" IDI SANGATHI" Movie Review
Diamonds. You can do so many things with them. Make movies, for example. A whole lot of Hindi movies came out in the recent past with that subject, and now Idi Sangathi has robbery-greed-diamonds-guilt-redemption as it's basic plot. The screenplay could have been so much more interesting in the hands of another director. Unfortunately, Chandra Siddharth, who made a decent start with Aa Naluguru seems to have backed on solid writing and structure in his debut that seems to be lacking in Idi Sangathi.
Plot Mumbai Express meets with an accident, and Murthy, a crime reporter for a newspaper and his photographer are the first to arrive. Instead of gathering information, Murthy loots the dead passengers' ornaments and suitcases and gets it home to his wife, Swarajyam. The suitcase he brings home has 500 crores worth diamonds-all the assets of the Prime Minister converted into diamonds and being transferred to Hyderabad. Swarajyam discovers this, and without revealing it to her husband, she makes her own plans and their lives change with the entry of this secret and black treasure.Story, Screenplay and Direction The story is kept basic, while the moral siding is obviously against any greed. The movie paints a dark picture, and everyone is either black or grey, never white. With some stereotyped (but admittedly real) characters and satirical undertones, the movie starts off and progresses slowly. The scene is set, the cards are dealt and now it's time for the players to play their turn. The 'Interval Twist' is a deception, and Raja's cameo is wasteful.
It starts off as a satirical, aims half-heartedly at some comedy and rounds off with a nice little moral lesson about greed. Not all of it is kept simple or logical either, but it is predictable. The nonchalance to greed and the insensitivity to grief are shown well. Another plus is the duration, which is kept short. The reality in some of the scenes might be hard to accept, but it is undeniable.
It is a simple narrative, but has no novelty or real entertainment value. With the same concept, better screenplay, dialogues and performances, the movie would have been a lot of fun and a statement on the kind of society it is today without exaggeration. But Idi Sangathi never gets there, and does not really have any Sangathi to bank on.
Performances Tabu's character is neither well-written nor complex. Even Amani's loud and flat character in Subhalagnam as a wife who 'sells' her husband for a crore is more interesting than Swarajyam. An artiste of Tabu's caliber is therefore wasted, and what more, she's even made to ham in some scenes in the first half-the dubbed voice is not particularly suitable for Tabu. Abbas is good and he sensibly keeps a low profile throughout, which suits the tone of his character. Suneel is okay, ditto Brahmaji. Hema as Suneel's wife keeps the energy level up in her brief role, while Kota as the Prime Minister is good. MS Narayana as his PA gets a giggle or two from the audience.Song and Dance The leads to the songs are just terrible. The songs themselves are unnecessary, but treated as a necessary evil. The actual picturization and compositions are average.
End Cedits:
Staring:Abbas, Tabu, Raja, Brahmaji, Kota Srinivasa Rao, MS Narayana, Surya, Suneel, Hema, Chalapathi Rao, Devadas Kanakala, Melkote and Others.
Art: T. Nagendra Prasad.
Choreography: Pony Verma.
Cinematography: JK Gummadi.
Lyrics: Chaitanya Prasad-Peddada Murthy.
Music: John P. Varkey.
Story & Dialogues: KNY Pathanjali.
Executive Producer: VV Durga Prasad.
Producer, Screenplay & Direction: Chandra Siddharth.
Banner: Filmotsav.
Release Date: 22nd February, 2008.
Labels: abbas, Brahmaji, Chalapathi Rao, Devadas Kanakala, Hema, IDI SANGATHI, Kota Srinivasa Rao, MS Narayana, Raja, suneel, Surya, Tabu
Plot Tushar and Sandhya are college sweethearts, but Sandhya marries someone else for her parents' sake and never returns. Tushar is heart-broken, but immerses himself in his studies and eventually into getting a doctorate. He has no family, but is close to school kid Bindu whose father works in the campus and they live nearby. Bindu's friendship grows into infatuation and then love, and she grows up to find herself in love with Tushar, who is now older and wiser-and dreads marriage. Bindu tries to tell her love for him, while Tushar still treats her like a child. Sandhya returns, but Bindu's dilemma is only Tushar's rejection.
Performances Rajeev makes a good debut even in a tricky role that requires him to age a few years but not more than that. He changes his body language along with just hair-makeup and that's definitely a promising start. Suneel (who plays Tushar's dance teacher friend Emmanuel) and the late Laxmipathy (as Emmanuel's assistant) share excellent on-screen chemistry; Laxmipathy was a good but underrated artiste and seems to have gotten his due in this last movie of his. Archana and Ramya as the female leads are inconsistent. The child artiste who played Bindu is good. Maruti Rao's cameo after a long time is used well, Patnaik's was unnecessary.
Ashutosh Gowarikar stuck to his word. The promos said 'A Mogul Prince A Rajput Princess’. And yes, the movie is all about them. It is an interesting love story even in writing, and on the silver screen it makes for an extremely difficult subject to tackle and a tricky job to decide what to fictionalize and what not to; what to keep in and what to avoid. Jalaluddin 'Akbar’, one of the most prominent and popular emperors ever, creates and keeps the interest levels up even to this day. Hrithik Roshan and Ashwarya as the protagonists of this magnum opus, the spectacle Gowarikar creates with the sets, the period setting and the atmosphere, the music-all make Jodha-Akbar a worthwhile one-time watch.
Hrithik steals the show with his absolutely flawless performance, and possibly his best yet. In majority of the scenes, one sees Jalaluddin Mohamed Akbar and not Hrithik Roshan, as would have occurred with all the other big stars. Ashwarya makes the perfect princess even if she does ham a little in the emotional scenes, her body language and the way she pulled off Jodha Bai is commendable. The magic of the movie lies a lot in its casting and the chemistry of the lead pair, where we see the characters and less of the actors. Credit must be bestowed upon the director also for this particular gift he has of creating those characters. Ila Arun as Mahan Anga gives a credible performance while Punam Sinha as Akbar’s mother and Sonu Sood as Jodha’s brother do a good job. Another aspect that is notable is the make-up and the costumes, which are a visual treat. To add to the visual aspect, the photography is really good. Background score is a little too loud at times, but otherwise the music is overall a highlight for the movie. The action sequences, all but one, are conceived and executed well.
Performances Gopichand has the movie on his shoulders, and does a good job portraying a slightly complex character. Bhavana debuts in Telugu, and she gives a credible performance. Ashish Vidyarthi and Ajay are convincing in negative roles. Rajeev Kanakala plays a brief but key role well.
Plot Arjuna is born in a temple with his mother succumbing in labor. The villagers believe that to be impure so they close the temple. He and his grandmother serve a family and make a living. His job is to look after Satya, the college-going arrogant sister of his employer. She gets a suitor, Prem, but an astrologer reads her birth-charts and predicts doom for her husband. So Arjun is made the scapegoat and is wedded to Satya. There is no bliss, in contrast, the family harasses him so that he dies and Satya can marry Prem without a glitch. When his grandmother dies unable to tolerate the situation, he tries to follow her. But God intervenes.
Performances Vishnu looks the part, but the emotional scenes lack conviction. He could do with a NTR-worthy makeover. The charm that one saw in Dhee is totally missing, and so is the energy level. Nagarjuna perks up the movie a little bit, stopping it from going completely downhill. But his scenes could have been executed so much better. Still, he makes a good God. Mamta Mohandas sings well and has a good figure. Acting skills are so-so. Manorama is convincing, as is Mohan Babu's cameo.
Plot Vishwak Sena is named, educated and brought up by his village primary school teacher (Tanikella Bharani) as he is orphaned at an early age. Swetha comes to his village from Canada as her grandmother is sick, and goes to the school for a while there. Vishwak falls in love with her. They become friends but she soon goes back to Canada. After an MBA degree Vishwak joins a company. He meets Swetha again as she is his employer's daughter. But Vishwak is now a calculative person, who believes life runs on these very calculations. He plans to make Swetha fall in love with him, but fate seems to have other plans as Siddhartha comes into their lives.
Music and Dance Boring songs, picturization including. The background is good in places.
Plot Sailu lives in New York with her widowed mother and Chiku, her late sister’s son who she brings up as her own. Her former brother-in-law Srikanth is now married to another woman, her part-time job as an event manager is not going great guns and her boutique may close because of loses. KK sets up a textile shop opposite hers and moves in next door. He has a daughter and a past that not everyone knows. Sailu falls in love with him eventually, and the facts unfold.
Music and Dance The music is bland. You understand how the movie is going to be when the titles come on and it says ‘Swaaagatham….’ a couple of times with female chorus in the background. Not bad, but a bit of a drag.
Plot Abhi falls in love with a girl at first site. He goes to Anantagiri with his mother, to her old friend's house. And that girl turns out to be Nandini, who is engaged to be married. Initially, Nandini is irritated by Abhi, but slowly a friendship develops. But the wedding is coming up, and there seems nothing the duo can do about it.
Music and Dance The picturization of the songs, and the music itself is nice and used well.