Gopichand's Wanted Review

Sankranthi is done…But the movie spree is not yet finished. And this week we have GopiChand starrer Wanted. Title ‘Wanted’ seems just apt because it is Success that is most ‘Wanted’ for GopiChand, who is in verge of acting in routine movies. And for debutant director BVS Ravi, a writer turned director who worked as writer for good movies like Satyam, King, Parugu and Munna. And lastly for lovely Deeksha…who need to score back to back after recent success Mirapakai.

So did ‘Wanted ‘ get them what they wanted??

Plot:

Rambabu (GopiChand) is happy going guy with loving parents. He falls in love with medico Nandini (Deeksha). Things turn upside down because of nandini’s past and her revenge.

You need to check out if something sounds unpredictable in the plot!!!

Actors

This film would have been cake walk for GopiChand as he has done this good number of times. Though he acted pretty well, due to lack of freshness he scores just the pass marks. He should be careful while choosing the subjects.

Deeksha is no doubt USP of the film. With her cute looks and similarities with Divayabharathi, She steals the show. She is damn good in all the costumes. But this role is made limited to suit her capabilities even there is scope to widen it. But she has got all five songs this time.

Prakashraj as main villain also has no much scope. Similarly Ahuti Prasad, Chandramohan, Jayasudha, Nazar and Subbaraju did their role as required. Brahmanandam and Raghubabu are fine with few average punches.

Regular one from GopiChand.

Generally we would have few things in mind if you carefully notice Gopichand’s movies, Daring hero, caring friends and pampering parents. Hero goes behind a girl and finally gets a nod from her. In between we see some glimpses of villains giving an idea that there is some miserable past. Second half, things get revealed and GopiChand runs on the streets with his clothes soaked in red color and he holding a knife or pistol. And don’t worry in the second half, the girl could dream few songs. One good thing about “Wanted” the movie exactly follows the footprints without disappointing you.

Director could not even narrate the regular story interestingly. Things become so predictable. And there is no excitement in the scenes which are supposed to be. First half goes in hope of looking for great second half, but second half kicks you back for expecting so much. It has small flashback that goes in the lines of “Athanokkade”.

Good things….

If at all one need to see the positive side, Chakri has given few good tunes. And Deeksha looked cute and her admirers will not be disappointed. Count me among you if you are one among them.

Final Say…

This can be last choice of time pass…if you have covered other movies in the city. Movie as such is routine but made neatly. So for few laughs, few songs and for Deeksha…give it a try if needed.

Rating

2.25/5

Dhobi Ghat Review

It’s Aamir Khan, who always loves to show that variation in choosing the films he act and even more versatile in the movies he puts in money. “Dhobi Ghat” is yet again a diverse film from the house that made “Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par and Peepli Live”. Dhobi Ghat reveals few pages from the dairies of four people in Mumbai, who hail from different walks of society…Kiran Rao directs the flick.

Here’s the detail about the movie….

Four pillars of the film….

Munna (Prateik Babbar)…a Dhobi, with high ambitions, works hard and aspires to become an actor. While he loves his profession and the same time he is self-motivated to win the odds keeping Salman Khan as his idol. He is not different and that makes him easily identifiable. Munna meets Shai...a banker by profession.

Shai (Monica Dogra) is a banker who works in America and visits India for a study on small businesses. With Photography as her hobby, she helps Munna for photographs to build the portfolio for a model. Munna gets fascinated by her simplicity and looks, but Shai is looking at Arun, an Artist.

Arun (Aamir Khan) an isolated artist loves loneliness. He is all set on his new exhibition in Australia. Same time he comes across video dairies in his new home made by an earlier tenant Yasmin.

Yasmin (Krithi Malhotra)… the character only seen in videos is a simple house wife. She wants to showcase her lifestyle to her brother with help of video tapes. Her vision of Mumbai and her lifestyle is nostalgic and there is mysterious truth behind her!!

And there is Mumbai…the heart of this film. The city at times resembles a soothing melody like pure rain…And sometimes reminds us of furious waves that disturb the harmony. City truly has a potential of holding vivacious characters into it.

Honest Performances…

Prateik Babbar is so believable in his portrayal of Munna. His expressions when he hesitantly sits on the Sofa at Shai’s house or when he feels extremely discomfort when Shai keeps on enquiring about Arun.

But it is Monica Dogra as Shai who gets over us very soon and she is best among four. She cleverly maintains that distance with the boy…and she knows the good and bad. She speaks with eyes many a times easily connects with audience.

Aamir is no doubt the reason for pulling the crowds to the theatres to watch an off-beat film but he strictly confines to that. He is definitely a superstar for he accepts a role overshadowed by the debutants. He is good in the role but he limits himself this time.

Krithi Malhotra as Yasmin is sweet. She touches our heart with her down to earth nature. No doubt she haunts us for some time more after we leave the theatre.

Direction and Technical departments…

Aamir’s wife Kiran Rao debuts as director for this film. This is a very tough one for a starter. I believe she succeeded in pleasing her target audience. Screenplay is so tight connecting four characters very cleverly. The little confusion at the beginning is rather an intelligent one to awake us as to watch the movie more caringly.

Gustavo Santaolalla, an international musician who won an academy award for Brokeback Mountain scores music for this one. Music goes in sync with the film and sets the mood.

This is Tushar Kanti Ray’s first film as cinematographer. His vision for the city is something that makes us truly involved in the film. He walks us through streets of Mumbai with lots of crowds, various life styles in the slums, pleasant rain and calm sea.

Movie is not for everyone….

May be Aamir made this movie,more for accolades at film festivals than to entice the regular crowds as he failed in getting Oscar for his previous films. And here comes the warning, this movie is definitely not for regular movie audience who look for entertainment.

One should tune his mind so much that “I am gonna watch an off-beat film which many a times are made in Kerala”. Though movie is just 90 minutes, you feel it sufficiently long as Kiran fails to infuse humor and thus could not make an interesting narration. As this movie reads few pages of certain Mumbai dairies…and so there’s no regular “The End” as we expect.

Final Say…

Strictly don’t expect an entertaining stuff…and if you are keen on admiring a different film that is not loud, you can give it a try.

Rating

I go with 3 stars…

Mirapakai Review

Sankranthi…the first festival of the year is finished. RaviTeja’s flick Mirapakai which released this festival is running successfully all over. Directed by Harish Shanker of “shock” fame and movie has two hot beauties Richa Gangopadhyaay and Deeksha seth pairing with Mass Raja this time.

As the result of the movie is already out…Just wanna share how I liked the movie!

Plot: Rishi(RaviTeja), a police officer is appointed as Undercover agent to catch a don Kittu bai(PrakashRaj). So he is sent to college as lecturer where don's daughter Vaishali (Deeksha) is studying. Rishi falls for Vinamra(Richa) in first sight. Situations force him to choose between Vinamra and Vaishali , Love and Duty….!! Which side he inclines to…And how he accomplishes his task tactfully forms the interesting part of the movie!!

Actors…

Raviteja known for his highly energetic characterizations has got it again in right dose. He played the role of Rishi with élan. Looks wise he looked little older…but he is slimmer and shined with colorful costumes…His comedy timing is unquestionable. He is seen in every frame …and he is truly whole and sole for the movie.

Richa Gangopadhyay is good and she got more screen presence than her co-star dancing for 4 songs with the hero. But one can say for sure…she is not gonna make big moving further.

Yes Deeksha seth who reminds us “DivyaBharathi” in many angles definitely wins over you. She has got perfect and arrogant role as Vaishali and no doubt she outshines her competitor in spite of playing comparatively shorter role.

Colors Swathi flashes for a while….

Ali acts as Alpachino and there is funny story behind his name. Brahmaji is fine. PrakashRaj is good but has limited appearance. Ajay, Supreeth are seen in regular roles. Kota Srinivas Rao scores yet again.Sunil is routine…but has few laughs.

RaviTeja ….undoubtedly Mass Raja…

Call him Mass Raja or Routine Raja…or whatever; If you ask for reasons to watch a regular movie, Answer would be unanimously RaviTeja. He guarantees you laugh’s. He is there in almost every frame…He tactfully romances two beauties…outsmarts his co-lecturers….gains students support…and most importantly wins over the villains…and teaches Hindi too J!!!!

I think Raviteja might have aspired to become Cop before but finally ended up actor. You can see him in some or other form of cop starting from Idiot, Venky, Kikk (finally he becomes one) and also Vikramarkudu. Good thing there’s no suspense in making him undercover agent, so it worked well though there is slight resemblance with ‘Main hoon na’.

There are many more punches like “Neeku noru dhoola undochu naaku naranaraalu dhooley”,"Timing unnodu timeki rakapoyina parledu” “Auto Graph naaku…Sweet memories neeka” . Also check out timely spoofs on Bommarillu and Pedarayudu dialogues. Thank god he spared Balakrishna.

Music by Thaman…and Harish’s direction.

Thaman has given nice tunes to his mentor RaviTeja, far better compared to his other films like Ragada etc. “Dhinaku din Dhiyya” and “Gadi Talupulu” are my favorites. Others are bit loud.

Harish played safe game…and he should be only appreciated for utilizing Raviteja to fullest.

Drawbacks…

Nothing new delivered yet again in Raviteja’s flick. People seeking variety can happily avoid this flick. Whole first half has nothing important in flow of the plot. Things get hurried up in last 30 min. Movie is made lengthy wasting lots of time in unnecessary scenes. Actors like Raja Ravindra, Dharmavarapu are just forced into the movie.

Final Say….

Entertainment is always assured if Raviteja is given a full pledged energetic role. And this is proved yet again with Mirapakai. Watch it for just instantaneous laughs and time pass. While other 3 movies struggling to gain the mass pulse, Raviteja will sure have fun time at box-office!!

Rating

3.25/5 A bit more for a routine one…but as long as audience are happy with it….no other way

Anaganaga O Dheerudu Review

‘Anaganaga O dheerudu’….is undoubtedly the most awaiting movie of the season for plenty of reasons…First and foremost it is first south Indian film from Walt Disney’s production house. And next it has heirs of legendaries…Kamal Hassan’s daughter Sruthi, Mohan Babu’s daughter Lakshmi and Raghavendra Rao’s son Prakash directing it. And not to forget it has lover boy Siddardh playing the title role.

Let’s check out how well it satisfied the expectation that touched the sky when trailers are out…

Plot: Irendri (Lakshmi) the evil queen conquers a tiny island Angarajyam and makes the men there, her slaves. She is in search of 9 year old girl, to sacrifice her and gain immortality. Now it’s the challenge to the blind swordsman Yodha (Siddardh)…to save her…And there is interesting connection between his love interest Priya (Sruthi Hassan) …

How Yodha faces wicked witch and saves the Angarajyam and gains his love forms an interesting folk tale altogether.

Performances:

Let me start with Lakshmi Manchu…Because she is altogether a surprise…Her grand appearance (awesome costumes)…excellent voice and diction…cruel histrionics suited the role to picture perfect. Thanks to her Dad, she might have learnt a lesson or two. Her homework made her portrayal flawless…she is no doubt back bone of the movie.

Siddardh is cool as warrior. I used “Cool”…because the role of the warrior is not the kind of regular mass heroes we have...It reminds you of Jack sparrow of pirates of Caribbean. Because he chills…goes around girls…tactfully accomplishes the tasks. And He is brave and confident though he is blind. He looks handsome in the flashback episode where he romances Priya. But he scores little less as blind warrior.

Sruthi Hassan…simply stunning in one word. She is damn gorgeous in all the costumes. She brings life to the love episodes. Surely Prakash gained the skill from his father as to how to present the beauty and make apt use of fruits. No doubt Sruthi has made her dream debut in grand way.

Harshitha played small girl Moksha. She did a great job.

Allari Ravi Babu plays Sudigundam, right hand to Irendri. He gains attention by his key word “Nimma daanimma”. There was good hilarious scene when his voice becomes feminine.

Ali again acts as pimp…with fans around his nipples…Funny. Brahmanandam plays Jaffa…a short role.

Visual feast….Technical Treat….

First of all, we feel proud as Walt Disney enters our Telugu industry to bring us something we never see on our screen. You can use words…Marvelous, Superb or any adjective to define the grandeur. With almost 72 minutes of graphics created by Firefly studios, you feel every scene touched with magic and yet natural.

Soundar Rajan binds us with spell bound cinematography. Three romantic songs “Chandamaamala andagaadini” given by Mickey J Mayer, “Prema Lekha raasane pedaaley” by Salim-Sulaiman and “Ninnu Choodani” by Keeravani are aptly placed and colorfully shot in turkey. Again half credit goes to Soundar Rajan. Koti provides tune for "Pralaya Kaala bheela" picturized on Lakshmi.

Back ground score by duo Salim-Sulaiman Merchant suits the movie genre very well and makes us involve in the movie. They worked for Chak de India, Fashion etc.

Stunts by Dee Dee Ku (Worked for Kill bill) and William Ong (Who am I) are adequate. I liked the hilarious one with Ravibabu, Preclimax fight.

Bupesh R Bhupathi should be highly appreciated for plush sets…Whether it be Irendri’s den, Moksha’s home…Priya’s entrance in the market. Raj Gholay is production designer who visualized all the characters as cartoons and he would have presented it well to Disney beforehand.

Hats off Prakash Kovelamudi….

Prakash stands in first place for bringing us this Technical magnificence to Telugu audience. He has shown the directors a new way of bringing Hollywood houses to better our films visually. He is good in plain story telling with no confusion.

Movie Flow: It starts with Irendri’s acts of cruelty. Then Moksha is seen and Yodha makes cool entry. First half goes in smooth way…with two good songs which has beautiful Priya…Hilarious fight between Sudigundam and Yodha.

Second half has some encounters between Yodha and Irendri. And Climax is adequate.

Drawbacks

Ok told lot of positives…there were few shortfalls which I felt. With the Title sounding like Dheerudu, people expect heroic deeds. In that point the director disappoints the mass audience a bit if they expect some show of heroism. Film falls short of emotions in quite many scenes...it's like when you expect a big bang,scene ends very simple. Also Things work very simple for Yodha and there is no struggle. That makes the flow very predictable. Though siddards character is carefully designed (if you spare he is blind for half the movie), his diction should have been better. And there are few dragging moments especially before interval and interval bang is flat. Prakash might learn those tricks from likes of Rajamouli gradually. So don’t expect masala treat.

Final Say….

This is the movie one should never miss for the splendid visuals, high technical standards…Nice songs and good story telling. But spare cinematic mass appeal for this one. Kids will love it for sure.

Rating

3.5/5 Just want to stress...this rating majorly goes to technical departments …Telugu cinema rocks….Thanks Prakash

Also Happy Sankranthi Friends

Sankranthi Releases...!!

Sankranthi is considered the first festival for Telugu people. It’s a festival of farmers…It’s the time when harvesting is done and farmer is happy. Along with the several events like “Bogi Mantalu”,“Kodi Pandaalu”, ”Mutyaala Muggulu” and “Kanuma vantalu”…Cinema has become integral part of the celebrations. So it is a crucial season for the movies. Thanks to T-stir, many biggies hurried up in December.

Nevertheless we have variety of films this Pongal…Lets check out different aspects…their positives…negatives…music and plots!!

Anaganaga O Dheerudu….(Jan 14th)

First and foremost in the Race is Anaganaga O Dheerudu. Many are eager to watch this extravaganza from the Disney, since the day trailers are out...

Plot: It is story of a blind warrior Yodha (Siddardh) who needs to protect nine year old girl Moksha from Evil Queen Irendri (Manchu Lakshmi). And do check out the connection between Irendri and Yodha’s former lover Priya (Sruthi Hassan)

Looking forward for: 72 minutes of rich visual effects, High technical standards, gorgeous SruthiHassan and Manchu Lakshmi’s debut as witch. I remember “Bhairava dweepam” as last fantasy that appealed to all sections and this film has the advantage of different genre.

Songs: 3 duets…’Chirugaalai vachindevaru’,’Chandamaamala andagaadini’ and ‘Ninnu choodani kannulenduku’ are awesome ones composed by Salim-suleman, Mickey J Mayer and Keeravani respectively.

Cons: Could Siddardh carry this huge canvas playing the title role? Will Prakash Kovelamudi be capable of holding the mass pulse like his legendary dad Raghavendra Rao?

ParamaVeeraChakra...Jan 12th

Next we have Balakrishna’s ParamaVeeraChakra directed by veteran Dasari Narayana Rao

Plot: Balakrishna plays two different roles one as Army Major Jayasimha and another as Movie hero. Link between these two different characters forms the crux of this movie.

Looking forward for: It would be treat for fans for Balakrishna playing Ravana, Komaram Bheem etc as part of his role as movie hero.

Songs: Music given by Manisharma is decent. I liked the duet “Mitra...Mitra...Viswa Mitra”. There is a patriotic number “Talli Kadupulo…” and a powerful Song on Telangana fighter “Komaram Bheem”

Cons: Dasari is in very bad period of his career making duds continuously. So it should be a surprise hit if Luck still favors Balakrishna who is riding high with Simha. All the heroines in the movie namely Sheela, Ameesha and Neha Dhupia are not in limelight now.

Mirapakai...Jan 13th

Raviteja is ready to share some fun with his Spicy Mirapakai….

Movie seems to fall under his regular blend of comedy and action.

Songs: “Dinakun din diya…Pagal ho gaya...Pilla nee valla” sung by Shanker Mahadevan and “Gadi talupula gadiyalu” sung by Karthik, GeethaMadhuri are appealing. Thaman who enjoyed the top slot last year starts his beats this year with this flick. (No matter you love his music or not)

Looking forward for: Good fun ride from Raviteja…Glamour treat from Richa Gangopadhyay and Deeksha Seth!

Cons: This is second venture for the director Harish Shanker who delivered “Shock” before. So should wait and watch if this gonna be different one or regular run of the mill kind from Raviteja.

Golconda High School...Jan 15th

Last but not the least in the list is Golconda High School starring Sumanth and Swathi in leads.

Plot: Movie is based on the novel “Men Within”. It has tagline “aatalu maa hakku”. It’s story of kids who play a cricket match under guidance of their coach Sumanth to save their ground from the Villain SubbaRaju. Swathi play English teacher.

Looking forward for: Mohan Krishna Indraganti is known for his award winning "Grahanam" and is famous for cool flick “AstaChemma” .So comes again with the same team of AstaChemma .

Songs: Songs by Kalyani Malik are adequate. Inspiring song “Jaago” sung by Hemachandra and duet “Idi Adenemo...alaagey undi” catches our interest. Remaining songs are situational.

Let’s wait and watch if this scores surprise hit this Sankranthi…

Currently the state is facing turmoil post Sri Krishna Committees report. So Let us hope that things get better sooner and Let us wish the best to all the four films.