Arundhati Movie Review

Movie Crew

Banner:Mallemala Entertainments
Cast: Anushka, Sonu Sood, Deepak, Manorama, Sayaji Shinde, Kaikala Satyanarayana, Ahuti Prasad, AnnapurnaMusic: Koti 
Dialogues: Chintapally Ramana
Cinematography: Senthil Kumar 
Visual effects: Rahul Nambiar 
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh 
Story – screenplay: Mallemala unit 
Direction: Kodi Rama Krishna
Producer: M Shyam Prasad Reddy 
Release date: 16 January 2009

Plot

Arundhati (Anushka) belongs to Gadwal samsthanam in 1920’s. She is known for her bravery in saving the Samstanam by killing Pasupathi (Sonu Sood) an evildoer who creates ruckus in that place. She is praised as Jejemma (named after the famous Goddess in that area). But the spirit of Pasupathi haunts that place. Another girl is born in the same lineage after 3 generations and she is named as Arundhati. The spirit of Pasupati is after Arundhati to take the revenge. The rest of the story is all about how Arundhati puts an end to the evil spirit of Pasupathi.

Artists Performance

Anushka: This is Anushka’s first performance oriented film and she is simply amazing in two roles. There are many shots in the film where the scenes from the present time will dissolve into to flashback and vice versa. These scenes are done on Anushka are crucial in the film. She has to show the variations between the old Arundhati and new Arundhati. She did exceptionally well with subtle yet impact creating performance. Shilpa and Sowmya dubbed the voices of old and new characters respectively.

Others: Sonu Sood looks deadly in the role of Aghora. His performance is excellent. A special mention should be given to P Ravi Shankar who dubbed the voice of Sonu Sood. It is a great opportunity for any dubbing artists to get a role like this. The way he pronounces ‘ninnu vadalaa … vasta .. vasta’ is extremely good. Sayaji Shinde got a beautiful role ‘Talla Sayibu’ in this film. He is completely believable in that role. Manorama is very good. Deepak is nice. Satyanarayana and others are good. All other artists are appropriately cast in their roles. 

Story - Screenplay - Direction
Story of the film is good. Screenplay is very good. The beauty of this screenplay is about revealing the story and information in parts. There is always something to look forward to with anticipation in the film. It possesses one of the best screenplays in the recent times. Direction by Kodi Rama Krishna is very good. However, there are a couple of violent scenes that are disturbing to the family crowds. You can see a few Hollywood inspirations like Lord of the Rings, House of Flying Daggers (dum dance), Final Destination 1 (car - train episode). A couple of episodes (the thread of drum dance by the guru & establishing Arundhati as the warrior) should have been more effectively established. 

Other departments

Visual effects and graphics done by Rahul Nambiar are extraordinary. Cinematography by Senthil Kumar is excellent. Background music and rerecording by Koti is brilliant. The songs in the film go with the flow of narration. Art direction by Anand Sai is first-rate. Make-up work is good. Editing is smooth. Digital Ingredient (color grading) is very good. Production values of this film are extravagant.

Analysis

First half of the film is excellent and the second half is good. The plus points of the film are performances, screenplay, technical values and grandeur. The only negative point I see in this film is violence (got an A certificate from censors), which is very much required for the film to be effective. After a long time, I watched a Telugu film that has both content and technology rightly mixed to give a vibrant output. Arundhati is a film which you can proudly show it as a Telugu film to all your non-Telugu friends. And it will live up to the adjective of ‘Magnum Opus’. Two thumbs up to Shyam Prasad Reddy for making a brilliant film. Don’t watch it on internet or pirated DVDs. Arundhati is a film that must be watched in a good theater with nice sound/projection system.
Review Source:idlebrain.com

Maska Movie Review

Movie Crew

Banner: Sri Sumanth Arts
Cast: Ram, Hansika Motwani, Sheela, Sunil, Mukesh Rushi, Pradeep Rawat, Naresh, Brahmanandam, Paruchuri Gopala Krishna, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Ali, Krishna Bhagawan (single scene?), Ali (single scene?), Gundu Hanmantha Rao, Telangana Sakuntala, Seeta
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Sekhar V Joseph
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Lyrics: Kandikonda
Fights: Ram Lakshman
Story: Surya
Direction: B Gopal
Screenplay - Producer: MS Raju
Release date: 14 January 2009

Plot

Krish Jagarlamudi (not the Gamyam director, but hero Ram) is a spoilt brat who looks for shortcuts to earn fame and money. Unable to clear his graduation and get a job, Krish plans to love and marry a rich girl Manju (Sheela) who is going to USA. In the process he meets another girl Meenu (Hansika Motwani) and really falls in love with her. The rest of the story is all about when both these girls come to know about the cheating nature of Krish. There is also a political twist to the story.

Artists Performance

Ram: After Devdas, this film gives an oppurtunity to Ram to portray the entire gamut of emotions. His dances are amazing in Hare Hare Rama (1st song) and Bagdad Gajadonga (last song). He moves his body like a spring in those songs. He handles comedy department exceptionally well with the right dialogue delivery and diction. However, we do notice an uncanny resemblance to the body language of Pawan Kalyan in Ram’s performance. 

Heroines: Hansika Motwani did a traditional character in this film. She is pretty good. The fans of Hansika will have a whale of time in ‘Kalloki Dilloki’ song where she wore a micro mini skirt (with a low angle camera). Sheela who looks pretty traditional did the role of temptress in this film. And she is extremely glamorous with liberal exposure of her dusky skin.

Other actors: Sunil did a full-length role in this film after a long gap. He is extremely good and provides lot of entertainment. After doing Kokapeta Aunty in Tulasi, Jhansi has done another entertaining role that speaks in Nellore slang. Brahmanandam did the role of a kidnapped doc and he is just average. Introduction scene of Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao is good. One does not understand what Krishna Bhagawan is doing in this film. He has one insignificant scene with a single dialogue. Ali is also wasted. Mukesh Rushi, Pradeep Rawat, Naresh, Dharmavarapu and Telangana Sakuntala are adequate.

Story - Screenplay - Direction
Story of the film is provided by Surya. He judiciously mixed a triangular love story with an action backdrop. Screenplay of the film is considerably good. MS Raju borrowed the Vaali screenplay where hero shows a photo of a girl to tell the story to heroine and the girl in photo meet hero in real. The thread of conversing in numbers has got good commercial payoff in the second half. The direction by B Gopal is decent in the first half. There is a bit of lag in pre-climax scenes. The hero shifting his love from Sheela and Hansika should have been shot more efficiently. The villains are projected as the most dreaded till climax and they are shown in the positive light at end. Hence there is no commercial payoff for the action/mass part of the film. 

Other departments: Music by Chakri is good. The picturization of the songs is excellent. But the director could not place these songs effectively into the film. The choreography for 1st song (Hare Hare) and last song (Bagdad Gajadonga) by Prem Rakshit is pretty cool. Cinematography is nice. The locations in 'Kalaganna' song are good. Dialogues by Paruchuri brothers are good. They wrote nice comedy one-liners as well as good mass dialogues. Production values by MS Raju are grand. 

Analysis
First half of the film is handled well and provides entertainment. You can see B Gopal kind of mass elements in the second half. The movie goes slow towards the climax of the film. The plus points of the film are Ram and first half. On the flip side, there is a bit of lag in the last half an hour of the film and more clarity is needed in love triangle. On a whole, Maska has got entertainment elements that might work at box office.
Review Source:idlebrain.com

Fitting Master Movie Review

Movie crew
Banner: EVV Cinema
Music: S Chinna
Cinematography: Prasad Babu
Fights: Ram Lakshma, Vijay
Story, Screenplay, Production, Direction: EVV Satyanarayana
Cast: Allari Naresh, Madalasa Sarma, Shayaji Shinde, Sudha, Chandramohan, Saira Banu etc
Release Date: 14th Jan 2009

Story

Sampath (Allari Naresh) is an orphan who works in a gym center. He hates love between a young man and young girl and keeps on opposing that in public. This catches the attention of an arrogant rich girl Meghna (Madalasa Sharma) who challenges her friends that she could pull him in love and make him a puppet around her. Her attempts fail all the while. Then she falls in his love in real. But still he denies her. Then Meghna takes the help of her brother to convince Sampath. In a surprising incident when Meghna's brother approaches Sampath, latter kills the former. Why he killed? What are his motives? That forms the rest of the story. It ended up as an age old revenge drama.

Artists Performance

Allari Naresh didn't leave his trade mark style of dialogue delivery and instant punches but since the film happened to be a serious flick, the scope for humor is less. But Naresh got a scope to portray seriousness and revenge this time.

Madalasa Sharma is like any other Mumbai girl. She has delivered average performance. She is there for glamour in full dose indeed.

Chandra Mohan and Sudha are there for melodrama and Saira Banu is there for a long pathetic episode. Sayaji Shinde maintained mannerism of singing songs from old films as per situation.

Others are just ok. Music is above average a couple of songs 'Tappusodara..', 'Vennelavo..' really pleased the ears.

Dialogues by Tadi Balaram and Satish Vegesna are apt and rightly grooved in.

Appearance of lyricist Vanamali before a song in his real-time character is interesting.

EVV has chosen an outdated narration, although the subject is universal.

Analysis

It's like tasting sour in the name of sweet. The title 'Fitting Master' with Allari Naresh in it would obviously give an impression that it is an out and out comedy entertainer. But it is not so. It's blended with melodrama, weeps, shouts, fights and all sorts of ingredients that a serious film possesses. Although the maker of the movie attempted to give a message to today's youth those are falling in love and marrying without the consent of parents, the title and expectation didn't match. It is true that audiences those love to laugh on the occasion of festival will walk into theatres to watch this film. But they will be disappointed for watching a serious movie with scattered comedy.

And it is not a film for Allari Naresh, at this juncture. Although EVV tried to bring an image make over for Naresh, this film didn't serve the purpose as it's made with obsolete content.

The film may get some initial mileage in B, C centers but on a whole it cannot be considered a wholesome entertainer.

Sashirekha Parinayam Movie Review

Movie Crew
Cast: Tarun, Genelia, Ahuti Prasad, Paruchuri Gopala Krishna, Subbaraju, Raghubabu, MS Narayana, Suthivelu, Sivaji Raja, Abhi, Giri, Surekha Vani, Tulasi, Geeta Singh
Music: Mani Sharma
Lyrics: Sirivennela & Anant Sreeram
Cinematography: Bhaskar Samala
Editing: Shankar
Art: Satyanarayan
Dialogues: Nagaraju
Story - screenplay - direction: Krishna Vamsi
Producer: Sunkara Madhu Murali
Release date: 1 January 2009

Sasirekha (Genelia) is summoned by her strict father (Ahuti Prasad) to return home. After coming home she realizes that her marriage is fixed with an NRI and her wedding is due that night. She also learns that the groom’s father is money-minded. She has no choice left but to run away. She meets Anand (Tarun) on her journey. He protects her and helps her. The rest of the story is all about the background of Anand and what happens between the couple.

Artists Performance

Genelia: You would see an entirely different Genelia in this film. She did not wear any make-up. She is completely child-like and playfully innocent. It appears like she dubbed her own voice in certain scenes of the film. Her hysterical performance when she is slapped shows another shade of her. And her performance in the scene in which she banters after getting drunk is very good. She gave wide variety of expressions in this film.

Others: Tarun plays the second fiddle. But his performance in the hospital scene in the climax is ultimate. Ahuti Prasad scores again in this film. But his usage of expletives at end his dialogue is little discomforting to ears. Subbaraju dons a refreshing (away from his usual roles) role in this film. He is excellent. Paruchuri Gopala Krishna is extremely good as the villainous elder. Abhi did a significant role. Monali Chowdary is good in a cameo. MS Narayana is excellent in the tax-payers episode. Vamsi (Paiditalli from Happy Days) has a small, but interesting role.

Story - Screenplay - Direction

Story of the film has nothing to do with Jab We Met film but for a couple of slight references (heroine mouthing abuses on phone and the beginning notes of Edo song). The story of the film is simple. Hence it is very difficult to write screenplay. There is only one screenplay knot that is opened in the interval. The entire second half is about how heroine falls in love with the hero. Hence there is no conflict point in the second half as audiences are well aware by then that heroine’s parents are not going to catch her. Though the initial half an hour after the interval bores you, the director turns it around with well conceived scenes towards the end of the film. The most hilarious scene in the film belongs to MS Narayana where he explains how drunkards are helping the Government. There are two defining moments in the second half –

1. Genelia’s banter after getting drunk: The way heroine questions the man’s attitude and explains the depth of women’s heart showcases the director’s deep understanding of women. The movie turns around from this moment. 2. Lead pair getting caught in an imbroglio: An unexpected scene from an unknown angle changes the complexion of the film and provides a lead to the climax.

The following episodes in the film are unappealing

1. The lorry driver rape attempt followed by hero saving heroine. 2. The court and jail episode.

Other departments

Music of the film is alright. The best song on the screen is ‘Edo’ that comes before the climax. Nice rendition by Saindhavi helps the mood of the situation. Dialogues are nice. Krishna Vamsi seems to be allocating a few minutes of his film’s runtime to eulogize certain things in his recent films. If he had lengthy dialogues about railways and Indian traditions in Rakhi and Chandamama respectively, he tells some good things about Vijayawada (only after belittling it). Cinematography is adequate. The producer should have taken more care in the postproduction (especially DI) which would have enhanced the visual appeal of the film.

Last Word

The title cards sequence (involving visuals of Maya Bazaar song Aha Na Pellanta’) is very good. The first half of the film is adequate. The initial half of the second half is boring (a common problem with journey flicks if they do not have conflict point). The director makes it up in the last half an hour. The positive points are Genelia and last half an hour. On the flipside, there is no conflict point (that creates dramatic impact) in the second half. This film has elements that can go well with class audiences and women. We have to wait and see how it fares at box office.
review source:idlebrain.com

Mental Krishna Review

Movie Crew
Cast: Posani Krishna Murali, Satya Krishnan, Nagababu, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana, Giribabu, Raghubabu, Ranganath, Goutham Raju, Sivajiraja, ETV Prabhakar and Others.
Art: Babjee.
Cinematography: Gadiraju Srinivas.
Editing: Mohan-Ramarao.
Music: Vandemataram Srinivas.
Producer: Mohan Vadlapatla.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction: Posani Krishna Murali.
Banner: Mohan Media Creations.
Release Date: 01st January, 2008.

I have decided to do something noble on the first of January and that is to tell people to stay away from this crappy movie. It is downright disdainful, bizzare and Posani Krishna Murali again attempts an abhorrent and a twisted theme. In one of his films (Operation Duryodhana), he makes Srikanth walk nude. Here in the guise of innocence and in an attempt to unravel doubts, he unleashes his peverse fantasies on heroine Satya Krishnan. At the end of the film you would want to do what Satya Krishnan did, slipper him for the torture unlimited.

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.

Satya Krishnan looks slim, flat tummy, well presented and is even shown as preparing for an entry to Indian School of Business. She falls for her milkman just because he he had passed in the exam and he hails from a modest background. She proposes and at the wedding the milkman's family disposes.


Posani is the savior now and he ties the sacred yellow thread and are declared MAN and wife. It is only in the bedroom when he turns up in a nightie she realises he is not man enough and offers to remain as his friend lifelong.

He tortures her, puts her through many ordeals, himself goes through some like getting his legs waxed and finally pushes her into his best friend's arms because he resolves to have a progeny, a heir to the family. Yes, he makes her go through the virginity test before that which he keeps pronouncing it as virgin test. The lady who attempted an examination for ISB is shown as the ideal wife material, not once complaining. It's just her moist and sometimes red eyes do the talking.

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.

First it's yawn, then sick and then a plain nauseating feeling. From frame one to the last it is the megalomaniac. He tries to insinuate by mentioning Sakshi to cover his gay life. Thankfully he doesn't gulp his words. Not recommended for family viewing. Bad choice for Satya Krishnan.
review source:cinegoer.com

King Movie Review

King Crew
Cast: Nagarjuna, Trisha, Mamta Mohandass, Deepak, Srihari, Brahmanandam, Geeta, Jayaprakash Reddy, Venumadhav, Chandramohan, Bharath, Krishna Baghavan, Shayaji Shinde, and others
Story: Kona Venkat, Gopi Mohan
Dialogues: BVS Ravi
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Editing: M.R.Varma
Lyrics: Ramajogayya Shastri, Sahiti
Choreography: Brinda, Rajashekar, Shobi
Fights: Ram - Lakshman
Executive producer: Akkineni Venkataratnam
Produced by: D Sivaprasad Reddy
Banner: Kamakshi Kala Movies
Screenplay and directed by: Sreenu Vytla
CBFC Rating: U
Release date: December 25, 2008


Plot

King aka Raja Chandrapratap Varma (Nagarjuna), heir apparent to late Raja Varma, takes over the business of his father after his death and works hard to live up to his father’s name. He has kid brother (Deepak) too and lives with large family consisting of his mom (Geeta) and uncles and their family members. On his business trip to Uttaranchal, he is killed by Swapna (Mamta Mohandass) aided by King’s archrival. Enters Bottu Seenu, a street rowdy, a look-alike of King. Bottu Seenu falls in love with Sravani (Trisha) an aspiring singer who is also sister to don Jnaneshwar (Srihari). To impress Sravani, Bottu Seenu gets introduced himself to her as a software engineer called Sharat. The rest of the movie unravels the mystery behind the killing of King, and the identity of Bottu Seenu.

Analysis

With three hit movies under his belt – Dhee, Dubai Seenu and Ready, director Sreenu Vytla has garnered the image of a good entertainer. He dishes out another masala entertainer this time with ‘Manmadhudu’ Nagarjuna. King is a pucca commercial formula movie designed to cater to the entertainment seeking audiences. It succeeds tickling your funny bone in most scenes. The first half is breezy and has funny moments with a spoof on music director Chakri (Brahmananadam’s character).

The best part are some hilarious situations, romantic drama between Trisha and Nag, and Srihari’s characterization.

But the director stretches the jokes too far in the second half and overshoots by almost 20 minutes. Too much twists and turns towards the climax have worked against the movie in the second half. It needs to be trimmed urgently.

Performances

Nagarjuna plays three different characters with élan. He looks very handsome compared to his recent films like Don and also the director has extensively used his ‘stylized’ gait to show the heroism. Nagarjuna is good in action and romantic episodes as ever. He should be commended for accepting to be beaten by comedian Brahmanandam in a scene. Trisha looks beautiful and chirpy. She walks through the role of an aspiring singer. Mamta Mohandass proves her mettle again in a character that has negative shades. She looks sexy too. Of the other cast, Srihari and Brahmanandam have more footage. Srihari portrays the role effectively. Brahmanandam as music director Jayasurya mimics real life composer Chakri and his comedy is hilarious. The so-called Om-Shanti-Om like song has little impact.

Technically, Prasad Murella’s cinematography catches the eye. He provides rich visuals and makes Nag and Trisha look even more beautiful. Editing by M.R. Varma is sharp but he should have trimmed the movie for a faster narration. Music by Devi Sri Prasad is ordinary except for the title song and the romantic duet shot in Bangkok.

Story by Kona Venkat and Gopi Mohan provides enough platform for some funny moments but the twists and turns post the interval too hard to digest. It has shades of too many movies like Bollywood's Welcome and Race, and Chandramukhi, Chandra Lekha, etc. Director Sreenu Vytla shows his comedic touch again but expectations one has from his film aren't quite met in terms of content. He needs to do a check on the receptiveness of same jokes.

Last Word

King is masala entertainer with plenty of comedy in the first half. There are many loopholes in the script but the Nag’s style and Sreenu Vytla’s brand of comedy cover them. If you are looking just to pass some time, King is worth a dekko if you excuse the length and unnecessary twists and turns.