Gangaputrulu – Telugu Movie Review

‘Gangaputrulu’ is the second in trilogy by director Sunil Kumar Reddy.  In his first film ‘Sontha Vooru’, he concentrated on the elimination of villages under the pretext of development.  This time around, he is entering another neglected field of human activity – fishing in high seas.  He explains how the avaricious corporate fraternity exploits natural wealth of fishes and how it mints money through mechanized fishing, scuttling the lives of poor fisherman and throwing their peace of mind to the bottom of the sea.

In the first film, the director employed the artistic attributes of seasoned actors.  In this film, raw talents with new faces are given opportunities to act.  Some actors are from fisherman community itself.   Even though, there is freshness in acting, in some other cases, expressing human sentiments before a camera has been a monumental task for some of them.  For the leading pair, this is a maiden venture.

Whatever may be, the content and the style of the movie amends for some of the negative aspects and shortfalls.  It transports the audience to the long coastline of Andhra Pradesh and displays the lives of the fisher folk living with their pains and pleasures.   The moviegoers, in anticipation of a good narration, get what they want.  The director has taken special care not to mix the earlier film with the present one.

Some critics may say that it is an art movie meant for film festivals.  But, this film possesses all the ingredients of a commercial venture-with songs, dance and music interspersed with human sentiments-love, desire and anxiety.  For fishermen, ownership of a boat is the ultimate ambition to earn respect among women and the members of community.  Their life is filled with pride, pang, destiny and dilemma.

The entire film is shot along the sandy shores of Visakhapatnam.  It looks long and impressive.  These fisherfolks are leading their life with whatever tiny catches they get from the sea – sometimes sufficient some times short of filling their stomach.  Their agonies are mounting towards a pinnacle due to the vagaries of weather and are further complicated by the monetary lust of the moneyed conglomerates.

What makes an impact on the hearts of the viewers is that the fishermen are not ready to part with the blue waves and are ready to live and die by the shores where they were brought up from the childhood days. The film is germane for critical acclamation due to  its dialogues, lyrics, script, dance, music and photography.  It is a must-see film for those who value standard subjects.

Cast & Crew:

Banner: KBR Productions & Sravya Films

Cast: Subbaraju, Gayatri, L B Sriram, Rao Ramesh,Kallu Chidambaram,Tanmayi, Ramki, Mahesh and others

Direction: Sunil Kumar Reddy

Production: Y Ravindrababu & Kishori Basireddy

Music: Praveen Kumar

Thimmaraju – Telugu Movie Review

Thimmaraju’s release in theatres points out at two things. One, that comedians when they try to hog the entire show and screen space fail miserably and two, directors despite knowing this simple truth time and again venture out with half-baked scripts, waste the producers money and push back the career graph of the artistes.

Comedy King Ali is supposed to carry the film on his shoulders but what he does is trample it so much that it comes in handy as a decomposite in the place where the film has been shot. Even the beautiful forest is made to look artificial with coloured paper flowers stuck in respectable distance amongst the bushes.

The film has three dim-witted young men seeking a minister for a signal tower for cell phones to be installed in their village. They are aided by another not so intriguing mix of lesser known artistes who are in love, kidnapped and find themselves imprisoned in a forest with the same three men. Suddenly into the scene appears Thimmaraju who plays a not so kind host to these people, he has an ulterior motive in keeping them together.

The film is so insipid and boring, one wouldn’t want to know what the reason could be. Don’t ever make the mistake of sitting through the second half of the story, it neither gives the poor little comedians a chance to shine or justify their flawed, silly character. Not only does director Vemagiri exposes the spineless story he strips the character played by LB Sriram, Ali of any dignity.

The last one hour moves at a snail’s pace and never seems to develop. All that the characters do is bite into each other’s flesh like dogs, wear tribal costumes cool enough to be useful for a theme party and play, fight with spears and weapons, sticks that have funny shapes and sizes. In between all this one gets to see a slimy snake move in and out of a few boulders. There is a crazy scene in which Ali has an empty coke can tied to his girdle and finds a semblance of civilization, some connection to humanity when he spots a film magazine in which Ramcharan Tej is advertising for Coke.

Wonder where the director got the weird idea of charging cell phones on a tree and label it as humour. Avoid the film, and even the trailer, it is a criminal waste of time.

Cast & Crew:

Director: Vemagiri

Cast: Ali, Deepthi, L.B.Sriram, Chinna, M.S.Narayana, Suman Shetty

Producer: P Ratnam,  KSS Kumar

Music Director: Nandan Raj

Lyricst: Vemagiri

Source: Cinegoer

Super – Telugu Movie Review

The first five minutes of Super shows India in a nut shell on how the foreigners have plundered our wealth, and even after Independence and partition how our citizens have failed to elevate the status of the country and instead have turned lackadaisical and corrupt. Suddenly the story turns futuristic and shows how Warangal will look like twenty years from now.

In 2030 at Warangal International Airport, the scene is idyllic, taxis run super fast, phirangis are pursuing a career..a post grad degree in Telugu literature, they work as house keeping and domestic staff in the homes of wealthy Indians, they beg on streets, value of Dollars dip like dirt and Edward Thackerey, a research journalist is stupefied at the achievement which was not possible in 65 years of freedom turning into reality all in 20 years.

That is just the prelude to the story, written, acted out and directed by Upendra who plays Subhash Chandra Gandhi, a multi-millionaire who returns to India from London after losing heart to Indira (Nayanthara). The lady falls for his charms, wealth and his love for everything Indian but curiously leaves him without consummating their marriage. While Indira is out to seek revenge on this Desh Bhakt, the modern Gandhi is confused, flummoxed at her outrageous behaviour.

He is equally crazy, doesn’t mind having the bill of the hotel room (from where she deserted him) escalate over twenty lakh rupees, keeps the jasmines fresh every day; he hopes to spend the ‘first night’ with Indira some day. The first one hour of the film is interesting, concept seems fresh and genuinely holds your attention but post interval when the content starts turning serious, the director takes care not to sound too preachy and runs a parallel drama that unravels the mystery behind Indira’s anger and angst.

A positive part about Super despite it’s complexity and eccentricity in content is, that Upendra has put in effort in his looks, dialogues, not only shows the conflicting point but also provides the solution to it, which seems utopian and also plausible. The film drags at certain points but is not unbearable like previous Upendra films. It is loud, grandiose and has many ingredients that could generate a commercial success.

Nayanthara charms her way to your hearts and it is Upendra’s show all the way. Not a bad watch at all.

Cast & Crew:

Banner: Rockline Productions

Cast: Upendra, Nayanthara, Tulip Joshi, Sadhu Kokila, Ali, Jeeva, Sudarshan, Shylasri, Nagendra Shah, Rockline Venkatesh, Swetha and others

Direction: Upendra

Production: Rockline Venkatesh

Music: V Harikrishna

Source: Cinegoer

Mangala – Telugu Movie Review

The beginning seems to be very absorbing..the story scares you initially but the scares becomes virtually nonexistent as Mangala moves ahead. Osho Tulasiram tells all in the first half an hour and doesn’t know what to do with the rest of the film. Even if he had revealed the plot entirely, he doesn’t show the skill to keep the interest sustained throughout.

In Mangala we follow a strange looking Pradeep Rawat into his home where his grown-up son means everything to him. The son needs money to shower it over a movie star and the father does the most gruesome act of killing a kid through black magic and he doles out the money he gets in return to fulfill his son’s wish. In a striking metaphorical scene the director shows the sinful man feeding his son the ill-gotten wealth in a huge vessel and the son later taking it over as a gift to the film actress. The actress mistakes him for an erring fan and hurts him that leads him to poison himself. Pradeep Rawat is now on a mission to take revenge on the actress because he thinks she is responsible for his son’s death.

That’s the end of the story. The next half is about how the actress is possessed through black magic and what is done to free her from the agony, who helps her out through the trauma?

Charmi is unbelievably and appropriately dynamic, looks really good and acts well but all her effort goes in vain in a story that looks contrived and an unbearable drag. A mosquito gets into Charmi’s left nostril, exits after a while from the right after a tour inside her tummy and soon after she vomits blood. For a moment one begins to think the mosquito must have raped her and she might have thrown up as a follow up act. The rest of her antics, how the black magic comes in her favour when surrounded by goons at a tea stall in the midst of a field is simply dramatic and incredible. The scene looks lovingly and sincerely made for the floor audiences.

When Charmi is not flying in the air or falling on cactus she shakes her ass in songs for reasons that only her choreographer can understand. In one scene she drinks tea and tells her Man Friday..idhi kooda nee laage chedhu ga undhi, sounding like a baby. You then wonder if she is acting in the film Mangala or in the film Pellikoothuru Nalla Cheera. Some bad direction this.

The driver’s son’s role Subbu (or is he the driver?) is very strange, very seldom do we get to see domestic helps sharing bed with mistress of the house, he jumps onto her bed because an insect gets into his ear. Don’t mistake his intentions, he has only concern and nothing more than that for his madam, he even wears a heap of charms and amulets around his wrist to ward of the evil spirit. Some day he declares he will become a mass hero and you dread that could be his plan to improve his status to get close to her. Even while you stretch your imagination as such characters come in and go out, Charmi approaches Pradeep Rawat with an apology because only he can save her.

What happens after that, don’t ask. If you are Charmi’s fan do see the film for the amount of acting and screaming she does. There’s a horrible scene in the beginning, that of Pradeep Rawat beheading a kid with so much ease and in such a casual way that it just makes you numb. Uttej shines more through his expressions in this story as a hapless producer, does a natural act of being harassed by a Tamil director.

Mangala in short is a paragon of boredom, repulses you with it’s mediocre content and execution.

Cast & Crew:

Banner: Manthra Entertainments

Cast: Charmi, Pradeep Ravath, Subhash, Vijaya Sai, Pavala Shyamala, Uttej, Sarika Ramachandra Rao and others

Direction: Osho Tulasi Ram

Production: Osho Tulasi Ram

Music: Viswa

Source: Cinegoer

Nithya Pellikoduku – Telugu Movie Review

This is one alarmingly tiring stuff, to watch a normal Posani Krishna Murali’s film, one needs an enduring body and mind but in this case the pain of the viewers is intense, immediate and palpable as the hero enacts the role of a lunatic. After a one night stand with Aishwarya (Gowri Pandit), Alapati Kalyan Babu (Posani) is getting ready to marry a girl of his sister-in-law’s choice and just when things are working out Aishwarya appears and discloses their secret. She does that everytime he hunts for a bride.

The reason..he doesn’t want to marry Aishwarya as she has lost her virginity to him before marriage and suspects she could be a slut. The revenge drama is carried out through out the film until the man repents, professes love and douses himself with a can of petrol on Aishwarya’s orders.

Just when he announces he is seventy percent burnt the lady’s eyes moisten and she flings a blanket over him and they roll over each other. If that is the story why does he act like a mad man? The director gives us no choice except to watch the entire film as he keeps the bits and pieces of suspense spread over evenly. That shouldn’t be mistaken as a smart handling of the narrative as there are more scenes that are sleazy, dialogues – perverse and monologues by the hero a clear indication of self indulgence.

While he seems to be in love with his voice the rest of the characters get very few lines to retort but many expressions as an outlet. Characters which are not closely related to the plot come up with preposterous lines, example a lady who is being harassed by her husband is knocked down by a vehicle and her cousin Sivaji Raja helps her regain consciousness. She cries over his shoulder and he gets carried away and reprimands her husband, “Mee Pavaniki koorchune kurcheeni avutha, prayaninche bus avutha, needanicche chettunavutha.”

A ageing Posani addresses an equally old heroine’s parents as aunty and uncle, Nithya Pellikoduku is designed for audiences who freak out on psychotic behaviour, titillating scenes and profane language. A single point from Emaindi Evela has been lifted to make an entire story but as you go through the entire narrative, you don’t miss noticing two things, Gowri Pandit’s slim figure and neat acting and the director’s magnanimity in deciding when to end the film.

Cast & Crew:

Director: Alahari

Cast: Posani Krishna Murali, Gowri Pandit, Apoorva, Raghunath Reddy, Prithvi, Kishore Das, Kalpana

Producer: GV Subbayya

Music Director: Ghantadi Krishna

Source: Cinegoer

Aha Naa Pellanta – Telugu Movie Review

Aha Naa Pellanta is more or less modelled on Dhee but there are few minor but pleasant changes that keeps the story going. For once Naresh, the hero of the film plays second fiddle, he lets the story dominate completely. It is a content driven movie where the lead pair are just mere characters but those who lead the film to a hilarious ending are Srihari and as usual Brahmanandam. The movie keeps you smiling till the end, despite not so great dialogues, the only drawback however is the lengthy ending. A full ten minutes of chopping could give the film an ideal finish.

A wholesome entertainer that comes for Shivaratri, Aha Naa Pellanta doesn’t bore you, it has a story but more than that an interesting and a whacky narrative..three brothers who are rowdies are behind Subrahmanyam (Naresh) and they want him to marry his sister, the former is running away from her and her family.

A bespectacled Naresh delivers very few inconsistent comical punches but he is of mammoth help in providing padding to the story. Srihari, Samrat and Subbaraju are a treat to watch especially their dance in the second half of the story reminds you one from the hindi films. The music is a big asset, especially the number advocating marriage, the final two songs and the remix from Nalugu Stambalata. The remix holds your attention despite the choreography being pretty bad.

This one employs formula but never gets formulaic..ensemble performances by Nagineedu, Ahuti Prasad, Rajitha, Vennela Kishore, Venu Madhav entertain thoroughly. Newcomer Ritu Barmecha is pretty and does a neat job, however her dubbing should have been handled properly. The emotional and light moments are smartly integrated and humour has been elicited very well. Good cinematography elevates the story. Romance is boring but what the heck, the film is thoroughly entertaining.

We have another director now who knows what the audience wants right now and has set the tone to carry the film to success. Veerabhadram Chowdary has played safe, done his homework well!

Cast & Crew:

Banner: AK Entertainments

Cast: Allari Naresh, Rithu Barmecha, Srihari, Brahmanandam and others

Direction: Veerabrahmam

Production: Sunkara Ramabrahmam

Music: Raghu Kunche

Source: Cinegoer