Iddarammayilatho

I've always personally enjoyed Puri Jagan's films; they are your typical masala movies, with some punchy dialogues, good comedy and generally very entertaining. I've been listening and loving the music of this film, especially the violin song. Here is the review:

Film: Iddarammayilatho
Cast: Allu Arjun, Amala Paul, Catherine Thresa, Bramhanandam, Ali, Subba Raju etc.
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Director: Puri Jagannadh
Producer: Bandla Ganesh
Release Date: May 31st, 2013
My Rating: 3.25/5

What's It About: 
Akansha (Catherine) is the daughter of a central minister who travels to Spain for her PG. She ends up staying in the same room as Komali (Amala), a bramhin girl from India. Akansha reads Komali's diary that she accidentally leaves behind, in which she talks about her love story with Sanju(Arjun) a guitarist. On a parallel thread, Shawar (Shawar Ali) is looking to deposit illegal mining scam money from India in Spain. Komali accidentally records Shawar killing a man in connection to this illegal money. What happens to Komali and her love story with Sanju? Will Shawar be successful in his attempts? These threads are tied up in the second half.

Artist Performances: 
Allu Arjun is top notch with his dialogue delivery and comedy timing. He is surprising very good in romantic scenes as well. Amala Paul has a shorter role compared to Catherine, she does her bit as required and did not impress me much. Catherine is good , however she hams and over acts in the beginning of the film and leaves a mark in the second half. Bramhi is excellent as fidel Bramha. Ali comes in the second half as Mental Krishna and provides some comic relief. Subba Raju and Shawar are adequate. Other supporting cast of Tulasi, Pragathi, Bharani and Nasser do their bit as required.

This & That: 
Puri is known for his punch dialogues and he is back with a bang in this flick. His dialogues are hilarious, hard hitting and thoroughly entertaining. My favorites have to be the tuppalo scenes, the climax  and the bapanese dialogues. Music by Devi is an asset. My personal favorite was the Violin song and I ended up liking top lesi poddi for its picturization and Arjun's dance moves. Cinematography is beautiful and I have to specially mention the fights by Kicha, I loved the interval bang and the action scenes associated with it. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half and I felt that the tempo was lacking a bit in the second half. The twist is interesting and it turns an ordinary story into something completely different. I also enjoyed Arjun's dance moves for the Gang Leader song.
Was Bramhi's dialogue of Pawan Kalyan's fan meant for Nithin? :-P I wonder!!

Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, I found myself laughing every time Bramhi came on screen and gushing at the romantic scenes.

The Final Word:
Iddaramayilatho, Puri and Arjun , top lepestaru :)

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.

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.