Tollywood is My Bollywood

Oosaravelli Dir. Surrender Reddy

2011-10-09T02:19:00.002-05:00

October is turning out to be a fabulous month for movies! As a major Jr.NTR fan, I went to see his latest movie Oosaravelli at the Wednesday night Premier show in Minneapolis. Even though it was the middle of the work week there was no way I was going to miss the first day first show! It was early enough that there were no reviews or movie synopsis for me to rely on but I think I managed following the plot just fine.

This movie was really different than a typical NTR vehicle..in fact it was anything but typical. Major kudos have to go to Tarak for having the confidence and generosity to choose a story that gives such a prominant role to the heroine and shares some of the biggest .laughs with the supporting cast.

Tarak's charactor Tony is an unpredictable street thug. He meets Niharika, played by Tamannah, when he rescues her from terrorists in Kashmir. He falls in love with her and pursues her but is thwarted when he learns she has a fiance named Rakesh. Most of the comedy in the first half is from Tony's interactions with Raghu Babu and his motley gang of rowdies. Eventually Tony meets Sarkar a low level mafia Don played by Jaya Prakash Reddy and from what I could tell without subs it seemed like he was using first Raghu Babu's gang, then Sarkar's connections to get to the real bad guys. Unfortunelty for Niharika, her fiance Rakesh was one of the really really bad guys. When Niharika realizes Rakesh is a criminal she suddenly decides she loves Tony instead. But for some reason Tony avoids all her calls, instead he kills off all the bad guys at the interval fight. All of them, or so I thought.. The second half brings in the real villain Azzu Bhai, played by Prakash Raj and in a flash back you find out what the connection is between Tony's apparent change in feelings for Naharika and what the connection is between Tony, Niharika and Azzu Bhai.

The flashback is all Tamannah's and it really shows her acting talent. The scene where she meets Tony and begs him for help is very moving. Both of them gave excellent performances and the sight of her clinging to his leg as he drags her through the mud is unforgettable.

Tamannah's role is such a departure. Most of the Telugu films I have seen under utilize (that's putting it mildly) the heroine. In fact it is common for the heroine to disapear completely in the second half or to only show up just before the songs come on. The phenomona of the "disapearing heroine" is one of the quirks of Telugu films that non-Telugu people like me find most perplexing. Oosaravelli proves that having a strong female role adds so much potential and depth to the story that I hope in future film makers will use heroines for more than just titilation.

Besides Tamannah, another female actress, Payal Ghosh had a substantial part as Niharika's friend Chitra. She had some powerful scenes with both Tarak and Prakash Raj. The script also allowed her a chance at comedy too.

Surender Reddy and Vakkantham Vamsi should be commended for the story and script. Like I said at the beginning it was noticable that the many laughs were spread around to much of the supporting cast. Everyone from Raghu Babu, Sarkar as well as their henchman had a chance to bring the laughs and MS Narayana's brief appearance was also very funny.

Another thing that was unusual with Oosaravelli was the pacing of the songs. I have gotten used to the first song being a hero introduction song that establishes the heroic qualities of the lead. But the first song (Brathakali) was a duet between Tarak and Tamannah. I loved the picturization and was surprised it wasn't the usual type of opening song.

Then the second song was another duet called Nenante Naaku. I love the melody of this song and it is my favorite from the album. But surprise surprise the third song was another duet! Devi Sri Prasads music is really good but the choreography for Tarak's duets in all his movies are pretty much always the same moves. Tarak is such a delight to watch dancing I was begining to wonder when a fullout dance number would start. Finally Dandiya India came on just before the set up for the interval bang and Yay! Tarak dancing at his best and choreography that does justice to his talent!

I loved the picturization of Sri Anjanayam even though Tarak didn't dance and Yalango Yalango was fun too. Once again Tamannah got more screen time and was the focus of the Niharika song.

The action scenes were very well done. I loved the interval bang with Tarak chasing down the bad guys with a sledge hammer like he was holding Simhadri's axe again. The final fight with Prakash Raj was very cool. The slow motion scenes along with the exciting Oosaravelli Theme song really worked well. Infact in general the slow motion worked well in all the action scenes it was used. Often the slow-mo messes up the sense of gravity a fight scene should have if you know what I mean.Ooosaravelli's action had people and things seem like they landed hard rather than fall too slowly like often happens.

All in all Oosaravelli was a nice departure from the usual hero centered formula. I saw an interview Tarak did after Brindavanam where he indicated he had a specific plan to move himself beyond his usual mass roles and that Brindavanam was the first step. Oosaravelli proves he is headed in the right direction!

Dookudu Dir. Srinu Vaitla

2011-09-27T21:08:00.001-05:00

The opening credits spelled out Superstar and then added "Daring and Dashing" to his name. All true for Mahesh Babu's peformance in his latest flick Dookudu. I just love going to see all my favorite Tollywood heroes on the big screen, even without subtitles the experience in a full theater with a vocal and appreciative audience is just not to be missed. I was a little worried I wouldn't get tickets when I saw on twitter that my friends in DC and Toronto were having a hard time getting tickets, so I hedged my bets and bought them on-line about a half an hour before leaving for the theater. My friend Marcia and I went to the 7pm show on Saturday. It was't quite housefull but pretty close. We did get the usual tap on the shoulder and the trying to be helpful "did you know this is the line for the Indian film?" comment from the person behind us. They are allways so curious and delighted when they find out that yes we are in the correct line.
I had read a few of the reviews and synopsis before we went so I could follow the plot more easily. Prakash Raj plays Shankar Narayan a politician and NTR admirer who is a much loved man of the masses. When he meets with a suspicious accident his family allow people to believe he is dead while he lays in a coma in a hospital in Mumbai. Meanwhile his son Ajay (Mahesh) grows up to be a cop in Mumbai who works undercover to get the mafia Don, Nayak played by Sonu Sood. Ajay goes to Turkey for an undercover job and while there meets Prasanthi played by Samantha. Unbeknownst to Ajay, Prasanthi is the daughter of his boss, played by Nasser in a rare comedic role, who Ajay had just accidently shot in the butt during an attempt to bust Sonu's gang.

Meanwhile Shankar wakes up from his 14 year coma and the doctors tell Ajay and family that he cannot be shocked or upset in anyway. So Ajay sets up a ruse by hiring Brahmanandam as a reality show actor to help convince his father that he did follow in his footsteps and become a politician and that among other things, NTR is alive and well and still serving the people. Much of Brahmanandam's and Mahesh's comedy was verbal so I missed all of that. There was alot of slapping and the audience was in stitches so I will have to wait for the DVD to fully appreciate their scenes together. Later Mahesh brings in MS Narayana playing a wannabe hero to try and dupe Kota Srinivasa Rao and Sayaji Shinde, who played bad guys in league with Sonu. MS Narayana's comedy was much more visual so I enjoyed his scenes alot. I loved his send-ups of Yamadonga, Maghadeera, Simha and Endhiran.

All of the supporting actors did what was required of them. The only problem I had with the movie was there was too many of them so they weren't utilized to the best of their capabilities. Ajay, Subbaraju and Shafi all had miniscule parts. I think it would have been better maybe to combine their charactors and let one of them shine rather than all of them just be in the background. Wasted talent in my opinion and they are all so good at being bad.

Samantha was cute as usual, although she didn't have much to do. It's funny how the voice the actresses are dubbed in in the first movie you see them in gets imprinted. I did not like the voice they used for her as I am used to the voice that dubbed for her in Brindavaanam.

Sonu Sood was his usual badass self and looking fabulous with his all white outfits (my favorite color on him) and bad guy mustache.

But the movie definetly belonged to Mahesh. His hero introduction scene had him revealed behind shattering glass, it was a real cool effect with the music and action. He has excellent comedic timing and could hold his own with Brahmanandam. The interval bang was awesome with Mahesh running and fighting like a knife wielding locomotive. Mahesh was handosme as usual and has a wonderful way of conveying mischeviousness and emotion with just a flicker from his eyes.

This was my friend Marcia's first Mahesh movie and the next day she was commenting how much his eyes intrigued her and how handsome he is. I introduced her to the favorite Mahesh fan girl pass time of counting layers and Dookudu does not disapoint. There were several scenes whre Mahesh had only 2 layers (polo shirt and tshirt) but during many of the song picturizations he had 4 layers (t-shirt, shirt. Jacket and scarf) especially in the desert song Chulbuli. I enjoyed all the song picturizations. Mahesh isn't the best dancer but he is enthusiastic and the choreographers create dances that suit his abilities and tall frame. My favorite songs were the Kilimanjaro inspired Chulbuli and the wedding song Adara Adarakottu in the second half. I also loved the item number Puvai Poovau. Judging by the whistles from the audience it's well on its way to being considered a classic.

All in all Dookudu was a fabulous in theater experience. The audience was laughing and whistleing and really enjoying themselves. I'm going to try and see it one more time in the theater and will definetly add it to my collection when the dvd gets released. Yay! Mahesh is Back and he is Daring and Dashing!

Punnami Naagu (1980) Dir. Rajasekhar

2011-08-02T09:52:00.005-05:00

In celebration of Naga Panchami a bunch of Indian Film bloggers are discussing their favorite snake movies. Here is a link to the blogs participating and another link to a thread on snake movies at the BollyWhat? Forum. Welcome to the Fessssstival!

I must confess, although I am a huge fan of snakes (I even own a 4 ft long cornsnake named Skittles), I had not watched any Nagin movies, other than Anaganaga O Deerudu. And with my desire to get more Chiranjeevi movies under my belt, I settled on the 1980 movie Punnami Naagu. What a wonderful treat it was too! Besides snakes and Chiranjeevi this movie had a menagerie of animal charactors that played key roles. There was an elephant, a monkey, a bull, a mongoose, and not to forget the brief but ill fated appearance of a chicken. Plus an awesome snake dance item number. The DVD I rented from NJMTV.com did not have subtitles but I managed ok.

The movie starts with a man interupting a snakecharmer that is accosting a women. The snake charmer sends a cobra to bite the man. The man dies and leaves behind a young son who is then cared for by the village head and comforted by an Elephant. Yep the elephant even gets free reign of the house!

At the same time a the snakecharmer's sister is pregnant and about to give birth. She is alone in the woods and her pet monkey comes to her rescue. He first hides her from prying eyes (modesty being the most important thing after all), before geting help and then fetching water.

The little girl that is born becomes a life long friend of the Monkey and likewise the boy grows into a man with his elephant always at his side. Narasimha Raju plays Raju and the girl Laxmi is played by Rati Agnihotri. They meet and fall in love and both the elephant and the monkey get very involved as match makers, passing notes and cleverly playing tricks to bring the two love birds together.

Meanwhile Chiranjeevi plays Laxmi's cousin, Naagulu and is the son of the snakecharmer. He, his Father, his Aunt and Laxmi all live together in the village.

One day Naagulu rescues Menaka, played by Madhavi, who is being attacked by a bull. Of course they fall in love. Menaka happens to be the adopted sister of Raju.

Unbeknownst to Naagulu, his father the snake charmer has been feeding him snake venom his whole life in order to make him immune to the bite of a cobra, an occupational hazard for snake charmers no doubt.

Enter the brief and ill-fated appearance of a chicken, who wanders in and eats the poisoned food. RIP Ms. Chicken.

Now comes the problem...one night Naagulu becomes desturbed by a snake dance he hears being played in the village. This is an awesome snake dance! I loved her sequined body suit. I couldn't find it on Youtube so you'll just have to imagine it from this screencap.

For reasons I couldn't figure out because of the lack of subs Naagulu's father goes to the local Snake anthill where the villagers leave offerrings for the cobra that resides there and plays his flute to draw out a baby snake. And then while the Mom cobra is watching he steps on it and kills it. I found this scene disturbing because it looked to me like the snake charmer was really squishing a live snake with his foot..poor baby!

The cobra comes slithers into the snake charmer's home and just when it strikes at the snake charmers foot to get it's revenge, Naagulu rolls over in his sleep and get s bit instead! But he doesn't die!

Instead, whenever the moon is full he goes out searching for a female to mate with. You know that's what he wants to do because they show two snakes intertwined writhing around. Unfortunetly the first female Naagulu seeks out is his love Menaka.

Naagulu is overcome with grief when he learns that Menaka is dead. At the same time his Father is on his death bed because the Cobra finally got him. Now Naagulu finds out what his Father had done and he is in shock. He starts digging through his father's papers to find a remedy.

Raju becomes suspicious of Menaka's death and he and Naagulu have a series of altercations. It was a bit weird to see Raju, who does not look like a tough guy at all, beat up Megastar, but Chiru got revenge by trying to bite him! Infact I loved it best when Naagulu was in snake mode, he'd get this look in his eyes and periodically dart his tongue in and out of his mouth. Infact I kinda wondered why the girls he killed didn't notice this unusual behavior and refuse to go off into the night with him.

Naagulu's next victim was an unsuspecting school teacher. She shows up asking for directions at a tea kiosk while Naagulu is there pondering his fate. I just loved her big red daisy print sari.

But you would think with those big glasses that she would be able to see that there was really a snake sitting there.

With all these dead girls showing up Raju begins suspecting Naagulu more and more and well, Naagulu has other things to worry about.

There are a series of events instigated by Naagulu that put Raju and the elephant at risk. But don't worry, the monkey gets his revenge by intercepting Naagulu at his next victim, with a well timed Mongoose in a basket.

Snakes do NOT like Mongeese and Naagulu is no exception.

This was my favorite scene in the whole movie. I just want to know who had the job of repeatedly throwing a live mongoose at Chiranjeevi's head? I wonder how many takes it took to get just the right reaction?

The movie had a comedy track involving some fake snake charmers and a village girl. She had a cool song and dance number I quite enjoyed as well. I couldn't find the song but I did find this awesome trailer.

Yay! My first Snake movie and a Chiru one at that!

ETA: The ladies over at CinemaChaat found the video of the snake song and did an awesome post on this movie as well. Check it out here

Super Supporting Stars Part 1: Subbaraju

2011-07-25T20:02:00.002-05:00

It doesn't take watching very many Telugu movies before you realize there is a group of supporting actors and actresses that seem to show up in nearly every movie. Sometimes they are cast as the rowdies, some times the friends or brothers. The more senior actors play fathers or cops or politicians or factionists. The ladies are mothers, sisters, or aunties. Unlike the Hero, Heroine or Comedian who must keep within the constraints of the archetype, these actors are able to move from villain to good guy, comedy to drama in their various roles. In this recurring post I will feature one of these stars and give them some of the limelight and attention they deserve.

Subbaraju: Hero in Waiting.

Subbaraju should be a Hero because he is hot. There. I said it. And I know there are quite a few out there who agree with me. In fact we in the interwebs are debating how long before he gets his chance to be a hero. He has been expanding his roles from villains and fighters to less negative charactors. Most recently he was seen holding his own against the Big B himself in Bbudahh Hoga Tere Baap! I was especially thrilled to see him in BHTB. It is awesome to see him expand beyond the Telugu film industry and I hope he gets more opportunies to do so.
According to Wikipedia he has a degree in Math and is a computor whiz too. He got his break in films when he was noticed while fixing a computor for a filmmkaer. He started off as a fighter and eventualy expanded to speaking roles. I first noticed him in Pokiri and untill recently my favorite role of his was in Parugu staring Allu Arjun. He plays the younger brother to Prakash Raj who beats people and manhandles his niece in order to find Prakash Raj's missing daughter who had eloped.

But eventually you realize he is not so bad just concerned about his neice and her reputation. (So you can forgive him for beating up Sunil!)

I really liked him in that role. Recently I saw Leader. Subbaraju had a large supporting role in that film that deservedly won him critical acclaim. He played a corrupt politician who was confident of his promotion to Chief Minister, until the recently deceased former CM's son, played by Rana Daggabuti returns from America and ruins his plans.

Subbaraju does a fabulous job of going from barely controlled rage to the hurt feelings and disapointment of a child and back to schemeing rage again.

The looks of shock and then hatred that plays across his face as he is repeatedly outmanuevered are perfectly done.

After his performance in Leader I can only hope that more roles like this come his way. For those interested in following Subbaraju's career more closely he is on Twitter @actorssubbaraju.

There has been rumours recently that he will be playing the lead hero in some upcoming movie but nothing has materialized yet as far as I know. I hope we don't have too much longer to wait for his first hero role.

Nijam (2003) Dir. Teja

2011-07-10T22:55:00.000-05:00

Nijam starring Superstar Mahesh Babu, is another one of my favorite award winning but apparent flop movies. It is Mahesh's least layered performance interms of the number of shirts he wears (only one!! plus the occaisional undershirt) But he gives an award winning performance as he transforms himself from the geeky-cool but innocent school boy, Sitaram, to a bad-ass killing machine, trained by his equally bad-ass Mom played by Rameshwari. It's a movie with a questionable moral message about the corruption that pervades Indian life.
The the first half of the movie establishes Sitaram as an innocent school boy that is harrassed and teased by his amorous neighbor played by Rakshita. She shamelessly chases after him even going so far as to press her breasts up against him while he rides his bike. Sitaram howls, makes faces and closes his eyes as he indignantly avoids her advances. I love that unlike Hindi heroines, Telugu ones are frequently portrayed as having a healthy (and normal) atitiude about sex. Rakshita's portrayal of this type of heroine is one of my favorites- cute, fiesty, lusty and confident.

Sitaram lives with his Mother and Father. They are clearly a family of integrity. His Father is a fire fighter who slaps a rowdy that he caught setting a fire. Unfortunetly for him the Rowdy is the soon to be over the edge crazy Devudu played by Gopichand. This is one of my favorite Gopichand negative roles. He plays heros now but he started off getting villain roles. He starts off as the surly and morose just-another-member-of-the-goon-squad, but emerges the leader of the gang after killing his higher up and then performing a blood ritual. He shaves his head and ends up with a killer 'stache too.

Once Devudu comes to power he seeks revenge on Sitaram's Father. This is where all the bad stuff happens. He sends goonda's to kill his Father in the market place but instead the brother of Devudu's girlfriend Malli, played by Raasi, get's killed. Sitaram's father is imprisoned and everthing Sitaram does to try to get his father help fails because he is first always asked for a bribe. Devudu gains access to the prison and beats his Father badly.

When Sitaram see's his Father is injured he runs from official to offical to get his Father medical attention and justice but everyone is corrupt..from the police officers, jailers, lawyers, government officials, hospital workers and politicians, everyone asks for money first.

Brahmaji was superb as the corrupt cop

When his father dies Sitaram's Mother turn's into a harbinger of revenge. She trains and instructs Sitaram to be her killing machine. Everyone that didn't do their job and asked for a bribe was going to die. That was the only way they would have justice for what was done to them.

Mahesh does a great job of portaying the transformation from fear and helplessness to anger and then ultimatley revenge. He won a Nandi Award for his peformance and I think it is well diserved.
Once they are on their revenge rampage, the police send in ACP Prakash Raj to capture the murderers. Woot! Yay! Prakash Cop!

Prakash Cop is always one step behind however, and the final showdown between Devudu and Sitaram is awesome. Gopi's performance is C-R-A-Z-Y.

In the end after all the murder, Prakash Cop decides that justice is being served, destroys evidence, shoots himself in the arm and instructs Sitaram and his Mother to lie about what happened. I guess one kind of corruption (plus extrajudicial killings) is better than another.

The music was just so-so, the playback singers didn't mesh with Mahesh. The song picturizations themselves were fun. My favorite's were the ones in the first half plus Raasi's Snake song.

I also liked this one between Mahesh and Rakshita.

I also like Rangu Rangula but I couldn't find a video of it.

All in all Nijam is good fun if the violence and moral ambiguity doesn't bother you. Mahesh is perfect and Gopichand's performance is one of the best all time villains.

Bbuddha...Hoga Tera Baap! (2011) Dir. Puri Jagannadh

2011-07-01T22:27:00.002-05:00

Popular Telugu Director Puri Jagannadh's Bollywood release starring Icon Amitabh Bachchan got me all excited when I saw this trailer for the movie:

OMG! Sonu Sood! Charmee! Subba Raju! and Prakash Raj! Squee! Some Southie style Dishoom, and my favorite Hema Malini and then Raveena Tandon making a comeback appearance! Woo Hoo! This was looking like all kinds of fun!

Bbuddha...Hoga Tera Baap! mostly lived up to my expectations, it was a fun masala romp.

The movie starts with Prakash Raj as the mafia don Kabir gleefully ordering and then watching the bombing of some public figures. Sonu Sood plays ACP Karan Malhotra in charge of hunting down the criminals. He is given the classic rowdy bashing slow-mo entrance of a Southie Hero. It is so cool to see him in his IPS uniform kicking some goonda butt. Infact one of the plusses of the movie is Sonu gets lots of screen time.

Kabir gets frustrated when ACP Karan arrests two of his henchman so he demands that the best assassin be hired to take him out. Enter the Big B..stylish hired gun and angry "old" man, Viju. He gets angry anytime he is called "Bbuddha" (old man) and either verbally or physically bashes the hapless ne'er do wells that cross his path. These confrontations were done in a "toned down" Southie style which worked because you don't really expect to see Big B flipping 12 rowdies through the air with one punch but it was cool to see him take on 3. Woot! Go Big B!

I have to admit I am a noob when it comes to Mr. Bachchan's pre-2000 iconic roles (**looks around sheepishly and whispers**...I have only seen Sholay and Yaarana) so I am unfamiliar with his "angry young man" persona. But I did thoroughly enjoy this role..I am one who does not get put off by him playing a flirt either.

Early in the first half he runs into Amrita, played by bubbly South Actress Charmee, and helps her and her friend Tanya, played by the lovely Sonal Chauhan, deal with some eve teasers. When Amrita invites him home to thank him, her mother, played by Raveena Tandon immediately responds as if they are long lost friends. It was great fun to see Raveena back in a funny role. Amrita's over active imagination leads her to suspect that Viju might possibly be her Father. On top of that Tanya is being romantically pursued by ACP Karan all the while that Viju is threatening and taking shots at him.

There is a nice but predictable twist at the interval, and in the second half Subba Raju shows up as one of Kabir's rowdies who is suspicious of Viju's sudden prominent position in the gang.

As a fan of Telugu movies I have to say Puri Jagannadh did an excellent job creating roles for the supporting actors that highlighted what they are so very good at without having the South Indian OTT tropes overwhelm the story. Prakash was awesome as usual in his Prakash Bad avatar and the final confrontation scenes with Big B are fabulous! A must see for Prakash Raj fans. Charmee had a role that showed her comic and bubbly nature. Subba Raju was a bad guy with a significant speaking part and it was a thrill to watch him go toe to toe with Bachchan. (Can someone please cast him as a Hero already? Geez! Some fan girls have been waiting..) Likewise it was fun to watch Sonu get his hero entrance at last.

I do have some complaints as a fan however...Hema Malini was waisted in her role as Sonu's Mother. She just mainly worried...Her and Amitabh are so good together and have such chemistry but the role she was given didn't call for it. She didn't have much screen time (Raveena Tandon's part was bigger) and though there was ample reason for sparks to fly between her and Amitabh it just didn't happen. That was a lost opportunity in my opinion.

Also the biggest throw away scene from Jagannadh's hit Pokiri was included word for word in this movie..Why?
My other complaint is why oh why wasn't Raveena Tandon's Item number in the movie?? Without it there was only one full song picturization with dancing, the Title song combined with Go Meera Go which was fun enough.

Haal-E-Dil only had about a minute of a montage of Big B walking on the beach.
Main Chandigarh di Star would have been a great addition to the film and there were several places I can think of that it would have fit.

While I don't expect Mr Bachchan to do anymore dancing than he did, it would have been great if Puri Jagannadh had brought some South Indian Choreographers down for the Main Chandigarh Di Star ~~Item~~ Promo song. It could have been choreographed alot better. Raveena could have done more than she was asked to do in that number. Also Charmee is a good dancer and could have been used as such. This was a Masala movie so more songs would have been appropriate. I just don't understand why Hindi film makers are pulling away from one of the most important USP's they have. Maybe Hindi audiences really don't like songs in their movies anymore. If that is the case I will either adjust or stick with Southies.

Raghavendra (2003) Dir. Suresh Krishna

2011-06-19T21:21:00.000-05:00

I never intended to have such a slow start and such a long break from my blog in 2011. But I am hoping things are quieting down and getting back to my version of normal. Anyways..to celebrate my return to more regular blogging here is my first Prabhas post! Oh Young Rebel Star what has taken me sooo long?!

There is a lot to recommend for Prabhas fans in Raghavendra, his second film. Apparently this was never released with subtitles but a wonderful fan of Prabhas' took the time to subtitle and upload it to youtube. In the beginning of the film Prabhas doesn't say much, he just looks tall and imposing, fully bearded and dressed in the Safron robes of a devotee of Lord Raghavendra. His friends from the city come to bring him back to fight the injustice of some murderers who are released unpunished. They seem to think that Raghava is the only one that can bring justice for their murdered friend. But Raghava has taken a vow of nonviolence and refuses to even listen to his friends.

Now you know from his entrance he is clearly a hero because he saved a small boy from an elephant.

And they gave him the toughest jobs at the Temple.

And you can tell from the flashback images that run through his head and the faces he makes that he clearly wants to kick some ass.

But he doesn't! Not even when his cousin Mahalakshmi, played by Swetha Agarwal is continually harrassed by a group of rowdies. It all comes to a head when she files a police complaint against them. Instead of arresting the rowdies the police call their goonda boss Ankineedu, played perfectly by Anand Raj. Ankineedu is so evil he laughs and smiles and declares "I Like it" in English whenever something awfull he has instigated happens.

Well, he decidedly does NOT like that Mahalakshmi filed a report against his men so he has her publically stripped and her parents beaten. Everyone stands around watching, even the police refuse to intervene, so you know Raghava just has to break his vows and come in and open a can of whoop-ass right? Come-on Prabhas kick some butt! But what does he do? He gets beat up and grovels!! And begs for them to stop!

Ok,sSo this is too much really. Everyone yells at him and accuses him of all kinds of cowardliness and all sorts of un-manly behavior. Useless Fellow! Finally the flashback sequence comes where we find out what drove him to be in this situation.

It seems Raghava was a hot headed youth who could not tolerate injustice of anykind. He was constantly beating people up for every offence, from disrespecting elders and the Indian flag, to more obvious forms of rowdiism. I like how the subtitler occaisionally offers his own comments during the action.

His parents were constantly ashamed of his behavior and he argued and had tantrums in front of them. They begged him to let the police and courts handle meteing out justice but he argued the police were useless. His parents warn him that the violence will get his family or friends killed one day.

Enter Brahmanandam. In this film he plays a full charactor not just someone plopped in for comedy relief. Brahmi witnesses Raghava beating one of Ankineedu's men and reports Raghava for beating an "innocent elder". When Raghava follows him to intimidate him into withdrawing the report he spies Brahmi's sister Sirisha, played by Anshu.

They fall in love and unfortunetly for Sirisha, his parents words come back to haunt him.

Sirisha is killed and Ankineedu tells Raghava's parents are to leave town immediately. A grief stricken Raghava comes home to his parents moving truck, they curse him and blame him for everything. In an emotional scene he vows to live how they want him to and to forsake violence in devotion to god.

I actually get the feeling that part of the reason he doesn't respond to Mahalakshmi's distress is because he knows the police won't do anything and he wants to prove his point to his parents, that the world needs people like him to ensure there is justice. There is one scene after Mahalaksmi gets her hair cut by the rowdies that her parents are yelling at him to do something and he just stays silent and wraps his saffron robe around himself and walks past his parents with a small I-told-you-so smile on his face.

After Mahalakshmi is publically stripped his parents beg him to reconsider his vows. It seems they have learned their lesson after all.

So at last Raghava gets to do what he always wanted to do!

And I might add, he looks mighty fine doing it!

The songs by Mani Sharma are only so-so. I liked Nee Style because it made Venice look so pretty.

I also like the Item number Calcutta Paan Vesina. If someone could tell me who the girl is I would appreciate it!

All in all it was a fun flick. And Director Suresh Krishna remembered the golden rule when filming Prabhas: Prabhas +Water = Yum!

Fun With Fan Videos -How I Made Tarak Smile

2011-04-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

So everyone by now knows that Jr. NTR aka Tarak is my favorite Hero. This is my new favorite picture of him. Why? Because he is looking directly AT ME! No I didn't go to Hyderabad nor did he come to my Twin Cities. I made a fan video that he was shown and this is a screencap from when he saw it. Uff! I know, I might be too old to make a fangirly video for a movie star but the opportunity presented itself and I just couldn't pass it up. Even though I am very shy by nature, I made a video and part of it aired on the Telugu gameshow Abhimani.
The gameshow features a star and the contestants are all fans that compete to answer trivia questions about the star and his movies. Besides trivia there are a variety of other competitions all revolving around the featured star. The host is the actor Rajiv Kanakala and the first guest of the premier episode was Tarak.

Between the contests, they showed video messages from fans. It was so fun to make a video and get the chance to send a message directly to Tarak. We fans get so much enjoyment and pleasure from our favorite Heroes and Heroines but we never get to thank them or tell them how much joy they add to our lives. I can't tell you how thrilling it was to get that chance and make my favorite Hero smile.

Here is the video from the show. My friend Marcia and I made the videos one evening after work. We are at the beginning of this segment.

     It is only a couple of minutes but alot of work went into getting the videos for the show and I am not just talking about what I did to make those few seconds. The whole segment was Harsha from NandamurifansDB's idea. He wrote a thread about it explaining the process from start to finish. Subhash Harsha!
     Now I have a confession to make, the video I made was a  little longer than what was shown. Well actually it was almost 7 minutes long. Uff dah. (Just because I am shy does not mean I don't talk alot once I get going.) I had a whole series of things that I wanted to be sure and say and I figured this would be my only chance to speak directly to Tarak so I did what any fan would do right? I assumed the producers of the show would edit it how ever they wanted and I wasn't sure any of it would be chosen to air anyway so I decided to go for it.
    I had an outline in my head and then practiced saying it outloud over and over one cold February evening while I walked my dogs. The next day my friend Marcia came over and we made the videos in my basement, with my daughter Nyambura handling the camera. I was advised to speak slowly so I could be understood, and I tried to tone down my Minneh-soh-dah accent, so I ended up not sounding like me at all. And then I had to put the videos together and convert and up load and all that. Man! It was a major learning curve for me just to get the videos to Harsha.
    So here are the videos, the first part is the video I made, then Marcia's, then we did a third that was Marcia and me together saying the same things. I would take the third part off the video but I don't know how, so don't feel compelled to watch the whole thing. We really do just repeat ourselves.

    I was initially a little disapointed that so little of my video aired, but then Harsha reassured me that Tarak saw a lot more of the video than what was televised. The only part I know for sure he didn't see is when I thanked him for my Twitter Birthday greeting. I was really glad to find out he saw the part where I talked about my Student's reactions to Yamadonga. I wish I could have seen his and the audience's reaction to that. I bet they all loved it. The whole experience was so fun and it really was just so thrilling to see I made him smile!

Shakti (2011) Dir. Meher Ramesh

2011-04-02T14:32:00.002-05:00

With Shakti, reportedly the most expensive Telugu film yet made, Young Tiger Jr. NTR is officially rebranded as A1 Star. Personally I will miss all the Tiger references in his films. I love a lot of the Telugu Heros (see my list of Favorites) but Jr. NTR is definetly at the A1 spot of my favorites so the title for me is apt.

I saw Shakti First Day First show here in Minneapolis, so there wasn't any plot synopsis available for me to peek at to help me out with the lack of subtitles. So once again forgive me for any mistakes I make and please correct me in the comments. I had to watch the movie over 2 days because the theater I saw it in had some major technical difficulties. Right at the interval bang the screen went dark. So other than seeing Tarak dodge a shoulder fired rocket I missed the whole thing the first night. Apparently the Interval bang was too much for the projector to handle because it over heated and went into auto shut down. Alot. Both days. Uff! They finally moved us to a new screen the second night I saw it. See, for Tarak I can do anything, I figure with all the delays from trying to fix the problem it took me about 7 hours to watch the whole movie.

The movie starts in Egypt labeled as 1984 but with everyone inexplicably costumed up like from the Pharoah's time. Strange, but I decided to go with it. I thought maybe they belonged to some weird, evil, pharoah obssessed cult intent on taking over the world.

Pooja Bedi plays the scenery chewing evil Egyptian queen, Fakhtooni. She has her own secret lair right in one of the Pyramids at Giza. She starts off screaming in rage when the head of her husband is returned to her and she never stopped screaming after that. She is so evil that she plucks the eyes out of the head and puts them into a jar to transplant them later into her son, who she turns into an evil behemoth of a killing machine by plucking out his eyes as a small boy and then dipping him in a magic firey pit ala Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, to toughen him up for the revenge she so clearly is screaming for.

Besides revenge she wants to get her hands on a magical diamond that the Home Minister, played by Prabhu is keeping under lock and key. He meets frequently with a mystical yogi played by a heavily made up Nasser where they discuss the diamond. Prabhu has a a daughter Aishwarya, played by Ileana. Aishwarya is tired of always having security guards so she sneaks out of the house and meets up with some friends and decides to go on a cross country trip with them to enjoy her new found freedom. Unbeknownst to her she accidently ended up in possession of the magical diamond and is unaware the Egyptians and Jackie Shroff, who plays an underworld Don, are after her. Whew! All of that in the first 15 minutes! This set up the premise well as near as I could tell.

Ok so what I need now is a kick ass Hero Entrance! I think coming in riding an elephant and then leaping off it in that gravity defying Telugu super hero way was A1-ji. Tarak plays a tour guide named Shakti. The first fight has Tarak beating up some goondas that were trying to rip off Aishwarya and Ali (playing her friend) over some movie tickets. He gets the tickets but then charges them for the fight. Much to Aishwarya's chagrin, he ends up getting hired as their guide as they continue their travels around Jaipur, Kashmir and Haridwar. Every time Aishwarya gets in trouble, (usually because of some trick that backfires on her) Shakthi charges her for rescuing her.

He keeps everything in a trunk that he drags around. I really wanted to know what all was in that trunk! He seemed to have all kinds of handy things in there and the couple of glimpses we got of the inside made it more mysterious. The trunk is a key element in the twist that comes with the interval bang.

I thought the first half was great. The cinematography of Jaipur and the desert, Kashmir and the Mountains and Haridwar were beautiful. I LOOOOVED the first song Thaliya Thaliya. The choreography was so fun to watch and it was so colorful and vibrant. Just what I needed after this long, cold, colorless winter we've had. When it was over I was disapointed I couldn't rewind and watch it again! The other songs were well done too. Prema Desam was lovely and maybe it was just Tarak's Cowboy outfit but I especially liked the choreography and picturization of Mathileka Pichiga.

Ileana was lovely as were her hips which the choreographers focused on alot. I wish they had her do more than just those belly dance steps, but what she did she did well. There was a glimpse in this movie of how well she can do comedy, I hope she has more opportunities to showoff her comedy skills in the future.

Initially, the second half was very confusing to me but when I read some synopsis it made more sense on the second viewing. Apparently the Egyptians and Jackie wanted control of the Shakti Peethams, which are places of mystical power at Temples around India. Prabhu and the Yogi were caretakers of a secret one that you needed the the diamond, a trident and a little book thingy in order to enter the temple and be sure everything is working and balance in the universe is maintained. Prabhu has the diamond, Jackie has the trident and Fakhtooni has the book. So the second half is all about how all three ended up with one of the items (told in the flashback) and about Shakti's connection to them. The movie goes into fantasy mode which somehow seems so different than the first half. There just wasn't enough of a build up between the straitforward and "real" nature of the first half and the magical second half. At least from what I could tell, maybe it was conveyed through the dialogue.

The highlight of the flashback sequence was Tarak in the Rudra charactor. I thought Tarak looked cool in the Rudra get up. The wig wasn't that bad and it was fun watching him swinging those swords around. He kind of reminded me of Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride. The Rudra theme music is awesome but I wish they hadn't had so many too fast edits on Tarak during it.

Sonu Sood as Fakhtooni's husband in the flashback is completely wasted. It's really a short appearance and all he does is alot of hollering. And riding back and forth between Egypt and India on horseback in a rage. Really.

The final showdown between Shakti and the Egyptians could have been done much better. There was lots of flying around and wire work that was somehow too slow. And the sword fighting he did was both too fast and in slow-mo almost simultaneously. It would have been so much better if they had spent some time and money on doing that right.

Tarak doesn't disapoint in his performance, the fights and the dancing are excellent. Mani Sharma's soundtrack is wonderful. But the editing and the story fall apart in the second half. If you can't suspend disbelief enough (like me) to find an evil Pharoah obssessed cult plausable then Shakti becomes a bit too outlandish. Really I don't know why they had to have the villains be Egyptians, unless Meher Ramesh just wanted to spend the money on the trip. It would have been better if they had the villains be raging Rajputs instead of screaming Pharoahs. It would have made a little bit more chronological and geographical sense.

I will leave you with a little glimpse of Thaliya Thaliya and Prema Desam.

The Many Layers of Mahesh

2011-03-26T12:24:00.000-05:00

Exciting news for Mahesh fans! He is going to be starring in Mani Ratnam's next film, a period film based on a revered Tamil novel called Ponniyen Selvan. The book is truly an epic piece of literature according to it's wiki page. At 2400 pages I think I better start reading it now, so I can finish it by the time the film comes out! The movie will also star Tamil Hero Arya and some reports have said Vijay will feature in it too. Mahesh is known to be an excellent actor and a bit of an enigma on and off screen. His fans will be curious and excited to see the kind of multi-layered performance Ratnam will get out of Mahesh as he brings a classic piece of Literature to the big screen....
Oh wait, that's not the kind of multi-layers his female fans are concerned with. Oh no. We want to know if Mahesh will shed his usual multi-layered clothing style to go shirtless in a period film. That is the real question!
I mean look, if it's going to be about the 10th and 11th century Chola Dynasty he has to be dressed appropriately right? Take a look at these pictures:

I am not seeing room for any t-shirt with a longsleeved shirt under a jacket with a scarf while fighting in the desert combinations ala Khaleja in 10th century Chola land.

Or his usual 3 layers: t-shirt, long sleeved shirt (sometimes rolled up!) jacket sans scarf ala Pokiri.

It's no use ladies you won't get those layers off him.

Sometimes he changes things up by wearing the long sleeved shirt under the t-shirt!

Knowing Mahesh, I'm guessing there is a t-shirt hidden under these layers:

Mahesh even goes to the beach fully clothed. Well it is hot so he rolled up his sleeves to get some sun.

I noticed that in his earlier films he was frequently wearing only one short sleeved shirt and an undershirt.

For a while I blamed his wife Namrata for having him so layered with excess clothes, but then I noticed there are pictures of him in public with his wife, where there is excessive skin show!

No undershirt! Chest hair exposed!

Usually Mahesh looks fabulous, even in all those layers.

Sometimes mistakes are made.

But the big question is why? Why all the layers Mahesh? Maybe he is excessively shy and modest. Maybe the people in charge of continuity on the sets don't want to deal with excessive sweat stains...

Who knows, and with Mani Ratnam's film the question will no longer be relevent. There will be no shirt counting in that film. Maybe we will have the pleasure of counting abs...and we will wonder "Will he go for a 6 pack or will he stay more natural"?

Only Mahesh knows the answer and he's not likely to talk!

Blogue!

2011-03-24T16:59:00.000-05:00

Louella over at Masala w Bigosie has featured me in the 4th edition of her e-mag on Bollywood Bloggers! It is really fun to read about the Bloggers I follow in the other editions and I feel very honored she chose to feature me! Just follow the directions to download it at her blog here.

Louella is a 17 year old Polish girl and a great fan of Indian films. She is very creative and a real prodigy as she has taught herself Telugu, Hindi and Tamil (even more languages I think) just from watching movies! I am so jealous of her ability to pick up languages so easily, especially when I stare at Tarak's interviews and can't follow hardly anything! Anyway check out her Blog, and further editions of Blogue! And Chala Thanks Louella, for featuring me in Blogue!

Anaganaga O Dheerudu (2011) dir. Prakash Kovelamudi

2011-01-24T21:12:00.000-06:00

I am not a huge Disney fan, but when Disney issued a subtitled trailer for Siddharth's new movie Anaganaga O Dheerudu I couldn't ressist. Check this out!

I was so hopefull that I would see subtitles at last on a Telugu film. I even waited for the 21st when the international subtitled release was supposed to happen. But no such luck, Minneapolis didn't get the subbed version. (Did anyone?) The movie is a visual treat so I found it well worth the price of the ticket.
In most ways it was a very typical Disney type film. There was a superbly wicked evil queen named Irendri played by Lakshmi Manchu. She had the best evil sounding dialog delivery and they saved the best effects for her awesome moving snake hair. I was so enthralled by her hair. I kept wishing I had hair like that. (Not scary snake hair but really cool soft and silky independently moving hair) It would be such a cool effect when I'm trying to get my students attention, to have my hair suddenly move on it's own.

The movie had a Hero named Yodha, played by Siddharth, tasked so save the people from the evil queen's spells. It was great to see Siddharth in an action role. He had a lot of cool sword fights and I loved the long hair, although sometimes it looked too much like a wig.

Yodha is a blind warrior sent to escort a little girlwith special healing powers, named Moksha, played by Harshita, to a village that had all the children stricken by Irendri's poison. During a flashback we find out how Yodha loses his sight. This is where he meets Priya, played by Shruti Hassan. She is a gypsy who he falls for and in the process beats up and humiliates a bad guy who had come to disrupt the gypsie fair. The bad guy returns to burn the fair and catches Yodha and blinds him. The last thing he sees is Priya surrounded by fire. I'm guessing he assumes she is dead at this point.

    Meanwhile we find out Irendri needs the blood of a prisoner she is keeping in order to stay powerfull. It's not hard to guess the Priya is the prisoner. In a series of shorter flashbacks we discover the connection between Priya and Irendri and the role Yodha and Priya played in Irendri's rise to power.
    There are several fights scenes as Yodha escorts Harshita to the stricken village. Some of them were awesome. I really liked the Crowmen and the effect of the crows attacking. Other times I was abit let down. Once the suspense built up as Yodha and Moksha's pursuers were closing in. They were amongst the ruins of an ancient town and you could imagine the fight that was going to take place as they drew nearer. But then no fight, the bad guys just ran past, didn't even see them even though they weren't hidden very well and it was broad daylight. I really wanted there tobe a fight in that scene. The end fight was fabulous with Yodha flying through the air (I bet Siddharth had fun doing all that wire work for a change) and eventually Irendri's true self is revealed and she turns into a really scary snake monster. (Disney is expert at scaring the bejeezus out of really little kids.)
    The movie ends with a typical happy ending. The children are cured, the village is rid of Irendri, Priya is saved and the Hero gets his sight back. Like I say it is pretty standard fair for a Disney film. Except for the standard Telugu comedy track. I mean you just won't see someone like Ali in drag, with a Carmen Miranda fruit hat and pinwheels over his nipples that spin like crazy everytime he sees the Hero in your typical Disney film.

I have to admit I laughed like crazy everytime those pinwheels started spinning! But then I have a pretty low sense of humour. Brahmi was in the film too in a short scene in a bar where Yodha cons him out of his drinks.
The music and song picturizations was just OK. Nothing spectacular. My favorites were the Ninnu Chuudani

and Pralaya Kaalabheela Damshtra picturised on Lakshmi Manchu.

I have to say I liked everything that focused on Lakshmi Manchu the most. She definetly had the best part in the film. I am really looking forward to seeing her in more films.

Anaganaga O Dheerudu is the debut film for both Lakshmi Manchu and Shruti Hassan. Both of them are the children of huge stars. Lakshmi is Dr. Mohan Babu's daughter and Shruti is the Tamil legend Kamal Hassan's daughter. Shruti didn't have as much to do as Lakshmi did. She mostly was in the romantic song picturizations with Siddharth. Siddharth was great. He's definetly one of my favorites and I had fun watching him in such a swashbuckling role.

It's my Birthday! and OMG I love Twitter!

2010-11-19T13:11:00.001-06:00

    I can't resist doing a short post about my Birthday. And Twitter. And how totally awesome Twitter is especially on my Birthday! I was really feeling down yesterday. Not about getting older mind you. I turn 49 today and am proud of every grey hair and wrinkle because I (mostly) had fun earning them. And the ones I got from sad and stressfull situations have made me a very strong person so I celebrate them too.
     Also I don't feel middle aged at all. I still feel like a kid. Well my vision has gotten worse, I wear trifocals now but I've always had poor vision and have worn glasses since I was 10. So that's not a big deal. And my knees hurt sometimes because I have arthritis, but they have hurt since I injured them when I climbed Kilimanjaro so I totally BRAG about that! So that's not a big deal either. I feel so much like a kid (um...by kid I mean 25-ish) that my 15 year old daughter complains about how loud I play my music and says I play around too much. I say there is no such thing! Plus embarassing her is kind of fun and rediculously easy given her age.
    I was down mainly because it seems we miss all holidays and family celebrations because I live so far from my family. Americans are like that, we spread out! I think it is the pioneering spirit, leaving the old country knowing you won't see family again...nowadays we leave home and make our way independently. It's part of what we do. Especially midwest farmer types. I haven't celebrated any family Birthdays, Anniversaries, Thanksgiving or Easter with my family in maybe 20 years. I was feeling down because my daughter has always missed out on that too. (Except Christmas, we manage somehow at Christmas.) She's a sweetheart and tells me it doesn't bother her because it's normal to her, so I am the only one that probably feels bad about it.
    But when she sees me feeling down then she feels bad, then I feel worse. I was in the middle of feeling crappy but trying not to, so I went on Twitter and decided to spam my Favorite Tollywood stars to see if I could get one of them to wish me Happy Birthday. I focused on Jr. NTR because he is my number 1 favorite and Prakash Raj because he is Prakash Awesome! Spamming them was fun in and of itself because I tried to write something different each time. I am especially proud of this one, a two for one spam about subtitles and my Birthday!

And then some of my tweety pals, as Prakash Raj calls them, helped me and spammed them for a Birthday wish too. Thank you Nicki, Cynthia, Liz, Suzy and Harsha! And look! It worked!

OMG! I was just about to go to bed when Tarak tweeted so I almost missed it! I squeee'd so loud I woke my daughter up! Poor thing! I totally scared her, she thought someone was breaking in! And he tweeted directly to me too! It was so cool and so very sweet of him! It is almost silly how happy it made me! And then when I got up this moring I found this!

Squeeee! Prakash Raj called me dear!

And then on top of all of that I have been getting Happy Birthday Greetings from Tarak's and Prakash Raj's fans all day! I can't tell you how much everyone's Brithday Greetings have meant to me. So Thank you all that have sent them!
And then the wonderful guys over at Nandamurifans DB have been sending me wishes there as well. There are 2 threads started, here and here.

I love how the internet makes the world small. Instead of feeling disconnected from my family I feel so lucky and connected to everyone. Thank you everyone for making my Birthday so special!

My special friend Harsha from NFDB and Twitter has started a new blog about Telugu Films. It is going to be great having an actual Telugu person writing in English about Tollywood films. You can find Harshas Theory here. Welcome to the Blogging world Harsha!

Takkari Donga (2002) Dir. Jayant Paranjee

2010-11-07T19:08:00.000-06:00

My alternate title for this post is: Move over Old Spice Man: It's Mahesh! In a Cowboy Hat! And Chaps! On a Horse! That should be sufficient information for anyone to watch this 3 hour unsubbed extravaganza of leather multiple times like I did. But if you are not into Cowboy Westerns (or should it be Cowboy Easterns?) and would need further encouragement to watch this wonderful movie, there is available on-line a subtitled version created painstakeingly by a fan, god bless them.

I happen to love Cowboy Westerns. It is one of those things that my sisters and I bonded with our Dad over. He loved cowboy movies starring John Wayne, James Stuart, James Coburn, John Ford, and Clint Eastwood and he grew up on Roy Rogers Serials. When we were kids he loved sharing his favorite movies with us. I think our family favorite was McLintock! starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. (That movie is my dream Southie remake, Rajamouli, how'd you like to give it a try? Please!)

Clearly writer and director Jayant Paranjee is a huge fan of the genre as well because every possable Cowboy cliche and trope is irreverently put on display in Takkari Donga. Don't believe me? Just look:

We got Spurs

Cowboys galloping across scenic vistas

An exciting train robbery!

Obligatory fight on the train

And under the train!

Wanted Posters

A Bank Robbery!

Woo Hoo! Mahesh in chaps!

Western town with Hotel, Bar, Bank and Jail

What's for dinner?

Did ya think it would be chicken Tikka?

If that's not enough for you wait 'til you hear about the plot. The film starts with Bad guys on horses dressed in black, lead by Rahul Dev chaseing down some men. They kill one and chase the other off a cliff in pursuit of information about a secret diamond mine.
Fast forward 18 years and you have the survivor of the fall waiting for Raja, played by Mahesh to come and rob a train. Raja shows up in time to singlehandedly rob the train. Next are a sequence of roberies and shootouts and daring escapes as the price on Raja's head climbs higher. He runs into two con-artists played by the lovely Bipasha Basu and Tanikella Bharani (I think he is in every movie ya?) They steal his money, but he manages to get it back after some more fights, shoot'em ups and daring escapes.

The conartist and gambler

A poker game

During one of his escapes Raja runs into Bhuvana played by Lisa Ray. She is seeking a fortunetellers advice about finding her true love. Raja overhears and immediatly begins teasing Bhuvana. Of course she takes an immediate dislike to him. Next Raja is hired by Bhuvana's Father to take her away from the town because the Bad Guy Shaka is after him and he fears for his daughters safety. Now Raja has to travel with an uncooperative female (shades of True Grit) while being chased by Shaka and his men, the Marshalls that are after him for the robberies, and Bips and Tanikella.

More fights shoot'em ups and several daring rescues of a fluffy dog. (Awww!)

During all this Bhuvana tries to get Raja's pants off. Several times. Now I watched this without subs the first few times and I was allways curious what she was doing. I mean I know why most of us ladies would want to get Mahesh's pants off but Tollywood films usually aren't that risque. She never does manage to get his pants off. She should take some lessons from Raja.

After all the fights, escapes and general riding around. (They always seem to end up back at the same town) Raja tells Bhuvana about his past and it turns out that the bad guy Shaka was the one that killed his father and sister. We also find out that Bhuvana has the map to the diamond mine hidden in her locket.

But Shaka catches Raja just as the map is burned up. He takes Bhuvana and leaves Raja on a horse with a noose around his neck! How many Cowboy movies have we seen that happen! And you know there is gonna be snakes, rattlers maybe that will scare the horse into galloping away!

Well not rattlers exactly...COBRAS!

Now there is another daring escape, a hazardous travers of a waterfall and a harrowing climb down a cliff. Finally Shaka and Raja fight it out in the diamond mine. And Rahul Dev meets another spectacular demise at the business end of a stalagtite.

Besides all of these fabulous Cowboy western tropes, Takkari Donga has not forgotten it's Tollywood sensabilities either. There are the usual song picturizations. I have to say the music didn't stand out to me in this film, but the picturizations were great because they had Mahesh in all kinds of shiny fringed outfits and tight jeans.

Ah Mahesh! I am waiting for your next Western. In a cowboy hat! And Chaps! On a Horse!

Brindaavanam (2010) dir. Vamsi Paidapally

2010-10-17T02:24:00.003-05:00

I won't be able to explain exactly how excited I was to finally see my favorite Tollywood hero on the big screen, let me just say that for me personally, Endhiran and Khaleja were fabulous opening acts for what has turned out to be a superfantastic (yes that is one word) October.
I saw Brindaavanam in a very packed theater (the most I've seen in the theater and lining up for the later show since Om Shanti Om). Since I was going to be seeing a movie without subtitles, I did my usual peeking at reviews so I can get an idea of the basic story going in, so I knew that the first 15 minutes would have a fight and a song. I had my friend Marcia with me who is a newbie to Tollywood and had become a huge Jr. NTR fan after only one viewing of Yamadonga and some dance videos. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the Hero Introduction and it was so cool to see the theater erupt and Marcia almost fall out of her chair. (I of course remained quite composed, I am from Minnesota after all) Ha-Ha! Such fun!

Jr. NTR plays Krish, a millionaire's son, who has a girlfriend Indhu, played by Samantha. She tells him about her friend Bhoomi, played by Kajal who needs help getting out of an arranged marriage. Prakash Raj plays Bhoomi's Dad. He is wonderfull as the stern Father. He has lots of stoney stares and glares. I wasn't able to figure out why the heck he would push Bhoomi into an arranged marriage with the evil looking goonda played by Ajay, I mean couldn't he tell by looking at him he was bad news? Anyway Indhu convinces Krish to pretend to be Bhoomi's boyfriend in order to help her get out of her predicament. While traveling with her to her rural home (named Brindaavanam)she fills him in on her family which seems to be a very miserable and dysfunctional bunch. Once Krish arrives he is able to win them all over and resolve some of their problems. The supporting cast is excellent and features what seems like almost all the main supporting stars of Telugu films.

Kota Srinavasa Rao plays Bhoomi's grandfather, he tells Krish about his other son played by Srihari. It seems Prakash Raj and Srihari are step brothers who have been feuding for a long time. Someone in the theater was kind enough to tell me the feud was over a lack of respect exhibited at a wedding, not sure whose, maybe Srihari's. When the grandpa leaves to visit his other son Krish goes along.
Srihari was great! Seemed like all his dialogs started with "Rey!" and were said in an echo chamber. (I just love the Tollywood sound effects during fights and speeches and funny moments. Such a wonderfull part of the ride, puts a smile right on my face!) Krish manages to bring the two Brothers together and Prakash Raj is happy now to let Bhoomi marry Krish. A bit of a problem because Indhu is really Krish's girlfriend. Not only that but it turns out Indhu is Srihari's daughter. Indhu comes up with another plan to play along with the engagement by bringing in Brahmanandam in as a pretend Father for Krish. At the same time Srihari finds out Indhu has a boyfriend and brings Krish's real parents to Brindaavanam.
The rest of the film is a series of comical escapades as they try to keep the charade going. The audience was in stitches during the scenes between Tarak and Venu Madhav and Tarak and Brahmi. Brahmi's entrance caused almost as many cheers and whistles as Tarak's entrance. I enjoyed Venu more I think primarily because his comedy scenes were much more physical and so the lack of subs didn't deminish my enjoyment of him.

Samantha and Kajal did fine with their respective roles. I liked Samantha's charactor better maybe because I think she is a better actress. It's not an easy task to keep up with Tarak, and I have to confess I was mostly watching him, but I thought they both did an excellent job in the dances.

The movie's climax had Krish confessing to Srihari and Prakash about his deceit. That doesn't go over very well, but then Bhoomi needs rescueing so when Krish saves her all are happy again. In the end Krish has to decide who to marry and like in Simhadri it is implied he ends up with both.

Brindaavanam can really be summed up in one word: Tarakariffic! (Hee-hee I made that one up!) Tarak was his usual awesome self. The audience cheered during his dialogs, especially the Racha Racha speech (not me though I *ahem* remained quiet and ladylike throughout) The fights were great! I loved some of the funny details like when he wrapped his fist in the towel and helped all the rowdies he pounded land on the ground quietly so he could sneak up on more of them. I loved the tree breaking apart and cutting the other tree in half during the climax fight. The variety of looks on his face when he was in Brindaavanam trying to keep his charade going were priceless. His dialog delivery was fun to watch. I can't wait for the dvd to get the full benefit of the comedy and the emotional scenes.

The music by S.S. Thaman is very good and Tarak's dancing proved once again that he is the best. There aren't video clips sufficiently long enough to post the songs, so that will have to wait for the review with screencaps I'll probably do whenever the dvd with subs comes out. I loved Yuvakula, the first song picturisation right after the Hero Intro scenes. What a great way to start the movie! I also loved the the picturizations for Eyi Raja and Chinnadho. In all the songs I was really glad they weren't over edited. I hate it when there are too many cuts like in Adhurs. It takes away from the enjoyment of just watching the man move.

All in all Brindaavanam had everything I love about Tollywood movies. It was definetly worth seeing in the theater even without subtitles. But for me I think the hero made it Tarakariffic!

Khaleja (2010) Dir. Trivikram Srinivas

2010-10-10T23:04:00.001-05:00

At long last I have had the chance to see one of my most favorite Heroes on the big screen! Mahesh Babu is one of my first Tollywood crushes. There is so much to love about Mahesh. He is dorky-cool and so tall and handsome. I just love his smile and the way he delivers his lines. My favorite movies of his are Athadu, Arjun, Murari and I love Takkari Donga too. I haven't had to wait as long as other Mahesh fans for his long awaited release Khaleja. It's been three years since Athidhi released, but only 4 months since I watched my most recent Mahesh movie. It was Vamsi and before you all feel sorry for me I have to say that movie falls into the so bad it's good category. What's not to love about sliding across a CGI alligator's back?

I saw Khaleja first day first show with a very enthusiastic, full theater.

What a treat to finally see Mahesh on the big screen! Seriously it was thrilling. The writer and director of Khaleja is Trivikram Srinivas, he also teamed with Mahesh on Athadu and was the writer and director for Pawan Kalyan's hit Jalsa. Khaleja is Mahesh's first turn in an out and out comedic role. Judging by the crowd reaction in the theater I would say he succeeded greatly. The audience was in splits for 3/4's of the film. As a non Telugu speaker I missed out on much of the comedy, but was able to follow the plot and enjoy Mahesh completely. Apologies ahead of time if I am way off base in what happens, please set me right in the comments section.

The film begins in a village in Rajasthan where people are mysteriously dying. The village elder sends a holy man of sorts, played wonderfully by Shafi, to search for a savior for the village. Then comes the Hero Introduction which is a slo-mo fight sequence of Mahesh fighting to get water in the Rajasthan desert. My favorite part is when he runs on top of a wall and you think he is going to jump on to a horse and ride away a la Takarri Donga, (seriously my heart was a flutter over that!) and instead he uncovers a motorbike and speeds off. It was a very funny bait and switch.

While he is in Rajasthan he runs into Sunil who is a reporter of sorts. I assume he is explaining to Sunil how he happened to be there and begins a flashback of him as a Taxi driver in Hyderabad. Here we find out how he meets Anoushka.

Anoushka creates havoc for Mahesh when ever she runs into him. I think 3 taxis get destroyed altogether and Mahesh ends up in the hospital after one encounter. Mahesh has excellent comedic timing and his dialog delivery is similar to Athadu and Pokiri but in a much more open and friendly way, if that makes sense. He still mutters and mumbles but with a happier smiley persona than the other films. After recounting all his bad luck brought to him by Anoushka, Sunil and Mahesh coincidently run into her in the Rajasthan desert. She had been brought to Rajasthan by helocoptor on a date and fearing for her honor, had run away from the guy. (These are the kind of plot points I have learned to just smile and enjoy and not question in Telugu movies, I am after all just along for the ride!) Now there are more hilarious mishaps as Anoushka, Mahesh and Sunil travel throught the desert.

The interval fight is really cool. I loved how it is choreographed, Mahesh is attacked and injured but manages to fight back in that over the top Tollywood super hero way. It's pretty bloody and awesome! The injured Mahesh is found by the holy man Shafi and he is taken to the stricken village and nursed backed to health. Now he is mistaken for a god by the villagers who beg him for help. He tries to convince them he is not a god but every time he tries to talk them out of it something happens that makes him seem like he is performing miracles. Now we find out too that Evil Business man Prakash Raj is behind the poisonings in the village and the rest of the movie has Mahesh and Prakash Bad locking horns. Prakash really isn't in the movie enough and the final confrontation between him and Mahesh makes you wish he had more to do. He is awesome as usual.

The music by Mani Sharma is just ok, he has had better soundtracks in my opinion. I didn't like the first song Taxi Taxi at all. But the song Sada Siva is unforgettable. I just love that song. It's picturised mostly on Shafi and he does a great job with it. Here is the song promo, full songs not available yet.

I also enjoyed the picturizations of Bhoom Shakanaka and Makathika. I think Makathika is my favorite. Mahesh looks fabulous and it is fun to watch him dance. I think Makathika is choreographed by Prem Rakshit if I'm not mistaken.

All in all I enjoyed my first Mahesh experience in the theater. Because much of the comedy was dialog based I missed lots of the humor. I was envious of the rest of the audience throwing their heads back in laughter but now I feel like I have a whole new movie to experience and look forward to when the dvd comes out. I am also hoping for the day when subtitles are as routine for Tollywood movies as they are for Bollywood.

Kadhalan (1994) Tamil dir. Shankar

2010-09-25T23:49:00.001-05:00

October 1st is fast approaching and the much awaited , much hyped Shankar film, Endhiran, starring the Tamil Super Star Rajinikanth and Bollywood siren Aishwarya Bachchan will hit theaters world wide. Here in Minneapolis we will get all three versions of the movie, the Tamil Endhiran, Telugu dubbed Robo and the Hindi dubbed and subbed Robot. As much fun as it would be to see the original Tamil version in a packed Rajinikanth worshipping theater, I will be going to the Hindi version as it is for some reason much cheaper ($10.00 vs.$25.00) and it has subtitles.

I am looking forward to it because Shankar's movies are known to have high production values and he has experimented with CGI effects in all his movies. Endhiran is supposed to have had the biggest budget of any Indian film to date and judging by the trailers I can see why. Oh Yeah, It's gonna be a spectacle alright! Take a look at this!

Now I have only seen one other Shankar movie (Boys 2003), so I thought it would be a good idea to watch another one of his movies to get me in the right frame of mind while I wait for Endhiran's release. I thought Kadhalan, starring Prabhu Deva, would be a great movie to start with. It was only Shankar's second film but the movie and the music by A. R. Rahman was a huge hit.

Prabhu Deva plays Prabhu, the son of a police officer who is the student leader at the college he attends. His friend, played by comic actor Vadivelu, teases him about why he shows no interest in girls. But Prabhu is convinced that the girl of his dreams is out there and he will recognize her immediately upon seeing her.

When Prabhu goes to ask a powerfull Politician to give a speech at his college, he literally runs into his daughter Shruti played by Nagma. Of course she is the girl he has seen in his dreams, so he begins his quest to get her attention.

Now that is one way to get a girls attention!

Unfortunetly all of his attempts to woo her fail. His friends insist he is way out of his league and he ends up insulting her when and he and Vadivelu join her Bharathanatiyam dance class. Heart broken he confides in his Father, who I would like to nominate as the best most understanding filmy Dad ever. He even digs through garbage to find a dress hook his son had saved and cherished!

His Father encourages him to learn Bharathanatiyam dance in order to impress her. He works hard and in a very short time he has mastered it. He sneeks into her house and dances for her then proclaims his love. She of course then begins to notice him (what girl wouldn't?) and soon finds herself falling in love too.

Now we come to find out that Shruti's father is behind a series of bombings. He hires an assassin played by Raghuvaran (he is rocking the 90's mullet) to bomb a temple. It happens to be the very temple his daughter is supposed to do a dance performance at. He forbids her to go but she runs away with Prabhu so she can perform in the dance. Her Dad sends in the Army to get her and has Prabhu arrested and tries to get him framed for the bombings.

Now lets take a moment and reflect on the two Dads in this film.

We have the World's Best Dad.

And the World's Worst Dad Ever!

Shruti's Father has Prabhu tortured in prison. And even tricks his father into beating him.

Shruti locks herself in a rundown building and refuses to eat until Prabhu is released. It is her embarassing behavior at a party that finally convinces her Dad to let Prabhu go.

Now that Prabhu is free all he has to do is stop Raghuvaran, unveil Shruti's Dad as the real villain, find Shruti, who has been sent to her Grandparents and find the bomb, all without getting killed first.

Well, he is the Hero after-all so you know he is going to manage it all just fine. Raguvaran and the evil Dad meet a fitting end. And he finds Shruti with the help of her Grandparents. And of course the bomb is disposed of properly.

A.R Rahman's soundtrack established him as a force to be reckoned with and of course Prabhu Deva's dancing was groundbreaking. I love the two most well known songs, Urvasi Urvasi and Mukkala (love the Good the Bad and the Ugly homage in that one)

I also like Ennavale Ennavale because it shows the Special effects you expect in a Shankar film.

I also like this fun number.

Eerani Kuradhani Gopala

I thought Kadhalan was great fun. I have really enjoyed the two Shankar films I ahve seen so far. After Endhiran I think I'll move Jeans up my queue and try that one next!

As an Addendum to this post, I decided that since Prakash Raj is in about every third movie I watch it is only fitting he be mentioned in about every third of my blog posts. He's overdue for a mention here so I thought it would be a great opportunity to tell you all about my friend DustDevil Liz's awesome new blog: My year with Prakash Raj Be sure to check it out for all the Prakash Awesome you crave.

Tarak's Sweet 16

2010-09-12T23:46:00.013-05:00

    There is a plethora of movies coming out in the next few weeks. I am so excited that finally, I will see some more of my favorite Tollywood Heroes in the theater on the big screen. As I mentioned on my South Indian movies watched page, I have only been watching Southies for about a year and have only really gotten into them since March 2010, so while I have seen Prabhas and Bunny in the theater, I have yet to see Mahesh, Siddharth and my favorite of favorites Tarak on the big screen.
    Infact, I am so new to appreciating the awesomeness that is Tarak that I had an opportunity in January to see Adhurs in the theater and I missed it! It was a weekend I had nothing to do and I saw Adhurs was playing but didn't know if it would be worth seeing without subtitles and I didn't know much about Tarak, hadn't seen any of his movies yet, so I passed on it. Ayoo! My shins are still black and blue from kicking myself!
    Tarak's next film, Brindavaanam had its audio release today so now the promotions for the film are kicking into high gear. Here is the first trailer

     Looks great doesn't it? But the big question for me is what will the songs be like and what awesome dancing will the choreographers come up with for Tarak to do? I was excited when Tarak tweeted a couple of weeks ago that choreographer Prem Rakshit was killing him with a tough step. Yay! Tarak is known to not need to rehearse and apparently gets his dance steps down in one take so anything difficult for him to do should be mindblowing for us to watch.
     I recently achieved Tarak Completeness by locating and watching the last two films of his I had yet to watch. I thought it would be fun to try and pick only one song as a favorite from each film. This task was easy for some films and very, very difficult for others. It is not a "best of" list, just my favorites for a variety of reasons. Some of the songs I chose because I like the music, some it is the way the choreographers had them picturised, some I chose because I just liked the way Tarak looks, but usually, of course, it is because of his amazing dancing. So here is Tarak's Sweet 16, compiled and chosen by me.

Ninnu Choodalani (2001)
I am thwarted already in my list, by the lack of Ninnu Choodalani songs on YouTube. (That's ok though because I know I won't be able to only chose one song from Yamadonga). This and Subbu were the last two Tarak movies I had to watch. I couldn't find dvd's of them so ended up watching on torrents sites. This was Tarak's first film and apparently it was a horendous flop. I remember thinking when I watched it that the Director was evidently completely unaware that Tarak could dance, the song picturisations were uninteresting and unimaginative so it's just as well I couldn't find any links.

Student #1 (2001)
Kuchipudi Kaina - It's catchy and begins to show what Tarak can do. Plus there is a little Kuchipudi fight at the end!

Subbu (2001)
Hari Hara - It starts on a train! That and the sing along chorus makes up for the gori dancers.

Aadi (2002)
Sunnunda Teesuko - Love the set! What's not to love about giant buckets of laddoos!

Allari Ramudu (2002)
Shalibanda Golkanda - I love this one! Tarak and Aarti Agarwal do a great job with this dance and the song makes me want to sing along.

Naaga (2003)
Nayudori Pilla- There are lots of great songs in this movie. I love this item with Rambha. Lawrence shows up at the end so I am assuming he is the choreographer. I am a total sucker for songs on trains thanks to Chaiya Chaiya.

Simhadri (2003)
Chimma Chimma - Hard to pick one from Simhadri too. Tarak's dancing is amazing.

Andhrawalla (2004)
Nairey Nairey- Another one by Lawrence. Doesn't get any better than this. This song was the first Tarak video I saw. I didn't know who it was but played it obssesively.

Samba (2004)
Luxemborg Lux Sundari -Bhoomika and Tarak totally own this song.

Naa Alludu (2005)
Sayya Sayya - I like this one because "the mom" gets to dance!

Narasimhudu (2005)
Yeluko Nayaka - Maybe it's the song, maybe it's the choreography or maybe its the Tarak and Sameera combination, but this is the first duet that I felt Tarak would actually know what to do if he "got the girl"

Ashok (2006)
Gola Gola - another movie where it was hard to pick. Sameera Reddy is so cute and does a great job of keeping up with Tarak.

Rakhi (2006)
Rangu Rabba Rabba - I love this Holi song. I'ts so creatively done, it's one of my all time favorite Holi songs.

Yamadonga (2007)
Nachorey Nachorey - My favorite of Tarak's dances from this movie. He just looks like he is floating and the back-up dancers are working so hard to keep up. I heard Tarak say in an interview that this song was the first time he rehearsed for a song before filming.

Olammi Tikka Regindha- I love that Tarak and Mamta sing this. It's a remake of a Legend NTR song. It looks like it was very fun to do.

Kantri (2008)
I Go Crazy - LOVE the kuchipudi dancing in this! Please Tarak ask your choreographers to have you do more! Another one choreographed by Prem Rakshit.

Adhurs (2010)
Assalam Vallikum - Tarak dances with himself! So Cool!

I wish I knew who all the choreographers were to these songs. I can't read the credits and IMDB and Wikipedia list the choreographers but don't indicate which chorographer does each song. I know Tarak would be the first to say he couldn't have done it without them. If anyone wants to fill me in in the comments section on who the Choreographers are I would really appreciate it. I hope this list of Tarak's Sweet 16 tides you over untill Brindavaanam releases.

Alexandre Dumas seen Lurking at Golconda Fort!

2010-09-06T17:37:00.003-05:00

I share many, many loves with my 2 sisters. Since we were kids we’ve always liked the same kind of music (Beatles! Springsteen!), movies (Rom-Com’s, Musicals, Adventures) and Books ( Austen, Greek and Roman Mythology and Dumas). We love the slapstick of Abbott and Costello and the absurdity of Monty Python. We even were attracted to the same types of men. (tall, dark and handsome, swarthy piratey types) But much to my chagrin I have never been able to convince them of the awesomeness that is Indian Cinema. Just looking at the above characteristics you’d think they would be ripe for SI film induction, but I am very sad to say that I have failed miserably in my attempts to win them over so far. This is my last best attempt. If mine and Dolce and Namak’s posts on Tollywood and the Romantic hero can’t crack them, then nothing will. (Well I may still try my duct tape and Youtube videos idea) So Karen and Gale, this post is dedicated to you.

I have loved the books of Alexandre Dumas since I was a kid. I remember writing a poem about the Three Musketeers for an English class in Jr. High (I can’t find it, I remember it being very cheesy, but hey it rhymed!) Recently I found this picture I sketched in college.

My favorite books for the longest time were the Three Musketeers and its sequels, plus I loved The Count of Monte Cristo, the best revenge book ever. It says something for these stories that were mass produced for 19th century French audiences that they have remained so popular. Many of the things I love about these books are reflected in the things I love about Tollywood Masala.

At the end of her post 2 degrees of Separation: The Romantic Hero in Tollywood, Dolce and Namak imagines a conversation between the ghost of Alexandre Dumas and the “first Telugu dishoom” writer.

ADG: Monsieur, my stories are too French at heart to be adapted. How can you presume to do so?

FTDS: Rreyy, I dare you to find one element that we cannot translate into a South Indian movie.

ADG: I have evil dukes, jealous queens and mistresses, and cardinals who are up to no good.

FTDS: And we have evil goondas and underworld lords, jealous aunties, and all kinds of corrupt Ministers and Chief Ministers just waiting to chew some hero meat.

ADG: Hm… I also have family rivalries and backstabbing.

FTDS: That’s ok, we have factionists!

ADG: And what about the damsel in distress whose greatest asset is not her wit but her beauty and her virginity.

FTDS: Ah, for that we have Kajal!

ADG: I also have lyrical speeches and heart tugging emotional love scenes.

FTDS: Heh… Our script writers are not very good with that, but we’ll make do with plenty of songs, dances and sensual poses instead.

The Ghost of Alexandre Dumas has no choice but to slap his forehead and return to the darkness whence he came.

I don’t think of Dumas as the ghostly predecessor to Tollywood’s mass films. I am convinced that he has been reincarnated in the script writers and directors of my beloved Tollywood Masala. When I began preparing for this post I dug out the well worn Bantam paperback edition of The Count of Monte Cristo I got from my parents as a Christmas present in 1982.

On the first page there is a short bio of Alexandre Dumas (pere). Two quotes from there stood out as proof that Dumas has been reincarnated as the Writers and Directors of Tollywood.

About Dumas: “L’action and L’amour were the two essential things in his life and his fiction” That’s it in a nutshell isn’t it? Action and Love that’s what we the mass audience want and what gets delivered over and over again in Tollywood movies.

And this quote: “His work ignored historical accuracy, psychology and analysis, but its thrilling adventure and exuberant inventiveness continues to delight readers.” I mean come on! If that doesn’t prove Dumas is alive and well and hanging out at Ramoji Film City, I don’t know what does! (I hope the next time fans of Indian cinema complain about mass films, and wish there would be more class films coming out of Hyderabad, that they first think on whether they would also criticize the works of Dumas.)

How's this for some "exuberant inventiveness"

So if the writers and directors are Dumas incarnate, what about his characters? One of the reasons I love the Heroes in SI movies is because they remind me so much of the moustachioed macho lover boys of Alexandre Dumas’ novels. In fact I suspect that Tarak, Mahesh, Prabhas, Bunny and Siddharth are all reincarnations of Dumas’ swashbuckling heroes.

Here’s what I think:

The Three Musketeers

Athos: I picture Mahesh as Athos. He’s supposed to be the wisest, bravest and most secretive. A lot of his most popular characters were very secretive like Nandu in Athadu and Pandu in Pokiri. He just needs a proper 'stache. Can't you picture him looking out from under the brim of a Musketeer hat?

He’s kind of an enigma in real life too.

Athos is supposed to be older than the other Musketeers and looked at as a Father figure by D’Artagnan. It doesn’t bother me that Mahesh isn’t old enough for that, but if you need a real Father figure for Athos look no further than MegaStar Chirenjeevi. Beside who doesn’t look up to him in Tollywood? And he has a righteous moustache.

Porthos: He can only be Tarak. Porthos was honest, fierce and has an appetite for food, women and song. Besides that he has a sword named Balizarde. Lots of Tarak’s movies fit here but his character in Simhadri works best. Simhadri in his goodness refuses to explain his relationship with Bhoomika. He doesn’t have a sword but he has a kick-ass axe.

Besides the awesome dancing the movie also implies he ends up with both heroines. (gasp!)

Aramis: The lover of the Three Muskateers, I think of Siddharth. He is more of a lover than a fighter but he can dishoom with the rest of them when called upon. Here he gets thrashed at a wedding until he is sure of Sada’s love, then his Tollywood super powers come into play.

d’Artagnan: I think of Bunny as d’Artagnan. d'Artagnan is young and hot headed and easily smitten by pretty ladies. His interest in Milady gets him into all kinds of trouble. He is a loyal friend and has major bromances going with his Musketeer pals. I just watched Arya 2 so I can’t help thinking of Bunny playing d’Aragnan after that…only less crazy…LOTS less crazy.

The Count of Monte Cristo

Edmond Dantes: Has to be the one and only Prabhas. Just watch Munna and you will see Dumas type revenge played out Tollywood style. Edmond Dantes had so many alter egos as he exacted his revenge. Prabhas can play down and dirty tough as well as cool and classy a la Billa.

The Man in the Iron Mask:

Sometimes I want to put Ravi Teja in the mask but he looks too macho and tough to have been imprisoned for so long so I think Pawan Kalyan would make an excellent Philippe. He could play royalty with class (after all he is Chiranjeevi’s brother) and he is built in a way that makes him look wiry and tough like I imagine Philippe to be. Plus he rocks the 'stache, must be in the genes.

     I could go on, I love to imagine who would be Cardinal Richelieu (Sonu Sood!) Milady (Sameera Reddy) or the Comte de Rochefort (Rahul Dev) and Constance Bonacieux (has to be Charmi).

     Yep even though it's Hyderabad India, they are all there, 19th century French heroes created by Dumas for a mass audience that hasn’t changed its love for L’action and L’amour no matter what century or continent they are from.
      Now when I watch a fight scene of my Tollywood Super Heroes at Golconda Fort or in the Vikarabad Forest, I imagine the camera panning around and we see Athos, Porthos, Aramis, d’Artagnan, Edmond Dantes, Phillipe and Dumas cheering them on.

Vive la Mass! Jai Masala!

Swathi Muthyam (1985) dir. K. Viswanth

2010-08-24T21:46:00.001-05:00

I have only seen a couple of Padmasri Kamal Hassan's Hindi movies and have so far watched none of his vast numbers of Tamil and Telugu films. A friend recommended Swathi Muthyam as a wonderful example of Kamal's work. Swathi Muthyam won several awards including best feature film and recognition for Kamal Hassan and Director K. Viswanth. It was also India's Oscar entry for 1986 so I thought it would be an interesting one to check out. Swathi Muthyam probably wouldn't have made it's way onto my queue with out my friend's recommendation. So Naren, thank you, because this was a wonderful, bittersweet gem of a film that I am so glad I watched!
The film starts with Kamal's charactor Sivayya as an old man, waiting for his sons and their families to come to visit. He seems somewhat frail and slightly confused or forgetful, not unusual for an elderly person. When his family arrives they get him to reminisce about his deceased wife.

When the flashback starts you realise fairly quicky that the simple, slightly stubborn worldview of Sivayya has nothing to do with age. Sivayya is a young man with autism who lives with his grandmother, played by Nirmalamma. He is loved and watched out for by the people of his village.

We also find out the young widow Lalitha, played by Radhika, and her small son are turned away by her wealthy inlaws when she goes to them to seek their assistance. She has no choice but to return to the village where she is treated as an outcast, and try to make ends meet as a music teacher.

Sivayya befriends Lalitha and her son. Being a sweet and kindly person Sivayya is very aware of her struggles. He asks his grandmother about Lalitha in order to try and understand why she is treated so unfairly and to find a way to help her. He listens carefully and takes everything his Grandmother says literally. First he tries to get Lalitha to wash the steps of the Temple so she will be blessed. When that doesn't work he walks across fire to earn the blessings of Allah.

When these don't work to change Lalitha's fortunes, he pesters his Grandmother again for a solution. She responds that someone nice should marry her and take care of her. Sivayya takes her literally and at a ceremony at the temple, and much to the shock of Lalitha and the villagers, he grabs the mangalsutra meant for the diety and places it around Lalitha's neck.

Now things turn ugly. The villagers are very upset that Sivayya broke a taboo by remarrying a widow. When a neighbor beats him, Lalitha moves in to protect him. She promises his grandmother she will always look after him.

They go to the city where they try to start a new life. Sivayya struggles to take on the responsibility of his new family. He gets the idea of begging to get school fees for his son, but ends up giving away what he gets. Eventually, through the help of friends he is able to find a job to support his family.

There are so many humorous and touching moments in this film as Kamal's Sivayya negotiates the situations he faces with such innocence and goodness. It is not a dialogue heavy role and Kamal uses body language and facial expressions to convey those charectoristics with subtle, sweet humor. His performance reminded me alot of Peter Seller's Chauncey Gardner from the film Being There.

Swathi Muthyam moves along at a sweet rhythm and is filled with poignant moments. One of my favorite scenes (and one that shows the deftness of K. Viswanth's direction) is when one of Lalitha and Sivayya's friends recognizes Lalitha's loneliness and encourages her to finally consumate the relationship.

I love this screencap that I did. so photobucket, stop taking it down!

Another moment comes after Lalitha's wealthy former inlaws come back into the picture and the final 15 minutes of the film had me sobbing.

The music by Illayaraja is really nice and fits so well with the mood and tempo of the movie. Here are a couple of my favorite songs.

This one is nice because the picturization shows the developing friendship between Lalitha and Sivayya and the important role music played in their lives.

After watching Swathi Muthyam I am bumping Kamal Hassan's films up on my "to be watched" list.

ETA: Swathi Muthyam was remade in Hindi as Eeshwar starring Anil Kapoor. As soon as I get my hands on a copy I will review it and add it to my Remakes page.

Naaga (2003) dir. D.K. Suresh

2010-08-16T18:34:00.006-05:00

My blogging buddies over at Cinema Chaat recently did a fabulous review of my favorite film, Yamadonga. When I read their review I was reminded that Yamadonga was the film that pushed me over into major Jr. NTR fangirlyness. So now whenever I watch a film of Tarak's I allways find something wonderfull about them, even the flops. So we have Yama to thank for me loving the film Naaga even though it apparently flopped badly. Flopped so badly infact that all my usual go to sources for film synopsis' like Wikipedia, Telugupedia and IMDB did not include a plot summary at all. So when I put my unsubtitled dvd in to watch I was going to be flying blind. I think I understood it fairly well so any Telugu speakers who have watched it, if I have taken a wrong turn in understanding anywhere please leave a comment and let me know!

The movie centers around a College where NTR plays a law student named Naaga. Sunil and Venu play students at the college who I think urge Naaga into getting involved in the Student Union. His father played by Raghuvaran is a Bailiff in a courthouse who pushes his son to focus on becomming a lawyer and doesn't seem to want his son to divert his attention from studying to student politics.

NTR's love interest is played by Sadha. She lives with her Dad and has a sister that is married to a shady, disloyal guy who works for a politician played by Nasser. It turns out her Dad and Naaga's Dad are old friends, so there is ample opportunity for all kinds of flirty irritation. I love the first song although I am somewhat irritated it is stuck in my head right now.

Naaga's school holds a Jubilee celebration that has politician Nasser as the keynote speaker. Naaga is clearly moved and inspired by whatever it is that Nasser says.

There is also some entertainment. My least favorite of the songs that for some reason features CGI knockoffs of Pixar animations. I don't know why.

Now comes the conflict. Supporters of Nasser and his rival clash in the streets in front of Naaga's home. One of his sisters and his Mom and Dad get roughed up by the rowdies. NTR takes them all on and badly beats one of the leaders with a hand pump. This fight was choreographed more like a real brawl than the usual super hero fights.

There is just enough time for father and son to have an argument over Naaga's rowdy behavior before Dad has to face the humiliation of seeing his son arrested and taken to court. His court.

But being the good law student Naaga makes a fairly long speech that impresses everybody and gets him off the hook.

See how happy Dad is now? Now Naaga has the attention of the leaders of Student Unions from other colleges. He gets appointed Union president (I think) And gets the positive attention of Nasser and the emnity of Nasser's rival.

I love the next song, very catchy and the lyrics mention Aishwarya, Kajol and Preity Zinta.

After another fight, some more student union type business and rescuing car crash victims, Naaga gets in trouble from Mom because he missed an important family event. (I think it might have been his own engagement ceremony- Dude! that is so not done!) But you know Mom's, they don't yell, they just lay on the guilt through layers of tears. (Love that Momma drama!)

Dad? Well Dad is just plain hurt and disapointed.

But everyone else thinks Naaga is great!

Now Nasser's rival doesn't like all the positive attention Naaga is getting for Nasser, so he arranges to give the student unions and Naaga some very bad press and hopefully get them out of the way.

He uses the husband of Sadha's sister to tell Naaga (I'm just guessing here!) some reason why the student unions have to protest and shut down the trains from moving. Meanwhile some rowdies posing as students wreak havoc in the city while Naaga and his followers lay down infront of a train. After some scuffling involving the police, Naaga then inexplicably pours petrol all over himself and threatens to emoliate himself. (Why? Why?)

His dad comes to stop him and threatens to do the same with requisite pouring of petrol. As a horrified Naaga is carried away by the police, Sadha's Brother in Law, who had been getting ready to throw a match on Naaga, throws one on Dad instead. So now Naaga is back in jail, mourning his father as the funeral procession he cannot attend goes by.

I know what you're thinking. Pefect time for a romantic song right?

Naaga manages to give another heartfelt speech, that gets him released in time for some tears and hopefully forgiveness from Mom.

Now he's on a mission to find out how his Dad died and presumably to end the other injustices that threaten the political system. He finds out that there are some rowdies stuffing ballot boxes during the election that is finally being held. In the chase and fight that ensues it appears Naaga is arrested again, but this time he isn't in any of the jails his friends search for him in.

Gosh1 It wouldn't take much of an accident to get the water jugs to fall off that truck!

In the meantime, Sadha and her father find out that their relative is the one who killed Naaga's Dad. In the ensueing scuffle over a tape, Sadha's father is killed and now Sadha and her sister need rescueing. But where is Naaga? Seems he is being beaten and tortured by Nasser's political rivals.

Thankfully Naaga spits a well aimed ice cube at one of his tormentors and manages to escape!(Yes that is really all it took.)

But during his escape he falls into a vat of paint or plaster and then runs around looking like a scary creature that keeps popping up out of nowhere, to the sound of a lions roar. How'd ya like to look up and see that staring at you!

He makes it to Sadha's, where she cleans him up. They hatch a plan to get the bad guys and have time for another song.

While Naaga and Sadha and her sister are driving around, they stop for gas, and guess who is filling up right next to them? Yep, justice is about to be served!

Next Naaga gets a phone call that somehow causes him to end up on a train.

I don't know why he was on the train, but who cares! Now there is time for this awesome item number with Rambha, choreographed by Lawrence. Woot!

One of the rowdies makes it to the train in time to apparently plant several bombs. Now we have not only a dance on a train, but all the great things that go on when there is a fight on a train!

Fighting in the train.

Fighting on the train.

Falling off then running to get back on.

Koyla fans will note he is NOT on fire however.

And of course risking yourself to save others.

It all ends happily enough considering how many times Naaga got thrown in jail and of course his and Sadha's Dads were killed, and his Mom and future sister in law are widows. Nasser sure is proud of him though!

All in all I thought Naaga was a good vehicle for what Tarak does best. It had many opportunities for the delivery of empassioned and hopefully moving dialogs, some really great song picturizations with the usual awesome dancing from Tarak. It also had ample opportunity for heroics and action. What more could you want in an NTR film?

Bunny (2005) dir. V.V. Vinayak

2010-08-11T23:58:00.003-05:00

There are many reasons to watch an Allu Arjun movie. He is extremely fine to look at and he's an awesome dancer- one of the best. (I'll save the debate on whether he's better than Jr. NTR for another post) He is also very, very good looking. (it's worth mentioning twice) And since I am old enough to be his mom it would be somehow inappropriate for me to mention three times how nice he is to look at, so I'll leave that gushing to my friend ApunBindaas. I have seen enough of his movies now to add him to my Favorites list. Bunny is the 5th Allu Arjun movie I have seen, and so far is one of my favorites.

One thing I noticed right away is Bunny's theme song. Whenever Bunny is coming to the rescue or is about to do something totally awesome his intro theme song plays. I just love that! It totally builds the excitement, you know some major ass-kicking is about to take place. (I wish I had a theme song like that. It would be so cool to have the excitement and suspense build for my students when I'm about to assign homework or at home when I tell my daughter to do the dishes. I bet they would be sooo motivated by it...oh gosh it would be FUN!)

Here's Bunny beating up some rowdies at the beginning of the movie. He plays a college student who gets Mahalakshmi, played by Gowri Munjal to fall in love with him. She is the spoiled daughter of the over protective bad Dad played by Prakash Raj. Prakash Dad will do anything to protect his daughter even have any boy who talks to her get their eyes plucked out. (Yeah he's BAD!) So Bunny would be in danger except he can bash all the goons and can outsmart them all too.

Eventually Bunny gets Prakash Dad to let him marry Mahalakshmi on the condition that all his wealth gets transfered to him. Now we find out that Bunny is really an orphan. His father was ordered killed by the greedy Prakash Raj, who happened to be his Brother- In- law. Bunny was given by his Aunt to one of his fathers loyal men to raise with the intention of one day having him marry Mahalakshmi and get the wealth back that Prakash Dad stole. There was some great momma drama (aka heros crying about their moms), when Bunny found out about the sacrifices his adoptive parents made on his behalf.

In the flashback we see how Bunny's father gets betrayed. Tamil star Sarath Kumar plays Bunny's dad in the flashback. He gets his own intro scene. We see how he is a beloved leader of the people and how he gets betrayed by Prakash Dad.

Of course in the end, Prakash Dad has a change of heart, unfortunelty his right hand man Mysamma, played wonderfully by Mukesh Rishi, does not. The final fight sequence between Bunny and Mysamma has some wonderfull taunting. (I love all the taunting that goes on before the fights!)

Maybe he is just angry because someone spray painted a grey circle in his hair!

The last fight is great. Of course Bunny wins in the end.

Hmmm This reminds me, I need to re-watch Varudu. Hee-Hee

Allu Arjun is known for his dancing. This movie has some of my favorites. I love all the song picturizations. It was hard to choose my to favorites, but after multiple viewings I have decided these the best Bunny dances!
Va Va Varava
Bunny Bunny

Did I mention he was fine?

Jalsa (2008) dir. Trivikram Srinivas

2010-08-05T23:34:00.003-05:00

I have now thoroughly crossed the subtitle barrier. In the last month or two I have made a point of getting to my local theater to see the Telugu new releases, even though they do not have subtitles. I have managed ok so far, because during the interval a get help from my very-surprised-to-find-me-there Telugu speaking neighbors. Besides being super excited to see Tarak, Mahesh and Siddharth on the big screen for the first time in the coming months, I have found myself to be looking forward to Pawan Kalyan's next film Komaram Puli.

Pawan Kalyan aka Power Star, is very new to me. Infact I have only seen one of his films so far, the 2008 blockbuster Jalsa. (Directed by Trivikram Srinivas) I found Jalsa had all that was required for a perfect Tollywood Masala Experience. First: It has a very appealing hero in Pawan Kalyan. He plays a perpetual college student (forever young!) with a drinking problem (he's vulnerable!) and, it turns out, a mysterious past (Oh! a bad boy!). Of course these things add up to him being pursued by the lovely Bhagi, played by Ileana, after he rescues her and her friend from some rowdies.

Second: The romance works and is fun to watch. Ileana does a great job playing the pursuer with the perfect combination of insecurity and determination.

Third: The comedy tracks work for the most part. Sunil, Brahmanandam and Ali show up in different capacities. Sunil's track works the best I think. He is Bhagi's advisor and helps her get her man. He does this by misunderstanding the "advice" he gets as he tries to help her.

Additionally, there are those sweet little graphic touches that happens so frequently in Tollywood films. Little surprises that make you giggle and smile.

Ileana's about to slap that kiss away!

Is that a full moon or a fool moon?

Sunil's about to replay a conversation.

Fourth: There are some kick ass fights in this movie. The fights are really well choreographed with some nice super fantastic moments. Like when Pawan grabs the Turban off the old man and uses it as a weapon. And then in another fight he kicks a bunch of bamboo poles in the air and they all land like daggers around one of the bad guys. I just love stuff like that!

Fifth and Sixth: Jalsa has a decent cliffhanger with an emotional impact at the Interval. So all through the first half of the movie we think that Sanjay is an alcoholic, career student living on a stipend. But wait! At the interval we find out he grew up so poor and miserable that he became a Naxalite! I never saw that coming. But now that I think about it there was some foreshadowing of Sanjay's revolutionary past. A giant poster of Che Guevara shows up in one of the songs and a smaller version was on one of the walls of his house.

Seventh: This movie has Prakash Dad and Prakash Cop! Yep a two for one Prakash Raj -orama! Prakash plays Ileana's Dad who during the first half rejects Sanjay's request to marry his daughter. Then after the interval we find out he is actually a cop who had been hunting down Sanjay back in his bad ol' Naxalite days. I love how they had him hunting naxalites in the forest wearing a preppy white Izod polo shirt.

I guess it was too preppy so they had him remove it! Hee Hee!

Eighth: Evil villains are very important for the all around Masala entertainer and Jalsa has a great one with Mukesh Rishi. This villain is so bad he even manages to come and go from jail to do all kinds of evil stuff. Murders, kidnaping, showing up in court, then stopping to make some threats before returning to jail. All in a days work I guess.

You can tell he's the villain 'cuz he's filmed at an angle!

Ninth: Of course there has to be great songs too. The music is by Devi Sri Prasad. I don't think this movie had the greatest choreography so I'll wait untill I see Pawan in more movies to decide whether he can dance or not. But Ileana was great as usual. These are my two favorite songs.

All in all Jalsa has all the requiremnts for a great Masala entertainer. I am really looking forward to Power Star's next movie!

Maryada Ramanna (2010) dir. S.S. Rajamouli and Our Hospitality (1923) dir. Buster Keaton

2010-07-29T01:39:00.003-05:00

     Scorching hot director, S.S. Rajamouli's winning streak is intact with the hit film Maryada Ramanna. But some of the joy over the success of this "Small, big film" has been dampened by claims that it is a copy of the Buster Keaton 1923 silent film, Our Hospitality. Certainly the Wikipedia summary of the plot sounds strikingly similar to Maryada Ramanna's.
    From one of Rajamouli's tweets (which I didn't quite understand), it appears he has known about the 1923 film for a while. (I don't know if that means he had mentioned the film as an inspiration or whether he has known about the controversy) And I know that some people, not associated with the film, have come to the film's defense arguing that even if it were to be a copy, Indian and US copyright laws weren't violated because the film is so old it falls into the Public Domain. True, however, if Rajamouli or S.S. Kanchi got the idea of the basic plot from Keaton's movie, if they were inspired by it in anyway, then they should clearly say so. I have a hard time with all the concern over piracy and shutting down torrent sites, if the inspiration for the story isn't rightfully credited. It's a matter of ethics not law.
    Now, because I am not a Telugu speaker let me be clear in saying I have no idea at all whether Rajamouli or Kanchi have ever tried to pass the story off as 100 percent original or whether they have actively denied the claims of copying. I also understand that the idea of a longstanding family feud/revenge storyline is a theme that can be found in stories in many cultures and time periods. The same goes for notions about hospitality.   When I watch Our Hospitality I will be looking for the situations that occur within those themes to determine if any copying occured. In anycase the controversy is moot untill I've seen both films.

My copy of Our Hospitality arrived from Netflix yesterday, it's only about an hour long, but I decided to wait until after I watched Maryada Ramanna to view it. I wanted to enjoy Maryada in its own right and was afraid I would spend too much time "looking" for similarities between the two and therefore not giving Maryada Ramanna a fair viewing. So first is my reaction and brief review of Maryada Ramanna and then I will watch Our Hospitality and write up a discussion of any similarites between the two films.

I found Maryada Ramanna to be very entertaining. As a non-Telugu speaker watching a film with out subtitles I obviously missed alot of the humour and emotion that came across through dialog, but the situations and the outstanding use of the background score provided plenty of humour and excitement. Sunil was a perfect choice for this role. He played the hero perfectly. He was sweet, funny and charming and his fear was palpable when he realised the danger he was in. He was obviously very heroic at the end on the bridge. (I wish I knew what he said!)

Saloni was also good in her role. I really like that alot of Tollywood heroines get parts that have women with some backbone. I thought she played her role sweetly but with a mind of her own. The supporting cast was once a gain perfectly chosen. The two brothers that were out to get Sunil were funny amd menacing.

I loved the hero introduction and the use of slow motion and music that Rajamouli uses so well to build excitement. I know I had a look on my face like a kid who was seeing fireworks for the first time during the first song picturization when all the cars were flying through the air. (Thank you Rajamouli for that!) I had seen Sunil dance in a few other other movies so I knew it would be a treat. I agree with other reviewers that have written that they were getting a Chiru vibe from him. The production values and action sequences were of a caliber that we've come to expect from Rajamouli. I found the film to be really a first rate entertaining expericence.

Next up...Our Hospitality, it's getting late but I'm determined to watch and review while Maryada Ramanna is still fresh in my mind. Feel free to take a step out.....

That would be Trenton New Jersey! LOLS

....To get to the point, its not a copy but Rajamouli clearly adapted it. There are several plot points the same as outlined in the wikipedia summary, but how Keaton gets to the house, what happens to him there and how he gets out are all different with the exception to some small details that lead me to believe Rajamouli had seen the film. Before I get into those I just want to say that I got a kick out of the fact that both films I watched and understood primarily by watching the expressions, listening to the music and watching the action play out. The American movie did have subtitles though!

First here are the similarities other than the main plot of family feud vs. hospitality. At the begining you see Keaton getting around New York on a bicycle. This was a very minor detail and insignificant to the plot, nothing at all a like the Bike in MR. I mention it because it was a cool old bike.
    Keaton goes to the town to claim his property by traveling on a train and the daughter is a passenger too. None of their interactions can be claimed as similar. About 25 minutes of very funny slapstick involving the running of the train (its more a wagon train attached to a steam engine) None of this was anything like in MR.
    The father has two sons, one runs into Keaton when he first arrives to town and escorts him to his destination. He realises who he is, tries to kill him but misses. How Keaton ends up at the house is completely different and the Father and two sons try to kill him on the way.
    Once he is in the house everything that happens to him is different except the following: He finds out the situation he is in by overhearing the brothers talking. He initially tries to delay leaving by shaking everyones hands, and by throwing his hat under a chair (this time its a dog that keeps finding it).

One final detail, there was a scene during a prayer where Keaton and the Sons peaked at each other with one eye closed.

How Keaton gets out of the house and gets the girl is very funny and very exciting and completely different than Maryada Ramanna. And I have to add they did some wicked cool stunts back in the day!

So I believe Maryada Ramanna is a very good, very unique adaptation to Our Hospitality. And its Rajamouli himself that determines whether people can rightly call this a rip-off or not. Like I say I have no idea whether he has ever tried to pass this off as 100% original or not. I also don't think its necessary to constantly bring up that its an adaptation when you're out promoting your film. Hollywood stars and producers don't mention the original film very often when they are promoting their movies either so that is nothing new. Both films are funny, thrilling and entertaining and I recommend people watch them both to decide for themselves.

Khatta Meetha (2010 - Hindi) and Vellanakalude Nadu (1988 Malayalam)

2010-07-26T00:20:00.002-05:00

I hadn't gone to see a Hindi movie in a while and Khatta Meetha, director Priyadarshan's remake of his 1988 Malayalam hit Vellanakalude Nadu, was SI Heroine Trisha's Bollywood debut. My daughter had been complaining she missed Bollywood after so many Telugu films, and it had Trisha. So we went. I don't really want to get into comparing every Bollywood film I watch with Southies (I don't think its fair, they have become so different) but this had so many SI elements and it being a remake of a Malayalam film I might as well do the comparison. Afterwards, I watched Vellanakalude Nadu to see what Priyadarshan's original vision for the film was. It would be my first Malayalam and obviously my first Mohanlal film.

I really love Trisha best in comedic roles like NVND and Athadu, and I have enjoyed most of Priyadarshan's collaborations with Akshay Kumar. Judging from the trailers I was fairly confident we were in for a silly 3 hours.

First of all it wasn't bad, but I don't see it being a hit. It was not a silly comedy but more a dark satire, so I think the advertiseing for it would set people up with a different expectation at the outset. Especially if they were like me, unfamiliar with the original going in.

Good points:

Akshay did pretty well. He played his role as a corrupt, down on his luck road Contractor fairly strait. More silly and angry rather than silly and stupid like his last few comedies.

Rajpal Yadev: Very funny as one of the construction workers. My favorite charactor in the film. The scenes he was in were the highlight of the movie for me.

The funniest scene involved an elephant, a road roller, Johnny Lever (he's baaack!) and a house.

I have gotten so used to the pacing and format of Tollywood hero movies that it seemed like forever before the first song came on. Of the four (only four?!) songs, I like the picturization of Sajde (not much dancing but the setting and clothes were beautiful) and the fun Item Number Aila re Aila the best.

Sajde

Aile re Aile

Note to Producers : Judging from the audience responses on the First Day First Show video posted on BollywoodHungama, don't have the song rolling over the credits be called "Bullshit" as its the last thing people hear before being asked about the movie.

Setting and sets were good. Some of the shots of the towns streets looked like the same set used in a few scenes from Love Aaj kal.

I didn't find it to be a very funny movie except the elephant scene and some of the ones with Rajpal Yadev. Some fairly serious things happen in the movie, so light and fun it's not.

There were many dialogs and speeches about corruption in the bureaucracy and how Akshay's charactor was corrupt because its the only way to get things done.

Trisha plays a former girlfriend (they broke up because Akshay punched her (closed fist, not slap like in SI films, not saying ones better than the other but this one seemed more brutal not OTT). Priyadarshan really missed an opportunity with Trisha, they never had her smile except during songs, she was not in any of the comedy scenes, so the opportunity for audiences to see her at her best (cute, bubbly and funny) didn't happen.

I didn't see any chemistry between Akshay and Trisha. When they revealed that they were in love before, I was surprised, never would have guessed it. Most of the movie they were fighting, so there could have been some dialog or physicality that would reveal a romantic past or sexual tension but there was none. Arguments were all played as corrupt contractor versus bureaucrat- nothing personal.

I know that there is a lot that goes into deciding what films to do. Priyadarshan and Akshay usually equals a hit film, but there was really nothing in this particular role for Trisha to show off what she can do. I hope she gets the opportunity to do another Hindi film and chooses a role where she can really shine.

There were parts of this movie that could have been better if they were Tollyized ( I just made that up!)

First of all Akshay needed a moustache, chest hair and a dhoti.

There was plenty of opportunity for revenge, for example:

Akshay's Sister gets married off to the SI equivalent of a political rowdy. When she is killed after being essentially prostituted out by her husband, Akshay doesn't have the typical Hero reaction. He steals evidence of corruption from B-I-L, gets chased and sort of beats up B-I-L (mostly swinging bag of evidence around and wildly kicking) but no REYYYY! no going crazy with grief and no OTT violent revenge. The B-I-L does get justice so to speak but not at Akshay's hands, so much less satisfying in my opinion.

There is a machete attack but on a secondary charactor and unlike a Tollywood film, the hero, Akshay is unable to stop it, just runs after the bus yelling.

My daughter pointed out that the interval didn't come at a cliff hanger like we are used to in Southies now. It stopped at half way without thought to the scene. At least that's how it seemed to me.

After watching Vellanakalude Nadu, I realized I was being unfair for wanting it to be more like a Tollywood film since the Malayalam film wasn't like a Tollywood film either. Ex: Evil Brother in Law does not die in a revenge filled bloodbath but gets tried in court and thrown in jail!! This is my first Malayalam film and my first with Mohanlal. Because I have so little knowledge and experience with these kinds of films I do not feel capable of trully judging whether the satire worked or not. It was a critical and commercial success, but I have to say I found KM to be much funnier.

Khatta Meetha was almost identical as far as setting, charactor and plot points but with some major changes in tone. Vellanakalude Nadu was much more of a satirical melodrama. There was only one song, a love song picturised on Mohanlal and his girlfriend played by Shobhana. The background music was heavily orchestrated with stringed instruments giving the whole movie a melodramatic soap opera feel.

Priyadarshan clearly wanted to ramp up the comedy in KM, he did this by adding more slapstick to the Elephant and road roller scene and adding additional slapstick scenes to the interactions of Akshay and his construction crew. Mohanlal's performance was much more subtle, plus he had a moustache and he was rocking the dhoti.

Now that's a moustache!

Rajamouli Magic

2010-07-18T23:21:00.004-05:00

S.S. Rajamouli is Tollywood's director with the Midas Touch. He has a 100% success rate with his seven releases. All have been hits, with his last couple (Yamadonga, Maghadeera) out doing each other and all other releases at the box office. He is my favorite director and will remain there until someone makes a movie that unseats Yamadonga as my most treasured film.
With his next release (Maryada Ramanna)just around the corner I decided to finish out his body of work and watched the last two Rajamouli films I had left, Sye and Vikramarkudu. Each of his films deserve a review/post of their own so I won't review each now. Instead I will briefly write what stands out for me about each film, some of which I watched months ago. I tried to rank them but gave up after getting too many tied for 2nd and 3rd place, so I will just discuss in the order released.

Student #1 (2001) This was Jr. NTR's first hit. I watched it on a DVD without subtitles. Even without subs I was able to follow the plot. This is one of only two Rajamouli films that has made me tear-up. I am a complete sap for Heroes crying about their Moms. The scene when Aditya's Mom is coming to visit him in jail and her husband stops her? That scene killed me, I was a sobbing mess. I'd say Rajamouli did an excellent job of conveying the emotions in that scene, if I could be so moved without being able to follow the dialog. If anyone knows of a version that has subs PLEASE let me know!

Simhadri (2003) Another Jr. NTR starrer. I just watched this last week on DVD that was supposed to have subs, but didn't. (yeah I'm frustrated) I loved the music and dancing in this one and Rahul Dev's demise as the bad guy stands out as particularly spectacular. I missed out on the comedy and sentiment in this one I think, because of the lack of subs.

Sye (2004) This was my first Nitin film- what a cutie-pie! I would say very different from Rajamouli's previous two. This one is more a campus rivalry than a revenge flick. The shots of the Rugby game are very exciting. The game didn't seem staged like a lot of sports flick can be. And another stand out is Genelia's dancing. I never thought she could dance very well untill I saw this one.

Chatrapathi (2005) This was the first Rajamouli movie I saw. What is most memorable for me in this one is the fights. Prabhas kicked-ass in this. He fought a CGI shark and folded someone in half. It was gloriously over the top. And his brother (played by Shafi) was a very memorable villain. Plus the Mom scenes. This is the other Rajamouli flick that made me cry.

Vikramarkudu (2006) The Hero in this one is Ravi Teja. Ravi plays a double role as a thief and a police officer. I loved the cute little girl and the villains in this. Ajay as a dacoit seemed like a giant. Once again the music and the song picturizations stand out.

Yamadonga (2007) I love this film. It's as close to perfection as a film can get. Perfect cast from Jr. NTR to Mohan Babu, Priyamani and Mamta. Brahmi and the other comics were used very well. The fights were wonderfully choreographed and executed. The Music and dancing spellbinding (with Tarak how could it not be?) The story was sweet, funny and exciting. What's not to love?

Maghadeera (2009) This film has opened the doors to the thrill ride that is Tollywood to alot of non-desi Bollywood fans. I get the sense from blogs and forums that Magadheera has been an eye-opener for alot of Indian movie fans who have never strayed South of Mumbai. Ram Charan Teja does really well with the action and dancing in this his, second film. I loved Chiru's cameo, Sri Hari's supporting role and Kajal was beautiful in both present day and past scenes. Great action and a superbly evil villain. Let me also add that Ram Charan has beautiful hair, I'm totally jealous. (He should keep it long. Seriously.)

So what is behind the Rajamouli magic? Whoever helps him cast his movies should get a raise. The Heroes and Heroines and supporting cast are perfectly chosen. All of these movies have well put together stories. The majority of them written by Vijayendra Prasad, who happens to be Rajamouli's father. I particularly like how the comedy tracks are so well integrated into the story, something that is often not the case in Telugu films. The music is memorable and composed by M.M. Keeravani, I believe he is Rajamouli's cousin. The set design has improved and gotten more impressive with each film.

Maryada Ramanna is releasing next week. It has comic actor Sunil in his second outing as Hero. This film is supposed to be different than Rajamouli's others. According to his tweets about the film it is less "vulgar and violent" than his previous films. If that is the case then choosing Sunil as the Hero makes sense as he usually plays sweet, funny, sidekick type roles. This short trailer highlights how different from the typical Rajamouli Hero Sunil will be.

The only concern I have about the film is whether it will have subtitles on it's overseas prints. I have been pestering Rajamouli on his Twitter and Facebook pages and the producer Shobu Yarlagadda on his Twitter account to include subtitles for us non-Telugu speaking fans. I have gotten "we'll try" responses from both of them. It is time for SI films to have them. Magadheera has opened the doors to SI films for alot of non-desi Bollywood fans I think. It would be a shame not to draw more in with the aid of subtitles. I got my fingers crossed, I'll go first day first show regardless - I hate waiting for DVDs and missing out on the big screen experience.

So the big question is (well besides whether it will have subs or not) will the Rajamouli magic continue and have Maryada Ramanna give him another hit and his fans another wonderful ride? I can't wait to find out!

Muhurat

2010-07-13T00:48:00.007-05:00

I need to hold a Muhurat for my Blog, this being the first post and all. I can't afford to get an astrologer to figure out the most auspicious time for me, so I will just assume that when I click on publish post, that it will be the best time to start. I wish I could do it up big like they do in the South and make it an event. I could have a Pooja and then a ceremonial first shot and invite the press and important dignataries. I wonder if they have food too? Haven't seen pictures of stars eating samosas, so I guess not. I would have to provide food however, samosas and to make it properly Minnesotan, some cocktail wieners and Swedish meatballs too.

I was only slightly aware of Muhurats when I was watching only Bollywood movies. Both Luck By Chance and Om Shanti Om had scenes referring to them though they didn't call them Muhurats. I did some searching to try to find out to see if they were still commonly done. I found this picture from the Muhurat of a Raj Kumar Santoshi film staring Aishwarya, Ajay Devgn and Nana Patekar.

They had a ceremonial sounding of the clapper board by Ramesh Shippy and Javed Akhtar and then a burning of an effigy. Now here is a mystery; according to the article this movie was to be called Saamna but the only movie that fits with this group of people is Khakee. Except Nana is not in Khakee. But look who is:

Prakash Raj! I am taking this as a sign I have to get back to the subject of this post; Muhurats, Tollywood style.

When I entered Muhurat into wikipedia I got redirected to the page on Electional Astrology. It says there that this branch of astrology was used to plan battles in the old days, but is now used to choose auspicious days for weddings and other special events. So now I know Muhurats aren't scheduled on some random day that's convenient for every one to show up. I have noticed that some are held fairly early in the morning, so clearly specific times are chosen carefully too.

Muhurats are religious ceremonies and promotional events for a new movie that is being launched. There is usually a table where garlanded dieties sit amongst offerings, and copies of the script are set there as well. I love some of the pictures of the dieties, so colorful and lively.

Look even Jesus shows up!

Sri Hari at Bhairava muhurat.

I also am impressed that faith seems to be ever present in people's public lives. Here in the midwest faith is personal and for a lot of people the only public displays of faith are done at our places of worship. Prayer at work is usually an individual, private undertaking.

Mahesh at Athadu Muhurat

After the Pooja there is the ceremonial first shot of the film. I don't know if these are actual scenes that will be used in the movie or just a documenting of the Muhurat. This is where the special guests and dignitaries come in. There needs to be someone to sound the clapper board, someone to switch on the camera and someone to direct the shot. These people can be anyone from politicians to actors, producers and directors. I am still hunting for pictures of actresses doing one of these jobs although I have found a few Aunties.

Tarak at Bhairava Muhurat

Balakrishna and Politician Chandrababu Naidu

Even the camera gets a garland!

So to finish the Muhurat for Tollywood is My Bollywood Blog I'd like to thank for their encouragement blogger and fellow Twin Citian Sita-ji, who is directing the first shot, blogger and guru ApunBindaas who is sounding the clapboard and my daughter Nyambura who has just pressed publish post. Thanks ladies, this should be lots of fun!