Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

kantri review

Friday, May 9th, 2008

Rating:3.25/5
Movie Name: Kantri
Year: may 9th, 2008
Cast: Jr. NTR,Hansika Motwani, Tanisha, Raghu Babu, Krishna Bhagavan, Brahmanandam, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Suneel, Ashish Vidyarthi.
Producer: C Aswanidutt
Music Director: Mani Sharma
Director: Meher Ramesh

Story:
This is a pakka mass masala movie have every element to entertain the general audience.NTR is introduced with a fight which will be real feast for his fans. he joins in mafia group and the story is entirely related with mafia and revenge. Mainly the twist in second half is too good that no one can expect. And the heroine hansika is good looking and tanisha is not soo impressive.

The only back drop in the movie is It has Too many fights but again they were convincing and well picturised Generally audions will really feel that director could have concentrated on comedy a bit more.Though they are very few seans in comedy they were really good mainly Singapore episode, and comedy track of Suneel, Ali, krishna baghavan and Brahmanandam.NTR is good looking &his costumes were very good.

The movie is good to watch and we can expect 100% returns for what we have invested on this movie in the form of entertainment.


Introduction:
The hero introduction begins with cycle in rescuing his friends,and it will be a real feast for NTR’s fans.

Music:
The music in the movie is really good and manisarma has given the best numbers in his careerer.The picturization is even better and NTR’s dances has given so much boost to the songs specially in Vayassunami and I go crazy is simply superb.The remaining songs are not less than excellent.

Performances: NTR drives the movie along. He’s improved on his acting again just like he does for every movie. .NTR is good looking &his costumes were very good It’s good to have an actor like NTR now in the industry. Hnasika looks pretty good than that of tanishaa. Comedy track of suneel(rajini hassan) is good. The rest of the caste are okay. The movie is good to watch and we can expect 100% returns for what we have invested on this movie in the form of entertainment.

Review and Analysis:
This is a pakka mass masala movie have every element to entertain the general audience. First is full of full meals. Prakash raj,ashish vidyarthi played a major roles in the movie. Mukesh rushi plays grand father role for NTR. As NTR parents(NRI) who come from London with 100 crores to their home town. His parents use to spent the money for village development purpose and they also wills to open a sugar factory in the village. Prakash raj kills whole NTR family. And he escapes with the money to other country. There paraksh raj becomes a mafia leader. And NTR joins in that mafia group. And the story is entirely related with mafia and revenge. Mainly the twist in second half is too good that no one can expect. And the heroine hansika is good looking and tanisha is not soo impressive.


Public talk: Bommana Brothers Chandana Sisters

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Srinivasa Reddy, who was known for delivering successive successful mass comedies, comes again with a different title and able star cast. Allari Naresh, Krishna Bhagavan played ‘Bommana brothers’ and Farzana, Rithima portrayed the roles of ‘Chandana Sisters’ in Srinivas Reddy’s latest comedy.

Srinivasa Reddy doesn’t disappoint with this film too. There is ample comedy in the film, thanks to Krishna Bhagavan and Allari Naresh. They have ensured the fun ride with superb comic timing and on screen chemistry.

Dharmavarapu Subramanyam excelled in a lengthy role. Farzana is good at dances but has to improve her acting skills. Other star cast is good whereas Tanikella Bharani, Kovai Sarala and Jaya Prakash Reddy stand out.

Dialogues are good in many scenes. Cinematography is cool for a low budget film. Editing might have been crispier as the film drags mainly in pre interval and pre climax scenes. Music by Srilekha offers nothing new but sounds ok on the ears. The Background score is lifted from Dhoom 2. Director handled the comedy with élan, but he couldn’t hide his liking towards the double entendres. He might have safely avoided those in this film which is otherwise a decent comedy which entertains all the sections of audience.

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The film has many lighter vein moments that tickle your funny bone. You can watch it at your leisure for comedy, if not for Krishna Bhagavan alone. The box office run will be good in mass centers and the run in A centers purely depends on promotion and mouth talk.
Click here for Bommana Brothers Chandana Sisters rating and review

Aatadista review

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
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Rating: ** (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad)

Cast: Nitin, Kajal, Nagababu, Jayasudha, Raghuvaran, Narsing Yadav, Jayalalitha, Raviprakash, Chalapati Rao, Narra, Sivaprasad, Amit, Venumadhav, Mumait Khan and Others.
Action: Ram-Laxman.
Art: Babjee.
Cinematography: Jawahar Reddy.
Editing: Baswa Paidireddy.
Music: Chakri.
Story, Screenplay & Direction: AS Ravikumar Chowdary.
Presenter: Rekha Combines.
Producer(s): C. Kalyan-S. Vijayanand.
Banner: Teja Cinema.
Release Date: 20th March, 2008.

Aatadista has an inconsistent script, mediocre direction and absolutely no novelty. Nitin concentrates on his dancing skills and nothing else. Kajal has little to do and she has definitely done better work, both in terms of her character and the movie itself. The main negative character played by Sivaprasad has nothing new to offer apart from a marchpast walk. The music is nothing to write home about and the movie itself is very disappointing.

Plot:
Jagan alias Chinna is industrialist Lion Rajendra’s jobless son. He falls in love with Sunanda. Meanwhile he suggests that his father and his rival Raghunath get into a partnership to double up their efficiency. Without his knowledge his marriage is fixed to Raghunath’s daughter, who obviously turns out to be Sunanda, but the families are not on great terms even after they fix the match. Raghunath is dealing in tobacco businesses that is actually owned by Bonala Shankar, a brusque and notorious MLA. Rajendra doesn’t want to deal in that area, but Bonala threatens the board of directors too. Now Jagan has to deal with this corrupt politico and plays a game with him that shakes him from his very roots-spreads a rumor that he hit Shankar.

Story, Screenplay and Direction:

The story is pretty erratic. First Jagan alias Chinna is after Sunanda, pursuing her in a roughish manner. Suddenly he starts pretending to be a nice guy, bashing up his friend who eve-teases her hostel girls just to impress her. Then suddenly the track is neglected only to re-appear before the break to give that ‘interval punch’. The main villain is Sivaprasad as Bonala Shankar, a ruthless tobacco producer cum MLA who bashes up public and media who protest against his companies and his party president for questioning him. Then in the second half, when Nitin ‘plays’ with him, it is not that convincing.

The interval punch is amusing, even if for a short while. The track with Shankar’s son and Sunanda’s friend is a yawn. The inconsistency of the script is consistent. A brief period in the second half, when the actual ‘Aata’ is on between Chinna and Shankar is watchable, but not novel.

The ending is very abrupt. The editing and cinematography are average. Choreography seems repetitive. The fun part in the movie, or indeed any watchable part, lasts roughly about 20 minutes if that.

Performances:

Nitin’s focus on dance puts him at a disadvantage. He needs to work on his dialogue delivery (Slow Down!!!) and voice modulation.

Kajal has little to do, and makes faces throughout-she’s done better work than this. Sivaprasad as Shankar fits the part well, has a good presence and a well-written character to portray. Nagababu is okay as is Jayasudha who plays his wife. Raghuvaran, people shall miss his uniqueness forever but thankfully it’s captured on many a canvas.

Song and Dance: Middling and repetitive to the core. Mumait’s Item number is alright though.

Last Word: Same old, same old. Yawn!

Our Verdict : A passable entertainer, can be watched if there is nothing worthwhile to do.

Bhargava review

Monday, March 10th, 2008
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A successful Tamil film Pazhani was dubbed into Telugu as Bharath as the heroine of the film Kaajal was shot into fame with her recent hit film Chandamama and the hero of the film became well-known among the Telugu audiences with Premiste. Besides, the film also has some more well-known artists like Khushboo and Biju Menon. However, the film doesn’t have any interesting subject and it is a routine commercial entertainer on the lines of films that hit the Telugu screen in 80s and 90s. The present generation may not welcome such a mass commercial entertainers as there is nothing novel either in the story or in its presentation.

The film opens with the release of Yerrodu @ Bhargava (Bharath) from prison after serving 14 years jail term for murdering a woman. He vigorously tries to find a job in the house of Jeevanandam @ Jeeva (Biju Menon) and finally achieves it. Jeeva’s wife Lakshmi (Khushboo) is a kind-hearted woman. Yerrodu tries to impress Lakshmi with her acts. In this backdrop, he unintentionally spoils the marriage of a girl (Kaajal) and the girl first demands Bhargava to bring another alliance but the latter fails. As time goes by, she loses her heart to Bhargava and Lakshmi too accepts their love. At this juncture, Bhargava finds that Jeeva is not that gentleman and is an anti-social element and he earns property with the help of goons and planning murders and other such illegal activities by helping another local goon Vaikuntam (Rajkapoor). Bhargava also finds that Jeeva is naming after his factories and other business after Durga (Aiswarya), who was his concubine. Durga asks Jeeva to eliminate his wife so that they could remain together. Bhargava gives her a warning and in the process reveals that he is none other than Lakshmi’s brother. Learning that his presence would make his task of killing Lakshmi tough, Jeeva hatches a plan and makes Lakshmi to lodge a complaint with the police and get him arrested. But Lakshmi realises that her brother is innocent and he murdered a woman as he could not digest the fact that their father has an illicit contact with that woman causing agony to their mother. Her father discloses the secret to Lakshmi and she goes to police station and withdraws her complaint. When Jeeva tries to kill Lakshmi, Bhargava rescues her. In order to get rid of Lakshmi, Jeeva takes the help of Vaikuntam and succeeds in that attempt, but in the process loses his property. As he looses the property, Durga changes her colours and joins Vaikuntam leaving Jeeva. Unable to digest the change of stance, Jeeva attempts to kill Durga and he himself falls in trouble from Vaikuntam. In the climax, Bhargava teaches a lesson and kills Vaikuntam and Durga. The film ends on a happy note with the union of Bhargava and his ladylove.

PLUS: But for a couple of action scenes and the glamour of Kajal, there is nothing much to talk about plus points in the film. Like several other heroes, Bharath has tried his best to gain a mass and action hero. He has showed good ease in dance and action scenes. The role played by Kajal has no scope for performance but to shake legs with the hero in a couple of songs. Khushboo has played the role of Bharath’s sister and did justice to her character. Biju Menon, Raj Kapoor and P Vasu are okay in their respective roles. The action scenes choreographed by Dalapati Dinesh are good and will attract the mass audiences.

MINUS: The story of the film is very old and it reminds the old commercial formula films of 80s and 90s. The narration of the film has no novelty and several scenes are beyond logic. It is not known how the hero’s sister grew up and how she married. It is also not known how the hero found his sister’s address as he goes to jail at a very tender age of 10 years. It is also beyond logic that a girl who has Rs 5 lakhs bank balance, 30 sovereigns of gold and a house that costs Rs 50 lakhs loses her heart to an ordinary driver and at a later scene she appears as a sales girl in a cloth shop. There are no answers for many more such questions.

REMARKS: Music by Srikant Deva has also failed to impress the audiences with his tunes and all of them are full of Tamil scent. The director made attempts to woo the mass audiences by putting the clippings of Indra of Chiranjeevi, Samba of NTR and Okkadu of Maheshbabu. There is nothing to talk much about cinematography and other technical aspects in a film as the director has concentrated on boosting the image of the hero and prove him an action hero. The sentiment scenes in the film also failed to work. Cast: Bharath, Kajal Agarwal, Kushboo, Aishwarya, Biju Menon, P Vasu, Rajkapoor, M.S. Bhaskar, Chittibabu, Sujitha Naidu, Ravi Mariya and others.

Credits: Music – Srikant Deva, Action – Dalapati Dinesh, Editing – Naani, Camera – Vijay Milton, Presents – Smt Padma and Master Pandu, Producer – G Bharath Kumar and Mutyala Ramdasu, Screenplay and direction – Perarasu

Banner: Nikhilesh Art Productions and Venkata Sivasai Films

Released on: March 8, 2008

idi sangati review

Friday, February 22nd, 2008
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  • Starring: Abbas, Tabu, Raja, Sunil, Kota Srinivasa Rao, MS Narayana and others
  • Producer: Chandra Siddardh
  • Director: Chandra Siddardh

Story:
Idhi Sangathi is all about greedy nature of people right from a common man to Prime minister.When Mumbai express met with an accident Crime reporter of a daily Murthy(Abbas) &his colleague,friend Neeladri(Sunil) grabs the gold ornaments&two suitcases from the dead bodies and distribute among themselves.Murthy handsover the suitcase&gold to his wife Swarajya Lakshmi(Tabu),who desperately wanto to become rich.Actually the suitcase consists of diamonds worth Rs.500Crores and it belongs to Prime minster(Kota Srinivasarao).And right from the local police,thieves to DIG&Prime minister wants to know the whereabouts of the diamonds and wanna own them.What happened next is the remaining story.

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Highlights:
Director Chandra Sidhartha tried to present this satirical drama with style.written by eminent journalist K.N.Y.Pathanjali,the movie plot is good and the characters are just like the people we come across in everyday life.
Tabu lives up to another impressive role and delivers a noteworthy performance.
Cinematography by Gummadi Jayakrishna is impressive.

Sidelights:
The screenplay lacks pace.This kind of plot needs a Priyadarsan kind of treatment .The narrative style the director has choosen is new to our audience and it appeals only to a narrowest niche among the audience.For common audience, the film looks not interesting most of the time.

Final Note:
Its an average movie and it can be watched just for tabu.Its a time pass movie.

Ontari movie review

Thursday, February 14th, 2008
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Starring: Gopichand, Bhavana, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sunil and others

Direction: Ramana

Music: Manisarma

Release date: 14/02/2008

Director Ramana gives a god account of himself with his debut film. The film offers everything, love, drama, family sentiment, comedy and action. However, the violence is in a slightly higher dose.

Story:
Gopichand is the youngest of the three sons of Parachuri Venkateswara Rao. Theirs is a big and happy family. Gopichand’s elder brothers are happily married. They all live together. Parachuri runs a big textile showroom in Visakhapatnam. Gopichand also has a close friend in Sunil and Rajiv Kanakala. Kanakala is an MLA.

Gopichand meets Bujji (Bhavana) and falls for her. He poses as a CBI officer and meets Bhavana everyday at the beach in the name of interrogation. The reason is that Bhavana had run away with 15,000 rupees form Gopichnd’s brother Naresh after he withdraws money from an ATM. She later returns the amount shortly saying that she needed the money urgently as a girl was hospitalized.

Bhavana is studying in college and stays in a women’s hostel. She is an orphan.

Bhavan also becomes close to Gopichand ‘s family members. His engagement is arranged at Annavaram.

At this juncture, the villains enter the scene and kidnap Bhavana. Ashsih Vidyarthi is angry with Gopichand, as he has beaten up his younger brother when he was teasing Bhavana.

The villains beat Gopichand black and blue and also rape Bhavana. She later jumps to her death. But Gopichand is still in a hallucination. He thinks that Bhavana is still with him He behaves as if she is with him always. The rest of the story is how Gopichand takes revenge on the villains as well as Kanakala who has backstabbed Gopichand and his family for becoming a minister.

Performance:
Gopichand excels both as a lover boy as well as a wronged angry young man, who has been wronged by the villains. He gets to show his muscles in a couple of scenes. Gopichand also bashes up quite a number goons in his usual trademark style.

Bhavana is quite good and refreshing. She is good looking both in traditional as wll as western wear. She also does full justice to he role. Parachuri, Naresh, Sayaji Shinde, Ashsih Vidyarthi, Raghu Babu and others are adequate in their roles.

Music by Mani Sarma is also good. A couple of songs are set to some fast beats while tow aongs are slow maving filems only the hero and heroine. Comedy is also okay. The AYM scene, the scene where Gopichand catches conjunctivitis from Bhavana and it turn passes it on to his family members is also funny.

The audience also enjoys a scene where Gopichand switches on the programme ‘Neralu Ghoralu’ on TV to tease Bhavana. Ali also raises some laughs with his appearance mimicking Rajnikanth in Sivaji.

Sunil and Ali also talk about Chiranjeevi and his role in Shankar Dada Zindabad. Raghu Babu’s dialogue to Ashish Vidyarthi – “Pilichi Pindam Pettinchukovadam ante ide” also evokes laughter.

Final Note:
The film once again reinforces Gopichand as a mass hero. This is surely another good movie to gopichand.The title is apt as “Ontari” because Gopichand alone makes the movie worth watching.The excessive dose of violence may not go well with the family audiences. But for the mass audience and youth, ‘Ontari’ is definitely a paisa vasool film.

Jodha Akbar Review

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

Let’s get one thing straight: You haven’t watched anything so opulent, so magnificent like this in a long, long time on the Hindi screen. It’s not just body beautiful, but there’s soul as well.

It requires courage, prowess, patience, aptitude, knowledge, passion and of course, loads of currency to attempt a movie like JODHAA AKBAR. But more than anything else, it requires your firm belief in the subject, the belief to attempt a historical when historicals are considered an absolute no-no in the industry, the belief to spend almost Rs. 40 crores in a film that could go either ways.

Only when you’re convinced yourself can you convince millions of moviegoers. And convinced you are after watching JODHAA AKBAR, a film of epic proportions.

Now let’s clear a few misconceptions pertaining to the film…

  • It’s blasphemous to compare MUGHAL-E-AZAM and JODHAA AKBAR. While MUGHAL-E-AZAM was primarily about the legendary romance between Salim and Anarkali, a subject that has been attempted quite a few times on the Hindi screen before, JODHAA AKBAR is about the relationship that the young Akbar shared with Jodhaa.

  • A lot has been said and written about its length [3.20 hours]. Does the viewer of today have the patience to watch a really lengthy film in today’s times? But once into JODHAA AKBAR, the sequence of events, the drama, the romance, the war… every aspect keeps you mesmerized. Oh yes, the length does pinch you at one crucial point [second hour, which is relatively shorter], when a song breaks out. Otherwise, the 3 + hours are very well spent.
  • When you watch historicals like MUGHAL-E-AZAM and RAZIA SULTAN, the usage of chaste Urdu is difficult to comprehend at times. Not here! The language is simplified - Akbar speaks in Urdu, Jodhaa in Hindi - and it’s easy to decipher.

As a cinematic experience, it would be wrong to compare JODHAA AKBAR to any of Ashutosh Gowariker’s previous endeavors. Why, it would be erroneous to compare the film with any film ever made before in this genre. This one stands out and stands out the tallest.

To sum up, JODHAA AKBAR leaves you spellbound, enthralled, entranced and awestruck. Ashutosh Gowariker makes the legendary characters come alive on screen. Take a bow, Ashu!

Set in the sixteenth century, JODHAA AKBAR is a love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Little did Akbar [Hrithik Roshan] know that when he married Jodhaa [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan], he would be embarking upon a new journey — the journey of true love.

The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer [Kulbhushan Kharbanda], Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar’s biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of this defiant princess.

One of the prime reasons why JODHAA AKBAR works is because the present-day viewer is unaware of the romance between Akbar and Jodhaa. Sure, we all know of Akbar as a great emperor, but the love story makes for a refreshing subject. And the execution of a number of sequences makes JODHAA AKBAR extremely special.

Some instances:
* The war sequence at the very outset. You realize the scale and magnitude of the film at the very beginning.
* Hrithik taming an out-of-control elephant. It’s hair-raising.
* The two pre-conditions set by Jodhaa, before her marriage to Akbar. Very interesting.
* The confrontation between Ila Arun and Ash at the kitchen, when Ash decides to make the meal herself.
* The immediate sequence, when Ash is asked to taste the food herself by Ila before she’s about to serve the food to the Emperor and his associates. Once done, Hrithik demanding that he be served the meal from the same platter that Jodhaa had used.
* The intermission point, which sows the seeds of a misunderstanding between Hrithik and Ash.
* Post-interval, Hrithik returning to Amer to get Ash back to Agra and the welcome ceremony by his mother-in-law [Suhasini Mulay].
* The sword fight the very next morning, between Hrithik and Ash.
* The ‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah’ track, when the entire kingdom hails Hrithik.
* The fight in the climax [reminds you of the fight between Brad Pitt and Eric Bana in TROY].
Amazing moments indeed…

Ashutosh Gowariker knows that historicals have to be simplified while narrating on celluloid so that the moviegoer is able to grasp and comprehend the plotline and the sequence of events. Thankfully, JODHAA AKBAR is not in the least difficult to decipher. Gowariker’s handling of the subject deserves the highest praise, for it’s not everyday that you come across a film like JODHAA AKBAR.

A.R. Rahman’s music is not the type that you take to instantly, but yes, it gels beautifully with the mood of the film. ‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah’ and ‘Jashn-e-Bahara’ are the best tracks in terms of tune. In terms of choreography, ‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah’ is awe-inspiring, while the execution of ‘Khwaja Mere Khwaja’ is outstanding. Rahman’s background score is simply extra-ordinary.

There’s no room for dullness in Haider Ali and Gowariker’s screenplay. The writing is tight, the drama keeps you hooked and the romantic track is wonderful. The film also talks of secularism, an issue so vital in today’s times. K.P. Saxena’s dialogues are amazing. At places, soaked in acid. The writer comes up with several gems, yet again. Kiran Deohans’ cinematography matches international standards. The movement of camera at various places, especially in the battlefield, is breath-taking. Also, the D.O.P. captures the grandeur to the fullest. The production design [Nitin Chandrakant Desai] is, again, awesome. Recreating the bygone era requires not just money, but also the vision and Desai proves his supremacy yet again.

Be it the war sequences or the sword fights or general action, Ravi Dewan’s contribution to the film is incredible. Especially noteworthy is the fight between Hrithik and Nikitin Dheer in the climax. It’s simply outstanding! Editing [Ballu Saluja] is perfect, although the romantic song between Hrithik and Ash can be shortened in the second hour. The costumes [Neeta Lulla] as also the jewelry also deserve special mention.

JODHAA AKBAR also works because of the right casting. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else in the role of Emperor Akbar. Hrithik seems born to play this role and he enacts it with such precision, such flourish, such confidence that it leaves you asking for more. A mind-boggling performance without doubt!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is superb. Oh yes, she looks ethereal — a compliment she has heard a trillion times before. What’s new in that? But watch her emote in this film. You realize the amazing talent that has hitherto not been tapped by any movie maker. A flawless performance indeed!

JODHAA AKBAR has a host of characters, but the ones whom you carry home, besides Hrithik and Ash, are Sonu Sood [excellent], Nikitin Dheer [fantastic], Ila Arun [electrifying; her finest work so far], Punam S. Sinha [graceful], Kulbhushan Kharbanda [perfect], Raza Murad [effective] and Rajesh Vivek [good]. Amitabh Bachchan’s rich barritone voice adds lustre to the magnum opus.

On the whole, JODHAA AKBAR is, without a shred of doubt, a brilliant film in all respects. This historical has all it takes to prove the first blockbuster of 2008. Very strongly recommended!

Visakha Express Review

Saturday, February 9th, 2008
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Cast: Rajiv kanakala, Allari Naresh, Kota Srinivas Rao, Preeti Jhangiani, Ali and others.

Director: Vara Mullapudi
Music: Rajiv Kurakula

Vara Mullapudi has come up with a good suspense thriller. The film is quite racy with a gripping screenplay which will make the audiences glued to the seats. The un-predictable sequences make the film even more watch able.

Story:

The story is about the conflict between tow protagonists – Allari Naresh and Rajeev kanakala. Kanakala is a young doctor who lives with his father, Kota srinivas rao. Kota srinivas rao’s character in this film is an alcoholic character and accordingly he creates nuisance every day and this makes Rajeev kanakala embarrassing daily. But his love towards his father never ends and grows day by day.

One day, Kota is admitted into the hospital following an accident and after some time of his admission he dies on the hospital bed. Rajeev learns that his father has not died of injuries in the accident, but has been under wrong medication which leads to his death.

Rajeev’s aim is to find out who the criminals are. Then enters the character of Allari Naresh, who is a young and newly married guy, who is also a cold blooded murderer. The Psychopathic Naresh reveals to Rajeev that, it was he who killed kota(Rajeev’s father) and as per the mutual agreement made in the train, in turn Rajeev must kill Allari Naresh’s wife Preeti Jhangiani.

What is the agreement between them and, why does Naresh decide to kill his wife preeti forms the rest of the story which has to be watched on the silver screen.

Performances:

Rajeev kanakala and Allari naresh literally compete with each other, to come up with a better performance, Rajeev, who is senior to Naresh in terms of acting, as he has made his appearance almost 12 years back on small screen, gave his 100 percent to the film. His acting and expressions were much suitable, apt, and according to the sequence. He dominates the screen fro a major part of the first half.

Allari Naresh on the other hand has done a decent job this time. But his body language and the impression he has already made in the hearts of Telugu audience as a comedy hero, makes his serious role little bit un-digestible. Especially his serious role of a psychopath, who has a desire to kill his wife, makes us feel that he should have given more of his, for this role.

Kota Srinivas Rao as usual has made a mark in the film and especially his emotional scene on the hospital bed after the accident, ouches the hearts of the audience.

Preeti does not have much to do, but her costumes say a lot.

Ali as a sub inspector promises to do something big in the film. But his role is chopped when the Circle Inspector sends him on a one year leave term.

Music is average and is composed by Rajiv kurakula. The screen play of Chandrashekar is also good and the suspense element in the film is well maintained.

The film looks dragging in the second half of the film, when the suspense slowly gets un-wrapped. But at last it is well finished.

Vara Mullapudi pay his tribute to the great artist, cartoonist and director Bapu by showing his paintings and his photos in a song sequence. The friendship between Bapu and Vara’s father, Mullapudi Venkat is legendary.

Final Note:

On the whole, the present hit flavor is suspense which can be seen from the hits of MANTRA and ANASUYA. So this film will also settle in that genre and will be sure to run for almost 4-5 weeks.

Sundarakanda Review

Saturday, February 9th, 2008

Overview:
K Vishwanath, K Balachander, Bapu..these masters made some memorable movies and classics in the past but their recent offerings bring blemish to their illustrious career. Bapu’s latest Sundarakanda is no exception. No one can associate with this old-fashioned movie that told in boorish manner. Bapu and his famous jodi Ramana writer seem to have stuck still in the 70’s. A jamindar marries a poor girl without the knowledge of his royal parents and the poor girl is thrown out of their home with a blame put on her. She raises her child far from the royal family. And the child takes on mission to reunite her separated parents with her own tricks.

No, we are not telling the story of Bapu - Ramana’s classic Mutyala Muggu. Sundarakanda’s basic story is similar to that one. The only difference is that the kid here is a full-grown woman called Pinky (Charmee) and it is not entertaining like the original masterpiece.

Sundarakanda is completely out of the sync with the current times. The story, the narration and the language that the characters speak are archaic. From scene one, it lags on and moves on with outdated screenplay.

Story:
Charmee in the role of Pinky Without A Tail and Penki Pilla has done full justice to her role but her character is uninteresting. Prema as Charmee’s mother doesn’t like look a mom to a 18 year old girl. Nor does the director take any effort to show difference to young Prema and when she turns mother.

Allari Naresh plays a journalist who rides on bicycle with a camera on his shoulder and takes photographs. His character is enough to show how old-fashioned the film is. Kota is the only saving grace. Music by Vidyasagar is nothing to rave about. photography by KRK Raju is neat, though. A shot where decreasing of shadow to depict the time passed till the dusk is quite interesting. Background score (not done by Vidyasagar) is good.

Bottom-line

Anyone who respect for Bapu - Ramana, for their great earlier movies, feel disappointed with this old-fashioned flick. Quite boring!

End Cedits:

Starring:Charmee, Naresh, Prema, Suneel Sharma, Ranganath, Sangeeta, Kota Srinivasa Rao and others
Story, screenplay, and dialogues: Mullapudi Ramana
Cinematography: KRK Raju
Music: Vidyasagar
Co-producer: Bhanu Prakash Reddy
Producer: K Aparna
Directed by: Bapu
Release date: Feb 08, 2008
CBFC Rating: U

krishnarjuna review

Friday, February 1st, 2008

Starring: Nagarjuna, Vishnu, Mamatha Mohandas, Mohan Babu, Nazar and others.
Direction: P Vasu
Music: Keeravni
Release date: 01/02/2008

Director P Vasu’s new film Krishnarjuna is a simple and straight film that tries to throw light on the meaning of life. Fortunately, Vasu dos not resort to strange miracles and unnecessary gimmicks to explain the existence of God.

The film opens with Arjun (Visnu) lying on a bed in the ICCU of a hospital and he is battling for life. The film then goes to the flash back. Arjun is born in the sanctum sanctorum of lord Krishna temple. His mother is a mentally unstable woman, who is pregnant and she runs away from a mental asylum and gives birth to the child at the temple and dies shortly afterwards. His grandmother Manorama brings up Arjun by working as a servant at Nazar’s house. Arjun is a hardworking and innocent guy.

Sathya (Mamatha Mohandas) is the younger sister of Nazar and she is an arrogant and spoilt girl. Arjun also works at Nazar’s house as a domestic help. He drops Sarthya at college every day and also takes good care of Nazar’s children.

Enter a rich diamond merchant Tanikella Bharani and his son. He falls for Sathya and she also takes a liking for him, as he is fabulously rich. But there is a catch.
A well-known astrologer says that whoever marries Sathya will die within a short span of time.

Nazar hatches a plan and gets Arjun to the tie the knot to Sathya. His plan is that as soon as Arjun is dead, Sathya can marry the son of the rich diamond merchant and live happily.

But Arjun’s life takes a turn after his marriage with Sathya. His grandmother dies after coming to know about Nazar’s evil plan. Arjun also tries to commit suicide but lord Krishna in the form of Nagarjuna appears before Arjun to not only to save him but also instill in him a confidence and will power to face the obstacles in life.

Arjun is now a changed man and he now takes on the evil Nazar and the diamond merchant head on. How he accomplishes is suspense and should be watched on the screen

Performance:
Vishnu as the innocent Arjun comes up with a credible performance. His body language and mannerism suits the role to a ‘T’.
Nagarjuna as a modern god is definitely a big plus for the film. He appears only just before the interval but his entry adds momentum to the film.

Mamatha Mohandas as the rich spoilt and arrogant brat plays her role to perfection. She also gives an ample display of her beauty and assets.

Nazar, Bharani and others go about their roles in a professional manner.

MohanBabu appears as a fakir in the getup of Shiridi Sai Baba. The audience cheer wildly with appreciation when he appears on screen.

The music is okay and the song ‘“Yama Yama Ranjuga Vundi ro Petta” is a fast foot tapping number and Mamatha Mohandas and Vishnu dance well in it.

The comedy as average and Brahmanandam as an aged astrologer with a young and beautiful wife comes up with his by now trademark performance. Sunil, Venu Madhav, MS Narayana and others try to liven up the proceedings with their comedy.

The director must be commended for not going overboard and resisting the temptation to show many gimmicks and miracles in the name of God. Nagarjuna’s role is brief yet powerful. Vasu uses him to the desired effect in a polished and neat way.

The film starts slowly bit picks up pace after the interval. Comparisons with ‘Dhee’ are inevitable but would be totally unfair.

The film however is sure to bring Vishnu a good name for his neat and convincing performance.

Public Talk : Not bad. Watchable only for Nag&Vishnu. Overall, it is good movie with some funny scenes.