videos: 2008

Chintakayala Ravi(2008) movie review

Nallamalupu Srinivas (Bujji) who had produced the blockbuster Lakshmi with Venkatesh, has again roped in the same hero for his next movie Chintakayala Ravi. Lakshmi had some action in the backdrop but this time, Venkatesh has chosen a flick, which has a storyline with family entertainment, with a touch of sentiment. Directed by Yogesh, the film really has the Venkatesh-type of comedy and the film will reminds the audiences of his earlier films Nuvvu Naaku Nachav and the recent Aadavari Maatalaku Ardhale Verule. Though the storyline is a little routine one, the treatment is novel and the audiences will be able to enjoy the flick.

Chintakayala Ravi (Venkatesh) is a normal student. However, he is attached to his mother Seshumamba (Lakshmi) and in order to please her, he convinces that he is a bright student. With the craze for software engineers, Seshu sends him to the US to undergo software engineer course. Ravi spends the money for the surgery of a friend (Venu Thottempudi) and sacrifices his career. In order to make Seshu believe that he is doing a software engineer's job, he stays back in the US by working as a bartender. Seshu continues to believe that he is a software engineer and arranges an alliance with Mamidikayala family. Lavanya (Mamta Mohandas), who has a craze for staying abroad agrees to marry Ravi. She calls up her friend Sunita (Anushka) in the US to enquire about Ravi. Sunita could not find the software firm with the name, but only finds a bar with the name. Incidentally she comes across Ravi and believes that he is a cheat and a womaniser.

Sunita unravels the secret that Ravi is just a bartender and not a software engineer. Lavanya's father (Sayaji Shinde) cancels the alliance and slaps Ravi's father for cheating them right in front of Ravi. So Ravi decides to avenge the insult caused by Sunita. So, he spoils the alliance of Sunita, due to which her father (Chalapati Rao) is admitted hospital with a heart attack. However, Ravi saves him from life threat, when he suffers from breathlessness. In the hospital, Sunitha learns that Venkatesh is a gentleman, who has sacrificed his career to help a friend. This makes Sunitha befriend Ravi and the latter tries to bring an alliance for Sunitha as he had spoiled it. In the course of time, both Sunitha and Ravi fall in love with each other. Meanwhile, Ravi's friends call up the friend whom Ravi had saved and in turn goes to Lavanya's house and explains everything. This sets everything right and again the marriage gets fixed. Being the best friend Sunita also attends the marriage. In the climax, everyone comes to know that Ravi and Sunita are in love with each other and Lavanya steps aside to get them united. The film ends on a happy note.

PLUS:
Venkatesh single handedly manages the entire show. It is he who entertainsthe audiences with his comedy, touches the hearts of woman audiences with his performance in sentimental scenes and enthralls the youth with his dances. He has proved once again that he is an all-rounder beyond an 'image'. Anushka has a lot of scope for performance and surprisingly, the director has ensured that the camera doesn't focus on her waist as other directors choose to cash in on her glamour. She has done a neat job and has got the audiences prepared to see her in a serious role as a prelude to a heroine-oriented film Arundhati with herself playing the title role.

Mamta Mohandas' role is limited to a couple of duets in the first half. She does not have much scope to perform. Another speciality of the film is that Young Tiger NT Rama Rao has shaken his legs along with Venkatesh in a song, which has attracted many an audience. As far as direction is concerned, Yogesh has improved a lot from Oka Raju Oka Rani. He has maintained a nice tempo all through the film. Though the first half remains a little nagging, he has got a firm grip in the second half and has made the film interesting. Camera work by Ravindrababu is okay and he has been able to capture the beauty of the US. The colour schemes and lighting also perfectly suits the scenes.

MINUS:
Music by Vishal-Sekhar duo is a minus. The music beat overrides the lyrics in some songs. But for two songs, 'Valla Valla Valla Baby… ' and 'Baagunde…' none of the other songs are impressive. They have copied their own tune from Om Shanti Om for the bit song before the climax. Background score is somewhat better with Manisharma taking charge of it. Editing by Srikar Prasad should have been sharper. Especially, the scenes where the hero brings alliance for Anushka appears boring and is stretched beyond limit. Dialogues by Kona Venkat are partly good. Comedy by Ali was boring and nagging.

REMARKS:
The production values of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions are excellent and the producer has spent lavishly for the film as most of the film was shot in the US. No doubt, the film would run well in all the centres. The film would not bring loss to the producer, but its commercial success range could be known on how far the youth and mass audiences receive, especially in the absence of mass masala scenes and action episodes.

Cast: Venkatesh, Anushka, Mamata Mohandas, NT Rama Rao (special appearance), Venu Thottempudi (guest appearance), Chandramohan, Sayaji Shinde, Pradeep Shakti, Sunil, Brahmanandam, Ali, Ajay, MS Narayana, Ganesh, Venumadhav, Raghubabu, Srinivasa Reddy, Lakshmi, Arthi Chabria and others

Credits:
Story, dialogues, additional screenplay – Kona Venkat, Music – Vishal-Sekhar, Lyrics – Chandrabose, Camera – K. Ravindrababu, Editing – Srikar Prasad, Presents – Bhavya, Producer – Nallamalupu Srinivas (Bujji), Screenplay and direction – Yogesh.

Banner: Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions
Released on: October 2, 2008

Kotha Bangaru Lokam(2008) movie review

Most of the debutant directors choose love subjects as they strongly feel that they can handle the story easily. However, it is not that easy to portray love subjects. Srikanth Addala has also chosen a teenage love story as his subject. It is quite a delicate subject and any small mistake in dealing with the story would result in causing huge loss to the producer, especially for a person like Dil Raju. It is not just a monetary loss but it would be the prestige and reputation. Surprisingly, the director has done a balanced job and has made it a memorable love story along the lines of Maro Charitra. Of course, he has given a good twist in the climax which is beyond the imagination of the audiences.

Balu (Varun Sandesh) is the only son of his parents (Prakash Raj and Jayasudha). Incidentally, Balu's parents had a love marriage. Balu's father never treated him as his son but like a friend. He gave him complete freedom in all respects. After completion of his SSC, Balu got admission in a junior college and stays in the hostel. Swapna (Swetha) is the daughter of a landlord (Ahuti Prasad). Like many teenage boys and girls, they too get attracted to each other. However, they cannot decide whether theirs is an attraction or love. When there are holidays, both Swapna and Balu decide to note down as to how many times they remembered each other and to their surprise they realise that each of them times they remember one another. They finally confirm that they are in love. Once, the girls go on an outing from hostel and Balu jumps the boundary wall and join Swapna. Incidentally, some person clicks their photograph and get it published in the newspaper. The principal sends away Balu and directs him to bring his father to obtain hall ticket for the exam. Swapna's father who sees the photographs takes away his daughter. Now the struggle between the souls start. Balu makes several efforts to find out Swapna's address but cannot trace it. However, Swapna gets the address of Balu and writes down a letter to him. Somehow, both of them again meet during the exam time. Pulling courage, Balu meets Swapna's father and boldly explains his love towards Swapna. Later, Swapna's father decides to marry her to someone. Noticing the change in Balu, his mother tries to find out the problem but fails to know anything. Accidentally, Balu's friend Raga Sudha (Sushma) reveals his love story to Balu's father. At that time Swapna decides to elope with Balu. However, the latter could not meet her as Balu's father died in an accident. His father's death makes Balu make a commitment that he would groom himself the way his father had dreamt of. He completes his engineering course. When he is about to take his degree, Swapna's father accidentally meets Balu in a railway station. Then Balu realises that Swapna is not with either of them. In the climax, Balu's mother reveals that she had kept Swapna in their lecturer's custody and had made her to complete her engineering too. The film ends on a happy note with the union of Balu and Swapna.

PLUS:

The director needs compliments for extracting the talents in the artistes. His excellent screenplay, memorable taking, directorial abilities could be seen in each frame of the film. It is definitely a director's film and the artistes, the hero being an upcoming artiste, the heroine a debutant, are moulded well. The entire film revolves around these two characters. They are fantastically supported by Ahuti Prasad's character. Once again Prakashraj has played a memorable character in the role of a father. It is like a role model for all the teenage children. Jayasudha, known for her natural acting talents, has done justice to her role. Brahmanandam's comedy brings instant relief at times like comic tonic. Music by Mickey J. Meyer is melodious and the tunes are quite novel. There is no need for a special mention when the camera is handled by a senior cinematographer like Chota K Naidu. He has captured not only the feelings of the artistes but also portrayed the natural beauty of Konaseema with his camera. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh has proved his seniority with not a scene left as unnecessary.

MINUS:

Though the director has brought out the love story in an excellent manner, he might have forgotten that the boys and girls hostels will generally be separate and there won't be a chance for their union. At the same time though the character of Rao Ramesh helps in the nice movement of the story, he gives a wrong picture that lecturers encourage love between teenagers. Of course, there might be some such instances where the lecturers encourage the talented students in all respects. The director has appeared to have lost grip on the subject after the interval with some long scenes, they are unavoidable as to show how the lovers feel the separation. But for few lapses here and there, the minus points in the film are minimal.

REMARKS:

Instead of going to foreign locales, the director has penned a story which has enabled the producer to show the greenery and the beauty of Konaseema and the village atmosphere. Really the first song in the film take the audiences to their childhood, especially those who move around in those localities like Rajahmundry, Kasimkota and other Konaseema areas. The film would remain memorable for Varun Sandesh in his career. Though there were gossips that some XYZ was planning to remake Maro Charitra with the same hero, there is no need for such film now as Kotha Bangaru Lokam has given the same feel to the audiences.

Cast: Varun Sandesh, Swetha Basu Prasad, Brahmanandam, Ahuti Prasad, Rao Ramesh Rao, Vinay Prasad, Praveen, Chinnikrishna, Gauthamraju, Phani, Rajita, Sushma and others
Credits: Cinematography: Chota K Naidu Music: Mickey J Meyer Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh Lyrics: Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Anant Sriram, Srikanth Addala Art: Prakash Presents: Anitha Producer: Dil Raju Story, dialogues, screenplay and direction: Srikanth Addala. Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations

Released on: October 9, 2008

Kausalya Supraja Rama(2008) movie reviews

Surya Teja, who had directed Srikanth and Charmi for Neeke Manasichanu has chosen the same pair for his latest movie. The film unit first planned to title it as Boss Gari Ammayi, but changed it to Kausalya Supraja Rama as it sounded interesting than the routine title. The director has chosen a typical subject and has thought of maintaining a kind of suspense and make the audiences believe that it is a triangular love story. He has maintained good tempo till the climax and the film would remain an average flick among the city audiences and may not go that well for the audiences in B, C centres due to lack of mass elements.

Story:
Surya Teja, who had directed Srikanth and Charmi for Neeke Manasichanu has chosen the same pair for his latest movie. The film unit first planned to title it as Boss Gari Ammayi, but changed it to Kausalya Supraja Rama as it sounded interesting than the routine title. The director has chosen a typical subject and has thought of maintaining a kind of suspense and make the audiences believe that it is a triangular love story. He has maintained good tempo till the climax and the film would remain an average flick among the city audiences and may not go that well for the audiences in B, C centres due to lack of mass elements.

Sriram (Srikant) is a software engineer. He is very kind hearted and has a helping nature. He joins as a software engineer with Narayana Rao's (Kota Srinivasa Rao) company. He develops a software and gets a big order from the US for the company. Once he needs Rs 10 lakh loan, but his boss Narayana Rao agrees to sign the surety on a condition that his project should first be approved by the US firm and get the agreement signed. In fact, he needs the money to get a girl (Gowri Munjal) operated upon, who went into coma due to the mistake of Sriram. Sriram believes that it is his responsibility to get her back to normal stage and unite her with her husband. As he doesn't know her name, he admits her in the hospital as Lakshmi and signs papers as her husband. At this juncture Narayana Rao goes to the US for agreement and hands over his house to Sriram to look after the house and his pet dog. After he leaves for the US, his daughter Supraja (Charmi), his brother-in-law and his wife (Sriram and Apoorva), son (Siva Reddy) and his personal secretary who was ousted from the job Prema (Hema) come to the house and start harassing Sriram. Being a gentleman Sriram patiently serves them as he was in dire need of Narayana Rao's signature for Rs 10 lakh loan. During that period, Supraja learns how good Sriram is and falls in love with him. When she proposes, Sriram simply rejects it saying that he is not fit for her as there is a lot of differences in status. Once, Supraja brings a photograph of her sister Kausalya (Gowri Munjal), who reportedly died in an accident. It is none other than the one Sriram wanted to save. But he doesn't know it. Narayana Rao returns from the US and comes to know that Supraja is in love with Sriram and announces their marriage. But a doctor (Raghunatha Reddy) objects to it saying Sriram was already married. However, Sriram could not reveal the truth as he promised that girl not to reveal that she was married to Ravi (Sivaji). In fact, Ravi is the son of Ranga Rao (Tanikella Bharani) the bitter rival of Narayana Rao. Kausalya fell in love with him and they both had got married. Ranga Rao sends goons to kill her. All the story unwinds in the climax and the film ends on a happy note with the union Supraja and Sriram. Doctors operate upon Kausalya to gain conscious and unite her with Ravi.

PLUS:

But for story which is a typical family drama with a touch of love, sentiment, drama and suspense, the film offers nothing much. Of course, it is a different story penned by director Surya Prasad which is tailor-made for Srikanth as he is best known for playing hero in such family dramas and he needs no additional energy to play such roles and could do it with very ease. The movement of the story is gripping, though several scenes prove absurd and the audiences are forced to sit impatiently. Charmi fills the glamour slot well. The costume designers need compliments for selecting the wardrobe for Supraja character. They are so tight and appease the mass audiences well. The surprise entry of Sivaji thrills the audiences to some extent. Music by Koti is good and the songs were canned in Malaysia, Lankavi, Kuala Lumpur and other such beautiful foreign locales, besides Vizag beach and the latest studio built by Ramanaidu in Vizag.

MINUS:

Once again the director has chosen cheap romance for comedy. The comedy track between LB Sriram, Apoorva, Krishna Bhagawan and Venumadhav is of bad taste and it is really not a healthy comedy for a film that comes from a big banner like Suresh Productions. Even the Subbalakshmi character played by Saira Banu only helps to elevate the love track, but her character is also spoiled with dialogues coupled with lust. Scenes like the hero serving the entire crowd though he is basically a software professional appears absurd. The unnecessary dragging of such scenes test the patience of audiences. It is unclear as to why a person signs as husband when admitting a girl in hospital instead of brother or some other relative, but to maintain suspense drama. To some extent Marthand has failed in properly editing the film as many scenes are unnecessarily stretched beyond limits.

REMARKS:

No doubt, the film is a good family drama and on the lines of several other such films under the banner. The production values of Suresh Productions are good. Brahmanandam's character as a good thief has failed to evoke laughter, though the character helps in unravelling the truth in the climax. But for the Srikanth's performance and Charmi's oomph, there is nothing much to watch in the film. Can be watched once but don't need to regret if you miss the movie.

Cast: Srikanth, Charmi and Gouri Munjal, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Tanikella Bharani, Krishna Bhagawan, LB Sriram, Brahmanandam, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Venumadhav, Siva Reddy, Chalapati Rao, Raghunatha Reddy, Uttej, Hema, Apoorva, Sairabanu, Anita, Sana, Master Deepak and others.

Credits:

Dialogues: Satyanand
Art: B Venkateswara Rao
Lyrics: Veturi, Vanamali, Peddada Murthy, Ramajogaiah Sastry
Action: Satish
Camera: Pratap V Kumar
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Choreography: Krishna Reddy and Nixon
Music: Koti
Producer: D Ramanaidu
Story, screenplay and direction: Surya Prasad.

Banner: Sri Suresh Productions

Released on: October 9, 2008

Three(2008) movie review

Sekhar Suri is very familiar among the Telugu audiences with his film A Film By Aravind. Though the film was not commercially successful. The film was technically brilliant and earned him name as a good technical director, but did not become a hit due to the absence of entertainment value. Once again Sekhar Suri has come up with a different film, a suspense thriller. This time, he has chosen rebirth / schizophrenia as the theme with several twists and filled with nail-baiting suspense.

Ram (Rishi), a journalist working on forest life, stays with his friend. Though he is in love, he plans to first settle in life before getting married. Incidentally when his lover refuses to stay and leaves him, a psychiatrist Harsha (Harshavardhan) comes to help him out of this depression. When he is alone, another girl Nisha(Urvashi Sharma) comes to him saying that she had purchased a house built by his friend who does real-estate business. She claims to be facing a typical problem whereby someone by name Shankar calls her and she can hear some typical sounds but could not see who was doing all this. Learning about her psychological disorder, Rishi calls for Harsha, who takes her to his professor (Ranganath). He declares that she has no mental disorder and is fine. However, Harsha raises a doubt, whether Nisha is haunted by a devil (dayyam) and wants to confirm whether that Shankar is dead or alive. Ram, Nisha and Harsha go to the island where Nisha had met Shankar (Shanti Chandra) once. Nisha meets Chandra and Harsha confirms that she is suffering from schizophrenia.

When they are about to leave the guest house a man by name Rajeev (Rajeev Kanakala) comes seeking shelter at night. Nisha later calls the police and gets him arrested. But the police on finding that he is not Shankar but Rajeev, leaves him. The original Shankar, who was in love with Nisha attacks Rajeev as she had claimed that the former was planning to kill her. This irks Rajeev and he comes to attack Nisha. Finally, Harsha takes Nisha to a Father who reveals that she is not suffering from schizophrenia, but is haunted by memories from her earlier birth. As per his revelation, in her previous birth, Nisha had an affair with Chandra (Shanti Chandra), but married Shankar (Rajeev Kanakala). Once when she threatened to divorce Shankar, to prevent her from sharing his property, Shankar had bequeathed his entire property to his friend (Rishi). However, that friend first killed Nisha, then Shankar, Chandra and finally he too died. After rebirth, Nisha is haunted by these memories. Incidentally, Ram also learns about his past life and wants to kill Rajeev. Meanwhile, Shankar intervenes and finally, Ram gets killed by Rajeev. The film ends with Rajeev (the husband in the earlier birth) uniting Shankar and Nisha.

PLUS:

Director Sekhar Suri has come out with a different subject by choosing regression / rebirth / schizophrenia as the focal subject. He has nearly succeeded in making the audiences sit feel the suspense. Those who like suspense thrillers would definitely like the movie. Rishi sports a different look with tattoos all over his body. Though he has given his best, he needs to improve his body language and diction. Rajeev Kanakala's character has different shades. In fact, he is the lone horror subject on the screen. To some extent, Harshavardhan has made efforts to tickle the funny bone of the audiences. Camera work by Senthil Kumar needs a special mention. He has presented each and every scene on the screen exactly the way the director had in mind. Music by Vijay C Kurakula is okay. Dialogues by Harshavardhan are adequate.

MINUS:

Many scenes appear too lengthy due to the director's bid to fill suspense in the scene. Though the music is okay,it has dominated the audio in some scenes, with many of the dialogues not being audible. Heroine of the film is another big minus point. She can neither perform nor bring horror and fear in her face. Though Shanti Chandra has made his debut through this film, he can not maintain a separate identity of his own. Though the concept 'regression' chosen by the director is okay, the presentation of the same on the screen is a little weird and many scenes appear confusing with the director not being able to convince the audiences as to what he wants to explain. Those who like suspense thrillers, and watch Hollywood movies of the kind, can watch the movie to some extent. But for the common audiences it fails to give anything.

REMARKS:

Though the film is a little confusing, the director has tried his best to explain that there are many instances where one could find similarities in one person with someone in the past. At the end of film, there is a scrolling where the director has tried to explain that there are similarities between some famed personalities with the present generation famed personalities. They include Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, George Bush and J K Rowling. Had the director kept some more entertainment the film would have gone well. Such films may not go well with common audiences in the absence of commercial values.

Cast: Rishi, Rajeev Kanakala, Shanti Chandra, Urvashi Sharma, Ranganath, Harshavardhan, Benarjee and others.

Credits: Cinematography – Senthil Kujmar, Editing – Tirupati Reddy, Music – Vijay Kurakula, Action – Ram-Lakshman, Presents – Smt P Kanakalakshmi, Producers – Phaniraj P and GS Babu, Story, screenplay and direction – Sekhar Suri.

Banner: Raj (India) Entertainments.
Release Date: October 17, 2008

Keka(2008) movie review

Cinematographer turned director Teja after a gap of two years has brought out the film Keka. Teja who has brought out this film on his own has also introduced over 36 new faces including the heroes and heroine in this film. While Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry's son Raja makes his debut as hero Ishana, daughter of an industrialist of Ajmer comes as the heroine. Anoop is the other hero in the movie. Teja himself declares that it is a different movie.

Arjun (Raja), the native of a remote village while spending the vacation with his friends, accidentally comes across Sujata (Ishana). Their friendship soon matures into love. After vacations, Arjun and Sujata leave to pursue their higher education. Arjun's friend Kiran (Anoop) once shows Sujata's photos in his cell phone as his fiancee. On hearing this Arjun's efforts to trace Sujata are in vain. Incidentally, Sujata had joined the same college where Arjun and Kiran were studying. Sujata, happy to see Arjun comples him to reveal their love to Kiran. When he explains to Kiran, the latter immediately withdraws without hesitation.

When Arjun learns of Kiran's father's (Talaivasal Vijay) anger and consequently Kiran's suicide attempt, he decides to leave the place to unite Kiran and Sujata. But Sujata cannot forget Arjun. Arjun goes to Kolkata and decides to perform a show to raise funds for an orphanage. When the program is telecast, Sujata sees and asks Kiran to bring Arjun. At this juncture, a murder attempt is made on Arjun and he finds that Kiran was the mastermind behind that. When Kiran and Sujata come to see Arjun, Kiran misguides Sujata to believe that Arjun suspects her fidelity. However in the climax, the truth is out and the film ends on a happy note.

PLUS:
The typical screenplay, different love story, variety movement and the director's skill are the highlights of the movie. Cinematography by PC Sriram is another highlight. Many scenes in the first half are elevated due to the superb photographic values. Music by Chakri is average and only a couple of songs are foot-tapping. The title song is loaded with music as it was shot in a pub in Chennai. As far as performance is considered, both the heroes Raja and Anoop have tried their best to perform. However, both of them need to improve their body language and histrionics. The heroine is good while she smiles but when it comes to performance she has gone a little overboard.

MINUS:
The typical screenplay, different love story and variety movement the highlights have unfortunately also proved minus for the film. Normal audiences, who go for entertainment are unable to digest the movement of the film as the screenplay is quite confusing as to who loves whom and who is the villain at one stage. It is definitely a typical love subject, but cannot sense pulse of the mass audiences or students / youth. There is no need for the hero to grow moustache, beard and hair to give a feel of a ditched lover. The director has been unable to prove how the street kids won the contest, traced the heroine's car and located the hospital where their friend was admitted. But for the minor lapses the film is just okay.

REMARKS:
As Teja rightly remarked it is a triangular love story and not exactly a triangular love. It is a love story and not exactly something purely about love. It is a story of two friends and they are friends for sometime and foes for some time. These remarks itself prove how confusing the film is. However, those who watch the film would definitely get a feel that they watched a different film from the routine stuff.

Cast: Raja, Ishana, Anoop, Basha, Nimmoo Bhoumik, Talaivasal Vijay, Mayil Sami, Vayyapuri, Duvvasi Mohan, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam,

Credits: Cinematography – PC Sriram, Lyrics – Chandrabose, Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Kandikonda, Music – Chakri, Editing – Shankar, Choreography – Shankar, Suchitra Chandrabose, Executive producer – Ketireddy Jagadiswara Reddy, Story, dialogues, screenplay, direction and production – Teja.

Banner: Chitram Movies

Released on: October 23, 2008

Kasipatnam Choodarababu(2008) movie review

Inspired by his mentor Vamsi, Maddirala, his protege has brought out a film with a rural backdrop. Kasipatnam Choodarababu has a whole lot of comedians, small time artistes and a lot of commotion all through the film along the lines of Vamsi's film, but the director has not been able to make it very impressive.

In a small village Kasipatnam there is a miser Kanaka Murthy who has two sons. His elder son (Venumadhav) dreams of going to the US,in spite of no formal education. His younger son Anand (Vijayanand) who is studying in Hyderabad has a crush on Sandhya (Suprena) but has not been able to proclaim it. Kind-hearted he saves a boy who met with an accident with the help of Sandhya. He even borrows money from her by giving his gold chain and slowly their friendship grows. However he is disappointed when he gets to know that her marriage has been fixed by her father (Jayaprakash Reddy), when he proposes to her. Incidentally, the boy is none other than Anand. Kanaka Murthy, the miser, on learning that a US return boy would get more dowry, hides his elder son in one of his buildings and announces that he had gone to US, in the village.

Later when he comes to know that the village head (Benarjee) of the neighbouring village is ready to offer Rs 50 lakh as dowry for his daughter (Geeta Singh), he breaks the alliance between Anand and Sandhya and opts foe the wealthier deal. But Anand refuses the alliance and strikes a challenge with his father that he would earn Rs 30 lakh in 30 days and give it as dowry to marry Sandhya. In the process, he joins GDM, a multi-level marketing business and makes every villager a member under the pretext that they could earn lakhs by paying Rs 9,999. GDM, like one of the many fake organizations breaks their hopes. But Anand catches hold of the MD (Raghunatha Reddy), brings back Rs 30 lakh to and win the challenge as well as Sandhya.

PLUS:
No doubt, up to the interval and even a little while after that too the film managed to entertain the audience with some comedy. Debutant hero Vijayanand is a look alike of Navadeep and has also proved that with his performance as well. His body language and histrionics are more or less equal to Navadeep. Hehas given a nice performance in the film, though he needs to improve his body language. Debutant heroine Suprena is good looking and has the glamour and her eyes are quite sharp. She is even daring to expose as well. Tanikella Bharani's character was penned along the lines of several roles played by Kota Srinivasa Rao, especially in Aha Naa Pellanta. Other characters too bear similarities with some characters in Vamsi's films. The director ha almost imitated his mentor Vamsi in film-making right from the beginning to the climax. Once the multi-level marketing point surfaces, the audiences can easily anticipate what is to happen.

MINUS:
The director loses grip on the subject a little while after the interval. But the part before the climax tests the audiences' patience after the hero's challenge with his father. The item number in the film is a mere waste and is solely for the mass audiences. The movement of the film comes to a grinding halt and is stretched beyond patience levels while the hero tries to win the challenge through multi-level marketing. Placement of songs is also improper for when the film moves at a good pace, the song sequences spoil them. Moreover, Chakri's tunes are not so impressive save for a couple of songs. Three of the songs were choreographed in Malaysia and one at RFC and the producer has spent a good amount of money on the film but to no avail.

REMARKS:
Camera by Jawahar Reddy is the only solace. He has captured the greenery of the Konaseema village atmosphere on the one hand and the beautiful foreign locales on the other in his camera. However, the choreography of songs was not that impressive. Editing by Baswa Paidireddy is okay. Dialogues by writer Mohan are good to an extent. Though the characters and the village atmosphere resemble Vamsi's films, the sharp entertainment provided by Vamsi cannot be reproduced by others, even after working as his assistant for several films.

Cast: Vijayanand, Suprena, Tanikella Bharani, Venumadhav, Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao, Jayaprakash Reddy, Krishna Bhagawan, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Benarjee, Surya, Gundu Sudarshan, Sivannarayana, Raghubabu, Jayalalita, Geeta Singh and others

Credits: Camera – Jawahar Reddy, Editing – Baswa Paidi Reddy, Music – Chakri, Story – Ramesh Cheppala, Dialogues – Writer Mohan, Action – Nandu, Choreography – Krishna Reddy, Nixon, Producer – MSM, Screenplay and direction – Maddirala

Ekaloveyudu(2008) movie review

Medikonda Muralikrishna, who has brought out big hits like Narasimha Naidu has failed to produce another movie that reaches that range. Medikonda has made an attempt to promote K Rama Krishna, a protégé of senior director Raviraja Pinisetty, as director. Love is in the backdrop of the story of Ekaloveyudu and the director and producer has chosen Udaykiran as their hero, which has again proved to be a big drawback.

Karthik (Udaykiran) who is always chided by his father (Chalapati Rao) for being irresponsible, attempts suicide. But he is saved by Bhakta (Antony) and his gang. As Karthik had decided to die, Bhakta strikes a deal with him to die whenever he demands and in return, agrees to pay as much money as Karthik wants. He gives Rs 10 lakhs in advance and Karthik solves his family problems and informs them that he is going to Mumbai for training before leaving for US. However, he lands in Ooty and stays with his friends. There he meets Indu (Kruthi) and they fall in love but, he does not aknowledge her love.

Upon his friends' insistence (Chitram Sreenu and Vijay Sai), he reveals the truth regarding his death. When an elderly man advises Karthik, that when lovers are ready to die for love, why does he not fight to live for love. This makes him rethink and informs Bhakta that he wishes to live and would return the money. But Bhakta does not spare him. Later, Karthik learns that Bhakta wanted his life to save his daughter suffering from heart disease, so that heart transplantation could be done. Surprisingly, the girl is none other than Indu and Karthik agrees to without hesitation. Eventually when Bhakta comes to know the truth, he donates his heart to save his daughter and also unites the lovers.

PLUS:
There are very few plus points in the film. Udaykiran has tried to give his best performance. He has improved his performance and dialogue modulation a lot. He also shows good ease in dances and other emotional scenes. Also the action scenes were also well shot and he appears quite energetic in them. Performance by Antony as heroine's father is okay. Though he too could not show any kind of facial expressions, the twist in his character is a little impressive.

MINUS:
Heroine Kruthi in spite of being glamorous has failed to show any feelings though she had a couple of good opportunities to prove her performance. However, she has shown a little ease in dances. The director has failed miserably in narrating the story. Most of the scenes, especially in the second half are beyond logic. Moreover, someone donating heart for the sake of the hero has already appeared on the Telugu screen. Cameraman Ramesh Krishna is a big failure as he could not capture the beauty of Ooty in his camera. The lighting in many scenes were pale and dark. Songs are not very impressive, though a couple of them are choreographed well. Music by Anil Krishna is average and he should have shown a little more attention during the re-recording. The dialogues by Rakhee Radhakrishna has also failed to impress the audiences. The only impressive dialogue in the film is "Lovers keep saying that they are ready to die for love and why they don't fight to live for love" and interestingly this is the basic storyline of the movie.

REMARKS:
Udaykiran has once again failed miserably in selecting a good story. Though the storyline is okay, the mixture of violence and love has turned bane. Likewise Udaykiran who has tried to shed the lover boy image to gain a mass image has not succeeded either. The immaturity in direction is clearly visible in many of the scenes which were beyond logic. But for a twist — the turning of a negative character into a character artiste, that too as heroine's father is the only novel point in the film and the success of the film is a big question mark.

Cast: Udaykiran, Kruti Ahuja, Chitram Sreenu, Vijay Sai, Antony, Chalapati Rao, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Ahuti Prasad, Sudha and others.

Credits: Music – Anil Krishna, Dialogues – Rakhee Radhakrishna, Lyrics – Veturi, Ramajogaiah Sastry, Paidisettin Ramu, Editing – Marthand K Venkatesh, Camera – Ramesh Krishna, Presents – Medikonda Muralikrishna, Producer – Medikonda Amarchand, Story, screenplay and direction – KRK.

Banner: Sri Venkataramana Films

Nenu meeku telusa(2008) movie review

The Telugu audiences could very well remember the super hit film Gajini of Surya which was dubbed into Telugu with the same name. The film was well remembered by the people as it came out with a novel concept, called amnesia (short time memory loss). The concept was again used in Nenu Meeku Telusa directed by Ajay Sastry with a different storyline of course. This time, the hero does not use any photographs or cards, but recollects everything with the help of a tape recorder only after getting up from bed. The gripping screenplay and the crisp narration made the film once again memorable.

Aditya @ Adi (Manoj) is the son of a millionaire. His father stays in the US and Adi pursues his engineering in India. He falls in love with a girl called Anjali (Sneha Ullal) in the college. They move together and once Adi tells Anjali that his aim is to become a good software engineer and assist his father by going back to the US. But Anjali doesn't want to pursue engineering but wants to become a police officer after her IPS. They differ on this point and Adi passes adverse remarks against the police and this hurts her feelings. They get separated. After that Adi goes to US but could not forget Anjali. So he convinces his father to liquidate all their properties and return to India. However, before meeting Anjali, their car meets with an accident in which Adi's father gets killed, while Adi suffers amnesia. He forgets everything once he goes to bed. However, Adi's paternal uncle (Nazar) turns a caretaker for the entire property. He arranges a personal doctor who visits India once in two months. At that time he gives treatment to Adi. Somehow Adi manages everything though he commits mistakes here and there. At this juncture, Adi gets close to Madhumati (Riya Sen), the vice-president of the company. When she was expecting a promotion, Adi proved a hurdle. So, she tries to know who was Adi and realizes that he is the MD of the company and is suffering from amnesia through Adi's uncle. Then Madhumati and her brother (Uttej) hatch a plan to first marry Adi and get rid of him later to grab the entire property. When Adi's uncle comes to know about their plans, they kill him and fix Adi in the case as the entire property was transferred to Madhumati through power of attorney. But Anjali comes in the way as an investigating officer and turns close to Adi. This irks Madhumati and she plans to kill Anjali, but in the melee gets killed by Adi. Later Anjali marries Adi, with which the film ends on a happy note.

PLUS: Manoj showed an impeccable performance in the film. He showed excellent skills in every scene. He improved a lot. He built the physique well and got a six-pack body. Moreover, his histrionics too improved well. In a scene he imitates Mohanbabu through a lengthy dialogue and he did very well and his dialogue modulation was perfectly suited his father. Moreover, Ajay Sastry's direction is also worth remembering. Though the storyline had a point of amnesia, which was already presented on the screen, he took every precaution in preventing repetition of any scene in the film. Riyasen filled the glamour slot, while Sneha Ullal too joined her, besides she was very romantic in a duet. The entire film revolves around these three characters. Camera work by Sunil Reddy is worth to mention, while choreography of songs was also novel.

MINUS: Though the entire film is good, the songs in the film is a draw back. Though the background score is good, Achu failed to give good tunes to all the songs, though a couple of songs are good to listen. Despite the poor music, the choreography of songs covered them with different steps and stylish taking. Comedy by Brahmanandam failed to evoke big laughter though it gave smiles at times. However, the comedy by Surekhavani in imitating the advertisements of dubbed English films from Hollywood, evoked good laughter. Sunil and Surekhavani tried their best to give comedy. While the entire film was brought well, the director spoiled the mood with a poor climax. It is not known why and how both the heroines come to the place unless the audiences keenly watch the film.

REMARKS: Manoj would definitely get a good break with this film. He really improved a lot in all the departments and proved that he could deliver the good. Moreover, the director extracted his talents in a right way with an already treaded path and old storyline by presenting it differently on the screen. A film which could be watched once for Manoj's performance and the song with Sneha Ullal.

Cast: Manoj, Riya Sen, Sneha Ullal, Nazar, Sunil, Brahmanandam, Ali, Vizag Prasad, Surekhavani and others.

Credits: Cinematogrpahy – Sunil Reddy, Editing – Naveen, Music – Achu, Producer – Lakshmi Prasanna, Story, screenplay and direction – Ajay Sastry.

Released on: October 10, 2008

Avakai Biryani(2008) movie review

Whatever Sekhar Kammula does will have a meaning, has been proved again with Avakai Biryani. This time for a change he has chosen to remain behind the scene to promote one of his close associates Anish Kuruvilla as director. The film has no big story but a delicate, sensitive yet sensible love subject dealt with precision by the debutant director.

Akbar (Kamal Kamaraju) does many jobs to make a living; driving an auto hired by Masterji (Rao Ramesh) and distributing milk and paper. He pursues B Com (Hons) as well but has never been able to clear the exams. He is an orphan who considers everyone in Devarakonda village as his family. At this juncture, Lakshmi (Bindu Madhavi) and her father Kameswara Rao (Kameswara Rao) reach Devarakonda to start a new life as they have suffered severe loss earlier. Lakshmi's ambition is to popularize the Avakai (mango pickle) of Andhra region and her father wants to run a hotel near the highway. Due to the Hyderabad bomb blasts, Kameswara Rao is afraid to befriend Muslims. However, Lakshmi makes friends with Akbar and when he learns that she is a B Com graduate, he requests her to guide him.

Mean while a Panchayat member Babar (Varun) and Masterjee try to cash in on the Chief Minister's visit to the village, but Akbar boldly explains the situation in the village, which irks them. When the Chief Minister ensures pipeline and individual latrines in the village, Akbar becomes a hero in the village. Learning about Akbar and Lakshmi's friendship Babar tries to separate them. He threatens Akbar about revealing their friendship to her father. To save Lakshmi and the village from their clutches, he agrees to participate in an auto race. He wins the game and also clears the exams with a first class. In order to marry Lakshmi, Akbar talks to her father and helps him in setting up the hotel. But on learning that he is a Muslim, Kameswara Rao refuses the alliance. After two years, realizing Akbar's greatness, he gives his daughter's hand in marriage to Akbar and the story ends on a happy note.

PLUS: The delicate movement of the story is the highlight of the film. Though the director is a novice, the audiences would get a feel that it has been directed by Sekhar Kammula himself as the film runs along that lines. Even if the film may appear boring, the audiences cannot leave due to an unseen magic of the film. The director has succeeded in taking the audiences into the film. After a long time, the audiences have got the feel of watching a race, that too with auto rickshaws. As far as performance goes Bindu Madhavi is excellent in her role and has played the girl next door with ease. Kamal Kamaraju is okay in his role but needs to improve his body language to thrive in the industry. Varun and Rao Ramesh are okay as villains.

MINUS: The director has ignored giving a logical end to the villain's roles. The audiences might expect them to take revenge and so await some action but the director has conveniently ignored them, which is an unexpected twist. The camera work and the lighting should have been much better. Trying to search for minus points is a little hard. Music by Manikanth Khadri is just okay and it could also have been better when compared to Sekhar Kammula's earlier films. A couple of lyrics by Vanamali are impressive and on the whole it is okay.

REMARKS: Though you can't rule out entertainment completely, the entertaining values in the films are a little less when compared to routine flicks. Had the director tried to give a little more scope for comedy, it would have been better. But for the entertainment values, the film is worth watching by the family together. The movement of the film is slow and for the average audiences it may appear boring but those who expect a film with Sekhar Kammula in view, they can definitely enjoy the movie.

Cast: Kamal Kamaraju, Bindu Madhavi, Vijaya, Rakhee, Kameswara Rao, Durgesh, Praneeth, Rao Ramesh Rao, Varun, Master Pandu, Master Vinay, Charvy.

Credits: Director of photography – Shamdat, Editor – Praveen Boyina, Music – Manikanth Kadri, Lyrics – Vanamali, Presents – Sekhar Kammula, Producers – Sekhar Kammula and Chandrasekhar Kammula, Story and direction – Anish Kuruvilla

Banner: Amigos Creation Pvt Ltd.,

Released on: November 14, 2008

Surya s/0 krishnan(2008) movie review

Oscar Films' latest Tamil movie Varanam Ayiram with Surya has been brought out in Telugu as Surya s/o Krishnan by SVR Media. Surya, who has become popular among the Telugu audiences with his Gajini has played dual roles as a 60-year-old father and as the 17-year-old son.

Krishnan (Surya) and Malini (Simran) had a love marriage. They have an elder son Surya (Surya) and a younger daughter. Surya unable to complete his engineering due to his chivalrous activities, returns home after the course. During the journey he comes across Meghna (Sameera Reddy) and immediately proposes to her taking inspiration from his father. But Meghna refuses as she does not believe in love at first sight and tells him that love begins after friendship. However, Surya finds Meghna's house only to know that she is leaving for the US for post-graduation. He gets depressed,but goes home to fulfill the responsibility of building a home for his aged parents. When he expresses his wish to see Meghna, Krishnan agrees to his abroad trip. He gets the Visa for three months as he had boldly expressed his intentions to the embassy officials.

Surya lands at Berkeley University and Meghna is surprised at his commitment. They fall in love, but unfortunately before their return to India, Meghna dies in a blast. Unable to forget her, Surya gets addicted to smoking, liquor and drugs. Malini advises him to go far away and find his real self to overcome the depression. Surya heads to Kashmir and then to Delhi. On learning that a small boy was kidnapped for Rs 2 crore ransom, he rescues him. After his return, another girl called Priya (Divya Spandana), a close friend of his sister, proposes to him But Surya having made up his mind joins the Army and soon becomes a Major. At the same time, Krishnan suffers from throat cancer and Surya unable to see his agony, goes away from him. Finally Krishnan dies, but Surya a committed soldier completes the mission of rescuing a girl.On his return, Surya cremates Krishnan, though his memories haunt him. Malini consoles him that life has to go on whether someone is there with us or not.

PLUS: Surya has excelled in his performance both as father and as son. While on one hand he appears old with a lean body as the father, on the other hand he has a fresh and young look as a17-year-old son first and then with six-pack body as a army man. Not only with regard to the physique, but also in showing various emotions, Surya has done a good job. He excels in the roles of both the father suffering from cancer and the disillusioned lover. Sameera Reddy is good as his lover and has not resorted to any unnecessary exposure. Divya Spandana is spotted as the girl next-door. Simran has compiled all her experience in playing Surya's mother's role. The director's ability in showing the montage during Krishnan and Malini love affair is impressive. Camera work by Ratnavelu is excellent while Harris Jayaraj's tunes are okay.

MINUS: The unnecessary dragging of scenes especially after the death of Sameera Reddy tests the audiences' patience of. In spite of the classic narrative style, the film lacks the real ingredients. The screenplay is quite stagnant and will make the audiences uncomfortable. Tunes by Harris Jayaraj have the Tamil style. Though the director has tried his best to portray the human emotions, they are not just digestible for the Telugu audiences. The love between Divya and Surya is also not properly established.

REMARKS: The film has been said to be a tribute to Gautham Menon's father as indicated in the end but has turned out to be a tame affair. One can understand the angst of losing a parent, but trying to prepare a subject exclusively with the same theme would not gel well with the audiences. Any idea that comes from the mind of the director should aim to impress the audiences. Mere preparation to force the idea may not do well always.

Cast: Surya, Sameera Reddy, Simran, Divya Spandana and others

Credit: Camera – Ratnavelu, Editing – Anthony, Music – Harris Jayaraj, Art – Rajeevan, Producer – Sobharani, Story, screenplay and direction – Gautham Menon.

Banner: SVR Media and Oscar Films Ltd

Released on: November 14, 2008

Nenithey(2008) movie review

Puri Jagannath and Ravi Teja have united for their fourth film after the hat trick hits Itlu Sravani Subrahmanyam, Idiot and Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi. The director highlights the pros and cons of the film industry and how the technicians are exploited. At the same time he satirizes the media, the yellow journalism and the sheer reverence of the fans towards the film stars. As a whole the film is "for, of and about" the film industry.

Ravi (Ravi Teja) works as an assistant director and Narayana (MS Narayana) as co-director for director Idli Satyanarayana (Brhamanandam) in the Telugu film industry. During the shooting Ravi meets Sandhya (Siya), a group dancer. Sandhya's sister Surekha (Surekhavani) get married to Rambabu (Krishna Bhagawan) who harasses her only to exploit Sandhya. Ravi narrates an interesting story to the producer (Sayaji Shinde). But he is not ready to take the risk with a debutant director like Ravi.

Meanwhile, a rich goon Yadu (Supreet Reddy), who usurps prime lands casts his eyes on Sandhya and Rambabu tries to make use of this in his favour. At this juncture, Ravi narrates the story to hero Mallik (Subbaraju) who also expresses his doubts regarding its feasibility. When Ravi pleads for a chance, he agrees for a trial shoot and they seek the help of Sandhya and other friends. Popular director VV Vinayak asks Ravi for a heroine. Having seen Sandhya's performance in the trial shoot, he books her.

When Sandhya becomes a heroine, Rambabu ignores Yadu. Mallik impressed with the trial shoot, convinces the producer. The producer had suffered much loss due to Idli Satyanarayana's film. The film shooting begins with Mallik as hero and Sandhya as heroine. At this time, an item dancer Mumaith (Mumait Khan), who had an affair with Mallik attempts suicide and is raped. This and the paucity of funds puts the project in trouble. Yadu comes forward to finance the project. But once the shootingis over Ravi finds his name missing in the titles. Eventually he teaches Yadu a lesson and replaces the name.

PLUS: Ravi Teja as usual is at his best with the character tailor-made for him. Moreover, it is a real life character, where the hero has entered the film industry as an assistant director. The director has moulded the character with precision, taking everything in a positive and practical way. The punch dialogues add to the charm and have got good response from the audiences. Heroine Siya is just okay and does not have much scope for performance. However, she is really glamorous in a romantic song. The highlight of the film is that the director has chosen each and every character to give a message to the audiences.

MINUS: The film deals with the problems and hardships faced by film technicians in the industry. The audiences are in no way concerned with the woes of the technicians and artistes, watch the film for mere entertainment. The director's effort is like spitting at the sky, which may boomerang on the industry itself. However, the director needs to be appreciated for taking such a daring step. The villain's role is not etched properly either. Though he was projected as a big goon, he could hardly do anything to the heroine or the hero.

REMARKS: The director appears to have a grudge against the websites and the media, who had tried to downplay him a few years ago. He makes several sarcastic remarks through the character of Sayaji Shinde on the reviewers and websites who keep narrating the entire story killing the mood of the audiences. Likewise, through Mumaith Khan, he shows how yellow journalism spoils personal life. He also concentrates on the fans' innocent adulation towards heroes and how they suffer in the long run. He gives a message to the audiences, not to follow their heroes blindly and Sai Ram Shankar has done role of a hero's fans' president in a nice way. Though the film is on the film industry, the director has mixed love story and action in a perfect ratio to make it commercially viable. It is a movie that could be watched once.

Cast: Raviteja, Siya, Sairam Shankar, Supreet Reddy, Subbaraju, Sayaji Shinde, Brahmanandam, Krishna Bhagawan, MS Narayana, Venumadhav, Raja Ravindra, Satyam Rajesh, Uttej, Ramaprabha, Kovai Sarala, Mumaith Khan, Surekhavani and others

Credits:

Camera – Shyam K Naidu
Music – Chakri
Producer – DVV Danaiah
Story, screenplay, dialogues and direction – Puri Jagannath

Banner: Universal Media

Released on: December 18, 2008

Vinyakudu(2008) movie review

Premkumar Patra, who earned fame with an off beat subject in Aa Naluguru earlier, has changed track to choose love as the subject of his film. It is a love story, but it shows that even those who are fat or for the matter black can also fall in love and that the soul is more important than the outer beauty. He has introduced Sai Kiran Adivi as the director.

Karthik (Krishnudu) has come to Hyderabad in search of a job and stays with his sister (Satyakrishnan). Kalpana (Sonia)is a modern girl who works in an Advertisement Agency and has her own independent views. Karthik joins the same firm in the creative department. He is a straightforward person who has no inhibitions and always tries to remain happy. Karthik falls in love with Kalpana but cannot express it. Meanwhile, Kalpana's parents plan to get her married to Rajeev, who works in Infosys and has a good family background. But Kalpana asks for more time. Soon her parents leave for US and she shifts to her friend Sandhya's (Poonam Bajwa) apartment. Incidentally Karthik also stays there.

Once during a gathering Karthik talks opposing pre-marital sex. When Kalpana asks whether it is wrong, Karthik, innocently asks her whether she is open to such an idea.. This widens the gap between them. Later sometime, Kalpana meets Rajeev at Necklace Road in the night. When the night patrol catches them, Rajeev manages to sort out the issue by giving Rs 1,000. This irks Kalpana for due to Rajeev's actions she is misunderstood as a prostitute by the police. Kalpana parts ways with Rajeev and slowly develops a liking for Karthik because of his innocent ways. However, on one occasion, when she chides Karthik as 'Bandodu' (fatty), he decides to cut his friendship with her. His attempts to become slim, lands him in the hospital. Kalpana realizes her mistake and upon her father's advice apologizes to Karthik and the film ends on a happy note.

PLUS:
Director Saikiran Adivi has followed his mentor Sekhar Kammula in narrating the movie, as most of the scenes remind us of Sekhar Kammula's film. It appears that inspired by the heroine's role in Anand he has carved Kalpana's role as a dominating one. The storyline narrated is quite different. The highlight of the movie is that anyone fat or black can also fall in love. The entire film revolves around four roles. Krishnudu who has been playing small roles has got a good break as hero and has proved his capabilities as well. Both, Sonia, who proved her acting talents as 'Sravs' in Happy Days and Poonam Bajwa as the heroine's buddy have done a nice job. Music by Sam Prasanna is okay. The director having realised that a duet is impossible, cleverly avoided songs in the film. But the re-recording has been good and many scenes have been elevated because of music. Cinematography by PG Vinda is adequate. The montage and the songs that come in the backdrop are considerably good.

MINUS:
Though the film is okay on the whole, the narration is very slow. The audiences feel bored due to the slow narration. Another problem regarding the film is the poor comedy. The hero's character itselfhas shades of comedy and hence there is no separate comedy track in the film. Another draw back in the film is that the entire film revolves around four characters and one or two characters just come and vanish. Screenplay is nagging in some scenes. But for a few lapses the film has nothing much bad about it

REMARKS:
As the commercial aspects are completely missing in the film, it might run well in 'A' centres. With the absence of mass elements in the film, the film may not attract the mass or family audiences. Moreover, with the recession in the software industry, a film made on corporate companies' employees may not gel well with the audiences. Let us wait and watch how far the film would fare in the coming days.

Cast: Krishnudu, Sonia, Surya Teja, Adarsh, Muralikrishna, Poonam Bajwa, Ankitha, Satya Krishnan, Jyothi, and others

Credits: Camera – PG Vinda, Editing – Marthand K Venkatesh, Music – Sam Prasanna, Lyrics – Vanamali and Avinash, Presenter – Premkumar Patra, Story, dialogues, screenplay and direction – Saikiran, Producer – Sarita Patra.

Banner: Prem Movies

Released on: November 22, 2008

Yuvatha(2008) Movie Review

Sree Tumma Chandrasekhara Rao Presents
Worth Watching Entertainments
Yuvata (2008)
Cast: Nikhil, Aksha, Ranadheer, Monali Choudhry, Narasimha Uthkam, Subhash, Sivanarayana, Sayaji Shinde, Narsing, Jeeva, Jayaprakash Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy, Prithvi, Giri, Hari, etc.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues: Parashuram
Additional Screenplay: Dantuluri Chaitanya
Cinematography: Jaswanth
Art: Narayana Reddy
Choreography: Ganesh, Ajay Sai, Dantuluri Chaitanya
Action: Ram-Laxman
Music: Mani Sarma
DTS Mixing: Hari
Lyrics: Krishna Chaitanya
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Co-producer: Muralikrishna Dasari
Producer: Hari Tumma, Uma Prakash
Co-director: Vijay
Direction: Parashuram (debut)
CBFC Rating: U
Release Date: November 07, 2008

What's it all about?
A US-aspiring software engineer Ajay (Ranadheer), a wanna-be police turned security man Kiran (Narasimha Uthkam), and an assistant film director Subbu (Subhash) are friends in Hyderabad trying to live their dreams. Veerababu a.k.a. Babu (Nikhil) , outcast from his uncle's family, joins them from Kesavaram village, where they were all childhood friends. Babu meets Vishalakshi a.k.a Baby (Aksha) in a strange situation, and very soon they fall in love. Subbu finally seems to have made it big, and while everyone is celebrating, an old feud fires up, leaving the would-be director with serious skull injuries. The friends, including Ajay's girl Madhavi (Monali Choudhry) and Baby, decide to pool up all sources for money for his surgery. They finally loan the amount from a merciless goon (Narsing). When he pressurizes them to repay him, they plan to rob from the security company where Kiran works, and they plan everything right, but Kiran decides to wait behind since it might hand them up all! Ajay and Babu get arrested by the police at the company, but that's after they realize someone else had already robbed all the money! Was Kiran true in his reason? What's his role in the robbery? How much does Subbu's accident really turn the story?

Performances
Cast:
Nikhil is at ease as a careless and fearless youth, but he needs to take care of his diction some more. Aksha is okay but has a short, insignificant role in the film that goes around friends. Ranaadheer, who also acted as senior student in Happy Days, has a considerably lengthy role in this film and he performs okay. His body language is stiff at times, though. Monali Choudhry is attractive but has a limited role as his love interest and the daughter of their house owner (played by Sivanarayana of Amrutham fame). Narasimha and Subhash fit in their roles well and have done good job. Sayaji Shinde as hardcore criminal Nananna who has a weak point of being a fan of Simran plays more a comedy role than that of a criminal.

Narsing and Jeeva appear as comedy-oriented baddies, offering some good comedy through a part of the film. Jayaprakash Reddy as the jailer, Sreenivasa Reddy as a sentry, and Prithvi as "Krishna Manohar IPS" do a good job within the scope of their roles. Sivanarayana as the house owner is intended for comedic relief, but falls short of expectations of people who may want to compare his similar role from his much-celebrated TV show Amrutham. Hero Siddharth and Krishnudu (of Happy Days and Vinayakudu fame) appear in the end of the film, rather unnecessarily.