drop as the characters suddenly wobble in their rhythms and dance to life. Even as pandemonium breaks with the museum figures running pell-mell, a little investigation reveals the tablet of Ahkmenrah brought from the expedition of 1938 is losing it's magical powers that keep the exhibits lively at night. Ben Stiller is sent to the British Museum on the personal liability of the outgoing director of the Museum at New York. His brief: to seek help from the parents of Ahkmenrah how the tablet can regain its powers. This is because the statues of the Pharoah and his queen were shipped to the British Museum by mistake. This brings a new series of adventures  - the volcanic eruptions of Pompeii, the legend of Sir Lancelot and the consequences are entirely unintended as it happened in all the Night series. It's a fitting romp through the legend of the King Arthur and many other gems from British history. In 99 minutes, you couldn't have asked for more fare from history even if there are blemishes galore that will send more headaches up the British Museum in terms of enquiries of why some items are missing. Or things like the Pompeii were misrepresented in the film. All in all, a hilarious film with Ben Stiller's sharp comedy back in action and one hell of a swan song for the legendary Robin Williams. Kids will love this anyways but the way history dances to life in the Night of the Museum series is always a good way to learn it even for adults.

My Rating: 4/5

"Ugly" (HIndi Film Review)

I always fear Anurag Kashyap's films not just because they are dark and sordid and present  a grim picture of humanity. I dread his films for the monsters of fear that prey on my mind long after I moved out of the parking lot. "Ugly" had all the trappings of an Anurag Kashyap film - written and directed by him, full-blooded "A" certificate, negative title that promises to show the ugly side of modern life in Mumbai and produced by "Dar" motion pictures as if fear has become the new private equity in Bollywood productions. (But isn't it always the case with most films in India, alongwith love). So I went to the film, thankfully, alone. I was warned. And I paid the price. For 123 minutes, Anurag Kashyap cast his evil spell with a realistic story, "inspired by actual events" about a 10-year old girl's kidnapping. The kidnapping happens in a busy corner - a male supermodel parks his sedan and tells his daughter just to stay put in the car for five minutes as he finishes his errand upstairs. He is joined upstairs by his friend and protege - a casting director. He tells the hero-aspirant that the girl is missing. (But how did he know a girl is inside the car?). They search all over in vain and rush to the police station. Many frivolous chats with the FIR team later,  enters Ronit Roy - Crime Detection ACP. He takes special interest in the case because the missing girl is his foster daughter. His wife - Tejaswini Kolhapure (remember Padmini Kolhapure? Her sister) and the hero-model were once married and now divorced and Kali - the missing girl is their daughter. The story then moves with a riveting speed on what lies beneath a simple plot - there are layers of ugly side to each character: the hero-model loves his ex-wife and daughter a lot but lives-in with another model, Ronit Roy overworks his official machinery on the case of missing Kali so that he settles old scores over the hero-model, Tejaswini Kolhapure is unemotional as a mother but is trapped in feelings of helplessness over an unhappy marriage and many, many affairs with her ex-husband's associates, she is chronically depressed and has a grouse against Ronit Roy for being stone-deaf to her desires and demands, the casting director associate of the hero-model has many shades of grey and plays double games with everybody in the plot and then there are side-characters, kith and kin of Tejaswini who capitalise on the kidnapping drama and add to the angst of the two leading male characters.

The drama unfolds at breakneck speed but on familiar grooves - the police team keeps a tab on most people with GPRS installed devices and tracking equipment of all phones - and the suspects - all lead characters carry on their conversations unabashedly, adding to the viewers' confabulations. Hidden motives include greed, lust, guilt, revenge and revulsion. Anurag Kashyap is good at exposing the dark side but leaves the frames of highlighted emotions unadulterated - you hate them but that's what it is like, take it or leave it. It's a society that has thrived on it's own insecurities and created a rabid, almost incurable feedback loop of crime insensitivities. Here, the lower and upper middle-class is trapped in exploitative and manipulative mind-games with each other and therefore becomes a breeding ground for transactional trade-offs setting it up for the most unthinkable crimes. Behind every great fortune, there is  a crime but behind every crime there is a fortune and those who failed in life. "Ugly" is a mirror to those folks who eke out their living with faultlines in their moral fibre. 

Despite the film's speed, it lags because many sequences were not edited well - a surprise in Anurag Kashyap's films. In many scenes, the lag comes because of the director's obsession with showing the vulnerabilities and the imperfections of the characters. For instance, when the hero and his associate narrate how the girl was kidnapped, the police officer asks the most insensitive questions and also the dumbest questions which are the ways in which the police system works in India - be dumb so you get entertained and educated. The loose ends in the plot, however, remain unanswered like the gaps in investigating the obvious clues or witnesses, or maybe that's the intended message of Anurag Kashyap. But the ending is a shocker  - and reveals Anurag's fallible side of cinematic sensibilities - he has no boundaries when it comes to commercial cinema, he can shock you out of your wits without an apology. That's what "Ugly" is all about - an extension of his bare-all attitude and a periscopic view of life in it's ugliest shades. You may not come out with any feelings of positivity - because the characterisation shows as if "Sab Mile Huwe Hai". This maybe a school of cinema that I don't want to see too much of. Despite the intelligence and the candidness, the film is full of hard-core expletives that come out as a mouthful from even the most urbane people in India. Music by GV Prakash Kumar is wasted but the BGM by one Brian McMere is spine-chilling. Watchable once but only if you like sordid and dark human drama.

Rating: 3/5 

#Ugly #MovieReviews #Bollywood #AnuragKashyap #DarkCinema

"Mukunda" (Telugu Film Review)

Chiranjeevi's brother Naga Babu made his debut first in "Marana Mridangam" which also earned his brother the title of "Mega Star" for the first time. Decades later, Naga Babu's son Varun Tej makes his debut from a family which already has many "mega" sobriquets. "Mukunda" is the debut film for Varun Tej directed by IIM post-graduate turned-director Srikanth Addala who made such refreshing films like "Kotha Bangaru Lokam" and "Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu".  It  is a proud addition to his catalogue of films with a earthy touch of reality and message. The message: Be Clear about life. Aim High, don't aim low.

Set in a village backdrop, the story is about politics and a cute love story, as the hero himself reveals in a flashback to a fellow traveller in a bus. Politics is dominated by Rao Ramesh who gets his career-redefining performance as a Municipal Chairman in a mandal. He is well entrenched in the post for the past 25 years and is yet unopposed for the upcoming elections until Mukunda enters. Mukunda is the Man Friday of Arjun who loves the daughter of Rao Ramesh which doesn't go well with his male order of son, brother, et al. They have repeated run-ins with Arjun and with Mukunda as well. These confrontations lead to many fights and dramatic scenes which kick up firebrand dialogues from Rao Ramesh, penned by the director himself. But the friction only grows even as elections draw near. Meanwhile, Mukunda, our hero, falls in love with the other daughter of Rao Ramesh, the lovely and demure Pooja Hegde who is decked up even in sleep to look stunning. The romance escalates tensions with  Rao Ramesh; Mukunda also unexpectedly fields the good Samaritan Prakash Raj opposite him. Who will win the elections? What happens to the two love pairs? Is there a tragedy in the tail? Find out yourself.

"Mukunda" is quite gripping in most parts as director builds a steady tension in the plot  showing steady conflict between a merciless and a crude villain Rao Ramesh who rides on the system to fuel his rent-seeking ambitions and a silent student Varun Tej who is ever protective of his friend Arjun but unafraid of fighting injustice. The highlight of the film are the dialogues of Srikanth Addala as he makes us think and join the bandwagon of emotions running undercurrent. Rao Ramesh gets  standout lines which will make him as famous as his legendary father Rao Gopal Rao. Most of his dialogues are an outburst of his state of mind when confronted by opposition from somebody but in the words of Srikanth Addala, they come across as measured output with mathematical preciseness. Infact, he uses many mathematical concepts like Pascal's theorem, trigonometry, geometrical terms like diameter, circumference and perpendicularity which convey the essence of a manly volcano about to erupt in further violence. His dialogues and  delivery in his carefully cultivated exterior in starch cotton aptly elevate his villainy to a level not seen in Tollywood recently. Because the last decade has seen mostly imported villainy and sidelining of native actors like Kota Srinivasa Rao, the audience is treated to dollops of freshness on what the original baddy in Tollywood looks like in-form. It is high time, producers take Rao Ramesh seriously and stop giving us pussilanimous spoonfuls of puerile gangsters and warlords in incredulous costumes sporting six-packs and Che Guera beards. Rao Ramesh is believable, original and just as apt-looking as the henchman who stood in your constituency last seeking your votes. 

How is Varun Tej? He is promising in his first film with decent looks, good in stunts and dances. Lacks a bit in packing punches in emotional and romantic scenes. Director Srikanth probably estimated his strengths correctly, so he gives the apt characterisation of Varun Tej - building him up in machismo and heroism and showcasing him as a valiant protector of loved ones but limiting his play in love and affections to minimal. Can you believe, in 152 minutes duration of the film, the director shows the first face-to-face meeting between Varun Tej and Pooja Hegde only in the 79th minute? That speaks of the director who knows his plot, believes in screenplay as a wind that powers the narration and has a clarity of class. Any other hero in maiden launch would have peeved at the paltry screen time given to work out the chemistry between the hero and the heroine. So this shows Varun Tej has the maturity to believe in a story. I am sure this film will win Srikanth more fans from the Chiru family itself who usually seek the beaten path to commercial stardom, with the exception of Allu Arjun. Srikanth Addala has the calibre to scale peaks of commercial film success just like writer-directors such as Trivikram.

Performances-wise, everybody plays their part well. Pooja Hegde, the damsel who first debuted in "Mask" has a cute characterisation with few dialogues but stunning looks. When was the last time you saw a heroine dancing in devotional songs on Lord Krishna and clad in costumes that barely show anything? "Mukunda" is a miracle in that sense. Parachuri Venkateswar Rao as the hero's father haunts you with a handful of resonating dialogues. Prakash Raj's presence in Srikanth Addala's film is more like a mandatory over in cricket; his dialogues stir your middle-class anger but his characterisation lacks depth. He makes an unexpected entry, makes a point or two as a madcap preacher and then exits like Arvind Kejriwal without an excuse, Funny. Sustaining a plot like this without legitimate comedians like Brahmanandam is a crime in today's Tollywood, but Srikanth pulls off with ease. If at all something can be held against him it is that the confrontation between Rao Ramesh and Varun Tej ends without proper retribution and apology, you wish that Rao Ramesh who gets humbled every time but packs a thunder in every dialogue goes weak in his knees but that never happens. Similarly, Varun Tej shows up in all the fights, even helping girls harrassed by roadside romeos. But we don't get how he suddenly appears for Income Tax Officer's exam and even becomes one. That is the only cinematic license Srikanth takes to deliver a message. The hero's punchlines at the selection interview speak the director's mind: "The Biggest Crime in today's developing world is low aspiration. Low aspiration is killing our potential." Despite minor flaws, the film is a winner all the way, ably supported by Mickey J Meyer's impressive BGM and music. Few songs stand out and scoring BGM for the many moods in the film must give Mickey a new high. 

Yes, there is a dose of violence in the film unusually associated with Srikanth's films - that earned it U/A. But we need more directors like Srikanth and movies like "Mukunda" to re-set our paradigms of entertainment. I recommend "Mukunda" as highly watchable film. 

Rating: 3.5/5

#Mukunda #MovieReviews #FilmReviews #Tollywood #VarunTej #SrikanthAddala #RaoRamesh #PoojaHegde #MickeyJMeyer #PrakashRaj