Ravi Teja's 'Krishna' Movie Review
Posted On Jan 12, 2008 at at 4:31 PM by Galaxy
Story
Krishna (Raviteja) is a Msc (Comp.) Gold medalist who leaves his high paying job to accommodate another person who is in need of Job. He stays with his brother (Chandra Mohan) in Vijayawada spending time with his friends. One fine day he suddenly comes across Sandya (Trisha) and falls in love with her. Sandhya is the sister of a Bada Builder Shinde from Hyderabad (Sayaji Shinde). Shinde has a rivalry with Jakka (Mukul Dev), a notorious criminal-cum-rapist and Jakka wanna marry Sandhya. How Krishna plays with Jakka &co and how he marries his sweet heart is the rest of the story.
Performances
No other hero can do such comedy except Ravi Teja. He is the perfect one for such kind of roles. With each film, he is improving, especially in comic timing. It is his show all the way. Trisha is so beautiful and this is the first time that she played a glamorous character in Telugu. Ravi Teja and Trisha's pairing is also perfect and they have good chemistry. Brahmanandam takes the onus. Without him, the film is nothing. The veteran comedian is like a wine that tastes better with each day. After Dhee, Chandramohan gets another comic role. Newcomer Mukul Dev is good. Shinde, Kota, Sunil, JP and others have done adequate job. Technical and production values should be mentioned. Chota K Naidu's camera brings richness to the screen. Perhaps, Vijayawada has never been so beautifully captured. After delivering dud like Yogi, V V Vinayak comes with refreshingly. He has reinvented his style and delivers goods again. After Lakshmi and Tulasi, writer Akula Shiva comes up with another winner. He gets full appreciation as director this time. He has extracted good performances from actors and technicians and blended it perfectly. Songs by music Chakri is adequate.
Verdict
Good entertainer, worth watching.
Okka Magaadu Review
Posted On Jan 11, 2008 at at 4:05 PM by Galaxy
This highly sensationalized film of Nandamuri Balakrishna in the direction of NTR's ardent fan YVS Chowdary has not touched the expected levels even in the least. It was almost planted in the mind of everybody that Okka Magaadu would decide the state politics after its release. Silly graphics, non-serious getups of Balakrishna, confused first half, monotonous screenplay and mediocre direction is all about Okka Magaadu.
Synopsis
Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Prasad alias Ramu (Balakrishna) is almost the God for the villagers of Venkatapuram. They hail him as Devadideva. Ramu tells them that he is just an ordinary human being. He is their savior. Even the government and law are afraid to touch him. One day, he performs the marriage of two lovers, the bridegroom being the son of villainous chief minister (Asutosh Rana). Simultaneously, an old man takes on the role of Punisher of the Corrupt. By decoding certain features from the old man, the police sketch points to Ramu as the killer. During interrogation of Ramu, the old man comes and reveals that he is the killer. He also reveals that he was the Okka Magaadu, the erstwhile Raghupati Raghava Rajaram (Balakrishna), who waged a stern fight against the British in the 1940s. The enmity between the old man and the CM intensifies. Who exactly is this old man? Why does he kill the baddies sixty years after the Independence? Did he really kill? These are the questions which give twists and counter twists.
Performance
Balakrishna did the dual roles of grandson (Ramu) and grandpa (Okka Magaadu) with superb justification. However, the characterization of Okka Magaadu gives a feel that it is out and out a direct lift of Kamal Hassan's in Bharateeyudu. Apart from this, Okka Magaadu often makes a stretched out laugh – Aaah… Aah. Aah…. Exactly, say two hundred percent like Rajnikanth in the film Sivaji. Coming to Ramu characterization, it is more like Balakrishna's ramp in most songs and stylish scenes. But one thing is sure; YVS Chowdary presented NBK as a very handsome hero in this film. There is no technical perfection in the Bharateeyudu-like Okka Magaadu getup and the makeup for it.
Coming to female leads, Nisha Kothari and Anushka have given sumptuous oomph. One hundred percent, they have no roles to play, but to tease the hero. While Nisha Kothari, appearing as a TV reporter, continuously pesters NBK to marry him. The same thing is done by Anushka. Both the girls competed with each other in shaking their hips to their fullest energy. Simran has good footage in the film as the wife of Okka Magaadu. She has lengthy dialogues, performance and sentiment attached to her characterization. Again, Simran's getup as a old lady is not convincing. The makeup is gaudy.
Ashutosh Rana played the chief minister. Without establishing his villainy, the director is desperate to establish him as the villain. His villainy gets funny often. In one scene, the chief minister comes to the hospital without shirt and trouser – just wearing the underwear! Ridiculous attempt by YVS Chowdary, which requires to be censured.
Technical Details
There is nothing novel in the story of YVS Chowdary. A big minus point is that he tried to present Bharateeyudu in a more stylized manner. The characterization of Balakrishna as Okka Magaadu (old man's role) is partially influenced by Rajnikanth's climax role in Sivaji. The flashback dating back to 1940 and its synchronization in 21 st century is a big flaw.
Screenplay is monotonous. However, YVS should deserve praise for maintaining the suspense about the dual roles of Balakrishna till the point it is revealed. Direction is mediocre and at times turned funny.
The introduction song and NBK's duet with Simran are interesting. A couple of songs with the hero shaking legs with Nisha Kothari and Anushka are a good watch. The last song with remixed lyrics from NTR's oldies is a let down, in spite of profuse hip shakes by the heroines. Music by Mani Sharma is a saving grace.
Dialogues department requires special mention. NBK's lengthy dialogue against caste feeling is a good one. Some more: Nenu kottadam modalu pettanante aapadam undadhu…Mamooluga kodithe chachhetatlu kodatha, baadhaga unnapudu kodithe, chasthoo bathikela kodatha.
Stunts: Both the Sr. and Jr.Balarkrishna in the film kick the baddies black and blue. While the senior uses a Chinese blade, it is just fists and kicks from the junior. Imagine an 85-year-old Okka Magaadu jumping from a 20 story building and escaping. Also imagine the same man hijacking the plane with baddies and getting it crashed to a mountain. While all die, the One and Only is alive, comes down the mountain without a scratch to unite with his wife.
There is no scene in which you have comedy worth to tickle your ribs.
Verdict:
The movie is opened to a poor talk. It's major plus point is one and only Balakrishna.
Saawariya Review
Posted On Nov 10, 2007 at at 3:43 PM by Galaxy
Sakina, if you must know, is on an eternal wait. A stranger (Salman Khan) walked into her home and life, walked out and promised to return. The lacuna between longing and fulfilment is filled by a young man who dances, sings, makes faces, writes love letters, protects Sakina from the rain, but alas, cannot protect himself from the heartbreak that awaits him under the bridge. You can see reflections of Raj Kapoor's persona from "Sri 420" and "Chhalia" in Ranbir's acting in "Saawariya". And his relationship with his outwardly harsh landlady -- played by the gloriously spirited Zohra Sehgal -- is a wonderful recreation of the bond between Raj Kapoor and Lalita Pawar in "Anari".
Ranbir's acting is a dangerously extravagant and bravura performance that could've toppled over under the weight of the character's inherent exhibitionism. But with his director's help, Ranbir succeeds. The emotions that run across the gossamer frames of this fragilely structured play-on-celluloid are woven with the delicacy that one associates with Kashmiri carpets. Ironically, though requiring more attention than all his earlier works, "Saawariya" is Bhansali's simplest story to date. The age-old boy-meets-girl format has been taken to the plane of purest expressionism. The enchanting encounters shown in the film furnish the slim but haunting plot with the feeling of a play where the characters forget they are on stage.
The film's consciously created staginess is its biggest virtue. It lends an otherworldly quality to the frames. The wispy characters may or may not exist outside the prostitute-narrator Rani Mukerji's playful mind. Maybe she's making up this beautiful tale of one-sided love and perhaps the boy-man she took under her wings is just a figment of her imagination. The disarming delicacy with which art directors Omang and Vinita Kumar and cinematographer Ravi Chandran have built the blue foundations of the film's ravishingly romantic imagination lifts Dostoevsky's play to the sphere of poetry. Monty Sharma's soul-stirring music adds an entirely new dimension to the story of waiting and suffering. As expected from a Bhansali creation, the film is bathed in visuals that overpower the senses. The sequence where Sonam runs across a gauntlet of perpendicularly hung carpets beating a dust storm out of their beautiful fabric is a moment of sensual eruption.
In "Saawariya", Sonam does not know what or whom she is running from or what she will run into. She is Nutan in "Bandini", Aishwarya in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" and Waheeda Rehman in "Pyasa". "Saawariya" is like a dream where the characters themselves live in a dream world. Escape from this world is akin to death. No one dies in Bhansali's majestic make-belief world and nothing wilts. Not even love when it is taken away from the boy who loves to entertain the unhappy girl in distress.
