Daruvu

Daruvu starring Ravi Teja & Taapsee is releasing today with no hype. The actors need a hit to salvage their sagging career graphs. This movie has been postponed umpteen number of times and the music hasn't appealed the audience. Here's how the movie fared.

Film: Daruvu
Cast: Ravi Teja, Taapsee, Bramhi, Gollapudi Maruti Rao, Jayasudha, Sayaji Shinde, "Vennela" Kishore,  Raghu Babu, Sushant Singh etc.
Music: Vijay Anthony
Director: Siva
Producer: Burugupalli Sivarama Krishna
Release Date: March 25th, 2012
My Rating: 2/5

What's It About: 

"Bullet Raja" (Ravi Teja) is a small time goon in Chennai, with a sidekick Khaja (Kishore). He crashes the engagement of Shweta (Taapsee) and her bava Harbor Babu (Sushant Singh). He falls for her and tries to catch her attention by joining in her dance class run by Vidya Balan (Bramhi); as with every story  the girl falls for him. Meanwhile, in Naralokam, Yama (Kaikala Satyanarayana) is growing old and appoints his son Yuva Yama (Prabhu) in his place. Chitragupta (M.S. Narayana) dislikes being held back in duty by Yuva Yama; plots to get Raja killed unjustly and tries to teach him a lesson. To make amends for his mistake, Raja is sent back to earth by Yama as Ravindra; home minister of A.P. who is a corrupt politician and also his look alike. Does Raja succeed as Ravindra? Will he marry Shweta?  All these threads are linked into the second half.

Artist Performances: 

"Mass Maharaja" Ravi Teja is extremely good in his characteristic comedy, dialogue delivery and acting. He performs well in the role that was given to him. Taapsee does not know how to emote, which in this case is unnecessary as she is merely a prop whose presence is required solely for songs. Bramhi is good as Vidya Balan. Raghu Babu is hilarious as Pavitrananda. Srinivas Reddy and "Vennela" Kishore are good as hero's sidekicks. Jayasudha, Sayaji Shinde, Sushant Singh are adequate. Prabhu looks bloated as Yama. Kaikala Satyanarayana's and Gollapudi's age is catching up on them.

This & That:

The major flaw of Daruvu is the story. The director had ample scope of turning the script he had into something different but he chose the off beaten track in this case. Outdated story lines, scenes and insipid sequences don't sit well with the audience today. The people sitting next to me were predicting dialogues and the next scenes. That being said, there were some very good comedy sequences and dialogues in the movie, especially the first half. Dhinka Chika, Yamalokam, Nimmakaya scenes are hilarious.  The overdose of sentiment in the second half spoils the tempo. Was calling Bramhi's sidekick "Nitya Menon" a jab at the actress for refusing this movie? Music is average at best. No song holds your attention and the placement a big mistake. They should have gone with Ravi Teja's favorite Thaman instead of Vijay Anthony. The climax is cliched. I liked the montage of all the old Yama movies. Ravi Teja should stop giving chances to second heroines in his earlier movies. It's not beneficial for him, they are second heroines for a reason.

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes & No, I liked the first half, there is humor but the second half killed it for me.

Last Word:
Ee Daruvu ki Sound Takkuva, sodhi ekkuva.

Revisiting - Muthyamanta Muddu

This section is usually about movies that I've watched before. In the case of this movie, I'd have to make an exception. I did watch this movie, when I was younger, it scared the daylights out of me. I stopped halfway and never got to watching it completely. Today I am older and I'd like to think that I don't scare that easily. I've completed the movie and that's why this post is here!

Film: Muthyamanta Muddu
Cast: Rajendra Prasad, Seeta, Divya Vani, Ranganath, Murali Mohan, Sudhakar, Gollapudi Maruti Rao, Bramhanandam etc.
Music: Hamsalekha
Director: Ravi Raja Pinishetty

**Spoiler Alert** Plot revealed after jump.

Tunes On Tuesday.

This week has been hectic to say the least. This Tunes on Tuesday post will be about the songs that have been playing on my itunes this week.

• Madurai Ponnu, Movie: Billa 2, Language: Tamil (Love this one)
• Akhila, Movie: Oru Kal Oru Kannadi, Language: Tamil
• Asku Laska, Movie: Nanban, Language: Tamil (Vijay Prakash is becoming one of my favorites)
• Gangster, Movie: Billa 2, Language: Tamil ( I am an Ajith Fan. Period. Song's amazing!)
• Pilla, Movie: Gabbar Singh, Language: Telugu
• Ruler, Movie: Dammu, Language: Telugu
• My Name is Nani, Movie: Eega, Language: Telugu (Not very impressed with the music, waiting for the movie.)
• Allah Maaf Kare, Movie: Desi Boyz, Language: Hindi
• Tera Deedar Hua, Movie: Jannat 2, Language: Hindi (Emraan Hashmi's movies have good music.)
• Pungi, Movie: Agent Vinod, Language: Hindi

That's the list for this week. Until next week, Happy Listening!

Gabbar Singh

Pavan Kalyan is teaming up with Harish Shankar (of Mirapakaya fame) and Shruti Hassan for Gabbar Singh. Pavan Kalyan needs a hit to wipe away his recent failures. Shruti need a success to break her iron leg image in the industry. Devi Sri Prasad's hit music has also raised the expectations for this one. I just watched the premiere show in Dallas, where they had 4 shows due to the heavy demand. All the shows are houseful. Does it live up to the expectations?

Film: Gabbar Singh
Cast: Pavan Kalyan, Shruti Hassan, Abhimanyu Singh, Kota Srinivas Rao, Bramhi, Ali, Nagineedu, Ajay, Suhasini, Tanikella Bharani etc.
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Director: Harish Shankar
Producer: Bandla Ganesh
Release Date: 11th May, 2012
My Rating: 3.25/5

What's It About:

In Kondaveedu, a young Venkata Ratnam Naidu (Pavan Kalyan) and his step brother (Ajay) bunk school to watch Sholay. Venkat's fascination of Gabbar Singh  is shown . His step father (Nagineedu) favors his own son and pampers him. Venkat's mom (Suhasini) remarried after his dad's death. He doesn't approve of her decision and rebels, as a result he is put in a hostel further developing his dislike for the step-dad. To quote the movie,"aa pillavadu peddayaka Pavan Kalyan avutadu". He is now a cop who prefers to be called Gabbar Singh. "Vaadiki konchem tikka undi, kaani daaniko lekkundi". True to his nature he is egoist and brash. He falls in love with Bhagyalakshmi (Shruti Hassan) who declines his advances to take care of her alcoholic dad (Kota). As a result of his un-corruptness he soon locks horns with Siddhapa Naidu (Abhimanyu Singh), a local goon with political ambitions. How Gabbar Singh wins his love and wins over his enemy forms the rest of the story.

Artist Performances: 

Pavan Kalyan has certain mannerisms which have a huge following. He looks like he is having a ball, playing this character. His dialects in different scenes, his comedy timing have always been his plus points which have been highlighted in this film. Shruti Hassan is okay but the dubbing could have been better, it felt kind of jarring. Abhimanyu Singh is adequate as a villian. Ali, Bramhi, Gayatri Rao, Nagineedu, Kota, Ajay are good. A special mention here for all the negative characters in the movie, they were Hilarious! Suhasini's cameo is good.

This & That: 

As everyone knows, the movie is a remake of Dabbang, which was a massive hit. The director Harish needs to be commended for adding humor and tweaking the story a little to attract the native audience. The Kabbaddi Sequence in the first half and the Antakshari sequence in the second half are the biggest highlights of the movie. Pavan Kalyan must be appreciated for his sportiveness. Not many actors are comfortable with being imitated in a lighter vein right in front of them on the big screen. Background songs from Pavan Kalyan's and Chiranjeevi's movies are aptly used according to the situations. Songs by Devi are good. Akasam Ammayi and Pilla songs are my favorite for the way they were shot. Pavan Kalyan copied Salman's style of dancing in the movie. Trivikram Srinivas is mentioned in the opening credits and I saw a little bit of his touch in the punch dialogues by Harish. The climax felt rushed and it ended abruptly and could have been better.

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes. Go watch it for the comedy.

Last Word:
Gabbar Singh is Keka!

Tunes On Tuesday.

If you have been following me on twitter, you might have heard my woes with my patchy internet connection. This whole week, I've had internet for about 5 hours in total. While I had a great time catching up on reading and hanging out with friends, my blog posts have unfortunately suffered. This week for Tunes on Tuesday, I've planned to post my favorite songs from the 90's. Here are a few of my picks.

• Chamaku, Movie: Kondaveeti Donga, Language: Telugu
• Kanyakumari, Movie: Bobbili Raja, Language: Telugu
• Papa Hello Hello, Movie: Varasudu, Language: Telugu
• Tera Aana Tera Jaana, Movie: Judwaa, Language: Hindi
• Dil Dil Dil, Movie: Aatish, Language: Hindi
• Koi Jaaye To Le Aaye, Movie: Ghatak, Language: Hindi
• O Lal Dupatte Waali, Movie: Aankhen, Language: Hindi
• Anjali Anjali, Movie: Duet, Language: Tamil
• Azhagiya Laila, Movie: Ullathai Allitha, Language: Tamil
• Kadhal Kaditham, Movie: Jodi, Language: Tamil

These are a few favorites from the 90's. It really was a great decade in terms of music. Until next week, happy listening!

Tunes On Tuesday.

Today is my favorite Thala Ajith's birthday! Ajith's 51st movie Billa 2's audio is releasing today too! So it calls for a special celebration! I had a different selection planned for this week's post. Instead am going to do a Tunes on Tuesday Ajith edition. Here are some favorites from Ajith's 50 movies.

• Meenamma, Movie: Aasai, Language: Tamil
• Mottu Mottu, Movie: Kadhal Kottai, Language: Tamil
• April Maadathil, Movie: Vaali, Language: Tamil
• Enna Solla Pogirai, Movie: Kandukondein Kandukondein, Language: Tamil
• Sollamal, Movie: Dheena, Language: Tamil
• Innisai, Movie: Varalaaru, Language: Tamil
• Sei Yedavathu Sei, Movie: Billa, Language: Tamil
• Hey Saala, Movie: Aegan, Language: Tamil
• Machi Open The Bottle, Movie: Mankatha, Language: Tamil
• Gangster*, Movie: Billa 2, Language: Tamil ( Movie hasn't released but Looove the song)

These are a few of my Ajith favorites. Happy 41st birthday Thala :)