new york movie review

'New York' Review: It's Good

Film: New York
Rating: 3.5/5
Banner: Yash Raj Films
Cast: John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan Khan etc
Music: Pritam Chakraborty, Pankaj Awasthi, Julius Packiam
Cinematography: Aseem Mishra
Director: Kabir Khan
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Released On: 26 June 2009

This is a film that’s made with the backdrop of 9/11 attacks. Although it’s too late to watch something on those lines, Kabir Khan made an exhaustive attempt in making it enticing.

Story:
The story revolves around three youngsters Sameer (John), Maya (Katrina) and Omar (Neil) in USA. Initially Omar falls in deep love with Maya but shortly knows that she is already in love with Sameer.

And silently Omar moves away from her love. He returns after seven years of hibernation. He is arrested by FBI on false allegations and compels him to aid them to smoke out the suspected culprit Sameer who is alleged to be the head of a sleeper cell that plans to attack USA.

Omar helps the FBI as per their force. But is Sameer the real culprit? And is Omar really on his way to prove Sameer is the real criminal? That has to be watched on screen.

Performances:
Hero-John:
He is up to the mark and aptly grooved in the shoes of the character. He has delivered what has to be. But his role is little smaller when compared to that of Neil. John’s performance in jail episode is interesting.

Hero-Neil:
He has got bigger scope to perform than John. His presence is felt in bigger way with this film after ‘Johnny Gaddar’.

Heroine-Katrina:
She is at her best. She scores well both for performance and aptly suited for the role.

Others
Irfan Khan repeats a routine cop role like in many of his earlier films. He is up to the mark and did what has to be done.

Technical Departments:
Commercial values of the film are outstanding. Although Kabir Khan is known to be a small film maker, his commercial extravaganza is seen in this flick. Cinematography is marvelous as it has canned many interesting locales of New York. Screenplay and Editing also falls on right track.

Music and Lyrics:
Music is not that catchy but ‘Mere Sang’…’ is the song that touches the hearts. Homework would have done better in music department for this range of movie.

Highlights:
Cinematography
Thrilling part

Disappointment:
Late arrival-It’s almost years after the ghastly 9/11 incident. Hence people find it difficult to connect to it instantly.

Analysis:
First half of the film moves in a soft manner while the second half catches up the momentum.

The film has many memorable scenes and the scene when Omar sees Maya after seven years is wonderful. On the flip side, the film has some loose ends where the Sameer’s part in second half passes of abruptly in hasty manner. Barring those minimal exceptions, the film leaves a memorable mark on the viewers. It has got the muscle to appeal for the audiences of all classes, be they from multiplex or rural.

oy movie "GOOD BUT NOT GREAT"

oy movie review

Film: Oy
Banner: Universal Media
Rating: 2.5/5
Cast: Siddartha, Shamili, Surekha Vani, Napolean, Sunil, Pradeep
Rawat, Tanikella Bharani etc
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Director: Anand Ranga
Producer: DVV Danayya
Released On: 3rd July 2009

The much awaited debut of Baby Shamili as heroine has arrived today. The film will be remembered only as ‘heroine debut of Shamili’. Let us see how far that appealed for audiences.

Story:
Uday (Siddartha) is the son of a big business magnate and Sandhya (Shamili) is a simple girl who is religious, disciplined and perfectionist. Like their names, their attitudes are on two extremes- like dawn and dusk. But Uday falls in attraction with Sandhya. He tries to pull her towards him. But all his habits and interests are away from her. He strives hard to impress her by enacting as if his tastes suit that of hers. And slowly Sandhya inclines towards Uday.

But a startling fact comes out. What’s that fact? How that influences the love of Uday and Sandhya? That forms rest of the story.

Performances:
Hero-Siddartha:
His energy levels are shown in first half and he is all pervasive. But his character goes sidelined in second half without his mark. On a whole, as a performer he proved once again. He is impressive all the way.

Heroine- Shamili:
Baby Shamili has now turned heroine. Proper costumes and make up are not given for her and hence she looked like a side artiste than a heroine. Although the attempt to show her as ‘girl next door’ is appreciated, little care would have taken in her appearance. And she is too heavy to her age. She needs to cut down weight to look better and have future in film industry.

Others:
Surekha Vani looked glamorous enough with slim personality and neat gait. Tanikella appears for sometime as ‘Telugu Pundit’ throwing some comedy. Sunil’s comedy episode is good in first half but goes eccentric in second half.

Music and Lyrics:
They are good. Yuvan has given the best of tunes and the lyrics are also rightly grooved in the tracks with new sense of poetry. The song ‘176 beach houselo….’ is impressive and catchy. And the expressions like ‘kannu veedi choopu poyenaa…’ are interesting and marvelous.

Technical Departments:
Cinematography is good. Editing is up to the mark. Dialogues are also up to the requirement. Direction has suffered ups and downs and the production values deserve a very good mention.

Crowd Pulling Aspects:
Baby Shamili (as it’s her debut as heroine)
Music (lyrically also good)
Siddhartha

Disappointments:
Shamili has no grace or glamour that’s required for the heroines of this era Second half killed the momentum with ‘extras’ Lack of grip on characters and characterization

Highlights:
Cinematography
Music
Subtle comedy in first half

Analysis:
The movie promises very big with the conclusion of first half. But the expectations fall down mercilessly. Audiences find it difficult to sit on seats when the second half starts. The characterization of heroine goes berserk with second half. How can she ask for a cigarette when she was projected as idealistic lady in first half? How can she comment on mangalasootram and mattelu of married women to a pet dog’s belt when she was shown as a pious religious lady in first half?

Connectionless scenes, eerie characters come on to screen to kill time but they killed the interest levels of audiences. The journey from Vizag to Kaashi via Kolkata on ship, on road to some extent …blah ..blah is the way chosen by director to kill time and narrate how the hero can make his heroine happier by fulfilling all her fantasies and desires. He has gone to certain unwanted extensions by showing ‘Annavaram’ movie in a Kolkata theatre with huge hoopla by fans!!! The director might have expected some patronage from the fans of that matinee icon, Pawan Kalyan. All is ok till then. But he has overlooked the vehicle of ‘Hyderabad City Police’ moving fast in Kolkata!!!

While first half resembles a kind of ‘Chukkallo Chandrudu’, the second half recalls something on the lines of ‘Jab We Met’ and ‘Geetanjali’. This mixed concoction leaves no pleasant freshness in the film.

Choice of the subject is not bad but the implementation part is mishandled. Director failed to maintain momentum in narration. He has shown his slapdash execution in second half.

On a whole, the movie cannot please all sets of audiences. High expectations on this movie would certainly disappoint.

latest movie news

Puli schedule from 1st July
The next schedule of Pawan Kalyan’s latest film Komaram Puli will start on 1st July. This film will be wrapped up in a single continuous schedule starting 1st July. Nikhisha Patel is doing female lead. Hindi actor Manoj Bajpai is doing a vital role. AR Rehman composes music. Binod Pradhan handles cinematography. SJ Suryah (Kushi fame) directs this movie. Singanamala Ramesh produces it.

Mahesh’s 45 days shoot in Rajasthan
Mahesh Babu’s latest movie in the direction of Trivikram will be shot extensive for 45 days from 23 June to 6 August in Rajasthan. The unit went to Bangkok recently for a 15 days shoot. Anushka is doing female lead. Prakash Raj does an important role. Sunil Patel handles cinematography. Mani Sharma composes music. Singanamala Ramesh produces it.

Snehituda music on 19 June
Music of Nani’s solo film Snehituda will be launched on 19 June. Shiva Shankar composed music. Madhavilatha (Nachavule fame) is doing female lead. Gemini Film Circuit presents it. Prasad is producing this movie on Satyam Entertainments banner. Snehitula is a love story against family backdrop. This movie will hit the marquee in July month.

Sridevi’s wedding bells
Heroine Sridevi (daughter of VijayKumar and Manjula) is all set to enter the wedlock with Rahul (Nizamabad, AP) between 7:31 am to 9 am on 18 June at Srivaru Venkatachalapati Palace, Chennai. The reception in Hyderabad will be held on 21 June at Novotel & HICC Complex. Idlebrain.com wishes Sridevi a great wedding ahead!



15th June 2009

Magadheera music on 28 June
Music of Magadheera is going to be launched on 28 June with maximum number of units in the music racks. There are lots of expectations on this movie as it is directed by SS Rajamouli. This extravagant movie is touted as the most expensive film ever made in Telugu film industry. Kajal Agarwal plays female lead.

Allu Arjun as Badrinath?
Geeta Arts banner has recently registered Badrinath title at AP Film Chamber of Commerce. This film is likely to be directed by VV Vinayak. Allu Arjun will do the title role. Allu Arjun has decided to do multiple films at a time. He is currently doing one film in the direction of Guna Sekhar and another film Vedam (Krish direction). Badrinath film is likely to be launched after a few months when VV Vinayak gets free.

Oy! In July 1st week
Siddharth is currently shooting a song for Oy film at Chennai. Oy is likely to release on 3rd July. The shoot will be completed by Tuesday. Postproduction work is currently going on. Oy music which was launched recently became a chartbuster. Baby Shamili (Anjali fame) is making her debut as heroine with this movie. Anand Ranga is the director. DVV Danayya produces Oy.

12th June 2009

Amma Rajasekhar to direct Venkatesh
Amma Rajasekhar is likely to direct one of Venkatesh’s future projects. Venkatesh who is in Hyderabad a couple of days back listened to the story prepared by Kona Venkat. Nallamalupu Bujji will be producing this movie on Lakshmi Narasimha Productions banner. This movie is likely to go on floors after Seenu Vytla’s Namo Venkatesa started.

Raghu Kunche music direction
Singer Raghu Kunche who is a prominent singer in Puri Jagan’s movies is going to become music director now. He is composing music for Sairam Shankar’s latest movie that is being produced by Puri Jagan. Bindu Madhavi is doing female lead. ‘Bumper Offer’ is the title under consideration. Puri Jagan also provides story, screenplay and dialogues. Jaya Ravindra is making his debut as director.

TFI cautions against Australia shoots
Tammareddy Bharadwaja – president of AP film producers council has cautioned the Telugu producers of Telugu films against shooing their films in Australia. He said that it is not safe to shoot Telugu films anymore in Australia due to the increasing racist assaults in the country. The last movie that was shot in Australia was Siddharth’s Oy!

Subbaraju becomes hero
After Ajay, it is the turn of Subbaraju to become a hero. Popular villain and character actor Subbaraju is making his debut as hero with a film titled Jayahe. Karuna is doing female lead. Puri Jagan launched the logo of the movie yesterday. Talkie of the movie is complete. This movie has patriotic backdrop. Sudheer Raju is making his debut as director. Mohan Kota is the producer

boni review

teja rating: 2/5
Punchline: pulihora
Genre: Action/Love
Type: Straight
Banner: Green Mangoes Cinema

Cast: Sumanth, Kriti Kharbhanda, Trinetrudu, Tanikella Bharani, Ahuti Prasad, Kota Shankar, Harshavardhan, Suthivelu, Babloo, Satya Prakash, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Chandra Mohan, Satyam Rajesh, Naresh, Sudha, Surekha Vani etc

Music: Ramana Gogula
Cinematography: Andrew
Dialogues: Jayasimha & Lakshmi Bhoopal
Lyrics: Rama Jogaiah Sastri
Art: Anand Sai
Costumes: Nicolette Gogula
Editing: MR Varma
Stunts: Vijay, Ram - Lakshman
Story - screenplay - direction: Raj Pippalla
Producer: Ramana Gogula
Release date: 12 June 2009

Review

Story

boni DD (Sumanth) Chinna (trinetrudu) are orphans who are brought up in an orphanage. They are very fond of Saraswatamma (Sudha) who took care of them. Saraswatamma is very good at preparing tamarind rice (pulihora). DD wants to start a pulihora center on the memory of Saraswatamma when he grows up. He needs 7 lacs for that. In order to earn the money, he joins a mafia gang. Pragati (Kriti Kharbandha) is the daughter of a billionaire politician. She is kind hearted and runs a charity organization. She comes to know that a landlord in a village has bought most of the lands forcibly from the village men. Court asks the farmers to pay 4 crores together to regain their lands. When Pragati realized that her father has gone against her wish of helping those farmers, her friend sketches a self-kidnap plan to demand 4 crores as ransom. And things go wrong when DD and Chinna kidnap her at the same time when she is supposed to be self-kidnapped. The rest of the story is all about how DD and Pragati realise their missions together.

Artists Performance

boniSumanth is adequate as the main lead. His character should have been written in energetic style. Trinetrudu who did the role of Chinna has lots of footage and he surprises you with nice performance and right diction. Kriti Kharbanda is average as kind-hearted girl. Jaya Prakash Reddy’s character is modelled after Paresh Rawal’s character in Kshana Kshanam movie and he is ineffective. Satyam Rajesh and Naresh are funny in the roles of imbecile under-cover cops. Harsha Vardhan is good. Ahuti Prasad and Chandra Mohan are adequate.

Technical departments

boniStory - screenplay - direction: The plot and orientation of the movie reminds us of Ram Gopal Varma’s classic telugu mafia mixed with comedy flicks like Kshana Kshanam and Money. But the comparison stops there. Stories of such premise need arresting screenplay and engrossing narration. The script is half-baked. The characterizations should be more compassionate. There is no charm to the characterization of hero and there is no sympathy left for the heroine by the end. And when audiences don’t travel with the characters in the movie, they will feel quite left out about it. There are some interesting moments like the interval episode and the fight between Sumanth and Satya Prakash. Direction of the film is not upto the mark, but the styling it good.

There are a few interesting threads that were not properly established –

1. Hero is very much attached to the caretaker and he sees her characteristics in heroine. This point should have been more strongly established.
2. Villainy – villainy is not properly established.
3. Cops connection – Harsha Vardhan (a sub-inspector) is shown as the only connect to the entire police force in the movie.

boniOther departments: Boni is superior in technical departments. Camerawork by Andrew is superb and color-grading is done well. The cinematography brought the much required tone to the movie. Locations in the movie deserve a special mention. Hero’s house and slum locations are well exploited in the movie. Music by Ramana Gogula is good and a couple of songs are canned well. But the placement of songs in the second half should have been better. Dialogues are average. Art direction by Anand Sai is very good. Production values by Green Mangoes Cinema are good.

boniAnalysis: First half of the film is adequate and second half is bad. Plus points of the movie are director’s styling, cinematography and locations. Negative points are screenplay and uninspiring direction. It is always better to fail while making a different film than failing while making a routine formula film. Boni is an attempt to come up with something different. Comedy (subtle humour) should work big time in a movie like this. But it falls flat because of inexperienced moviemaking. Let us hope that the debutant producer and the debutant director will dish out more interesting films in the future.

krish"s vedam launch

Krish’s multistarrer Vedam was launched at Cinemax today morning. This film features Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu and Anushka in the main leads. K Raghavendra Rao sounded the clapboard and K Raghavendra Rao switched on the camera. Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni produce this movie Arka Media Works banner.

Initially planned with new faces – Krish
Krish said, “Nobody believed me when I said i am doing a multistarrer in Telugu. I was preparing script for Venkatesh’s Krishnam Vande Jagadguram and there was some delay in sealing on it. I took permission from Venkatesh to do another film in the mean time. Initially i planned to make this movie with new faces. Allu Arjun has been showing interest for a while to work with me and when narrated the script, Allu Arjun came forward to do a role of slum star and it increased my levels of confidence and I could able to rope in other stars. Manoj Manchu is doing the role of a rock star. Mohan Babu also liked the story. Doing a multistarrer is not a reality in Telugu films and I would like to thank Allu Arjun and Manoj Manchu for accepting this project. There will be five important characters in this movie played by Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu, Anushka and a old person. Anushka is doing a bold role. The shoot will be complete by December 2009.”

Vedam is about five stories – Allu Arjun
Allu Arjun said, “People say that story is the hero for any movie. But for Vedam, director Krish is going to be the main hero. I selected a particular character after listening to the script. Manoj Manchu and Anuksha are also doing other important characters. I feel that you need two hands to clap. That is why we are putting our egos aside and doing this movie. There will be five interwoven stories in the movie and each story belongs to one of the 5 main characters. Bollywood Manoj Bajpai is doing another important character. An old man is doing the 5th character. The old character will steal the show. My uncle Chiranjeevi patted my back when i told him that i am doing a multistarrer. There is positive vibe among the team about this movie and i am confident about the success of this movie. And success of this movie will create a new trend of multistarrers.”

I was supposed to act in Gamyam – Manoj Manchu
Manoj said, “I was supposed to act in Gamyam and it didn’t happen. I told Krish that i wouldn’t mind doing a villain role as well if he casts me. Vedam is a commercial film with international quality. I want to prove myself as an actor and I am not doing this movie for stardom. Allu Arjun met me one day and asked me if I met Krish. When I said no, he asked me to immediately meet him. I am hugely impressed by the story. I am happy to work with Bunny.”

NAGARJUNA MOVIE LAUNCH ON JUNE 18

Ever since the film ‘King’ turned out to be a good hit, many of Nagarjuna’s fans have been wondering whether the yuvasamrat will call it quits or continue with his success march. Much to their relief, Nag is said to have decided to go for another venture now.

The good news is that Nagarjuna's new movie will start on Jun 18th, it will be produced by Kamakshi movies and they are introducing new director Venkat with this movie. The genre of the movie is not known yet but then sources reveal that this will be more of an entertainer.

Nag has got a sentiment of releasing his movie on December 21st so it remains to be seen whether he manages to achieve his target this time. For now, the team is said to be working on the other details such as the heroine and the other crew members.

DEVA KATTA PRASTHANAM

Muhurat of Deva Katta’s (Vennela fame) Prasthanam was held at dilapidated aluminum factory in Gachibowli today morning. This film features Sharwanand and Ruby as main leads. Sai Kumar, Vennela Kishore and Sandeep Kishan are playing important roles.

MRV Prasad Rao sounded the clapboard and Dasaradha Rama Rao switched on the camera.

Prasthanam is a human drama with soul – Deva Katta
Speaking on the occasion Deva Katta said, “I took a lot of gap after Vennela movie due to personal reasons. Vennela film was a comedy entertainer where as Prasthanam is a drama with soul. It is about the rise and fall of a person. There is a lot of depth in the subject. It is an intense character drama. Sai Kumar plays a pivotal role and Sandeep Kishan will do an explosive character. I don’t want to stick to any genre and will do films of all kinds. Prasthanam is a character based movie unlike routine hero Vs villain kind of movie. All characters in this movie are going to be realistic with no cinematic feel to it. Shooting will start from today. We are shooting a song in Aluminum factory in night effect. We plan to shoot the movie in Hyderabad, Badami (Karnataka) and Vijayawada. We are aiming for Deepavali release. Though it is a moderate budgeted movie, we have decided not to compromise on technical and postproduction aspects of the movie. That is the reason why we hired acclaimed technicians like Savita Singh (Phoonk fame) and Mahesh Shankar (Vennela and Prayanam fame). We are going to have DI (Digital Intermediate) for the entire movie. We asked the actors to cut on their remuneration so that more funds could be allocated to make this movie technically glossy.”

Sai Kumar said, “Deva Katta is a passionate director. I found that the script of Prasthanam has lot of depth and detailing. It is a mind-blowing story about human emotions and relationships. Working in such a realistic set-up is going to be a challenge for all us actors. I feel that Prasthanam will be my third best character in my career after Police Story and Samanyudu.

Sharwanand said, “I got my first break through Deva Katta with Vennela film. Prasthanam is a script with good emotions. Deva worked over two years on this script. Prasthanam is going to be technically superior movie with good content. And it is going to be entirely different character for me.”

Sandeep Kishan said, “Sneha Geetam is my debut movie which is going to release in a month. I would like to thank Deva for giving a challenging role in Prasthanam. My character requires lots of versatility.”

Vanamali said that he is penning four lyrics in this movie. Sagar who worked for many Bollywood projects including Chak De India is choreographing for a song in this movie.

manoj latest movie launch

Manoj Manchu’s latest movie in the direction of Veeru Potla was launched at a function organized in Nanakram Guda Ramanaidu studios on 10 June. Sheena is making her debut as heroine. Sunkara Ramabrahmam is the producer. Dasari Narayana Rao sounded the clapboard, K Raghavendra Rao switched on the camera, Mohan Babu directed the first shot and Paruchuri broters/MS Raju handed over the script.

Family entertainer
with action – Veeru Potla
Veeru Potla said, “I had been trying for my debut directorial venture to finalize in the past two years. Now, it is happening. Manoj is a director’s actor and he did a lot of home work. Producer Anil Sunkara has terrific screenplay sense and it helped me. He is a major contributor of screenplay of this movie. I am glad that I got hold of a good team for this project. This movie is a family entertainer with action. It will be a racy entertainer. The hero’s characterization in this movie is close to the real life character of Manoj. We are starting the shoot on 12 June.”

Manoj Manchu said, “Anil approached me after Raju Bhai happened. He asked me to go ahead with NMT and Prayanam. He waited for my dates and comfortably doing it now. I would like to thank him for holding faith in me. Nenu Meku Telusa and Prayanam are out of the box movies. This movie is also different, but will be more entertaining with wider reach. I hope that this movie will become a bigger hit than Prayanam.”

Viswanath Kasi said, “Veeru Potla is a good friend of me and he helped me in the script of Nuvvu Leka Nenu Lenu film. He worked in screenplay and story of many super hit films in the past. I am doing the role of heroine’s father in this movie.”

Sunkara Ramabrahmam produces this movie on AK Entertainments banner. Bobo Sashi composes music. Ramesh Babu handles cinematography.

boni trailer

KAVYA'S DIARY REVIEW

teja rating: 2.25/5
Punchline: family thriller
Genre: Thriller
Type: Remake ('The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ (1992))
Banner: Indira Productions

Cast: Manjula Swaroop, Charmme, Shashank, Indrajeet, Satyam Rajesh, Leena etc

Music: Manu Ramesan
Cinematography: Shyam Datt
Dialogues: Vakkantam Vamsi
Story - screenplay: Indira Productions creative unit
Direction: Karuna Prakash
Producer: Sanjay Swaroop
Release date: 5 June 2009


Review
Story

Raj (Indrajeet) and Pooja (Manjula Swaroop) move to a new independent house along with their kids. They are desperately looking for a maid who takes care of their kids. Kavya (Charmme) rescues daughter of Pooja from an accident. Kavya is jobless and she is offered the maid’s job in Pooja's and she takes it up. Over a period of time, she gets close to the family members of Pooja. The rest of the story is all about why Kavya joined the house of Pooja.

Artists Performance

Manjula is completely natural in the role of mother and housewife. Charmme is pretty good. She needs to shed a few calories to look energetic on the screen. Shashank did a role that is only limited to the first half of the movie and he is adequate. Indrajeet fits the bill as a caring husband and father. Leena (blind dance teacher in Arundhati movie) did an important role and she is good. Satyam Rajesh did the role of servant and he is ok. It is nice to see Manjula allowing satires on her brother Mahesh Babu through Satyam Rajesh character ‘Athi D’.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - direction: Indira Productions creative unit that prepared screenplay and story has borrowed it completely from 1992 Hollywood thriller ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’. If the Hollywood film was made with linear narration, Telugu movie is made with a flashback narration. There is nothing wrong in borrowing story ideas, but one needs to modify it to suit our sensibilities and environment. And whatever nativity modifications done, they are illogical (for example asking an ex BPO employee to be the maid of kids; in the original heroine approaches the mother telling that she is willing to do caretaker job). The heroine character in this movie suffers with borderline personality disorder. Direction of the movie is not up to the mark. Screenplay of the movie is inadequate.

Other departments: Music of the movie is nice and all songs are canned well. Cinematography is excellent. The locations (especially the house with a green house) are nice. This movie is technically superior in terms of sound and visuals. Dialogues are just okay. Editing is adequate. Production values of the movie are neat.

Analysis: Kavya’s Diary is heavily inspired by the Hollywood flick ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ (1992). The first half of the movie is half-baked. Interval point is interesting. Though the entire story is packed in second half, lack of nativity impairs it. There is no relevance to the storyline and the title ‘Kavya’s Diary’. On a whole, Kavya’s Diary is another example of how our filmmakers fail while remaking Hollywood thriller

sumanth's interview

sumanth’s latest movie Boni is releasing on 12 June 2009. His last release was around one and half years back. He terms Boni as a humorous love story against mafia backdrop like Kshana Kshanam. Here are the excerpts of chitchat -


Tell us how Boni happened?
Director Raj Pippalla was in the team that worked for the Canada schedule of Nagarjuna’s Ravoyi Chandamama. He has been trying to make a Telugu film since then. He met me during the making of Pourudu film and narrated a couple scripts. The first script needs huge budget. I liked the second script immediately. I asked him to find a producer. I also assured him that I would produce it myself if he couldn’t manage to get any producer. During the shoot of interval fight of Pourudu film in Jayabheri club, Raj came along with Ramana Gogula. That is how Boni film materialized.

What kind of a movie Boni is?
Boni is a commercial Telugu movie. It has a love story laced with action elements. This film sports cocky humor. And it reminds us of old Ram Gopal Varma’s film like Kshana Kshanam. This film has a raw mafia backdrop with an underline fun element. Watching Boni will be like reading a Chandamama katha.

Tell us about your character?
I am doing the role of a youngster who wants earn money. He joins mafia and their plans go wrong. He is a low level guy in the mafia pyramid. He has small goals in life.

Why is this film titled as Boni?
It was Raj who coined the title Boni. I joked that people would call it ‘Poni’ if the film fails. But Boni is apt and relevant to the story. And it created tremendous positive buzz among the movie lovers and in trade circles. And the word Boni will be uttered more than 20 times in the movie.

What is your contribution to Boni apart from acting?
My involvement will be there for any film only at script level. Once script is finalized I make sure that I don’t interfere. I let the director and producer do their job. I didn’t see the rushes of Boni. I just saw final cut and gave my analysis.

What is your gut feel after watching the final cut?
I saw the movie three times. One is the final cut, other one is the cut with reshot episodes and third one is after the corrections. We do lose judgment after watching a film for so many times. We screened the movie to trail audiences, who are not connected to film industry. We have shown it to them in raw shape in the editing room. The response is far exceeding than what I expected. Those twenty people gave extremely positive feedback. It is giving us a good feeling about the movie.

Tell us about director Raj Pippalla?
There is a distinct style about him. He brings ‘Guy Ritchie’ kind of humor to the movie. We tried to balance what he offered and what a typical Telugu cinema requires. Lot of work is done by him in styling this movie differently. He is basically a funny guy and he got lots of fun element into the movie. He will be an asset to film industry like Sekhar Kammula and Krish in a different genre. If Sekhar Kammula and Krish have shown their expertise in romance and philosophy, Raj will be known from cocky humor in the future.

How is Ramana Gogula as a producer?
Boni is basically Ramana Gogula’s baby though Raj is the director. He put everything together for the movie. He worked really hard. Boni belongs to Ramana Gogula, Raj Pippalla and me in that particular harder. Ramana Gogula put more efforts than both of us. It took around one and half years to produce this movie. It went over budget and number of shooting days increased phenomenally. But Ramana Gogula never compromised. Most of my films are under budget. But some how, this movie has gone over budget.

Tell us about the first time heroine Kriti Kharbandha?
Her character in this film is a full length one and the entire story revolved around her character. We took chances with a new girl and she turned out to be an apt actress. We needed softness and delicateness from her and got it.

You have two new actors from your family – Sushant and Naga Chaitanya?
I liked the promos and title of Sushant’s Current. Naga Chaitanya’s launch will be the most anticipated one in Telugu film industry after that of Ram Charan Teja’s a couple of years ago. He is in the right hands. Both of them are well trained and I wish all the best to them.

One last question! There is a rumor that you will be getting married soon?
You need a girl to get married. Find me a bride and I will marry her (giggles)

RIDE REVIEW

TEJA rating: 2.75/5Punchline: not a smooth ride
Genre: Youth/Family
Type: Straight
Banner: Sri Sai Ganesh Productions

Cast: Nani, Tanish, Shweta Basu Prasad, Aksha, Adarsh, Ahuti Prasad, Sudha, Kasi Viswanath, Brahmanandam, Dharmavarapu, Tulasi, Kinnera, Bikshu, Hema etc

Music: Hema Chandra
Background score: Chinna
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Dialogues: Shashank Vennelakanti
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Art: Chinna
Fights: Ram Lakshman
Executive producer: Ravi Uppalapati
Story - screenplay - direction: Ramesh Varma
Producer: Bellamkonda Suresh
Release date: 5 June 2009


Review
Story

Mahesh (Tanish) is the son of a just retired middle class government officer. He is a responsible guy and shares the responsibly of running the family. He gets an offer to work as a collection agent in a chit fund company. But it requires him to own a bike. He buys the bike with her mother savings. Arjun (Nani) is a carefree youngster who is passionate about bikes. His dream is to own a bike. But his miser father never buys him one. Mahesh’s bike is stolen one day and the next day Arjun is riding on that bike. The rest of the story is all about what happened to the bike and how they resolved the conflict.

Artists Performance

Nani is good as a guy who is passionate about bikes. There are many mass dialogues written for him and he delivers them with panache. His dances in Danchave Menatha song are pretty good. Tanish’s body language, costumes and introduction scene in this is movie is modeled after hero Mahesh Babu. Tanish is really good in emotional scenes. Shweta Basu Prasad’s role is limited and it does not have any substance. She is glamorous with a bit of skin show unlike her debut KBL. Aksha looks like a broader version of Trisha. She needs to shed a few pounds to look more attractive on the screen. Three actors are borrowed from Nachavule film. Kasi Viswanath, small boy and hero’s friend are these characters. All these characters are like just an extension of their Nachavule performances. Ravi Babu should get some royalty for Ride film. Ahuti Prasad, Hema and Sudha are adequate. Brahmanandam is average. Adarsh (Happy Days fame) is alright, but poor characterization doesn’t help him.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - direction: Story of the movie is thin. And the story writer succeeded in integrating middle class family mentality with the story that revolves around bike. The part of Tanish losing his bike and there by losing his livelihood reminds us of Italian black & while classic Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Theif). The screenplay and direction is neat till the movie reaches interval point. The movie is over in the second half the moment when these guys decide to share the bike. The last 20 minutes of the movie which comes after resolving the main conflict appears like an undesired extension. The screenplay and direction is not satisfactory in the second half. The bike logically belongs to Tanish in this movie because the legal ownership is with him. The same bike is bought by Nani in chor bazaar. All it takes is a police complaint from Tanish in order to get rid of Nani. This basic point is ignored while writing story/screenplay for the second half.

Other departments: Music by singer turned music director Hema Chandra is adequate. A couple of songs are good in picturization (the 3rd song shot in ICRISAT and Danchave Menatha Koothura remix). Cinematography by Shyam K Naidu is good. The fights composed for this movie lack completeness and most of them are abrupt (for example we don't know wha happens to the bike on railtrack in climax). Editing is average. Dialogues in the movie are partly good. The sentimental dialogues are well written.

Analysis: The movie takes off really well with nice establishment of the two main characters and their family backgrounds. First half is satisfactory. The writer/director falters in screenplay section in the second half. Ideally the movie is over the moment these two guys come to an understanding. The last 20 minutes of the movie appears like an extension. For people who have seen uber stylish bike ads on TV, the chases and races shown in the film pretty mediocre. Ramesh Varma did a better job compared to his last film, but it is not good enough!

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billa review

Billa' Review:

Film: Billa
Rating: 3/5
Cast: Prabhas, Namita, Anushka, Hansika, Subba Raju, Supreet, Kelly Dorge, Aravind, Rahaman, Ali etc
Camera: Soundara Rajan
Music: Mani Sharma
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Fights: Stun Shiva
Art: AS Prakash
Producers: Narendra, Prabodh
Screenplay-Dialogue-Direction: Meher Ramesh
Released On: 3rd April 2009

The much awaited big banner film ‘Billa’ has released today. Many assumed that it would be an oasis in the desert of flops. Let us hope how far the assumptions turned true.

Story:
Billa ( Prabhas) a gangster in Malaysia becomes the most wanted for Interpol, Indian and Malaysian police. They collectively search for him but he keeps on escaping. Lisa (Namitha) is the girl friend of Billa and Maya (Anushka) is another dame who joins Billa’s team to put an end for him with a secret vengeance.

Finally ACP Krishna Murthy (Krishnam Raju) takes up Billa’s case and chases him. Finally he catches him and kills. But later with the help of an informer (Ali) Krishna Murthy learns that there is a look alike of Billa in Vizag. He conspires to use that look alike in the place of Billa and smoke out all gangsters connected to Billa.

The look alike of Billa is none other than Ranga (Prabhas) who is a pickpocketer and petty thief. The story takes the turn when Krishan Murthy meets Ranga and gives him the offer to act as Billa.

Finally how far Krishna Murthy gets success in his operation? That has to be watched on screen.

Performances:
Prabhas is at his best in look, body language and performance. He followed a humorous style in delivering dialogues for Ranga’s character. That has pumped in some refreshing air in the heads of audiences. And as Billa he is the best suit. His physique is perfectly impressive and inspiring.

Anushka is serious and hot. Her much publicized bikini act got desired response in theaters. Namitha also did enough of skin show but that looked odd. Hansika is there for a while for a song and even she too was used for glamour dose.

Supreet acted as side kick to Prabhas. Subba Raju is smart enough to pair up with Hansika. Aravind (Arundhathi fame) appeared as side kick for Kelly Dorge and slowly he promises to be good choice for bad guy on screen. Rahaman is ok as Interpol officer.

Krishnam Raju tried his level best but there is problem in his bearing. He appeared to have tried very hard to move like a police officer. But there is nothing to pint out about his performance. His seniority has reflected.

Coming to technical details, Art, Cinematography and Costumes played key roles in this film. They deserve very good mention. The biggest minus point in the film is lack of punch in dialogues. Direction is average. Production values are very good.

Analysis:
The film is lacking desired punch. It hasn’t met the standards especially in the matter of dialogues when compared to Hindi and Tamil versions. Hindi film ‘Don’ is identified with the most famous dialogue ‘Don Ko pakadnaa mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai’. There is no such punch in any dialogue in Telugu. It is only Prabhas’s Ranga character that brought enthusiasm for audiences. Although the Billa character was designed in very impressive way with respect to look and feel, the soul is missing on a whole. Heroines are for good visual feast for young audiences with bikinis and short dresses. But people started laughing looking at the costumes of Namitha. She turned a laughing stock by wearing such dresses with odd look, being obese. It is time for her to cut down weight. Otherwise, she becomes a comedian than a ‘hot’ actress.

First 30 minutes of the film brings boredom as more importance is given for style and sound than the story part and narration. The part should have filled with good dialogues to avoid boredom. And the film gets some tempo when Ranga character enters the screen. Although that appeared promising for a while, the graph has fallen down in second half. The climax is also not that enthusiastic. It’s a movie made with rich production values and stylish presentation.

The film has no big muscle to hold box office tight for weeks together. But the season may help the movie. As there are no films those are ruling box office and as there are no big films in line to rub shoulders, Billa may fall on the safe zone.

MANORAMA REVIEW

Manorama' Review: Good Thought-Bad Execution

Film: Manorama
Rating: 1.5/5
Banner: ZEE Motion Pictures
Cast: Charmee, Nishan, Sridhar Rao, Dhanush, Lahari, Pinky, Srivastav, Ali, MS, Narsing Yadav etc
Music: Koti
Cinematography: Jagan
Art: Ashok
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Story-Dialogues: Padmasri
Director: V Eswar Reddy
Producer: Zee group
Released On: 27th March 2009

It was with a lot of expectations that the film ‘Manorama’ was talked about since it had Charmee in the lead role along with direction by Eswar Reddy known for his meaningful flicks. This was slated to be a thriller and how thrilling it has been, let us see.

Story
Gilli (charmee) comes to Hyderabad to have a good time but gets involved into saving the life of a lover boy who wants to commit suicide. There, she meets this handsome guy whom she calls killer (Nishan) and what she does not know is that he is a bomber who comes to explode the popular Manorama café in Koti.

Both of them meet each other through a sequence of events and in no time, they realize that they are in love with each other.

What happens to Killer’s mission? Does their love story succeed? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performance
Charmee looked natural without glamour but then her act has become repetitive. Nishan has got the looks but he now has to work on his body language and his expressions if he is looking at a career in movies. Dhanush is fine, Sridhar Rao is ok, MS was brief, Ali was not used to his full potential, Lahari was cute and luscious. The others came and went.

The storyline seems a bit unusual and off track given the plot and what happens in the film. The script was without strength, the screenplay was not up to the standard.

Dialogues were normal barring few lines which give some insight into life and humanity. The background score was an overdose during few emotional scenes but one song was worth taking home. Editing was crisp scene wise but the arrangement of the sequences was at random. Costumes did not have much to do as the entire movie runs in one pair or two for all the characters. Art department did their bit to come out with a real picture of the busy Koti area.

Analysis
The film takes off as a terror plot but that is exposed in the first five minutes of the film. However, as it passes, the direction drifts completely towards romance that blossom in less than twelve hours. And some ridiculous coincidence of destiny that brings the hero and heroine together. At one point, the man who plants the bomb moves about without a tinge of fear and that too in and around the location where it is left to explode.

The idea of bringing about humanity is a good thought but it needs depth to create an impact on the audience and to deliver a message to them.

To add to the woes, the ending is quite tragic and this was not what they were looking for in a Charmee film and that too on an Ugadi day. Since there was no storyline with depth, it looked like an effort to justify the standard two and a half hour frame. Thankfully, the technical aspects were somewhat okay but the content was poor. Even logic fails to prevail at times by showing Charmee figuring out through her lip reading ability about someone committing suicide and taking note of the number through her binoculars. Not stopping at that, she also gives a call to the girl to find out what the problem is and the rest of the story revolves around that subject and her eventual romance.

The mass audience would be in for disappointment since there is nothing that Charmee has to offer in terms of glamour and instead she has few valid philosophies on life if they are ready to take it. The class audience will find it equally tough since the pace and sensibilities tested patience.

metatag

AKASAMANTA REVIEW

'Akasamantha' Review: Heart Touching "ONLY FOR CLASS"

Film: Akasamantha Rating: 3.25/5 Cast: Prakash Raj, Aishwarya, Trisha, Ganesh, Talaivasal Vijay, Venkat Raman, Jagapathi Babu etc Lyrics: Veturi, Ananth Sri Ram Music: Vidya Sagar Cinematography: Preetha Art: Kadhir Dialogues: Sasank Vennelakanti Producer: Dil Raju Story-Screenplay-Director: Radha Mohan Released On: 27th March 2009 The title ‘Dil’ for Raju aptly fits. He has proven that once again. He rightly produced the movie that touches the ‘dil’ of audiences. Let us see how the movie touches the strings of hearts and sounds a poetic music. Story: The story starts with Raghuram (Prakash Raj) who jogs in a park. Sudhakar (Jagapathi Babu) spends his time with his 2 year old daughter in the same park around a tot lot. He takes an interval from that girl and sits beside Raghu Ram and both introduce each other. The conversation starts between the two with the topic of that child. Raghu Ram starts narrating about his daughter Abhi (Trisha) to Sudhakar. He narrates his entire flash back saying about all tender feelings he had with her through out his life. He starts with the birth of Abhi and narrates till her marriage to a Sardarji (Ganesh). That’s a set of tender feelings which has to be watched on screen. Finally after listening to the story of Raghu Ram and his feelings on his daughter, Sudhakar understands how he should make up his mind and heart with respect to his daughter. That’s the end of the film. Performances: Prakash Raj is at his best. He proves an artiste with mettle. He lived in the role of a loving father living in an isolated hill station. Aishwarya is ok in her role. Trisha portrayed the role as per requirement. Ganesh grooved well in the get up of Sardarjee and justified the role. Karuna Vel entertained and emotionally gripped in the role of Ravi Sastry. Technically the film deserves full marks for cinematography. All the verdant locales of hill station are rightly captured. Music is just ok and ‘Atala patala…’ song is haunting. Dialogues are crisp and filled with subtle humor that’s not far from natural appeal. There are no melodrama sequences any where and that gripped the attention of present day audiences. Direction by Radha Mohan is good. The story line and narration is subtle with all elements right from message to entertainment. Plus Points: Emotional narration Subtle humor Justification Minus: Prakash Raj’s character is coated with excessive sympathy in some scenes. Analysis: The film has a message coated with entertainment and emotion. It has got message for fathers, message for daughters and message on a whole for every citizen. It shows how fathers should balance his feelings and possessiveness on their intelligent daughters. It portrays how daughters should understand the tender possessive feelings of responsible fathers. It shows a way for citizens how the society can be adopted to kick poverty and fence the nation with love. Apart from all these, it shows how great the sardarjees are and how bad to crack jokes on them. It also shows the humorous moments of life, sweet nothings and many more. First half of the movie has got more humorous moments while the second half is filled with some emotion and message. On a whole it’s a movie that deserves patronage of all matured audiences. It’s family movie that holds the emotional levels. Mass audiences may not connect with the movie due to lack of speed and other elements.

PAWAN KALYAN AT ANJANEYULU OPENING

Ravi Teja's Anjaneulu Opening

TEJA -A SEARCH ENGINE FOR MOVIE LOVERS

TEJA'S FIM SEARCH ENGINE

SONTHA OORU-A FILM OF CLASSY NARRATION AND PHILOSOPHY

Film: Sontha Ooru
Genre: Art Film
Rating: 2.75
Banner: Sravya Productions
Cast: Raja, Theertha, L B Sriram, Swathi, Tanikella, M S, Jeeva, Vijaychander, Jayaprakash Reddy and others
Music: Saketh Sairam
Cinematography: Sabu James
Dialogues: Gandham Nagaraju
Editing: Sri Guha
Director: P Sunil Kumar Reddy
Producers: Y Ravindra Babu, Kishori Basireddy
Release date: 21/03/2009

Given the commercialization and globalization, the essence of countryside and agricultural lands has been going through a phase of extinction. In that context, the film has been made to take through a nostalgic journey. How true has it stood to the sentiment, let us see.

Story
A small village has many characters in the form of Bujji (Raja) who is in love with Malli (Teertha), the prostitute and both of them are quite close to Rudrudu (L B Sriram) who takes care of the dead bodies in the graveyard and arranges for their funeral.

They all have a village head Devudu babu (Tanikella) who has the goodwill and respect of all the villagers. Then there is Naidu (Jeeva) who always becomes the victim of crow droppings. Reddy (Vijaychander) is the honest and hardworking farmer.

Everything goes well but their lives take a turn when the government comes with the proposal of setting up a special business zone there so they want the villagers to sell their lands and leave. This news is brought by the MRO (M S).

Whether the village folks accept it or not forms the rest of the story.

Performance
The film belongs to L B Sriram as he came up with an award winning performance; it was the strength of his dialogues that gave him the added impact. Raja was regular, Teertha is a buxom babe and oozed out her sex appeal and oomph to the fullest extent, Tanikella was elegant, M S was normal, Jeeva was just okay, Vijaychander and Jayaprakash Reddy came and went. The others did not have much in it.

The director has attempted to come up with a thoughtful message about the current urbanization of the villages but then there seems to be few hitches. While the presentation is somewhat okay, the narration lacked the depth and the script was written without much gravity. Screenplay was okay, music and camerawork was average, editing could have been better, dialogues are excellent. Locations and costumes fitted the scenario and not much for the art department in this.

On a whole it is an artistic attempt with no big commercial elements.

Analysis
Right from the beginning, the film had the smell of an art movie in it and given the romantic angle and the philosophic angle of death, it looked like a mixture of life with a very spiritual view.

However, the film has fallen flat in conveying a message to the audience. The issue was about the acquisition of villages and agricultural lands. So it would have made a lot of sense to come up with a revolution or an awakening among the village folks to come together and preserve the lands. Instead, what follows is a string of deaths and in the end it turns out to be a complete tragic tale without a message to audiences nor enough substance in it to feel an impact.

The film could have been a lot better if the focus was towards a positive solution towards the situation. However, the real life and soul of the film was L B Sriram who has come out with an exceptional performance. His strength lied in the dialogues and the way he has given the reality of life in a philosophical way. This will be one of his all time best performances in his career. If the idea of the makers was to show how important it is to protect the agriculture and the village system then why was the issue not attended during the climax?

The story moves towards the characters in the movie and the stale endings they have. All efforts look waste and depressing after so much that has been shown, the pace of the movie also was slow and it must be said that there is hardly any story for the first twenty minutes or so. The film is more of an art genre material and there is not much for the mass audience except the exposing of Theertha and a weak item song. Even the class will not have the patience to sit through the movie only to get depressed in the end.

Although the first half is interesting, second half killed the tempo. The length of the movie would have restricted to 1.30 hr or below 2 hrs.

MAHESH TEASING ANUSHKA

Prince, Jejamma Photo Shoot

Prince Mahesh Babu and Heroine Anushka participated in a Photo shoot for the director Trivikram Srinivas’s picture. It is learnt that Prince teased Anushka by calling her Jejamma. Namratha (wife of Prince Mahesh Babu) designed the costumes for this photo shoot.

RAMCHRANTEJA COMPETING WITH MAHESHBABU

Ramcharan Pepsi vs Mahesh Thums Up

Ramcharan Pepsi

If you missed the recent Pepsi Ad which features Ramcharan Tej and Deepika Padukune have a look at it here. Coke and Pepsi are the world famous arch rivals just like India - Pakistan, BMW - Benz etc. Coke (Thums Up) has a good market share in India in the recent times. Pepsi on the other hand has pretty less share compared to Thums Up. So Pepsi is now trying to compete with Coke in a aggressive manner.

As Andhra Pradesh is the third largest in soft drink market, Pepsi has used Ramcharan and Deepika Padukune to advertise their product. Thums Up on the other hand has Prince Mahesh Babu in their ads for a long time. Lets see if Ramcharan can bring Pepsi any luck.