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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Fresh Face(7) - Tapasee Pannu



“Can you name the director who can show the heroine more beautifully on screen?”Ask this question to any guy who just knows ABCD of Telugu cinema…the answer is unanimous; it’s K Raghavendra Rao gaaru

And here’s the fresh face of this week…Tapasee pannu who is called fondly Tapsi by her friends…She is making her dream debut with the movie “Jummandi Naadam” directed by KRR garu after a gap, where she is cast opposite dimple boy Manchu Manoj.

This Delhi based Engineer had an eye on the creative field right from the childhood. She took part in Pantaloons Miss India 2008 competition while she was in 3rd year of her Computer Science Engineering. She managed to win the laurels ‘Pantaloon’s Miss fresh face’ and ‘Miss Beautiful Skin’.

This modeling bug made her quit the job in Infosys. She worked for several ads like World Gold Council, CocaCola etc. And now finally entered our tinsel town.

Tapsee unlike other debutants made her presence very much felt in tollywood circles thanks to her presence in various promotion events planned for the movie. And incidentally she could grab roles in 3 movies each opposite Vishnu, Prabhas and Raviteja before her debut release. She is all set for her release in Tamil too with movie ‘Aadukalam’ opposite Dhanush.

Wow…Very Good start Tapsee…Here’s all the best…for your career.

For starters,Jummandi Naadam is produced by Mohan Babu’s daughter Lakshmi Prasanna.It was her first as producer.MM Keeravani’s music is so melodious and is already a chartbuster.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Toy Story 3


ToyStory3, the third installment of ToyStory series from Pixar studios is right now shaking the Hollywood Box office. It is indeed great kick-off for summer fun. Pixar studios which gave us wonderful animated flicks like Cars, Finding Nemo, Wall-E and Up yet again delivered the best collecting 110 million in the opening weekend(2nd top grosser behind Shrek)

Toy “Story”: Andy, the owner of the toys now grows up and need to go to college. So he places all the Toys in a bag to store them in antic. But the toys have a misconception that they will be thrown in garbage. They escape from the bag and sneak in a box that is supposed to reach a Sunnyside Daycare. Initially they were happy to see so many toys there but slowly realize that it is not a safe place as the kids there torture these toys.

So how these toys realize that their master Andy still loves them??

How they escape from almost a prison Sunnyside day care?? Is all about this amusing roller coaster ride

Toys are great fun to watch…

The central characters are real fun to watch…here’s a brief about these toys

Woody: The cowboy is the as usual the hero of this series leads the escapade. He is brave and smart too…

LightYear Buzz: the sidekick to the hero entertains us when his settings are altered. So he talks in Spanish and behaves oddly.

Then we have Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead who have flexibility to take any form provided they have their eyes and hands with them…

We also have Barbie in the gang and she meets her boyfriend Ken at Sunnyside…

Lotso (Lots of hugging Bear) is the villain…in the sense it monitors the Sunnyside Daycare and sees to it that toys don’t escape…

Other toys like Rex the dinosaur, Slinky dog (dog with spring), Jessie love interest of Buzz and lots more to add fun.

Toys are not toy’s Anymore

Are you thinking that Toy stories are supposed to be for kids…then you are absolutely wrong…After all the toys are the forms of their living counter parts… So they are full of life…

The entire escapade episode in the movie is adventurous and engaging all through with not even a single dull movement. With lots of funny moments and loads of exciting happenings, the movie chuckles you throughout.

Not just the Fun!!

Do you believe if we ever can have tears watching Toys flick. But yes these toys touch your heart towards the climax.

There is a scene where Andy hands over all his toys to the small girl Bonnie explaining how much he loves them. That reminded me my toys I had in my childhood…Yes I am sure you will too…

Final Word:

Toy Story is a never miss for kids. And for all those who love animated flicks this is the one that never disappoints you.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Raavan Vs Rajneeti


This June Bollywood witnessed modernized versions of two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.

While Rajneeti, the Political saga in the lines of Mahabharata has won the box-office, Raavan which is the inverted Ramayana has just got the mediocre response…

Let’s have a Quick look…what worked well for both…and what did not!!

Refurbished Epics:

Prakash Jha, the director of Rajneeti conveyed the rivalry between the step sons cleverly relating every character to that in one of the largest epics. The struggle for power and the animosity between the siblings is the same that has been prevailing with the ages. So references to Mahabharata enhanced the director’s vision in revealing the dark side and inner view of the political families. Audiences were of similar joy when we could solve ‘Match the following’ puzzle, while they could grasp those references.

ManiRatnam on other hand made a bold version of Ramayana, Where Raavan is shown as idol, While Ram is belittled in the eyes of Sita. This kind of inversion is no doubt was sort of variety to the audience. Moreover as the Ramayan is told several times on the screen, there would have been no point in Maniratnam driving the original story again.

So Basic Content wise both are equally good….

Characters and Actors:

People say Raavan in original is no bad but circumstances made him look like that. Even in Ramayan, no where we had something to say that Raavan tortured Sita. She was left to her wish and Raavan waited patiently for her. In the Movie too, Raavan(Beera) is shown as a loyal leader of his tribe and his kidnapping Sita(Raagini) was only to avenge Police officer Rama(Dev) for his sister’s(Priyamani) death who eventually is sexually abused by the police. In her short tenure with Ravan, sita could visualize brighter side of the evil and at the same time devilish side of the good.

Abhishek is good as Raavan…and Aishwarya was no less than the celestial goddess. Vikram is limited in Hindi,while he was brilliant in southern version...and Priyamani makes her mark.

Coming to Rajneeti, We see Arjun Rampal as DharmaRaj and Ranbir Kapoor as Arjun. But these guys are not as ideal as Pandava’s. While Age old DharmaRaj could not even lie properly when he says “Aswaddama ‘hatah kunjara ha’”...Arjunrampal is shown as brutal murderer and a womanizer. Even Ranbir was shown as the master mind that is corrupted and calculative.Interesting part is AjayDevagan (lower caste leader) as Karna and he is befriended by ManojBajPai (Duryodhan) .While Karna’s father is Chariot Driver; he is shown as car driver here. Remember Karna’s chariot gets stuck in mud in the war, and here Ajay’s Car is seen broke down in the climax. Katrina is the modern age Draupadi who loves Ranbir but need to marry Arjunrampal in the same way as the Draupadi is shared by all five brothers.

What worked…What did not?

It was the gripping screenplay and punch packed performances by all the actors that worked really well for Rajneeti. Though Lengthy and is filled with lot of characters, the movie manages to keep the pace till the Climax.Ranbir scores more than anyone .

On the Flip side the dialog were so dramatic that the actors felt as if they were enacting BRchopra’s Classical soap just wearing modern outfits. When Kunti calls Karna as “Jyesta Putra”, there were couple of laughs in theater. Also the serial killings in short span of election campaign with neither post investigations nor the hard feelings was quite unnatural.

It was Cinematography by Santosh Sivan that worked wonders for Raavan. Each frame is a visual feast on its own. The locations chosen for the forests and the steep hills were all amazing. The Pre-Climax fight on the wooden bridge is delight to watch. While music might not have created magic, but is good enough.

The characters in Raavan were not so strong and failed to make a resemblance with the epic. There was no curiosity factor and no attachment of the audience in a much predictable and simple plot.

Final Verdict:

The Engaging narration and the honest portrayals worked great for Rajneeti. As we discussed earlier the epic resemblance worked here well. Raavan which was technically great could appeal to only fewer set of audience.

So if you are for serious drama, Rajneeti is safe bet. But if you could admire the technical aspects, Raavan stands out.

Ratings:

Rajneeti stands little above 3 and Raavan is little below 3.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

నాన్న ...


తొమ్మిది నెలలు తన కడుపు లో పెట్టుకుని మనని మోసెది అమ్మైనా..

మనం అమ్మ కడుపులొ పడ్డ క్షణం నుంచి ..భూమ్మీద పడేంత వరకు నాన్న పడే ఆతృత ,ఆందోళన ..తీసుకునే జాగ్రత్త,శ్రద్ద బహుసా తండ్రైతే కాని తేలిదెమో..!!

అంతటితో సరిపొతుందా ..అప్పుడే కదా మొదలు ...!పాల పీక నుంచి ఆట బొమ్మలు దాక ...స్కూలు బుక్స్ నుంచి మన కాలేజి ఫీజు దాక అన్ని ఆయన దగ్గరుండి సమకూర్చాల్సిందే..

మనకోసం ఎంతో ఇష్టంగా చెసేవన్ని చేస్తూ పైకి కాస్తంత కటువుగా కనిపిస్తాడు..అవును మరి గారాబం చేస్తే మనం గాడి తప్పుతామని భయం కాబోలు !!అందుకే అమ్మ దగ్గరున్న చనువు నాన్న దగ్గర ఉండదు ....చనువు లేకపొతేనెం చచ్చెంత ప్రేమ ఉందిగా నాన్న మీద...అలా లోలోపల దాగున్న ఇష్టానికి అక్షర రూపమే చిరు కవిత ..

గుర్తున్నాయి నాన్న..

మీ గుండె తొక్కుతూ వేసిన నా తొలి అడుగులు..

మీ వీపు పై ఊరెగుతూ చేసిన గుర్రపు స్వారీలు...

నే పడకుండా పట్టుకున్న నా చిటికెన వేలు...

మీ చేతితో దిద్దించిన జీవితపు తొలి ఓనమాలు..

నిదరోయె వేళ మీరు చెప్పిన కమ్మని కధలు ..

మా భవితకై పరితపించిన ప్రతి రాత్రి పగలు..

మీ పుణ్యమే నాన్న..

పైసా విలువ తెలీకున్నా దర్జాగా పెరిగా పాతికేళ్ళు...

ప్రతి మలుపులో ముళ్ళున్నా పూలపై నడిచా ఇన్నాళ్ళు !!

మీ కష్టార్జీతం తో రెక్కలు తొడిగాయి నా కలలు..

మీ ప్రోత్సాహ ఫలితమే నే సాధించిన విజయాలు..

నిజం చెప్పనా నాన్న..

మీ మనవడికి నిను మించిన నాన్నని నే కాలేను..

జన్మకి ఏమిచ్చినా మీ ౠనం తీర్చుకోలేను ...

అలాగని

"మరు జన్మంటూ ఉంటే" అని కాకమ్మ కబుర్లు చెప్పను..

మీ జీవన సంధ్యలొ మీ ధ్యాస నే మరువను..

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Remake Rimbola!!!


Now that all the Third generation heroes from big families have made their mark strongly at the Tollywood Box-office, it’s natural desire for these youngsters to see themselves in their father/grandfather’s shoes. These future stars are very eager in remaking the yesteryear classics.

Let’s have a sneak peak on their wish list…And immediate remakes that are in planning phase…

Gundamma Katha...

Recently both NTR and Nagachaitanya gave a nod to act in the roles of their grandfathers respectively in “Gundamma Katha”. Great actors like NTR, ANR, SV Ranga Rao, SuryaKantham, Savithri and Jamuna acted in this movie. It truly is a classic multistarrer which stands beside “MayaBazaar” and “Missamma”.

And Suresh Production is already keenly doing the groundwork on this script and the only major hurdle is who can be ‘Gundamma’. Hmmm yes its Surya Kantham that has brought life to that role and of course its fact that still people are afraid to name their kids “Surya Kantham” thanks to her inexorable mother-in-law roles. It’s hard to find her in any artiste…May be RamyaKrishna partially suits the role .Let’s watch out how things shape up and this would be a good one to remake. Forgot to Say the songs like “Lechindi..mahila lokam”, “Prema yaatralaku” etc are still very strong in hearts of music lovers.

Paatala Bhairavi...in 3D!!

Then there is latest news of “PatalaBhairavi” getting remade …and that too in 3D. PatalaBhairavi is a folk story of Thota Ramudu(NTR) who falls in love with Princess of Ujjain. Eventually he falls in trap of a “Nepali Mantrikudu”(SV Ranga Rao) .How the hero manages to kill the sorcerer and win the hand of princess is all the movie about. That was first of its kind and is really a great choice to remake. Dailogues/Songs like “Sahasam seyara Dimbaka” “Prema kosamai valalo padeney Paapam Pasivaadu” were very popular.

Putting in use the latest technology, this classic can turn into visual grandeur in 3D. And may be without second thought, one would think of Rajamouli to direct the same. And it would be nice choice for the “NTR-Rajamouli” combo. Well this was rough wish and let’s see what happens.

Wish list of Youngstars...

Well that’s not the end...Ask any one of the young heartthrobs today, they have the cheers on their faces to reveal the movie they wish to remake.RamCharanTej wants to see himself as Khaidi…While Rana loves to act in remake or sequel of Bobbili Raja.NTR dies to redo the act of the senior in Dana veera Sura Karna…And last but not the least Manchu Manoj likes M.DharmaRaju MA, while Vishnu prefers Rayalaseema Ramanna Chowdary. Let’s have a chat some other time...when these wishes are about to take form

Tough task...

Reinventing a classic is of course a thorny task. Not only that the comparisons with their ancestors do arise, it is very important that utmost care should be taken to preserve the magnitude of the yesteryear classic and same time tune the story to amuse current audience. Else they might bit the mud like either “Marocharithra” or “Pandurangadu”…

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Vedam Review




గంగి గోవు పాలు గరిటడైనను చాలు.. కడివెడైననేమి ఖరము పాలు

This renowned phrase from vemana satakam is aptly applicable to certain group of fresh directors who are just not rushing making some crap but are showing their zeal to convey splendid message to society. Jagarlamudi RadhaKrishna is truly one among them. His debut Gamyam has fetched him critical acclaim from all corners of the country. And now it’s the turn of his new venture Vedam, which has created much hype pre-release as a multi-starrer.

Noble intention of the movie: Movie is about bringing out the spark of humanity that lies deep inside every human being. Well the inner conscience knows the distinction between good and bad but it is always subdued by external desires. This movie has the situations that help the five different people from different ways of life to realize the essence of life.

5 Actors/Characters:

Allu Arjun acted as Cable Raju, a young brat who lives in slums. He manages to trap rich girl pooja(Deeksha seth) and it’s all about to what extent he goes to fulfill his love. He has come up with very brilliant performance and the one he could count up on. Especially the scene where he shifts his ways is awesome.

Manoj acted as aspiring Rock star. His part of story is about his journey towards his first ever live performance and also his journey towards sacrifice. His character reflects the youth and he is quite impressive. He just suited the role perfectly.

Anushka acted as a sex worker. She portrayed the toughest role with élan. She should and she will be highly appreciated firstly for accepting such a role and performing the same flawlessly. The sex appeal she carries and that too being in the limits is truly amusing.

Manoj Bajpai is seen as Muslim. He resembles the pain experienced by true Muslim where his nobility is tested now and then by the circumstances that force to treat every Muslim as the enemy. Well he did justice to the role.

Nagayya is a small time weaver. He resembles the poverty and the ignorance prevailing in the country. For first timer, he is simply great. He could bring out tears and touch the audience.

Other Actors:

Lekha Washington as Manoj’s friend is good and could make her mark. Deeksha Seth as Allu Arjun’s love interest just scores well in looks department. Satyam Rajesh (Allu Arjun’s friend), Ravi Prakash (Cop who hates Muslims), the actor who played hijra and Saranya(Nagayyas daughter-in-law) acted very well.

Siya of Neninthe is seen as Manoj bajpai’s wife. Brahmanandam,Posani had brief roles.

Music: Keeravani is back with a bang. He had few duds post Magadheera, but Vedam remarks his credibility. He has provided the lyrics to the most of the songs i.e.” Rupai song,Vedam title song and Ye cheekati cherani” all are real good. Rerecording throughout the movie is in sync with the picture. Other Lyricists who worked for this movie like Sirivennela, Sahithi provided good lyrics.

Krishhhhhhhh

Krish has come up with simply superb screen play. Mixing up five different stories without any confusion is off course not an easily accomplishable task. The dialogues he has written are entertaining and at the same time thought-provoking. Bringing out the brilliance from each actor and striking the chord with good blend of emotional and entertaining sequences made him successful as director for the second time.

Few good dialogues/scenes I remember:

memu guddalippukuni ammudupotaam...meeru guddalesukuni ammudupotaaru" -- anushka says to a police oficer (posani)

"mana basti lo yevadainaa potey ganta lo savam lepestaaru... dabbunolla intlo evarainaa potey ilaa moodu rojulu unchutaara.." – Allu arjun

"ee lokam lo rende kulaalu raa...okati unnollu,, rendu lenollu" -- bunny


"veelladhi religion problem kaadhu..language problem...aa devudni ye baasha lo pilavaalo teliyatam ledhu.. oka basha lo allah antaaru, inko basha lo raamudantaaru... vere basha lo jesus antaaru... aayannu ye peru petti pilavaalo teliyaka kottukuntunaaru.." -- manchu manoj

"aaripoye jeevitaalu sir maavi"—hijra/karpuram character when asked about her name..


“illu kattevodiki illu untada…cheppulu kuttetodiki cheppulu untaaya sir..”-touching dialogue from Nagayya


“Mana chinnodu sadivetanduku mana kadupullo emunnayyo anni ammukundaam..”-Touching scene ..saranya says to Nagayya..


When hijra’s character searches for suitable rest room..that was funny scene..cleverly included one


Movie Flow:

First half flows very smoothly with good songs; hilarious moments even there are 5 different stories weaved together. Second is filled with more of emotional quotient and slows down a bit. Actually movie could be made little compact in later half. One should have guts for coming up with a daring climax. Producers are highly commended for bringing out such a nice movie and especially for keeping aside the calculations made to attain the Box office collections.

Disappointments:

A movie which is hyped as a multistarrer ended up showing Manoj as guest appearance in the titles. This should have been avoided for truly delivering what it promised. Vedam title Song is also cut short for the obvious reasons.

The sequences in second half are little artificial and the pace slows down. But anyways Krish soon makes up driving us to the climax.

Off course resemblances either from Hollywood flicks crash or Vantage point can be forgiven if you truly don't mind it.

Final Verdict:

Vedam is off course a commercial cinema with right proportions of all the ingredients that could bring the Box office success. Rajamouli has rightly commented that Krish has wiped the thin line between so called an art and commercial cinema .Yes he truly has achieved it and has set a new trend.This movie will enjoy the success of multi-starrer because it has some thing for fans of two stars and offcourse Anushka.

Rating:

3.75/5 for brilliant performances, honest accomplishment and performance of all the technical departments. Movie is highly recommended.I thought of reserving 4/5 for the movies which can be watched multiple times and ever entertaining from now on.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Fresh Faces of Vedam


Vedam which is considered as true multi-starrer of today has Allu Arjun, Anushka and Manchu Manoj as the leads. While these three stars are hogging much of the limelight, there are few more budding stars sharing space with them.

Here is brief of two new fresh faces of Vedam…!!!

First among them is Lekha Washington .Lekha hails from Tamilnadu .This multifaceted beauty is qualified film maker from NID, Ahmedabad. She was the VJ in SS Music. She also held her first solo exhibition of her sculptures at the age of 18. She anchored the first IPL on Sony…and subsequently hosted Canadian 20-20 on international television!! Lekha already made her mark in Tamil movies and she looks forward to make big in Telugu too. She plays the love interest of Manoj in the movie.

Secondly we have Deeksha Seth. Deeksha was the proud winner of the sub-title, Miss Fresh face and she was also among the top ten semi-finalists during the Pantaloons Femina Miss India 2009 Pageant. She has that sharp features with stunning looks and she already grabbed the attention with Vedam’s song promo “Prapancham naa venokostuntey…” where she sizzles beside the pool along with Allu Arjun…Forgot to say she already grabbed her second with Raviteja in his latest movie Mirapakai

Good Luck for gorgeous ones…!!

Interesting right ...Credit goes to the magnificent director Krishh who has left no stone unturned while choosing the cast for his Vedam. Here’s the sincere wish that Vedam meets the expectations and truly stand beside Gamyam…