Gundejaari Gallanthayyinde

Nithin and Nithya Menen's last venture Ishq was a surprise hit last year. The pair is back with Gundejaari Gallanthaiyyinde. Most of the cast and crew of Ishq have been repeated, hoping for some luck. Will there sentiment work? Here goes the review:

Film: Gundejaari Gallanthayyinde
Cast: Nithin, Nitya Menon, Isha Talwar, Madhunandan, Ali, Tagubothu Ramesh, etc.
Music: Anoop Ruebens
Director: Vijay Konda
Producer: Sudhakar Reddy
Release Date: April 19th, 2013
My Rating: 3.25/5

What's It About: 
Karthik (Nithin) falls for Shruti(Isha Talwar) at his friend Pandu's(Ali) reception, whom he asks for her number. Pandu in a drunk stupor gives him Shravani's(Nitya) number. Karthik starts calling Shravani and simultaneously helps his friend Madhu (Madhunandan) to fall in love with his friend, who turns out to be Shruti. What happens next?  Will he realize that the girl he is talking to is not Shruti? What happens to Shravani? All these loose ends are tied up in the second half.

Artist Performances:
Nithin is looking dapper and fit. He performs well and is very funny, especially in the "gay comedy" scenes. He should do more romantic roles, it suits his personality. Nitya Menon gives  an effortless performace. However, she needs to pay some attention to her weight. Ali brings in laughs in a full length role. Isha Talwar is pretty. Tagubothu Ramesh, Madhunandan and the guy who plays the gay guy are up to mark. There aren't many characters in this movie. Everything revolves around the main actors.

This & That:
Production values are good. The film looks lavish. I liked Nithin's styling in the movie. Harshavadhan's story and dialogues are a plus. Music by Anoop Ruebens is average. However, my favorite has to be the remix of emaindo emo eevela, from Toliprema. It's not just the song that was remixed, the video of the original was too. Jwala Gutta's item song was boring. The director needs to be applauded for doing a fine job of holding the audience's attention throughout the film with a taut screenplay.

Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, the film is a breezy entertainer.

The Final Word:
Gunde jaarindi, pilla maarindi.

2012 So Far - A Half Yearly Report

It's June! 6 months into 2012 already. I though it might be a good idea to put together a post of the movies in the first half of 2012 and see how they fared. Here's what I thought!

Film: The Business Man
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kajal Agarwal
Director: Puri Jagannath
My Review: 3.75/5
Here

Film: Bodyguard
Cast: Venkatesh, Trisha, Saloni
Director: Gopichand Malineni
My Review: 3/5

What's Hot:

Songs by Thaman. Venkatesh's acting in the sentimental and romantic scenes. Comedy is good in Places.

What's Not:

No novelty factor as the story has been remade to death. Dragging screenplay in the second half. No story-line in the first half and a slow climax.

Film: Love Failure
Cast: Siddharth, Amala Paul
Director: Balaji Mohan
My Review: 3.5/5

What's Hot:

Good cast, Dialogues, Screenplay. The changes made to the story to adapt from a short film to a full fledged one.

What's Not:

Music could have been better. Very Urbane so does not sit well with audience who have a commercial frame of mind.

Film: Nippu
Cast: Ravi Teja, Deeksha Seth
Director: Guna Sekhar
My Review: 2/5

What's Hot:
Music in parts. Ravi Teja's acting.

What's Not:

Comedy, Deeksha Seth, outdated storyline and a sloooow screenplay.

Film: Ishq
Cast: Nitin, Nitya Menon
Director: Vikram Kumar
My Review: 3.25/5

What's Hot:

Nithin, Nithya Menon and Ajay's acting. Music by Anoop Ruebens. Cinematography by P.C. Sreeram.

What's Not:
Lack of Comedy, Slow paced film and an abrupt Climax

Film: Poolarangadu
Cast: Sunil, Isha Chawla
Director: Veerabhadram
My Review: 3/5

What's Hot:
Sunil's six pack abs, dances and fights. A few songs, comedy.

What's Not:

Deja-vu feeling in the storyline. Especially the Maryada Ramanna feel. No sync between scenes. Underplaying the villains by showing them in a comical light. Sunil's makeup in the climax fight.

Film: Mr. Nokayya
Cast: Manchu Manoj, Sana Khan
Director: Anil Kanneganti
My Rating: 2.25/5

What's Hot:

Manchu Manoj's acting. Climax, Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

What's Not:

No Story or cohesion in the first half. Slow paced 2nd half. Editing in places.

Film: Naa Istham
Cast: Rana, Genelia D' Souza
Director: Prakash Toleti
My Rating: N/A

What's Hot:
Pairing up Rana and Genelia.

What's Not:

Story, screenplay, music by Chakri, acting, you get the point. Everything.

Film: Raccha
Cast: Ram Charan, Tamannah
Director: Sampath Nandi
My Review:1/5
Here

Film: Dammu
Cast: N.T.R., Trisha, Karthika
Director: Boyapati Sreenu
My Review: 3/5
Here

Film: Gabbar Singh
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Shruti Haasan
Director: Harish Shankar
My Review: 3.25/5
Here

Film: Daruvu
Cast: Ravi Teja, Taapsee
Director: Siva
My Review: 2/5
Here

My Picks for 2012 so far are The Businessman, Love Failure, Ishq & Gabbar Singh.

Seeta Ramula Kalyanam .... Lankalo

Nitin & Hansika team up for this movie. Nitin is hoping for a success after 13 consecutive flops. Hansika's last movie Jayeebhava was a flop. Let's see if this movie does anything for them. Here's what I thought of the movie.

Film: Seeta Ramula Kalyanam .... Lankalo

Cast: Nitin, Hansika, Suman, Jayaprakash Reddy, Salim Panda, Subba Raju, Bramhanandam, Ali, M.S. Narayana & Others.

Music: Anoop Rubens

Producer: Malla Vijaya Prasad

Director: Eshwar Reddy

Release Date: January 22nd, 2010

My Rating: 2/5

What's It About?

Chandu(Nitin) is a college student who falls in love with Nandini(Hansika) after she lectures him about the injurious effects of smoking. He puffs and pants, fights and rants and wins her over. Nandini's dad Peddi Reddy(Suman) is a factionist(but of course!) and his rival factionist Jayaprakash Reddy's son Veera Pratap(Salim Panda) falls in love with Nandini when he comes across her at a function. Veera Pratap kidnaps Nandini and wants to get married to her(Duh!). Chandu goes to Veera Pratap's house and plots to save his love. The marriage of Chandu & Nandini forms the climax. Now, the analysis.

Artist Performance:

I admire the audacity of the producers and directors who come forward to make movies with Nitin time and again.How he gets to work with top actresses like Illeana, Hansika, Kajal etc. beats me. Coming to his performance, Nitin has a lot to improve in terms of acting, emoting and dialogue  delivery. Hansika has nothing major to do except pout and look pretty and she does her job well. Salim Panda plays the villain, who has to shout, beat his lungs and tear his clothes in every scene and that he does fantastically. Suman is unconvincing as a factionist and thankfully he does not have a lot of screen presence.  Bramhanandam, Ali and Subba Raju are entertaining. Jayaprakash Reddy plays a factionist for the nth time and he does it with gusto.

This & That:

As you can see, there is no novelty in the plot. Same old story served the same old way. First half of the movie is dragging and moves at a snail's pace. The second half is better with the nice comedy track between Bramhanandam, Ali and Subba Raju. M.S. Narayana's principal act was tawdry. Music by Anoop Rubens is strictly ok; with kiss me and  cheetiki maatiki being the better picks of the lot. Choreography is good and Nitin does a commendable job in dances. The Sri Lanka devullu  concept is funny. If it wasn't for the post interval part of the movie; my rating would have been 1/5 only for the effort that went into making this movie. Nitin should stop concentrating on his 6 pack abs and start taking acting classes.

Did I Enjoy It?

No, except for the second half. When compared to the other releases, this movie's performance at the box office will be absymal.