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Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Kantri Review
Kantri Review - Routine Fare, Still Beats the Heat
Rating: *** (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad)
Cast: NTR, Hansika Motwani, Tanisha, Prakashraj, Ashish Vidyarthi, Subbaraju, Suneel, Srinivasa Reddy, Sayaji Shinde, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana, Ali and Others.
Action: Stun Shiva.
Art: AS Prakash.
Cinematography: Sameer Reddy.
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh.
Lyrics: Meher Ramesh, Sirivennela, Veturi, Anantha Sriram & Ramajogaiah Sastry.
Music: Mani Sharma.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction: Meher Ramesh.
Producer: Ashwini Dutt.
Presenter: C. Dharma Raju.
Banner: Vyjayanthi Movies.
Release Date: 09th May, 2008.
NTRThe songs are good. There is some humor in the first half, and some very self-indulgent dialouges. NTR dances well, holds the show together supported by a few others. Story-wise, screenplay and sub-plots are very routine, with the direction actually becoming quite shoddy in a 20 minute and somewhat unnecessarily dragged track involving Tanisha. It beats the heat (there are some movies that make you want to prefer the hot sun instead) and it has some entertaining moments in it. Otherwise, a totally routine movie.
Plot Pothu Raju kills his employer Krishna and his family, steals their money and runs away-leaving his reluctant wife and kid behind. He becomes a don with his base in Hong Kong and rules as PR. A new recruit into his underworld business is Kranti, who's confident, aloof and ruthless. He stays in an orphanage looking after other children alongside, and one day demands money for the medicinal expenses of the boy he takes care of-when PR and his partner Seshu refuse. He turns against them and takes money from their rival Das to kill them. A confrontation might have resulted in a death or two if not for the orphanage's father who intervenes and tells them that Kranti is PR's son. Into PR's life devoid of sentiments so far, new emotions unviel and new weaknesses unfold.
Story, Screenplay and Direction The story is basically the same old fare narrated in a slightly different way. The much talked about twist is predictable, but it would still have been interesting till the end had it not been for sub-plots that drag and humor that barely clicks. With the amount of expectations on the movie, the overall quality seems inconsistent.
Varalaxmi-Kranti love track begins well enough, but then we don't see the girl for a long time till she resurfaces and the track loses it's prominence. But even that is a minor set-back. Tanisha enters and exits, the reason could be to strengthen the rift that crops up between PR and Seshu. But the treatment is shoddy, and the movie drags for some part of the second half till it picks up right before the climax.
It has no resemblence to Pokiri, apart from the fact that both the protagonists are seemingly bad guys in the mafia and NTR's dialogues are kept minimal and his performance mostly subtle. The hyped twist also is not unexpected, but the movie picks up pace again after that. Meher Ramesh debuts in Telugu, and his direction is good in the first half, inconsistent in the second.
NTRPerformances NTR is good, and his dance moves really rock. He is not loud, doesn't have pages of dialogue and has strong presence. Hansika looks sweet, but has some lip-sync issues. Prakashraj does a good job, especially during the climax even though he has no lines. Subbaraju and NTR's buddy gang do justice to their roles. Ashish Vidyarthi and Sayaji Shinde fit their tailor-made roles well. The less said about Tanisha, the better.
Song and Dance This is the highlight and the saving grace of the movie whenever the plot becomes repetitive. The music and the choreography, not to mention NTR's graceful moves are an asset for the movie. The title number is Paisa Vasool.
Last Word NTR fans will like the indulgent and witty dialouges in the first half (and a few scattered in the second), the last half hour and the song-dance; these factors make the movie watchable, but pretty average.
Labels: movie review
Bujjigadu Review
Bujjigadu Review - Strictly 'Okay'
Rating: **.75 (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad)
Cast: Prabhas, Mohanbabu, Trisha, Sanjana, Subbaraju, Ajay, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Ali, Suneel, MS Narayana, Ahuti Prasad, Brahmaji, Hema, Sudha and Others.
Action: Vijayan.
Art: Chinna.
Cinematography: Shyam K. Naidu.
Editing: MR Varma.
Music: Sandeep Chowta.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction: Puri Jagannath.
Producer: KS Rama Rao.
Banner: Creative Commercials.
Release Date: 22nd May, 2008.
The song 'Talaiva' might be energetic throughout, but the same cannot be said for the entire movie. Bujjigadu has promos that look like this could have the Puri stamp on it, typically with a crazy character as the protagonist, lots of dishum-dishum and entertaining humor and a love story in the crux. It would still have qualified for that were it not for the routine 'feel' of the entire movie and the lacklustre second half.
Trisha and PrabhasPlot Bujji runs away from home after his neighbor and love interest Chitti refuses to speak to him over a trivial fight; promising to speak after 12 years and then marry him. Years later, Bujji who grows up away from his family in Chennai returns to Vizag to find that Chitti's family shifted base to Hyderabad. He gets stuck in a police case because of his friend Satti, a petty smuggler and gets a contract to kill in the jail. The target is Sivanna, whom his rival gang are trying to wipe out for the longest time. Bujji's in Hyderabad, searching for Chitti, who is also desperately trying to locate him. His attempt on Sivanna's life is futile but he lands up in Sivanna's house and his motives go for a toss.
Story, Screenplay and Direction Slowly, bad is becoming the new good even in Telugu cinema. The change is subtle, but it is there. People who kill, take contracts to kill, gangsters, anti-social elements are no longer the bad guys only. They can be good guys in the bad business. Shankar Goud of Dhee is one such character in recent times who clicked with the audiences. Pokiri of course is an undercover cop, so that doesn't count. Bujji and Sivanna, on the other hand, are actually speaking anti-social, but that seems not to be an issue-they are still the 'Heroes'.
That apart, the movie itself has some entertaining bits, where the actual love story is concerned. That story creates interest, the gang wars and the rival gang leader taking a liking to the killer hired to finish him off-that creates interest. The concepts by itself are interesting, but the narrative is unable to sustain that interest. The second half fizzles out slowly but surely, and the only thing that keeps the attention is that Chitti doesn't get to know Bujji's identity till the nth moment, because he introduces himself as Rajnikant.
The whole Tamil angle is new, but it would work out well were the rest of the movie as strong as Prabhas's Tamil. There is a fight in a poultry farm in the beginning where the actor gets to show off his new lean look. The rest of the action sequences (there are many) are routine, but the one where he tries to kill Sivanna is okay. Puri always works out the protagonist's character's details very fervently, and tends to create quirky characters-that's his strength. Bujji has that, at least, and what with his calling everyone 'Darling' and killing a guy with a single punch, he keeps you awake. The entire movie, unfortunately, doesn't try too hard to do that.
Prabhas and TrishaPerformances Prabhas gets rid of his sleepy look and drops his droopy eyed style and adopts a whole new style funda to make Bujji convincing as a character. His new lean and mean look will get admirers and is a whole lot better than his bulked up frame in Munna. He plays Bujji well, and is spontaneous in the movie.
Mohanbabu follows up on his 'Silllieeee Fellow' act, and though for the first few scenes, he comes across as totally evil and totally fascinating for that (orders a strong cup of tea while killing people), the way Sivanna's written, he turns from black to grey to off-white. So it's not as thunderous as say, a consistent character like Yama, who simply has a change of heart in Yamadonga.
Trisha is okay, and has a good chemistry with Prabhas. Sanjana has little to do except smile sweetly. Kota as Sivanna's rival and Subbaraju and Ajay as his sons justify their roles. Suneel is okay, Ali's comedy is a little vulgar.
Music and Dance The music is okay, with two songs that grow on you. The picturization of Talaiva and Love Me and Mumait's item number is like that of a music video. Prabhas has become more flexible and the choreography of the final duet is likable.
Last Word The movie starts off on a promising note, the protagonist is well written albiet bordering on the negative side and the music is not bad. But the narrative, especially in the second half does nothing to elevate the entertainment quotient of the movie and it turns into a routine flick that actually drags at the climax. Strictly okay.
Labels: movie review
Pandurangadu Review
Cast: NBK, Sneha, Tabu, Archana, Suhasini, K. Viswanath, Siva Parvathi, Sana, Sameer, Brahmanandam, Suneel, Dharmavarapu, Ananth, M. Balaiah, Apoorva, Y. Vijaya and Others.
Action: Vijay.
Art: V. Bhaskara Raju.
Cinematography: V. Jayaram.
Dialogues: JK Bharavi.
Editing: Sreekar Prasad.
Lyrics: Suddala Ashokteja, Vedavyas, Veturi, K. Shiva Datta, JK Bharavi & Chandrabose.
Music: MM Keeravani.
Direction: K. Raghavendra Rao.
Producer: K. Krishnamohan Rao.
Banner: RK Film Associates.
Release Date: 30th May, 2008.
NBK and TabuPandurangadu is probably the best script K. Raghavendra Rao could get at this point of time. The story of a man who's gone wayward and then repents, thus becoming Lord Krishna's true devotee-this is a devotional but the director didn't have to struggle to get in the commercial element. Pandurangadu's wayward behavior includes alcohol, lies and women.
In typical KRR style, the first half is filled with fruits and flowers, the dialogues full of sexuality and sensuality and the images intended to titillate. The protagonist repenting and becoming the Lord's devotee dominates the second half, and Balakrishna delivering a believable performance, not to mention his double role as Lord Krishna (highly reminiscent of his legendary father's) are factors sure to pull in the crowds.
Plot Pandurangadu comes from a respectable family who are devotees of Krishna. He is mischievous from his childhood, and it doesn't leave him in his adulthood. His vices include women and alcohol, and unlike his family, he is not a devotee. An ardent devotee of Krishna is a girl called Laxmi, to whom the Lord comes in a dream and tells her to marry Panduranga. He runs away at the talk of marriage, being in a relationship with a courtesan Amrutha. Krishna does his Leela, and Panduranga ends up married to Laxmi but continues his illicit affair with the courtesan. Amrutha and her aides loot him, while he throws his family out and does every bad deed in the book. But repentance dawns and Panduranga finds his God.
Story, Screenplay and Direction Except for Pandurangadu's family and one or two others (like Mohanbabu playing a sage), each character in the movie is handed either a)dialogues full of sexuality b)vulgar gestures or c)both. So what's new? Nothing, except the clever interweaving of a devotional, which KRR is pretty good at making it highly watchable along with all the other elements the whistle-hooters look for, of which KRR is the King.
Who's complaining? Unless you are planning to take your grandmother to the movie, which will leave you throughout the first half squirming in your seat with embarrassment, every double entendre is targeted in reliving those good old days when every season there would be a KRR movie to watch with every Masala element and the corresponding seasonal fruits in full attendance. Oranges make their presence felt in Pandurangadu.
The first half, the first song, Tabu and even Sneha in one song along with all the comic characters like Ali, Suneel (used sparingly in a scene or two) are complete Paisa Vasool for the 10 rupee crowds; and in reality to the rest of them too, most of whom enjoy it, albeit discreetly. "The script/character required it". Right. Then why wasn't the old Pandurangadu shot like that? To their credit, the new one has honesty in intention-tell a story, but get the masses to come back through hook or crook.
The narration is good, and K. Raghavendra Rao is a storyteller, which is where the movie scores. Had it been just the "commercial elements" and no real story to sustain it, it would have been worthless. But thankfully it isn't so. But there is some 80s style imagery, old/routine clichés in the familial scenes and there is a break in the narration in the second half. Well, it's an old story, and what more, it's actually a period movie. Otherwise, the story part of it is okay, even with the melodrama in the second half.
The makeup for Balakrishna as Panduranga and Tabu is terrible. Balakrishna as Lord Krishna reminds you of NTR, although the makeup even there is not perfect. The special effects where Krishna takes his devotee to Brindavanam is very amateurish.
Sneha and NBKPerformances Balakrishna does the best he did in the past 5 years, and this is not merely about a hit or flop. He has clearly delivered what the director required him to, and that is where he scores. As in Bhairava Dweepam where he was so convincing in the Janapadam style movie, in this devotional, Balakrishna seems to be on home ground.
Of course, even the mischief in the first half, wait, especially the mischievous aspect of the first half, comes naturally to the actor. The only flaw was with the makeup. Sneha is the perfect good, innocent devotee and loyal wife. Tabu, a firebrand performer, disappoints badly in spite of her mentor's presence. Vishwanath and Siva Parvati and the rest of Panduranga's family members justify their roles.
Music and Dance The music is the highlight of the movie. Three of the songs have the ladies (Tabu, Sneha and others) shown in trademark Raghavendra Rao style, embrace it or leave it. The devotional numbers are lovely, catchy and have a familiar air courtesy Keeravani, and the picturization is kept colorful or in the case of the last two songs, intense.
Last Word It's a true blue KRR movie, and Keeravani's music is an asset. With the script being so, we get to see both the worlds of the director, and one might argue and say it could have been more sober and much neater, but then it wouldn't be a Raghavendra Rao movie. If that sounds good to you, then despite the obvious flaws (editing, efx, makeup..) it will entertain you to the core. As mentioned above, it's not for your granny's eyes.
Labels: movie review
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