Kotta Bangaru Lokam

Kotta Bangaru Lokam - Movie Review

Smt. Anitha Presents

Sree Venkateswara Creations
Kottha Bangaaru Lokam (2008)

Cast: Varun Sandesh, Swetha Prasad, Prakash Raj, Jayasudha, Ahuti Prasad, Rajitha, Brahmanandam, Rao Ramesh, etc.

Story, Screenplay, Dialogues: Sreekanth Addala
Camera: Chota K. Naidu
Art: A.S. Prakash
Choreography: Sobhi Paul Raj, Pradeep Anthony, Balabhaskar
Fights: Sayeed
Music: Mickey J. Meyer
Lyrics: Sreekanth Addala, Anantha Sriram, sirivennela Seetarama Sastry
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Co-producers: Shirish, Lakshman
Producer: Dil Raju
Direction: Sreekanth Addala
CBFC Rating: U
Date of Theatrical Release: October 9, 2008

Summary:
A 'tender' love story of the lead pair and the love between parents and children.

What's it all about?
Balu (Varun Sandesh) is the son of loving parents (Prakash Raj & Jayasudha) who hails from Rajahmundry. His father Vishnumurthy gives him love and nothing else! He joins in a junior college where Swapna (Swetha Prasad), the daughter of a strict father (Ahuti Prasad) and an over-concerned mother (Rajitha) from Gajuwaka (Vishakhapatnam), joins too. Naturally, they fall in love. How did their love get to be known to their families? How did their families react? Does their 'love' stand, or is it just infatuation?

Performances
Cast:
Varun Sandesh is just okay. He doesn't have the looks that suit a junior college student. At least, his moustache could have been trimmed off better! Even while the director chooses his friends who're actually in their teens, the hero appears older than his role. Swetha Prasad, on the other hand, carries the right looks for her role, and is at much ease on the screen. She's expressive too and emotes well in various moods of the film. Prakash Raj appears in the role of the hero's father, which is a toned-down, over-caring version of his 'father roles' in Parugu or Nuvve.. Nuvve... or Bommarillu; only here, he provides his son the freedom that was lacking in Bommarillu. Jayasudha again appears on his side, after Bommarillu, and gives controlled performance as the hero's mother ; she's particularly good in the scene where she shares her feelings with Prakash Raj after Varun Sandesh talks aloud and leaves. . Ahuti Prasad is at ease in the role of the heroine's father, and has an interesting characterization. Rajitha is good and natural as the heroine's mother. Brahmanandam appears in a relatively short role as the principal of the junior college, and provides some comedic relief, but has more of a serious role in the film. Rao Ramesh, the grand son of Rao Gopala Rao who shot into fame with the role of a naxalite in Gamyam, delivers the goods as a lecturer with a positive outlook, but his character could have been etched better; it reminds the young professor's role in Chetan Bhagat's popular novel Five Point Someone. Most of the rest of the cast is new, and have done their job appreciably nevertheless. Some of the hero's friends and heroines' friends have a natural instinct in acting and may make it big in future.

Technical Departments:
The story is wafer-thin, and there's a lot of dragging around in the second half of the film. The screenplay could have been better; the song placement doesn't seem to make much sense, particularly in the second half. The first half is filled mostly with scenes in the college hostel, which are very near to the natural. The writers and the debutant director should be appreciated for this; the director doesn't seem like a debutant in fact! The taking of the film is good, but it could have been more touching on the whole; the film's first half is particularly good and entertaining. The director should be appreciated for creating interest in the film through the first half and the scenes before the interval, and even using good symbolic shots in the film. The film has faint shades of Suswagatham, Premisthe..., and Juniors. Dialogues are good in parts.

Music by Mickey J. Meyer is good, but songs sound a lot better in the audio than on the screen. The songs are shot beautifully, actually, but are placed randomly. Particularly, the song Okay anEsaa... is totally misplaced. Because of the song placement possibly, the lyrics don't seem to fit well for the songs nEnani, neevani... and Okay anEsaa... on the screen. Visuals by Chota K Naidu are good, particularly in the songs, and one can thoroughly enjoy the locales and the cinematography in the film. The whole movie seems to have been shot in and around Rajahmundry and Vishakhapatnam. Choreography is okay. Editing is crisp. The producer should take care to not be branded for the father-son relation that he seems to emphasize on in all his recent movies.

Notable Scenes/Dialogues:


" ...kaLLa venTa neeLLocchElaa navvutundi... (pauses) orEy, avE raavaali... manam teppinchakooDadu!" (Prakash Raj to Varun Sandesh, about Jayasudha)
" konni chEpalaki cheruvu kannaa aquarium better!" (Swetha Prasad, indirectly about her own life)
" chinna paaTaki, marks-ki muDeTTaDam...!" (Swetha Prasad murmurs as her mom asks her marks when the former hums a song as she goes.)
" inTi deepam kadaa ani muddeTTukunTE meesam kaalindani..." (Ahuti Prasad)
The scene where Rao Ramesh explains the difference in people's attitude in different age ranges.
Minor Overlook:


Would a junior college hostel be hosted in the same campus for girls and boys, with both sharing the same mess?
Each of the lead pair count the number of times one thinks of the other, and note it. Surprisingly, it's shown that they go on writing numbers. Is it like you can count once every second you think of the other? No surprise that they come up number as high as 10,000 and 11,000 in a day, or rather, 86,400 seconds!
Heroine's letter to the hero is shown to have tears fallen while writing, thereby smearing the writing here and there, but she's shown to be writing with a ball pen!
Are students given loose papers and allowed pads into the examination room in Intermediate?! Whatever happened to answer booklets!
How come the hero comes up as an engineering topper when he's a Bi.P.C. student in Intermediate? (It's also shown in writing that he's in Bi.P.C.) Even if one could assume he got into Biomedical Engineering or something, there are at least three references to taking four years for the degree and one reference to even a software job after that degree, all while in Intermediate with Bi.P.C. group!
Another overlook comes towards the climax in the form of a question "Do people care...?" (More cannot be revealed without telling some part of the story.)
So, how should parents bring up their children? What does the film try to suggest in this regard?

Bottom Line:
Kottha Bangaaru Lokam is a thin story line that reminds of several films of the past in its treatment, with several aspects requiring more care than is shown. While the idea of (yet another) love story in junior college is not appreciable, the film's first half provides ample entertainment towards the youth, like Happy Days that was released just about a year ago, and can make the film a commercially successful venture. On the whole, the film is a youthful entertainer that has some drag, twists and turns towards its journey to the rather different climax.


TC Rating: 3.5/5

Nenu Meeku Telusa?

Nenu Meeku Telusa? - Movie Review

Dr. M. Mohan BabuPresents
In Association with 24 Frames Entertainment
Sree Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures
Nenu Meeku Telusa? (2008)
Cast: Manoj, Riya Sen, Sneha Ullal, Nazar, Uttej, Brahmanandam, Sunil, LateMallikarjuna Rao, Surekha Vani, Raghu, Harshavardhan, Tanikella Bharani, Hemachander, C.V.L. Narasimha Rao, Vizag Prasad, Tarzan, Suprith, Malladi Raghava, etc.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues: Ajay Sastry
Writers: Thirumala Kishore, Thota Anand
Director of Photography: Suneel K. Reddy
Art: Ravinder
Choreography: Noble, Yasin
Stunts: Manchu Manoj Kumar, Tim Storms, Bob Chaplin
Fights: Nandu, Jholy Sebastian
Music: Achu, Dharan
Sound Design: Raghu, Rajasekhar
Lyrics: sirivennela Seetarama Sastry, Veturi Sundararamamurthy, Ajay Sastry
Film Editing: Baswa Paidireddy
Digital Editing: Naveen
Visual Effects: ThinkSmart, Pixeloid
Production Designer: Ashok Kumar Raju
Producer: Lakshmi Manchu
Direction: Ajay Sastry
CBFC Rating: U
Date of Theatrical Release: October 10, 2008

What's it all about?
Aditya (Manoj) a.k.a Adi is a Manager in S.S. Group of Companies. He survives an accident in which he loses his dad as well as his memory - all he can remember is only before he dozes off!With the advice of his US-based visiting doctor (Harshavardhan), he records "things to remember" in his own voice and keeps a note on his bedside to remind him every morning to play that tape. People around him include Madhumita (Riya Sen), the Vice President of his company and his girlfriend, the company M.D. (Nazar) who's his own uncle, General Manager (Sunil), and other colleagues Rajesh (Uttej), Lakshmi (Surekha Vani), etc. None except his uncle and doctor know his memory condition, and the doctor maintains all of Adi's life history in the form of cassettes. In his smooth life comes a jolt in the form of his uncle's murder, for which he becomes the accused, and no one knows (and he doesn't remember) that Adi is his nephew! Enters investigation officer Anjali (Sneha Ullal) who identifies Adi as her ex-lover from the college andtakes up the case with personal interest yet professionally. What happens next? How much doesAdi really remember? Did his ex-girlfriend take revenge on him for the dreadful past? What's the past really? How did the hero come out of his troubles? How did his current girlfriend see himthrough them all?

Performances
Cast:
Manoj fits very well into the skin of the role. His involvement in the film is not limited to being the hero, but he has taken care to design the stunts as well as pen a lyric, apart from taking part in the production part on his home banner.He keeps up the style in his role all through, delivers light comedy as is necessary, dances great,participates in stunts with ease and without a dupe! Manoj should be appreciated for making the film stylish with his presence and care. Riya Sen does the role of a professional yet a cute girlfriend appreciably, while Sneha Ullal appears in the role of an IPS officer with a college-based flashback, and does an okay job. However, her contact lenses are inconsistent throughout. Casting Sneha Ullal for a role very different from her debut film Ullasamga.. Utsaahamga.. is interesting, but she appears so very "non-Telugu" due to her contact lenses and seems like a misfit sometimes though she did deliver what's needed.

Nazar appears dignified as the worried uncle of the hero, while Harshavardhan has a different, non-comedic role as the hero's doctor. Comedic relief provided by Brahmanandam as an internationally famous Fashion Designer Barmani (rhyming with Armani) and Sunil is okay in parts but is too loud. A repetitive dialogue byBrahmanandam, though enjoyed to some extent, is not in clean taste and had to be censored out in one scene. Tanikella Bharani is wasted in a brief role, while Uttej is also casted in a rather unimportant role. Surekha Vani appears as the love interest of Sunil and provides somecomedy. Raghu appears as the hero's friend in the flashback episode, and P. Vasu appears as the hero's dad.

Technical Departments:
The plot point itself is not novel, but the story development is innovative. Ajay Shastry's screenplay is good, though it lags a bit here and there, but the climax should have been more presentable. There's much style in the taking, which is supplemented by the visuals: graphics, visuals, and choreography. The hero character's memory loss and taking help from the tape is sourced from the 1994 Hollywood flick Clean Slate (which was the original inspiration to Memento, based on which Ghazini was made earlier). But for this piece of connection, the current film is totally different from Clean Slate, and the director and writer should be appreciated for developing his own story, taking only an interesting characterization aspect from another film. Picturization of songs is particularly good and stylish; the visuals, graphics, and choreography are all different from routine and quite impressive. Stunts are designed well, and fights are executed well too. However, slow motion is used to show the fights clearly, but it has instead marred the effectiveness of the fights.

Dialogues are good in parts and evoke laughter in some scenes. Music is good, but the BGM seems to have relied more on already available tracks. Lyrics for the title song kannu teristE jananamelE... are good, and the tune for the remix of mabbE masakEsindilE! is very catchy and so's Yasin's choreography for the song. Editing is appreciable yet jerky. Production values are rich.

Notable Scenes/Dialogues:


" vaaram rOjullO maarchukOvaTaaniki idi nirNayam kaadu... prEma!" (Riya Sen to Nazar)
Brahmanandam: Heart patient-laki kooDaa doctors O peg taagamani chebutunnaaru.
Sunil: taaginOLLu kooDaa heart patients avutunnaaru! daya chEsi alaa evarinii tempt chEyakanDi! (in a party) (Reviewer's Note: The film makers should be appreciated for showing the statutory warning to avoid smoking and drinking, but included ample scenes involving bars and bottles. Lack of implementation has made the warning sound like a plain disclaimer! When they had the care to insert a dialogue such as the one quoted, they could have been some more careful.)
" asalu dEvuDu kooDaa naa laagaa nidrapOyi lEstE annii marchipOtaaDEmO kadaa!" (Manoj to Sneha Ullal)
Surekha Vani's comedy imitating Lakshmi Ganapathi Films' dubbed film trailers. " Blood lO unnaTTundi... flow-lO vacchEsindi! ...mana story-lO deeniki scope lEdanukunTaa..." (Before this dialogue, Manoj imitates his real-life dad Mohan Babu when Riya Sen asks him about friends, concluding with a parodical dialogue from Pedarayudu and ending in typical Mohan Babu style.)
Manoj imitating hero Raviteja
Manoj's dialogue about not using spoon to eat in a restaurant.
Manoj's cover-up with the gift of Leaning Tower of Pisa to Riya Sen and expanding the inscription "ITALY" as "I Trust And Love You". Minor Overlook:

Towards the end, Manoj claims he knows the murderer and calls everyone to his place the next morning. The scenes that ensue don't seem like he has identified his uncle's murderer. What did he actually know?
In the film Clean Slate, the hero records new stuff each day, as he starts knowing more things about himself and his life and surroundings. Why doesn't our hero do that?
The institution where Snehal Ullal met Manoj is shown as "Sri Vidyaniketan University", but their yearbook has a different name. Bottom Line:

Nenu Meeku Telusa? projects itself from a simple plot point and the story development is different from the routine. However, the film may not enthrall the regular Telugu audience, since the climax falls flat with incomplete treatment. It has more scope in 'A' centers for its stylish execution, but how the film will fare on the whole is to be seen.

TC Rating: 2.75/5

Blade Babji

Blade Babji - Movie Review
Film: Blade Babjee
Cast: Allari Naresh, Sayali Bhagat, Ritika, Harsha Vardhan, Venumadhav, Brahmanandam, Srinivasa Reddy, Krishna Bhagavan, Dharmavarapu, Kondavalasa, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Melkote, Khayyum, Kausha, Hema, Apoorva and others.
Music: Koti
Story and dialogues: Vegnesa Satish
Cinematography: A Raja
Editing: Nanadamuri Hari
Produced by: Muthyala Satya Kumar
Story and directed by: Devi Prasad
Release date: Oct 24, 2008

What's it about?

Blade Babji (Allari Naresh) is a thief and lives in a slum in Rajamundry along with friends (Rithika, Harsha Vardhan and Khayyum). A builder asks the slumdwellers to vacate the land in three months or to pay the 4 crores. Blade Babji takes up the mission to earn Rs 4 Crores. He loots a bank in Vizag and hides the money in a building under construction. A month later when comes to site it turns out be headquarters of Police Commissioner's office. He happens to meet a young guy named Krishna Manohar (Srinivas Reddy) who is about join the police commissioner's office as S.I. Blade Babji kidnaps him and joins the police force in his place. How Blade Babji recovers that money with comedy of errors forms the rest of story.

Analysis

If you are looking for just entertainment not bothering about logic, then Blade Babjee provides you enough entertainment. Although it is not hilarious movie, yet it provides some good laughs here and there. It is kind of movie that made in the style of EVV’s earlier movies - making parody on blockbuster movies and creating fun out of errors. The spoofs on Pokiri, Pawan Kalyan’s Tammudu, etc are really entertaining. The biggest comic episode in the movie is about a ‘blanket’ in which the money is put. The last 20 minutes are hilarious. Although the style of presentation is far from modern standards with poor cinematography, it can be watched for its comedy of errors.

On the down side, it has no logic. Music, heroines, cinematography, poor production values are substandard.

Performances
Naresh has done neat job. His acting in the spoofs of Pokiri and Tammudu are funny. Sayyali Bhagat has neither looks nor posses acting skills. She is bad choice. Rithika steals the show among the female leads. Ever dependable Brahamanandam and Krishna Baghavan are good. So are Dharmavarapu and other comedians.

Technically the film is too weak to write anything about. Music by Koti is passable. Director Devi Prasad and writer Vegesna Satish have succeeded in creating some funny scenes.

Bottom-line!

If you are not looking for logic and excuse poor taking, Blade Babji provides ample entertainment . It might not work for overseas and ‘A’ center audiences but it definitely is a sure bet on B and C Centres. Some spoofs and two, three funny episodes are really entertaining.

Sourced from:

1. Basic story line has resemblance to Blue Streak (1999) Hollywood film while some scenes are taken from Korean movie Can’t Live Without Robbery.

Rating: 2.75/5

Yuvata

Yuvata: Movie Review

Sree Tumma Chandrasekhara Rao Presents
Worth Watching Entertainments
Yuvata (2008)
Cast: Nikhil, Aksha, Ranadheer, Monali Choudhry, Narasimha Uthkam, Subhash, Sivanarayana, Sayaji Shinde, Narsing, Jeeva, Jayaprakash Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy, Prithvi, Giri, Hari, etc.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues: Parashuram
Additional Screenplay: Dantuluri Chaitanya
Cinematography: Jaswanth
Art: Narayana Reddy
Choreography: Ganesh, Ajay Sai, Dantuluri Chaitanya
Action: Ram-Laxman
Music: Mani Sarma
DTS Mixing: Hari
Lyrics: Krishna Chaitanya
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Co-producer: Muralikrishna Dasari
Producer: Hari Tumma, Uma Prakash
Co-director: Vijay
Direction: Parashuram (debut)
CBFC Rating: U
Release Date: November 07, 2008

What's it all about?
A US-aspiring software engineer Ajay (Ranadheer), a wanna-be police turned security man Kiran (Narasimha Uthkam), and an assistant film director Subbu (Subhash) are friends in Hyderabad trying to live their dreams. Veerababu a.k.a. Babu (Nikhil) , outcast from his uncle's family, joins them from Kesavaram village, where they were all childhood friends. Babu meets Vishalakshi a.k.a Baby (Aksha) in a strange situation, and very soon they fall in love. Subbu finally seems to have made it big, and while everyone is celebrating, an old feud fires up, leaving the would-be director with serious skull injuries. The friends, including Ajay's girl Madhavi (Monali Choudhry) and Baby, decide to pool up all sources for money for his surgery. They finally loan the amount from a merciless goon (Narsing). When he pressurizes them to repay him, they plan to rob from the security company where Kiran works, and they plan everything right, but Kiran decides to wait behind since it might hand them up all! Ajay and Babu get arrested by the police at the company, but that's after they realize someone else had already robbed all the money! Was Kiran true in his reason? What's his role in the robbery? How much does Subbu's accident really turn the story?

Performances
Cast:
Nikhil is at ease as a careless and fearless youth, but he needs to take care of his diction some more. Aksha is okay but has a short, insignificant role in the film that goes around friends. Ranaadheer, who also acted as senior student in Happy Days, has a considerably lengthy role in this film and he performs okay. His body language is stiff at times, though. Monali Choudhry is attractive but has a limited role as his love interest and the daughter of their house owner (played by Sivanarayana of Amrutham fame). Narasimha and Subhash fit in their roles well and have done good job. Sayaji Shinde as hardcore criminal Nananna who has a weak point of being a fan of Simran plays more a comedy role than that of a criminal.

Narsing and Jeeva appear as comedy-oriented baddies, offering some good comedy through a part of the film. Jayaprakash Reddy as the jailer, Sreenivasa Reddy as a sentry, and Prithvi as "Krishna Manohar IPS" do a good job within the scope of their roles. Sivanarayana as the house owner is intended for comedic relief, but falls short of expectations of people who may want to compare his similar role from his much-celebrated TV show Amrutham. Hero Siddharth and Krishnudu (of Happy Days and Vinayakudu fame) appear in the end of the film, rather unnecessarily.

Technical Departments:
Debut director Parashuram comes up with an appreciable story line for the film. He also ensured a gripping screenplay and unveils the story carefully, maintaining elements of comedy and suspense in right proportions. In fact, it's notable that he has given more importance to the story than to the threads of romance between the two lead pairs. The taking goes in a good pace for most part; more care should have been taken in establishing the romance between the hero and heroine. Camerawork is okay, but the digital intermediatary (DI) work brings in inconsistencies pertaining to focus in a couple of scenes. Picturization of songs is okay, but it's more the lyrics that catch the attention of the audiences, and some tunes are catchy; choreography is okay too. Re-recording could have been better. Fights are choreographed in a natural style. Dialogues are very good and natural through most of the film, particularly depicting the hero's characterization. Editing is just okay. Production values are appreciable.

Notable Scenes/Dialogues:


" annii unna vaariki vaaTi viluva teliyadu." (Aksha to an old woman in the Home for the Aged)
Sivanarayana: " meerendukocchaarraa? Cheap fellows!"
Nikhil: " anTE... cheap panulu Emainaa unTE chEsi peDadaamani..."
Ranadheer: " oka saari aalOchistE manchidEmO?"
Nikhil: " aalOchinchi cheyyaTaaniki idi vyaapaaram kaadu, friendship!"
" OdaarchaTaaniki nuvvEmainaa World Cup Final ODipOyi vacchaavaa?" (Aksha to Nikhil)
" naaku telisindi okaTE, annaa! iddaru kalistE puDataam, naluguru mOstE pOtaam!" (Nikhil to Sayaji Shinde)
" innaaLLU 'Jihad' anTE pavitra yuddham, padi mandini champaTam anukunnaanu. kaanee, ippuDE telisindi... asalaina 'Jihad' anTE manam santOshamgaa unDaTam, padi mandini santOshamgaa unchaDam ani!" (A prisoner about to be hanged, when the hero makes him happy)
" EnTii, gunDelO kalukkumandi?" (Ranadheer, whenever Nikhil throws statements about money) [Reviewer's Note: This is an original dialogue from April 1 viDudala, with dialogues by L.B. Sreeram.]
Hero managing Sayaji Shinde with a phone call to "Simran".
Hero's repeating ringtone " aakalEstE...". Minor Overlook:

Why should the heroine tolerate the hero in the initial scenes? What's her logic behind falling in love with him?
Characterization of the two male leads is sacrificed in picturizing the item song maa oorEmO chinna....
Are prisoners' numbers issued in series or by fancy numbers? How can two people arrested at the same time have numbers "420" and "786"?
Discussions about Ranadheer's visa stamping and going to the USA go on even while he's been imprisoned! How can anyone with pending criminal cases on oneself think of going outside the country anyway?
What's called a "blank call"? A call from an unknown number or a call without any speech from the caller's end? Who made threatening calls to Aksha anyway?
When the voice-over towards the end of the film rightly says " ennainaa", it's misprinted on the screen as " Ennena".
The court scene towards the end of the film is executed like they want to urgently wrap the film up, breaking the tempo maintained till then.
Heroine supposedly goes to the "Home for the Aged" daily, at least until she finds the hero. What about after that? At least one scene together at the Home would have highlighted her characterization a bit more.

When the makers plan to use a polyphonic ringtone aakalEstE... for the hero, they could have shown a better phone than a Nokia 1108! Bottom Line:
While the title Yuvata is not really justified for a film on friends, the film is a decent entertainer in its own stride. Good story, okay performances, catchy tunes and lyrics, and no-nonsense screenplay, garnished with light comedy through dialogues and scenes may enhance the life of the film that opened in a rather low key. The film has a good interval bang and the second half has twists that enhance the tempo. The director should be appreciated for delivering his goods well. The hero who lost on his first solo hero film may gain better response to this film.

TC Rating: 3/5

Avakai Biryani

Avakai Biryani: Movie Review

Amigos Creations (P) Ltd.
Avakai Biryani (2008)

Cast: Kamal Kamaraju, Bindu Madhavi, Rao Ramesh, Varun Jonnada, Praneeth, Kameshwara Rao, etc.
Script: Anish Kuruvilla
Cinematography: Shyam Datt
Art: Narayana Reddy
Choreography: Prem Rakshit
Music: Manikanth Kadri
Lyrics: Vanamali
Analog Editing: K. Ravindra Babu
Digital Editing: Praveen Boyina
Producers: Sekhar Kammula, Chandrasekhar Kammula
Direction: Anish Kuruvilla (debut)
CBFC Rating: U
Date of Theatrical Release: November 14, 2008

Summary:
A story of an auto driver and his love interest, laced with social elements. More aavakaaya and less biryani, but both not enough to satiate one's hunger!

What's it all about?
Mohd. Akbar Kalam (Kamal Kamaraju) drives an auto that he rents from Masterji (Rao Ramesh), a bigwig in the village of Devarakonda. Purushottam (Kameshwara Rao) and family migrate to the village from Polavaram, understandably as one of those families affected by the Polavaram project. They have to start their life afresh here, and Purushottam intends to set up a hotel in the village, while his daughter Lakshmi (Bindu Madhavi) wants to sell mango pickle ( aavakaya) and support the family. Akbar and Lakshmi meet frequently as she needs to go to nearby Vikarabad to get the required ingredients and hires his auto. A local political aspirant, Babbar Khan (Varun Jonnada), eyes Lakshmi and follows her frequently. Akbar suddenly faces the wrath of his villagers when he raises his voice against the problems in the village when the Chief Minister visits the village.

Eventually, he turns out to be a hero in the same village, much to the dislike of the aspiring politicians of the village, Masterji and Babbar Khan, and they even try to force him to leave the village. Meanwhile, Lakshmi and Akbar get closer to each other. Purushottam is one of the many traditional Hindus who dislike Muslims as people who intend only harm to the State. What did Akbar's local enemies do against him, how Akbar tries to impress Purushottam about his love towards the latter's daughter and his credibility as an individual form the rest of the story.

Performances
Cast:
Kamal Kamaraju, who met the audiences' eye in Godavari as a haughty fellow now comes to fit into the role of a poor auto driver striving to excel as an individual. He succeeds with his performance to most part, but he needs to improve his diction. His expressions need some toning too, at places. There's no second thought to say he has the required ease in front of the camera, though. How much he alone can carry a film as a hero cannot be seen yet, since this film does its trade as a Sekhar Kammula-produced film all the way. Telugu girl Bindu Madhavi who debuted as the female lead is homely, beautiful, and expressive. However, her voice is still dubbed by Suneetha. She is a good fit into roles that require traditional and/or semi-modern girl of current day. Rao Ramesh has a different role compared to his previous films but he is misfit in the role, his acting is somewhat theatrical. Varun Jonnada joins him as a rough guy with not-so-good intentions. Praneeth as hero's friend offers very good comedic relief in the film with his ease and histrionics that sometimes do go overboard, but as is required for the role. The rest of the cast fit in their roles and do the job well.

Technical Departments:
Anish Kuruvilla has the skill to visualize a story well and his debut (commercial) film is very different from routine films. The story weaves through too many elements, thus diluting itself a bit, more so when some of the elements are selectively blinded off as the story moves on. Examples include the seemingly abrupt elimination of the bad guys, absence of heroine's family through a part of the first half, scenes highlighted more than they are dealt with or are connected to the main theme of the film (such as the hero appearing for B.Com. examinations, or children trying to get their fill of water in the pots), etc. The narration too is excruiatingly slow-paced, like some other films by his mentor and friend Sekhar Kammula. However, a big minus for the director from a commercial point of view is his taking that deals with the theme indirectly, giving the main theme itself the feel of being an undercurrent!

The screenplay traverses through several threads of the story, but the narration is still focused, one could say looking at it one way. However, most regular audience might find it hard to see why there were so many elements in the film or what the director even tried to tell in this film. Dialogues are adequate, with comedy where possible through the role of hero's friend. Makeup for the lead roles in the last scenes "two years later" is shown differently, with appreciable care. Visuals are one highlight of the film, with perfect wide-angle shots and okay-kind mid-long and closeup shots. Picturization of songs is neat, and the lyrics are all very apt to the situation; choreography is kept simple and adequate.

Background score reminds of Ilayaraja at places, and music on the whole is another highlight in the film; tunes by debutant Manikanth Kadri, the son of veteran saxophone player Kadri Gopalnath, are catchy and melodious. Editing is crisp. Production values are quite appreciable. The director should be appreciated for an unbiased stand on Hindu-Muslim issues and political aspects indicated in the film, such as migration due to Polavaram project, etc. He has the care and talent, but how much he can reach the commercial cinema standards, or would he be an artsy director like Sekhar Kammula and create his own fan base, is to be seen.

Notable Scenes/Dialogues:

Bindu Madhavi: " manushulu manushulaki help cheyyakapOtE evaru chEstaaru?"
Kamal Kamaraju: " manishiki, manishiki tEDaa choopinchEdi mee laanTi vaaLLE, madam!"
Rao Ramesh: " ...mana oorini kotta peLLi kooturilaa mustaabu cheyyanDi!"
Praneeth: " appuDu CM mana oorini peLLi chEsukunTaaDaa?"
" nuv maatram adiraav, Lakshmi! ee deepaavaLiki deepaalu akkarlEdu!" (Kamal Kamaraju to Bindu Madhavi)
" mEmaitE Hindu, Muslim-lugaa unDaalsindE... maa pillalainaa nijamaina 'Hindu, Muslim bhai bhai' laa unTaarEmO!" (Kamal Kamaraju)
" Government-lO OT chEstE Dabbulu ivvaru!" (Praneeth to Kamal Kamaraju)
Minor Overlook:

The number plate for the Enfield is shown as AP 10 BH 786 in all scenes except one closeup where it goes with the AP 9M series!
Timeline in the movie is a bit inconsistent, such as two months for disposing of lands in Polavaram, the hero appearing for supplimentary exams twice in not much a gap, and more.
The hero and heroine decide to speak only in English, but then that never happens... much like in real life, eh?
Bottom Line:
Avakayi Biryani has good intentions but the execution of the movie is not palatable to everyone. It is too slow . General audiences can feel boredome and for them it looks more like a docudrama. Yet the film has good performances, music, visuals, and is totally clean! Can appeal to niche audiences. The makers should be appreciated for such a film with good intentions. While the title Avakai Biryani is not exactly justified, the film can get its initial audiences, thanks to the name Sekhar Kammula that's associated with the film. Promotion of the film might take it further, but the slower pace and unclear narration might affect the film's run and acceptance.

Reviewed by NaChaKi

TC Rating: 2/5

Surya s/o Krishnan

Surya S/o Krishnan - Review

Film: Surya S/o Krishnan (2008)
Cast: Surya (dual role), Simran, Sameera Reddy, Divya Spandana, Daniel Balaji, Prithvi, etc.
Story, Screenplay: Gowtham Vasudeva Menon
Dialogues: Shashank Vennelakanti
Cinematography: R. Ratna Velu
Art: Rajeevan
Choreography: Brinda
Music: Harris Jairaj
Lyrics: Veturi Sundararamamurthy
Editing: Anthony
Produced by: V. Ravichandran
Banner: Aascar Films (P) Ltd.
Directed by: Gowtham Vasudeva Menon
CBFC Rating: U
Release date: November 14, 2008

Summary:
The story of a son who shares a life with his dad subtly and reminisces it explicitly after the dad's demise.

What's it all about?
Krishan (Surya) is an old man living with his wife Malini (Simran), daughter, and daughter-in-law Priya (Divya Spandana). His son Surya (Surya) serves in the Indian Army. For the smoker he is, Krishnan dies of throat cancer. Surya hears the news of his father's death when he's on a rescue mission to save a female journalist. As a loyal Army major, he cannot forsake his duty, and he thus sits in the helicopter calmly, taking the news through his memories of his dad. He recollects his life through these memories, starting from being a high school kid to being the Army major he now is. He walks through his teenage - the petty fights over girls, etc. and his casual engineering life. He remembers meeting Meghana (Sameera Reddy) in the train and falling in love with her and looking at it as purely as looking at his mom and dad's love story, eventually making her feel for him, going all the way to USA for her, and losing her right there, sharing all feelings with his dad all through. The eventual downfall of his spirit throws him into being an alcoholic and a drug addict.

Priya enters into his life as the childhood friend of his sister who gets attracted towards him. His parents tell him to go wherever he wants to and come back when he feels normal again. He goes to Kashmir and Delhi, and comes back only to decide that he'd join the Indian Army. He does, with his dad's support, and embarks in ranks to be a Major. He ends up marrying Priya later. All this story is felt through the flashback, and the film culminates in Surya running the rescue mission successfully and then coming to his family to perform the last rites for his dad.

Performances
Cast:
Surya, who did promise good performance with his earlier films, now brings us his magnum opus! The film is all Surya's, from the beginning to the end, or so it seems! The variations he showed through the age, from the formative years to the age of an old, throat cancer patient, he has shown how a person can slowly change. In fact, one can notice that he has shown the difference between dad and son even when he portrays young Krishnan in the flashback episodes and when he portrays Surya. His body language changes with age, his voice modulation (of course, dubbed in Telugu) changes with age, his maturity of thought and expression change with age, and he shows them all quite very effectively on the screen!

If you thought only Kamal Hasan could do such roles, you're in for a very big surprise, even if you raise your expectations after reading this sentence! His ease, natural movement, fitting makeup all through, and performance are all absolutely flawless, one could say! He even flaunts his 6-pack body in this film. What's more surprising is his looks change very much, without using computer graphics techniques or masks for makeup! He appears like Harish in the teenage part, like Salman Khan in the Army major attire, like Raghuvaran in the middle-aged part of Krishnan's role, and like Nana Patekar in the older age getup for Krishnan!

Sameera Reddy has a beautiful and touching role in the first half of the film, as Surya's love interest. She does her part well, and appears better than in her previous Telugu films. Divya Spandana has a much shorter role into which she fits well. Simran should be appreciated for the role she played in the film. While makeup brought in only a little change in her face, she brought in a lot more with her performance, particularly in her flashback. Prithvi appears with a different makeup, as kidnapper Asad, and gives a fitting performance in the short role. The girl who played Surya's sister was cute but didn't have much of a role to play. Gowtham himself appears as the masked informer to the Army, in helping the troops reach the hostage.

Technical Departments:
Plainly said, this is the story of a youth who falls in love with a girl, convinces her with his sincerity, and the girl dies suddenly, rendering the guy nearly mad; the guy finally gets back into life and wants to join the Army, during which period he also accepts the love of another girl and marries her. One can see there's not much new in this story. Add "association with dad" element to this theme wherever possible - how the dad supported and motivated the son and so on, and you have this film! Gowtham Menon packaged a normal story very efficiently into a different narration style, as one can see. Though Gowtham is said to have been inspired by Tom Hanks' Forrest Gump (1994), the two films don't have much of a resemblance as such. The first question I had was "How could Gowtham conceive this style, and how did he convince Surya with the same?" I could have understood if some actor-director made this film in his own direction or in the hands of a director with whom he had more than ten years of association! Both Surya and Gowtham apparently have good chemistry and also had their own share of research for both the roles, or it'd not be possible to deliver such a product! In fact, I could even say Surya could receive credit even as a technical crew member in this film! T

he next two departments that rendered their best to the film are visuals and music. Ratna Velu and Harris Jairaj, the people behind the scene in these departments, should receive as much applause as the director himself! Ratna Velu's talent can also seen not just in lighting or other visual shots but in showing both Surya-s together yet differently. Song picturization is good and eye-catching in the first half and out of place in the second half. Lyrics cannot escape the "dubbing" effect for most part. Choreography is appreciable in the flashback song for Surya and Simran, but the orchestration there could have been some more different and suitable. Dialogues are adequate and natural enough for a dubbed film, with occasional references such as "old NTR movies", and have a liberal dose of English all over, probably to make it easy for a bilingual film it is.

Makeup for Surya and Simran in particular is really good, particularly in Simran's flashback; Surya should also be appreciated for changing his body shape and size suitably through various parts of the film. Editing could have been better, though narration itself is very slow and it's tough to edit through a person's life account. Art department needs an appreciation for the look and the feel of the film, particularly in the 1970s. Surya's drug addiction, going around Kashmir, body building for peace of mind, etc. are clearly fillers in the second half that lacks strong story point. At least such fillers could have been trimmed off. Production values are good.

Notable Scenes/Dialogues:

Showing throat cancer as a result of heavy smoking by Krishnan is appreciable. At the same time, Surya falling for drugs could have been avoided. Going for alcohol does convey what the director wants to portray anyway.
Surya referring to his parents' love when talking to Sameera Reddy.
Surya's body building exercises show some of the care he took for the film.
Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 was used neatly to fit into the timeline of the film.
Changing styles in dressing, locations, and other such aspects between 1970s and current day are dealt with much care.
Minor Overlook:

In a movie where the dad's role is so prominent, it's interesting to note that Krishnan's profession is not talked of, but it's possible that the director avoided that particularly so that audience can connect to the "father" in him than to anything else about him.
Did Surya complete his engineering degree? How did he get a good job when he's so sure that he'd have a few backlogs? - These questions are not key to the film, but the film is about the life of a person, and in such a theme, some things cannot be avoided.
Indian Army troops go to the rescue mission in an Indian Air Force helicopter, which is not generally the norm.
Wouldn't Surya be over the cutoff age for Indian Army by the time he decides to go?
Bottom Line:

The film has the name Surya written all over it, but "deadly slower than dead slow" narration tests the patience of the audience. If people could still sit in the theaters, it's only because of excellent work on the audio and visual fronts. Be prepared to watch a dead slow film, and you can actually like the film, if you can bear a film for its hero alone really.


TC Rating: 2.5/5

Neninthe

Neninthe - Movie Review

Film: Neninthe
Cast: Ravi Teja, Siya, Subbaraju, Mumait Khan, Krishna Bhagwan, Surekha Vani, Supreet, Brahmanandam, Venu Madhav, Rama Prabha, Sayaji Shinde etc
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Sam K Naidu
Editing: Varma
Art: Chinna
Fights: Ram - Laxman
Produced by: DVV Danayya
Story, dialogues, and screenplay and directed by: Puri Jagannadh
Release date: 18 Dec 2008
CBFC Rating: U/A

What's it about!

An assistant director Ravi (Ravi Teja) struggles to become a good director. He works under an established director (Brahmanandam) but he goes through lot of troubles getting right launch pad. On other hand, Sandhya (Siya), a troupe dancer falls in love with him. The rest of the movie is how he reaches his goal. Mallik (Subba Raju) and Mumaith (Mumaith Khan) play the roles of 'hero' and 'heroine' in the movie.

Analysis

Neninthe is all about movie industry and its pitfalls. Puri's 'bold' attempt to throw 'light' on industry's 'dark secrets' is not convincing. Those who are not well versed with the industry's inside stories would feel big bore. Except some 'movie buffs', the so-called satires on the movie industry cannot be related to. And the narration of the movie is very slow and there is hardly any story.

The biggest problem with the movie is that you can't empathize with the protaganist. Puri Jagannadh's hollow script, weak characterization of Ravi Teja and confused goal of the movie are main drawbacks. There are certain scenes that evoke right emotions and some scenes reflect Puri's intelligence, yet he has failed to translate them correctly on the whole. He also touches many aspects related to the movie industry. There is too much of everything that spoils the broth.

Performances

Ravi Teja carries the same rugged look that he has been showing in all the movies. For the character of a struggling assistant director, he looks odd with his 'street fighter' looks. Yet, he comes up with good performance in emotional scenes. Newcomer Siya is apt for 'junior artiste or dancer'. Mumait Khan's episode is silly. Subbaraju is okay. As 'die'-hard fan, Sairam Shankar stands out with his neat performance.

As in all Puri's movies, Shyam K Naidu excels with his right visuals in tune with the movie. Music by Chakri is ordinary excpet for the song of 'Krishna nagare mama..'

Puri Jagannadh is letdown by his own writing (script). Characterization of Ravi Teja is so confusing. Sometimes he is sober and in the next scene he is aggressive and bashes up villain (in all about 10 times). He is failed to portray the angle of an underdog (a struggling director) winning his goal correctly. The so-called satires on the movie industry are also skewed.

Some Questions/Observations

1. Puri questions media about its writings for 'exposing the industry'. Then what he did was in Neninthe not the same? Cursing the same industry that gave him bread and fame? Why this dual mentality?

2. There is a comment in the film - Why do you (NRI audiences) think too much about just 8 Dollars before going to the movie?

For Puri, 8 Dollars might be peanuts because he gets Crores of Rupees as remuneration but general folk always think twice before they spend single penny because it is their hard-earned money. For USA based Telugu people watching a movie needs a lot of planning, traveling, scheduling their tasks, etc. It is not just the question of $8. So they naturally tend to rely on reviews.

3. Agreed that some of the reviews are biased at times. A general sweeping comment that reviewers take money and write reviews is far beyond the truth.

4. Puri says through the movie that media is living off on movie industry by publishing news and photos of the movies. Really? Then what he is doing? Is he not living off on the public by throwing his movies to the audiences? In this world everything is mutual.

Bottom-line

Neninthe might seem 'bold' concept wise but it lacks punch. The treatment, hero's character, the supposed jokes, and satires all have not worked well. Puri is letdown by his own writing. If you are related with the movie industry, it might seem okay. It is big bore for general audiences.

Rating: 1.5/5