Pappu Movie Review

Movie: Pappu  
My Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Arya Entertainment
Music: Phani Kalyan
Cinematography: Kesani Rajendra
Editing: Chandrasekhar
Producers: Praveen Reddy, Yada Nagesh
Story, Screenplay & Direction: Sapan Pasumarthy
Cast: Krishnudu, Subbaraju, Dipikka, Uttej, Banerjee, Junaid, Siva Reddy, Sangeetha, Melkote, Surya etc
Release Date: 25th Jun 2010

Review

Story

Pappu (Krishnudu) is a young man whose life is written with bad luck. His helping nature and kind heart tends to do good to others but at his own expense. His life takes a turn when he sees Radha (Dipikka), his boss’s (Banerjee) daughter and begins to like her. However, Dipikka gets kidnapped by few goons and this puts her family in a dilemma. They call for the help of the ace detective Ram (Subbaraju) and due to a sentiment, even Pappu is sent in the search mission. What is that sentiment? How does a guy riddled with bad luck help Ram? What happens to Pappu’s love story? All this forms the rest of the story.

Artists Performance:

This is an entirely new Krishnudu that we see. He has grown in confidence and his body language is more demonstrative. He is able to emote the expressions very well and does full justice to his character. His efforts and commitment levels are praiseworthy.

Dipikka is a natural beauty and has shades of Sharmila Tagore in few angles. She has shown ease in front of the camera though it is her debut attempt and she can do well if she works on her expressions and lip movement. She needs to change her hairstylist though…

Subbaraju looks handsome as ever but for some reason, he has imbibed Mahesh Babu in his expressions, body language and dialogue delivery. It looks like the ‘Pokiri’ effect is still strong on him. He is a naturally talented and high caliber actor so if he just does his own bit, that will give him great results. But it is good to see an elevated character for him in the film.

Banerjee was good, Uttej was apt, Surya was brief, Junaid did his bit as required, Siva Reddy was not used to his potential, the others tried to contribute in their own way.

Final Analysis:

The film takes off on an interesting note but then it fails to get the audience into the flow. The key flaw in the entire movie is the weak direction. The presentation was somewhat okay but the narrative was poor.

Dialogues were strictly okay, script was average and the screenplay was not upto the mark. Since the storyline is known, a lot depended on how the characters are etched and what is the intensity they are showing to attract the audience into the film.

Though the lead cast gave spirited performances, it didn’t work that much due to the lack of depth in their characters. Editing was abrupt, background score was convincing but it could have been avoided at some scenes. Songs opened very well but lost grip in between, the ‘Anjaneya Stotram’ was impressive.

The film will have good openings at many centers due to the presence of Krishnudu and also due to the interesting combination of Subbaraju and Krishnudu. However, it would take some aggressive publicity and positive word of mouth for the film to sustain decent collections.

‘I Hated Boney Kapoor For Making Sridevi a Housewife’: RGV

The typical veteran filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma is very much passionate of working with yester year stunning actress Sridevi in atleast one of his home productions. It was also heard that he has been senting her messages regarding his wish to cast in in his production venture ‘Shaque’, which is to be directed by Rumina. But Sridevi has not responded to his messages it seems.

In his blog RGV mentioned “I saw her in Boney’s house serving tea like an ordinary housewife. I hated Boney Kapoor for bringing that angel from heaven down to being just an ordinary housewife… I don’t go to Boney’s house these days because I can’t bear to see Sridevi in a realistic house, in a realistic atmosphere and with realistic people around. For me she is like a highly precious diamond which should be seen only in beautiful settings or in exotic locations and only in the surroundings of cinematic brilliance.”

‘Brindavanam’ Shooting Postponed?

Young Tiger NTR’s ‘Brindavanam’ which is taking shape under Vamsi Paidipalli’s direction and Dil Raju’s production is undergoing its shooting in Vikarabad forests. A fighting sequence involving NTR, Samantha and few others were shot. A family song involving the entire cast including Kota Srinivasa Rao and NTR has to be picturized from today. But, it is postponed by one week as Kota Srinivasa Rao’s son Prasad died recently in an accident. As per the schedule the entire shooting has to be finished by July 10th except one song and the film has to be released in the month of August. Now the sources say that there could be some delay in the release of the film due to this postponement of its schedule.

Srikanth’s ‘Sevakudu’ Going to Kerala!

Hero Srikanth’s new flick titled ‘Sevakudu’ directed by V.Samudra has completed its third schedule recently currently undergoing its shoot in Hyderabad. The unit is gearing up to go Kerala for the shoot of songs in the month of August.It is being produced by M.Sudhakar who had earlier produced Srikanth’s ‘Tarakaramudu’ and ‘Manasistha Ra’.Charming beauty Charmi is playing the lead lady opposite Srikanth.

The film is said to be an action entertainer in which Srikanth plays a police officer. Srikanth Deva is scoring the music for this film and Pradeep Rawat, Ahuti Prasad, Ali, Brahmanandam and Jay Prakash Reddy plays other roles.

Manoj’s ‘Jhummandi Nadam’ in Fight Re Shoot?

Manchu Manoj and debutant Tapsee starrer K Raghavendra Rao’s forthcoming flick ‘Jhummandi Nadam’ is all set for its release on July 1st. Now the latest update about the film is that the team is busy with the re shoot of fighting sequence. It is heard that after watching the final outcome of the film, the team has come to know that the fighting scene was not up to the mark and decided to re shoot. The post production works are going faster as the release date is getting closer.

The movie has nine beautiful songs and Keeravani’s music is already on the top of the charts.The film is produced by Lakshmi Manchu under Lakshmi Prasanna Movies banner.

‘Rakta Charitra’ Telugu Version Satellite Rights Sold for 12 Crores!

Already we are all familiar with the news that Ram Gopal Varma is making a new film ‘Rakta Charitra’ which is being made simultaneously in three languages – Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. The great news about this is that the distribution and the satellite rights of the Telugu version have been acquired by C Kalyan, President of South Indian Film Chamber for a huge amount of 12crores. The film is expected to hit the floors in mid- September.

The movie is about the real life story of Paritala Ravi which shows Vivek Oberoi as Paritala Ravi, Radhika Apte as Paritala Sunitha, Surya as Maddelacheruvu Suri and Priyamani as his wife. Shatrughan Sinha will be seen in an important role.

Pawan Kalyan’s Next Movie Titled ‘Kushiga’!

It is known that Pawan Kalyan has signed up a new film which is the remake of bollywood film; ‘Love Aaj Kal’. Jayanth C Paranji is directing the film and the film is being produced by Ganesh Babu under the banner Parameswara Arts. Now the latest news is that the film has been titled as ‘Kushiga’ and it is suggested by Trivikram Srinivas.

Pawan Kalyan will be seen playing dual role in the film. The film-makers are planning to shot the maximum part of the film in US. The regular shooting will starts from next month. Pawan is currently busy in wrapping up the shooting part of ‘Komaram Puli’ which expected to release in the month of August.

Villian Movie Review

Movie: Villian 
My Rating: 2/5
Banner: Madras Talkies, Reliance Big Pictures.
Music: AR Rahman
Cinematography: Santosh Sivan, V. Manikandan
Choreography: Ganesh Acharya, Brinda, Shobana, Astad Deboo
Audiography: Tapas
Editing: Sreekar Prasad
Producers: Mani Ratnam, Sharada
Screenplay & Direction : Kodi Rama Krishna
Cast: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prithviraj, Karthik, Priyamani etc
Release Date: 18th Jun 2010

Review

Story

Mani Rathnam’s romanticism becomes villain for this movie. The only soothing effect is that Mani Rathnam released the audience in right duration but didn’t rubbed the heads with his narration for 3 long hours. The movie publicized with huge hype and it’s even said that it got 3-4 times of investment much before its release. Big star cast right from Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Prithviraj, Karteek and Prabhu increased expectations. And even the news about the presence of Ranjitha (Nityananda sex scandal fame) also made many heads turn towards this film.

But as the movie starts and goes, audience kept on distracting from the narrative. There is no lighter moment, no gripping sequence, no in-depth characterization and above all a wrongly made modern Ramayan. Lord Rama is depicted in police officer Prithviraj who even kills Vibheeshana’s replica.

Lord Rama in this film is more work oriented than showing love towards his wife. He never sheds tears after listening to the news that his wife got kidnapped. And on the other hand Raavan’s replica (Vikram) is shown as hero. He is good at heart and respects woman!! What a Raavan is he? Soorpanaka (Priyamani) gets raped by police officers those come along with main protagonist Prithvi Raj. So who is villain in Mani Rathnam’s perspective? Lord Ram or Raavan?? This blasphemy makes the audience take deep breathe and forget about the flick.

No audience can watch it for second time even though an announcement of dinner with Aishwarya Rai is made. It’s a boring journey. Entire movie runs in deep valleys, misty hills, verdant greenery and wet lands. Cinematography scores great. It’s worth spent on this faculty. Music is pretty bad.

Police Cop (Prithivi Raj) makes a futile attempt to arrest the criminal (Vikram). But in the process the police catches hold of his sister (Priyamani) and rapes her. She commits suicide with the insult. Then her brother kidnaps the Cop’s wife (Aishwarya Rai) to take revenge. The Cop goes in search of her and on the way he meets a suspended forest office employee (Karteek) who helps in quest for Cop’s wife. Finally they trace out the place and the Cop gets his wife back. But there is a surprise climax that cannot be revealed here.

Prithvi Raj is ok and Vikram steals the show. Aishwarya Rai is marvelous in her chudis, lecherous in sleeveless and angelic on a whole. Karteek is ok as Hanuman. Prabhu is ok as Kumbhkarna. Ranjitha has a brief presence.

To sum up, it’s the movie for patient audience but not for regular audience those tend to become patients watching this. It’s all much ado about nothing.

Panchakshari Movie Review

Movie: Panchakshari 
My Rating: 2.25/5
Banner: Sri Sai Ratna Creations
Music: Chinna
Cinematography: Vasu
Story: Madhu Vipparthi
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Producer: Bommadevara Ramachandra Rao
Screenplay & Direction: Samudra
Cast: Anushka, Pradeep Rawat, Samrat, Brahmanandam, Ali, Nasser, Raghubabu, Ravi, Sudharani, M S, Jeeva, Chandramohan, Subbaraya Sharma, Telangana Sakuntala etc
Release Date: 11th Jun 2010

Review

Story

The hot star Anushka who has swept the audience off their feet with ‘Arundhati’ has now arrived with another strong role.

The movie starts with 1985 backdrop where a girl is born at temple on a stormy night for a couple (Chandramohan and Rajitha). The temple priest who witnesses this, names the girl as Panchakshari. He also says that the girl gets goddess in her once in a year and for rest of 364 days she will be like normal girl.

Panchakshari (Anushka) is regarded as godwoman in the village and the pious devotees regularly do poojas in the temple and they also carry on a grand bonalu festival once in every year and sees goddess coming inside Panchakshari. They ask her some questions and clear their doubts and woes.

There is a cruel villain (Pradeep Rawat) in Janagam wants to pilfer the treasure underneath the temple, as reported by a secret Archeologist. Panchakshari and the devoted people in village become hurdles for him. So he wants to eliminate Panchakshari. Did he get succeeded in that?

On the other hand Honey (Anushka) is a fashion designer in city and has big dreams. She has a loving family and they want her to get married.

Sequence of events lead Honey to the Village and she makes few shocking discoveries. Who is Honey? What does Honey do to get out the problems? All this forms the rest of the story.

Artists Performance:

Anushka has done her bit well and she has fitted herself aptly in the form of a city girl and also as a dedicated devotee. However, her character was not etched with intensity which led to hiccups.

Pradeep Rawat as usual flexed his muscles and used the dubbed baritone voice to look heavy. As such, his character could not deliver that evil shade though his screen presence was good.

Samrat was alright, the ‘Magadheera’ track of Brahmi failed to impress, Ali was alright, Nasser was natural, the artist doing Pradeep Rawat’s wife fitted the role well, Chandramohan was usual, Subbaraya Sharma was standard, Telangana Sakuntala, Raghu Babu, Sudha Rani were routine. Others were there to fill the screen.

Fianl Analysis:

The film runs on an age old track and we have seen that from the times of K R Vijaya so the content part was very weak.

The narrative was poor and the poor writing skills were seen. Few important scenes lacked conviction and what was meant to be an emotional scene ended up becoming a comedy scene for the audience. There are many inconsistencies in the script and not one track fails to take off for a continuous time to engage the audience. It is like bits and pieces put together. One can clearly see traces of ‘Ammoru’ ‘Arundhati’ etc but there is no comparison between them and this same old story.

Samudra has got a very silly way of having comedy and the same silliness is seen even in some crucial scenes. He sure has to update himself with the taste of the audience and the ability to involve them in the film.

Anushka’s introduction song must have been canned in the backdrop of some mall instead of temple. Wearing western outfits and shaking her ‘back’ in front of camera is disgusting and proves to be a wrong blend.

Anushka failed to show ‘roudram’ in her eyes in climax shot. She kept the tongue out like a patient before a doctor but not as Mahakali.

Screenplay is not intact and failed to pull audiences interest

Chandramohan revealing his connection with Nazar sounded like a comedy. People are laughing at this amateur scene in theater.

‘Magadheera’ comedy of Brahmanandam is not presented well.

Ali’s comedy started with great expectations but ended up weak.

Aghora’s character couldn’t pump in fear factor but boosted up sense of humor among audiences those were seen cracking jokes looking at that character

The villain factor is poor and the protagonist Panchakshari’s character is not presented with elevation. The initial scene says that Panchakshari is going to be powerful divine girl. But that’s not shown in required tempo afterwards.

Songs are good, cinematography is excellent and the art direction is also impressive. On a whole, this movie is ruled out for A centers and it’s a doubt if B, C center audience patronage this as their taste is also changing from decade to decade. This movie recalls the goddess movies of 80s and early 90s.

Vedam Movie Review

Movie: Vedam
My Rating: 3/5
Banner: Arca Media
Music: M M Keeravani
Cinematography: Gnanakumar
Editing: Shravan
Producers: Devineni Prasad, Yarlagadda Shobu
Story,Screenplay & Direction: Krish
Cast: Allu Arjun, Manchu Manoj, Anushka, Manoj Bajpai, Ramulu, Lekha Washington, Deeksha Seth, Seiya, Raghu Babu, Satyam Rajesh, Brahmanandam etc
Release Date: 04th June 2010

Review

Story

The talented and intellectual director Krish who gave us ‘Gamyam’ has arrived with yet another venture and this time on a larger scale.

Cable Raju (Allu Arjun) is in love with a rich girl (Deeksha) and he pretends to be a rich guy though he is from a slum and is a cable operator, Vivek (Manoj) wants to become a rockstar while his mother wants him to get into army, Saroja (Anushka) is a prostitute who decides to escape to Hyderabad for better business, Raheem (Manoj Bajpai) is a victim of misunderstanding as a terrorist, Nagaiah (Ramulu) is a victim of poverty and decides to donate his daughter in law’s kidney for the grandson’s education. What fate has in store for each form the rest of the story.

Allu Arjun has come up with a decent act and his role was a mix of comedy and seriousness. The character was etched very well and it is a message oriented one.

Manchu Manoj does hit bit with ease and though he plays a subdued character, he makes his presence felt. One fails to understand why his title credit has been given as ‘Guest appearance’ while he has done a full length role.

Anushka looks seductive and sensuous. However, it doesn’t live up to the hype that has been created. It is a different role for her and she did justice to it.

Manoj Bajpai is a powerhouse of talent but it must be said that his skills were hardly utilized.

Ramulu was at ease in front of the camera and he made it look real.

Deeksha was luscious and appealing, Lekha was brief, Saranya was standard, Raghu Babu was regular, Satyam Rajesh gave few smiles. The actor doing the cop’s role was effective while the actor who did the role of ‘Karpuram’ made his presence felt.

Guest appearances of Brahmanandam, Posani and Krish are meaningful.

Good things about ‘Vedam’:

There is a message for ambitious youth if they wish to take..

* 'Never aim at something very far and do mischief to attain that. Listen to your conscience if you are doing wrong that time' (Allu Arjun- Nagayya episode)
* ‘Never assume that there are many people to help those are in needy, and you are not one among them. You too may need help and you may find a true helper from the man who you troubled’ (Sardarjee-Manoj episode)
* ‘Never brand anyone with religion’ (Manoj Bajpai-inspector episode)
* ‘Look at sex workers with different perspective. After all, prostitution is the oldest profession which is still continuing in every part of the world’ (Anushka-Karpooram episode)
* ‘Look at the poorest of the poor in the society those are getting their basic needs by selling their body parts’ (Nagayya episode)

Final Analysis:

The film arrives with a lot of expectations given the names associated with it. But, this is not a formula movie that entertains everyone. This movie is for sensible audiences who can melt their hearts for sensitive aspects of society.

It is basically a narration of various characters with different backdrops and challenges in life. While the depiction of that aspect is good, it is always essential to develop content on that. The makers have come up with a good attempt to portray the elements of good and evil.

Dialogues were impressive at few places, background score was impact creating and songs are also good both for eyes and ears. The real show stealer was the cinematography. Script was okay.

The storyline is routine but the difference is there are multiple characters and how they are brought together is the variety. While the first half and second half are engaging and different tracks are handled well, the climax loses momentum and gets a bit dragging. Someone with a caliber of Krish could have portrayed a different backdrop for it. On a whole, Krish proved to be a director with material in him.

The key is for the audience to connect to any one of the characters and that didn’t happen here. Overall, the film can be credited for the attempt to give a realistic outlook on life and the choices individuals make at a particular moment. Still, it could have been much impact creating if content was deep.

On a whole, the movie brings tears in a couple of scenes and Allu Arjun excelled in them. Manchu Manoj was stated to be in guest appearance, but he has a full length role. The message is ulterior but it is a sincere movie with idealistic idea portraying darker side of 5 lives.