Naaga (2003) dir. D.K. Suresh

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?

Jalsa (2008) dir. Trivikram Srinivas

    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

     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.