Victory

Cast: Nitin, Mamatha Mohandass, Shashank, Sindhu Tholani, Duvvasi Mohan, Ashutosh Rana, Allari Ravibabu, Satya Prakash, Ravi Kondala Rao, Supreeth, Ajay, Tanikella Bharani, Sana, M.S. Narayana, Brahmanandam, Ali, Abhinayasri, Nuthan Prasad, etc.

Dialogues: Ravi C. Kumar, Kaluva Krishna Sai
Art: B. Venkateshwara Rao
Costumes: K. Prasad
Camera: Vijay C. Kumar
Screenplay: Ravi C. Kumar
Choreography: Swarna, Shankar, Noble
Music Director: Chakri
Lyrics: Chandrabose, Kaluva Krishna Sai
Fights: Ram-Laxman
Editing: K.V. Krishna Reddy
Co-Producer: V. Suresh Reddy
Presenter: K. Atchi Reddy
Co-Director: Ramanatha Reddy
Producer: Venkat
Banner: R.R. Movie Makers
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Ravi C. Kumar

What's it all about?

The tagline "We for Victory" tells a lot of the story itself! Land mafia, Land grabbing, contemporary politics that plays with the middle-class people, corrupt government officials and elected leaders, local goons - all these on one side, and the hero and his friends pitted on the other, and you have Victory. In short, Vijay Chandra (Nithin) is a strong, daring youth of a middle-class family (Tanikella Bharani & Sana) that wants to join the police force (and that explains his 8-pack body). Local MLA Devaraj (Ashutosh Rana) is also a land grabber who eyes plots in Seetharam Nagar, located 50 km away from the HITEC City!

These plots were originally given away by a Gandhiian freedom fighter Pingali Venkataramayya (Ravi Kondala Rao), because the latter firmly believes that land, air, and water belong to everyone and no one should try to own them. Hero's family being one among the original owners, the hero tries in vain to bring unity among people to fight against the MLA. Will his friends Ravi (Shashank), Satyam (Duvvasi Mohan), Sindhu (Sindhu Tholani), etc.) help him fight the battle or leave him as a lone warrior? How can he motivate them against fear of facing the wrath of the baddies?

Performances

Cast:
Nitin built up his body as required for the character that gets into action as and when necessary. His dance in the first song
is done with ease, and his performance is good but not great! He still needs to work on his diction some more. Mamatha Mohandas has a role that's not strongly connected to the story, as Janaki who's supposed to marry Nithin. She looks good on the screen and has the right performance too, but her role is largely wasted. Sindhu Tholani appears as a TV5 reporter that cares to see a better society. Her performance is okay, though in a limited role. Shashank is good in a boy-next-door kind of role, who helps execute the protagonist's plans. Duvvasi Mohan gets an important role as one of the two friends of the hero, and he does offer some relief through his role.

Ashutosh Rana has his usual ease in the role of a politician turned goon. Among the comedians, M.S. Narayana gets a role similar to that of Prakash Raj's in Premaku Velaayeraa...! (Remember Prakash Raj-Brahmanandam episodes?) His character is rightly etched to suit the theme of the movie, and he does a good job presenting it too.Brahmanandam-Ali episode was intended to give some comedic relief while showing current scenario of corruption in government offices, but Abhinayasri's inclusion was unncessary.

Krishna Bhagawan, who's always appreciated for his timing and satirical comedy, has hardly any dialogues in the film, and is thus wasted! Tanikella Bharani did well as the protagonist's dad who also helps him fight the battle, and Sana did her part well too. Ravibabu, as the MLA's advocate, is used more as a comedian than a villain's yes-man. The rest of the cast is adequate.

Technical Departments:

The story revolves around contemporary issues and daily news that concerns each one of us - the common public. Such thought-provoking stories laced around current social affairs are required to be made as movies, and the director should be appreciated for sticking to the same genre after Samanyudu. However, the screenplay could have been a lot tighter and without discontinuities. The first half moves at a relaxed pace without even touching the actual story nearly half-way through the first half! However, the interval bang maintains the curiosity of the audience, and the second pace moves through real story.

While the first half seems wasted, the second half has songs that were quite unnecessary for the movie's flow. On the whole too, song placement is bad. And, some of the songs didn't require dances by the hero, you'd feel when you listen to the lyrics, but he's made to dance in all songs except the theme song in the background! Choreography was good for the first song. However, the picturization of the song prEmanEdi... is innovative.

Dialogues are aptly written for this movie that makes you think, with sprinkles of comedy here and there. Fights are just okay. Camera work is quite impressive. Music is adequate, but doesn't seem a good fit for the lyrics. Re-recording leaves a lot to expect. Editing is okay. Title graphics need a special mention, and the director should be appreciated for the idea of using newspapers, according to the theme of the movie. The hero's gym trainer is also credited, as a token of thanks for showcasing Nithin as the first 8-pack hero in Telugu. Voice-over Jagapathi Babu was limited.

Impressive Scenes/Dialogues:

* Nithin to Bharani: mee meeda oTTu! Bharani to Sana: osE, nee boTTu!
* Shashank: Tiffin lEka okaDu EDustunTE tip kOsam inkODu EDchinaTTundi!
* Nithin: Gandhi gaaru mahaatmuDu endukayyaarO ippuDu arthamaindi! kOTla mandiO unity elaa teesukocchaarO!
* Nithin: ivaaLa prajallO unity raavaalanTE galliikO Gandhi raavali, sir!
* Shashank: Daivadheenam anna need pErukii, nuvvu chEsE panulakii Emainaa sambandham undaa?
Krishna Bhagawan: paanDavula peddannayya Dharmaraju ani pEru peTTukuni joodam aaDalaa? idee antE!

Bottom Line:
The film is supposed to be a thought-provoking movie on the whole, and it succeeds in being one. If you're looking for a movie that has a story around current affairs and political games played around people, this movie is for you. It doesn't have much commercial elements or comedy.

Koncham Kothaga

Film: KONCHAM KOTTHAGA
Banner: Sapara Creations
Cast: Venkat, Tulip Joshi, Ashish Vidyarthi, Ali, Banerjee, Latha Sabharwal, Johnny Lever
Music: Raju Rao
Camera : S Arun Kumar
Director: Raju Rajendra Prasad
Producers: Satish Paulraj, Abraham Kalvakuri

Story:

A suspense tale, the film begins with a murder incident of a beautiful woman (Latha Sabharwal) and after few hours in the same place, a beautiful girl (Tulip Joshi) is seen who is just loitering around in the well designed home. Few frames later, a stranger (Venkat) arrives on the scene and he goes upstairs. Both the boy and girl spend some time without being aware of each other's presence and guessing that someone is around. They get to realize it with the arrival of a thief (Ali) who comes with the intention of a burglary. The thief ties them both assuming them to be husband and wife and wants to burgle the house but has a shock of his life when he discovers a dead body (Ashish). To add to the woes, a police inspector Vijay Krishna (Banerjee) arrives and a lot of confusion and chaos happens. In this process, the stranger wriggles free from the clutches of the burglar only to discover that there is another dead body (Latha) in the refrigerator. How did the dead bodies appear? Who are those people? How come Venkat and Tulip don't know each other living in the same place? Why does the inspector appear from nowhere? All this forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Venkat is muscular and healthy as usual. But his dialogue delivery is still childish. He needs to improve on that. Tulip Joshi is very attractive and played her role in adequate form. Benerjee as police cop is right choice. Ali's comedy is ok. Johnny Lever made his appearance on screen in a guest appearance but no dialogue for him. Ashish Vidyarthi and Latha Sabarwal are ok.
Presentation:
The director has come out with perhaps a very new concept which has never been experienced in the Telugu cinema before. The presentation was perfect but then the narration part lost out, full marks to the technical department especially the camera work and the lighting effects, even the location was good. The music was excellent when heard individually but then it was not in sync with the film, sometimes it was loud and blaring and sometimes it was too pacy for a scene. Editing was upto the mark. Venkat has come back after a long time but then there is no improvement in his dialogue delivery, emotions are missing during voice modulation and facially it is nil. Tulip Joshi was present for a tinge of glamour and despite her pedal pushers outfit, her luscious body cannot be missed, not much was there for her as far as acting goes. The real show stealer was Ali who brought life into the movie with his expressions and he has shown his experience as a senior star. Banerjee was apt as the cop, Ashish Vidyarthi did his brief role with ease, Latha had too much of make up on her at few instances but she exhibited fear properly. Johnny Lever was there for three seconds to be exact.

What is 'new' in this?

No dialogues in first half
Entry of Bollywood Comedian Johnny Lever in last scene of the film
Entire film runs only inside the bungalow
Conclusion:
The film has come across as a scoop from the European thrillers and mystery movies and it was more like a film festival material. The first half of the film starts on a dull mode and there is not a word spoken during the entire session. It is the second half which changes the story and gets momentum and a quick climax connects the dots together to take the film to its destination. Technically and conceptually, the film is well made but with respect to entertainment and appeal it is very hard for it to prove its presence at the box office. Appreciations to the makers for coming out courageously with a new idea and this could well be a very different approach in the Telugu industry when it comes to film making.

Brahmanandam Drama Company

Last year, some comedy films proved hits. Taking a cue from the successes and to cash in on the hit spree, Palli Kesava Rao and K Kishore launched a banner called Sriramachandrulu Films. They chose a Bollywood's hilarious comedy film Bagham Bagh and remade it as Brahmanandam Drama Company, with Brahmanandam, Sivaji, Ravikrishna and Kamalini Mukherjee in the lead. However, they faced many problems to complete the film. Even after it's completion, they could not get good theatres to release their film as many exhibitors were reluctant to give their theatres for small budget films. Somehow, with the help of some buyers and distributors they succeeded in releasing the film. Despite a big talk by producers, who assured that the film would be a laughing riot, it proved to be a big flop as none of the scenes brought even smile on the faces of audiences.
Anandam (Brahmanandam) brings up two orphans (Sivaji and Ravi Krishna). They turn heroes of the drama company run by Anandam. An NRI, who was a womaniser, impressed with the beauty of the heroine, gives them an opportunity to stage plays in Bangkok. Once, Sivaji and Ravi try to lure the heroine (Sameeksha) of the drama company because she is quite beautiful. Irked over their behaviour, she quits the drama company before they board the flight. As their drama company gets the abroad chance for the first time, the troupe leaves for the Bangkok, on the advice of Sivaji and Ravi, that they would search a girl there as heroine at Bangkok. So, they start a hunt for a girl. In the process, Ravi comes across Arpita (Kamalini Mukherjee), who pretends that she is suffering from a mental disorder with suicide tendency. Ravi somehow manages to bring her and shake legs with them in the show. After some time, again she meets with an accident in a bid to commit suicide and pretends that she is the wife of one Mahendra (Raghu). Again the entire drama troupe gets fixed in a murder case and the police claim that Arpita committed suicide blaming the drama company staff responsible for the death. But the trio (Anandam, Sivaji and Ravi), somehow escape from the police. Later, they face so many problems. Again they find Arpitha alive. She unwinds the real story and tells them that her name is Archana and she got fixed in a trap by Mahendra, who killed his wife. In the climax, the police arrest, Mahendra and the trio heave a sigh of relief.
PLUS: There is absolutely no story in the film and it is just a treatment-based film. The director chose to remake the film, exactly like the Bollywood original. However, none of the artistes could recreate a similar wonder on the Telugu screen. It was Brahmanandam, who stole the limelight with his performance. A couple of songs in the film are good to watch. Honestly, there are no plus points which could take the film on a hit path.

MINUS: None of the heroes Sivaji or Ravi Krishna could deliver good performance and as the title suggested, it is just like a drama and nothing more. Ravi Krishna has neither shown any expression nor shaken leg with ease in dance sequences. Kamalini is okay and a couple of songs shot on her are nice to watch, though not great. The director failed to utilise the huge star cast. Especially, the galaxy of comedians of the Telugu film industry, who co-starred in the film could evoke laughter. All the scenes are cinematic and artificial. Sivajiraja, who is really a good artiste, also has disappointed the audiences with a clown like character. Dialogues by Ramesh-Gopi also lack any punch.
REMARKS: The audience who go to the theatres with a strong belief that the huge cast of comedians would give them adequate entertainment would face a miserable disappointment in the absence of worthy comic scenes. The poor screenplay scripted by the director embarrasses the audiences. The audiences need not feel bad for missing this film.
Cast: Brahmanandam, Sivaji, Ravi Krishna, Kamalini Mukherjee, Sameeksha, Ranganath, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Jeeva, Ali, AVS, Raghubabu, Sivajiraja, Allari Ravi, Raghu, Kamal, Gundu Sudarshan, Apoorva, Sasirekha, and others
Credits: Camera – PS Babu, Music – Sai Karthik, Dialogues – Ramesh-Gopi, Fights – Selva, Presents – B Gurunath Reddy, Producers – Palli Kesava Rao and K Kishore, Screenplay and direction – I Srikanth,

Sangamam

This is the second film for Rasool Ellore, a cameraman turned director. Ramana Pemmaraju and Kripakar produced this film on Manoranjan Entertainments banner with new cast in the lead. Sindhura Gadde, Rohit Khurana, Sara played the lead.

The film starts off in Village backdrop and then shifts to US. Two brothers seperate in village as one moves his base to USA. Turn of events, Sanskriti (Sindhura Gadde) from village ends up at her uncle place unknowingly and falls in love with Abhiram (Rohit Khurana). However, she realizes her constraints and will not express it to him. Sanskriti moves back to India and convinces her father that his brother is all good. All things are well and the brothers unite but her marriage is fixed with their choice. Meanwhile, Abhiram is in India too. See on the screen to know what happens after that.

Abhiram had few resemblances to Salman Khan. Intentional or unintentional, even his body language also seemed to be imitating salman Khan. At times there is mismatch in his lip moment. He should improve in that aspect. Similar is the issue with Sindhura Gadde. In fact, Sara who played sister to Sindhura looked beautiful. Overall, the lead pair looked artificial. That impact is seen even on the seasoned actors. Comedy done for Brahmanandam does not impress. In stead it feel a bit over the board.

Rasool tried to present the film in Cross over films league. The attempt is good. He takes two different cultures, bringing up and tries to discuss on those lines. However, the narration and screenplay disapoints. The pace of the film is slow and the dialogs does not help the film anywhere. Music given by Keeravani is average. same is the case with re-recording. Cinematography by Jayaram, Sandeep Reddy is good.

Overall, first half of the film is decent but there is some lag. Second half takes a beating. It is a good attempt but disappoints overall.

Hare Ram

Cast: Kalyanram (dual role), Priyamani, Sindhu Tholani, Rajeev Kanakala, Chalapati Rao, Sudha, Chandramohan, Seetha, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Ali, Venumadhav, Raghubabu, Nutan Prasad, Ashok Kumar, etc.
Story: Gowri Shankar
Dialogues: Swamiji-Vijay
Screenplay: Swamiji-Vijay, Harsha Vardhan
Camera: C. Ram Prasad
Art: Vivek Annamalai
Choreography: Suchitra Chandrabose, Brunda, Sobhi, Swarna
Fights: Ram-Lakshman, Selva
Music: Mickey J. Meyer
Lyrics: sirivennela Seetarama Sastry
Editing: Gautham Raju
Producer: Nandamuri Kalyanram
Screenplay and Direction: Harsha Vardhan

What's it all about?
Harikrishna and Ram (both played by Kalyanram) are born twins, but Ram is diagnosed to be soft-headed and he develops a grudge on anyone who's more intelligent than he is. In a situation where their dad (Chandramohan) is very concerned about Ram hurting even Harikrishna for the latter's being more intelligent, their mother (Seetha) walks out of the house with Ram, in order to protect her mentally affected child. In a turn of events, Hari, raised by his uncle and aunt (Chalapati Rao & Sudha), turns out to be an IPS officer - the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).
In events that follow, Hari gets into a little altercation with the health minister Shiva Reddy (Kota Srinivasa Rao) who is behind a health mafia along with his brother Dr. G.K. Reddy (Rajeev Kanakala), and the chairman of 10TV channel Surya Prakash (Ashok Kumar). Suddenly, both their brothers get killed one after the other. Ram is thought to be behind the murders, since those dead met him just before their murders, and because they claimed they were very intelligent. ACP Hari is in a fix to shoot his twin brother at sight! With CBI intervention, and with the health mafia case in the backdrop, the rest of the story revolves around nabbing Ram and punishing the baddies. Of course, there are twists and turns that retain the interest of the audience.
Performances
Cast:
Kalyanram dons two roles as Hari and Ram, and he does the job very well. His performance as a psychopath and as a sophisticated officer are distinct and appreciable, starting with his body language and makeup to his diction. Kalyanram's ease in acting can be seen all through. Priyamani as the love interest of the ACP role, and as an undercover CBI officer, handles the two shades of her role really well. She also gets into some glamor show in the songs. Sindhu Tholani comes as an element of surprise, as a journalist that loves Ram and makes him normal. This is not the first time she takes up such a role - she makes herself a good fit.
Brahmanandam as taxi driver Nijam is good, while Raghubabu as a police inspector adds to some comedy along with him. Ali and Venumadhav appear in insignificant roles that they could have easily handled anyway. Rajeev Kanakala has a short role as a wicked doctor who isolates deadly viruses and later creates and sells the remedy at a high price. The rest of the cast does the job well. Seetha is particularly good in sentimental scenes.
Technical Departments:
The story reminds of Manmatha in its theme, but it seems to be inspired from the Korean film Soo (2007) too. Swarna Subbarao (Vijayendra Varma fame), rechristened as Harsha Vardhan, handled the direction department well. With good screenplay and a story that's modified a lot to suit our nativity, he comes up with a movie that does portray his caliber. Narration is good too, though it could have been better-paced. There are also symbolic shots such as a confident Kalyanram confronting Kota and wearing his "cooling" glasses (sun-goggles) while Kota removes his own "cooling" glasses, indicating that the protagonist is cool and the antagonist lost it. Music by Mickey J. Meyer is one major plus point of the film - songs are good because of lyrics by the veteran Seetarama Sastry and good orchestration and visuals. The choice of using a rap, hip-hop styled song (inkonchem freedom tecchEsukundaam... for a love duet is a bit surprising.
Also, the choreography for this song is more surprising because the lyric says the love pair doesn't care for anyone else in the world and that they're the world themselves, but the choreography includes tens of group dancers all over the place! The theme song is really good and used very effectively. Rerecording needs particular mention too, since it elevates the mood of the movie on the whole.
Camerawork by Ramprasad is very impressive, with mind-blowing shots such as the glass piece through Kota's hand, reflection of Kalyanram having a different expression than his face, reflection of the hospital roof in Kalyanram's eyeball after CBI investigation, etc.. Dialogues were good in parts, but faced a lot of censoring, with new rules in place. Even the caste-indicating part of Rajeev Kanakala's name is cut out, thus making him "Dr. G.K. (muffled pause)". Some dialogues connected to the current political scenario such as "chaTTam tana pani taanu chEsukupOtundi" by the Health Minister are edited out. Action sequences are well-choreographed and the camera work is very good in fights, but one can expect that the violence levels would be high because one of the two male lead roles is portrayed as that of a psychopath.
Notable Scenes/Dialogues:
* "nuvvu iddarU baagunDaalani kOrukunTunnaav! nEnu veeDu okkaDainaa batiki unDaalani kOrukunTunnaa!" (Chandramohan to Seetha)
* "prEminchaDaaniki andamgunDaali, peLLi chEsukOvaTaaniki andamgunDaali... Manager post-ki kooDaa andamgaa unDaalaa?!" (Ali to Priyamani)
* "atanu magaaDu, nEnu aaDadaanni. idi chaaladaa (to impress Kalyanram)" "raajyaalE koolipOyinayi! itanO lekkaa! veLLammaa, veLLu!$quot; (Priyamani-Ali)
* "palakaristE parichayamavutundi, goDava paDitE gurtunDipOtundi." (Priyamani to Ali, about picking a fight with Kalyanram on their first meeting)
* "Bodyguard-laa venTa paDitE boyfriend ayipOtaavaa?" (Priyamani to Kalyanram)
* "Meter enta tirigitE anta istE chaalu!" "Car enta tirigitE anta kaadaa?"(Brahmanandam-Kalyanram)
* "pillakaakivi anukunnaa... powerful 'khaakii'vE!" (Kota to Kalyanram)
* Importance of Charminar, as a monument constructed after eradication of plauge in Hyderabad (Rajeev Kanakala to Sindhu Tholani)
* Venumadhav's entry brought a lot of applause, but it died down when the role was very limited and not so impressive.
* Kalyanram's performance as a psychopath, and changing his "mode", particularly in the climax scene.
Bottom Line:
The film has a not-new story told in a decent way, coupled with decent enough performances by everyone. The film is surely an okay film, but how the film fares actually is to be seen. It seems to be inspired by Korean film Soo

Ullasamga Utsahamga

Cast: Yasho Sagar, Sneha Ullal, Chandramohan, Brahmanandham, Kavitha, Sunil, Sudharani, Suman Shetty, Venu Madhav and others.
Music: Gv Prakash Kumar
Direction: Karunakaran
Producers: BC Somu, GS Ranganath

Ullasamga Utsahamga is a movie with all the ingredients fairly mixed. But the conclusion of the story line neither can be categorized as a romantic entertainer or just a family entertainer. The first half is well mixed with Romance in the subject to make a youthful entertainer. The film turns seriously tangled into a sacrificial script in the second half.
Story
Dhanalakshmi (Sneha Ullal) is the gorgeous daughter of the rich village head who is assigned the post of the village Zamindari. As usual Dhanalakshmi is unlucky to grow up in the hands of her mother as her own mother dies when she is in her childhood and so her father marries Kavitha. So as expected, the stepmother spreads her evil pangs over the head of Dhanalakshmi. The reason for this is because the whole Zamindari property worth 50 Cr is registered on the name of Dhanalakshmi before her father (Sneha’s Father) dies. As a second wife Kavitha gets only a paltry share of 50 lacs. For this reason Kavitha pesters her step child and holds her in her control.
Meanwhile, to ignite the love flame in the film Dhanalakshmi has a childhood friend named Balaji? But unfortunately Balaji’s father gets transferred and so Balaji leaves Dhanalaksmi and leaves to an undisclosed destination. When Dhanalakshmi grows up, she dreams about Balaji and then learns that she is in love with him.
Meanwhile, Kavitha plans to marry her step daughter to an innocent boy of her choice in order to take the hold of the entire property. Knowing this Dhanalakshmi leaves her home and runs away.
Dhanalaksmi migrates to her friend who resides in the city. Incidentally she meets the hero Aravind (Yasho Sagar). Aravind is a go free attitude dude who never cares or worries about anything. He is pampered by his father Chandramohan and Sudha in such a way that he never thinks about his future.
Aravind falls in love with Dhana, but Dhanalaksmi unable to forget her childhood friend and so reciprocates Aravind’s love. Aravind learns the truth and then helps Dhanalaksmi to trace her childhood friend turned lover. But a twist takes place then and finally Aravind wins his beloved back.
Performances
Yasho sagar does the role of an innocent youth in a sincere manner. His dialogue delivery and body language is well suited and never makes the audience that he is just a debutant.
Sneha Ullal does an impressive performance in a convincing way. She looks hot in some scenes. Her traditional costumes and salwar Kameez well suit her character. Sneha looks awesome in ultra glam doll scenes which are depicted in the songs.
Kavitha as a stepmother does her role with ease. Though her role is challenging, with all the experience in the industry Kavitha gives her 100% to the role.
The comedy track lead by Brahmanandham is little bit pale and dry. Some comedy scenes do churn out the tickles in the audience.
The music is well deservingly appraisable. The scenic locales will be apt for the tunes and the cinematography must be applauded for this. Most of the scenic locales are handled in and around the greenery of Karnataka.
The direction is average, but the dull script is well lifted with some innovative ideas from the wits of the director.
On the whole, since this movie is a petite starrer movie it may run on the whole up to 40 days. But sincerely this movie can be tagged as a family entertainer as the ingredients of Romance, sentiment, sacrifice are well mixed and presented. This movie is already declared as a musical entertainer as the music seems to be soothing to the ears.

Kathanayakudu

Cast: Jagapathi Babu, Meena, Rajnikant, Nayanatara, Prabhu (guest), Mamta Mohandass, Geeta, Master Amar, Baby Shafna, Baby Ravath, Sunil, Ali, Brahmanandam (guest), M.S. Narayana, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Nizhalgal Ravi, Tanikella Bharani, etc.
Story: Srinivasan
Dialogues: Marudhuri Raja
Music: G.V. Prakash Kumar
Art: Thota Tarani
Editing: Saravana
Camera: Aravind Krishna
Action: Dalapathi Dinesh
Choreography: Raghava Lawrence, Brunda, D.K.S. Babu, Ashok Raj
Producer: C. Aswini Dutt, G.P. Vijay Kumar
Direction: P. Vasu
Date of Theatrical Release: August 01, 2008
Summary:
Kathanayakudu is the story of two friends
in the lines of Krishna and Kuchela found as a part of the mythological epic of Bhagavatam.
What's it all about?
Balakrishna (Jagapathi Babu) is a barber by profession, who has his own principles and self-esteem. It's tough for him to make ends meet in his family of wife Sreedevi (Meena) and three children Sobha, Geetha, and Ashok Kumar, or to upgrade his old hair
saloon in the village of Sirisilla. Meanwhile, a super star of the filmdom Ashok Kumar (Rajnikant), heroine Nayanatara (Nayanatara) and their unit (Mamta Mohandass, Nizhalgal Ravi, Vijaykumar, P. Vasu, etc.) come for a shooting in this village backdrop. Word spreads that Ashok Kumar and Balakrishna were childhood friends, and soon this new friend-of-a-celebrity status brings in pleasant offers to Balakrishna from the villagers. Did Balakrishna even meet Ashok Kumar amidst his heavy security personnel (Prabhu et al.)? Did the super star recognize his old friend?
Performances
Cast:
Rajnikant appears in his real-life role, albeit with a different name. His role is essentially limited to portray the glitter and craze that surrounds showbiz personalities, and he looks great and stylish in all the different getups. However, there are scenes specific to Rajnikant's original style and lifestyle. The climax speech offers a touching performance by the super star! Jagapathi Babu lives in the role of a modest individual that is not tempted to lose his values even in dire conditions. His silent performance towards the climax speaks more than any dialogue can! Meena repeats her role from the Malayalam original Katha Parayumbol, as the wife of the barber. She looks good and gives a good performance too. Nayanatara appears in her real life role, as heroine Nayanatara herself. Her role is essentially limited to the shooting part in the village - and thus has a duet with Rajnikant - but there's a solo number outside the film's shooting, intelligently inserted.
Mamta Mohandass comes as a part of the film crew, in a very insignificant role that you'd miss watching if you look away from the screen for a few seconds each time. Prabhu, the main hero in the director-super star's previous super hit combo Chandramukhi appears as the head of the security team that protects the super star in the film. Sunil takes the major share of comedy, albeit a bit loud sometimes. Dharmavarapu, Duvvasi Mohan, Narsing Yadav, M.S. Narayana, and Kondavalasa Lakshman Rao form a team of aspiring moviemakers in Sirisilla village and provide some comedic relief. The rest of the crew fits in with nothing much to talk about.
Technical Departments:
The story is clearly inspired by the anecdote in Hindu mythology but is based on the evergreen bonds of friendship, and the original story is sourced from Katha Parayumbol (Malayalam - 2007); even the names of the male leads were directly adopted with a Telugu touch. (Balan becomes Balakrishna and Ashok Raj becomes Ashok Kumar.) The original storywriter Srinivasan, who also played the barber's role in Malayalam, is credited for this version. P. Vasu should be commended for his skill of elevating the short role of Mammootty in the original to a life-size image of Rajnikant, filling the gaps with his styles and for dedicating a scene to answer questions as Rajnikant himself (sans the name)!
Narration is slow, Music by A.R. Rahman's nephew G.V. Prakash Kumar is okay for songs but lacks freshness, while the re-recording is also just okay. Lyrics are okay. Anantha Sriram's lyrics on the movie world Cinema cinema... is simple yet impressive. Choreography is rich in general; the picturization of raa raa raa raa raamayya-annaa... is a bit over the edge. Camerawork is decent, particularly in the songs chal chal chalilE... and vacchE vacchE vaana.... Dialogues by Marudhuri Raja in the Telugu version are okay with some comedy as necessary. Dubbing, supervised by Shashank Vennelakanti, and provided by S.P.B. (Rajnikant) and Savitha Reddy (Nayanatara) is commendable, but lip sync misses for most other characters.
Notable Scenes/Dialogues:
* "konna vaaLLu SaaSwatam kaadu... unna bhoomE SaaSwatam!" (Rajnikant)
* "Cigarette peTTe dorakagaanE aggipeTTe pOyinaTTundi naa paristhiti!" (Sunil)
* "akkaDi nunchi choostE chinna wall-laa undi. ikkaDikocchi choostE China wall-laa undi!" (Sunil)
* "ninnu adRshTam peeka meeda kaalEsi tokkEsindi!" (Sunil)
* Rajni's dialogues in the scene where the school Committee invites him to their silver jubilee event. Particularly, his dialogues about Kamal Hasan, difference between manaSSaanti (mental peace) and santOsham (happiness) in the context of his frequent visits to Himalayas, about his entry into politics, etc.
* "unna ooru kanna goppa ooru lEdani naaku telusu. kaanee, nee kannaa naaku sonta vaaLLevarU lEru!" (Rajnikant)
Points to note:
* It is not Rajnikant's film as the title suggests. The real Kathanayakudu is Jagapathi Babu. Rajni appears hardly 40 minutes (in and out).
* Sirisilla is the chosen name of the village where the story happens. This village in Karimnagar district of Telangana region is spoken to be in Andhra Pradesh-Tamilnadu border, while still saying that there's a problem with naxals here!
* The film that's being shot in the village is titled Kucheludu according to a poster that's seen in the first scene that the crew lands. Later, there's a mention of Narasimha - Part 2 and Chandramukhi - Part 2, while the song shot on Rajnikant and Nayanatara as a part of that film has sets like that of ancient Egypt culminating in the waters of Kerala! What film was being shot anyway?! Or, should one assume that several films were shot with the same cast and crew in the same schedule? If the song was shown to be taken with cuts, like in reality, it'd have been a bit more natural. (Remember poonagavE pooladi... song in Iddaru?)
* Except for Rajnikant's stylish presence and presentation, coupled with Jagapathi Babu and the rest of the crew, how different was the film's treatment when one gets reminded of a thematically similar movie of recent past - Tarun's Nava Vasantham? (The original Tamil movie for this film, Punnagai Desam, was released in 2002.) In fact, what was shown as a climax of that film is most of this film, dragged around.
Bottom Line:
While the movie can bring craze in the name of Rajnikant, the content is wafer-thin, moves in a slow pace, and lacks in the departments of comedy and music that could have held audiences' interests better. The film may be saved by the craze of Rajnikant, and even that garnered by Jagapathi Babu recently. Go with an open mind to see Rajnikant showing his styles naturally, and to see Jagapathi Babu's moving performance, and you'd possibly not be disappointed. Go with great expectations based on the director-star's hit combination Chandramukhi and you would surely be disappointed!

Baladoor

Cast:
Superstar Krishna, Ravi Teja, Anushka, Brahmanandam, Pradeep Rawat, Subba Raju and others
Story: Paruchuri Brothers
Dialogues: Laxmi Bhoopal, Jaladandi
Music: KM Radhakrishnan
Choreography: Brinda, Dinesh and Prem Rakshit
Fights: Ram Laxman
Producer: Suresh
Screenplay, Direction: Uday Shankar

High sentiment and low entertainment

The Review
With an age old story, screenplay and execution, Ravi Teja-Anushka starrar Baladoor fails to reach expectation but stands out as an average flick. Ravi Teja’s kind of entertainment is completely missing in the film. Though this flick has got all commercial elements, sentiment dominated every other thing. And too much of everything is too bad. That what happened with Baladoor. Action sequences, romance, comedy—all other sequences are not given enough scope and are not handled in fresh way and the punch is missing in all these sections. Even the Bramhanandam comedy also falls flat on the screen. He hardly makes the viewer laugh. The best aspects are the songs were picturized very well. Overall the first half of the film is okay but the second half tests the patience in few scenes. Watch it out for the sentiment aspect of the film and the oomph factor of Anushka. The flick has got many similarities to Venkatesh starrar Lakshmi especially the sentimental scenes and the villan’s attempts divide hero’s family.
Synopsis
Chanti (Ravi Teja) respects his uncle (Rama Krishna) very much and gets ready for doing anything for the sake of his uncle. Ramakrishna is a builder, who has many conflicts with another builder (Pradeep Rawat). Meanwhile Bhanumathi (Anushka) falls in love with Chanti and keeps running for his love. Everything seems to be pretty good until Chanti’s life until he gets divided from his uncle after some misunderstanding. How did Chanti take care of his uncle and his family and how he manages to unit with the family is all about the rest of the story.
Artistic Performances
Ravi Teja plays a character which has more sentimental touch than entertaining elements. If Ravi Teja is looking forward to prove as an all-rounder this is a brilliant step. He is at his bet in all the scenes but the director failed to write and execute the scenes properly. He tried his best in the scenes, especially in the sympathy driven scenes. His entertainment is missing through out the film. Anushka is sizzling in the songs. She is at her glam best. But as usually in few scenes, her dialogues and her expressions cross limits and look vulgar. Super Krishna justified her role but in the climax action sequences simply makes you laugh with his power shots. Pradeep Rawat, Subbaraju justified their roles as villans.
Technical Performances
Director Uday Shankar, who earlier has given a super hit family entertainer Kalisundam Raa with Venkatesh took a message oriented subject-Kalasi Unte Kaladu Sukham, but failed to narrate in an entertaining way. He was depended more on the sentimental aspects than the entertaining aspect. Story by Paruchuri brothers lakhs freshness. How many such stories they provide? Screenplay and execution all lacks freshness and creativity. Its look like an old wine in a new bottle. Music by K.M.Radha Krishnan is okay. But the background score is disappointing. All other departments justified their roles.

Salute

Banner: GK Productions
Cast: Vishal, Nayantara, Upendra, Ali, Kota Srinivas Rao, Brahmanandham and other artists
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Director: Rajashekar
Producer: Vikram Krishna

The movie was much hyped and much awaited movie for all the fans of Vishal. But the script in his film gets lost in the middle and then emerges out from nowhere. Although the movie is scripted to highlight a strict cop, the narration and the screenplay are not perfectly up to the mark. Though the fans of Vishal and Nayan get disappointed by the story, the on -screen chemistry between the lead brings some soothing breeze to the audience.
Story
The story begins in the first frame showing Satyam (Vishal) as a strict law abiding police officer who goes according to the law full procedures. He is against non-violence and believes that every culprit who evades law must be punished in accordance with the Justice and the Indian penal code. He is also against the Encounter police which the present day cops employee to eradicate the anti social elements.
In the meantime the political scenario in the state changes and a well known politician with an evil background is made the Chief Minister (Kota Srinivas Rao) of the state. He in order to reduce his enemies hires a killer on contract and hands over them all then name who have to be eradicated from his path.
Incidentally, the Chief Minister discovers that his job is being made easy, as an unknown killer is on a killing spree in eradicating the CM’s enemies.
Then our powerful and strict police office Mr. Satyam is given the job to nab the killer. He is none other than Prathap which is a character played by the well known artists Upendra. Prathap is a former police officer who gets betrayed in his profession by some men who hold high post in the society.
Then the real fight begins between Satyam and Prathap. And the lawful police officer is keen to eliminate Prathap from the world in order to save some people. In the meanwhile, Divya (Nayantara) emerges on the screen as a crime reporter
Then the real suspense and thrill begin in the minds of the audience. What is the mission of Prathap? Who is Nayantara? And what happens in the end is the conclusion of the story.
Performance
Vishal looks superb with his six pack abs. He is going to get molested by young girls if he goes into the public. His well toned body adds more glitter to his tall, dark handsome resemblance. His character as a cop well suits him. But it can be concluded that for a dull subject like this, Vishal has wasted his voluble time.
Upendra has acted according to his character his serious role suits to his body language and well apt expressions according to the dialogues make him a versatile actor.
Nayantara is just limited to a brief role of a crime reporter. Her costumes in songs and her dresses in the scenes are really seductive. She is like a glam doll to attract the mass audience.
Kota odes his regular villainy acting very well and Brahmanandham backs the comedy element in this film.
The director has failed in some areas like presenting the story, comedy track and in the climax. The story becomes jumbled up and is so irritating in the end. The usual cop story is twisted in such a way that the audiences feel exhausted after the movie.
Songs are presented without any required situations and the music is also no at all impressive.
On the whole there is nothing new in this film and may be banking on Nayantara’s shapes and sizes. The film will run for 2 weeks at the most.

Black and White

Cast: Rajiv Kanakala, Sindhu Tolani, Jackie Shroff, Uttej, Ali, Raghu, Raj Bharat, Jeeva, Sandesh, Melkote, CVL Narasimha Rao, Jenny, Arthi, Soumya, Surekhavani, Ayesha Jaleel and others
Director:Srikanth Vemulapalli
Producer:P.Udaykiran
Music:Vijay Kurakula
Lyrics: Vanamali
Camera: Joshi
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Presents:Maithri Films Pvt Ltd
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues:Srikanth Vemulapalli

Black and White

Several films have come with treason by extremists as the backdrop. In most of the cases, the extremists made use of religion, politics as the source to show extremism. Director Srikanth, went a step ahead, and tried family system too as a source in this regard. Once again the Telugu film industry tries to highlight how the innocent are getting caught in the cobweb, despite the high-level patriotism they have in mind. He was able to maintain a good amount of suspicion to certain extent, but he lost grip on the subject frequently which has caused a bumpy movement of the film.

Plot:

Bharat (Rajiv Kanakala) is an orphan and brought up in a orphanage. Sreenu (Uttej) is his close friend. Bharat studies hard and becomes a software professional. Being an orphan, he loves children very much. Once some extremists plan to attack the police and gain entry into his car and forcibly take him with them to the outskirts of the city. By the time, they were about to blast the police jeep and van, Bharat drives his car to block the movement of the police and saves them. As a result, the government announces Best Citizen Award and he is expected to take the award from the President of India on Republic Day.
Story:
At this juncture, he comes across Sameera (Sindhu Tulani), who is doing fashion designing. Their friendship grows and turns into love. With the acceptance of Sameera's parents (CVL Narasimha Rao and Ayesha Jaleel), they get married. However, Sameera keeps a condition that their first night should be only after completion of her studies. Meanwhile, there is an attack on Bharat and somehow he survives from it. Again there is another attack in the form of electric shock and accidentally Sreenu gets it, and he too survives from it. Just before the Republic Day, i.e., on January 15, Bharat tries to surprise Sameera and wish her happy birthday at midnight and she hits him with a flower vase causing grievous injury. So, left with no option, Bharat tells Sameera to go to Delhi and receive the award. At this juncture, a bomb blast occurs in Hyderabad in which two persons get killed. The case is handed over to CBI. The CBI officer Khan (Jackie Shroff), who is very shrewd, notices a car in a video footage and finds that it belongs to Bharat. He questions Bharat, but could not find any conclusive evidence.
On investigation, the CBI sleuths notice that Sameera's parents were Muslims. Then they arrest Sameera's father, who reveals the entire story. Sameera is a Muslim girl and her fiancee, who masterminds blasts in Mumbai gets killed just before their engagement. So, she had decided to avenge the killing. As per a plan, she cornered Bharat and married him. On learning this, Khan and Bharat go to the function, but could not stop her from going to the dais due to some security reasons. However, Bharat to prevent a disaster, snatches Khan's revolver and kills Sameera.
Perfomence:
The director has maintained suspense all through the film and the storyline though not predictable appears to be somewhat interesting. Rajiv Kanakala gave an impressive performance. Sindhu Tulani is at her best. She not only filled the glamour slot, but also appeared romantic in some scenes and got good opportunity to prove her acting capabilities. Jackie Shroff, though appeared a little old, did justice to his role. Uttej is good as hero's buddy. However, Rajiv Kanakala's performance is the only highlight and plus point for the movie
Music:
Though the storyline is average, the director gave a good twist to it. Though it was he who penned the story, screenplay and dialogues, the director due to inexperience remained butter fingered. He lost grip while running the subject many times. Music by Vijay Kurakula though not very impressive in songs, with no foot-tapping numbers, his background score is good and has elevated the mood of the film in some scenes.
Last Word:
Camera work by Joshi is not bad and Marthand K Venkatesh did a neat job. Production values of UK Avenues are okay. The film is good for serious viewing, and the entertainment values are very less. Placement of songs is also improper and spoiled the tempo of the film. Srikanth Vemulapalli, however, appeared a promising director, and hopes he could deliver a good film in his next project by learning from the drawbacks he faced in this film.

Sidhu from Seekakulam

Cast: Naresh, Manjari, Shraddha Das, Dharmavarapu, Chandra Mohan, Kondavalasa, Venu Madhav and Others.
Cinematography: Dasaradhi Shivendra.
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswararao.
Music: KM Radha Krishnann.
Story, Screenplay & Direction : Eswar
Producer: Malla Vijay Prasad.
Banner: Wellfare Creations.

Sidhu from Srikakulam has to be one of the Silliest Flicks of the season. It stars Allari Naresh and others, and is produced by Welfare Group of companies. This is what happens when you produce movies without any idea about filmmaking or was it that they wanted to shell out a sure-flop for “tax reasons”? Whatever the reasons, lot of people escaped during the break. Probably in therapy now.

Manjari and NareshPlot Sidhu woes Shailu with his ‘reverse' techniques. Then he finds out she is the daughter of a Rayalaseema factionist. The local SI gets her father and his rival together and somehow convinces them to get their children married to end the rivalry. Sidhu's friends are ready to help them elope, but Sidhu has other plans. He wants to break up because it's all too dangerous, and Shailu tries to woo him for a good part of the movie. Whether he changes his mind about her and how they finally get together is the rest of the plot.

Story, Screenplay and Direction The screenplay has a non-linear narrative, and some of the ideas incorporated in the screenplay could have actually made it tolerable. But with childish dialogue, shoddy direction and hamming all the way, that doesn't seem like an option. We might agree or disagree with the story as such, or conclude that the girl is a bimbette for falling for him and then trying to win him later; but that's not the point. The point of view of perspective of the director counts for less than the vision of the direction. Here, the vision is obviously rusted.

The comedy is forced and has absolutely no spontainity. The lone star of the show is Ahuthi Prasad, who after a really good character in Chandamama, has come back with another character that suits him and he performs with élan. He plays the role of Shailu's unbelievably lazy uncle, and his character, in any other movie, would have made a difference. In this, it is the thin silver lining of a very dark cloud.

Naresh and Shraddha DasPerformances Shailu's sister has a svelte figure, and sizzles in an unnecessary number. Some of those scenes with her and Sidhu border on vulgarity, more so because of the silliness rather than the sexuality in it. The content of her exposing is not new today and doesn't shock, but the context-an NRI who has come for her cousin's wedding in good ol' AP-is totally out of place.

Last WordThe pace is really slow, the movie has little to offer and music or performances are nothing to write home about. A waste of time, Sidhu from Srikakulam has none of the comedy or vigor expected out of the catchy title and the presence of Naresh. The real damper? It has a 5 minute introduction to the makers, the producers, the company profile, patting of backs and anticipation of success before even the titles begin. Yawn!

Bujjigadu

Bujjigadu : This is entertaining movie. For relief you can watch it. But this is not a worthy movie from puri jagannath. Very low level and low standards in making this movie. Mohan babu appearance and action was good to large extent but could not be utilized properly by the director. Trisha appearance is good but action is so so..

Ankit Pallavi and Friends

Ankit Pallavi and Friends, as the title suggests, is a youth entertainer. Well! That is the present trend too. Hari Yeleti, who made debut as director, seems to have taken off from Sekhar Kammula left in Happy Days. Happy Days film portrays the life of a group of Engineering going students. Hari takes it from there and shows that life can enjoyed after college too. And Hari took 5 characters to etch out his ponit. Every human being wants to enjoy an accomplished life and what the 5 friends did to reach that point is all Ankit Pallavi and Friends about.

Ankit (Nikhil), Pallavi (Megha), Raja (Surya), Gopi (Pradeep), and Sunil (venu) are friends. They all are in the same neighbourhood. All the 5 have different characters and their own way of looking at life. Ankit always looks at enjoying to that moment. He wants to become a music director in life. Gopi aims at going abroad after Engineering. Raja is a kind hearted person who will jump to the service of anyone and Sunil is in a state of confusion waiting for his father to start his business. Ankit and Pallavi are in love. On one particular clash of egoes, Ankit and Pallavi part ways. What did Ankit do? Did he win his love? Watch it on the screen.

Performance wise, Nikhil has lot of ease. He showed ample of it in Happy Days and he proves it yet again here. His dialog timing, expressions all are original. However, smoking and drinking scenes seemed a bit artificial. Megha Burman is content in her role. But she delivers good performance when she realizes her mistake. Among all the friends, Sunil's role generated good comedy.

Good aspect in the film is that comedy is all interleaved in the film. No seperate tracks, no deviation from the original plot. Comedy track among the friends saying Murder for 100 Rs and Kiss for 100 Rs will generate good laughs. Also, the director drives home the point on the present trend of music.

Vinu Thomas's music is good. Vocals in Dost he Dost are supressed by the music. Nalo Pranama song is pleasing to ears. Dialogs are good at times.

Even though this is his first film, Hari Yeleti did a good job with direction. Characterizations and his perspectives on commitment, patience and love are narrated situational. Overall, the film is decent entertainer and will cater to A center. How it will fare in B,C centers should be seen.

Ashta Chemma

Story Indraganti Mohankrishna
Screenplay Indraganti Mohankrishna
Direction Indraganti Mohankrishna
Camera P.G.VInda
Editing Marthand Venkatesh
Music Kalyani Mallik
Art Ravinder
Producer P. Ram Mohan

*ing: Hema, Jhansi, Tanikella Bharani, Srinivas, Bhargavi, Swathi, Nani

Ashta Chemma is the third film for Indraganti Mohankrishna, who bagged national award with his first film itself - Grahanam. He got appreciation from big wigs that he will make the industry proud. However, his second film Mayabazar failed both with critics and box office. The film in review, Ashta Chemma, has good comedy. Mohan Krishna succeeded to the extent of generating good laughs in the film.

Story in brief: Lavanya (Swathi) is a big fan of Mahesh Babu and only dreams of getting married to him. All attempts by her aunt (Jhansi) to get Lavayna married goes futile because of Lavanya's admiration for Mahesh Babu. Since Mahesh Babu is married, Lavanya agrees to marry but his name should be Mahesh babu. Anand (Srinivas Avasarala) is the neighbour of Lavanya and takes up the responsibility of finding a Mahesh for Lavanya. He finds one Mahesh (Nani). Lavanya and Mahesh fall in love. All is well that ends well. But not at this point in the story. It turns out that Mahesh's original name is Rambabu. Did Lavanya and Rambabu get married? What is the ploys done by Anand? Watch it on the screen for the plot.

Swathi is impressive in her role as Lavanya, a die hard fan of Mahesh Babu. Her looks aptly fitted the character of the role where she had to be naughty. Nani, who made his debut, is also impressive. However, at times he reminds of Sumanth in expressions and even in voice. Highlight and key character in the film is that of Anand played by Srinivas Avasarala, who also made debut. Forget about the basics, he really rocked with his timing. Bhargavi, Hema, Thanikella Bharani, Sivannarayana, Jhansi, Vasu, Goparaju and others are content in their roles.

Indraganti Mohan Krishna provided story, screenplay, dialogs and direction for the film. He is successful partly. The reason is that the story is thin lined and hence constrains the scope. Narration is entertaining in the first half but when it comes to second half, there is nothing else to run the story on and hence becomes weak at times. Story has some similarities to old Bollywood flick Jayabadhuri's Guddi. It is the dialogs that Mohankrishna did a commendable job with. He should be applauded for that.

Is it me or the touch of the director with Telugu literature; some flair of Gireesam (kanyasulkam) can be seen in the characterization of Anand. It came out very good.

Music by Kalyani malik is a plus. Adinchi Ashta Chamma, Hello Antoo, Thidatara songs are very good. P.G.Vinda's cinematography is impressive. Marthand Venkatesh's editing is content. As usual, lyrics penned by Sitarama Sastry are very good. Choreography by Nobel is good and movements are decent, contrary to the present trend.

First half of the film is dedicated in showcasing the admiration (fanaticism) that Lavanya has for Mahesh Babu and then Anand introducing her to Rambabu. This part of the film passes on quickly as it has good comedy. When it came to the second half, there is nothing much to carry in terms of concept. Hence a bit of drag is felt. Thanikella Bharani and Hema's track gets a few laughs. And also there is one flashback episode of Rambabu that had good potential of generating hilarious comedy. Somehow, that track failed to generate so much.

First half is good and second half feels drag at times. Overall, Ashta Chemma can be an enjoyable fare.

Saroja

Story Venkat Prabhu
Screenplay Venkat Prabhu
Direction Venkat Prabhu
Camera Sakthi Pawan
Music Yuvan Shankar Raja
Dialogs Shasank Vennelakanti
Art Videsh
Action Stun Siva

*ing: Srihari, PrakashRaj, Vaibhav, Cheran, Kajal Agarwal, Nikita, Brahmanandam

Saroja is the daughter of industrialist Viswanath (Prakashraj). One day, she is kidnapped and the kidnapper demands 20 crores ransom. Ravi (Srihari) is the cop appointed to solve this kidnap mystery. Meanwhile, 4 friends - Ganesh, Swami, Gopichand and Ajay - are on their way to Hyderabad but get themselves involved into strange situations including a murder. They try to escape and come across something that shocks them. What is it? What happened to Saroja? Who kidnapped her? Watch the plot on the screen.

Vaibhav as Gopi, Cheran as Swamy are impressive in their roles. So are the guys who played Ajay and Ganesh in the film. Prakash Raj lived in his role, as usual. Srihari is impressive as cop. Kajal Agarwal is limited to just one song and Nikita plays a vamp. Brahmanandam is successful in getting a few laughs.

The entire film runs in the span of one night. Even though the film starts at an average pace, it gets really thrilling when the 4 friends start their journey. Director is successful in maintaining the tempo with tight narration. However, the revealation in the plot might leave the audience wondering on why some one had to resort to kidnapping for doing good to the society. Biggest drawbacks for the film are loop holes and glitches in the story. Screenplay is pretty tight, though.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is content. Choreography in the song.. Maa Mitrudiki is impressive. All Tamil TV Artists appear in that song.

Overall, if you are up for variety and novel movies, give this a shot. Screenplay is pretty tight but the loop holes in the story are a turn down.

Gunde Jallumandi

Story Madan
Screenplay Madan
Direction Madan
Camera J Prabhakara Reddy
Editing K V Krishna Reddy
Music MM Keeravani
Dialogs Madan
Art T Nagendra Prasad
Presenter Parachoori Kireeti
Producer Parachoori Sivarama Prasad

*ing: Ajay, Venumadhav, Dharmavarapu, Aditi Sarma, Udaykiran


Madan, writer of Aa naluguru and who has Pellaina Kotha to his directorial credits, directed his second film Gunde Jallumandhi with Udaykiran and Aditi Sharma. In this film, Madan takes on the feeling of love. Even though there are some downs, Madan is overall successful is what he wanted to say.

Coming to the story, Neelu (Aditi Sharma) hates men. she has her own reasons for it. She makes up a person - Rajesh and pretends to be in love with him. Meanwhile, Balaraju (Udaykiran) enters the same college. Neelu and Balaraju fall in love with each other. Now enter the scene is the Rajesh character. Neelu herself is shocked. Now, how did Neeru survive Rajesh and did Balaraju get to win her should be seen on the screen.

As far as performances are concerned, every one is content in their roles. Udaykiran seemed to have put on some weight. Even though debut film, Aditi Sharma acted as seasoned artist. She looked beautiful in some angles. Special mention worth is for the character played by Ajay. Even though the character span is short, he is really impressive in that role. (Madan is now planning a film Eela with Ajay in the lead). Comedy in the film is better compared to Pellaina Kothalo but is limited.

Technically, cinematography by J.Prabhakar Reddy is excellent. He gave good visual. Part of the credit for the lead pair looking good will go him. Title song is impressive but the rest will just pass on. background score is content. K.V.krishna Reddy's editing is also content.

Madan provided story, screenplay, dialogs and direction for this film. Madan did justice to all the departments. The film will surely be entertained by the youth.

First half of the film runs with good tempo. In the second half, there are a few scenes that feel dragged. If some entertainment is added in the second half, Gunde Jallumandhi would have been lot more btter. One thing is sure though. This film will give enough breath to Udaykiran.

Overall, Gunde Jallumandhi is a decent entertainer and can be seen once.

Mallepuvvu

Story Ramesh Varma
Screenplay Samudra
Direction Samudra
Camera Anil Bhandali
Music Ilayaraja
Presenter P.Prasad Raju
Producer Samudra, Mohan Vadlapatla
Banner Samudra Silver Screen

*ing: Bhumika

Bhumika is one actress who has been very selective with her roles. Not only she has a good success rate but all the films are well acclaimed too. Her latest film Mallepuvvu, naturally, gained more limelight not only for that reason but several others too including Ilayaraja, Samudra, Ramesh Varma factors. Mallepuvvu seem to be loosely based on Iranian film Baaran. However, the writers are successful in adapting it to regional nativity.

Koti (Murali) works in a construction company. Malli (Bhumika) arrives there in the disguise of a guy. After realizing that Malli is a girl and not a guy, Koti falls in love with her. Meanwhile, police and other folks, who are in search for Malli, get hold of her. Koti ends up in jail after he attempts to free her from those guys. Who is Malli? Why is she in disguise? What happened to her finally? Is Koti successful in her love? Watch the film on silver screen.

Bhumika has already proved herself in different genres. She is paving her way to becoming an accomplished and seasoned actress. Coming to Mallepuvvu, she does not have even a single dialog in the entire first half. She has to only express and she did it with ease. Even though this is first film (as hero) for Murali, who played Koti, he acted very well. He seems a very familiar face on screen. He is for sure impressive in this role.
Director Samudra also played a supporting role int he film. Kovai Sarala, Abhinaya Sri, RK, Suman Shetty, Kadal Sukumar and others added their contribution in the cast.

Story is crux of this film. It is inspired from Baaran (Iranian film). However, Ramesh Varma, writer, is successful in translating to our nativity. Screenplay and hence narration are pretty good.

One of the technical highlights of the film is cinematography. Anil Bhandari proves his skill with the camera and keeps up the name of his guru (Sekhar V. JOseph). On the other hand, music and dialogs in the film could have been better. Ilayaraja composed music. 2 songs are good. Rest are average. Background score could have been better too. Dialogs penned by Vemagiri (new writer) are also not effective.

Samudra is a hard worker. He works to get the output he desires, no matter what. This film Mallepuvvu is different from all the films he made so far. However, Samudra was cautious and skillful enough with his work to bring on the required sensitivity as the name suggests. The screenplay seems more refined compared to his previous films.

Even though there is not much in the first half rather than creating curiosity factor, second half gets good marks in how those questions are unraveled. Overall, Bhumika, Samudra, Ramesh Varma's Mallepuvvu is different with the story and decent film to watch out for.

Raksha

Film: Raksha
Banner: OneMoreThought Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Sound Effects: Pappu, Gopi
Background Score: Bopi Tutul
Editing: Bhanodaya
Producer: Azam Khan
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Vamsikrishna Akella (debut)
Presents: Ram Gopal Verma

Cast: Jagapathi Babu, Kalyani, Baby Neha, Master Atulith, Radhakumari, Subbaraju, Chandrasekhar, Rajeev Kanakala, Sathya Krishnan, Narsing Yadav, Jeeva, Melkote, Jayasudha, Pradeep Rawath etc


The movie deals with the conflict among the powers of God, Evil, and Science, as seen in the case of a child.

Story:

Rajeev (Jagapathi Babu) runs a construction company on his daughter's name Raksha (Neha Thota) and lives happyily with his wife Arthi (Kalyani), mother (Radhakumari), and his children Rahul (Master Atulith) and Raksha. The construction crew finds a stone with an embossed shape like Lord Ganesha. Despite the repeated insistence of Site Manager Shyam (Narsing Yadav), Rajeev declines the plea to build a temple there, since it'd change their construction plans totally. The site incharge Vinay (Subbaraju) once complains to Rajeev that the latter's close friend Venu (Rajeev Kanakala) and his wife Madhu (Sathya Krishnan) have been cheating the company. An enraged Rajeev kicks them out of his house and workplace. Strange happenings occur at Rajeev's home, and soon his daughter Raksha starts behaving strangely. Is it a case of black magic? Or, is it a psychiatric problem? Or, is it Lord Ganesha's anger? Did the atheist Rajeev heed to his mom and wife and consult black magicians for a solution? What did the doctors find about the girl? The film goes through several scenes that bring a shudder or a stir within, as the real reasons are revealed.

Performances:

Jagapathi Babu gave a very good performance as the tensed parent of a lovable daughter. His silence also is so expressive, particularly in the scene where he looks at his mom in the hospital when a black magician walks in. Baby Neha is superb as the child that undergoes trauma, and so is cuet Atulith as her innocent younger brother. Kalyani is adequate as the mother of two children, who cannot command her loving husband, and Radhakumari is fitting as the grandmother of the children, who strongly believes in black magic, voodoo and other such occult powers. Pradeep Rawath gives a totally different performance in the distinct role he got to play in the film. Jeeva is dignified as a child psychologist, Subbaraju is good, and Jayasudha appears in a special role as Seema, the country's renowned psychiatrist.

Technical Departments:

The film's theme is inspired by, and is loosely based on, the popular trilogy of Yandamuri Virendranath from the late '70s and early '80s - the novels Tulasi, tulasiidaLam, and ashTaavakra. The story is convincing, and the treatment is good too in that it leaves open questions to the audience towards the end. Sound effects, BGM, and audiography, the key departments for a thriller, are commendably handled. Interestingly, the film doesn't depend much on visual effects, but camerawork is good and the lighting effects are good. Dialogues are good, with light comedy when possible, and thought-provoking when necessary. The director should be appreciated for a tight screenplay, convincing narration, and conviction in execution, without taking the focus off the theme with distractions such as songs. Certain symbolic shots are good too, such as the way he shows everyone "praying" in their own way about the child's well-being towards the end of the film.

Bottom Line:

Raksha is an intense suspense thriller powered by gripping screenplay, good background score and audio effects, and decent performances. It'd appeal to those sections of audiences that like films of this genre.

Sowryam

Story Shiva Kumar
Screenplay Shiva Kumar
Direction Shiva Kumar
Camera Vetri
Editing Marthand Venkatesh
Music Mani Sharma
Dialogs M Ratnam
Action Vijay
Producer Anand Prasad
Banner Bhavya Arts

*ing: Anushka, Gopichand, Dharmavarapu, Ali, Manoj K jain

Noted Cinematographer Sivakumar turned director with Sowryam starring Gopichand and Anushka. Though this is his first film, he proves his potential and gets good marks as director. His takings are pretty good. Sowryam has plenty of entertainment and action and little of sentiment. In short, the film is a typical Gopichand flick directed by Sivakumar in his style.

Sowryam is about a brother and a sister. They - Vijay (Gopichand) and Divya (Poonam Kaur) become orphans when their rowdy sheeter dad is killed in an encounter. Vijay grows up to become ACP with the support of a police officer (Sarat Babu). As a powerful cop, Vijay puts his energy in controlling Sivaram Gowd (Manoj Jain), who runs bad activities in the city. Problems start for Vijay when Sivaram Gowd comes to know the weak point of Vijay, his sister. How Vijay tackled the problems is the rest of the plot.

Gopichand, as usual, delivered yet another macho performance. One of the highlights in this film is the comedy worked out on him. Comedy scenes involving Gopichand, Ali, Anushka bring out good laughs. Also, scenes in the second half where Gopichand troubles the goons are done in a different style. Also, dance numbers are nicely choreographed for him and he did very good. Chemistry between Gopichand and Anushka also worked out very well. Anushka looked much better in the film. She not only looked good but also did well in the comedy sequences.

Even though Poonam Kaur played key role as Gopichand's sister, she did not have much scope to perform. She utilized the one chance in the climax to perform and she did it very well.

Manoj K. Jain as Sivaram Gowd did excellent job. He transformed himself into the character. Ajay, as son of Sivaram Gowd, did the role in his own style. Ali, Krishna Bhagavan, Raghu Babu did comedy in the film and they are successful in generating laughs. Even though MS Narayana's role is short, he is impressive. Thanikella Bharani, Dharmavarapu, Sudha and others are content in their roles.

Technically, even though the story is not new, it is the screenplay and narration that makes it interesting. Sivakumar's grip on comedy seems to have worked out well. Sequences are nicely interconnected and flow is smooth. It is a good job done by Sivakumar.

Cinematography by Vetri is good. Marthand Venkatesh's editing is slick and paces up the film. Mani Sharma's music is good for songs and excellent for the re-recording (background). Especially, rerecording for Ali's scenes add more humour to the scenes. Dialogs by M Ratnam are good but looks like the dialogs had to take censor cut at places. Action scenes composed by Vijay are good. Sets erected by Vivek are so so.

Overall, the chances are good that Sowryam can turn into another Lakshyam. Climax and the story might stand as negative but they will be overweighed by Positives in the film - good comedy, lead performances, excellent re-recording. Overall, Sowryam is a typical Gopichand styled flick.

Chintakayala Ravi

Film: Chintakayala Ravi
Banner: Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions
Music: Vishal Sekhar
Editing: Sreekar Prasad
Lyrics: Chandrabose
Producer: Nallamalupu Bujji
Screenplay Stoy: Kona Venkat
Direction: Yogesh
Cast: Venkatesh, Anushka, Mamata Mohandas, NTR (special appearance), Lakshmi, Prakash Raj (voice), Sayaji Shinde, Brahmanandam, Venu Madhav, Sunil, MS Narayana, Chandra Mohan, Pradeep Sakti, Bharat (child), Ali, Arti Chabria, Venu, Nikita etc

Story:
Chintakayala Ravi (Venkatesh) works in a bar in USA and pretends to his sentimental mother (Lakshmi) back in India as if he is working as a software engineer leading a fancy lifestyle in USA. His mother sets up a girl called Lavanya (Mamata Mohandas) as Ravi's match. Lavanya asks her New York buddy Sunita (Anushka) to find out the conduct of Chintakayala Ravi. The rest of the story is all about what happened between Ravi, Lavanya and Sunita.

Performances:

Venkatesh: He did his trademark comedy and sentiment in the film. He is excellent. Anushka: She is nice in the role of the main heroine. Mamata Mohandas: She is good in this film compared to her earlier outings in Telugu film industry. Lakshmi impresses in this film like she did for Murari film. Comedy by Sunil as Pendurti Babu is satisfactory. Child artist Bharat did well in the climax of the film though his character is underdeveloped. Brahmanandam, Venu Madhav and Srinivasa Reddy are adequate as the friends of hero. Arti Chabia did an item song. Ajay did a completely different role convincingly. Ali's character is like an extension of her Nachmi character in Chiruta film. Nikita is very cute with her own dubbing. Venu did a vital yet small role. NTR sizzles in 'Shava Shava' song and entertains the crowds. Prakash Raj gave voiceover to this film in the initial scenes and in the climax and his narration is an asset.

Technical Side:

Story of the movie is nice and predictable. But the backdrop of USA offers some variety. Direction by Yogesh is partly OK. He could able to introduce and establish all primary characters well. But he could not run the story with interesting narration in the middle of the film. But he manages the climax decently. He handles some of the humor scenes well. However there are a few inspired comedy scenes like exam scene (Mr. Bean series), kitikilu 2008 (windows 2008 Telugu version forward mail) etc. There is some toilet humor too. Narration of the film is slow.

Other Sides Of The Movie:

Music by Vishal Sekhar is an asset to the film. Bagunde Bagunde followed by Enduko is the best on the screen. Mani Sharma scored background music. Dialogues by Kona Venkat are good. A couple of dialogues like 'akkada (USA) sanduko vanda software engineers vuntaru' and 'aavida data whorehousing (data warehousing) lo work chestundi' are entertaining in the first half. Cinematography by Ravindra Babu is good. He shot the USA part very well. The visuals are rich. Nallamapulu Bujji should be appreciated for spending good money on budget to make a film with rich visuals and sound by hiring the best of technicians and cast for the job.

Final Analysis:

Movie was good. First half an hour of the film is pretty good. It slows slow down after that and the film takes up again from the last song. The strong points of the film are Venkatesh and mother sentiment. On the other side, the latter part of the first half and the former part of the second half should have been made in an interesting way. The mother sentiment and the marriage ambiance towards the climax could attract the Venky's strong base of family crowds. On a whole, Chintakayala Ravi is an ok film if you can excuse bit of screenplay glitches in the middle of the movie.

Rainbow

Story Balabadrapatruni Ramani
Screenplay Paruchuri Brothers
Direction V.N.Aditya
Camera Santosh Srinivas
Editing MR Verma
Music Nihal
Dialogs Paruchuri Brothers
Art Anand Sai
Producer V.N.Aditya


*ing: Rahul, Sonali Chauhan, Sindhu Menon, PrakashRaj, Siva Reddy, Dharmavarapu, Mallikarjuna Rao, Uttej, MS Narayana, Sunil, Gollapudi


There are two different patterns of visuals - black & white and Color. Life is something on those lines. It depends on how we look at it. That is the point of VN Aditya directed film Rainbow. He is also the producer. Balabadrapatruni Ramani provided the story. A noted novelist, she has good stories to her credit. This is the first story she wrote for a film. Though, it might make a good novel, it might not be that great as a movie as such lines are seen time and again from Sivaranjani to Raja.

Coming to the story, Shyam (Rahul) is a painter. Kamala (Sindhu Menon) is his neighbour. Both are good friends. Swapna (Sonali Chauhan) comes to Hyderabad with the ambition of becoming a film star. She gets help and support in the form of Shyam. Due to an accident he even loses his color recognition. He can see the world only in black & white. Somehow, Shyam works his way to get Swapna a chance in Rajamouli's film. She becomes a star. When Shyam proposes his love, she rejects the proposal. Why? How did she realize his love? Did Rahul get his love? Watch it on the screen.

This is yet another sympathetic role for Rahul. His earlier film Happy Days got him good recognition in his character who is in love with his senior. That also gets lot of sympathy in that film. Rahul did content in the role. Sindhu Menon and Sonali Chauhan did their roles to the need.

Sunil as Sunil Bachchan could generate some laughs. However, the episode with Master Bharat is routine and a bit dragged. Siva Reddy as acting school master is good in his role imitating several heroes. MS Narayana, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Gollapudi are content in their roles. Kodi Ramakrishna, Rajamouli, Srinu Vaitla, Samudra did guest appearances.

Dialogs are okay, occasionally bearing the mark of Paruchuri. Music by Nihal is okay. Couple of numbers are melodious but tunes seem repeated.

Overall, this is a clean film but with rather old styled story.

Kotha Bangaru Lokam

Story Srikanth Addala
Screenplay Srikanth Addala
Direction Srikanth Addala
Camera Chota K. Naidu
Editing Marthand Venkatesh
Music Mickey J Meyer
Dialogs Srikanth Addala
Producer Dhil Raju
Banner Sri Venkateswara Creations

*ing: Brahmanandam, PrakashRaj, Swetha, Varun Sandesh


Kotha Bangaru Lokam starring Varun Sandesh of Happy Days fame and Swetha is produced by Dhil Raju, one of the most successful producers of Telugu film industry. This film is directed by debut director Srikanth Addala. It is a good debut. Even though the film is a love story with college backdrop, it is the narration and the emotional chords that are touched that got things right for him.

As story goes, Balu (Varun sandesh) and Swapna (Swetha) are resident students in SVC Intermediate Residential college. As is usual, they fall in love and naturally they are seperated as parents do not approve of the teenage and that too intermediate love. The duo are caught in an intimate moment on a media camera and that exposes their love to the world. Swapna is pulled out of the school. How did they convince their parents? What is their thinking and how did they mature? That should be seen on screen.

Technically, it is the director all the way. Srikanth Addala handled story, dialogs, screenplay and direction departments for the film. Story wise, the film resembles many films. Well! It is a teenage story and college backdrop. But what makes this better is the narration. Honestly, the film starts weak. There is nothing much in the first half until the interval. Interval closing is pretty good and the second half is a decent one. So, what gets this film a better rating? It is the last 30 mins of the film that elevates the film. It gets emotionally touching. Best part is that all the loose ends with the message left through out the film are connected towards the climax and that presents the message with good impact. Dialogs are pretty good too. So overall, the film starts weak and gets better as the film progresses and the climax will leave an impact on the outgoing audience. The emotional part is nicely underplayed so that it does not get really sentimental (ointment) but is perfectly balanced enough to deliver the message. And then a simple smile that is brought with the slang of the heroine will let the audience leave with a light heart. That is where Srikanth scores. Scores big.

Also, dialogs by Srikanth are very good. There are some good dialogs that seem not justified during the run but feel perfect when the ends are all tied together in the climax.


Mickey J Meyer's music is pretty good. Almost all the songs are good and the background score is touching enough. Editing by Marthand Venkatesh is good. Chota K Naidu captured Vizag and Rajamundry locales in an interesting way.

In the cast, Prakashraj is excellent. It is his character that brings in lot of sympathies and elevates the film. As Dhil Raju recently noted in a press meet, it is true that there is no KBL without Prakashraj onscreen. His length is short alright. But the character is mould that it gets sympathy. If the audience cannot connect to that emotional feeling with the character, the film becomes almost below average. And only Prakashraj would be capable of garnering that required element.

Jayasudha is content in her role. But she is very effective with her one dialog that changes the course of the film. Ahuti Prasad is good. Dialogs written for him are good and he delivered it in the perfect way. Brahmanandam, Rao Ramesh and others are content in their roles.

As for the lead pair, Varun Sandesh could have been better. More grace is needed in his dances. In the first song, editing is done crisply to cover it up. Or so it seemed. Also modulation is required in his dialog delivery. Some of the dialogs lack the feel. But his smile is a big asset for him and he could cover most of his expressions in his role as boy next door. He looked much better in Happy Days. Swetha is good in her role. Even though she does not really give a positive impression in the first shot, she gradually grows on with the impression.

Srikanth Addala might not have come up with a new story line but is successful with his presentation of the message that teenagers and parents need better understanding. His screenplay, dialogs and direction deserve a pat on his back. There is not much comedy in the film but a little slang by the heroine and some comedy generated through the warden are good.

Overall, first half of the film is not great but closes with a good interval episode. Second half is good and climax is touching. Overall, this could be rated yet another good one from Dhil Raju.