"Sikindar" (Telugu)/ "Anjaan' (Tamil) Film Review

"Sikindar" had raised unprecedented expectations and got bid for a whopping crore count in Tollywood with Lagadapati Sridhar buying it wholly. The film has Superstar Suriya, reigning Diva Samantha, Yuvan Shankar Raja as music director and a director N Linguswamy who made some of the coolest movies in South. Not any more. "Sikandar" sucks and proves the biggest I-day bore of all movies.

Set in Mumbai with gang-wars as backdrop, the story opens well with a studious Suriya getting out of a train in search of his brother Raju. His enquiries take him to all the folks who are suspected to be involved with his missing brother. It brings him eventually in contact with the right and wrong people who entered Raju's life. Some say he got murdered by rivals, some say he has gone missing. Most people believe Raju Bhai was a do-gooder with a large heart who put his life before buddy Chandu (played by Vidyut Jammwala). Plenty of flashbacks later, the truth comes out - Who is Raju? Where is Raju? Why is his brother Krishna seeking him out? Is it dual role? Or are they the same? The flashback also throws in the glamor of Samantha who exposes herself like never before, more desperate than an item girl. Samantha is the original lover of Raju bhai in the film. We got to infer that since there is no other title justification - "Sikindar" is a sobriquet for Raju Bhai. The saga moves briskly in the first 20 minutes and then halfway in the first half loses the fizz with one of the most hackneyed plots and lazy treatment. The end is in sight  - the unravelling of the villain gang starting from Dileep Tahil, Manoj Bajpai and others - but not before an agonising 170 minutes. It appears director Linguswamy has lost his marbles in presenting a superstar at the peak of his career in different moods and styles. Generally, Linguswamy has created stars out of characters that are rustic at heart and unchiselled bag of surprises. In "Run" he unleashed Madhavan. In "Pandem Kodi" he gave the solitary superhit for Vishal. In "Awara", he gave Suriya's brother Karthi his best shot as a cool dude. But in "Sikindar", he gets carried away by the persona of Suriya and wastes many characters and technical talents in giving one of Suriya's lackadaisical films. Imagine when you had Santosh Sivan, Yuvan Sankar Raja and a starcast like this, you got to over-invest in better storyline and depth in narration.

All we  see is mindless violence, and frames that show Suriya as stylish as ever. He comes out good because he is a natural good-looker. Samantha also carries off her girlish demeanor with ease. Brahmanandam has an act as an unmelodious vocalist but doesn't fire with full impact. Infact, the artist who gets more laughs is the guy who drives Suriya all around Mumbai in his search for his brother. The day the stars realise that it is not important to have gang-wars and item girls like Chitrangada Singh to look heroic, directors have half a chance to make meaningful cinema. But one senses that after the mixed success of "Singham part two" and  experimental debacles like "Maatraan" and "7 Ariyu", Suriya is desperately seeking success. In the march to superstardom and the pointless struggle to retain it, superstars eventually go from hubris to debris. Suriya hoped to see a luck-turn by changing release of his movies from Diwali weekend to I-day weekend. Too bad, this won't work out again. But he has the range of acting, the talent and the patience to re-invent himself better than many other Superstars in Kollywood. At quite a few places, worn out scenes and fatigue in presenting sequences dullen your senses. Otherwise this could have been atleast averagely watchable film. Yuvan Shankar Raja needs to reduce his techno mixes and concentrate on straightening his tunes alone. He has the talent and the gene pool to give great music. Why doesn't he get it? On the whole, a film that tests your patience despite all the respect and admiration we may have for the team that has given us great films.

My rating: 2.25/5.

"Vetaadu Ventaadu" Telugu movie review/ "Samar" Tamil movie review

"Vetaadu Ventaadu" (Hunt, Chase) in Telugu ("Samar" in Tamil) is quite an unsual movie even though it collapses many genres in one film. It must be Vishal's best film to date even though his character is flaky. Directed by someone called Thiru,  it starts off with a chase sequence and then gives an impression of a usual boy-meets-girl-relationship gone sour kinda story. The girl Sunayanana (a fully wimpish-looking girl who is not fit to play a heroine's sidekick) dates Vishal and then walks out on him. Later, she has a change of heart and sends a note asking Vishal to come and meet her at Bangkok, she even sends him flight ticket. Reluctantly, our six-foot hero Vishal boards the flight to Bangkok and bumps into Trisha who dotes on him to navigate the flight smoothly. Then a half-developed love story with Trisha while Vishal is afoot to trace Sunayana. In this backdrop come some bizarre twists, enter villains JD Chekraverty and Manoj Bajpai. It appears they have played the game with Vishal, setting up the flight tickets, the false hopes of Sunayana coming back into his life and the ignition of romance with ravishing Trisha. Its all set up like a game which the duo villains love to play with characters many more like him.




The story is quite unusual, the treatement quite brilliant though patchy at times. It is quite thrilling at times almost until the cllimax but fizzles out at the end as the plot unravels. Quite a bold and impressive effort by director Thiru to come up with a story like this for South Indian audiences which may not click so well with Telugu audiences who dont soak upto experimental themes and plots lacking in entertainment. The film's strengths are screenplay, music by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography and editing. There are some outstanding stunts with Vishal which are a maverick thing for our kind of cinema - it is neither martial arts nor dishum-dishum stunts, just spontaneous and authentic, I dont think such fights are composed ever in Telugu cinema. Vishal fits well in the role of a lost-lover, gullible onlooker who later beats the villains in their own game. Trisha looks as glamorous as ever and ups the ante in showcasing her liberal dressing thats needed to survive as a Diva, 12 years after she set foot in South film industry. Her body continues to defy age but her face is getting tedious and tired. She doesn't look convincing when romancing male co-stars who are younger than her. But to come this far in an industry which is famous for dumping heroines into the trash cans of history is itself an accomplishment. Atleast one more song feauturing Trisha and Vishal could have established the second romance track in the film - needed to rev up the second half. It was definitely good to see JD and Manoj Bajpai team up together for the first time after "Satya" movie, they have the screen presence and chemistry together and carry off their roles with superb ease, they just needed some more scenes to bring out their dangerous side and devilry better, that could have highlighted the climax towards its logical conclusion. Yuvan Shankar Raja is one of my favorite composers who is a worthy successor to his father's legacy. He has it in him to take on the might of Rahman and Harris Jayaraj, what he should do is to focus on the realistic side of Indian films than the surrealistic part of the film grammar. If he gets back the mojo of films like "7/G Brindavan Colony" or "Aadavariki Maatalaku Ardhaale Verule", he can be the music composer that today's stars will queue up for signing. On the whole, 138 minutes of stylish, unpredictable surprises and rollercoaster ride which may or may not be a commercial success. But who cares, if the film is watchable once and gets a rating of 3 on 5!

"David Billa" (Tamil/Telugu) Movie Review

"David Billa" is supposed to be a prequel to the "Billa" franchise. Directed by Chakri Toleti. Telugu folks should know this guy. He was the smiley kid who waits for Kamal Hassan's perfect "Bhangima" in "Sagara Sangamam". Yes, the sa me guy grew up and made "Eenadu" (Remake of "Wednesday"). And now, "David Billa" with Ajit Sir. To be fair, the movie has got everything on the face of it - a kill...er app franchise, excellent technical team of editors, screenplay writers and cinematographers. And some terrific music by Yuvan Shankar Raja. It has a less obese Ajit who is seen as less conceitful than what the character demanded in "The Gambler". To top it, a bevy of villains from Rahman to Sudanshu Pandey. Sudanshu Pandey is definitely a find - he is suave, intense yet subtle and stylish - combines the looks of Kabir Bedi with Mukesh Rushi. He is one of the reasons to see the film. But Ajit does monotonous acting - there is no improvisation and no new swagger and chutzpah that he usually embellishes his portrayal with.

The story unfolds the usual way a Don emerges - a refugee from Sri Lanka, odd jobs of smuggling, working as a retainer, and then climbing up the ladder. We have seen this movie before, you get the feeling. Chakri Toleti, no doubt, has got the talent for intelligent film-making but his sensibilities are more shaped by Hollywood than by native touches. So, the movie seems like a concise procession of stylish visuals with fancy massage girls, slush money, drug-levelled suitcases, and slick gunshots and neck-stabbings. The biggest drawback is lack of entertainment. Romance is also hugely amiss - atleast one of the two girls is good-looking but apart from giving avuncular glances and dont-mess-with-me looks, Ajith comes a cropper there. There seems to be some problem of re-inventing himself for the masses and plots like that of a Don wont help. Chakri Toleti should attempt varied plots to show his talent. The only redeeming feature for me has been Yuvan Shankar Raja - his BGM music is outstanding. You can give the movie a miss because its all gloss and no substance.

"Panja" Movie Review

"Panja" is directed by Vishnuvardhan who made "Billa". It had Pawan Kalyan pinning such high hopes that he made the Audio launch also a low-key affair and under-stated. The movie will remain that way only - under-stated and low-key because while it is pleasing to the eye, it is hard on the ears. If you combine I-Day and R-Day celebrations since 1947 also, you will not have heard so many gunshots ...in one movie. When will movie-makers realise that people don't come to the theatre to hear gunshots and see stylised violence masquerading as a slick gangster movie. We got the feelling we have seen this movie before in "Antham" or "Godfather" or countless RGV films. Pawan Kalyan looks good with his richly-trimmed beard and subtle acting, he also strived to dance reasonably according to his capacity well. But the rest of the cast doesn't get the characterisation you remember. Another wasted opportunity for Jackie Shroff. Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is good in maybe two songs but his BGM could have been better - he can deliver more like his legendary dad Ilayaraja. The Movie's weakness is the story, below-average entertainment, and dialogues spoken and audible in Don's Dens - doesn't connect well. I wonder if I have the energy in the coming years to watch Tollywood Stars's wild antics on day one - I felt more disappointed with myself for throwing my money for the nth time on stars who are competing with their nephews but dont invest well in stories that sizzle or set them apart. My resolution for 2012 will be to skip such movies on day one and wait for another "Bakra" to review the film for me. Sorry Pawan, but you asked for it. Though I am digressing - what depressed me more is two sulking trailers during interval - of "Businessman" (Mahesh) and "Rajanna" - 2012 looks more depressing from output point of view in Tollywood. But I hope I don't stay in this mood for long. Something better be good soon.