"MITRUDU" Movie Review
Balakrishna's road shows are far more tolerable than films like this. Mitrudu that released today has Mahadev trying hard to recreate the magic of Balakrishna but comes a cropper. The film has a story line that has been oft repeated and the sudden change of role for the mass hero as a mellowed man disappoints viewers. Even the action scenes are stripped of spirit and energy. It's time many contemporary actors choose roles that suit them rather than hanging onto a set image causing loss to the industry exchequer.No hype and hoopla for Mitrudu but it has a weak story line that takes nearly an hour and a half to establish itself leaving the audiences cueless of certain happenings. If that is premeditated, the unraveling of the suspense hardly raises one's brow. Mitrudu is a film that can be conveniently added to the series of flops delivered by Balakrishna. It has a story that will find difficulty winning even the most hard core of Balakrishna fans. Though one thought the absence of fights and heavy dialogues will attract women folk, it boomeranged as the director came up with a flippant screenplay. He designs a character for the hero that is specifically designed to grate one's nerves. Tired visage, false hair and scripts that have been rehashed countless times leaves the viewer with a feeling that a serial on the small tube is far more pleasing.
Balakrishna & Priyamani Dialogues from Brahmanandam like, "I'm not an outer, I am a shooter", sounded silly and Krishna Baghwan's presence is not credible. Coming to the story, Priyamani, daughter of a rich industrialist and an MBA student on an astrologer's advice marries Balakrishna as his horoscope predicts his death on the 30th day after his marriage. She is told that the person she weds next will live a long and a prosperous life. As the lady is already in love with a physically challenged youth Deepak, she uses Balakrishna as a pawn.
Balakrishna is illtreated at his father-in-law's home and the bad men who are eyeing Priyamani's property join hands to eliminate him. Balakrishna's background, Priyamani's change of heart, twists and turns, the nemesis of the rivals all takes place post interval while the first half of the film is trivial. The actor wears a forlorn and detached look, lacks energy and sprit in many important scenes. Priyamani doesn't have a meaningful role and as usual is running around trees.
BalakrishnaThe opening episode has him drinking and precariously balancing on the balcony railing, sometimes he reads Ayn Rand while the heroine tries hard to get his attention and he at times looks endlessly for the shooting star in the sky to let luck and love into his life. The soft role doesn't gel and to make matters worse the double entendre by the heroine and her friend is a test of one's patience. The last half an hour has low brow humour and a fight. Music is okay. Rama Rajamouli's work does not stand out. The film is not a serious competition for the next numerous films releasing this month.
End Credits :
Starring : Balakrishna, Priyamani, Brahmanandam, Ranganath, Pradeep Rawath, Chandramohan, Deepak, Krishna Bhagawan, Balaiah, Hema, Chalapathi Rao etc..
Music: Mani Sharma.
Cinematography: Balamurugan.
Editing: Kola Bhaskar.
Art: Anand Sai.
Story: Vijayendra Prasad.
Dialogues: M Ratnam.
Styling: Rama Rajamouli.
Producer: Sivalenka Krishna Prasad.
Direction: Mahadev.
Banner: Vaishnavi Cinema.
Fights: Ram-Laxman.
Release Date: 1-May-2009
Labels: balakrishna, brahmanandam, Pradeep Rawath, priyamani, Ranganath, tollywood
The first half of the film opens with Naresh moving to a new town and bumping into the heroine. He is serious, angry, unromantic, focused, matured and is willing to reel off heavy sentimental dialogues at the drop of a hat to anyone whom he accidentally bumps into or seeks his help. He is a walking talking moral science text book who finds fault in the rise of price of onions to young girls wearing scanty clothes to college in a bus. Strangely despite his wise counsel, the heroine who is seen gaping at his wisdom never changes into a half saree or a saree or even a salwar kameez in the next scene or even in the dream sequences.
The film has a nice ending with Naresh declining to marry Madalasa Sharma and he gives a sensible reason to do so. Visuals are bright and beautiful, the director takes you to Bangkok his favourite destination once more and gives his son striped shirts to wear and also some weird costumes for the first time heroine. She does a good job and can go a long way provided she works on her expressions a little more. Music is okay. The film attempts to be another Aame but ends up as being a little more than a documentary and less than a feature film. Parents will like it but might think twice before gifting their girls with a cell phone.
The plot is obsolete, nothing new or shocking. It is one of those third grade novels you would find hawkers selling on the cart in the railway platform. If the posters were created to arouse curiosity, the story explains from scene one why Posani dresses up in wierd costumes, why he behaves like a child, then why he turns into a torturous husband suspecting his wife always and then an explanation that he is not a gay. A clichéd turn to glorify himself as a real hero.
We are made to believe that Posani was trying to show that being gay is not a sin but here he meanders more than once and there is often lack of clarity. There is no apathy on part of the mother towards Posani too so that makes the plot more confusing but just before the climax, when Satya is slippering him, he arrives and says stop it, he is a Man. Ranganath who plays his father gives you the clichéd reason that he had sacrificed for the family and had feigned to look impotent.
About the film, King (Nagarjuna) is knocked off by Swapna (Mamta Mohandas). There are others in King's family who don't want him around as he is the inheritor of a large property. King who is presumed to be dead is seen as Bottu Seenu a settlement rowdy in the city and is a potential rival to another dada Gynaneshwar (Srihari). Srihari's sister Shravani (Trisha) and Bottu Seenu fall in love unaware of each other's background. Amidst a battle of wits between Srihari, Nagarjuna and Trisha, one is treated to funny moments but fewer than you might expect from Sreenyu Vaitla.
Suneel pales in comparison to his previous film, he is wasted thoroughly. The only men who hog the show are Srihari and Brahmanandam. The latter is a lecherous music director who is not willing to be sorry and is seething with vengeance. Even parts of the film where Nagarjuna is trying to get up from the wheel chair is entertaining. The film could have been more hilarious towards the last 20 minutes but the director seems to have compromised by turning formulaic, given importance to Nagarjuna's action scenes. Nagarjuna as usual performed well did justice to what was given to him.
Plot Ravi is an Assitant Director for a big director whose film flops. Meanwhile he is narrating his own story to different producers and the lead from whom he finally gets a nod. He stays in the industry's foothold point, Krishna Nagar where his neighbor is a group dancer he likes but doesn't completely commit to because he needs to settle down in life. Yadu Anna is the local goon who fancies Sandhya, Ravi's mother is sick with cancer but does not tell her son because she does not want anything to upset his concentration or plans and various filmy characters and incidents surround the Assistant Director's journey to achieving his dream i.e., making a movie.
Performaces Raviteja delivers from the heart. He's been there, done that. He's as natural as an exuberant actor like him can be. Seiya as Sandhya is not as glam as one would wish a lead actress to be, but for a newbie, she's fine. Chitram Sreenu and Venumadhav keep the humor level up while Subbaraju as a film hero with an ardent fan club is well-cast.
They finally reach a village and seek shelter through Brahmanandam and Kovai Sarala. Now Brahmanandam as Madhav and Kovai Sarala as Radha earn the ire of Vaddivukkarasi. The old lady is constantly harassing them and wants them out of the village. There is no stopping her temper when she notices Brahmanandam and Kovai Sarala bringing them home. She is shown as hating the young lovers, a flash back reveals the reason.
Allari Naresh and the gang of thieves are stranded in a forest, they are working their way out to unearth a chest of treasure. At dawn he finds Tanya, the heroine missing, the camera takes you to a waterfall. By now you have already understood that she is bathing and what follows is a regular dream duet. There are many predictable moments like this but what makes Dongala Bandi an interesting watch is the screenplay, the breezy, light-hearted dialogues. The impromptu screams, the zany one-liners is jarring sometimes but effectively holds the viewer's interest. Don't expect anything spectacular just pick up a bag of popcorn and watch the time pass by.
One a muslim who has hair which is straight, soft and silky designed for a shampoo advertisement, he is in love with a girl so he woo's her father by feeding their dogs. The next is Yadagiri who works as a peon in a software company and has an employee rooting for him. A Sikh youth is constantly harassed for not making anything out of his life by his family. There is another person who stays put at a jewellery/costume store ogling at women. The concept of unity in diversity is poorly shown through a uninteresting flashback.
Plot Karthik is fat, unhip, good at heart, fun and comes to Hyderabad to work. At his office, he meets Kalpana, an independant and opinionated girl who dislikes him as soon as she is introduced while he falls in love with her. Their problems include but are not limited to the difference in their weights and personalites and the fact that she has a ready parents-approved suitor at hand.
Performances Krishnudu as Karthik acts dumb a whole lot and stares blankly. Now the trick is to figure out whether it's for real or that's how his character brief was given to him. It will take one more movie to figure out his potential as an actor. Sonia is natural and her looks are an asset for her. Suryatej as Altaf is not bad as is Poonam. Satya Krishnan as Karthik's sister is good. The guy who played Ananth, the office casanova is convincing but he needs to discard the accent next time and Ankitha is okay.
Plot Surya looks up to his father, who's his inspiration and his role model. He contemplates on his life from being a crazed lover who persues and then loses his love to a drug addict and an army man in control of even a crisis situation. His father, quietly but significantly, influences Surya.
Performances Surya gives a commendable performance, and he has many shades to portray even as the character 'Surya'. As Krishnan he is very good, and pulls off playing a man of his father's era very effectively. He's never loud or melodramatic. Actually, performance-wise Surya and Krishnan are harder to work at than his Ghajini role. That considered, it's probably one of his best ever performances. Simran justifies her role as Krishnan's wife. Sameera has this mysterious air about her which works for the character and hides her lack of skill-at least as compared to the others in the cast. Divya Spandana is okay in her brief role. Prithvi makes a comeback cameo.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Plot 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.
Performances 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.
Plot Chanti lives in a joint family where his uncle Rama Krishna is the head. His widower father Purushotham always nags Chanti and is admittedly embarrassed by his ways. Meanwhile Chanti lives only to serve his family and keep up their honor and name and is closest to his uncle. His uncle's business rivals (Pradeep Rawat and Co) have been nursing old enmities and do everything in their power to harm their family but all their plans backfire. Chanti saves his sister-in-law's honor and due to misunderstandings, gets thrown out of the house. Still he takes care of them like a shadow, never letting them know. How he does it and whether or not it leads to a reunion and a happy ending forms the rest of the plot.
Performances And there's Ravi Teja himself. His Jim Carrey like antics entertain and keep everyone alert, and the script and dialogues totally side with him in the pursuit of entertainment. There are some gags too, at the right time and place, carefully merged into the script. Brahmanandam is the owner of the shed where our Baladoor sometimes helps out-no idea why though, that's not established. He and his coconut-breaking sentiment is Paisa Vasool. Anushka mistakenly keeps gulping down liquor instead of water (talk about dumb) but those antics provide a smirk or two from the sportive audience. He saves his father from getting stabbed but his father is unaware of even being targeted. That scene has been conceptualized well.
Plot Balakrishna a.k.a. Balu has a rickety little saloon with a chair that's about to break and no prospects. His competitor across the road has cut-throat business techniques, and Balu's business is bad. The sleepy village has a surprise-super star Ashok Kumar's movie is going to be shot there, with top level security and the whole village thirsty for a glimpse of the icon. Balu's wife reveals that he and the star were classmates in school and college, but the mild-mannered barber cannot manage to contact the star and the village and his own children lose faith in him. Will the star recognize him after all these years or is Balu lying-is what the rest of the plot deals with.
Performances It's not just about style for Rajni this time. He cries, he complains, he laughs-not the Shivaji-bookish laugh, a real laugh for now. That way it's refreshing, and though his Chandramukhi part 2 and Narasimha part 2 are passable in the humor department, it just goes to show that the actor can still laugh at his histrionics and doesn't take himself too seriously. Jagapathi Babu is a severely underrated actor who stands his own in a movie dominated by Rajni's multi-lingual presence. Meena is suitable as his wife; his kids do a good job. Sunil is LOUD. Nayanatara sizzles in one song. The whole village crowd, even the seasoned actors, perform like they are in the middle of a local stage play.
Plot Dhanalaxmi and Balaji are childhood sweethearts, but they are separated. Dhana's parents are no more and her guardian is her step-mother who tries to force her into a marriage. She runs away to Hyderabad where she stays with her friend, and Arvind falls in love with her on first sight. After trying to woo her and failing to do so, she tells him her intentions-to find Balaji and marry him. Arvind's heart is broken, but will he help her or woo her away from his competitor-forms the rest of the plot.
Performances The debutante lead pair is also good without giving a great debut. They show promise, but obviously need to work on their acting skills and as far as Yasho goes, he needs to be groomed too. Still it's a debut that is both confident and lucky, extremely lucky because the movie is good. He's sure to be noticed, and he needs to follow up on this to stay there. Yasho Sagar clearly has things going for him. Sneha's slight resemblance to Ashwarya Rai notwithstanding, she is a pretty girl with acting skills as good or otherwise of any other Mumbai imports. The rest of the cast, from Chandramohan as his father, the rest of his family, her step mother, her friend, cameos and guest appearances have all contributed to the movie.
Plot Viji is living his life when his family and a thousand other families are affected by a land grabbing that takes place. The culprit is MLA Devaraj and it's a huge scam-but the problem is that he is getting away with it. Determined not to let that happen, Viji wants everyone to unite against this anti-social element. People are too scared, but Viji and his gang are made to take action. The rest of the story is about how they bring the bad guy to justice.
Performances Nitin really needs to slow down on his dialogue delivery. His six packs are in place, and he has even worked on his dance. But he was much better as an actor in his earlier movies, and somehow seems to be neglecting this main aspect with each successive movie. Mamta Mohandas's role itself is badly written, in bits and pieces. She is an able singer, but as a female lead, she needs to hone those skills. Shashank as a shop owner and Duvvasi Mohan with his witty Telangana punches are okay; suddenly their group of 4 becomes 5 post-break and the new member is given no introduction whatsoever. Tanikella Bharani and the rest of seasoned performers are not as effortless in their performance as usual-they seem artificial, and the direction department has to take the discredit mainly.
Plot A house full of people, but they don’t know of each other’s presence. Mysterious things keep happening to individuals, who believe themselves to be alone. A man is standing concealed behind curtains eerily and the phone keeps ringing, but before anyone picks it up, it is cut. A burglar gets into the house, and the inhabitants face each other and the adversities they never imagined would occur in their lives.
Performances There are very few characters. Tulip and Venkat have little in terms of dialogue in the first half, and express well enough. The moment they need to speak post-break, the quality of their performance deteriorates. Ali and Ashish Vidyardhi are the pros here. Ashish Vidyardhi’s wife is okay. Lever’s cameo is a good gimmick.
After Dhee, hopes are high on Sreenu Vaitla's films. He has come out with a formula of sorts-one family with goons, one happy, normal family with a son so dynamic he wins over the goons and their hearts and their girl! And Brahmanandam in a pivotal role, used so effectively, you can just go to watch that track. Decent music and picturization, all main characters used to create comic relief throughout and strong characterizations are all a part of both Dhee and Ready.
Performances Ram does a good job-he has it in him, and give and take a few years, he'll be a force to reckon with-if he gets to work with the right directors who will tap his talent and drive. Genelia still makes faces, but face it: she's perhaps the most consistent female lead out there today, in terms of performances and hits together. Shafi and Bharat as Genelia's cousins ham a little, Kota-__ and Jayaprakash Reddy- as her rival aunt-uncle pairs do their job well. All the members of Chandu's family, from Nasser to Bharani and others have soppy lines to sprout and soppy songs to dance to once in a while, which they've done justice to. Chandu's gang of pals, Srinivas Reddy, Vidya (with a fundo Telangana dialect) and others are believable.
Plot Govinda Raju is a biotechnology scientist in the US who realizes the dangers of chemical warfare. The chip containing a potent chemical that can destroy billions that they developed goes missing, and Govinda is in search of this vial which travels all the way to India. Many events and people's lives are intertwined as the protagonist searches for this vial in this science meets faith journey.
Performances Kamal Hassan does the whole “Universal Hero” bit quite well, and gives a whole lot of Paisa Vasool for hardcore fans. Then there are the roles. The first role of a Vaisnavite, the old lady, the Tamilian cop, the sand activist and the protagonist role of Govinda Raju are the best five. The Japanese teacher, the American crook Fletcher and President Bush are also performed well by him, body language et all, but the makeup gets a little too unnatural here. The Afghani-Indian and the Punjabi pop star Avtaar Singh come last for the not-so-great makeup and not his best performance overall. But, wait a minute…many stars don't perform one role in the entire movie up to the mark sometimes, here this actor has done at least 8 convincingly! He just gets into the skin of the character, and even those who don't think the world of Hassan will have to appreciate first of all his determination to pull this off, and his sheer skill.
Pandurangadu 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.
Performances 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.
Plot 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.
Performances 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.
The 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.
Performances 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.
Bommarillu is a tough act to live up to. But Dil Raju and director Bhaskar give Parugu their combined touch to make a stale subject watchable and what more, interesting till the end with pacy narration and a straightforward track.
Performances Allu Arjun does a good job, and plays the character of Krishna convincingly well. It's refreshing to see he learns from movie to movie, and there is definite improvement from his last movie for this young actor. Shiela is an unexpected choice for the director-producer to have made for this movie, not being quite established or glam, but the movie required someone like this so it makes sense. She looks at home playing a village girl and justifies her role (but the character itself is not as interestingly written as Ha-Ha-Hasini).
Performances Srikanth as Madan is justified. Suneel adds to the energy element, even in the drab first half. Prabhudeva's entry, although low-key, spices up the movie from thereon. Charmme plays her part well, Asha Saini has nothing much to do expect sizzle in a bikini or other similar garments, but she looks at ease after an obvious break. Kota Srinivas Rao as a failed actor who acts as Michael/Ravi's father is funny while Sarala who acts as his mother is loud as usual, but amusing in her own way. Brahmanandam has the meatiest role after Suneel (not even Madan who hovers in the background looking distraught or dreaming up dances). He will not top his Khan Dada, and James does not even come close to 'Chari garu' (Dhee), but it is one of the pluses in the movie. Venumadhav and Ali have litte to do in thier cameos.
Plot Bommana Brothers are theives whose parents are also petty robbers. They fall in love with Chandana Sisters, who are the daughters of Chandana Mohan Rao, a big businessman. The elder one Mani Chandana runs an orphanage, while the younger one Siri Chandana is highly devotional. They are engaged, but the Bommana Brothers win their hearts by pretending to be a blind Maharastrian guy who donates everything he's asked for to impress Mani Chandana and Rama Chandra pretends to be a devout and pious man singing Ramadasu songs in a Temple by hiring junior artistes to swoon that impresses Siri Chandana. They get married after a huge ordeal. But a bank manager they robbed previously, the Chandana's hired help (Suman Shetty) and a bunch of others are after the Brothers or after their property and the adventures don't stop.
Performances Naresh is one of the smartest young actors out there. That's because with whatever little he has, he makes the best use of it. He's never out of work, and what more, he's never out of hits to name. This is his second release in a month or so and God knows how many he's had this year. Hits and averages and flops, but he's eager and sincere and ready to give it all he has.
Plot Ramu escapes from home because he wants to set up a business rather than do a job as his father suggests, and Jyothi wants to become a model but her domineering grandmother has settled her marriage. Both of them meet in the train, and one thing leads to another where they get disillusioned by the outside world and decide to cheat others and live rather than get cheated. One thieving after another with an alias 'Romeo & Juliet', they are soon in the public eye and wanted by the police. The temperamental DCP Yugandhar wants to catch them, while they rob a drug dealer Veerraju and he wants to kill them. While they run from their chasers, they save the life of a sick child they just meet.
Performances Lack of hits doesn't mean lack of talent. Tarun looks like he never took a sabbatical and he never lacked success. He looks fresh, having lost oodles of weight and looking young and ever and the eternal chocolate boy (how many of them are there now? Everyone wants to be Mass). He does a good job and pairs well with Ileana, who is convincing and better in the second half as the movie picks up.
Plot Kalidasu is a car-thief in Guntur who looks after his adoptive mother Kanakadurga (Jayasudha) and sends her son Jaydev to college in Hyderabad. In a car they steal, a girl is hidden in the trunk, clearly escaping from something but pretending to be insane. A procession of SUVs come and take the girl from the colony, destructing everything in their way and murdering Kalidasu's friend. Her phone has the photograph of herself and Jaydev together and this takes Kalidasu to Hyderabad to a gamut of land mafia, politicos, student bodies, revenge and obsession.
Tamanna is a natural in front of the camera and completely uninhibited. Clearly, she is not banking on a single hit and has substance, although she has little to do apart from acting mad, helpless or glaring at the villains while letting Sushanth take care of the baddies. Suneel's presence lifts up the first half. Jayasudha is convincing. Tanikella Bharani as the principal of the college owned by Archana's late parents is good. Ajay as the youth leader's (Vinodkumar in a good role after a long time) brother-in-law obsessed with Archana is justified. Rajan P. Dev as the home minister is cast in a mould yet again.
Savaal is director Jaya B.'s latest offering. She tries nothing different in the movie, but gets all the whistle-generating elements together and weaves them to form an interesting-enough plot that one can sit through effortlessly. If you've already watched a whole bunch of these movies (like Devadasu and others with that storyline), Savaal will seem repetitive.
Performances Bharat does reasonably well, and does his job well (even with eyebrows that look threaded-what's up, dude?). He shows promise, although it will take a couple more movies and trysts with more directors to hone his craft. Suhani passes off a pout for acting, and is okay. For Shinde, it is a repeat performance but a feat he does with ease, and does convincingly. Dandapani as the cruel pockmarked MLA is believable and Vinayak as his son is okay.
Plot Apparao is a 40+ unmarried designer from Vizag into whose life walks in the beautiful Pravallika who he falls in love with. She wants Apparao to come with her to London where she wants to start a design studio. But she is in contact with John, a terrorist who is involved in recent bomb blasts in Hyderabad and looks exactly like Apparao. Apparao's life is in danger, and Pravallika's intentions mysterious while the former's adventures begin in Hyderabad while waiting for his visa.
Performances Krishna Bhagawan manages to get away with the title role(s) and gives it his all. This is obviously a one-off and the script helps him tremendously. Actually, there is just an episode or two in the movie that really tickles the funny bone and there he does a flawless job. Apart from that, the rest of the movie itself is average and so is his scope. Simran still has the oomph factor and it is unfair that her choices are so limited at this point. Had the script been even slightly better in the first half and not dragged in the second half, this combi and the little comedy would have really clicked.
Plot Sivakasi lives alone, bashes up random goondas and runs a welding shop. He and Devi fall in love, but Devi's family wants a guy with a family for her. He reveals to them that he is in fact from a seemly background, and sets out to his ancestral home. As a child, a mischief that his elder brother did cost someone their life-and he had to take the blame for that. Banished from his household, he sets foot in his village 15 years later to a drastically different situation.
Performances Kalyanram is a promising talent, no doubt. With 'Athanokkade', he arrived. And after that, the only improvement is in his dancing, but he's still a little stiff. Good energy, good looks-needs good roles. Saikumar makes a good villain. He dominates in the second half. Vedika is pretty, dances well and does a good job in the little screen time she gets. Jayasudha and Suman suit their roles as does Mounika as their daughter. Lakshmipathi as the MLA's stooge is good. Rajan P. Dev as Saikumar's father-in-law is typical.
