Namo Venkatesa

Ok, I am back. I watched Namo Venkatesa last night. I have been wanting to watch this movie for a long time because of the many expections from the Vytla-Venky combo. Read further to see what I thought.

Film: Namo Venkatesa

Cast: Venkatesh, Trisha, Bramhanandam, Ali, Subba Raju, Dharmavarapu, Mukesh Rishi & Others.

Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Director: Seenu Vytla
Producer: 14 Reels Entertainment

Release Date: January 14th, 2010

My Rating: 3/5


What's It About?

Venkata Ramana a.k.a Venky(Venkatesh) is a ventriloquist. He is invited to perform at a European Telugu Association. There he meets his dream girl Pooja(Trisha), with whom he falls in love at first sight. Pooja's uncle Paris Prasad(Bramhi) is a prankster. Prasad fibs that Pooja also has feelings for Venky, after knowing his interest in her. Pooja's marriage is fixed with her bava, without her consent. Prasad enlists Venky's help to stop the marriage. Unaware of Prasad's lies, Venky agrees. How he manages to do that and wins his love forms the rest of the story. Here's how the film plays out.

Artist Performances:

Venkatesh has a very subdued role. I have always admired how he is game for being shown as a common guy instead of a demi god on screen. No other Telugu actor would agree to be hit and made fun of  by character artists. He is very entertaining in the combination scenes with Bramhanandam. His acting in the drunken scenes and his dances for other heroes songs brought the house down. Trisha has nothing to do in terms of performance; she looks good. Bramhanandam is good as a prankster. He has a meaty role and does complete justice to it. Seenu Vytla's comedians ensemble is adequate. It is a routine role for Subba raju, Mukesh Rishi and others.

This & That:

Seenu Vytla's movies are very heavily anticipated for their entertainment values. Almost all this movies in the recent times are similar in story lines and characterization. The story where the hero follows the heroine into her house to win over her folks, has been seen in a zillion movies. Even though it makes you  laugh at places; You get a feeling of been there done that when you are watching the movie. Music by Devi Sri Prasad is not upto mark. Only the title song is catchy. I liked the background songs in the screenplay( Emaindi ee Vela, Paapam Pasivadu). The drunken scenes in Vytla's movie are very interesting. Climax is abrupt. I felt that the post-interval part of the movie was lengthy. Comedy could have been infused in many places and that could have elevated the movie. The movie is doing good business so people are obviously enjoying it. Looks like Namo Venkatesa is the only family entertainer in all the Sankranthi releases.

P.S. Seenu Vytla, I enjoy your movies but please come up with something novel next time!

Did I enjoy It?

Yes, the film has it's moments. You can watch it for the comedy.

Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Happy Republic Day India! 60 years of being a Republic this year! To commemorate this day, Kailash Surendranth revamped the 1988 doordarshan production "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara". Originally released on  Independence Day 1988, the song meant to promote national integration and enjoyed cult status.It was a great collaboration of film stars(Amitabh, Mithun, Jitendra, Kamal Hassan, Hema Malini, etc), sportsmen(Prakash padukone, Kapil Dev, Arun Lal), musicians(Balamurali Krishna, Lata Mangeshkar) and most importantly, the common man. I for one, loved this song, It always brought tears to my eyes. My dad recorded this song on VHS for my sister and me and we might have seen the video like a million times and never get bored of it. 22 years later, the producers, Kailash and Arti Surendranath wanted to bring about a new version with the young generation. They released it today on Republic day. Here's my two cents on the video.

The Song:

The original song was so catchy. The lyrics were simple. They were translated to every language and the tune was similar and cohesive. The new version has almost the same lyrics as the old one but there is no rhythm. The song is a scrambled attempt and it does not have the same effect as the older version. It feels like some song in the current movies, jarring at many places.

The Video:

Let's talk about the original video here for a second. That video had lush fields of Punjab, shikaras on dal lake in Kashmir, elephants from Kerala, trams of Calcutta, in simpler words, the video had the whole essence of India captured on celluloid. What did I think of the new video? Let me break my thoughts down to the good, the bad and the ugly parts.

What's Good:

I liked the fact that these celebrities were included; Shobhana, Anoushka Shankar, Bhupen Hazarika, Baichung Bhutia, Yesudas(I just love him!), Amjad Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain, Shivamani & of course Mahesh Babu(My fiancé's favorite actor!), Salman Khan with the kids, was very heartwarming.

What's Bad:

That they chose Shilpa Shetty, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor,Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Karan Johar etc for the video. What have they accomplished?  Only the three Khans and no other major actors and actresses were included. The locales are not depicting the regions represented in the song. Major letdown.

What's Ugly?

This one will be a long category. I did not like the fact that Rehman was in the video and Illayaraja wasn't. None of the older actors were included. Amitabh was the only actor from the older version who was featured in the newer version. Southern states were very poorly represented. Surya and Vikram from Tamil Nadu, only Mahesh Babu for Andhra Pradesh, Yesudas, Vijay Yesudas & Mamooty for Kerala, Kavita Subramaniam & her husband were the only people I recognized from Karnataka. Was that clearly the best they could do? The North Eastern part of India was not present in the video at all except for Bhupen Hazarika's singing. I totally abhored the fact that there was not a single cricket or hockey player in the video. It looked like a high profile music video, instead of a national integration song.

Last Thoughts:

I appreciate the thought behind the video. In these times a national integration song sounds like a good idea. However, I am not completely on board with their idea of having only younger people in the video. They should have picked better celebrities to represent different states. The song did not impress me. I wish they used the same song with new people, it would have helped keep the charm of the older version alive. A very shoddy video is what they have come up with. I have added the links for the older and newer versions. Check them out. You need to see the newer version to appreciate the older one.


Old Version
New Version Part One
Part Two

My Review Policy

I should have done this earlier, before I posted reviews; but better late than never.

When I review a movie, I usually write about the story, performances, music and my thoughts on the movie in general. I am not a movie expert where I analyze the technical aspects. My review policy is very simple; I have a point system from 1-5. Here's how I break it down.

1- Avoid this movie at all costs.

2- The movie was Ho-hum, with too many distractions.

3- It was enjoyable but I wasn't impressed.

4- Very entertaining & I thoroughly enjoyed it.

5- Has to sweep me off my feet for me to give it a 5 star rating!

What I post on the blog is entirely my opinion and the ratings are based on how much I enjoyed watching the movie. I will post a different policy for my music reviews.

Adhurs

I watched Adhurs on January 23rd which was my Birthday in Tulsa. We were a group of 10 people and it is always fun when you go with friends. Here goes my review.

Film: Adhurs
Cast: N.T.R, Nayanatara, Sheela, Bramhanandam, M.S. Narayana, Raghu Babu, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Sayaji Shinde, Mahesh Manjrekar and Others.
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Director: V.V. Vinayak
Producer: Kodali Venakteshwara Rao
Release Date: January 14th, 2010
My Rating: 3.25/5

What's It About:

A Brahmin lady gives birth to a still born baby.At the same hospital a  lady gives birth to 2 twin boys. With the help of a nurse, the Brahmin lady's mother-in-law exchanges the dead baby with one of the twins. The twins grow up in different houses ; one of them is a pujari, while the other works as a police informer in hopes of becoming a cop.The pujari(N.T.R. as Chari) falls in love with Chandrakala (Nayanatara) and the informer (N.T.R. as Narsi) falls for Nandini(Sheela). A group of people are in search of Narsi.Unknown to him, his father who is an ex-militant is still alive. The father(Nasser) who creates weapons for the Army is held captive by Mahesh Manjrekar. How Narsi rescues his father and meets his twin brother has to be watched on the big screen.

Artist Performances:

It is N.T.R.'s show all the way. His performance as Chari was hilarious. All the people in the theater had a smile on their face when he showed up on screen. His typical Brahmin slang and mannerisms were totally entertaining.His portrayal of Narsi is an extension of his performance in Kantri. Nayanatara's expressions and acting was jarring.Sheela's glamorous but has little screen presence.Bramhanandam is rib-tickling as Bhattu, who is in love with Nayanatara. M.S. Narayana is good as "Atma". Raghu Babu is nice as a sidekick to the villain who predicts things before they happen. Ashish Vidhyarthi, Sayaji Shinde and Mahesh Manjrekar are adequate as the bad guys. 

This & That:

The story is not new. The formula where twins are separated at birth and unite to fight off the bad guys has inspired many movies. Better  screenplay and innovative sequences could have added freshness to the story. Music by Devi Sri Prasad is foot-tapping. However, when you see the songs on the screen there is no sync between  the audio and the choreography. Dialogues for Chari and the whole Brahmin setup are good, especially "naakesaru" and the "kodi" incident. I liked the fact that the heroines were given equal prominence(in terms of songs). Choreography was innovative, especially for "pilla na valla kadu" and "adhurs". I do not have to talk about N.T.R.'s dancing skills, he is brilliant.The last 30 mins of the movie is a downer. The climax was not up to the mark. The whole weapon concept was insipid.Only one of twins being good at fights is cliched and the concept has been done to death in so many other movies. People, especially masses would totally enjoy this movie and it has good entertainment values. 

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes, I enjoyed it. The first half is full of comedy and the second half could have been better. I think that the movie will do good business.

Shambho Shiva Shambo

I know I was supposed to start off with Adhurs. However, I did end up watching Shambho Shiva Shambo last night. I am going to go ahead and review it. Here's what I thought.

Film: Shambho Shiva Shambo
Cast: Ravi Teja, "Allari" Naresh, Siva Balaji, Priyamani, Abhinaya, Rao Ramesh & Others.
Music: Sundar C. Babu
Director: Samudrikhani
Producer: Bellamkonda Suresh
Release Date: 14th January 2010.
My Rating: 2/5

What's It About?

The story revolves around 3 friends, Ravi Teja, Naresh and Balaji. They are the usual, masti type gang. Ravi Teja is in love with his uncle's daughter Priyamani. The uncle wants him to get a government job to marry Priyamani. Naresh  a hopeless flirt, seeking love in every good-looking girl he comes across, wants to go to America. Siva Balaji is in love with Ravi Teja's sister, played by Abhinaya and wants to open a computer center with the help of a bank loan. The film establishes these characters and the story starts when a common friend of the trio attempts suicide. He is in love with a girl and the parents being in powerful , warring positions oppose. After understanding the problem, they promise to unite the couple. They cleverly manage to help the couple in eloping but undergo personal tragedies. It's not fair on my part to disclose the tragedies as it gives the plot away. However, their sacrifices not withstanding, the couple have petty quarrels and their ego problems force the couple to separate. When the trio learn about the separation and the couples impending re-marriages, they seek out to teach a lesson.How they go about doing that is to be seen on the big screen. Here's my analysis:

Artist Performance: 

It's a typical high energy role for Ravi Teja, you can see many of his "elements" in the movie. He plays the central role. The artist that i was impressed with was definitely Naresh, I have throughly enjoyed watching his comedy movies but he is very good in a serious role and he walk away with top honors. Siva balaji did not have a big role when compared to the others but he shines in a few emotional scenes. Priyamani is good as a chirpy maradalu and as a scorned lover in the post interval part. Abhinaya who is speech and hearing impaired in real life is good also. 

This & That:

The movie is a remake of Tamil movie "Nadodigal" made by the same director.While the movie was a success in Tamil, it might not be the case here. The movie is not a masala movie, it does not have a conventional ending.This maybe be hard for the viewers to digest. The music has nothing to write about. It is a literal scene to scene adaptation of the Tamil version and it should have been adapted to suit Telugu tastes. For the first time in Telugu cinema a  multi-starrer movie has been adapted. I just hope that the concept of ensemble cast in a movie doesn't get avoided due to the debacle of this one.

Did I enjoy It?

Not really, the problems that the central charectors face was very unsavory for me. It left me with a bad after taste.

Welcome!

I have started this blog after many many years of procrastination. I had a blog before but never had the time to update it on a regular basis. 2010 is a year of many changes for me. (More about that later!) On this auspicious day of Sankranthi, I have finally begun this blog. I watch a lot of movies, need less to say. Pretty much end up watching at least a movie a day. I have always wanted to read about the story line of many interesting movies and would look up the wikipedia site for information. Unfortunately not much information is available for older , classical movies. This blog is an attempt to put forth all my opinions on all the movies I have watched or will be watching. I will also blog about Music. Thanks to my amazing parents who have made me a sucker for old hindi melodies and telugu "classics" if you may call them that. Even though my mother tongue is not Tamil, I have always enjoyed listening to albums and i will also post my music reviews as well. I will start off my first movie review with the telugu movie "Adhurs" next week and my first music album review with "Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya". Keep watching this space!