Agneepath Movie Review

“Agneepath”, The first biggie of 2012 and one of the awaited multi-starrer of the season has arrived this republic day and is raining records for Hrithik Roshan like never before. A remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Yesteryear’s cult classic seems to strike the chord with the audience, in fact more than the original. 

Plot: Story opens in an island village, Mandwa which is apparently ruled by evil Kancha (Sanjaydutt). When the school master Dinanath Chauhan tries to gather villagers to revolt against Kancha, he was trapped and brutally killed. This incident implants the seeds of vengeance in his son Vijay Chauhan (Hrithik Roshan). Vijay Chauhan waits for his turn, emerges as Mumbai’s drug lord and finally reaches Kancha to avenge his father’s death!!

Actors…

Agneepath a normal revenge saga is more about the characters and performances that live larger than its plot.  

Hrithik plays the Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, an iconic name used by Amitabh Bachchan. The best part, Hrithik stays his own and has his style of portraying the same character. You see in Vijay Chauhan a man, whose life is only and only the Vengeance. Speaks less, and uses his eyes more to express the anger, pain and little joy he has in his life. Hrithik though not the best performer in the movie lives up to the role and makes the audience connect to his pain. And let me not forget young Vijay Dinanath Chauhan played by Arish Bhiwandiwala. He does commendable job for first 20 minutes.

Kancha, played by Sanjaydutt is no doubt one of the best villainous roles we have seen in Indian cinema. And Sanju baba, by looks and by dialogue more than frightens the audience doing what truly a Villain has to do. But surprisingly his presence is not extended throughout the film. After creating a strong impact in the beginning, one has to wait till the post-interval block to feel his giant presence. Never in my life waited so much to see the villain on the screen? Sanjay Dutt is the best in one word.

 Another actor who steals the first half is Rishi Kapoor with his superb portrayal of Rauf Lala, a drug lord in Mumbai. Its new character which is not there in the original and that says that this Agneepath is not entirely a remake. A Role of loving father, cunning Master, very crooked but yet looks human and finally deceived; Rishi Kapoor entertains us in every frame he is in.

Om Puri finally gets to play a decent role that suits his caliber. He plays Gaitonde, city commissioner very upright and clever in his acts. Zarina Wahab as Vijay’s mother too deserves applause.

Priyanka Chopra as Kaali exists for sake of some support to Vijay. Her presence has no impact but just thinking her absence might have created some space. Overall she looked good…J

What Priyanka Chopra can’t do throughout her presence, Katrina Kaif does it in her short stint. She sizzles in her bumper item “Chikni Chameli”, the best of all songs in the flick. If at all best item was given filmfare, Katrina would have deserved consecutive two!!

Revenge saga told rivetingly!!

A single line story of revenge transforms into a brilliant piece of cinema, thanks to the director Karan Malhotra who grabbed best of performances and superb inputs from his crew.

His Story telling deserves distinction. He starts off smoothly in the village Mandwa, depicting the father-son relationship, introducing us to Kancha’s cruelty followed by brutal murder of Masterji which all gives a great impact to the revenge drama that takes place later.  Vijay realizes it requires a power to beat the powerful. Enter Rauf Lala, the drug monster and Gaitonde straightforward commissioner both by different means serve as ladder to Vijay to reach his target. Except for few interruptions by Kaali (Priyanka), First half which shows Vijay’s rise to power, goes with pace, it’s all the brilliance of Rishi Kapoor.

     And it’s in later half Hrithik gets to meet his staunch enemy Kancha. While initial part of later half is occupied by some family drama, Kancha snatches it immediately and draws to the climax. The Director calls Mandwa, Lanka and Kancha the Raavan. And for those who can’t believe how an almighty and literally undefeatable Kancha can be put to an end by an ordinary hero, this reference to Ramayan serves as an answer. And you instantly bow to the man’s perseverance to seek his revenge. Apart from the tight climax fight, director is able to bring in some tears when Vijay’s sister for the first time knows about her brother and also a scene where Vijay’s mother slaps him after she invites him to the house for dinner.  

Behind the screen…  

Film story starts in year 1977 and the most part is conceived in 1992 on-screen. Production team brings to life those days with the houses, cars and auto-rickshaws etc. Cinematography by Kiran Deohans is bright and brings in various colors of Mumbai.  And an altogether different grey color scheme is chosen for Mandwa. The Screenplay is gripping and editing is crisp, should have been crispier.

Finally...

More than anything, Agneepath is story telling that is stupendously supported by its star cast, that you don’t mind revisiting the revenge saga sitting in theatre for 3 hours. Each character has got its due on the screen and they don’t allow you to think back and compare with the original. Thus Agneepath makes a significant tribute to yesteryear generation and offers a delightful watch for the current. One good Bollywood film I loved watching!!

Telugu Bodyguard Movie Review

“Bodyguard” …the movie that travelled all over India…First made in Malayalam with Dileep and Nayantaara...and then in Tamil with Vijay and Asin and then went on to become blockbuster in Hindi with Salman and Kareena. Finally here it is our Telugu version with Victory Venkatesh and Trisha playing the leads. While all other versions directed by Siddique, Telugu version is directed by Gopichand Malineni who debuted with Don Seenu (RaviTeja’s flick).

Let’s see how well it gets tuned to our Victory Venki!!

Plot: Venkatadri (Venkatesh) comes to a village Jammalamadugu to protect the landlord Varadarajula Naidu (PrakashRaj). He from there has to accompany his daughter Keerthi (Trisha) as a bodyguard to her college. While Keerthi is uncomfortable with Venkatadri, as he is interfering her privacy, she sketches a love trap to avoid him. Where does this silly game started by Keerthi leads to finally?

Venkatesh fits the Bodyguard to the core!!

Bodyguard as such has very thin storyline that bases upon a love track that runs on phone and builds up strong as emotional bond and finally there’s a twist unexpected. But there’s ample scope for the hero to go through variations from being stony bodyguard to sincere admirer to disheartened lover. And thus this subject becomes tailor made for Venkatesh. He brings his lovable comic timing during the first half where he acts as duty minded bodyguard wearing goggles and safari. He then slowly transforms into serious admirer of his phone friend. And finally who else can act better than Venki as a disheartened looser. It’s good to see Venky in all his shades after a long time. An apt remake that’s chosen for him.

Trisha like old wine is still able to make some eyes roll for sure. Her chemistry with Venkatesh comes handy here and that actually brings in believability in a phone-call love story. Saloni made her presence felt is much twisty role.

Venkatesh in his previous movies has hilarious combinations with PrakashRaj, MS Narayana and with Ali. This movie fondly reminds you those combinations. But sticking to original, director did not cook up many hilarious scenes. It would have been better if he did.

Kota, Tanikella and Dharmavarapu are limited.

Gopichand Malineni is good at his remake!!

Gopichand has good knowledge for local pulse and nativity. Firstly he treats his hero Venkatesh as King. Right from the first fight sequence, you will see how stylishly the director shows him.  Then he chooses good actors for the supporting roles which makes his job half done. So in transforming the plot to suit Venkatesh, there are some hilarious episodes like the one planned to discover the girl in ladies hostel, where Venki and Ali disguise as ladies and dances for "Poovai Poovai" from Dhookudu. That’s a pretty good surprise to watch out on screen. And as for love story, Chemistry of lead pair helped him lot to bring that feel which is clearly lacking in Hindi version.

First half moves with good pace with few hilarious scenes and you see interval just when the real love story begins. Second half starts with continuous duets and finally ends with an emotional half hour. Gopichand thus succeeds in remaking the film without losing flavor and also packaging it natively.

Other departments…

Thaman offers different tunes for Bodyguard when compared to his noisy numbers he gives for other films. “Jiya Jale” and “Hosanna” are really superb on screen with picturesque locations in the background. “Oh My God” and “Evvaro” are done in humorous way in college. Background score is brilliant. Shyam K Naidu provides rich cinematography. Kona Venkat as dialogue writer disappoints a bit. He should have been as hilarious as Trivikram to make the movie more appealing. There’s still scope for comedy as Venkatesh could pull it off with any dosage of it.

Finally…

Venki’s comedy timing and hilarious episodes designed, and his chemistry with Trisha are surely gonna appeal to audience especially those who have not watched any of the remakes of this flick before. There are few new things to look upon for those who are aware of the twists of the tale. But Bodyguard still deserves a watch just for Venkatesh if you have seen any remake.

Rating:

3.25/5 will appeal you more only if not seen any remake 


Oye by the way...Happy Sankranthi Friends....Have a great festive time!!

   

BusinessMan Movie Review

After striking gold with the mind blocking blockbuster "Pokiri", The Duo "Super Star" MaheshBabu and the director "Puri Jagannath" to do some “Business” at the Box office with much expected "Business Man”.

 Add the Sankranthi season to the super success of “Dhookudu”, and get the trendy music from Lucky “Thaman” and place sensuous Kajal to dance for his tunes alongside Mahesh, and that’s the best recipe for “Business” and the result is “Business man”...Mark this paragraph once you see the movie. Now let’s take ride of the movie.

Plot, not a spoiler: Surya (Mahesh), a dashing and daring guy enter Mumbai. His vision is huge and his mission seems impossible. But yes he does it? No doubt on it!  How he himself converts to “Surya Bhai” and how tactically makes that name a brand is the entire movie about.

Performances...

Mahesh, the big asset is he wins half your attention just by looks. And he looks younger, stylish and not to mention here cute, in fact cuter to the rough role he plays. And now he is armed with new dialogue technique, he started from Pokiri and developed it as a brand from Khaleja and thereon. Puri has written very witty and effective dialogues throughout, which made Mahesh’s task much easier that you don’t feel the need of comedians, even you don’t miss Ali as you see in puri’s films. Ok are you asking about dances, check out the history whether in Tamil or Telugu…Hero’s with “Superstar” tag need not do it, so no comments..;)

Kajal plays Chitra, looks good compared to her recent duds and makes a good pair with Mahesh. And her role is just a copy-paste of Ileana in Pokiri, Crying around the hero while hero is busy running and shooting.

Prakash Raj and Nazar have similar roles they had in all cop flicks. Nazar’s role is good enough but PrakashRaj does not add a penny except his strong presence. Subbaraju seems dearer than “Ali” to Puri Jagannath, as he retains his role. And a girl who plays Kajal’s friend though speaks butler Telugu, she definitely brings some laughs accidentally.Brahmaji,Dharmavarapu and Shiyaji Shinde are good

Racy First half…

Let me start with a positive first half as I very much excited and thoroughly enjoyed it frankly. Movie begins promisingly and you start enjoying the Mahesh’s dialogues one after other. Two threads go in parallel, one a silly love track between Chitra and surya, and other a serious “Business” as how Surya cleverly climbs the ladder to the power. And believe it, you believe the way the director tells you the story and enjoy the songs that comes in between.

Ok now second, let’s think beyond “Pokiri”.

Though you enjoyed the flow, I am sure there’s some thought process running inside your mind. Is there any "Pokirish" twist behind the Surya’s Mission. What’s he gonna achieve at the end? Question’s that never sleep. Of course it’s not a fault, but truly audiences do come with expectations when the director and the hero delivered a huge blockbuster and try to think in similar lines. This will happen even if Rajamouli teams up with Charan so on. And then you realize Puri is taking you nowhere, but just makes use of his known skills and that of the hero playing safe for a while. So are you expecting a twist of Pokiri, better not expect it.

So that’s Puri…the apt “Business Man”

 Though there’s no mission, Puri Jagannath, succeeds hugely for his dialogues. One moment he pities fish as people eat tons of them, but complains if a shark bites one human. He discusses about Humanity satirically when he links Discovery channel with Chicken. And poses a good Question as how we worship the God “ Have you thought about wellness of God”. “Devudaa nee arogyam ela undi ani adigaara”. And he spells the statistics of the money spent on elections. One word, Dialogues are the USP of the movie.

For direction, though he is good in making a quick movie off-screen and on-screen, he offers nothing new. In one scene Mahesh fights with Police in civil dress just like Raviteja does in Idiot. And in the climax PrakashRaj cries in same fashion as he does in Pokiri and the heroine runs behind our hero madly though he screams at her whenever possible and the resemblances continue everywhere. And you wonder whether all that goes on-screen is logical and how comes things are much easier for our hero to establish such huge empire so fast. Specific Weak points you can't ignore are sudden jerks towards climax and rush up in election episode and of course the nativity of Mumbai too is a misplace. Puri better come out of Mafia to make a better flick and not repeat himself.

  Thaman’s tunes are good enough and picturing of all songs is decent and they are almost placed well. 3 duets “Sir Ostaara” ..”Pilla chaavve” and “Chandamama” are great and my pick “chandamama” and did you hear about the rumors of lip lock. You might find it here..:)."Mumbai" song is well placed And “Bad boys” by swetha bharadwaj  is “bad” enough that you see some censor filter’s on screen

Finally…

Many a times, movies have a mission….or a moral that brings you cheers when you see the slide “Subham”. We are so much habituated to it. But Puri is not gonna offer you that. Heroism at peaks, sensuous heroine in the songs and the guns that don’t have agreements and the dialogues that make sense and lastly a good item number…If that is what you want, Business Man have them all.

Rating:

3/5 Expect little lesser and you enjoy the better!!