Sai and Shujath talk Cinema

Despite impressing everyone last year with Yamadonga, NTR had people talking about his drastic weight loss and that it was a bit too much - he’s lost his charm etc. Now that one has gotten used to him in that avatar, his newest offering Kantri actually is the first film of his which you can watch without wondering if he is too fat or too thin. Kantri is a regular formula film - albeit shot better than others in this genre with a nice plot twist (inspired from a movie of course!) to make you think that you’ve seen something different from the ordinary.

Kranti aka Kantri (NTR) is a vagabond who joins a gang of baddies headed by PR (Prakash Raj). Now the movie begins with a young PR cheating and killing some folks for money, so you can guess there has to be some link between Kranti and PR. There are quite a bunch of baddies here (Ashish Vidhyarthi, Murli Sharma, Sayaji Shinde) who exist just to give a reason for the fight sequences. In between there are some nice comic moments - Krishna Bhagwan’s thread was the best of them all. Ali and Sunil are also good in a few scenes. Raghubabu as usual gets the same role as the villain’s comic sidekick and he is good too.

This film seems to have been made as a conscious attempt increase NTR’s audience base. If you go in expecting a regular NTR flick you’ll come out impressed as this is quite a stylized upgrade to the stuff he’s been doing until now. There are also some lines which explicitly speak about “class”ifying him to put across the point. Since this film is about NTR he does everything expected of him in style. The lengthy dialogues (with references to taathaiyya of course!), the fights and most importantly the dances. This time the moves which leave you wonderstruck are in the songs “Vayassunami” (reused from Vijay’s Pokkiri) and “I go crazy”. The only thing good about Hansika and Tanisha are that they aren’t hanging around for too long. Mani Sharma’s tunes are good and all the songs are nicely picturized. Owing to the “class”ification the fights also seem a bit restrained (in terms of flying people) when compared to other flicks. Meher Ramesh (quite a popular Kannada film director) makes a neat debut.

Finally, if you are a fan of NTR, Kantri is the summer-special treat you’ve been waiting for….if you aren’t then atleast you won’t crib about him for once.

A film like Bommarillu is not easy to follow up. And you can’t blame the audience for having high expectations. It’s just my guess that writer-director Bhaskar seemed to have thought about this beforehand and decided that the best way to handle this situation is to make it clear to his audience right from the outset that they’ll be seeing a regular fun-filled Allu Arjun entertainer and nothing more - and that helps.

On the night of her wedding Subbalakshmi (Poonam Bajwa) elopes with her lover. Her incensed father Neelakanta (Prakash Raj) - who is a strong village henchman rounds up her lover’s friends and confines them to some kind of a dungeon until they trace the runaway couple. Krishna (Allu Arjun) is one of them and later turns out to be the guy who happened to have played an important part in the elopement. During his stay there, he ends up falling in love with Neelakanta’s other daughter Meena (Sheila). Now Krishna has to handle these twin troubles.

The first half moves at a breezy pace with the usual banter involving the hero and his gang of friends. At this point of time you are pretty much convinced that what you’ll get later is also some more of this stuff and if you still had Bommarillu in mind you’ll realize that Bhaskar isn’t interested in pulling off another one. But interestingly in the second half the film slowly and steadily changes track and has a go at the issue of runaway lovers. I then started wondering if the title Parugu actually was referring to this kind of “run”. Most of the sequences thereon are really well conceived - the one between Ali and Prakash Raj, between Arjun and a drunken Prakash Raj and the ones in the pre-climax. However, as the film nears its climax there is a lot of ambiguity and suspense as to what point of view the director is trying to convey - whether you call it clever writing or a confused mind you decide. At the end it works out pretty well though.

Allu Arjun is his usual self and nothing more is expected of him either. Watch out for his improvised “NTR’s Yamadonga step” in the song “Elagelaga”. Sheila (looks like a familiar face) is quite good in the initial portions but hasn’t got much to do after that. Prakash Raj - who is made to look like a regular villain in the first half does an about turn later in the movie into the sensitive father who loves his daughters more than anything else. This contrast in his portrayal is probably deliberate to bring about the intended effect but I still somewhat felt the inconsistency of his characterization was a sore thumb. Jayasudha does a small cameo. Mani Sharma’s music is okay - the kind of songs you’d enjoy watching just once on screen.

This film entertains quite well to merit a good “parugu” at the box office. More than anyone else Chiranjeevi would be pleased with Allu Arjun to have been part of this film.

Tailpiece: If you happen to be the “best friend” of someone who helped him/her elope then beware….this film is directed mostly at you!

Imagine this - Srinu Vytla has just finished scripting a film with Ravi Teja in the lead. He goes through it once and thinks “Hey, this thing is just like my previous flicks…hmm…the humor looks pretty ok. I am not great at conceiving well rounded plots but this one seems even worse than the ones I’ve done before. Maybe I need to take a break and start again”. He then throws this script into the dustbin.

Somehow (don’t ask how) this thing ends up in Trivikram’s hand. He goes through it too and thinks “nothing great in this one but still a pity it’s ended up in someone’s dustbin. Wait a second…I am quite free now, maybe I can use this one…just need to spruce it up a bit with some of my dialogues. Oh…most importantly, who should I make this with? I’ve already worked with Mahesh last. Who else is there in the same league??? Pawan!!! but why would he do a script like this one? On second thoughts - why wouldn’t he! He hasn’t had a hit for seven long years and this one can atleast be the minimum guarantee film he might be looking for. Let’s call him then”. That was for you the untold story behind the making of Jalsa - remember…you read it here first.

Now let’s come to the actual film itself. I absolutely had no clue the kind of frenzy this film had generated until I came across the crazy advance booking lines a few days back. Touted to be the biggest South Indian release ever (in terms of the number of theatres/prints etc..) Jalsa had a lot of hopes pinned on it. The obvious question - does it live up to the hype? A screeching nooooooooo!

Is it then a really bad film? Not exactly. Like I mentioned before, if a certain person would have had second thoughts about throwing the script away, the same movie would have opened to extremely positive reviews. Anyways, there’s no use of talking what this film could have been. I don’t know what else is there to write about this film. You’ve seen all this before umpteen times - the same actors doing the same things all over again. Of course, since this a Trivikram film you’ll have some of those cheeky dialogues and funny sequences but they can’t bear the burden of a sloppy film like this. Even the familiar Devisri Prasad tunes, which sound quite catchy (especially the chart-topping title track) completely lose their sheen on screen.

Pawan Kalyan’s only consolation might be that this one won’t bomb at the box office and at best clear his post-Khushi track record. For me the best thing about Jalsa were it’s nicely done hoardings put up all over the place. So, finally - should you go and watch Jalsa? I would say yes - but after 2-3 weeks when the hype finally comes to terms with the film’s content.

Thanks to the lack of a proper blockbuster in Tollywood lately, the only movies which create some buzz are the “surprise hits” like Mantra, Anasuya etc. Gamyam is the latest one to join the party. These films can rightfully claim to be different however the not-so-good part of this story is that they fail to go beyond “being different”.

Gamyam is a well-intentioned film - it tries to hammer home the point that real life is lived in the midst of people sharing their joys and sorrows and an isolated materialistic existence isn’t the way to be. But when every sequence is conceived in a way where at the end someone gets to preach a few lines about the same, you can’t help but feel the overdose. Agreed - there is some good dialogue here and there and some well-crafted scenes but on the whole Gamyam isn’t that great a film some people have made it out to be. Yet there are quite a few things which work for this flick - the road movie format…something you don’t get to see often, the short runtime…just over 2 hours, the lighthearted feel for most of the portions and competent performances from the lead protagonists.

This film seems to have breathed back life into Allari Naresh’s career and everyone is raving about his character “Gaali Seenu” - the boisterous supporting character is always the audience’s favorite. But for me it was Sharwanand who made a big impression. This is the first time I’ve seen him on screen and he does really well. There are some raw edges actingwise but he has a great screen presence to pull off a lead role. He surely has big things in store for him. Kamalini actually has something of an extended guest appearance and her role seems to have been put in place by gathering pieces left out at the editing desk of Sekhar Kammula’s previous flicks. Director Radhakrishna (who likes to be known as Krish and conveys that in both the start and end credits) makes an okay debut.

Watchable - without high expecations. Actually let me confess - while watching this movie I was more excited about catching Jalsa today and that may also be the reason I didn’t find Gamyam too appealing.

Amateurish direction, extremely lame dialogue and incomptent acting mar this film. Even though it takes a considerable amount of inspiration from a watchable romantic comedy (50 First Dates), this film is a pain to watch.

For those who are unaware of the plot, it is about a girl who has short-term memory loss (which, at one unintentionally funny point in the film is termed Amnesia - a horrible disease of forgetfulness or something like that) and re-lives the same day for a year. A young man falls in love with her and decides to improve the situation that she is in.

Debutant writer-director Sreehari Nanu’s inept handling of the content and his actors makes this a bad film. The dependable Bhoomika falters in a number of scenes, though she could have been an adequate replacement for Drew Barrymore. Sivaji has a horrible hairstyle and is unbearable at times. Chitram Seenu and Babloo irritate. The limited presence of the more watchable supporting cast members like Brahmanandam, Sunil and Chandra Mohan means that there is not much respite for the audience. Chakri’s soundtrack isn’t great and his ability to ruin decent tunes by singing them himself makes it a lacklustre effort overall.

Keep away from this one!

Though not a huge hit, this is definitely the first genuinely good Telugu film of the year. His previous two films weren’t successful but one can say Neelakanta is back in form with this one.

Mr. Medhavi - translated as Mr. Intellectual is about Vishwaksen (Raja) who since childhood believes that people’s emotions/thoughts can be “calculated” and hence easily be manipulated for anything. He is quite successful in life with his formula but trouble starts when he tries the same to manipulate his childhood sweetheart (Genelia) to fall in love with him. His tricks actually backfire and he ends up in the uncomfortable situation of having to act as a matchmaker between her and the guy (Sonu Sood) she confesses being in love with.

Despite the predictability of the twists the movie entertains throughout. A lot of people have complained about the pacing but I found it just right. Ironically, the only issue I actually found with this movie is the overuse of the words Medhavi/Medhassu in every episode. I think the audience who watches such films doesn’t need to be reminded constantly that they are watching a clever film. A little bit of subtlety would still drive the point home more gracefully.

The casting seems to be perfect here. Raja most of the time has to sport a smug look on his face without talking much but carries out his part well. Genelia gets a meaty role and does complete justice to it…she looks gorgeous too. Sonu Sood seems to have made a permanent place and both Hindi and Telugu cinema by playing parts which are too important to be left to lesser actors and not big enough to warrant a star. He has a changed appearance from the last time I saw him and deilvers yet another controlled performance.

The best and the most entertaining part of the movie are the scenes featuring Dharmavarapu Subramanyam and M.S Narayana…..As the bickering managers in the office they generate the maximum laughs both in the first half as well as the nicely crafted “HR seminar” sequence in the second. The good thing about Chakri’s music is that there isn’t much of it to disturb the flow. I liked the background score though. One man show - Neelakanta deilvers a clear winner this time.

You might be forgiven for thinking that V V Vinayak and Srinu Vaitla directed this film together because, while the action and mind games are typical Vinayak stuff, the comedic elements (especially the oppressed turning oppressor aspect that includes a drunken thrashing) seem straight out of Vaitla’s book. This is quite a prototypical big-hero action film that is saved by the humor, which I believe is the primary reason for its box-office success (helped further by the weak competition during the favorable Sankranthi season).

Writer-director Vinayak isn’t new to gimmicks but he repeats some of his tricks this time. Flying vehicles aren’t as interesting now even if he replaces the Sumo with another SUV or even a lorry. One has to say, though, that some of the vehicles fly quite beautifully. Nevertheless, this isn’t the best thing in the film.

Brahmanandam is.

He isn’t the star of the film but he is the one that makes you laugh most and it is hard to not remember him first. Ravi Teja is obviously one of the more entertaining stars around and he does his job without really standing out this time. Trisha gets precious little to do but she looks good and her hard-to-miss-or-forget tattoo placement is something that I expect will feature in a lot of discussion among the audience. And then there is Mukul Dev as the main antagonist. He seems to be imitating his brother but his work here is better than what I’ve seen him do in Bollywood.

The songs in the film break the momentum every single time and are a bit of a pain to endure as the tunes aren’t special and neither are the visuals. The audience let out a collective sigh when the final song commenced. Ironically, it was the best of the lot, the typical pumped-up prelude-to-the-climax number lifted shamelessly (composer Chakri could have probably been forced to so) from Vidyasagar’s Gilli number Appadi Podu (and watching Ravi Teja dance isn’t quite the same as watching Vijay dance). The lyrics are especially lame. “Taratha ettukupotha” filled with gibberish and the mixed language “Tu mera dilbar O priyathama” are cringeworthy instead of being hip or something. Lyricist Chandrabose might have written the songs keeping the masses in mind but I think he is capable of much better.

This film entertains for a considerable amount of its length, thanks to writer-director Vinayak’s adept handling of the comedy and the performances of the actors in those scenes. Watch it if you must, but only for the humor.

It’s become a pretty big success but is it what the posters all over the place claim to be - “Ravi Babu’s Thrilling Masterpiece”? Hardly. As in the case of the other flick Mantra which came out along with this, apart from the fact that the audience doesn’t get to see this genre of films so often there isn’t much to look for here. This is like one of those cliched Hollywood style slasher flicks - only in this case the identity of the culprit is known almost throughout the whole film. The only suspense factor to an extent remains to be the killer’s motivations which is probably the only time during which I found the film interesting.

Technically, the film looks good - thanks to an A-list crew. Bhoomika as the protagonist does quite well and she looks really gorgeous when compared to her previous films. Ravi Babu does (rather looks) his part as required. He seems to have this delusion of being some groundbreaking director going by the way he creates a pre-release hype for each of his films. Apart from his overrated debut Allari nothing worked for him until this one.

Most of the film is pretty average (I did sleep for some time during the first half). The only time I was rather irritated was with the exceptionally prolonged climax. Even otherwise purely looking at the plot there are too many loopholes and convinient situations you’d have to overlook. This is a watchable film (if not a good one) which didn’t hurt me. You’ll probably want to watch it if you haven’t seen a film about a serial killer before.

One doesn’t get to see too many suspense/horror flicks in Telugu….this one works precisely for that reason and more importantly towards the end (unlike most bad flicks of this genre) the audience isn’t made to feel like morons.

A desolated bhoot bangla called Mantra Nilayam turns out to be the grave for every inhabitant. Mantra (Charmme) owns that place and has to rent it out to get over her financial difficulties. One prospective tenant wants someone to occupy the house for a period of 3 months successfully before he’d move in. Circumstances make a vasooli guy Hero (Sivaji) and his gang take up that residence for a specified period. However, when one of his friends also gets killed he begins to investigate the truth about that house.

This movie has its required quota of entertaining false scares and enough humor to keep you engaged. But some sound effects were too jarring (I don’t know if it was the sound recording or the sound system in the theatre). Overall the makers have succeeded in giving the film a slick look barring a song (featuring some unknowns) which looks straight out of some B grade soft porn flick.

Front benchers were hooting away to glory at the much-publicized Charmme’s “Shakira” style song….but it was extremely awkward to say the least. From the last time I saw her in a film she seems to have grown disproportionately in all possible dimensions. Most of the film rests on Sivaji and gang’s shoulders who have done a pretty good job. I found it to be fairly enjoyable spook show on the whole.

It has turned out to be his biggest box office success till date but I consider Sekhar Kammula’s “Happy Days” to be his least accomplished work….which does not mean that it’s a bad film. It just didn’t strike a chord with me unlike his previous films.

Supposed to be a nostalgic look at the director’s own happy days at his alma mater CBIT, the plot is about a group of friends and the time they spend together during their 4 years of college. More specifically, one half the film deals with their first year and the interaction with their seniors while the other is about their heartaches and strained relationships. It is the first half which I found quite disappointing and that’s what gave me a less favorable impression of the movie as a whole. The complete handling of the juniors vs seniors thread (except for the senior guy falling for the junior girl angle) is very juvenile. All you have in it is a guy (the character Tyson) who concocts unbelievable stuff in his lab to trouble his seniors. This part really put me off. It was seriously unfunny and unrealistic to say the least…and especially coming from a director of Kammula’s stature. However, he is is in familiar territory when it comes to handling the interactions with his lead pairs. It does remind you of his previous films Anand and Godavari but nevertheless pleasant to watch.

What works most for this film is the fresh cast and the musical score. Sandesh and Tamanna stand out among the cast and the way they emote is excellent. I however had a hard time listening to Rahul (who plays Tyson) speak (but I must admit that in real life I have come across people who speak like that). Mickey J Meyer’s score is brilliant. It is an understatement to say that this film would have felt half as good without it.

One of the main reasons I could not appreciate this film as much as others have is because personally there was hardly anything I found here which I could relate to my own college life. I am sure others would have different perspectives and that’s probably why it is still running to packed houses even weeks after its release. On the whole, this is a film which has its moments and is definitely watchable but it would do good not to go and see this with high expectations.