Earlier, Genelia D'souza had mentioned in one of her interviews that her favourite movie happens to be Shahid-Kareena Starrer JAB WE MET. And she truly loved Kareena's vivacious character - Geet - in the movie. At that time she even expressed her desire to play such kind of character.
Seems like Genelia's deep-seated desires will soon materialize! As the reports suggest that Genelia is currently working in a Telgu film SASIREKHA PARINAYAM, which is said to be a remake of Bollywood super hit JAB WE MET. Genelia recently said that she is happy playing this character and also confident as this character will bring her enough accolades as it did for Kareena.
Directed by Krishnavamsi and produced by Sunkara Madhu Murali this Telgu remake is nearing its completion and plans to release the film on Dussera.
Genelia - the new 'Geet' of JAB WE MET!!
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na Movie Review
Cast :
Synopsis :
Our story begins at the airport. With a story.
When Rotlu, Jiggy, Bombs and Shaleen offer to tell Mala the tale of Jai and Aditi-a match made in the pastry shop
of heaven - Mala is convinced that she is in for yet another clichéd love story with joys and sorrows, happiness
and heartbreak, laughter and songs, fights... and a climax at the airport.
And indeed, Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na is all of that. And more!
Meet Jai Singh Rathore ('Rats'), the most non-violent Rajput either side of the Aravallis. And meet, if you dare, the
violent and passionate Aditi Mahant ('Meow'). Whatever you do, do not pick a fight with her. She scratches. And
abuses. If you do get into a scrap, take cover till Jai arrives, as he alone can calm our snarling wildcat.
Never was there a less likely couple. Jai thinks Aditi's parents should have rinsed her mouth with soap when she
was a child. Aditi thinks that Jai is the biggest coward she has ever encountered. Heaven, it seems, has mixed up
its apples and oranges.
More nuts in this fruitcake scenario: Rotlu weeps secretly for Aditi. Bombs' heart explodes for Jai. Jiggy applies
golden mascara to his hair. Shaleen… well, she's probably the only one who doesn't seem a few notes short of a
concerto.
So, to come back to our story: Jai and Aditi are perfect for each other (in some odd, distorted way, impossible to
understand). Friends know this. Parents know this. Everybody knows this. But do Rats and Meow know?
Can two people ever, truly, know the secrets of their hearts? And how do you know it's the real thing?
When do you know it's love?
Add to this quandary a quarrelling portrait, strange dreams of a desert warrior, a dope-head brother and his pet
mouse, two Rajput "cowboys', three ancestral conditions, a fateful night in jail, a climactic ride to the airport…
… and there, you have it! Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na. The coolest, warmest, hippest, funniest
musical-romantic-comedy of the decade.
Cast
Pandurangadu Movie Review
Director Raghavendra Rao, who is known for bringing out excellent commercial films, changed his way and started bringing out devotional and periodical films. His films like Manjunatha, Annamayya and Sri Ramadasu were proved runaway hits.
The audiences had kept lot of expectations on 'Pandurangadu' coming from the same director in the same technical combination with Balakrishna as the hero. Moreover, the script of the film was prepared with an inspiration from the earlier classic 'Panduranga Mahatmyam'. True to the expectations the film came out as another classic from the RK Associates banner.
Pundareeka (Balakrishna) comes from a family full of Lord Krishna devotees. But he grows up as a wayward and irresponsible youth, who whiles away his time by enjoying the girls. Being handsome, all the girls are naturally after him. Lakshmi (Sneha) is an orphan and was brought up by a priest (Balayya). Being from an orthodox family, Lakshmi also preaches Lord Krishna. Pundareeka gets fascinated to a prostitute called Amritha (Tabu) and keeps spending nights with her always. Once, Lord Krishna appears in a dream to Lakshmi and tells her that Pundareeka would be her husband. Lakshmi impresses the entire family of Pundareeka, but fails to win his heart.
After a few days, with the intervention of Lord Krishna, she could manage to marry Pundareeka. But, he disappoints Lakshmi and goes to Amritha even after tying the nuptial knot. Again, it was Lord Krishna who comes to Lakshmi's rescue and unites Pundareeka with Lakshmi. When they were leading a joyous life, Amritha's mother (Y Vijaya) hatches a plan and swindles his entire property. Due to the impact of medication by Amritha's mother, Pundareeka throws out the entire family out of house, while he too gets vacated by the former. Did Pundareeka realise his mistake? Did he meet his parents again? What happened to the marital life of Pundareeka? Did Lord Krishna gives salvation to Pundareeka? Answers to all these questions form part of the climax.
Balakrishna was at his best as far as performance. He gave an excellent performance in the role of Pundareeka, though it has negative shade for a major part of the movie. Not only as the devotee Pundareeka, but also as Lord Krishna he excelled in performing the role with equal and good ease. Though the make-up for Lord Krishna was a bit heavy (the blue shade), it was masked by the performance and the director etched the character with a touch of comedy.
Once again, the fans of Nandamuri clan, were very happy to see their favourite hero in an excellent role as Lord Krishna. Tabu was romantic in all the scenes and she appeared half-naked in almost all the scenes without saree or half-saree. But the audiences had to understand that she needed to remain like that because her character in the film was a prostitute.
Sneha continued her family girl image again in this movie.The director also projected her in a romantic way in one of the songs.
Viswanath, Balayya, Prasadbabu, Sivaparvati and Sana did justice to their respective roles.
Comedy track picturised on Sunil, Brahmanandam failed to click in any manner.
Mohanbabu made a special appearance in the film and appears only in two scenes. He proved that he was the best and right choice for the character.
Behind the screen, writer JK Bharavi did his best in rewriting the script to suit the present trend. Though there was a comment from the audiences, that there were more romantic scenes in the first half, they ought to be like that in order to prove how a man with lust turned devotional with the intervention of Lord Krishna. Even in the original, the script was almost similar and the devotional part appeared only in the last half an hour of the film alone. However, one had to admit that the dialogues in the film were partly good but for some lapses here and there.
Camera work by Jayaram is okay, while editing by Srikara Prasad is fine.Music by MM Keeravani is worth listening. A seasoned director like Raghavendra Rao took good precautions in scripting the screenplay to maintain good tempo.
In order to suit the taste of current generation of audiences, he extended the subject, a little more than original. Moreover, in the original, the scenes that were shown in 'Krishna Mukunda Murari…' song were used to show the chivalrous attitude of the hero in the beginning.
Hence, the extension of the film helped in explaining the heroism and the 'Brindavanam' theme of Lord Krishna. The prolonged climax, after the death of heroine, to some extent tested the patience of audiences, but the drama that continued with Lord Krishna turned a solace.
LB Sriram, however, failed to please the audiences as Narada. After several disasters Balakrishna was able to heave a sigh of relief while playing the remake of an all-time classic under the direction of Raghavendra Rao.
Cast: Balakrishna, Sneha, Tabu, K Viswanath, Mohanbabu (special appearance), Balayya, Prasad Babu, Sameer, Sunil, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Ali, Anant, LB Sriram, Jr Relangi, Brahmanandam, Jenny, Siva Parvati, Sana, Archana (Veda), Suhasini, Meghana Naidu, Y Vijaya, Apoorva, Sireesha, Bhargavi, Neethu, Baby Kavya and others
Credits: Story and dialogues – JK Bharavi, Camera – Jayaram, Editing – Srikara Prasad, Music – MM Keevarani, Producer – K Krishnamohana Rao, Screenplay and direction – K Raghavendra Rao.
Banner: RK Associates
Released on: May 30, 2008
Woodstock Villa Movie Review
Sanjay Gupta has often been associated with the so called ‘
The film takes off with the kidnapping of a successful businessman’s wife (Neha Uberoi). The businessman (Arbaaz Khan) is soon threatened by the captor (Sikandar) for a heavy ransom. Things go wrong as the lady is murdered by someone and the captor in a fix buries the body. Soon things start to reveal itself with the re-appearance of the damsel.
Director Hansal Mehta goes very much the
But one must say that at no point of time is the film boring; Hansal ensures that either with the drama/action on scene or else there are some tracks to keep you glued. There is either Neha Uberoi impressing you with her beauty and dance moves and at a point when you have forgotten that this movie carries a Sanjay Gupta link, just for the record Sanjay Dutt does his bit in a rock number.
On the acting front, Sikandar needs time and more films to make an impact. He definitely stands nowhere close to Anupam Kher or Kiran Kher. Sikandar struggles with his dialogue delivery and as far as your dance numbers are concerned, keep Sikandar aside. To a large extent he reflects Abhishek Bachchan with his body language and will surely do well as your unconventional hero.
Neha Uberoi is pretty and impressive. She carries her character with elegance and ease. She is sure to give the so called ‘sexy’ ladies of bollywood a though time.
Arbaaz Khan too shows great maturity. He fits the bill and delivers well. Sachin Khedekar , Shakti Kapoor and Dayashankar Pandey are wasted.
Cinematography by Vikas Nowlakha is good carrying the thriller theme through the lens. Dailogues by Milap Zaveri are ok. Screenplay by Sanjay Gupta ,Farhan and Rajiv isn’t great.
The music of the film hinders the flow of events but the background score by Amar Mohile is good.
On the whole, ‘Woodstock Villa’ may find it hard to be accepted by the viewers who may consider this venture to be an episode from a serial or so. The film is sure to provide a decent platform for both Sikandar and Neha who are bound to feature in more Sanjay Gupta films. Business at the box office will be hampered by the IPL semi-finals and finals.
Hastey-Hastey Movie Review
‘Hastey Hastey’ comes in this week with debutant Nisha Rawal accompanied by Jimmy Shergill and a triple role by Rajpal Yadav.
Synopsis…
Neel [Jimmy Sheirgill], a student at
Tanvi [Monishka Gupta] is a young executive who goes out of her way to help Neel and his team in
‘Hastey Hastey’ is no doubt a very dull and weak plot. The story just puts you to sleep. The movie lacks miserably in terms of content. The movie offers zero laughter and would better be known as ‘Rothey Rothey’.
Right from the writing by some
Nisha Rawal is just like a plastic Barbie doll, she struggles with the acting and her delivery is terrible. Monishkha too is dull and does nothing more than shedding her clothes.
Jimmy Shergill seems to have signed this movie while he was asleep.
Rajpal Yadav in a triple role! What were the writers and director thinking? Maybe they thought that one could escape with some ridiculous jokes by Rajpal Yadav. Rajpal too seems on a money making rollercoaster and needs to be very careful with the kind of movies he does. Rajpal too is terrible and what’s with the ridiculous clothes he’s wearing?
On the whole, ‘Hastey Hastey’ is a complete waste of time. It’s a test of one’s patience and is sure to be a washout with zilch comedy. The IPL matches are set to kill this venture.
Don Muthu Swami (2008)
Watch it For Mithun only
Rating 
By -cafe.blogspot.com, 23 May 2008.
Release Date : 23 May 2008
The story of the film is about Don Muthuswami (Mithun Chakraborty), whose dying father extracts a promise from him, that he will henceforth give up his crooked way and turn into an honest man. The Don promises to do so and thus begins the saga of a gangster trying to turn clean. His henchmen and goons are now ordered to become domestics instead. Muthuswami also engages an Urdu teacher Jaikishen (Mohit Raina) to help him improve his language. The teaching process understandably leads to a lot of laughter. The Don has a nubile young daughter Sanjana (Hrishita Bhatt), who he wants to get married. He wants to marry her off to his good friend's son. The good friend is actually another don. But Sanjana refuses and lies about being pregnant. The other complication in Muthuswami's life is caused by his manager Preetam (Rohit Roy). He has been, over the years, stealing money from the Don, in his bid to become a millionaire. He too wants to marry Sanjana, who proceeds to fall in love with Muthuswami's Urdu teacher. The film now goes ahead and solves all the complications.
The film is a comedy but the laughter comes only in spurts and not in rushes. More often than not, the quality of the jokes is quite pathetic. The situations are funny but it seems that the film's writers are unable to exploit the situations in the best possible manner. Hence, the quality of the comedy suffers. Also, the film's production values are not all that great. The 'look', if one may say so, lacks a certain kind of class that one has come to expect from films nowadays. Ashim Samanta cannot exactly be labeled a fitting successor to his father who made superb films like Aradhana and Amanush among others.
The film revolves around Mithun Chakraborty and it's only his fans who will truly appreciate the film. But he does tend to run among in the film, sometimes it works, and at others, it becomes a little tiresome. But it is not the actor who is to be blamed. On paper, it seems that the actor has a tailor made role, but in reality, at times Mithun seems to be struggling as the lines or situation are not really funny enough. The comedy rightly arises in the film, with the character of Don Muthuswami, in all, seriousness, trying to change his life around. The premise is perfect but suffers in execution. But full marks to Mithun for managing to pull it off. He dominates the film not just with his presence but with his acting skills as well.
One would have expected actor Shakti Kapoor to have also got into the spirit of things but he looks and acts in a very jaded fashion. Rohit Roy, on the other hand, puts in a charming performance as the crook. Hrishita Bhatt and Mohit Raina are just about okay. The film's music, composed by Anu Malik is melodious, but not very memorable. The cinematography is okay with nothing to write home about.
In short, the film's saving grace is Mithun Chakraborty, with some contribution by the rest of the cast as well. The film does not actually descend into buffoonery but is quite close to that. One can watch the film for Mithun's sake only.
Dhoom Dadakka (2008)
No Fire Here
Rating
By Movie-Cafe.blogspot.com, 23 May 2008.
Release Date : 23 May 2008
The film's story is about a don and his search for a successor. The venue is a meet of all the underworld bhais being presided over by the Godfather, played by Jackie Shroff. The dipping business of bhaigiri is the topic of discussion at the meet. The point of contention is a plot of land at Alibaugh which he decides to allot to Phursat Lal (Gulshan Grover) to build an entertainment centre. Munglilal (Anupam Kher), his rival don, has been coveting the site for a while to build a hospital. Phursat also presents a case about the importance of having an heir. Since Mungilal has no heir, it is given that the next don would be Fursat. But Mungi lies to the gathering and says that he has an heir and asks for a month's time to present him before the gathering. It turns out that Mungi had a sister Angoori (Bhavna Balsaver), who Mungi had thrown out of the house as she had wanted to marry a humble music teacher. She continued to send him letters through the years, which Mungi never read. But his friend Jignesh (Satish Shah) has read all the letters and preserved them. It seems that in one of her letter, she said that she had given birth to a child named Kamal. Mungi and Jignesh set out to find Angoori and Kamal. Mungi lands in Mumbai and hires detective Johnny English (Satish Kaushik) to find his sister and Kamal. The detective catches hold of an NRI (Samir Dattani), who claims to be Kamal. They take him to Bangkok, only to discover that there is another man who claims to be Kamal (Shaad Randhawa). To add to the confusion, is the arrival of Shivani (Aarti Chhabria), who claims to be the real Kamal. Jiya (Shama Sikander), also makes an appearance as the girlfriend of the NRI Kamal. Mungi gets all of them to stay in Bangkok so that he can arrive at some decision regarding the real Kamal.
The film works well in the first half. The dialogues (Ashwini Dhir) are funny enough as are the situations. But it runs out of ideas in the second half. The second half of the film has no dhoom dadakka fireworks but is rather flat. There are very few laughs in this half and the quality of the jokes dips. In fact, after the first half, the film becomes an exercise in mayhem and confusion.
Among the cast, actors Anupam Kher,Satish Shah, Satish Kaushik and Gulshan Grover, all turn in a very good performance. These veterans are probably the saving grace of the film. Jackie Shroff is just about okay. Sad to see him reduced to playing such inconsequential roles. Of the youngsters, the boys, Samir and Shaad do their bit decently. As for the girls, Aarti and Shama, they do not have much to do besides looking good.
The music of the film, which has been composed by Roop Kumar Rathod is catchy. The title track is probably the best. The cinematography of the film is okay. Ranjan shows promise in the first half of the film, but after that, it seems to have slipped out his hands as well. This film is unlikely to create any dhoom dadakka at the box office.
Pardhu Movie Review
A commercial entertainer targetting front-bencher is ‘Pardhu’. It has comedy, action and romance to lure the B and C audience. With Larencce oozing the right energy and Sneha and Namitha filling up the glamour quotient, ‘Pardhu’ turns out to be an entertainer that is worth a watch.
However the story line is wafer thin. It is a cliched and oft-repeated in Telugu cinema. A youth, who is ridiculed by his family for being callous and not caring, eventually turns out to be a responsible son taking care of the entire family.
Director Rasu Madhuravan deserves a pat for not making a serious film though he has tried to showcase on mother-son sentiment towards the second half.
Pardhu (Larencce) does menial jobs in Dubai and saves every penny he earns and sends it to his family in Usilampatti. A flashback reveals that he was a carefree youth, who is often chided by his father (Nazar). His elder brother (Sreeman) is the blue-eyed boy of his father. However Pardhu's mother (Saranya) showers all her love and affection on him. Pandi comes across Sneha, a cop’s daughter in the village and after a sequence of events romance blossoms between them. Meanwhile his family receives a shock as just a couple of days before Pardhu's sister's wedding, Sriman runs away from the house with the money kept for the wedding.
A dejected father is consoled by Pandhu, who borrows money from a private money-lender and completes the wedding. Meanwhile, Sneha walks out of the house to enter wedlock with Pardhu.
Determined to payback the loan and help his family overcomes their financial constraint, Pardhu decides to go abroad and work as conservancy staff. He manages to stabilize his family with his earnings. However on his return he is shocked to find his mother dead. Coming to know that it was no natural death, he decides to avenge the killers. Did he succeed in his mission forms the climax.
Interestingly Telugu cinema has seen such storyline in the early 1980s itself. Madhuravan has taken one such and treated it with a swift screenplay. Larencce carries the entire burden in his shoulders and deliver his best. He dances, romances and does comedy with style.
Sneha surprises everyone oozing glamour. Known for playing homely roles, she has decided to go for a skin show. It's a typical Namitha in ‘Pardhu’ who appears in skimpy costumes for a couple of songs and disappears. Nazar and Saranya impress in their roles. Ganja Karuppu, Sriman and Illavarasu are adequate.
Srikanth Deva's songs are loud and the remix Masimasam Alanna....is picturised in a glamorous way on Sneha and Larencce.
All said, ‘Pardhu’ is a masala entertainer that keeps the audience engaged.
Cast: Ragava Larencce, Sneha, Namita, Nazar, Sharanya, Ganja Karuppu, Sriman, Izhavarasu, Rajkapoor, Mayilsamy
CREDITS:
Music – Srikanth Deva, Producer – Manyam Ramesh, Story, screenplay and direction – Rasu Madhuravan.
Banner: Manyam Entertainments
Released on: May 23, 2008
Bujjigadu Movie Review
Prabhas is one among the young heroes who had a very good physique. Leave alone others working hard and doing lots of exercises to get a six-pack body, Prabhas had the body right from the beginning of his career. It really turned helpful for him this time as everyone is craving for such body. Though Prabhas gave a blockbuster like 'Chatrapati', none of the directors could help him reach the audiences expectations. After running a rough patch for the past three films ('Pournami', 'Yogi' and 'Munna'), Prabhas was able to break the jinx with the perfect characterisation by director Puri Jagannath, who already had hat-trick hits to his credit.
Moreover, the film came from a prestigious banner like Creative Commercials which brought out several blockbusters with top stars like Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna. Moreover, the film had Mohanbabu playing a key role and his performance is yet another highlight of the movie.
Bujjigadu (Prabhas) stays in Chennai. He is an ardent fan of Rajanikanth. He used to celebrate the release of his favourite hero's films like any other fan. However, he had a strong wish to meet his childhood friend Chitti (Trisha), with whom he gets separated some 12 years ago. In order to meet her, Bujji decides to visit Visakhapatnam. However, Chitti and her family shifts to Hyderabad and Bujji doesn't know that.
While on his way to Vizag, Bujji involves in a clash and gets arrested by the police. Being a rough guy, he catches the attention of Machi Reddy (Kota Srinivasa Rao). In fact, Sivanna (Mohanbabu) runs a mafia gang in Hyderabad and Machi Reddy was his rival. To settle scores, Machi Reddy decides to utilise Bujjigadu to eliminate Sivanna and accepts to pay Rs 1 crore for the job.
Bujjigadu reaches Hyderabad and attacks Sivanna, but gets caught and thrashed by the latter's gang. But, realising his guts to attack a powerful mafia don like him, Sivanna persuades Bujji to stay with him and takes him to his home. After a few scenes, Bujji realises that Chitti was Sivanna's sister. The story takes a new twist from this point. Whether Bujji makes another attempt to kill Sivanna as per the contract of Machi Reddy? Did Chitti realise that Bujji is none other than her childhood friend? Who won the rival battle between Sivanna and Machi Reddy? What was the role of Sanjana? Answers to all these questions form part of the remaining movie.
Prabhas made a brilliant screen presence in this film. The director needs to be patted for the excellent characterisation of the hero. Prabhas improved his body language a lot and gave a stylish performance in action scenes. There is fight in a poultry farm in the beginning of the film where Prabhas gets a new look. The director scripted fantastic dialogues and Prabhas maintained good spontaneity in delivering them. Especially, he delivered a few dialogues in Tamil with perfect ease as a Tamilian. It was the director who really captured the talent of Prabhas right from the beginning till the end.
Trisha also appeared in a new look and she filled the glamour slot well.
Sanjana, played the sister of Trisha, and has not much role to play.
Mohanbabu also played a very nice character in the film, though it really did not match his image perfectly. His mannerism 'Silly Fellow' is very catchy. He needs compliments for accepting such role in the movie.
Other artistes like Kota Srinivasa Rao, Subba Raju and others are adequate. The major lapse in this film is that the director did not give much scope for a good comedy and there is not much comic relief in the movie.
Speaking technically, it was a director's film in many ways. The storyline is wafer thin and the director depended mostly on the screenplay to run the subject. Being an expert in scripting good screenplay, he was able to overcome several obstacles and boring scenes by managing well with his techniques in screenplay.
Music by Sandeep Choutha is very good and targeted the mass audiences. Unfortunately, the melody part is missing in any of the songs.
The choreography of songs was also impressive and Trisha and Prabhas made a good pair and proved as a visual treat. The director was ably assisted by Varma to cut the fat in the film, and made the film crispy.
Despite a gripping screenplay, the director trembled in the second half only to gain firm grip in the climax. Action scenes directed by Vijayan are stylish.
Shyam K Naidu's cinematography is also worth watching on the screen during the song sequences and in capturing the beauties of New Zealand and other foreign locales.
Finally, one can say that the film has not much to boast about but definitely a time pass film. One could get a feel that Prabhas had overcome the jinx of successive flops and could heave a sigh of relief with a moderate hit.
Cast: Prabhas, Trisha, Sanjana, Mohanbabu, Sunil, Ali, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Jayaprakash Reddy, Raja Ravindra, MS Narayana, Ajay, Subbaraju, Brahmaji, Qayyum, Pragati, Supreet, Rajesh, Ahuti Prasad, Hema, Sudha, Master Akash, Baby Pavitra and others
CREDITS: Music – Sandeep Choutha, Cinematography – Shyam K Naidu, Action – Vijayan, Editing – Varma, Art – Chinna, Producer – KS Rama Rao, Story, dialogues, screenplay and direction – Puri Jagannath
Banner: Creative Commercials
Released on: May 22, 2008
Anamika Movie Review
If there is anything that assures you that this will be a decent movie, it’s the title - ANAMIKA. In 1973, this Jaya Bhaduri-Sanjeev Kumar starrer was a hit. This is where director Ananth Mahadevan whets the appetite of the viewer. But 10 minutes into this film and you know you are in for a snooze-fest.
What Mahadevan could have finished telling off in one reel, he prolongs for 14 painful reels. And he has no semblance of a clue of how to hold the suspense. Even when it unfolds, you want to ask him, “Mr, if this was all there was to it, why was not Dino opening his mouth and telling his second wife Minissha at the first instance. Or, why was not Minissha asking him how his first wife died, instead of jumping into marriage with a man she has just met?
If Alfred Hitchcock could hold the viewers spellbound with his 1940 classic REBECCA, it was because he wove the scenes together skillfully and kept the viewers on the edge of his seat, guessing until the last moment. Mahadevan, who has borrowed heavily from Hitchcock, fails to understand how to glue the viewer. A bad take-off on the classic, which won two Oscars.
Here is the story: Dino Morea (Vikram Singh Sisodiya) a rich industrialist from Rajasthan comes to Mumbai for a business meeting and requests the services of an escort who actually will be his secretary for the day. Minisha Lamba (Jia) who is employed by the escorts service makes a hash of her job, which prompts Dino to train her to be a good escort. Before the day ends, he has proposed marriage, and she has accepted. Next she moves on to his palatial bungalow where she is introduced to the caretaker Koena Mitra and other support staff who do nothing but always refer to the dead Mrs Sisidoya (Anamika). “She would have preferred it this way”, and “she would have done it this way…” Everything in the mansion has her stamp “A” and Jia is trapped, until she musters enough courage to say that she is Mrs Sisodiya. Both try to save their marriage by burying the ghost of the past and by a twist of fate, are led to the body of Anamika.
Pranali - The Tradition Movie Review
The problem with PRANALI is that director Hridesh Kamble does not know how many elements to bring onto the screen. He has an interesting subject but manages to blow the gun in his face by going off track and telling too many stories. Instead of two hours, if Kamble had stuck to a little over an hour and eliminated the usual ‘politician wanting to take mileage’ situation he would have packed a mighty punch and saved the audience from boredom. In fact, this would have enabled the best scenes to stand out.
Kamble begins interestingly with the camera moving into the interiors of Maharashtra and focusing on the evil practice of Devdasi. From there, the story of Pranali (Nargis) moves to Mumbai in a Red Light area. How she is forced into the flesh trade where she gives birth to a child and her fight to legalize prostitution with the help of one NRI who visits her to write a book on her, which later becomes a bestseller. This same NRI, Vijay by name also adopts her daughter.
As a viewer, what irks you is the fact that Kamble has thrown away a huge advantage of beginning well to get into a muddle of telling the oft-told stories of the plight of a sex worker; the way they are taken advantage of and politicians making their presence with their hafta-seeking goons adorned with excessive kajal.
Instead of moving to Mumbai, Kamble should have stuck in the interiors of Maharashtra and focused more on the evils of the practice of Devdasi, and concentrated on the untold story, as his tag line suggests.
Nargis, who has been lured into being a devdasi and later into the sex racket, surprisingly maintains her sweet innocent looks inspite of going through the worst of nightmares. There is no ‘hardened’ sided to her, which is rather surprising for a woman who has been through much. Maybe the director was obsessed on focusing more on her soft features. She does a decent job, though.
However, for me, it is Upendra Limaye who stands out, as Sultan, the orphan boy who has been raised by Akka, Sudha Chandran the Madam. The scenes, where he ferries Pranali to meet her first customer and the one when he takes a young girl from an orphanage to visit a politician is especially touching.
TO GO OR NOT: Honestly speaking from the other two releases, MR WHITE MR BLACK and ANAMIKA, this movie stands a better chance.
Krazzy 4 Movie Review
KRAZZY 4 is about four patients from a mental asylum. But, of the four, two seem to be perfectly normal. If you certify someone with a fetish for cleanliness and one with no control over his anger to the loony bin, then I presume half of the city should be there, considering most are on a short fuse. Also, ‘Mr Angry Young Man’ and ‘Dr Fetish For Cleanliness’ show no signs of mental degradation. So the basic premise falls flat.
The remainder of the two, one who lives in the past and another who hardly ever speaks are borderline mental patients. Putting the four together hardly makes any sense, and for a movie, which relies on comedy, there is hardly ever any.
Arshad Warsi (Raja) is ‘Mr Angry Young Man’, Irrfan Khan (Dr Mukherjee) is ‘Dr Fetish For Cleanliness’, Rajpal Yadav (Gangadhar) lives in the past while Suresh Menon (Dabboo) hardly ever speaks. One day, Juhi Chawla (Dr Sonali) decides to take them to watch a cricket match ‘live’ and while she stops the car to pick up some papers from her office, she is kidnapped, and the four are left loose on the streets. There is also Dia Mirza, Raja’s love interest, who works for Aaj Tak. Is she being branded as a television anchor? She was one in SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA as well!
Performance wise, none stand out; the poor script does not allow them to. So the only interest remains the ‘Special dances’ of Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan. While SRK performs an item number with a bevy of beauties, Hrithik comes in after the credits have rolled with a solo dance performance. No prizes for guessing who the better dancer is. Hrithik wins hands down.
The only person laughing I guess is music director Ram Sampath who won Rs 2 crore in a landmark judgment that went against the Roshans. The Roshans had apparently plagiarised his tune for the movie. Sampath went to court and the judiciary ruled in his favour.
So, who’s the Krazzy one here?
To Go Or Not: Are you crazy?
U Me Aur Hum Movie Review
Love does not end after the first moments of romance have been savored. But to live a life of love with your spouse, every moment after marriage has to be savored. That’s where the true test of love lies and that’s what Ajay Devgan delivers in his directorial debut, U ME AUR HUM. A superb effort from the actor.
There is an old story told, of an elderly gentlemen visiting a dentist. A young man notices him looking at his watch as he is waiting to be attended. Curious, he asks the elderly gentlemen if he had anywhere else to go. “Yes,” replied the elderly gentleman, “I have to be at 9 at the hospital to visit my wife; she is suffering from Alzheimer’s.” The young man further asked, “Does she even recognize you?” “No said the elder.” “Then why bother going if she does not even know who you are.” “You see,” said the elderly gentleman, “it does not matter if she does not know who I am, I know who she is.”
There is a link between that story and U ME AUR HUM. This movie is not about you or me; it’s about HUM as a couple! It’s a very sensible film, which deals with a very, very sensitive aspect of married life - commitment. The tagline is apt: “The greatest journey in life is the distance between two people.” How well Ajay (Ajay Devgan) makes you travel this journey with him and Peeya (Kajol).
Ajay and Peeya meet on a cruise. She is a waitress, while he is a psychiatrist on a holiday with his friends. The story is told in flashback and the beginning is a little confusing with an aged Ajay trying to woo an old Peeya on a cruise. But as the movie progresses, you realize what the director is trying to convey. He plays a small mind game before putting the puzzle in place. The movie begins and ends on the cruise, twenty-five years later, thus showing that it may not always be smooth sailing in a marriage, there may be the huge waves that will rock your boat, but if you hold on to the sails, your ship will dock at the harbour of love.
Ajay’s moments spent in wooing Kajol after he first sets sights on her serving drinks provide the lighter moments and after intermission come the moments loaded with emotions of a different kind. The first half drags a bit but the second half more than makes up for the lapse. Still, this movie is about three-hours long, some tight editing skills were required.
Kajol is first rate. This is an actor here with the Midas touch. She makes acting look like child’s play. As the young girl who falls in love with Ajay, she is simply ravishing; as the doting wife, she is awesome and when tragedy strikes, her confusion is alarmingly clear. She is the scene-stealer in the entire movie. This is not to undermine Ajay Devgan who comes up with a reassuring performance; be it as the lover boy romancing Kajol or as the husband who refuses to leave her side.
Two scenes tear at your heart; one when Ajay leaves Kajol in the care of a hospital for good, and another when he goes to get her back, against his doctor’s advise. Both actors sizzle the screen with their chemistry, be it while in love or when its time to sacrifice.
Yes there are other characters to support the two, but there is nothing much of note to write home about them. There is also good photography and background score. But, you know something? This movie is about them (Ajay and Kajol).
TO GO OR NOT: You would not want to miss a first rate Kajol, would you? I’m sure she has thrown in her hat for the best actor (female) category at next year’s awards. On second thoughts, her performance is beyond awards! I’m also sure couples will go in droves to watch the magical moment of commitment which completes the circle of marriage!
Tashan Movie Review
‘Tashan’ , a movie kept totally under wraps without any media interactions or gigs of that sort by the team at Yash Raj Films; releases this week amidst a dry spell in bollywood. With the cricket IPl mania freaking the producers out, not many biggies dare to release their films unless you are from the Yash Raj camp.
Tashan marks the debut of Vijay Krishna Acharya , the man behind the scripts of Dhoom and Dhoom2. Vijay Krishna Acharya aka Victor, who has been associated with the smash hit status of both Dhoom’s, tries his bit at direction. So, is it as enthralling as Dhoom?
What happens when you throw two guys who hate each other together...
A cool call center executive Jimmy Cliff (Saif Ali Khan), a desi wannabe gangster Bachchan Pande (Akshay Kumar) add for good measure a beautiful girl Pooja (Kareena Kapoor) who can't be trusted... on a journey across spectacular India... a journey which will alter the course of their lives in more ways than one... a journey where even enemies need to trust each other if they want to be alive...
Trouble is, in this world no one can be trusted ever!
And to top it all there is the evil eye of Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor)... a maverick gangster who enjoys killing people as much as he enjoys speaking English...
What you get is... TASHAN
Firstly, Victor truly does a fine job at making Tashan live up to its title. The movie is sleek and high on style. Right from the colours , costumes , hair styling , cars , dances , guns etc everything has got its style quotient. Don’t look for similarities between Dhoom and Tashan cause the only similarity lies in the syling which in turn vary in terms of an urban look in Dhoom to a rural,semi-urban,urban look in Tashan.
Victor does well at imbibing humour in a script that involves high action and rivalry amongst various characters in the film. The lacuna comes in the form of the storytelling and screenplay done by Victor himself. The brain behind Dhoom fails to tell a story that grips the audience. The storytelling particularly in the 1st half seems dragging and gets a lift only on the introduction of Bachan Pande (Akshay Kumar) .
The proceedings in the movie tend to get vague as the movie moves ahead right from the hollywood style road chase for treasure to a typical Hindi formula film of revenge and lost love etc. Nevertheless, the action and comic sequences keep you entertained.
The cinematography by Ayananka Bose is splendid capturing the locales of
Music by Vishal Shekar and Choreography by Vaibhavi Maerchant are definitely entertaining and foot tapping enough but tend to barge into any portion of the film making the film’s Tashan take a dip.
On the technical front, the action by Peter Hein is supreme. Peter does a splendid job at making the action look no less than any
On the acting front, Anil Kapoor as Bhaiyya Ji , The bad guy trying to learn English is funny but only at the initial stages of the film and eventually gets monotonous and boring. But, Anil does a good job as the villain from
Kareena Kapoor is ok as the smart, cunning Pooja but isn’t at her best. She does very little to prove her acting credentials and more to beat the likes of people who believe that she can never dawn a Bikini.
Saif Ali Khan really struggles to make a mark in this film. Just like any other Yash Raj Film, Saif relies on his antics of being a flirt etc. Saif does his bit of action, dance and shows off his biceps but after watchin Saif in Race , one would hardly find the character of Jimmy impressive except for his looks. P.S.-One gets to see Saif’s cute little son Ibrahim as Jimmy junior in the film.
The man who steals the show and elevates the film is none other than Akshay Kumar. Though he comes in much later on in the film, he impresses with immediate ease. He makes you giggle right through with his Bachchan Pande dialogues and leaves you awestruck with his
On the whole, the action, styling, and a few witty lines with a superb performance by Akshay Kumar makes Tashan a movie worth watching. Though the IPl has forced producers to push their release further ahead, no doubt a movie like Tashan is sure to find audiences specially the youth who are fed up of being at home glued to cricket and the subsequent ads that come along with it.
Mr. White Mr. Black Movie Review
Deepak Shivdasani, the director of the film , may have also forgotten about Mr.Black Mr. White but graciously the movie finds its way to the theatres . For a film that stars Suniel Shetty and Arshad Warsi , you would expect it to be a crowd puller. But what if the product which has been in the making for over 3 years sounds and tastes stale?
Synposis…..
Gopi [Suniel Shetty], a simpleton, arrives in Goa from Hoshiarpur. His mission - to hand over a piece of land to his childhood friend Kishen [Arshad Warsi]. Kishen swindles people with a little help from his accomplice [Atul Kale], to earn enough money to educate his sibling Divya [Mahima Mehta], who's studying in London. Kishen, however, has managed to hide his profession from Anuradha [Rashmi Nigam] by cooking up an alibi of a twin brother, Hari, who's the bad guy.
Kishen avoids Gopi like he's bad news. He's not going to give up his flourishing business and travel to Hoshiarpur just to take possession of a measly piece of land. Meanwhile, diamonds worth Rs. 25 crores have been stolen by three girls, who are now holed up in Goa. Kishen traces the three girls and succeeds in robbing the diamonds. But the diamonds actually belong to a don, Laadla [Ashish Vidyarti], who has also reached Goa.
Who gets the diamonds?.....
Well, honestly who cares? Deepak Shivdasani who has been the anchor behind films such as ‘Gopi Kishen’ , ‘Bhai’ , ‘Krishna’etc fails miserably with his 11th or 13th film. What he fails to realize is films with poor comedy and so called item numbers and skin show with foreign models such as Tania Zaetta don’t appeal to the Indian audiences anymore. In fact, wonder whether this formula would even work in villages as the songs of the film too are very poor.
Screenplay by Sanjeev Duggal and Nishikant Kamat give you a head ache. Dialogues by Sanjay Pawar work out only for Ashish Vidyarthi.
Music composers of the film –Jatin Lalit , Tuaseef Akhtar , Shamir Tandon fail to create anything impressive.
On the acting graph , Arshad Warsi and Suniel Shetty are equally boring . Tania Zaetta, Kamala Ning , Sandhya Mridul are there to add the ‘chic’ material to the film. They hardly act and just sing around in their bikini.
Anishka Khosla is poor. Rashmi Nigam barely ok. Shehzad Khan is so fake and if there is one person who entertains you momentarily it’s none other than Ashish Vidyarthi. Ashish returns to comedy after a very long time. His sequences involving the “Maa” element are hilarious.
The film seems to be tormented by difficulties right from the initial stages which can also be observed in the lack of continuity in Arshad Warsi’s looks in the film.
On the whole, the delay in the film further enhanced by lack of promotions and a very dull script is sure to make this film a complete washout. We wish Deepak and the producers all the best for their next venture and we are sure that this failure will act as a stepping stone to their next success.
Bhoothnath Movie Review
Much has been said about Bhoothnath right from the pairing of Amitabh and Shahrukh after a long time and the potential that the debutant director Vivek Sharma carries.
After films such as ‘Bhagbhan’ , ‘Babul’ , comes yet another film from the reputed B.R. Films but this time around unlike their previous ventures you neither get to see a typical family drama nor the presence of Ravi Chopra spearheading the direction of the film. This time the offering is absolutely new and fresh with debutant Vivek Sharma exploring the relationship between a young boy and a spirit in a very innovative, humorous manner.
The story revolves around a 7 year old naughty boy –Banku(Aman Siddiqui) whose family(Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla) comes to live in a mansion in
No one dares to stay at Nath Villa and soon the spirit wants to get rid of his new rival-Banku. All attempts to scare Banku fail and the two now develop a new bond. The so called ghost is renamed as Bhootnath and Banku soon becomes Bhootnath’s ‘Angel’.
Thinks take a turn when Kailash Nath’s son (Priyanshu Chatterjee) returns from the
Firstly, if there is any misconception that Bhootnath is a horror flick, keep all your perceptions aside and digest the fact that this flick is actually a cute film for the complete family. It’s meant for all audiences and just because it explores the relationship between a kid and a ghost ,doesn’t mean that it’s a ‘Kiddie’ movie or so.
Director Vivek Sharma excels with his very first film. Unlike most directors, he doesn’t get carried away by the star presence of either Amitabh or Shahrukh and does no gigs such as an item number or so to enhance the stars but rather sticks to the very basics of a simple script and its simple storytelling.
Bhootnath isn’t the most unique or rarest of scripts but it is the simplicity in story telling that really keeps you entertained and brings out the kid in you. Vivek makes you laugh and even gets the audience moist eyed with couple of sequences.
Be it the sequence where Banku hurts himself by falling off the staircase or be it Banku’s rift with Bhootnath, the movie has a certain emotional connect with the audience.
The characters in the film have been so well sketched out and are indeed relevant to the storytelling process. Be it the peon or the principal(Satish Shah) who eats all the tiffin boxes at school or even Anthony(Rajpal Yadav) the beggar; each of them make you laugh and are unique in some way or the other.
On the technical front, the movie is supreme in terms of its special effects. These effects raise the bar of the film. Watch out for the movement of dry leaves, Banku’s hand stretching out to help a friend in a pit, Amitabh’s expressions to scare the kid etc. It’s simply brilliant for a Hindi film.
The cinematography by Vishnu Rao is simple and sleek which make possible the addition of such brilliant visual effects.
The music by Vishal-Shekar isn’t great and the movie pace get hampered by a bunch of tracks forced in. But in any case the visual’s of ‘Mere Buddy’ further enhanced by the bloopers when the credit rolls makes this track grow on you.
On the acting front, the movie truly belongs to Aman Siddiqui and Amitabh Bachchan. Aman impresses tremendously with his naughty expressions, cute laughter and dialogue delivery. You may even have tears trickle towards the climax where you see Aman cry out loud looking at the stars, searching for Bhootnath.
Amitabh Bachan returns to form like never before. His bonding with Aman is superb and the relationship explored here is much superior to the Amitabh-Sweeney relationship in Cheeni Kum. After a disastrous 2007 with movies such as ‘Nishabd’ and ‘Aag’, most people wrote Amitabh off. But , Bhootnath really justifies the lines ‘Ain’t nobody does it better’ from the ‘Mere Buddy’ track. Amitabh really proves that he is still young at heart and has the zest to go on. He makes you laugh with his expressions, his attire and also brings in those necessary emotions with his anger scenes and his explanation of forgiveness to the kid. Even the very utterance of the word ‘Angel’ from Amtabh’s mouth brings in that emotional connect.
Juhi Chawla does really well as the mother. She is convincing and makes you giggle at times. Shahrukh Khan does a decent job as the father. Satish Shah is extremely funny. As the principal with an anglo-Indian accent, he is sure to make both the young and old laugh. Rajpal yadav has a very small role in the film as the beggar but is indeed good. He expresses well and his lines are witty enough.
Priyanshu does well and surely deserves meatier roles. Ashish Choudhary and Nauheed Cyrusi are barely ok.
Bhootnath does have its share of flaws, primarily the second half which gets a little stretched out with the addition of songs. But, in any case it’s a movie worth watching this summer and might provide for some good lessons on forgiveness. As for parents, watch out for the athletic meet scene where Amitabh explains that success can be achieved only by hard work and not magic- A good lesson to be learnt.
Let’s hope Bhootnath ends the dry spell at the boxoffice. In any case leave cricket aside and go watch Bhootnath, you won’t regret doing so.
Jimmy - A poor launch pad for Mimoh
One of the many debuts this year is of Mithun Chakraborthy’s son Mimoh who was apparently supposed to make his debut with another film ‘HE’. Though we haven’t heard of that film which was also to be the launch for Hansika Mowani , Jimmy now comes as Mimoh’s official launch pad.
Director Raj N Sippy , the man behind movies such as ‘Kudrat’ , ‘Satte Pe Satta’ and ‘Inkaar’ returns to direction after a hiatus . Mithun Chakraborthy makes his presence felt as one of the producers of the film.
Synopsis….
A young woman’s body is recovered by the police. All leads to Jimmy (Mimoh ).A mechanical engineer by day and a dancing sensation by night , Jimmy works as a DJ in the local discotheque to pay off the debts left behind by his late father. While everybody is shocked, Jimmy owns up to the murder and is sentenced to death.
In a twist of fate, Jimmy realizes in jail that he has been drawn into a vicious conspiracy. Is it too late to unveil the truth?
The only reason why one would go to watch this movie is the hype surrounding Mimoh. Neither the songs nor the promos of the film have made any contribution towards enticing the audiences.
The only thing that came out from the promos was the fact that indeed Mimoh is a good dancer.
On the directional front, Raj N Sippy has made a complete mess. He seems to forget that the year is 2008 and Indian audiences are much mature and thus expect some quality content when they go ahead and watch a film.
The writer of the script- Ranbir Pushp the man behind Shahrukh’s debut ‘Deewana’ fails to understand what he really wants to put across to the audience. There is nothing gripping about the script and instead of being a movie that gives you a chill that you expect from a thriller , you are bound to laugh at the flow of events be it Mimoh’s brain tumor or the suspense behind the film.
The movie is filled with clichés and the dialogues are simply humorous especially the ‘you are a rejected person!’ bit.
On the acting front Vivana who has been seen in the thumbs up ad with Akshay Kumar has no scope,Rahul Dev and Sayed Zulfi are wasted.
As for Mimoh though many have commented about his voice, well that’s not a problem at all as you can’t expect every hero to sound like Amitabh Bachchan. Mimoh does prove he has great dancing skills but as an actor has a long way to go.
On the whole Jimmy doesn’t favour Mimoh Chakraborthy and won’t find favour at the box office tooParugu Movie Review
Giving a message through films is not new. Earlier Bhaskar gave a message through 'Bommarillu' that the parents should understand the feelings of the parents. In his second film 'Parugu' he tries to explain it the other way round. Though the parents love their children very much, the latter were not honouring the love of their parents and are just leaving to their own fate in search of their loved ones, which ought not to be. The film, which came after the unfortunate incident that occurred in the family of Chiranjeevi, gives the audiences a feel that it was the real life story. However, the director claimed that the story was penned long ago before the occurrence of that incident.
Neelakanta (Prakashraj) is a rich man in village. Subbalakshmi (Poonam Bajwa) and Meenakshi (Sheela) are his daughters. Subbalakshmi elopes with her boyfriend Babu, on the day she was about to marry which her father okayed. Irked over the incident, Neelakanta decides to search for his daughter and orders his men to catch Babu's friends (Sunil, Srinivasa Reddy), who obviously helped him. But they plead innocence. There is another friend called Krishna (Allu Arjun) who stays in Hyderabad. It was he who really helped Babu in his love affair.
However, he too did not reveal it. While trying to escape from the village, Krishna accidentally meets Meenakshi and loses his heart. The entire male family members of Neelakanta go in search of Subbalakshmi in Hyderabad. They happen to meet them, only to get a refusal by Subbalakshmi to come with them. Before finding Subbalakshmi, Neelakanta had an encounter with Krishna, where he reveals how bad a father feel when his daughter elopes as he brought her up for more than 22 years and wished her welfare. This makes Krishna to take a decision not to take any drastic step in his love with Meenakshi. Did Krishna able to win the heart of Meenakshi? Did Neelakanta accept the love of Krishna? What is the value of the affection of parents towards their children? Answers to all these questions form part of the climax.
Allu Arjun sheds a lot of weight than his recent film 'Desamuduru' where he appeared in a six-pack body. He is very chivalrous and witty in the first half. He played his role with a lot of ease in the first half. As usual, dances are his forte and he proved once again that he is very flexible in dance sequences. His steps in 'Elagelagaa' song proved his flexibility of muscles. Likewise, the make-up in the song 'Parugulu Teeyake' song was quite different.
Sheela did her job in a neat way. Poonam Bajwa had not much scope to perform.
Prakash Raj once again excelled in his role. Especially he showed good variations in emotional scenes and his expressions are worth watching.
Jayasudha made a guest appearance as a cameo and did justice to her role in a couple of scenes in which she appeared on the screen.
On the technical side, Manisharma gave very good tunes to all the songs. Camera by Vijay K Chakravarthy is okay. BVS Ravi penned good dialogues that evoked good comedy in the first half. Some of the dialogues which are one liners got an instant response from the audiences. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh reflected his seniority. Production values of Sri Venkateswara Creations are adequate.
Though the director gave his best in the first half, he trembled in the second half as he doesn't know how to continue the story further. Most of the scenes are very boring and the audiences were seen moving impatiently in their seats in the absence of enough comedy relief. Too much of emotional scenes in the second half tested the patience of audiences.
The entire first half gave the audiences an impression that Bommarillu Bhaskar is all set to continue the magic which he did in 'Bommarillu'. However, the director's inability to run the second half leave a question mark in the face of audience.
This leaves the success of the film in a limbo. If you are a hardcore fan of Mega family, the film is okay. Otherwise, the second half would be boring, especially when the expectations on the film were high right from the day one of shooting in view of the successful combination of the hero, director and producer.
Cast: Allu Arjun, Sheela, Prakash Raj, Poonam Bajwa, Sunil, Srinivasa Reddy, Pruthvi, Chitram Sreenu, Dhanraj, Subbaraju, Jayaprakash Reddy, Raju, Jeeva, Jayasudha, Ali, Kalpana, Rajitha, Ragini, Delhi Rajeswari and others
Credits: Dialogues – BVS Ravi, Lyrics – Sirivennela Sitaramasastry, Chandrabose, Ananta Srireem, Photography – Vijay K Chakravarthy, Editing – Marthand K Venkatesh, Art – Anand Sai, Music – Manisharma, Co-producers – Sireesh and Lakshman, Presents – Smt. Anitha, Producer – Dil Raju, Story, dialogues, screenplay and direction – Bhaskar.
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Released on: May 1, 2008
Kantri Movie Review
Though producer Aswinidutt maintained a low profile during the shooting of 'Kantri' and tried to maintain some privacy, the audiences in general and the NTR fans in particular kept good expectations on the film, in view of the recent blockbuster like 'Yamadonga' from the hero. Meher Ramesh, though made his debut in Telugu as director, with this film, had good working experience by associating himself with Puri Jagannath. Moreover, he gave two hit films in Kannada, the remakes of Telugu films 'Andhrawala' and 'Okkadu'. But it was proved that doing a film with a hero with certain image was not that easy and the director belied the hopes of the audiences as well as NTR, who wanted repeat the success history.
Kranti (NT Rama Rao) is an orphan and brought up in an orphanage called Premalayam. He is ready to do anything for his friends and for the orphanage. Once he helps the gang of Pothu Raju popular as PR (Prakash Raj), a mafia don in India, who runs the show by from Bangkok. The activities in India are being looked after by Seshu (Asish Vidyardhi). Later, Kranti joins the Seshu gang and used to do the job even if before it was assigned to him and wins the confidence of PR in Bangkok. PR invites Kranti to Bangkok to settle scores with some of his rivals there and he does the job neatly. At this juncture, Kranti loses his heart to Varalakshmi (Hansika). Once, Kranti demands Rs 10 lakh to Seshu, and the latter refuses. Then Kranti parts with PR gang. Learning this, PR comes to India to set the things right and warns Kranti to surrender but the latter refuses. Then PR holds the children of the orphanage in hostage, which forces Kranti to meet PR. During the encounter, PR comes to know that Kranti is his son. PR, who doesn't have sentiment till that date, gets bitten by sentiment bug and wants Kranti to stay with him. After a few turn of events, Seshu's daughter Priya (Tanisha) comes to India and falls in love with Kranti. Though Seshu and PR ready for an alliance, Kranti refuses it. This leads to differences of opinion and PR and Seshu gets separated. Seshu, who eyed the property which amounts to around Rs 1,000 crore, joins hands with PR's rivals. Is Kranti really the son of PR? What is the relationship between PR and Kranti? Will Kranti was able to escape from the crooked plans of Seshu? What is the background of Kranti? Did Kranti was able to teach a lesson to PR? Why he wanted to take revenge? Answers to all these questions form part of the climax.
Of course NTR gave an impressive performance all through the film and took the entire responsibility to make the film worth watching at least to certain stage. Prakash Raj too is good in his role and did justice to his character. Asish Vidyardhi is okay in his role. Hansika, though filled the glamour quotient to the possible extent, the excess and unnecessary make-up spoiled her beauty. She could not show any of the feelings in her face nor she could do justice to her role and she needs to improve her body language extensively. Mukhesh Rushi though appeared in the beginning and at the climax is okay in his role. There is nothing much to talk about any other characters. Subba Raju once again got a good chance to show his acting talents. Though the comedy by Raghubabu is okay, the comedy track penned for Sunil is atrocious and failed to appease the audiences.
Regarding the technical side, music by Manisharma is good to listen, but their choreography is in very poor taste. But for a couple of songs, there is nothing to talk about choreography. Action scenes by Stun Siva are stylish. However, after losing weight, NTR's powerful punch in action scenes looked a little cinematic. Camera work by Sameer Reddy is average, while Marthand K Venkatesh should have further sharpened his scissors to trim the fat in the film. The major minus point in the film is the poor narration by the director. Meher Ramesh failed to establish the characters in a proper manner. None of the villain character had any seriousness and all of them evoked laughter. It is very sad that the director, despite heavy star cast and notable faces as villains, failed to utilise any of them.
If some one needs advice on the film, he should keep in mind that he should go to the theatre without any expectations. Though the first half has some interesting scenes, the second half is completely boring and the twist in the climax also failed to impress the audiences. In the absence of a gripping story and powerful screenplay, the impressive performance by NTR and Prakash Raj proved futile. As a whole, the film might be treated as just an average flick and only time could prove how the audiences would receive the film.
Cast: NT Rama Rao, Hansika, Tanisha, Prakash Raj, Asish Vidyarthi, Mukhesh Rushi, Sayaji Shinde, Murali Sharma, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmaji, Raghubabu, Subbaraju, Satyam Rajesh, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Benarjee, Krishna Bhagawan, MS Narayana, Jayaprakash Reddy, Ahuti Prasad, Brahmanandam, Sunil, GV, Narsing Yadav, Ali, Srinivasa Reddy, Hema, Master Bharat Kumar, and others.
Credits: Music – Manisharma, Cinematography – Sameer Reddy, Edting – Marthand K Venkatesh, Presents – C Dharmaraju, Producer – C Aswinidutt, Story, dialogues, screenplay and direction – Meher Ramesh
Banner: Vyjayanti Movies
Released on: May 9, 2008
