Temper

Film: Temper
Cast: N.T.R, Kajal, Prakash Raj, Posani, Ali, Kota Sreenivas Rao and Others
Music: Anoop Rubens
Director: Puri Jagananath
Producer: Bandla Ganesh
Release Date: 02.13.15
My Rating: 3.5/5

What's It About: 
Daya (N.T.R) is an orphan who joins the police force as he is tempted by the money that he can make illegally as a cop. He is corrupt to the core; joining forces with Valtair Vamsi (Prakash Raj) a ruthless criminal. He meets Shanvi (Kajal) an animal lover and lies to her to make her fall in love with him. Then there is R. Narayana Murthy (Posani), an honest cop who loathes Daya for his criminal activities. Will Daya change himself and understand the responsibilities of a cop? What happens to his love with Shanvi? All these threads are tied in the second half.

Artist Performances: 
N.T.R has lost oodles of weight and sports a smart and suave look, much closer to his age. Dialogue delivery and modulation have always been his strong points and Puri made sure that his punchy trademark dialogues add to this. N.T.R's characterization is novel and takes up the film several notches. Poison shines in a non comical character. Prakash Raj is the villain and yet he brings in lots of laughs especially with his costumes. Kajal is pure eye candy and she is adequate. Kota, Tanikella and others have smaller roles. Subba Raju is back on the screen after a long time.

This & That: 
I have always enjoyed Puri's dialogues and the way he etches the lead actor's character. He has totally changed N.T.R's body language in this movie. I have personally felt that N.T.R has played larger than life roles and this one is much closer to his age. He has also enhanced his dancing skills especially in the temper song. Inspite of not having any comedy in the movie, it doesn't seem obvious to the audience. This film is more in the lines of another Puri movie Businessman. The climax is gripping and if I dare say it, novel. However, the interval bang and the reason for the hero's change of heart were not completely etched out. Music by Anup Rubens is good. I personally liked temper and the climax song.

Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, The movie might not be novel but watch it for N.T.R's action

The Final Word:
Temper might just raise the box office temperatures.

Tunes On Tuesday

This Tuesday it is my mother's birthday! While she is no longer with me today, I find bits and pieces of her in all aspects of my life. I no longer get startled when people tell me "you behave exactly like your mom"; I've learned to smile and say Thank You. It is fitting that this week's Tunes on Tuesday post is all about my amma's favorites.

• Pal Pal Dilke Paas; Movie: Blackmail , Language: Hindi
• Phoolon Ke Rang Se; Movie: Prem Pujari, Language: Hindi
• Kis Liye Maine Pyaar Kiya; Movie: The Train, Language: Hindi
• Rajnigandha; Movie: Rajnigandha, Language: Hindi
• Are Yaar Meri; Movie: Teen Deviyan, Language: Hindi
• Tasveer Teri Dil Mein; Movie: Maya, Language: Hindi
• Dil Aaj Shayar Hain; Movie: Gambler, Language: Hindi
• Aasmaan Ke Neeche; Movie: Jewel Thief, Language: Hindi
• Do Lafzon Ki Hai; Movie: The Great Gambler, Language: Hindi
• Khilte Hain Gul Yahaan; Movie: Sharmilee, Language: Hindi

Amma- who passed on her crush for Dev Anand, her love for Antakshari, her passion for being a good hostess, a true confidante and her never ending smile. Miss you Ma.

Govindudu Andarivadele

Film: Govindudu Andarivadele
Cast: Ram Charan, Kajal, Prakash Raj, Sreekanth, Jayasudha, Kamilini Mukherjee, Rahman, etc.
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Director: Krishna Vamsi
Producer: Parameshwara Art Pictures
Release Date: October 1st, 2014
My Rating: 2.25/5

What's It About: 
Abhiram (RCT) lives in London with his doctor dad (Rahman) who is estranged from his parents Bullabai (Prakash Raj) and Babyamma (Jayasudha) He refuses to stay back in his village and moves abroad which causes friction between the father and son.Abhi plans to unite the family and travels to their village where he meets Bangari(Srikanth) his babai and Satya(Kajal) his maradalu. How he accomplishes his mission is the rest of the story

Artist Performances: 
Ram Charan looks funny with his pony tail and in scenes where he cries. This is a complete soft role for him ala Mahesh in Murari, NTR in Brundavanam. Kajal has put on a lot of weight and is limited to songs. Sreekanth emotes well in a grayish character with a funny shade. Prakash Raj and Jayasudha are excellent. Kamilini is adequate. There are no major comedians in this film and Krishna amsi's perennial favorite Ahuti Prasad is missing from the cast. Rao Ramesh and Kota are wasted.

This & That: 
The story is an age old one. K3G mixed with a dash of brundavanam and all the other family dramas that the telugu audience has seen over the years. The scenes were super predictable and to be honest it contained all the cliched story lines that people have made fun of. People in the theaters were walking up to smoke when songs were played and the tunes were outdated. That being said the film has some plus points too. The production values are rich and there hasn't been a Krishna Vamsi style family in films for a long time. While I am tired of seeing comedians being used and abused to create comedy in movies, the lack of comedy in the movie is striking.

Did I Enjoy It?
No, I was bored and the film did not hold my interest.

The final word:
Govindudu andarini copy kotti, audience andariki headache teppistadu.

Aagadu

Mahesh & Seenu Vytla are back after the stupendous success of Dookudu. I for one am one of the many who have had high hopes on this flick. How does it fare? Details below.


Film: Aagadu
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Tamannah, Rajendra Prasad, Sonu Sood, Nasser, M S Narayana, Bramhi and others
Music: Thaman
Director: Sreenu Vytla
Producer: 14 Reels Factory
Release Date: September 19th, 2014
My Rating: 2.75/5

What's It About: 
Shankar(Mahesh) is an orphan who uses his intelligence and aids a policeman(Rajendra Prasad) in nabbing some criminals. The policeman take him under his wing and educates him along with his older son. Due to some misunderstandings, they part ways and Shankar grows up to be a Circle Inspector who specializes in encounters. He is assigned on a mission to free the town of Bokkapatnam, from the crook Damodar(Sonu Sood) and he happens to meet Saroja(Tamannah) and falls in love with her.What happens next? The story is revealed in the movie.

Artist Performances: 
Mahesh tries another different accent in a role full of punch dialogues and brain games. He is brilliant in his comedy timing and looks amazing. He performs well in a light role. Tamannah has nothing much to do except provide some relief in the form of songs. She does not look good on screen and her makeup was garish. Rajendra Prasad is wasted in a minuscule role. Sonu Sood and Vennala Kishore do what they have done a million times in many movies. The same goes for Bramhi. Nasser and M S Narayana perform well and bring a lot of laughs.

This & That: 
The story is what you come to expect from a Sreenu Vytla movie. Hero tries to take revenge by using people and circumstances around him with the help of a scapegoat, which is mostly Bramhi. This formula can only be rehashed a certain number of times before it gets monotonous. What was one time considered Sreenu Vytla's strength has turned out to be his biggest bane and he needs to come out of it if he wants to continue to make successful movies. That being said, the film has its moments, Mahesh Babu using his own movie story lines to trick the bad guys into revealing their secrets was a clever idea. The whole game show scene with Posani was rib tickling. The ads used by Tamannah's family to publize their store were funny. The second half felt heavy and even the ever trustworthy Bramhi couldn't save the show, especially the dance medley in the climax which is best described as tasteless. The Deja vu feeling continues with the telefilm concept ala the game show in Dookudu. Music by Thaman is also a minus point. My picks would be Nari Nari and Bhel Puri, in which Mahesh tries some novel steps. The dialogue writer/s should be appreciated as they were full of punches and witty. However, too much of anything is always bad and the punches were so common throughout the movie that they lacked the impact. The item song by Shruti Hassan was average at best. The climax and interval back lack the much needed jolt and felt abrupt.

Did I Enjoy It?
Yes and No, The first half was good, the second half not so much.

Final Word: 
I wish that aagi different cinema teesunte aagadu inks bavundedi.

Tunes on Tuesday

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with a few of my friends and caught up on old times. While driving around town, we quickly got bored of listening to the latest chartbusters and started playing the evergreen favorites - 90's hits. I really believe that the 90's were the golden era of music for our generation. (No offense to the other decades). Maybe because that was the age when I was a child and I had a better memory. All things aside, here are my ten tunes for this week.

• Zara sa Jhoom Loon Mein; Movie: DDLJ; Language: Hindi
• Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast; Movie: Mohra; Language: Hindi
• Mohabbat Ki Nahin Jaati; Movie: Hero No. 1; Language: Hindi
• Gum Gumayinchu; Movie: Kodama Simham; Language: Telugu
• Prema Geema Tassadiyya; Movie: Rowdy Alludu; Language: Telugu
• Kuch to Bata; Movie: Phir Bhi Dil Hain Hindustani; Language: Hindi
• Indira Mandira; Movie: Govinda Govinda; Language: Telugu
• Mila Mila Merisenu; Movie: Nirnayam; Language: Telugu
• Priya Priyatama; Movie: Killer; Language: Telugu
• Tu Mere Saamne; Movie: Darr; Language: Hindi

These are my picks for this week. Until next week, Happy Listening!

Tunes on Tuesday

If you've been following me on twitter, I usually post songs that I keep humming everyday. Of late, I've not been listening to my iPod and relying on CDs which have the most recent chartbusters. I get bored soon enough and I fall back to my favorites. My iPod is a genius which plays some real gem of songs often.  Last week, it played some old songs and lo and behold one thing led to another and I spent many evenings in the company of Mukesh, Rafi and others.

• Chale Jaana; Language: Hindi; Movie: Around The World
• Dheere Dheere Chal; Language: Hindi; Movie: Love Marriage
• Chand Aahe Bharega; Language: Hindi; Movie: Phool Bane Angare
• Jalte Hai Jiske Liye; Language: Hindi; Movie: Sujata
• Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi; Language: Hindi; Movie: Chori Chori
• Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas; Language: Hindi; Movie: Blackmail (My Mom loved this song, this song made me burst into tears and the funny part is it's not a sad song :) )
• Mana Janab Ne; Language: Hindi; Movie: Paying Guest
• Yeh Parbaton Ke; Language: Hindi; Movie: Vaasna
• Ehsaan Tera Hoga; Language: Hindi;  Movie: Junglee
• Tum Jo Milgaye Ho; Language: Hindi; Movie: Hanste Zakhm

Something about old songs and good books - They lift you up when you are low. Until next week, Happy Listening!

1-Nenokkadine

Mahesh Babu and Sukumar's 1-nenokkadine has always been a project that generated tremendous buzz right form its inception. There were many factors that lead to this, Mahesh's new lean look, Sukumar's directoral brilliance, Devi Sri's first outing with Mahesh, new girl Kriti, to name a few. Does the film live up to the hype. Read on.


Film: 1- Nenokkadine
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kriti Sanon, Gautham Krishna, Posani, Nasser, Pradeep Rawat, Kelly Dorjee & others
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Director: Sukumar
Producer: 14 Reels Entertainments
Release Date: 10th January, 2014
My Rating: 2.75/5

What's It About: 
Gautam (Mahesh) is a rockstar who has nightmares about his childhood, where he witnesses his parents's murder by three men. One day, he follows a man , whom he believes is one of the killers and murders him. He surrenders himself to the police only to realize that this was his hallucination and he never committed the crime. Sameera (Kriti) a journalist, helps Gautam realize this and follows him to find the truth behind his childhood. What happens next? Does Gautam really hallucinate or are his nightmares actually a fact? Will he meet his parents killers? All these threads are tied in the movie.

Artist Performances:
Mahesh looks great, it is a trademark role for him with the intensive eyes and expressions. He performs well in the scenes where he is confused between reality and imagination. He also tried some new steps in the you're my love song. Kriti Sanon has good screen presence and shows promise, this one might just go places if she makes the right moves. Since the story revolves mostly around the protagonist, there isn't a lot of scope for the character artists to perform. Posani brings a few laughs in a cameo. Naseer and Kelly Dorjee perform well. A point to note is the absence of any comedians in the film.

This & That: 
The story is promising. A child traumatized by the death of his parents, that he does not have any memory of their faces. All he remembers are the people who killed them in the form of nightmares that he gets on a frequent basis. It is a psychological mystery thriller where there is constant doubt, and uncertainty. First half of the movie could have been used to build this up. I still do not understand the logic behind the scene right after the first song, how can someone attack an illusion? That's not to say that they film didn't have its moments. I liked the scenes where the hero tries to understand if what he sees is indeed the truth, the scene where he picks a location to disappear to, scenes with Kriti in Goa. I also liked the second half which was loaded with twists at every turn. However, the first half felt slow, dragged in places as well as illogical. The interval bang was interesting. Second half would  be my pick and might have been more effective, if not for the wrong placement of songs as well as a unnecessary lengthy climax. It could  have been a top level hollywood style thriller, had they done away with the frills that they used to commercialize the movie. Songs by Devi were good. My picks would be Aww tuzho mogh korta & You're my love. I wish they pictured the Who are you song better. Lack of comedy was very obvious. Production values were good. Gautam Krishna shows promise, he is credited as "Prince" Gautam! I wish they showed Mahesh's six pack abs. Overall, it's a movie that does not live up to expectations. Hard to predict  the box office performance.

Did I Enjoy It?
In bits and pieces.