Kotha Bangaru Lokam October 30, 2008
Posted by Shujath in Movies, Reviews, Telugu.Tags: 2008, Ahuti Prasad, blockbuster, Bommarillu, Brahmanandam, Chota K Naidu, Conflict between parents and children, Dil Raju, DVD, Ekada?, family entertainer, Film, Intermediate, Jayasudha, Kotha Bangaru Lokam, Mickey J Meyer, Movie, Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh, Residential College life, Review, Shweta Basu Prasad, Srikanth Addala, Telugu, Tollywood, Varun Sandesh, Waiting for You
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“Dil” Raju does it again. A largely hypeless film before its release it’s now having everyone rave about it. Once you watch it comparisons to Bommarillu are inevitable and for a change the filmmakers don’t have to be worried about that. Kotha Bangaru Lokam holds its own extremely well and will surely be remembered as yet another great entertainer from Raju’s stable.
To put it very crudely it could called Bommarillu for Teens for here too the underlying thread is about parents well-intentioned hopes and aspirations for their offspring and how they might conflict with the latter’s own desires. Unlike Bommarillu which definitely had a more complex conflict to resolve while fairly trying to represent each side, KBL’s content is much more straightforward – for here we have two students still studying Intermediate at a residential college who fall in love and as expected do not find favor with their parents. We have seen a lot of films where the protagonists are studing in a junior college (In recent years Teja’s films are the ones which might come to your mind first. I am sure if and when he watches this he’ll kill himself out of embarrassment). Coming back to the point, this is really the film where I’ve seen a rather realistic (compared to other films) portrayal of students and their life in a residential college. For once, all the actors really look and act their intended age and especially the gang of girls is hilarious. I also liked the way Balu (Varun Sandesh) and Swapna (Shweta Prasad) eventually fall in love. It might seem stupid when you see this in another movie but because of the setting it gels perfectly.
The film is beautifully shot (especially the song picturizations) – the best in recent times and Mickey J Meyer’s music works wonders. Varun Sandesh and Shweta Prasad do a nice job. Especially Sandesh’s styling to suit the look of an Intermediate student deserves mention. Prakash Raj and Jayasudha can sleepwalk through roles like these and it’s always a pleasure to watch them. There are a lot of new faces also who do well for themselves. Debutant Director Srikanth Addala (who is also credited for the story, screenplay and dialogues) makes a brilliant debut. The film is almost three hours long but you never feel the length as it is so unusually gripping for a theme like this. No doubt I had a great time watching this.
Chintakayala Ravi October 6, 2008
Posted by Shujath in Movies, Reviews, Telugu.Tags: 2008, Anushka, Brahmanandam, Bujji, Chandramohan, Chintakayala Ravi, comedy, DVD, family entertainer, Film, Kona Venkat, Lakshmi, M.S. Narayana, Mamata Mohandas, Movie, Nikita, NTR, Review, shot in USA, Software Engineer, Sunil, Telugu, Tollywood, Venkatesh, Venu, Vishal and Shekhar, Yogesh
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The catchy title itself lets you know what to expect from this one. Moreover with Venkatesh in the lead things look all set for a great fun-filled entertainer. Does Chintakayala Ravi deliver? Well it does in parts. On the whole it is a decent entertainer but doesn’t fall in the league of Venky’s previous blockbusters.
Chintakayala Ravi (Venkatesh) works as a bartender in the US. Initially supposed to study for being a Software Engineer, he lets go of his money in unforseen circumstances due to which he ends up in his current profession. However, everyone back home (especially her mom) is still made to believe he really is working as a Software Engineer. Based on this notion they find a girl Lavanya (Mamata Mohandas) for him. Now Lavanya has a friend in the US – Sunita (Anushka) whose help she uses to verify Ravi’s credentials. What happens of him and his marriage when Ravi’s true identity is disclosed is for you to see.
The story though not new is nevertheless much welcome but director Yogesh hasn’t capitalized on that fully. the humor works only in parts relying more on Kona Venkat’s one-liners than genuinely funny situations. I felt this one actually worked more as a love story (which begins quite late into the movie) than a comedy. Venkatesh is completely at home doing his usual stuff and he effectively holds the entire film. Despite the presence of the usual gang of comedians, he ends up stealing the show mostly. Anushka for a change gets a nice role to play while Mamata doesn’t have much to do. There are a few cameos too – Nikita was quite funny and NTR does a jig in one of the songs.
Vishal-Shekhar’s music has nothing great to write home about except for the first song. They shouldn’t have used their “Jag Soona” number from OSO in this film as it resulted in some unprovoked comments and laughter during some of the heavy duty moments. Better humor and probably doing a bit more justice to the romantic track would have worked wonders for Chintakayala Ravi but still it manages to be an above average Venky entertainer.
Baladhoor August 19, 2008
Posted by Shujath in Movies, Reviews, Telugu.Tags: 2008, Anushka, Baladhoor, Baladoor, Brahmanandam, Chandramohan, DVD, family entertainer, Film, Gayatri Bhargavi, K.M. Radha Krishna, Krishna, Movies, Ramanaidu, Ravi Teja, Review, Suman Setty, Sunil, Suresh, Suresh Productions, Telugu, Tollywood, Udayasankar, Veediki Baadhyatalu Ekkuva
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Somehow pushing in a “family” in between doesn’t make a “clean family entertainer”. Udayasankar – best known for his blockbuster “Kalisundam Raa” few years ago tries his hand again with a feel-good family flick but cheated is the only thing you’ll feel after watching this.
For starters, you know a film isn’t going anywhere when Ravi Teja is talking less and fighting more. He plays this regular good-for-nothing guy who under certain circumstances gets thrown out of his family and has to win back their love and trust – especially of his uncle (Krishna). Successful films with this storyline have mostly relied of fun moments to sail through but the director decides to do something different here and his definition of fun just seems to be those flying-people-fights. Ravi Teja does most of those while Krishna is also brought in towards the end to throw a couple of punches. Whatever little laughs are there are brought in by our hero and Sunil but even that won’t make you smile too much. Brahmanandam is also given a lame routine to perform. Anushka gets to do her trademark slutty act once again. In one of the scenes, she makes multiple references to something shocking “she did when she was 13 years old”. Unfortunately, the censor board muted it out and kept everyone guessing.
In the first place you are subjected to a flick which starts being average, then turns boring and finally becomes almost unbearable….and on that you have these songs which don’t seem to run out. The collective groans of the audience when they realized that the song which they thought was the last in the film actually wasn’t is noteworthy.
Baladhoor is the most disappointing Telugu flick I’ve seen in the last few months and even if you are a die-hard Ravi Teja fan you might want to have second thoughts about watching this.
Ready June 22, 2008
Posted by Shujath in Movies, Reviews, Telugu.Tags: 2008, Brahmanandam, comedy, Denikaina, Devisri Prasad, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, DVD, family entertainer, Film, Genelia, Jayaprakash Reddy, Kota Srinivasa Rao, McDowell Murthy, Movie, Nazar, Ram, Ready, Review, Saagara Sangamam spoof, Sravanthi Ravikishore, Sreenu Vaitla, Srinu Vytla, Sunil, Telugu, Tollywood
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Two back to back hits in a year followed by a couple of major filmmakers imitating your style. What better way to follow it up with another winner! Sreenu Vaitla does just that with his latest offering Ready.
The film begins like every other Telugu flick nowadays – hero helps heroine escape….both fall in love while on the run from the girl’s factionist family…..hero plays “mind games” to make it all work out well. The first half doesn’t really make much of an impression with the mandatory songs and action sequences overwhelming the comic parts. Sunil is the only one here who brings in the laughs in this part with his hilarious portrayal as the effeminate classical dancer. Vaitla returns with a bang in the second half once our hero’s “mind games” begin.
No prizes of guessing who steals the show from everyone again….looks like most of the audience were aware about this through the early reviews/word-of-mouth; hence the overwhelming response to Brahmanandam’s entry as “McDowell Murthy”. If you thought he was great in “Dhee” and “Krishna” lately, you’ll love him much more here. And the humor generated around him is also quite innovative rather than centering around simply being harried by the hero. His expressions in a few scenes are priceless! Another guy who stands out here is that fat kid who always gets a cameo role in all of Vaitla’s films (couldn’t figure out his name). In this film, he has a full length role and does a great job of it. Interestingly, Ready doesn’t feature the trademark Sreenu Vaitla “drunk guy bashing up his oppressors” scene….quite a sacrifice!
Ram and Genelia are fine but they get nothing new to do and are completely eclipsed by the comedians in the second half. Devisri Prasad’s tunes are good but except for the first and last songs, all the rest act as speedbreakers. The film is 3 hours long and quite a bit of the first half – especially the fights can definitely be trimmed away for good. Ready is a much more accomplished effort from Sreenu Vailta compared to his previous flicks and it shouldn’t be a surprize if it turns out be the biggest hit of this season.
Sai and Shujath talk Cinema 