"Viswaroopam" Telugu/Tamil Movie Review

"Viswaroopam" is truly a treat for fans of Kamal Hassan who admire his versatility and talent. Even though there's no title justification, the film is a stand-out in terms of technical brilliance and production standards that outmatch Asian cinema. To say, it holds a candle to Hollywood will be an outright cliche because Hollywood is always going to be on a different planet - their industry, their stalwarts, their creative flicks and their collaborative genius can never get exceeded in many lifetimes by anyone else outside of Hollywood. But Kamal Hassan wouldn't take that, as would  many other talents in Bollywood and other "Woods" who feel they are a misfit in Indian industry. Eventually, these talents either hit upon one or two films that pushes the door for an Oscar nomination or they end up collecting shingles for a role in "their" films which Americans can't even remember.

Kamal Hasan has gone through this angst many times in his lifetime and one day, we will all get to read about it in his own autobiography. Unlike his contemporaries in South film industry like Chiranjeevi and Rajanikanth, Kamal Hasan never compromised on his beliefs, his standards of acting, his quest for meaningful cinema within the boundaries set by commercial sensibilities. Unlike Rajanikanth and Chiranjeevi and even Amitabh Bacchan, he never got carried away by what the fans expected of him. Each time he acted, right from his toddler days as a child artiste, he kept pushing acting performances towards new highs and never fell to the temptations of stardom. We could have lost him many times in his career as an artiste of repute but Kamal Hassan never succumbed to the trappings of a mass hero which can nip your creativity in the bud. Playing characters, working with the greatest talent harvest in the golden age of Tamil and Telugu film industries, Kamal Hassan was true to his own self - which has earned the respect of every film goer who sees an artiste in him.  He has tried to play a new character and not the same matinee idol role that others were getting drunk on. On top of this acting talent, he can also write screenplays, sing an occasional song, make himself up into a different getup, edit films, pen sharp dialogues and direct movies. That makes him almost a non-pareil in modern times in Indian films a sort of a Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt or a Shantaram. He is also a maverick in more ways than a Hollywood multi-faceted legend like Sidney Lumet, Clint Eastwood or a recent Ben Affleck - he strongly believes in creating cinema thats different, bold, taboo-free and subtext that sometimes is so strongly segued with his own belief-systems that they lead to the ruckus that's unleashed for "Viswaroopam". Whatever they may say, that Kamal is an atheist, he is anti-brahmin, he is anti-Hindu, he is secular, whatever, "Viswaroopam" is an uncomplicated visual treat which must be watched atleast once. 

What is evident from his films, in general,  and this film, in particular,  is that Kamal Hassan likes to give subtle messages of rationality, empowerment of women, a voice of dissent to those who act irrationally and a background to the social winds of change that sometimes miss commentary and observation by one and all. "Viswaroopam" is a good story told with lot of detail and passion  about an Indian RAW officer who infiltrates a "Jihadi" network of terrorists by becoming one of them. He changes his name, religion to be a Kathak dancer flirting with his girl disciples but earning the distrust of his not-so-loyal wife Andrea Jeremiah. Andrea is a nuclear oncologist and lands in a soup when a detective she appointed to spy on her husband's "illicit" liaisions knocks on the door of a terrorist. That terrorist's den belongs to Rahul Bose - a one-time ally of Kamal Hassan in his flashback role as Wasim Kashmiri. Rahul's men hold Kamal and Andrea captive and get ready to break his knees. That's when Kamal sets himself loose and polishes off the villains.  The sequence opens out further to reveal the flashback in terraneous Afghanistan where Rahul Bose and Kamal get together to become brothers-in-arms under the elderly guidance of Nazar (he is always there in Kamal Hassan's films, isn't he?). The flashback is the heart of the film and runs for an elaborate length within the overall running time of 148 minutes.  It is well-researched and well-shot on the magnificent plains of Afghanistan or the parts of Central Asia that protected Osama Bin Laden. This part of the film  - the part of the flashback which shows the sun-drenched tough-living conditions of mountainous regions where the terrorists train to fight for a cause but have their emotions run below the surface - for their loved ones - is shown with fascinating detail.  Under-stated but firm interplay of emotions of joy, friendship, betrayal, love and anger are well-bought out.  Certain scenes may remind you of the basic plot in "Kite Runner" that memorable tale filmed from a best-selling book. There are other scenes which resemble some of Kamal's films like "Dasavataram", "Satyaa" and "Hey Ram" (which he himself directed). 

Screenplay is pacy, and the narrative cascades well with a storyline that is well-written. Characterisation and emotions are the only two aspects which take a back-seat in Kamal's self-directed films. Not all characters get the right attention and except for Kamal, Rahul Bose and his associate, the rest of the characters were a wasted lot. Shekhar Kapur,  Prema Kumar and Nazar could have got meatier roles because they have the screen presence. Kamal's own performance actually gets overshadowed in the film by Rahul Bose who is such a fine actor. At times, Kamal Hassan is unconvincing as a Jihadi terrorist, but Rahul Bose is bang-on whether he stops himself short on doting his son and wife or rabble-rousing his camp followers or slicing his targets. Even his Arabic is flawless and sounds so good to hear. Andrea Jeremiah is cute and so is Prema Kumar but Kamal's fans must be disappointed not to find the customary lip-kiss that has become so commonplace in his films lately. The last time Kamal directed "Hey Ram" he was all over Rani Mukherjee but this time wonder whether it is the the creditors and the censors that made him lose intimacy with two cute debutantes.  Songs never get the extra-padding in his films especially the era after he gave up on Ilaya Raja. In this film, Birju Maharaj composes a lovely number on Kamal as a Kathak dancer set to hummable tune by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. The trio also score a terse yet tense background score that never distracts the audience from expecting surprises. Kamal has once admitted that he killed his own career in the early 2000s by acting in comedy films in which he plays marbles with other also-rans. Then it took many films to get back his mojo even though the golden run has gone. He is not a bankable star at the box office because he doesn't improvise on his charishma, he merely experiments with different characters and nobody really whistles when he appears on the screen, nobody takes ninety seconds to read his name on screen as with other stars with epithets like m-e-g-a-s-t-a-r or s-u-p-e-r-s-t-a-r. Here is a star who gives story the headweight it demands, blends his character like any other character in the film  and uses humor that is most often never dumbed down for the galleries. You will find references to famous literary works like "killjoy" or questions that he wants you to ponder like "Which God of yours?" (a reference to the Hindu Pantheon). Infact, think of the treatment, there is nothing in the film that buys controversy. Its just that the terrorists of a certain network are shown as highly religious in the traditions they follow - thats not objectionable by any stretch of imagination. 

Obviously, violence is quite graphic and brutal as it is depicted to match the explicit nature of what terrorists indoctrinated to achieve their means do. Climax could have been better and the wry humor that Kamal likes could have been spaced evenly throughout the film. Tension grips the film from the outset except for the titles when pigeons - the most peace-loving creatures flutter in their backyard. One noticeable point, I must say is that for the first time, a film doesn't preface with a statutory warning on smoking and drinking. Thats a rarity. Kamal Hassan, the director has aced up Kamal Hassan the actor. Wherever he wants to migrate to and become a citizen of,  Kamal's films are good to watch  - they are different and have a nice mixture of cinema sensibilities that the Indian viewer is seldom exposed to. For all that and for the controversy that it has generated sans the emotional and entertainment connect with the masses, "Viswaroopam" deserves 3.75 out of 5. 

A life well-lived?

Will this be one of your friend's obituary? "R.I.P.Lipa Bajaptin. Lipa had had 3179 friends on FB (including 8 family members which included her parents who live in the same house, her two kids Beta and Gamma, her ex-husband Foceton, her two younger sisters Ishta and Srishti and her grandmother who is bed-ridden)uploaded 36000 photos and 467 videos on her wall, liked 18,150 pages in her lifetime, wrote 95,000 posts on FB, generated a combo of 875,876 likes and 19,87,245 comments, tweeted 17,500 times which includes 12,345 re-tweets, has a combined network of 8.7 million connections on her Linkedin. At the time of her passing at age 47, she had four Kindles, three IPADs, two IPAD-minis, one netbook, two laptops, one I-MAC, eight sim cards and four mobile phones of various brands."

What's your story like? I hope social media is not defining the boundaries of your life?

"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!

"Seethamma Vaakitlo Siri Malle Chettu" Telugu Movie Review

"Seethamma Vaakitlo SiriMalle Chettu" is a clean and supergood U-certificate blockbuster from the house of Dil Raju who made some of the finest DVD value catalog of family films over the last several years. "SVSC" is a culmination of many people who are proven talents in their own areas of work and so many of them have come together to give a great film that will be a sure-fire superhit which the toddlers and the seniors can watch together.

First, lets look at the creative team that came together for this film. Mani Sharma scores Background score, he has embellished the exceptionally melodious music given by Mickey J Meyer whose last best score was for "Kotha Bangaru Lokam" and perhaps "Happy Days". There are about seven songs and all of them have lyrics and sonorous music - which means Mickey J Meyer has taken the right feedback from those who apprehended his abilities. Mani Sharma and DSP are the best in Re-recording after AR Rahman and Ilayaraja, and in this film Mani proves that he is a pro in setting the right moods throughout a family film with emotional roller-coaster rides. Next comes K S Guhan whose name sounds straight out of a triumvirate list of AVM producers but he is not, he is the cinematographer of repute and one of his best works came in "Athadu" movie. He has made everybody in the film including an irritating character played by Ravibabu come alive and look good. Then, its time to salute an original legend in dialogues who was gainfully employed by K Balachander for innumerable films with telling effect - Ganesh Patro. He has taken the noblest intentions of Srikanth Addala, the director (of whom we will talk more later) in giving us heart-tugging dialogues, dialogues that come straight from the heart, real and yet credible, touching and sometimes tears-triggering. He has also created within the ambit of a wonderful screenplay and straight narration of a simple family story a memorable line for each character in the film which defines and extends their screen presence. For example, Prakash Raj has a line that defines his personality in the film. Rao Ramesh, the only equivalent of a villain if you can call in the film, has a few lines of "Plan, Scheme and Vision" that defines his world and his character in the film. Venkatesh and Mahesh, Jayasudha and Rohini Hattangadi, Anjali and Murali Mohan all have their lines in the film which create an endearing interplay thanks to the words of the director and the dialogues of Ganesh Patro. Can other legends who are past their prime plan in similar ways plan to stage a comeback, I ask as a film-lover?



The story is not outlandish or complicated, infact it is the simplest storyline for a family drama seen in years. Prakash Raj and Jayasudha live in a village with their grownup sons Venkatesh and Mahesh, their only daughter and their niece Anjali and mother Rohini Hattangadi. Prakash Raj is a Good Samaritan who helps anybody who bumps into him because he feels "we shall not pass this way again". Jayasudha and her mother-in-law Rohini Hattangadi's only worry how the sons settle and when they get married. Venkatesh, the eldest son is a straight faced angry "young" man, he is undiplomatic and doesn't mince words and faces struggles at work with his adamance. Mahesh, on the contrary, is street-smart, sweet-talker who flirts with anybody and is acutely conscious of his handsome looks and has lots of fun at others' cost but tries to bind the family together with his diplomacy skills. Their family is connected to another family in Vijayawada comprising of Rao Ramesh, his wife and two daughters Samantha and another girl. Rao Ramesh has absolute disdain for Prakash Raj's family because he measures his world by materialism and success - and feels the latter's family is a bunch of under-achievers and goal-less people who are just eking out their living by killing time. Samantha falls in love with Mahesh and Anjali, the girl who grows up in Prakash Raj's family is paired with Venkatesh from the beginning and she is the daughter of Rao Ramesh's sister who is no more. The climax of the film shows Rao Ramesh get a comeuppance from Prakash Raj's family in a bizarre episode at Bhadrachalam and he changes his mind to give both his "daughters" to the family almost like in "Hum Aapke Hai Kaun". That is a story which seems quite unimpressive but the way in which Srikanth Addala meshed the storyline with narration, built layers of characterisation of each character with utter honesty and rustic charm, is a visual treat -a celluloid extravaganza, ably supported by roaring performances by everybody with a few exceptions.



Between Venkatesh and Mahesh, I honestly liked the performance of Venkatesh for the variety and shades portrayed; first it is weak and then slowly grows in the end. Mahesh's character is good in parts and he shows the youthful fervour and intensity thats earmarked in the story. As a younger brother, Mahesh strikes an amazing chemistry with Venkatesh, the elder brother; he steals the thunder from Venkatesh in some of the scenes because of the way the story moves in the direction of educating Venkatesh for better. There are about six scenes between Venkatesh and Mahesh, mostly at wall corners and terraces - they are the best moments of the film and stir you with what goes on between two brothers when egos are involved and affection takes a backseat. It is captured in the most honest and thrilling fashion and might be one of the best draws in the film. Within the first few moments of their appearance on screen as brothers, you forget that they are superstars and get engrossed in the characterisation. Mahesh, being the younger brother, speaks more in the film, is shown as more ebullient and racy whereas Venkatesh being the eldest brother, shows many nuances of acting with his subtle variations in silence and few lines of eloquence. Prakash Raj's characterisation is not that great in the film compared to the previous films of Dil Raju but his presence lends dignity to the role. Rao Ramesh, who also lends his voice to the statutory cigarette warnings at the outset, has got a role thats consistent and worthy of his potential but towards climax, he could have got more lines as to how he realised his follies; director allows a song to tell it all. Jayasudha has got a meatier role and carries her role with consummate ease. The surprise package in the film is the character of 'Sita" played brilliantly by Anjali (The Tamil girl in "Journey"). If the voice dubbed is her own, then Anjali is the actress to watch out for almost like Soundarya in yesteryears. She is the soul of the film and binds so many characters together and moves the story forward at several moments of the film. She is beautiful, has the looks, got an arresting screen-presence and looks commandingly paired with Venkatesh; pity that this pair got one song whereas Mahesh and Samantha got two songs. Samantha has got three songs in the film including a solo; obviously everybody believes she is the lucky mascot for Tollywood these days. For now, we will hope her luck will favor this time also and she will one day outgrow her cute looks and wimpish girly giggles, she should reach out to the casting directors of Hollywood and get roles like "SnowWhite", "Cindrella", and "Barbie the beauty"!



The running time is 159 minutes. Srikanth Addala who has made "Kotha Bangaru Lokam" is clearly the silent craftsman who has given his best shot after KBL with this film. He has shown that given the backing of a good producer who dirties his hands and gets down to the brasstacks of film-making in tow with the technical team, any director who is earnest, feels sincerely about a message of family values that should reach out to the widest audience in this nuclear-family and fast-paced world, one can indeed make a blockbuster movie. Luckily, for both the makers Srikanth and Dil Raju, the stars are aligned literally for a thorough entertaining film thats given a clean chit at the Censor Board, moves you and touches your soul many a time with lots of clarity. If there are any blemishes in the film, they get over-shadowed by the momentum of the story-telling, music, performances and traipsing speed of the characterisation in giving a warm hug to the audience who come with mixed expectaitons. Ravi Babu's characterisation as a villian, Tanikella Bharani's character as a modern-day Sage Narada who carries tales, and some of the scenes of extreme eve-teasing Mahesh Babu at public places are the only ones I remember, in bad taste. Mahesh definitely looks younger and stylish; his dressing sense looks vastly improved. Venkatesh has got mono shades and could have improvised his dressing patterns. Can the movie be shorter? I always feel so, including this movie review. Is the movie entertaining? Yes and No. Yes, if you expect to be surcharged with emotions and get engrossed with the story and not get bored at all. No, if you expect fireworks from an ensemble of extraneous characters who charge Rs.2 lacs per day and consume Biryani for their entire family. No mainstream comedians in this film except Venu Madhav as a Census Officer. One neat cameo in the film by Producer-Actor Murali Mohan is to be noted - he comes at two crucial junctures and both times he elevates the character of Prakash Raj.



Srikanth Addala is an IIM graduate who has been working for nine years in Dil Raju factory. He has offered a different treatment to how a blockbuster should be and has shown rare sensitivity and dexterity to blend two superstars with different images into one unit of brothers, plain-clothed characters. If this is a trend that becomes more defined and prevalent in days to come, then Tollywood can scale greater heights because this is the industry that remains second to none in terms of entertainment, comedy, scale and technical values. Imagine the power of superstars like Pawan Kalyan, Nagarjuna, NTR, Prabhas, Allu Arjun, Ramcharan, Balakrishna, Ravi Teja and these two to come together for a good story and just be characters instead of being ego-sized cutout characters. Sky's the limit. "SVSC" is an effort that's a dream come true from the beginning for those who believe in the power of cinema to thrill them to bits. For all those who are on this side of entertainment, the side that doesn't take sides of Heroes and only believe in good story-telling, SVSC is a visual treat. I stick to my guns and give it 4.5 on 5. Cheers! Happy Sankranti!

"Naayak" Telugu Movie Review

“Nayak” starring RamCharan is a sensational winner and a film worthy of duel under the “Sun”kranti. Sankranti is the grand-mother of Tollywood movies and is not for the faint-hearted. Even the best of stars don’t take a shy at the stumps for Sankranti because of the weight of expectations and the stakes riding on the season. It is the equivalent of Diwali for Kollywood and Bollywood, but unlike Bollywood, Tollywood Sankranti separates men from the boys because there will be a clash of atleast two, if not three or four star-studded films. This little intro is for setting the tone for the year and “Nayak” proves to be an auspicious start for Tollywood. It has all the elements of entertainment – a rising star of a Megastar, romance, drama sans melodrama, villainy that justifies heroism, twists in the interval that shakes you up and comedy that is of an unprecedented scale, plenty of action and glamor of two cute heroines – Kajol and Amala Paul. Well-directed by veteran VV Vinayak.

The story is not dramatically different from dual-role stories in which Tollywood has taken a world patent. Set in Kolkata, Cherry is a happy-go lucky software engineer who falls in love  with Kajol. His side-kick is Brahmanandam playing the role of “Jilebi” who bumps into the gang of Rahul Dev and Jayaprakash. In the many romantic twists of the romance between Cherry and Kajol there is another character of Aashish Vidyarthi who is a CBI officer investigating gruesome murders of a goon, a police DIG (think of it!). He thinks it is all the work of Cherry and prepares to nab him next at a pre-announced Kumbh Mela where Pradeep Rawal gets a threat to get killed. At the Kumbh Mela where generally two doubles get lost from each other in olden movies, the bizarre twist that the one who is killing off all the villains is not Cherry, but Naayak, his look-alike. Then a lengthy interval which justifies the violent spree of killing by Naayak of all the guys who wronged him and his brother-in-law’s family. And then the proverbial climax after 160 minutes spaced with six spicy songs, about six to seven slick but needless fights and plenty of comedy from Jayaprakash  Reddy, Posani Krishna Murali, Brahmanandam and MS Narayana.

VV Vinayak is a director who excels in screenplay and story-telling and this is going to be a well-worked out example of his capabilities especially after the debacle of “Badrinath” but what can make his movies a family-draw is an abject reduction of grating violence with sumos, sickles and gunshots. While he has got great narrative grip in giving a story full of twists and flashbacks, he needs to be  a responsible film-maker of family sensitivities and tone down violence. In this film, he inter-mixes a lot of themes from movies like “Tagore”, “Aadi”, “Bunny”(all his films) as well as films like “Sivaji”, “Stalin” and “Businessman”. There are social themes touched upon like child prostitution and child beggary after maiming the children (as shown in “Slumdog Millionaire”). Couple this with violence, and you have a full-blooded “A” certificate. Personally, I feel “A” certificate films mar the fesivity of Sankranti season and should be avoided. But unlike  a movie like “Businessman” released last Sankranti, this film doesn’t have adult-level profanities. What redeems the film from its mediocrities of double-role tamashas seen from the times of “Ramudu-Bheemudu” is the fantastic comedy and entertainment right from the first few minutes. The first fight in a series of never-ending stunts comes only at the fortieth minute so it sets the characters well with the show-stealers being Jayaprakash (this must be his career-best), Posani Krishna Murali (he steals the show in second-half). Brahmanandam, Venu Madhav and MS Narayana have not get the better deal in this film and atleast their characters are not etched out to milk their potential. Ramcharan looks very stylish and “Orange”cool throughout the film and even the mass role of “Naayak” looks classy for him, he probably had the least dialogues in the film as a hero compared to all his previous films. But he proves a point again, that he can dance as well as his dad and his cousin Allu Arjun. All the songs carry  a signature step and a classy twist of a leg. There are so many others dominating in this film that Charan’s space comes only in the songs and fights a few one-liners with  the villains and Kajol. Both Kajol and Amala Paul look passable despite their skimpy clothes and sizzle in the navel. Kajol looks jaded and Amala Paul is guilty of horrible makeup; her lipstick and dressing sense has gone haywire. Aashish Vidyarthi, Kota Srinivasa Rao make their mark in their respective roles. Music by Thaman gives the classy feel to the mass numbers in the album with one song starring item girl Charmmee quite a foot-tapping number. The song remixing “Shubhalekha Raasa” (“Kondaveeti Donga”) is well-shot in Iceland but the song’s interludes are outright copied from the original song by IlayaRaja. I thought the interludes by IlayaRaja have given an iconic status to the song but by copying it fully right through the notes, Thaman  disappointed us. What is the meaning of a remix then?

On the whole, the film is marred  only by excessive violence but carries the day for some extraordinary entertainment and good songs and convincing performances by the entire starcast. Tollywood has patented few themes for eternity and ATM-cash-withdrawal from the box office. Examples, “Yamudu” theme, “Dual Role and sometimes triple role” themes – lost and found kind, “Shakespearan themes” of Taming the shrew/Comedy of errors/King Lear/Macbeth/All’s Well that ends well kind. The dual role concept is given an exhilarating treatment by VV Vinayak who should take a bow with this film. But for the violence in the film which extends the film by atleast 20 minutes, I subtract 0.5 and give the film an above-average 3 out of 5.

Old Theaters in Hyderabad - Some Nostalgia

Tarakarama 70mm which until recently degenerated into exhibiting B-grade movies is finally re-opening again with renovation and new-age sounds for the cine-lovers in Kachiguda. Most likely it is going to be the first movie of 2013 that will be screened – “Nayak” starring Ramcharan Tej. It is next to the newly opened INOX (earlier known as Parameshwari and Maheshwari). I have had some great memories associated with most of these single-screen theatres which were all within a kilometer of our residence in Narayanguda. We used to be excited by the prospects of going to every movie around our home with large cutouts of heroes. Shanti 70mm, Deepak theatre were the closest theatres at that time, literally a stone’s throw. There were also Kumar 70mm which used to screen some of the finest English films and I remember watching "Ten Commandments" and "Omar Mukthaar" there. Shalimar theater never came of age and by the time it did, it started showing sleazy movies and eventually became a Marriage Function Hall.




Shanti has had an amazing run - hit after hit, many flms running for 50 days to 100 days so it was boring as we were impatient every Friday to catch up with the latest movie. That’s when having a handful of theatres in vicinity helped a film-obsessed family like ours. Shanti had a magnificent façade, and an elevation that makes it look like a mansion that survived the ages. It had unlimited parking space for any wheeler you drove with, maintained smoking spaces way back in the 70s. It has one of the biggest screens even today and maintains the biggest number of A-class tickets. In those days, the theatre had a water pond, atleast two aquariums which used to intrigue us, and had two entrances which are serpentine ranches with a thick red carpet segueing the entire plinth area of the staircase sans steps. Walking up was as much a pleasure as walking down after the screening. Now, Shanti theatre has only one way staircase, the other staircase is shut for “strength” reasons, and has just one aquarium. The water pond is dry and abegging for maintenance. But the theatre remains a nonpareil for single-screen theatres. I always wondered, for a theatre of that space, you can have a multiplex the size of Cineplanet near Medchal road.


Srinivasa 35mm-Venkatesa 70mm (now converted into Legend Apartments) had some terrific movies celebrating many box-office hits. Venkatesha 70mm had an open ticket counter and a flat ranch for balcony tickets next to the A-class almost like “Vaikuntham complex” in TTD. Bapu uncle’s most famous mythological “Sampoorna Ramayanam” completed an year of running or so in Venkatesha 70mm and I remember even as a toddler being carried to the 100-day “Shatadinotsvam” of the movie. The last movie I watched there was even a Mani Ratnam film “Donga Donga”. Srinivasa 35 mm was more compact and carried many low-budget films especially films made by SV Krishna Reddy, Vijaya banner and Ramoji Rao which became blockbuster movies like “Yamaleela”, “Brindaavanam” and “Mayuri”.

Deepak theatre always struggled for good movies and most movies running there were re-runs of movies or second-releases. "Ekalavya" was one film starring Krishna which I remember amongst a few first-releases there. A golden opportunity for Deepak theatre owners came even in early 2000s for reviving the fortunes of “failed” perception about the theatre. It was for exhibiting a successful movie made by Gunnam Gangaraju called “Aithe” which became a sleeper hit in those days. The owners were so hell-bent on ruining their chances of success and adding to their woes, that the movie which was running well was removed for some nondescript dubbed English movie. Since those days, the theatre is winding down and is on way to make way for another Apartments.

Basant Talkies was another lesser known but was still walkable for us. I remember watching some great entertainers by Superstar Krishna in that theatre. Most of those films were multi-starrers, surprise, not at all uncommon, as they are now. I remember watching atleast one movie of Krishna co-starred each with Thalaivar Rajnikanth and also with megastar Chiranjeevi. There was also a movie in Basanth Talkies starring Chiranjeevi and Sridevi, in which Chiranjeevi is a rapist and Sridevi, the victim claws her way back into forcing Chiranjeevi to marry her. I don’t think this kind of justice is desired by anybody in today’s world but those were the stories those days and the films. Basant Talkies has since become a mega-posh apartment called “S.V.Basanth” and celebrated is third or fourth anniversary recently. But the memories of Basanth talkies remain fresh for us, it had some great action movies mostly by Doondi and Krishna combination.

Then there was a theatre closer than any of the above those days which had a great run almost parallel to the legendary English movie-screening theatres like Sterling, Skyline and Liberty. It used to be a theatre called “Kishore”. The theatre had a swashbuckling entrée one day. It was advertised in all English dailies and the movie was called “Asha” or something starring Jitendra and actress Reena Roy and another heroine. We didn’t go for the movie but the theatre became an addiction soon for us. It kept rotating movies with amazing regularity. There was an ANR and Jayaprada movie called “Bucchibabu” with great songs but it became a flop. We didn’t go for that too, surprisingly. Our chance came for some James Bond movie. I think it was “The Spy Who loved me” and we fell in love with the theatre. It had long steps leading to the entry door of the theatre, and the ticket counter was so contiguous to the main door that you could pick it up and decide whether to go in or out depending on whether it was “housefull” or not. That arrangement made us feel very good and very special, we never saw such arrangements anywhere except maybe “Liberty” theatre. Kishore theatre had some great releases and I remember also a spine-chilling experience of watching a movie called “Alien”. My dad was away on a tour and my mother was in no mood to watch an English film but the theatre was so close to our residence - we used to literally come home during Interval time. She goaded me to take my younger brother to the movie. The movie was frightening and turned out to be one of the eeriest movies I saw in my childhood, I was courageous all through but my brother gave up and closed his eyes everytime some creature erupted out of somebody’s stomach in the spacecraft or space. I don’t remember anything about the movie except seeing my brother frightened and crying sometimes and this alien creature wreaking havoc on one being after another. My brother was pleading me to take him home. But I remained till the end as we never learnt walking out was an option midway in a cinema. That has become ingrained till this day, except that there were two movies which I never could sit through and one of them surprisingly was “Khushi” of Pawan Kalyan. The last movie we watched at Kishore after it was re-opened as “Sai Kishore” was the Walt Disney film “Alladin”. There was a time when my father advised the owners and prepared a project report converting it into a better complex for shopping while being an exhibition centre for movies. Alas, the owners never acted upon  the project report  of my dad, never paid him, and soon, they went down the drain. Later, the complex became Panchavati supermarket and some EAMCET centre but the bulk of the property has since become litigant and now languishing.

Then of course, Parameshwari and Maheshwari were as close to our home and were easily the pickiest of the theatres in those days. It was the only theatre in Hyderabad to have an escalator and boy! it was an exhilirating experience. The construction of the theatre and the days of exhibition were always associated with plenty of hype and glamor. It had the best image those days, even better than Sangeet in Secunderabad and soon became the most coveted theatre in twin cities before multiplexes came on stage. “Hum Aapke Hain Kaun” was the last of the films I remember having watched, and like many, we watched it many times. But there was a class differentiation between Parameshwari crowd and Maheshwari audience. Maheshwari was on top, and you had a majestic ranch leading to the entrance, there were atleast 200 youth dressed in gawdy clothes those days, hanging out on those ranches, giving the impression that it is always “houseful”. The movie which my parents saw was a special screening of the film “Sharaabi” invited by T.Subbirami Reddy himself for a special gathering of guests. Parking was shared with many other shops in the complex and there was also a funny, long “linga” type structure with the crampiest of parking spaces. It was the Bank of India Regional office and I remember having gone there a couple of times for an “audit” of the branch and staring mostly at the crowds waiting to catch up with the films at the two theatres. It is always a mystery, why the two theatres fell to a more artificial, blood-red compact complex of INOX. I watched a slew of movies like “Genius” and “Ko Ante Koti” in INOX recently, but the soul of theatre audience was missing, everybody is so well-behaved that I felt sleepy after some time. I wondered whether I was at the theatre or at an opera where everybody wears a stiff upper lip and hardly enjoyed the spontaneity of emotions that can engulf a crowd in an old-screen theatre.

The theatre that was closer to us was Tarakarama 70mm which I started this nostalgic account with. It was owned by N.T.R family and it had a nice night-lit statue of deities at the entrance. N.T.Rama Rao in those days commissioned Ramayana story in pictures by Bapu uncle and that was spread over neon-lit ceilings spread over 2500 sq.feet in the main lobby. It still remains there,if I remember, the last movie I don’t even remember in this theatre. Tarakarama has had some great hits in those days, but the two movies I remember vividly have been Amitabh Bacchan’s “Don” and one movie based on Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani’s novel called “Agni Poolu”. According to hearsay, N.T.Rama Rao built quite a few theatres for his children – boys and girls. The boys’ names were bearing “Krishna” as surname (Balakrishna, Harikrishna and so on) while the girls in the Nandamuri family were surnamed as “..Easwari” (Bhunvaneshwari, Purandareshwari and so on). Tarakarama was as well maintained as Ramakrishna 35mm and 70mm those days. NTR had divided his property amongst his dozen odd children but the will of the family, it seems, never allowed any family members to dispose off the property at anytime for commercial resons. As a descendent and a beneficiary of NTR Family, you can enjoy the rentals and the benefits of ownership but you can never change the nature of the original property nature. Which is why amongst all theatres, NTR family-owned theatres never changed the nature. There was a Ramakrishna Horticultural Studios at nacharam, an NBK enclave housing the subregister’s office near Musheerabad X Roads, a Ramakrishna theatre complex in Abids and of course, Tarakarama theatre amongst many properties. I wonder whether such wills are feasible in law or practical in the fast-changing dynamics of the Real Estate market in Hyderabad. There are others like Odeon, Sudarshan 70mm which are converting to apartments. But Tarakarama is all set to re-open its second innings and for cine-lovers, its another complex which will hopefully give a good experience like Tivoli 2.0.

A few other theatres I remember were Royal Talkies which aired the famous "Shankarabharanam", Dilshad, Zamarrud, Santosh, Sapna, and of course Surya 35mm and 70mm. Surya has aired some of the best English movies too outside of Skyline theatre, and has now converted to Prajay Apartments. Growing up in Hyderabad gave a great experience for movie-goers thanks to all these old-style theaters which are now either being replaced by apartments or by multiplexes.I hope many of you will reminisce the stuff I outlined above. Do share your experiences, anyways.

"Midhunam" Telugu Movie

“Midhunam” (Telugu) is a much-awaited film for the art-loving Telugu crowds who love clean, good cinema. “Midhunam” means “couple” in Telugu. It is based on a story by noted Telugu SriRamana (different from Mullapudi Venkata Ramana) by the same title released in a Telugu weekly in 1998, the story went on to became an instant classic – critically acclaimed and encomiums poured in from all sides – readers and legends in literature. Bapu, himself got so overjoyed reading that story that one fine day, he re-wrote the entire story running into about 6000 words in his own handwriting. It was re-printed in that famous Bapu font and became a best-seller. Director is Tanikella Bharani, one of the most talented personalities in Tollywood (he is a poet, theatre artist, dialogue writer and himself an acclaimed film actor noted for his unique timing and voice modulation). He was so taken up with the story “Midhunam” that he directed the film investing a lot of his passion and energies into the making of this film. Earlier this year, Bharani also released his famous couplets on Lord Shiva as an audio CD in his own voice which are selling well. As a writer first and a poet later, Tanikella Bharani is a unique personality who never loses an opportunity to propagate the grandeur and beauty of Telugu language. He loves Telugu so much that for the past 25 years, he insists his signature on bank cheques is also in Telugu and not English. Against this backdrop, “Mithunam” is quite an experiment which deserves the plaudits showered on it.


The story is about an aged couple AppaDaasu (S.P.Balasubramanyam) and Bucchilakshmi (Lakshmi) who live in absolute trance of the village life with an ecosystem of natural habitat full of organically grown vegetables, co-habiting animals and lush greenery all over. The couple’s five children are all settled abroad but the couple is nonchalant about pleasures and pressures of parenthood in twilight years. SPB keeps reminding his wife about “detached attachment” and being merrily and madly in sync with each other, they tune into the radio, help each other in various chores including pressing each other’s tired legs, make the rituals and rearing the cow and its calf and cultivating a beautiful horticultural farm a feast and a happy pastime. No TV, no freakouts, no secrets from each other and no other hang-ups in life except to occasionally spar with each other on issues best known to them. Everyday it’s a breeze and time flies because the elderly couple are busy with so much of work with their hands and legs – the manual work which gives villagers so much headway in health and happiness.Then there is a twist in the film with one of them passing out. You will have to find out which one. A simple story but there’s a third character in the film - the nephew who is witness to the old couple’s foibles and fracas with each other and funtimes together – that character is omitted by Bharani as he was keen to experiment the whole film with just characters. Infact, that is an amazing part of the film. For 123 minutes, the running time of the movie, there are just two human characters SPB and Lakshmi playing the two roles and Bharani has produced quite a stunning play of a range of Nava Rasas between the two with many shades and spirited entertainment. There is uproarious laughter, giggles, laments, weeping, anger and the occasional drama created between the two characters in their well-nuanced roles.

Not many films have come with just two characters; the ones I remember are “Show” and some movie in which Sunil Dutt plays it all himself in a B&W film. Such plots have to be sustained and thankfully, in this film he picked two veterans in the craft of acting and sometimes overacting – Lakshmi and SPB. While Lakshmi is quite apt and well-controlled, SPB carries always a shade of Tamil stars like Sivaji Ganesan when he acts but his pronunciation of the toughest but most mellifluent Telugu carries the day for his detractors. He can control the flow of words as they should occur and in “Mithunam” he gives a dignified uplift to his performance except for about three scenes where he overacts. Even if SPB the actor cannot stop himself, his performance alongwith Lakshmi elevates the film to a new level. In the original discussions about this film about star cast, one actor who would have sealed it had he been alive today is Gummadi – who wanted to play it badly after he read the story and reacted in public. Prakashraj would have been too theatrical and Chandramohan is way out of touch with weightier roles of late, so SPB was indeed apt choice, in hindsight.

Music by Swara Veenapaani is reasonably well-received especially the title song sung by KJ Yesudas. There are few other songs which take a leaf out of mythological classics belting out “Padyams” and lullabies and “funny”item songs. There is one song sung by lyricist Jonnavithula on coffee. It can be the best ever song on coffee which can elevate even brands like “Starbucks” and “Café Coffee day”. It celebrates the heady feelings one gets by drinking the home-made filter coffee of the typical South Indian family. There are few other songs which showcase the grandeur of the song-banks resident in our old movie classics and also showcase the richness of Telugu culture. Kids will probably love a short cartoon film running for 4 minutes about the ills of over-eating SPB style - no insult meant here, SPB himself reduced 27 kilos before this film. In order to break the monotony, Bharani uses repeatedly the All India Radio as a backdrop for various daily chores of the couple, and reminds the new generation that it is not FM Radio but AM 700-800 MHz which still runs with sundry programs in news programs in Telugu, Sanskrit, Hindi and a host of native plays, skits, songs and utility fare that resonates with those who tuned in religiously from 6am till 11pm. That routine of tuning to the radio from sunrise till an hour before midnight is the right time for keeping your biorhythms in tow with good health and good sleep. Bharani captures all these with a great sense of nostalgia. A few shots stand out giving lot of symbological messages; being a Shiva worshipper, everytime there is a bereavement in the film, it is shown as if its going back to Shiva.

On the whole, the movie is a visual treat and is watchable by family. Bharani has hunted for a 3-acre house that captures the enchantment of what SriRamana wrote in his novel about. Bharani found one finally and grew fruits and vegetables and trees for six months before commencing shooting. He has also shown a rare courage, thanks to producer Ananda M Rao, to retain the pure and richly prosaic standard of Telugu language used by Sriramana in the film. This film is sure to dot the film festivals with subtitles in English but if you belong to the Telugu fan club, this is a must-see anyways devoid of commercial drivel that vitiates our films. In October 2012, there was a world survey by the World Languages Institute in Thailand in which the jury sat down to judge more than 33 classical and modern language scripts around the world. While Korean language was judged as the best language according to various parameters including use of the language in scientific paper presentations, visual appeal when you write the language, the shape and metric beauty of the letters, the number of words and combinations that the letters can facilitate, etc. Voila! Telugu Language has beaten the likes of Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada and Malayalam in being judged as the second-most beautiful script language in the world. English, not my mother tongue, has come third or fourth. For anyone who wants to know more about Telugu culture, language and the lyrical beauty, “Midhunam” is a fine biopic to get introduced to, even if it has its flaws. I will give 3.75 on 5 making a fractional exception for a fascinating film to watch. I can guarantee you that if you have aged parents and grandparents, they will bless you forever for taking them to this film. It also has a message: No need to retire from life because you retired from work. And parents can have their own space even after their kids move on.