Buzzing Movies

Plot Radha Krishna is the commissioner's aimless, jobless son. His father wants him to join the police force while his mother wants him to be a movie star. A GO passed by the Home Minister states that any honest person can join the police force and no other qualification is necessary. The commissioner gets his son to join the training academy by convincing his wife that all the qualities for a 'mass hero' are taught by the academy in a short time including martial arts. Krishna Veni is Radha Krishna's love interest in the academy. The murder of a retired crime branch officer is intermingled with all their fates, starting from the commissioner to Krishna Veni.

Story, Screenplay and Direction The plot actually sounds sane. But the writing and the direction are...torturous. Starting from the first scene. A crime branch officer claims on TV to have the top 100 corrupted people in the state along with proof in a file and gives them a week's time to hand over their illegal assets to the government. He is then murdered in broad daylight on a terrace. How did he get there? How come he wasn't protected after his thunderous TV statement? Cinema, cinema. Okay...and then cut to a dream Nagendra Naidu, commissioner is having about his son-that he will flourish as a police officer. His wife Sarala (Kovai Sarala) comes and harasses him and the audience collectively...and so on and so forth.

If one were to state the most irritating or annoying or silly or stupid or in any way, offending scenes in the movie, they'd probably end up writing the whole script. Notably, the male-female interactions in the movie are, in one word, retarded. Kovai Sarala and Nagu Babu make you look around for the emergency exit while Nitin-Bhavana make you slightly nauseous. From screechy 'Bava bava' to coy (ughh) Radha garu-Krishna garu, it's just...retarded.

Nitin is actually one of the many characters of the 'neeti-nijayati' academy. The G-O states that anyone with 'neti-nijayati' can join the police force. So, how do you decide that? There are jobless wonders, old-time goons (Brahmanandam wasted) and sons of late goons there to avenge their father's death with a police revolver and girls wearing next to nothing and a 'male prostitute'. Hilarious. Not.

Performances Nitin is fit and flexible-his dance has also improved. His acting skills are negligible, he swallows most of the words, his voice modulation is bad, his cinema sense is pathetic and after working with directors like Rajamouli, Krishna Vamsi and debuting with Teja, he is one actor who is gradually going from 'promising' to 'average' to 'whatever'. Time to really re-think his strategy. What happened to the promising young kid of Jayam and Sye? Vanished. Bhavana has an absolutely irritating character which she herself seems unhappy with. The others in the academy give their best-from Brahmanandam to Jogi Naidu. But there's only so much you can do in a bad script. Same goes for Ramya Krishna in a special role. Naga Babu tries, and his Chiru-isms are picking up.

Music and ChoreographyActually not bad, but makes no difference in the flawed flick.

Last Word The head-pounding which begins in the first scene calms down slightly with the break and a fresh new outlook on life post-break. The movie then looks like it might pick up or some miracle might occur and it'll get interesting, viewable or at least tolerable. Wishful thinking, as none of that happens. Head-pounding reduces in the last 2 scenes before climax and finishes off with a flourish. PS the original, unedited review looked like this: "Whatever". Did not satisfy minimum word limit though.

Endcrdit :

Starring : Nitin, Bhavana, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Nagababu, Kovai Sarala, Ramya Krishna and Others.
Art: Anand Sai.
Choreography: Nobel & Prem Rakshit.
Cinematography: C Ram Prasad.
Dialogues: Nivas.
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh.
Fights: Kanal Kannan.
Music: Mani Sharma.
Producer: Manyam Ramesh.
Screenplay & Direction: GV Sudhakar Naidu.
Banner: Manyam Entertainments.
Release Date: 24th October, 2008.

Labels: Bhavana, brahmanandam, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Kovai Sarala, Nagababu, nitin, tollywood

Posted by Raj at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

It's a really catchy title. Lots of rain, age of innocence and love at first sight. So far, so good. A fresh new cast. Very 'in' right now. Cinematography by PC Sreeram and music by Chakri. Still sounds good enough. But (the moment there is an 'if' or 'but': trouble), but the movie is so amateurish, starting from the writing, acting and disappointingly, the direction. Seat-cringing material.

Ishana and RajaPlot Arjun meets Sujata when both are holidaying in their relatives' village. While love blossoms in the picturesque village, they go back to the city without each others' contact details. Turns out, Sujata is Arjun's best friend's fiancé are the couple are in a mighty fix. When Arjun tells Kiran the truth, he accepts it without question and helps the couple to meet. The parents learn of this and direct their ire at Kiran, who attempts suicide. Arjun decides to leave the city so Kiran and Sujata can marry and bows down to his friend's sacrifice. But things are not what they seem and Arjun is forced to face his former lover once more after a murder attempt on him.

Story, Screenplay and Direction The theme or the story has little to do with the entertainment value of the movie. What's the theme of Sakhi? Rich boy, poor girl. But it still is a highly watchable movie. Even though the plot and premise and even the climax seem so repetitive, it could have been interesting if, and only if, the other aspects were in favor of the movie (or audience, depending on which perspective you choose to look from). The shabby and half-hearted direction is a major let-down as is the writing. Teja, who's rumored to have slapped his newcomers if they don't give their best, extracts really bad performances from them all.

The girl, her lack of lip sync and the voice dubbed for her which doesn't suit her all pull the movie down several counts as the story basically revolves around her. It's a make or break factor, and it's BREAK here, all capitals. The 'friends of hero' which brought interesting characters and introduced new actors are also a let-down, coming from Teja. 'Karnamba Cutting' just about brings one tiny little smile once, because the entire movie is so awesomely, superbly boring.

It's slow, it's lackluster and the 'twist' at the climax-sigh. Seriously, who directed this? Not that Teja's one of this gen's greats or anything, but it's safe to assume that reasonably decent or interesting or quirky work is expected from him. Something different, new, fresh, newcomers who almost play a character, decent music. None of that. Zilch. It's a huge disappointment.

Raja and IshanaPerformances Not applicable. Actually, not fair to newcomers as they have a career ahead, as long as the next producer doesn't watch this movie. Anyways, Raja as Arjun could have been appreciated in a different movie as a different character (and preferably not a wimp) but the long locks and Devadas act fails. Anoop as Kiran hams. The girl…maybe we can watch another movie of hers and then judge and refrain from saying anything harsh now.

Music and Choreography Two of the songs are okay, but it doesn't make a difference. Had the movie been even a little tolerable, the songs would have seemed much better.

Endcrdit :

Starring : Raja, Ishana, Anoop, Basha, Talaivasal Vijay, Mayilsamy, Vayyapuri, Dharmavarapu, Duvvasi Mohan and Others.
Choreography: Shankar.
Cinematography: PC Sreeram.
Music: Chakri.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues, Producer & Direction: Teja.
Banner: Chitram Movies.
Release Date: 23rd October, 2008.

Labels: Anoop, Basha, Ishana, Mayilsamy, Raja, Talaivasal Vijay, tollywood, Vayyapuri

Posted by Raj at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

With the overseas market opening up really well for Telugu movies, Chintakayla Ravi is cashing in on that fact and tackling a very contemporary theme. It's a Venky movie from frame 1 and what you'd call a 'family entertainer'.

Plot Chintakayla Ravi is not a software engineer in the US as his mother and the rest of his village believe. He works as a bar-tender at a dance bar conveniently called Cyber Wave. When his wedding is fixed to Mamidikayla Lavanya, he is in a fix as to what to tell the girl. Before the wedding, however, the girl's friend Sunita enquires about Ravi and finds out the truth and the match is cancelled and his family, except his mother, heartbroken. Ravi wants to make amends, tell the truth, but protect his mother from the shock.

Story, Screenplay and Direction A little bit of When Harry Met Sally, some Mister Bean gags, a final HAHK hangover, a tune or two from Vishal-Shekar's Hindi flicks, Hum Tum…the movie is full of seen-before, old wine in nice new package déjà vu. The title is interesting, Venky's new look generates even more interest (like it or not) and the music is decent. There is actually nothing new in the screenplay, with a mother sentiment running throughout the movie and Laxmi carrying on her Murari act (Whew!). Still, the movie is watchable, and what more, with all that effort, entertaining.

The freshness comes solely from the Americans talking in English. From New York through K. Ravindra Babu's lens and Venkatesh in a Junior Bachchan hip-hop's borrowed garb. The actors, including Brahmanandam, Venumadhav, Srinivas Reddy, Ajay, Ali (same role as in Chirutha, why?), Sunil and others are used well. There are some cameos, of known and unknown actors where Venkatesh graciously steps aside so they can take center-stage, from NTR in a song, Venu's brief appearance and others at New York.

The story is more or less believable. The screenplay is infused with alternating subtle and gag-filled humor. The theme is very urbane in spite of the initial village setting. Prakash Raj as the narrator is pretty good. Even though the movie is predictable, you can watch till the last frame-it's team work, but Venkatesh really carries it off.

Performances Venkatesh is effortless as Ravi. The role is basically tailor-made for him. He's unafraid to do the fool/loser/nice guy roles all rolled into one and still manages to look suave. Anushka does a good job, better than a host of other roles and movies she's been appearing in lately. Mamta is average. Laxmi hams slightly and Chandra Mohan is overshadowed by the rest. The supporting cast have been used well.

Music and Dance Lot of repeated tunes from the duo's earlier compilations. Nonetheless, it's pretty hummable and except for the last Om Shanti Om rehash in the background, the music is nice.

Last Word Same old stuff in shiny package. Lot of borrowed bits and pieces and very predictable. In spite of that, surprisingly, enjoyable.

End Credits :

Starring : Venkatesh, Anushka, Mamta Mohandas and Others.
Art: Chinna.
Choreography: Raju Sundaram.
Cinematography: K. Ravindra Babu.
Dialogues: Kona Venkat.
Editing: Sreekar Prasad.
Lyrics: Chandrabose.
Music: Vishal-Shekhar.
Story, Screenplay & Direction: Yogesh.
Producer: Nallamalapu Srinivas (Bujji).
Presenter: Baby Bhavya.
Banner: Lakshmi Narasimha Productions.
Release Date: 2nd October, 2008.

Labels: anushka, Mamta Mohandas, venkatesh

Posted by Raj at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post