VANGAVEETI

STORY: vadu vedni champadam, eedu aadi champadam, champadam, champukodam(this guy killing, that guy killing, both killing, both sides killing).

Did i like anything in the film: Nothing, only scene i felt like watching is the murder of vangaveeti raadha, other than that nothing.

What did i not like in the film:

• lot of things,  camera angles in the first 30 minutes of the film, it did not work for me, i could not able to concentrate on dialogues
• RGV's voice over, half of the film is covered with his voice over, he made a 2 hour film out of 22 years story, in that process he skipped lot of incidents which he tried to summarize using voice over. but because of this method, i could not able to feel anything, it is like he is begging audience to feel the emotion, feel that this guys is a great rowdy, this is a very sensational murder...he is simply saying audience instead of showing them. his voice over made me feel VANGAVEETI like a documentary.
• Slow motion shots in the climax, almost entire climax shot in slow motion, i slept for some 15 minutes, a loud bgm woke me up.

What did i learn from this film: voice over can be used explain what character is feeling, to give introduction, to explain a situation, but showing it is always effective and difficult than saying it.



This is not a film, it is a documentary with out interviews or video diaries.....its up to you to watch it or not watch it.

PREMAM TELUGU

DISCLAMIER: i have watched the original premam 'n' number of times, so this opinion is going to be a biased one.



Watching a remake after watching its original is like watching a girl in a new dress(makeup, hairstyle). Some times she looks better in her new dress, some times worst. With out any second thought i like this PREMAM in her old dress(malayalam) only....but this new dress looks ok to her..she is not ugly...

First half of Premam is really boring, here Naga Chaitanya's teenage character over emotes in every scene, but compared to the first half second half looks better. According to me the most important scene in premam is the one where the hero meets teacher character after her accident, here in this Telugu version they did not spoil the scene, they pictured it nicely. Another important scene in the film is teacher's dance scene...here in this version...shruthi hasan is the teacher, when she dances, it was like some one got possessed and dancing very hard(she dances with loose hair, all her hair flies while dancing giving you a feel of ladies dancing in front of temples).

Over all the film looks ok ok ok.....i cannot speak for the people who have not watched the original, but if you watched the original, i am 100% sure that you wont like this film....

P.S: During interval a guy sitting in front of us called his friend, and explaining his friend about the first half. It seems he watched the original premam, he did not like how they remade few scenes in first half, so he is explaining each and every scene and scolding the director for spoiling the scenes he liked, so original premam loverss....better dont watch this filmmmm....other who did not watch the original....please go and watch it.........

KABALI- example for a bad marketing

It is very difficult to say that' i did not like rajni's film'...it is equal to saying ' i didn't like rahman's song'....i watched kabali first day morning show and i did not like it. I dont want to tell the story, but i will try to tell why i did not like the film without revealing the story.

My main problem with the kabali film is that i did not get connect with the emotions of the characters. Hero is searching for his wife, i have to feel his pain but i did not. why i did not feel the pain?? because there are no proper flash back scenes which establish the love between hero and heroine....if i felt their love when they are together, i would have felt the pain when they are away. I did not feel the enmity between the hero and villian. In between there are some dialogues about how indians(tamils in tamil version) are treated badly in malaysia which has no relation with the film's treatment.

Similarly, all other characters are very poorly written, the story is different. but the characters are routine...the most funniest character is 'attakathi dinesh's character, whole theater laughed whenever he is on the screen which is not the intention of the director. He is the body guard of KABALI, we should feel his loyalty, strength and that power, but instead his mannerisms made the theater laugh.

 Through out the film i noticed the reactions of the audience, they are clearly disappointed. this i feel is because of the mismatch between the promotions and reality. If you look at the way they promoted the film, a teaser with 'neruppu daa' background score and the 'kabali daa' dialogue, an album where half of the songs praise hero with english lyrics..what will audience expect??? but what is there in film- the main theme of the film is different, there are slow motion shots, stylish poses, but they are not typical rajni sceness....audience who expected these things will surely disappoint after watching the film.  Had they released a teaser without showing RAJNI walking in slow motion and telling a punch dialogue..people have expected some class movie, it is important to prepare the audience for the film you want to show especially when you are making a different film with a star.

The most important thing is the way the film got ended, i dont know what director wanted to tell with that shot, it is clearly a final nail on the coffin for mee....

Kabali is not as bad as LINGAA, it is a one time watchable film...go and watch it and share your opinion hereee

Kammatti padam- Movie

Annayum rasoolum, Njan steve lopez- these are the first two films of the director Rajeev ravi. He is a strory teller, he tells them in in his own pace which some people like and some don't. In Kammatti padam, he narrates the lives of people from a place called 'Kammatti padam'. He demands a little patience from audience as he tries to narrate a long journey of these people who witnessed the Ernakulam village turning into a City. In this film he takes time to establish a world where every character has its own significance.

The film is narrated in a non linear fashion, the protagonist Krishnan(Dulquer salman), who gets stabbed  recollects his whole life while he tries not to lose his consciousness. He recollects about his child hood, how he met his friends Ganga, Abu,etc, how they looked upto 'BALAN CHETTAN (played by manikandhan)' who is a fear less guy, works for a businessman called Surendran.  Krishnan and his friends become a Gang called 'Kammatti padam boys' under the leadership of Balan chettan and start working for Surendran. As the story unveils we will get to see the various stages of this Gang, the lives of low class society, how the businessman surendran used the gang for his benefits.

The screen play and editing gives enough importance to every character and it is very difficult to forget any of them. Even though the main protagonist is Dulquer salman, for me the pick of performances is Vinayakan who played his friends character. The action sequences looks so realistic, no flying, no defying of laws of physics.

The film is very long, close to 3 hours, but as i said earlier director takes his time in first half to establish a world and the way he handled the non linear narration, so many characters and plots with out creating any confusion is brilliant. It is one of those films where every character gave their best. If you have not watched this film, go for it and experience the lives of these Kammatti padam boys.....

Baahubali Movie- Rajamouli and his team's mind blowing treat

The chorus voice that comes in the song 'mamatala talli' is running through my mind now, it has been on loop in my mind from the time i left the theater. Given the track record of the director rajamouli, before watching the film i knew that i was going to watch a fantastic film. After watching the film all i can say is that the film is beyond my expectations and imagination.

Devasena(anushka) was held as captive for 25 years, no bath(i guess), no proper sleep(this is also my guessing),when her face was revealed after few scenes of her introduction you will get scared, with red eyes and very bad skin she looks so scary. This makeup of anushka is perfect example for the amount of care that Rajamouli's team took in each and every aspect.

I am not going to do any analysis on the story, screenplay and acting, i am going to tell you guys how good this film is. The story line of the film is very simple and old, but the way rajamouli narrated each and every scene and introduced each and every character is the highlight of the film. The film starts at the waterfall which we have seen in the trailer, we will get introduced to the SHIVAGAMI and her sacrifice. Rajamouli thinks big, not even in our wildest dreams we can think that a simple scene can be picturised in a way he does, whenever there is a scene with larger than life stunts, either he creates a perfect situation to that scene or he diverts the audience from completely concentrating on that stunt so that they forget about the logic. In this film also there is a situation where our hero climbs a biggg water fall of some 1000 ft. Had he shot it as a pure action scene, it would have been very difficult to convince the audience, so rajamouli pictured it as an action cum love song where hero climbs the water fall crossing one hurdle after the other.

After few love scenes between prabhas and tamannah you will get introduced to the loya servant KATTAPPA(sathyaraj), after that the roller coaster ride starts and there is no stopping until the climax of the film. Afer kattappa's introduction comes the mighty villian BALLALADEVA who can kill a large bull with his two hands, then comes the flash back and the war scene. Each and every scene astonishes you, specially the scene where baahubali kills the son of ballaladeva is worthy of 100 whistles. The film ends with a battle scene, it is well choreographed, it is not like the battle scenes we have watched in hollywood flicks. It is different with some breath taking shots. Keeravan's songs sounded really good while watching them(I didnt miss rahman like i said in this post baahubali songs)

This film has jaw dropping VFX, the waterfall song, mahishmathi kingdom, the snow slide sequence, battle scene and the list goes on...you never feel that VFX is bad and cheap(except some two three scenes).

The film ends with a question, asking us- Why did loyal servant of the kingdom KATTAPPA killed the king BAAHUBALI????. We have to wait for the part 2 which is going to release in 2016, until that keep guessing the reason....;-).....

BAAHUBALI SONGS - not a review...just my opinion

Usually for a film which got made with a very high budget, got shot over a long period of time, and more importantly getting released in multiple languages with so much expectations, we expect the music also to be at the same level........unfortunately i think that this album fell way short below that level........just listen to MANOHARI song..you understand what i am saying.....

Of all the 8 songs i liked two songs..Dheevara song(telugu version) and Mamatalani song...the two songs sung by keeravani are ok, but i feel S P Balu's voice might have given the power that these songs require.

 All other songs are not so good, with so much expectations set for this movie, people from non Telugu background will not accept the music unless the album is that grand. Since this movie already got the attention of the people around the country, this album wont effect its expectations.

I never waited for a Keeravani album before, but i did for this time because of the grandeur with which this film has been made. The thing that made me to wait for this album is to see whether Keeravani did any new things in his music to match the senses of the Hindi and Tamil audience as Rajamouli is targeting Tamil and Hindi market. I know it is not fair to compare any music director with Rahman...but i wish Rahman had composed music for this film....I wish SPB had sung those two songs sung by Keeravani....

P.S. Now after watching the film i started liking the songs, i started liking the same MANOHARI song, may be my love for Rahman blinded my ears and didnt let me like Keeravani's songs ;-)......

I - Shankar's Treat

Spoiler's ahead: If you haven't watched the film yet, go and watch it without any second thought, it's Shankar's film, you can always come back and read the review after watching the film.

After a long time Shankar took a non-message oriented subject and made a thriller with romance. Film starts with the introduction of vikram in hunchback makeup, then comes the body builder Vikram with a different dialogue delivery. Shankar takes time to introduce our hero and his love towards super model Amy Jackson, Amy looked hotter than Chennai's summer in this film and her introduction step in 'LADIO' song is awesome, after introducing these characters Shankar takes us to China and from there with the help of P C Sriram and Rahman he just gives a visual feast.

Coming to the highlights of the movie
Songs and it's Picturization is beautiful, VFX work in 'Mersalayitten' song is topnotch, beauty of China and cinematography in 'pookkale' song is jaw dropping, 'Aila Aila' song in second half where 7 advertisements are pictured is brilliant. Shankar always mesmerizes us with his songs and his song's visuals always matches the beauty of Rahman's  music.
The first fight in Gym and the one particular shot in that fight where Vikram lifts two persons is super. I didn't like the fight in China,but still watching it on big screen with Rahman's BGM is worth.
The scenes of Vikram taking revenge on each villain with a different strategy is clever though it reminds us of Anniyan.
Last but not the least Rahman's music, no words to explain about God(RAHMAN)'s music, his BGM gave the grandness that Shanakra's vision requires.

 It is a usual revenge story, but the way Shankar narrated it is brilliant. He cleverly selected the non-linear screenplay showing the past and present one after the other, so that we won't get the usual same story feeling while watching it. Almost for the entire second half Vikram looks in that de-glamourized role and no one complains, whole theater claps when that character says 'athukku mele' and takes revenge on villains, that is the greatness of Shankar. I will say that this film's script is the weakest of all the Shankar's films, but the execution is at its best with rich technical aspects and great acting.


Shankar, Rahman,Vikram and P C Sriram, 'I' is the magic created by these people with the help of the others. 

I hate travelling in bus from chennai to vijayawada

When i make a sudden plan to go my hometown, i always end up traveling in APSRTC, i try my best to avoid it. On Thursday morning i call my friends who got access to high speed internet and tell them to book train ticket in tatkal, from 9.30 to 9.55 i call everybody and give the details looking at my login page. You can expect an intelligent film from Sajid khan, but booking a tatkal ticket successfully is impossible. So, i end up booking the ticket in APSRTC bus.

 While leaving the office on Friday evening i pray to God to show some mercy on me this time. With that fear i go to CMBT,  get into the bus and wait for that moment hoping for some miracle. Finally the moment arrives, they switch on the TV, blue screen gets displayed with loading message. I straighten my body, open my eyes wide and look at the screen while the movie starts. When that 'Varahi chalana chitram' logo appears i know what film it is, i know that God showed middle finger to me, it is 'LEGEND' movie acted by Balakrishna and directed by the great Boyapati sreenu.

For the next two and half hours you see the lion in the form of human being dancing, fighting, shouting and romancing. If you are lucky enough, they may play 'Badrinath' movie after that. After watching two great movies like that, it is very difficult to sleep. Last Saturday on 20th December  God showed me his two middle fingers, i booked ticket for direct bus from Chennai to Kothagudem to my surprise they played two good movies 'Uyyala Jampala' and 'kotha bangaru lokam. I felt so happy and slept, early morning at 5.30 when the bus reached Vijayawada i heard Balayya voice, i thought i was dreaming, but slowly the voice became so clear and i woke up to see the legend movie being played on the T.V. Life is not easy and God is so crazy.

P.S: Those who haven't watched LEGEND(telugu) movie, please watch it

Interstellar- this film is for 'them'

Before going to the film i read few reviews on the Facebook about the film telling that they have watched the film second time to understand the film, so in the theater i sat straight, kept my all concentration on the screen so that i don't miss anything. When the film started..for the first few dialogues no subtitles , everybody in the theater sighed, the person sitting beside me started crying-'whaattt tthe frock, this is cheating you cannot do this to us, this is not normal film, this is nolan's film please put subtitles..pleaseeee God, if you are real...prove it, pleasssss', and when i was about to join him, there came subtitles to rescue everybody in the theater.

When that subtitle appeared on the screen, all the faces glowed with smile. But after watching the film the same faces showed no reaction, everybody bent their head down, trying to analyze what just happnd, whether they liked the film or not, what to tell when any one asks 'how s the film ?'.  Few people who tried to understand the film until the climax gave up and left the theater before half an hour itself.

I am not eligible to comment on Nolan's film but after watching this film i came to know that there are two types of 'meaning less' films, one where the director uses no brain at all like my TELUGU films and the other where the director uses too much brain like 'Irandam ulagam' and this film. I feel that for Nolan's films sensor board should give an extra certificate saying only people who did Ph.d should watch this film. This film is about the space, to the people in space and for the people in space...if you haven't watched this film..please don't watch it

The curious case of A R Rahman song

Do you remember those paragon slippers that we used to wear in childhood. How can we forget them for all the trouble we faced while using them, removing thorns from it using safety pin, putting that rubber thing back in the front hole every time it came out, every time my chappals become old enough to buy a new pair, i used to feel excited coz i am going to have a new pair of chappals. When you wear those new slippers, for the initial two three days, they bite your feet, but after those initial hiccups they stop biting and start serving your feet.

When an A R Rahman album is going to get released, i wait for that date. When the songs are getting downloaded i wait with some excitement, this waiting period increases the expectations on the album and i know that rahman is going to tower over those expectations. Listening to the AR's album for the first time is like entering into a new and unknown world. First time you don't get it, your mind says  that the songs are average and not as good as his previous albums, but then immediately your heart starts scolding your mind -'Idiot, it's A R Rahman, how can his songs sound average, how many times i have to tell you, AR songs are like slow posion, you have to give it some time, you have to listen for three four times to get it, listen to it again carefully'. After listening for two to three times your mind replies to your heart 'yes, sorry i forgot'.

Last week 'I' album got released, the scene that i explained above got repeated again, it's not new to me, it happens for every rahman album, after listening for 4 to 5 times slowly one song after the other started winning me. All you people who feel that 'I' songs are average, just give them some time, just listen to them one more time, you start feeling the magic

MANAM-Akkineni family's treat

The first look of MANAM itself told that this film is not going to be a typical family drama. Generally when a grand father, father and son act together in a film, we can predict the story. Usually in this type of films the story will be something like- father and grandfather gets separated in a flashback due to some love problem, grandson comes and reunites them together. MANAM has no such crap, it is different yet commercial. Director Vikram continued his good work, and he proved that his last hit ISHQ is not a fluke. 

While watching the film and Nagarjuna on the screen, I got one doubt - When will Nagarjuna look old ?, I think for another 10-15 years he can act convincingly  as a 35-40 year old guy. we describe and call our heroes with some different names, for example VIJAY as ILAYATHALAPATHY, PAWAN KALYAN as POWER STAR, etc. I think the only hero who is eligible for that special name is Nagarjuna. Everyone call him as MANMADHUDU and he deserves that name in every way.

This film didn’t follow any of those box office formulas that a star film follows. It has no introduction song, no climax fight ( no fight scene at all), no duet song (I mean leading pair dancing in foreign locations). The film story is really different, and it is perfect for the akkineni family. In the film Nagarjuna is the father of Nageshwara rao, Naga chaitanya is the father of Nagarajuna. Nagarjuna’s name is Nageshwara rao, Nageshwara rao’s name is Chaitanya and Naga chaitanya’s name is Nagarjuna. The way the director executed the story and convinced the audience with the above relationships is excellent.

During UYYALA JAMPALA film success meet Nagarjuna told that he wants to make a film like this, where people leave the theater with a good feeling in the heart and a smile on the face. I think this is that film

Race Gurram- Allu arjun and Kill Bill Pandey's treat

Disclaimer: This review is full of spoilers, but u can read it.

I entered the theater without any expectations because i have watched surender reddy's previous films and i have no expectations on this movie. Film started, a voice over introduced all characters followed by allu arjun's introduction where hero is shown running with horses (director has to justify the title) and then a scene comes where M.S Narayana explains about allu arjun's character. In that scene M.S. asks arjun "bagunnava babu ?", for that arjun gives a funny expression imitating R.Narayanamurthy, that was so hilarious, from that scene the film got connected to me and it never got disconnected.

The first half and first half of second half are full of comedy scenes with some action- the weird life style of sruthi haasan and her family, the bank robbery scene, prakash raj meeting with bunny, posani krishna murali scenes are very funny, in between all these comedy scenes there are some beautifully pictured songs and the interval bang with hero and villain meeting each other for the first time in the film and bunny saying that race gurram dialogue ( director has to justify the title). In two scenes so called comedian Ali also comes and delivers his usual adult dialogues as he cannot do comedy.

when the villain starts taking revenge on allu arjun i thought that the film goes into serious mode, i thought it will take the routine ending that our Telugu cinema is taking from years, but here enters the real superstar, powerstar, megapowerstar of our Telugu cinema 'BRAHMMI', who is the real reason behind the success of the films in recent years. He introduces himself as a frustrated police officer 'KILL BILL PANDEY' to bunny and joins as bunny's assistant. For another 15 minutes, with a powerful background score He dances, He shoots, He fights, He delivers punch dialogues with frustration and single-handedly lifts the film to another level. Whole theater laughed like hell for those 15 minutes.When the film ends, you forget allu arjun's dance, stylish looks and comic timing, you forget all other characters, all you remember is KILL BILL PANDEY.

Allu Arjun's energy is amazing and his comic timing is super, the way he says  'daavuda' was funny and it got huge response from crowd. I want to see how they dub this word in Malayalam version.

Even though it is a pakka commercial film with some logic missing here and there, you won't complain it because of the way they treated every scene. For me it is the best Telugu movie in this year so far