Tunes On Tuesday

I haven't been scheduling Tunes on Tuesday posts off late. Every Monday, I think of all the songs that have been playing on my YouTube and Ipod and try to come up with a theme that I can use for Tunes on Tuesday's blog. I am in a 90's phase for the last few weeks, listening to some of my old favorites. I tried to listen to all Abhijeet songs on my Ipod and here are a few good ones. Like usual, I resorted to my trustworthy Wikipedia to read about Abhijeet and I was shocked to know that he just got one Filmfare Award. Truly a case of talent not getting it's due.

• Ole Ole Ole, Movie: Yeh Dillagi, Language: Hindi
• Aankhon Mein Base Ho Tum., Movie: Takkar,  Language: Hindi
• Shehar Ki Ladki, Movie: Rakshak,  Language: Hindi
• Tan Tana Tan, Movie: Judwaa,  Language: Hindi
• Main Koi Aisa Geet, Movie: Yes Boss,  Language: Hindi (His only Filmfare)
• Tum Dil Ki Dhadkan, Movie: Dhadkan,  Language: Hindi
• Woh ladki Jo, Movie: Badshah,  Language: Hindi
• Maine To Khai, Movie: Awara Pagal Deewana,  Language: Hindi
• Tauba, Movie: Chalte Chalte,  Language: Hindi
• Lamha Lamha, Movie: Gangster,  Language: Hindi

I've noticed that he usually sings for Suniel Shetty, Shahrukh Khan and Akshay Kumar :) Until next week, Happy Listening!

Badshah

No beating around the bush, I am super duper excited about Badshah... as evidenced by my tweet earlier today. I've been watching the trailers and listening to the songs frequently.(How can you miss the buzz with the sheer amount of publicity going around this flick?). Kajal, NTR, Srinu Vytla all "big" cast and crew, hoping for a super success with this movie. Did they succeed? Review below:

Film: Badshah
Cast: N.T.R, Kajal, Nasser, Bramhi, M.S. Narayana, Navadeep, Vennala Kishore, Mukesh Rishi etc.
Music: S.S. Thaman
Director: Sreenu Vytla
Producer: Bandla Ganesh
Release Date: 4th April, 2013
My Rating: 3.75/5

What's It About: 
Rama Rao (N.T.R) alias badshah is the son of Dhanraj (Mukesh Rishi), a don in Hong Kong. Dhanraj works for Sadhu Bhai (Kelly Dorjee) who owns casinos in Macau. Badshah cons Sadhu Bhai into thinking that he helped him and wins over his trust. However, this is Badshah's plan to elimate Sadhu Bhai. As a part of his plan, he meets "Banti" Janaki(Kajal), a wannabe social reformer. Why does Badshah want to kill Sadhu Bhai and why does he need Janaki's help with this? What happens next is all tied up with the climax.

Artist Performances: 
N.T.R performs excellently in a role which has multiple shades. If he plays an innocent guy while trying to woo Janaki in the first half, he plays a cunning guy with a fun side in the second half. After a very successful outing with Bramhi in Adurs, he pairs up with him once again to create peals of laughter in the second half of the movie. Bramhi is so hilarious in the movie with his funny one liners and expressions that every time he appears on screen you end up laughing out loud. Kajal plays Janaki who uses banti (ball) as an example for her philosophical thoughts. Her role is laced with humor and she performs well. Navdeep is good as a bad cop. M.S. Narayana steals the show once again as director Revenge Nageswara Rao. His role subtlety based on RGV brings a lot of laughs. Nasser does another full fledged comedy role after Dookudu, which he does full justice to. Lots of actors appear in bit size roles like Suhasini, Chandramohan, Naga Babu, Rajeev Kanakala and Suma and all of them add to the storyline in their own way.

This & That: 
The Inception based dream concept and the china dream machine used for Bramhis thread is personally my favorite. There are a lot of scenes with Bramhi where he imitates NBK and also Jr.N.T.R, these scenes brought the roof down. Jr NTR's get up as Justice chowdary brought a lot of whistles. As usual, Sreenu Vytla movies are famous for their drunk scenes. In this movie too, there is a hilarious drunk scene but this time with a twist. The ladies are drunk and dance for NTR songs which was nicely done.Thaman does a good job with music. My favorites are Diamond Girl and Sairo Sairo. Production values are excellent and the locales are beautiful. Special appearence by Siddharth and the voice over by Mahesh Babu in crucial scenes all add to the film in a positive way. Only thing that I felt was a feeling of deja-vu as most of the scenes and the concept of the hero using a bakra (mostly bramhi) to win over the girl's family and bash up the goons are similar to Sreenu Vytla's previous movies. However, the entertainement factor is high, which works in the film's favor.

Did I Enjoy It?
Absolutely, My stomach hurt with laughing too hard.

The Final Word:
Badshah will definitely rule the box office :)

Tunes On Tuesday

Today is my best friend's birthday.While I couldn't celebrate today the way I had planned, I wanted to do a special post on the blog today. This week Tunes on Tuesday will be my friend's favorite songs. Every time I listen to these songs, they put a smile of my face.

Happy Birthday Gogs! May you have a fantastic year ahead!!

• Niharika, Language: Telugu, Movie: Ooseravalli
• Chiguru Boniya, Language: Telugu,  Movie: Teen Maar
• Neetho Cheppana, Language: Telugu,  Movie: Athadu
• Guzaarish, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Ghajini
• Rehna Tu, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Delhi 6
• Idedo Bagunde, Language: Telugu,  Movie: Mirchi
• Diamond Girl, Language: Telugu,  Movie: Badshah
• Google Google, Language: Tamil,  Movie: Thuppaki
• Hey Ya , Language: Hindi,  Movie: Karthik Calling Karthik
• Balayya Balayya, Language: Telugu,  Movie: Lorry Driver ***

*** He just Looooves this song :)

Until, next week, Happy listening!!

Tunes on Tuesday - A Late Edition

Life has taken over of late and while I continue to watch movies with much gusto, premieres and blogging have taken a back seat. I hope to get back into the groove by blogging about Badshah as I plan on watching the premiere! This post was "scheduled" to be posted yesterday but for some odd reason it didn't; hence a Tunes on Tuesday post on a Wednesday :)
I've been listening to a lot of songs from the 90's recently. There comes a time in everyone's life where they feel nostalgic of their childhood and I am in one such phase currently. I've re-discovered why I loved Kumar Sanu's voice while I listened to these songs and wanted to do a blog on some of my favorites.
These songs are all from popular movies, where other songs of the album have taken prominence. Nevertheless, here are some of his beautiful melodies.

• Love Hua, Language: Hindi, Movie: Jaanam Samjha Karo 
• Hum To Dil Chahe, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Soldier 
• Tera Aana Tera Jaana, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Judwaa
• Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Baazigar
• Paas Woh Aane Lage, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Mein Khiladi Tu Anari
• Poocho Zara Poocho, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Raja Hindustani
• Meri Mehbooba, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Pardes
• Aankhon Se Tune, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Ghulam
• Chori Chori Jab, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Kareeb
• Aankhon ki Gustakhiyan, Language: Hindi,  Movie: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

While I was compiling this list together, ai came across many more favorites, that will go out next week! Happy Listening!

Devudu Chesina Manushulu

Puri Jagan is on a roll. He's starting a new trend of wrapping up movies in record time. Ravi Teja and Puri have had a very successful stint barring Neninthe. Illeana is back too after a successful Julayi. Here's the lowdown.

Film: Devudu Chesina Manushulu
Cast: Ravi Teja, Illeana, Prakash Raj, Subba Raju, Brahmanandam, Ali, Kovai Sarala etc.
Music: Raghu Kunche
Director: Puri Jagannath
Producer: B.V.S.N. Prasad
Release Date: August 15th, 2012.
My Rating: 3/5

What's It About:
The film starts in Vaikuntham  where Vishnu Murthy (Bramhi) is coaxed by Lakshmi Devi (Kovai Sarala) into telling her a love story. The lord narrates a story of Ravi Teja (Ravi Teja), a mediator in  Hyderabad and Illeana (Illeana) a taxi driver in Bangkok. He uses a banana peel to create a series of chain events which cause Inspector Subba Raju(Subba Raju) to accidently kill Sandy a henchman of Prakash Raj (Prakash Raj) a mafia don in Bangkok. Prakash Raj suffers from a "short circuit" in his brain making him absent minded. His henchman "Fish" Venkat is asked to avenge Sandy's death by killing Subba Raju, who in turn asks Ravi Teja to mediate causing the pair to meet and fall in love. The interval bang gives you an alternate scenario where the banana peel is not used. Will the lovers meet in this case? What happens in this version of the story? These questions are answered in the rest of the movie.

Artist Performances:
Ravi Teja is as usual energetic and eccentric in his portrayal. His comic timing shines in the second half. Illeana performs well but I wish they had not chosen to use that horrendous wig on her. Prakash Raj has the opportunity of showing his negative and comical sides in the first and second half of the movie respectively. Ali and Subba Raju bring laughs. Bramhi and Kovai Sarala were okay as Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi Devi. However, I wished they chose some one else to play Lakshmi Devi.

This & That:
The basic story line is similar to a Tamil movie 12B. This is a movie about 2 people meeting in 2 very different circumstances. While the first story deals with the meeting in a cliched telugu movie format, the second story is what held my attention. The humor in the second half takes the film up many notches. The scenes where Ali prays to Goddess Lakshmi and the sequences that follow are hilarious as is the climax. Music by Raghu Kunche did not impress me much while I listened to just the audio. However, they do grow on you once you see them on screen. My picks would be Subba Lakshmi, Yemi Sethura on a audio level and Nuvvele and Nuvvante Chala Istham for the way they were shot. The hugely hyped item song of Gabriella disappoints. I didn't quite get why they wanted to paint up her face? One thing that I felt was a major missing factor is Puri's punch dialogues.It seems like Puri Jagan is experimenting in his recent movies and trying to get away from the existing formats. If only the first half had more humor and a non routine narrative, this could have been a sure shot winner.

Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, I know this review has come after a lot of negative reviews up on the web. All I want to say is, I go to watch a movie to laugh, have fun and relax. If these factors are present, it's usually a good watch for me. That's exactly what happened in this case.

The Final Word:
Go watch the movie for what it is - Entertainment.

Julayi

After being postponed for quite some time, Julayi releases today. There has been a tremendous buzz about this movie as Trivikram helms this one. Trivikram movies have always been entertainers and this one promises to be no different. It is an important one too for everyone involved as Trivikram, Arjun and Illeana are looking for hit after their last ventures Khaleja, Badrinath and Nenu Naa Rakshasi haven't done that well at the box office. Here's the review:

Film: Julayi

Cast: Allu Arjun, Illeana, Bramhanandam, Rajendra Prasad, Rao Ramesh, Tanikella Bharani

Music: Devi Sri Prasad

Director: Trivikram Srinivas

Producer:S. Radha Krishna

Release Date: August 9th, 2012

My Rating: 3.5/5

What's It About: 

Varadharajulu (Kota) is the chairman of a co-operative bank in Vizag who collects 1500 crores as deposits from his customers. The same time he is planning on usurping the money on the sly with the help of Bittu(Sonu Sood) and his brother Lala (Shafi). On the night of the planned robbery, Ravi (Arjun) ends up getting in Bittu's car, asking for a lift. Ravi is on his way to a bar where IPL betting is going on and he accidentally slips the info to Bittu who uses it to his advantage and alerts the cops to clear his way. Ravi ends up realizing his plan and helps the cops catch Bittu and ends up killing Lala. Bittu escapes the next day and Ravi is entered into a witness protection program by the cops, moving him to Hyderabad. He lives with ACP Sitaram(rajendra prasad) and his family and falls for a geeky Madhu(Ileana). What happens next forms the rest of the story.

Artist Performances: 

Allu Arjun's performance is full of energy and his comic timing is on dot in this film. He dances like a charm and has a strong screen presence that he shared with all the other characters of the film especially Rajendra Prasad. Contrary to rumors, Rajendra Prasad has a full fledged role in this movie and he shows why he is the king of comedy with his acting. He should get more roles like these. Illeana looks good and provides some glamor in songs as usual. Sonu Sood is top notch. Bramhi and M.S. Narayana are funny. Rao Ramesh and Tanikella Bharani have some well etched roles. 

This & That: 

You expect a lot of freshness when you go to a Trivikram film. He does not disappoint. He wrote some rib tickling dialogues. There is a lot of tongue in cheek humor all through  the whole film. There are a few scenes that have been inspired by hollywood movies. Like for example: The robbery scene looks like a direct lift from The Dark Knight and the climax scene is identical to The Italian Job. The scenes that I personally liked were the pre interval bang, the scenes where he tries to impress Illeana, Rajendra Prasad and MS Narayana's bus scenes and Bramhi's scene in the prison cell. Music by Devi Sri Prasad has been topping the charts and the choreography has been well done. My picks would be O Madhu and Julayi. The  The climax was a mix of action/emotion and comedy which impresses. Instead of having 5 minutes of fights, you have the hero and the villan talking in a casual and light manner. The first half moves fast with high humor but the second half felt a little dull and heavy. Overall, the movie is an entertainer and has repeat value. It should do well at the box office.

Did I Enjoy It?

 Yes, no dull moment in this film.

The Final Word:

Julayi impresses you in August! 

Tunes On Tuesday.

Today is my dad's birthday. My dad has always been an avid music lover. Ever since I could comprehend, he had these great collection of CD's and cassettes full of musical gems. My love for Kishore Kumar, Illayaraja and Yesudas have all been cultivated by him. It is thus fit to dedicate this Tunes on Tuesday post to my daddy dearest! Here are some of his favorites.

• Oohala Uyalalu, Language: Telugu, Movie: Neerajanam
• Maha Ganapatim, Language: Telugu, Movie: Sindhu Bhairavi
• Sannaga Veeche, Language: Telugu, Movie: Gundamma Katha
• Yekkada Yekkada, Language: Telugu, Movie: Ladies Tailor
• Oka Sari Kalaloki, Language: Telugu, Movie: Gopaludu Bhupaludu
• Yaad Na Jaaye, Language: Hindi, Movie: Dil Ek Mandir
• Chingari Koi Bhadke, Language: Hindi, Movie: Amar Prem
• Gulabi Aanken, Language: Hindi, Movie: The Burning Train
• Are Yaar Meri, Language: Hindi, Movie: Teen Deviyan
• Anamika, Language: Hindi, Movie: Anamika

These are a few of my dad's old favorites which he plays frequently. Until next week, happy listening!