Rangam Movie Review

Tamil block-buster movie “KO” is remade as “Rangam”. Rangam is directed by KV Anand, A cinematographer turned director, who proved his mettle with his previous film Ayan (remade as Veedokkade in Telugu). Rangam stars Jiiva and Karthika in lead roles.

Plot: Aswathama (Jiiva) is dashing and daring photographer, who risks his life many a times to expose the truth. He falls for his colleague, a dynamic reporter Renuka (Karthika). And there is budding youth leader Vasanth (Ajmal) who struggles hard to change the current system by winning the elections. These three has to fight against two larger force, the current chief minister (PrakashRaj) and opposition leader (Kota).

Who wins the elections? …And several interesting twists unfolds into a gripping saga altogether.

Actors:

Jiiva (s/o RB chowdary) looks cool and energetic. He plays his role to the core leaving no stone unturned. If he comes up with diverse roles in future and markets equally well in Telugu, he could easily expand his market here.

Karthika gets her first success in Kollywood after her debacle with Telugu “Josh”. I guess her different looks are yet to register with the audience. Plus point is she resembles her mother, Yesteryear actress Radha in many angles. She is good overall.

Ajmal who plays Vasant is excellent. He supports the proceedings very aptly and he is something to watch out.  Piya Bajpai who plays another reporter is bubbly. This girl is cleverly used to fill in love triangle and fit in the twist in the second half.

PrakashRaj gets something great where he could just excel. He is awesome in subtle emotions. Kota Srinivasa Rao too plays his role perfectly.

Power packed screenplay and excellent direction!

Screenplay of the movie is perfectly written, where each scene one after other just builds up the expectations.

KV Anand who worked as cinematographer for movies like “Prema Desam” and “Sivaji” to name few does a great job. He balances the political drama and thrilling elements with sufficient commercial elements. He cleverly mixes a love/friendship angle and makes this film more youthful. And True facets of election campaign and interesting episode of youth joining politics should be admired. Don’t forget to watch his previous movie Veedokkade if you missed it.

Cinematography and Music rocks…

Harris Jairaj composes striking and melodious tunes and lifts the film to the next level.  All songs are excellently shot. Especially the song “Nemali kulukula” and “Ee manchullo” captures superb locales in Norway.  And look for guest appearances of Surya, Tamanna, Bharath, Abbas and many other popular stars in “Aga naga naga” song.

Richard M Nathan’s cinematography plays a major role in the songs and of course is top notch that makes the movie appealing all through.

Final Say:

Avidly supported by excellent technical team and awesome performances by youngsters and experienced actors, Rangam stands above all the movies released in recent past. KV Anand, the director makes a gripping and interesting story that appeal to all sections.  KV Anand who worked as press photographer in the past surely makes them proud with this movie.

Rating

3.75/5. Never afford to miss this movie if you are in thirst of good movies… 

Hollywood : Spring 2011

Spring is a sort of new start….with trees turning green...flowers blossoming all over…And shining sun. Nature with its fullest love welcomes you to have some unleashed fun every time…And for Hollywood, spring always brings some exciting movies that warms up and gears us for still bigger summer fun.

Check out some interesting stuff about three “too” good movies of this spring….

Thor

Marvel studios were successful in bringing their marvelous comics on to large screen and win the box-office every time…Unlike Marvel’s earlier fictional heroes Spiderman, Hulk, X-Men and Iron Man, Thor is a born hero. Thor is hammer-wielding God associated with thunder and lightning according to the Norse mythology. You know something; Thursday (Thor’s day) was derived from this mighty God.

Plot: Thor, to be crowned king of Asgard is a powerful and fearless but arrogant warrior. His arrogance reignites the ancient war between the Asgardians and their enemies Frost Giants. Thus Thor’s father Odin banishes him and throws his mighty weapon onto the earth. Thor’s evil brother Loki grabs this opportunity, joins hands with Frost giants to kill Thor.

Now Thor has to survive in USA as illegal alien. And on top of it, he has to save the mankind and his own kingdom from his evil-brother Loki. And thus he learns a lesson f his life as what makes a real hero.

What to look for: The movie comprises of wonderfully choreographed fight sequences, brilliantly dipped in spell-bound CG work.  Awesome production design by Bo Welch (Men in Black2) gives the film, an elegant look.  And Chris Hemsworth stands above all with the honest portrayal of mighty Thor. Overall slick look, good story and wonderful production values make it a delightful “3D” watch!!

Rio

Rio is creation of Fox movies, the creators of Ice Age trilogy.

Plot:  Blu is domesticated little bird, who never learned to fly leads a comfortable life with his best friend and the owner Linda.  Time comes when Blu has to travel to faraway land “Rio de Janerio” to join his only surviving female counterpart Jewel to save their breed. And thus adventure and fun unleashes the colorful landscapes of Brazil and gives way to a cute love story of little birds.

What to look for: The movie is true delight for kids. The plush landscapes of Brazil and the carnival event are well captured. Voice over given by Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg (Social Network) makes the romance appealing to adults as well. Lot of characters including fat Chicken, mischievous monkeys etc keep us engaged throughout.

Fast Five

 This fifth installment of Fast and Furious series reunites the veterans from all the first four films of the series. They are headed by Dom (Vin-Diesel), the car-crazy thief.  Special attraction to this flick is the addition of “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson who plays the undeterred cop Luke Hobbs.  They had to accomplish their last job of looting the corrupt business man of Rio de Janerio in Brazil.

What to look for: This chick-flick which is absolutely story-less, but yet survives big with its breath-taking action sequences. This fifth installment gives you high-octane pleasures with more number of chases, fun filled races and leaves no dull moment.  Adventure starts with nail-biting Train sequence and ends with a lengthy car chase that involves two cars pulling the bank locker tied to them. Action lovers should not afford to miss this one…

All three movies cater to three different sets of audience…and yet again have universal appeal…All three are good watch…Catch them for sure in nearest theatres!!

100% Love Review

Sukumar, one thing that strikes our mind whenever we hear this name is ”Aarya”, a truly different “one-sided love” story. Although he is 3 films old, Sukumar still shines in its glory. And now he comes back with “100% Love”. The movie stars young Yuvasamrat Akkineni Nagachaitanya and milky beauty Tamanna in the leads. Let’s check out how much percentage this mathematical love story scores?

Plot= (Balu +MahaLakshmi): Balu(Nagachaitanya) is highly intelligent and extraordinarily studious guy, who always scores first. But for the first time, he is beaten by his ‘maradalu’ MahaLakshmi, an equally confident and competent.

And movie is all about this couple who fight like Tom and Jerry every second…and who wins over whom is all about.

Actors –Mark List :

“Josh” boy Nagachaitanya grabbed the attention with Ye Maaya chesaave. His role in 100% Love is we can say a tailor made one, where his boyish looks and personality suits to the best. He is pretty good in lighter vein scenes, has good comedy timing…makes his mark in romantic scenes, of course, he is heir to the god of romance…Hmmm might need some more effort in dances. But ….but he still needs to go miles in emotional scenes, specially as he hails from akkineni family, he should take some classes from his grandpa. Overall scores first class.

White beauty Tamanna has come back to tinsel town after a long hiatus. Her role has the transformation from an innocent village girl to energetic gutsy lady, who challenges her “Baava”. She plays her role with much ease and confidence…But with that skin tone, she never looked as transformed as she always looks the same. She scores in distinction…

Tara Alisha has very small role to play and so is the guy who played Tamanna’s fiancé for a while. Naresh plays NC’s father. KR vijaya and Vijaykumar play prominent roles. All of them scores pass marks.

Dharmavarapu infuses some laughs…he just fails by 1 mark, due to his silly white wig.

Forgot to say..There are bunch of lovely kids…who contribute loads to film…let us give 100/100 to those cuties. MS Narayana and all the friends’ gang too score first class.

Sukumar ‘s Algebra

Sukumar can be called as trend-breaker rather than trend-setter. He no doubt thinks out of box and that’s why we look forward for his film even after his recent debacles. In 100% love, he focuses on childish egos of boy and girl carried in their college life. He brings out lot of fun that comes naturally out of silly tricks played by the lead pair.  So the fun part that covers most of the film is dealt good enough. Sukumar, who is originally a math’s teacher comes up with lot of  calculations this time comparing height,salary etc. But he misses the emotional feel towards the end…and his calculations divert the depth of the movie in climax.

First half and songs are big ++!!

First half is fun to watch…thanks to the cute kids…who make us laugh every minute. Silly fights by the lead pair to win over each other will entertain us.

Other striking thing of the movie is the songs. DeviSriprasad scores in rocking way for Sukumar, and this time he is equally supported by lyricists, Chandrabose(Infatuation & Dooram) and Shrimani(aho baalu). Lyrics are conceptual and good. Good graphic work in “aho baalu song” and of course how can one forget item song in Sukumar-Devi’s combination right from “aa ante amalapuram” to “Ringa Ringa”. This time it’s "Diyyala Diyyala" that gets big whistles from the crowd.

What’s minus!!

 Second half takes a big break from the fun with ego-clashes and with entry of new girl and boy in both their lives. So there’s bit of dragging and confusion and thus less fun. Especially the last half an hour should have been dealt in serious way. It’s surprising to see very few well known actors.

Final score = (Nagachaitanya+Tamanna)2 * (Sukumar+DSP)2

The Love story that is based on a concept of “competition” between the lead pair is something fresh. Cute chemistry between the lead pair supported well by Sukumar’s trendy direction and DSP’s lovable music will make it a onetime watch. But movie strictly caters to a set of audience for it goes completely in mindset of college going youngsters.

Rating

(8/3)+((0.5+0.5)/3) + 25/100 ---Why so much of math’s??…You should watch the flick to get that answer!!