Month: February 2012

Well, I expected Ishq to be a mass film, but it turned out to be this classy, entertaining romantic comedy. Someone on my facebook page said Ishq is a hit for Nitin after a long time. I don’t know how big a hit it will be, but for what it is, it will definitely run.

It could have been way better with a little more effort from the director Vikram Kumar (Story-Screenplay-Direction). The movie starts of well, but the first half was such a drag. Good, but the screenplay ruins the moments. It resembles Ala Modalaindi quite a bit too. Nevertheless the film picks up pace in the second half and takes you on a roller coaster ride.

Nitin looked dashing, Nithya Menen bubbly, and Ajay superb. Plus points are good acting performances and entertaining second half. A pacier first half could have worked wonders for the film. On the whole, Ishq works both for class audience and mass audience and is a nice rom-com.

Verdict: 7.5/10

For a detailed review, read on..

Plot
Rahul (Nitin) is a happy-go-lucky guy. He bumps into Priya (Nithya Menen) at the airport and they both take the same flight from Delhi to Hyderabad, which gets diverted to Goa due to bad weather. They spend time together in Goa and ultimately fall in love. Once back in Hyderabad, Rahul realizes that Priya is Siva’s (Ajay) sister, with whom he’s had some differences in the past. The rest of the story is about how Rahul convinces Siva to agree for his wedding with Priya.

Actors Performance
Nitin looks really cool and dashing in the film. For a second, I couldn’t believe this was the same guy who made debut with Jayam. His modulation was pretty good, but it looked like he was trying to imitate Pavan Kalyan on a number of occasions. His comic timing was pretty good. He even turned out to be a good singer.

Nithya looked gorgeous as ever. She had a meaty role and she utilized it to the max. She was absolutely fantastic in the chase episode. Her self dubbing is a definite asset to her acting.

The dark horse though was Ajay. He was brilliant as the maniac lover, possessive brother and doting son. The variation he showed was really good. Ali shined in a brief appearance. Sindhu Tolani looked old and odd. It was surprising that Ramesh (drunkard from Ala Modalindi) didn’t have any role in the movie. The rest of the cast was alright.

Story-Screenplay-Direction
Director Vikram Kumar had a good concept at hand, but he wasn’t able to execute it to the best. The first half was very classy and very well picturized. But at the same time it was too slow with a weak screenplay. The second half gets better with the brother conflict point, but it too had it dull moments. Nitin and Ajay’s characterization seemed very inconsistent for it was as if Rahul was throwing attitude at Siva instead of convincing him for the marriage on most occasions. Similar problems with Ajay’s character. And there were episodes which seemed like rip off’s from Ala Modalaindi. Otherwise, he was able to handle the fun episodes, especially the airport and Goa ones beautifully. A little more pace, better screenplay and narration could have worked wonders.

Other Departments
Music by Anoop Roobens and Arvind Shankar is good, but out of sorts for the situations in the film. Even the background score by Anoop seemed good, but was very inconsistent. My best pick is “Lachamma Di”, but was very disappointed that it was barely used. Dialogues by Samala are decent. Cinematography by P. C. Sreeram is first-class, but the color grading, especially in the Goa episode could have been better. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is good. Production values by Producers Vikram Goud and Sudhakar Reddy are superb. The film looked very rich on the technical front.

I’ve never seen a comedian, or should I say a hero, build a six-pack body for ten minutes of a film. Sunil, respect. And ya, take a bow!!

Poola Rangadu is a regular mass masala flick with not much depth to it. It’s a film which makes no sense in reality, but who cares about the story and practicality as long as it caters to the mass audience, right? The plot is very similar to Maryada Ramanna, and there isn’t much scope for Sunil to change his style. Yet, he managed to carry the film on his shoulders and entertains to the fullest. His dances are superb, and his body, well, he could give Salman Khan a run for his money.

Plus points are Sunil, comedy and the climax fight. It’s been a long time since I laughed so much for a Telugu film (though it made no proper sense). On the flip side, the story is very predictable with nothing new to offer, and the screenplay is mediocre. It kinda stumps me that Sunil accepted to do a similar kinda film all over again.

If you don’t happen to love mass comedy flicks which make no sense, Poola Rangadu isn’t for you. If that’s what you crave for, it will entertain you to the fullest. Go enjoy the “Pocha Mummy Festival”!

Verdict: 6/10 + 1 for Sunil!

For a detailed review, read on…

Plot
Ranga (Sunil) is an unlucky real estate agent in Hyderabad who owes huge debts. As a last resort, he lends his ancestral property to buy and make money out of a 30 acre land. He later realizes that the land is being fought over by two factional landlords. The rest of the story is about how he gets the land and manages to marry Anita (Isha Chawla), the daughter of one of the landlords.

Actors Performance
Sunil is really good in the lead role. I have seriously not come across an actor who’s worked hard just for a few minutes of a film. His dances were awesome, but I felt they could have been better choreographed. He worked really hard on his body, and it shows (initially though, thanks to the bad cinematography, his body looks like a mannequin under his face). The response he got from the audience was no less than what Chiranjeevi would get. I strongly believe that he now needs to keep up his mass following and take up a few sensible projects instead of repeating the same kinda scripts.

 Isha Cahwla looked good, and was alright. Ali entertains after a long time. Rajesh is okay in his limited role. Dev Gill and Pradeep Rawat were adequate for their respective roles. Kota looked quite odd as Sunil’s dad, thanks to his horrible wig. Rest of the cast was alright.

Story-Screenplay-Direction
I have obviously not watched the original Mallu version of the movie, but from what I read, the plot pretty much looks the same but for the climax. Director Veerabhadram was able to get his mass act right. He handled the comedy episodes with ease, but the senti episodes looked kinda patchy. Since the story is very similar to Maryada Ramanna, he should have tried to modify it a bit to give it freshness. Nevertheless, direction is alright. But its the screenplay which could have been way better. Most of the initial scenes had no proper flow.

Other Departments
Music by Anoop Roobens is alright. It is clear that all songs were composed so as to make Sunil show his dancing skills. Background score is okay. As already mentioned, the choreography could have been better. Cinematography by Prasad Murella is average, though he kinda lost it towards the climax fight. The color grading could have been better. Editing by Gowtham Raju is nice. The climax fight was good. Production values by R.R Movie makers are okay.

Firstly, I thought I was going in to watch a straight Telugu film, not a dubbed one. With that out, let me talk about Love Failure.

M. Balaji has made some awesome short films. I absolutely love his work. He kinda makes you feel that it is you he’s talking about. Love Failure is one such short film, unfortunately, one which is dragged for more than two hours. If you’ve seen his work before, there nothing new the film has to offer. He’s got a couple of episodes from Mittai Veedu, and the rest is an extended version of the original nine minute Kadhalil Sothapuvathu Eppedi. He’s even got most of the cast reprising their roles.

Siddharth is good in the leading role and really tries hard to woo you. Amala Paul is decent to look at, although I kinda felt her to be outta place. The dialogues are brilliant, music is decent, and direction spot-on. However, the draggy never-ending story pulls the film down. First half is pacy and the second half makes you yawn. The biggest blunder, atleast for me, is that the film actually ain’t about love failure; it’s about infatuation failure. (I say that with a lot of experience. If this is love, then, argh, nevermind!!)

It’s got its moments in abundant and reminds you about yourself a zillion times. But Love Failure fails to create the magic. It’s more of a teenage love story (infatuation) with a predictable ending, and looks more like a youtube film than a commercial feature film. Bottom-line, it’s not something you need to run to the theaters for, nevertheless, a decent watch.

Verdict: 7/10

For a detailed review, read on..

Plot
Arun (Siddharth) and Parvati (Amala Paul) are batch mates in an engineering college. They become friends, and over a time develop feelings for each other and get into a relationship. Arun is a regular, nonchalant guy and Parvati happens to be one who expects Arun to be more serious about their relationship. They break up. Rest of the story is about how they realize their immaturity and get back together.

Actors Performance
Siddharth is pretty good in the lead role. He looks young, and is performed with ease. His dialogues are very well written, and he manages to carry them off to perfection. But at the same time, I kinda felt that he had too much unnecessary screen space (I believe the director had no other choice with him being the producer). Amla Paul looked really odd. She passed off like a teenage girl, yes, but I thought she didn’t fit the bill.

Vignesh and Arjun are brilliant as Arun’s friends. They perform with super-ease. Suresh and Surekha Vani are alright as Parvati’s parents. Suresh has a meaty role after a while. The rest of the cast is alright.

Story-Screenplay-Direction
M. Balaji is a fine director with great potential. His short films are a craze on the internet. The way he showcases teenage emotions is brilliant, and you’re able to connect to them in some way. Love failure makes you connect at different levels (I’m guessing that most of us have gone through a similar teenage love story in our lives). But what fails is his reasoning towards the end. It kinda makes you feel like “this is what they broke up about?? seriously??”. And since  it’s an adaptation of his short film, he had to drag it for over two hours. The script should have been much better than what it is. I was seriously yawning in the second half.

At the same time, it had moments of sheer brilliance, like the episode where he compares girls crying to opening of a dam (isn’t that true ;)). The screenplay is pretty alright, and the direction is perfect. With better scripts, Balaji will be the next Shekhar Kammula. But he seriously needs to get out of the youtube zone and add some commercial elements to the movie. There were points where the audience was talking louder than the characters on-screen for they were getting bored!

Other Departments
Music by Thaman is alright. A couple of songs are really catchy. Background score is more of a ripoff from the short films. It could have been better. Lyrics by Srimani are horrendous, especially for the title song (Parvati). Dialogues are brilliantly written. They have a regular conversational tone to them which makes them work really well. Cinematography by Nirav Shah is alright. He captured the beach shots well. Editing by T. S. Suresh could have been way better. The film was way too long for its plot. It’s a film made on a very small budget. The cast and locations are very limited, but they meet the purpose. The production work though could have been way better. Having announced it as a bilingual, they should have made a proper Telugu film!