"SOURYAM" Movie Review
Souryam has a couple of themes rolled into one for its storyline. Primarily it's a sibling sentiment story infused with a ruthless 'Don' character and a cat-mouse game between the Don and a policeman. The problem is, it's all dealt very immaturely and that much is clear from frame 1. A few gags here and there are mildly amusing and a song or two watchable. Beyond that, the movie has little to offer and there is nothing we haven't seen before.
Plot Vijay (Gopichand) goes to Kolkota and enrolls midterm in a college studies right after he bashes up a part of a gang of goons searching for him. He stays as a paying guest in a house with Swetha (Anushka) and his family and another student Divya (Poonam Kaur). Divya, an orphaned girl living alone there finds a saviour in Vijay who repeatedly protects and saves her from a lot of trouble. Swetha falls in love with him. As the goons finally catch up with him, his purpose in Kolkatta and his story come out.Story, Screenplay and Direction Manoj K Jayan as Sivaram Goud plays a role usually written for (then banned) Prakash Raj. The mighty Don succumbs to the police officer's 'poison' prank so easily, you wonder how he ever got to inflict all that fear in people. Those logic glitches apart, the first half tries to create a sense of mystery and anticipation by not giving away any details. Vijay comes to Kolkatta (where everyone is talking in Telugu, even in the college) and joins a college, rents a house and goes about daily life interjected with scenes where lot of goons are searching for him and he routinely bashes up people and cuts off their arms.
So all that is explained in the second half. By that time, because some of the scenes are so seriously silly and the gags so passé that many lose interest. For the sake of Gopichand, those who are interested in the second half get a slightly more interesting view post-break. But it's routine, so routine that it makes you cringe. Decade old movies dubbed from Tamil to Telugu aired on Teja regularly have that quality of finesse. The trouble is that even the few interesting portions of the movie have an overwhelming sense of déjà vu because we've seen all of that before, in many movies in many variations.
Ali as Gymson provides a few laughs, Vijay and Sivaram Goud's track in the second half has been seen too many times before but keeps you awake and the sibling story is touching in parts and cheesy the rest of the time. Anushka has nothing to do except make a fool of herself and that whole track makes you grimace-so wasted. Krishna Bhagwan as a doctor in the second half gets a few witty lines to mouth. The girl gang with Anushka is annoying. Cinematography, editing, dubbing, action and background score are all decent. The movie in totality doesn't come up to the mark.
Performances Gopichand basically carries the movie on his shoulders, but there's only so much he can do. His performance is believable but not amongst his better ones; the movie is so flawed there's no scope for that. Anushka is wasted. Poonam Kour as Divya gives a credible performance, but there's really no improving the movie. Ajay is convincing. The two little kids in the flashback are good.Song and Dance Mani Sharma's music is not bad, but combine it with the lackluster screenplay and it becomes just okay, with two songs that pump the meter up.
Last Word Not ever maker has to give new-age cinema, but with a budget and cast like that, so much could have been done. Like making a watchable movie. Like not repeating the same plot(s). Souryam is stuck in the part of the eighties with goons who terrorized a single colony of people and killed cops in daylight and brothers who could give up their lives for their sisters. All this without conviction and dealt is the most amateur way possible. Pros-Some 'mass appeal', a few interesting moments, two songs, Gopichand and technically sound. Cons-the rest.
End Credits :
Starring : Gopichand, Anushka, Poonam Kaur, Ajay, Manoj K Jayan, Krishna Bhagawan, Fish Venkat, Ali, Sarth Kumar, Tanikella Bharani, Raghu Babu and Others.
Art: Vivek.
Action: Vijay, Ram-Lakshman, Selva.
Cinematography: Vatri.
Dialogues: M. Rathnam.
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh.
Music: Mani Sharma.
Story, Screenplay & Direction : Siva.
Producer: V. Ananda Prasad.
Banner: Bhavya Creations.
Release Date: 26th September, 2008.
Labels: ajay, anushka, Gopichand, Krishna Bhagawan, Manoj K Jayan, Poonam Kaur, tollywood
Plot Rajeev owns a real estate company and when a rock that is formed like Ganesha is found, he refuses to construct a temple there as it obstructs the plan. His friends Venu and his wife are found cheating with the company's funds so he throws them out. Rajeev's mother and wife are pious believers who want him to construct the temple. Raksha, his daughter, starts having strange experiences that start from ‘enjoying the darkness' to finally shaking helplessly, having intolerable pain everywhere and talking in strange voices. Doctors give up, so the skeptic turns believer and desperately looks for some help.
Performances Jagapathi Babu is good as ever both as a skeptic and a believer. Kalyani makes a good pious lady and pairs well with Jagapathi. Neha as Raksha steals the show. Athiluth as her little brother is cute. Bhargavi as the maid doesn't react like in the Hindi version, which is possibly an improvement. Jeeva in the role of a doctor fits in this genre no matter what and Jayasudha in a cameo adds to the ensemble. Pradeep Rawat as the white-eyed Baba makes a difference to the second half. Subbaraju as a family friend/employee has good presence and stands his own in the brief role he has. Throughout, it's Raksha and the camera with the background that dominate. Rajeev Kanakala looks out of place while Satya Krishna disturbs with her loud laughing followed shortly by loud crying. All for the movie's final effect, of course.
Plot Balaraju wants to stand for president, but needs to finish his degree for that so he comes to the city for that and promptly falls in love with Neelima. Neelima is in mortal fear of someone cascading her off and ending her 'career' like it happened to her sister. So to stop guys from showing interest in her she creates a 'boyfriend' character, complete with details of job and paints 'Neelima loves Rajesh' all over the city. Balaraju creates his own fictional love story, but once they fall for each other, they have more issues and rivals than fictional lovers to deal with.
Performances Uday Kiran's craft has not really improved dramatically. Aditi Sharma, winner of the Zee Cinestar Contest is comfortable enough with the camera, but dubbing by Sunita did not suit her perfectly. With time and better scripts, she might do well. Ahuti Prasad as Neelima's father is finally getting his dues and a variety of characters to play, which he is more than capable of. The 2 'villains'-Vidya as Rajesh, Ajay as Uday Kiran's rival in the village for the president's post are okay. Surekha, Jayaprakash Reddy and Srinivas Reddy add their two cents to the movie's ensemble.
Plot Saroja is businessman Vishwanath's daughter, with loads of money but parental neglect. She is kidnapped and the kidnappers demand a huge ransom and double it after they figure out he got cops with him, headed by do-gooder ACP Ravi. A group of four friends traveling from Chennai to Hyderabad stumble upon the hideout and their adventure and Saroja's fate intertwine.
Performances Srihari is well cast as a cop, and with his tough guy body language and extremely refined Telangana dialect makes for good characterization. He is controlled, placid and has come a long, long way in terms of acting and career. Prakash Raj and he have parallel roles, and he adds to the movie's asset list. One look with his saucer eyes and a single gesture is necessary-somehow the director drags it in the end with him breaking down. Still, it's a role that he performs like the pro he is, in a brief but important role. Amongst the four guys, SPB Charan as a family man with mixed feelings about the trip does pretty well. Vaibhav has improved from his debut. Amaran with his several love tracks and dancing Goddesses provides the humor, which would have been better in Tamil surely and Shiva as a wimpy TV actor does a decent job. Vega as Saroja has a brief role, but she is a natural. Sampath as Sampat is good.
Plot Lavanya is heartbroken when her heartthrob actor Mahesh gets married. Her aunt and guardian wants her to marry an NRI, but she finally concedes to marry someone who's at least named Mahesh and even tattoos herself with his name. Her rich, jobless neighbor and endurer of her constant Mahesh mania (including playing Pokiri repeatedly on full volume) gets fed up and decides to scout for a guy himself and get rid of her. He finds a Mahesh in a pub, who seems like a rich guy so he sets them up together for a coffee and the duo fall in love. The only problem-Mahesh is not Mahesh but Ram Babu, an orphaned heir from a village where he is looked up to and from where he escapes to the city once in a while with this new identity. The confusion begins, with his sister Varalaxmi's obsession for the name not helping matters.
Performances None of them really have a movie background or a backing. They look like normal people, behave like normal people and this credit goes to the director and the actors too. Swati is perky as ever, and the charming 'Colors' girl does a good job in her first full-fledged commercial lead role. Nani is pretty good, oscillating between uber cool to Godavari accent which he does with a cute twist.
Performances It's a good comeback for Chakravarthy, although he succumbs to some hamming right at the end. Jagapathi Babu with his rugged looks and unshaven stubble suits the role of an undercover cop pretty well. And he does a good job too. Manjrekar as 'Daddy' continues his Okkadunnadu act, once again cast as a ruthless and eccentric don. The cast was a huge asset for the Hollywood flick, it's remake has some key characters in fitted roles. The entire henchmen team of Daddy from ETV Prabhakar who identifies cops in mufti to his hollow-eyed friend who sprouts English proverbs for mutual benefit work out well. Pradeep Rawat, in one rare positive role, shines. The girls? Hmm, dunno. Didn't notice them, neither in the movie nor in the hall.