Vinayakudu - Movie Review

Film: Vinayakudu (2008)
Cast: Krishnudu, Sonia, Suryatej, Poonam Kaur, Samrat, Prem Kumar Patra, Adarsh, Ankitha, Sathya Krishnan, Tulasi, Rakesh Mahankali, Mahesh, Aparna, Murali, Master Mittu, Waheeda, etc.
Script: Sai Kiran Adivi
Cinematography: P.G. Vinda
Music: Sam Prasan
Lyrics: Vanamali, Avinash
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Executive Producers: Rakesh Mahankali, Jyothi Kiran
Co-producer: Praveen Kumar Patra
Producer: Smt. Saritha Patra
Direction: Sai Kiran Adivi (debut)
CBFC Rating: U
Banner: Prem Movies
Release date: November 21, 2008

Summary:
A big fat love story, like the makers tagged, quite unlike other "fatty" stories.

What's it all about?
Karthik (Krishnudu), a soft, ever-happy kind of guy, comes to Hyderabad for a job interview at Hi-Rise, an ad agency. He gets selected, and in the office the next day, he sees Kalpana (Sonia) and likes her. He's generally not taken seriously by anyone because of his soft-spoken nature and his rotund personality but he's the kind who doesn't take that seriously! Kalpana too doesn't care for him and finds faults with him, due to their initial interactions at work. Slowly though, she starts interacting with him more. Her parents, who leave to USA to visiting her brother's family (Mahesh & Aparna), initiate a matramonial alliance for Kalpana with Rajeev (Samrat). Kalpana meets Rajeev and they both observe that they have a lot of tastes in common. Meanwhile, another thread of a budding relation is seen between Karthik's friend (Suryatej) and Kalpana's friend Sandhya a.k.a. Sandy (Poonam Kaur). At about the same time that Kalpana realizes Rajeev is not for her, she gets closer to Karthik but the hell gets loose suddenly due to a petty altercation between Altaf and Sandy. Eventually, Karthik and Kalpana lose even the friendly relation they have. What's the big fat love story then and how it evolves forms the rest of the story.

Performances
Cast:

Krishnadu, one of the seniors of Happy Days, debuts as the main lead in this film. He has quite an ease in performing, and his role has ample scope for various emotions. However, the characterization, in a way, "limits" him to not show negative feelings much. One could say he's quite successfully executed the soft-natured role within the scope of the characterization. His fitting performance evokes empathy from the audience in some scenes. Though his future as a main lead could be limited, he does promise good performance in general and can thus expect appreciable career nevertheless. Sonia fits in the role of an ultramodern girl who upholds values and relations well. Her role is etched well, and she's quite a natural fit there.

suryateja who acted in Nandanavanam 120 km earlier, appears in a full-length role as the second male lead. His performance is okay for most part, and is good in the boozing scene. poonam is cute and sweet in the role of a friend of Sonia. She has an expressive face that's put to use better in scenes with Sonia. Ankitha, who seems to have lost her charm completely already, appears in the role Shalini, of a career-oriented woman who doesn't care about society or "values". Satya appears as a caring sister of Krishnudu. Presenter Prem Kumar Patra plays the boss of Hi-Rise, the organization where the lead cast works, while yesteryear heroine Tulasi appeared opposite him in a two-minute role in a Pelli Pusthakam like climax. His rather inexpressive face is used effectively for the film. Lanky youth Samrat is adequate as the prospective groom, and Adarsh is natural as an uncaring casanova.

Technical Departments:
The story is not great but the treatment makes the film quite enjoyable. With a story line that has only one essential point, the development generally makes the pace seem slow, and that's what happens to this film too. However, a still appreciable aspect is that the film doesn't drag on; even if a film is just a bit slow, it doesn't really hit the film hard when the film's length itself is just a little over two hours. The screenplay may seem fabricated sometimes but is generally smooth and not nonsensical. Dialogues are enjoyable and impressive through most part of the film. But, how come the censor leaves off swear words in English, such as "a*s" and "b*st**ds"?

D SAI KIRAN ADAVI ebutant handled story, screenplay, dialogues, and direction is here to stay. He has shown a lot of care in executing his scenes, studding them with right dialogues, and leaving no space for much nonsense anywhere through the film. It's clear that he knows what he wants to show, and there are appreciable subtleties in his work that one can note. His handling of emotions, and developing a love track implicitly is remarkable. Visuals are naturally colorful throughout the film and did not need many extra effects. P.G.Vinda's camera work is pleasant and in sync with the film's theme. Picturization of songs was all through montages that were chosen well; the song varaveeNaa... needs a particular mention for the way the director used montages in the song to show the relations developing among the three pairs (Krishnudu & Sonia, Suryatej & Poonam Kaur, Rakesh Mahankali & Ankitha), thereby depicting how each individual is choosing one's priorities of life.

Lyrics are apt to the situational songs. Particularly trendy are the lyrics for the songs The times have changed... ( ham hai Hyderabadi...) and varaveeNaa..., both penned by Avinash who's just one movie old ( Krishnarjuna)! varaveeNaa... is a carnatic classical fusion song with completely English lyrics, probably the first of its kind, for which even the music director Sam Prasan ("Prasanth" of Manodu) needs a special applause. The tunes are generally good, and background score is appreciable too. Editing is okay. Production values of Prem Movies banner (which made Aa Naluguru earlier) are good.

Notable Scenes/Dialogues:

• Krishnudu: " Flyovers avii ivii vacchaayigaa..."
  Auto driver: " vacchinai, konni paDipOyinai kooDaa !" (talking about development in Hyderabad in the last five years)
• A romeo: " How would you like to have your coffee?"
  Waheeda: " Alone!"
• " ee Dokku scooter ammEsi, daaniki konchem money add chEsi secondhand cycle konu!" (A cycling girl overtaking Krishnudu on an old Lambretta, mocking at Krishnudu)
• Sonia: " nuvvu dayyaalani nammutaavaa?"
  Krishnudu: " dayyaalu lEvanukO... kaanee, cheekaTlO dayyaalostE... adE bhayam!"
• Sonia: " Coffee chEsindi nuvvE kadaa?"
  Krishnudu: " baagundaa?"
  Sonia: " naa peLLi choopulaki vacchina vaaLLani tarimeyyaTaaniki idE istaa!"
• Samrat : " Yes cheppaTaaniki endukanta time teesukunTunnaav?"
  Sonia: " No cheppaTaaniki time teesukunTunnaani enduku anukOvu?"
• " vaaLLa mentalities, vaaLLa tastes okaTaitE they live happily ever after ani enduku anTaarE? ...That's such a wrong impression!" (Sonia to Poonam Kaur)
• " yE society gurinchi maaTlaaDutunnaavu nuvvu? 'Prohibition-lO mandu taagitE tappu, prohibition lEnappuDu andarU mandu taagacchu' anE society gurinchaa?!" (Ankitha to Krishnudu)
• Dialogues about the psychology of boys and girls, particularly about girls: " ammaayila psychology antE... pogiDinaa tiDataaru, tiTTinaa tiDataaru!" (Suryatej), " ammaayilu prEmalO paDDaakE overpossessive-gaa feel avutaaru. (Krishnudu: " mari paDaka mundu?") 'nee kharma' ani vadilEstaaru!" (Suryatej), " Expressive-gaa unDaalanTaaru... express chEstE tiDataaru!" (Krishnudu) and many more.
• (Second) Booze scene between Suryatej and Krishnudu.
• Krishnudu's soft-natured reaction when Sonia bashes him up verbally, and in the climax.
• Samrat-Sonia breakup scene.

Bottom Line:

Vinayakudu is a feel-good movie with good dialogues, music, characterization, and decent performances. The slow pace that's typical of Sekhar Kammula school seems to have crept into this film too, but the slow pace is not felt because of aforementioned good factors in the film. Though the story's theme may initially seem like it's beaten up in several other films like Kobbari Bondam or Kithakithalu, Vinayakudu is in a totally different style and has a different story treatment that makes it worth watching. On the whole, those sections of audiences, particularly in the 'A' centers, that like a clean and sensible movie with ample dose of comedy would like the film. Don't have too many expectations because of the cast or crew (or this very review) and you can enjoy the film better!

Review by Pandu

HYD INF RATING 3/5

Hydinf rating:: 3/5
Punchline: rise, fall and redemption of a supermodel
Banner: UTV Motion Pictures & Bhandarkar
Genre: Social
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Mugdha Godse, Kangna Ranaut, Arbaaz Khan & Arjan Bajwa
Cinematography: Mahesh Limaye
Music :Merchant & Sulaiman Merchant
Dialogues: Niranjan Iyengar
Art: Nitin Desai
Story - screenplay - direction: Madhur Bhandarkar
Producer: Madhur Bhandarkar, Deven Khote, Ronnie Screwvala & Zarina Mehta
Release date: 29 October 2008

Story
Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) is a middle class girl from Chandigarh and her dream is to become a supermodel. She comes to Mumbai against the wishes of her father. She befriends a couple of girls and uses her connections to become a supermodel. She becomes overconfident and arrogant after becoming the supermodel. And her arrogance costs her vital assignments. And she is thrown out of the prime position. The rest of the story is all about how she realizes her mistake and gets back to the fashion world.

Actors:
Priyanka Chopra gave one her finest performances in the role of Meghna Mathur. Since the story of the film is about rise, fall and redemption, Priyanka has got an opportunity to go through all kinds of emotions in this film. Kangana Ranaut is cool as the fallen supermodel. You end up sympathizing for her role. Mughda Godse is excellent as the model friend of heroine. Arbaaz Khan is competent. Arjan Bajwa is pretty good. Sameer Soni impresses. Ashwin Muhran is nice as the gay friend of heroine.

Technical departments:

Story - screenplay - direction: Director Madhur Bhandarkar created a story which has emotions graph that is best suited for Hollywood films. The story appears more biographical where it concentrates on rise, fall and redemption. Madhur showcased the inside issues, the making of supermodels and the games model agencies and editors of fashion magazines play. The first half of the film is dealt decently. The pace in the second half becomes very slow and the realistic approach towards the story does not go well with viewers who go to the theaters expecting an appealing narration. He interlaced the story of three models whose lives are interconnected. The narration of the second half is not gripping enough.

Other technical departments: The theme music by Salim and Sulaiman is pretty good. Cinematography by Mahesh Limaye stands out. The use of vibrant colors enhances your viewing pleasure. Dialogues are adequate. Editing should have been crisp. Production values are superb. Artwork deserves an appreciation.

Analysis: First half of the film is adequate. The second half is little boring. Madhur Bhandarkar gives us a sneak peek into the fashion world of unethical businesses, gay designers, drugs, alcohol, smoking, sex, wardrobe malfunction, wild lifestyle and much more. But ‘Fashion’ looks like more of a personal journey through the fashion world than a movie made for a larger crowd of Movie lovers. The performances and the theme are the plus points of the film. The boring second-half is the negative point. On a whole, Fashion is neither ‘Page 3’ nor ‘Corporat

Movie review - Phoonk

Story
Rajeev (Sudeep) is a young and successful construction engineer with ambitious plans. He is an atheist. He has a religious wife and two kids. He fires a woman called Madhu (Aswini Kalsekar) and her husband for indulging in fraud. In turn she uses black magic on the little daughter of Rajeev. The rest of the story is all about how an atheist like Sudeep believes in Black magic and saves his daughter.

Actors:
Sudeep is very good as an atheist. Amrutha Khanvilkar is pretty as housewife. Aswini Kalsekar is excellent as the eccentric black magic woman. Ahsaas Channa steals the show as the girl who is possessed. Zakir Hussain is superb with a scary get-up as the blind black magic specialist.

Technical departments:

Story - Screenplay - direction: Story of the film does deal with black magic. By balancing the story between the scientific aspect and supernatural aspect of the black magic, the director could sustain the interest among the audiences. Ram Gopal Varma never ventured out of way to create scariness by doing unnecessary scenes except for a couple of dream sequences (hero and the maid). The screenplay of the film is interesting. Direction of the film is good. And the characterizations are good.

Technical departments: Ram Gopal Varma extracted the best out of his technicians. Background music is very good. Cinematography is excellent. I liked the slow camera movements and the positioning of camera in most of the scenes. Dialogues are good. Art work is fine. He made sure that the soft toys chosen for the kids are weird so that it would help in creating scary ambiance. Most of the film is shot in two locations (house and construction site).

Analysis: In the beginning of his career, Ram Gopal Varma used to make horror thrillers just for the sake of scaring the audiences. He used to concentrate more on fear factor than the emotional quotient. But contrary to his earlier horror films, Ram Gopal Varma narrated this film more sensibly by not depending on unnecessary scenes in order the scare the people. Hence he mixed the thrill elements into the emotional aspect. Those people who expect lot of scariness in the film would find it little disappointing. The plus points of the film are technical aspects and sensible story telling. The negative point is the slow-paced narration. On a whole, Ram Gopal Varma's Phoonk is worth a watch if you like films of this genre

Banner: One More Thought Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Genre: Horror
Cast: Sudeep, Amruta Khanvilkar, Ahsaas Channa, Kenny Desai, Ashwini Kalsekar, Ganesh Yadav & Zakir Hussain
Cinematography: Savita Singh
Action: Allan Amin
writer - screenplay : Milind Gadagkar
Direction: Ram Gopal Varma
Producer: Azam Khan & Parvez Damania
Release date: 22 August 2008

hyderabadinf rating : 3.5/5

Salute - Movie Review

Cast: Vishal, Nayanatara, Upendra, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Jeeva, Tanikella Bharani, Brahmanandam, Ali, Ravi Kale, Santhanakrishnan, Devan, Sudha Chandran, Apoorva, etc.

Dialogues: Shashank Vennelakanti
Music: Harris Jairaj
Art: Thota Tharani
Editing: Anthony
Cinematography: R.D. Rajasekhar
Action: 'Stun' Shiva
Choreography: Brinda, Suresh
Costumes: Ramana
Effects: Craig Muhma
Producer: Vikram Krishna
Direction: A. Rajasekhar
CBFC Rating: A
Date of Theatrical Release: August 14, 2008

Summary:
Salute is the story of a sincere police officer who tries to curb the domination of politicians and gives a call to the people to choose their leaders right.

What's it all about?
Satyam (Vishal) is an ACP by profession, who sticks to sincerity in duty and goes to any extent to get criminals behind bars. He is also against encounters that simply erase the criminals and the real motive or people behind them. Home Minister Kondala Rao (Kota Srinivasa Rao) tries to clear his way of opponents to become the CM at a time when the latter is in the hospital. He plans to kill his contenders for the position - Cabinet Ministers Mahadevayya (Santhanakrishnan), Chandramathi (Apoorva), and Punyakoti (Jeeva) and beckons his conman Delhi Babu (Ravi Kale) to get the job done by an outsider. Enters Prathapa Rudra (Upendra), who eventually kills Mahadevayya and Chandramathi, at which time Kondala Rao learns that he's not the killer chosen by his man! Then, he realizes that this man could be sent by Punyakoti to kill him instead! Who's this killer Prathapa Rudra then? Who sent Prathapa Rudra? Who's next in his hit list? Did Satyam put a check to Prathapa Rudra? Answers to all these questions form the rest of the story.

Performances
Cast:
Vishal is very impressive as a cop. He has taken much care in his looks and body language, and even went to the extent of shaving his head off when the story demanded. Nayanatara is more the hero's neighbor and love interest than a TV journalist. In fact, except in one dialogue and in some scenes where she holds the camera, the audience would not even know that she's a journalist! Upendra is superb in a role with negative shades. His role was applauded by the audiences more than anyone else's! Kota Srinivasa Rao is as natural as he can be as the evil-minded politician. Tanikella Bharani has a limited role as the heroine's doctor-father and Hema appears opposite Bharani. Sudha Chandran, the dancer from Mayuri, appears as the hero's mother in an insignificant role. Ali as the heroine's aide, Brahmanandam as a broker at the RTA, and Senthil in a role that he repeats from Bharateeyudu fail to generate much comedy.

Technical Departments:
The story has nothing new in it. The treatment too is laced with unnecessary scenes such as those involving the children, and has scenes that miss logic. The screenplay is generally too loose to hold the interest of the audiences throughout. Music has Harris Jairaj's signature all over. Re-recording falters sometimes. Lyrics are good for the first song nammara nEstam.... Choreography, though not the dances particularly, is good on the whole, and particularly for the second song gaDagaDagaDa... involving children, superheroes, and graphics. The last song Endammaayaa... is typically Tamil in its picturization, and that's possibly why Chiranjeevi's poster is shown in the backdrop in the starting of the song - to attract Telugu audience too! (There's also a dialogue " Megastar anTE mass...", probably for the same reason, elsewhere in the movie.) Nayanatara's sizzling performance in one of the songs may cater to the masses, but doesn't help the movie much anyway. Camerawork is impressive. Dialogues by Shashank Vennelakanti are good and thought-provoking as needed. Action choreography is interesting, though the fight sequences are shot to be long.

Notable Scenes/Dialogues:

• " Criminals-ni kaapaaDamani anaTlEdu. vaaLLani alaa tayaaru chEsina vaaLLani vadilipeTTaddu anTunnaanu... nacchitE security, nacchakapOtE encouter!" (Vishal to his colleagues)
• " chaTTamE Sikshinchaali, dEvuDE danDinchaali. chaTTamU, dEvuDU okkaTE!" (Upendra in the flashback; Vishal to his colleagues)
• " vaaDi ettu choostE aaru aDugulu. etti peTTi koTTinaa aaru aDugulE!" (about Vishal, hinting about his muscle power that can kill people.)
• " Two minutes lOpaliki rammandi amma. EdO noodles peDutundi kadaa anukuni veLLaanu." (A child artiste)
• " manam paTTukunna vaaLLE manalni paalistunTE choostU kooDaa manalO chalanam raadaa?!" (Upendra to Vishal)
• Vishal: " nee laagaa andarU aalOchistE ee dESam smaSaanamgaa maaripOtundi!"
  Upendra: " ippuDu unna paristhiti kannaa adE manchidi!"
• " smaSaanamlO paiki lEchina sagam kaalina Savaala laanTi vaaLLam, sir, manam! enni saarlu paiki lEchinaa maLLee koTTi paDukObeTTEstaaru!" (A colleague to Vishal, about the status of Police among politicians.)
• " maa paina veyyi talalu unDocchu. kaanee, mEmu lEkapOtE meeku talE unDadu!" (Vishal to Kota Srinivasa Rao)

Points to note:

• Upendra appears cleanshaved in the flashback and looks very different.
• Kota's goons don't use any bombs to kill an approver-turned aide even when Kota instructs them " enni praaNaalu pOyinaa pharavaalEdu!" Why is that?
• Don't telephone calls get cut when one of the party hangs up? How come Kota's voice is still heard over the mobile to his aide in the police station, even after Vishal who received the call has gone there!?
• When someone is trying to kill you while travelling in a car, would you not roll up your windows first?!
• The movie is dedicated to sincere cops, like Nagarjuna's Rakshana was.

Bottom Line:

While the movie does pass on the message that the people in the society should generally be more proactive, there is not much good in the film except for the hero and good camerawork and (lengthy) action episodes! Still, this is not the first movie with the exact same message! And, did the politicians, police, or public change
by the way? Why or why not? Let's ask ourselves too!

hyderabadinf rating : 3/5

Movie review - Singh is Kinng

Story
Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar) is a wayward guy in a remote village of Punjab. He is innocent and very good at heart. Lucky Singh (Sonu Sood) is also from the same village and is a big mafia don in Australia. He is referred to as 'King'. Fed up by Happy Singh, the village men entrust the job of bringing Lucky Singh back from Australia because Lucky's father is bedridden (why can't they just make a phone call). The hell breaks lose as Happy reaches Australia and he is forced to take the mantle of don from Lucky. The rest of the story is all about how Happy Singh tries to play 'Munna Bhai' to get the Sardarji don gang rehabilitated

Actors:
Akshay Kumar's portrayal of a simpleton Singh is exceptionally exemplary. His comedy timing and body language is admirably funny when he makes a fool of himself. Katrina Kaif is sexy and sophisticated. Her acting has improved a lot and she can dance well. Om Puri is superb as the sidekick of Akshay. Kiron Kher is good. Javed Jaffery's comedy does not work out. Sonu Sood is nice. Ranvir Shorey is wasted. Neha Dhupia is gorgeous

Technical departments:

Story - Screenplay - direction: The story of the film is simple. It is a comedy film that does not care for logic. The director has managed to establish each and every character in a strong way and he ran the first half in an entertaining way. The director tried to create the Priyadarshan's type of slapstick comedy in the second half, but failed. The pace goes down and the story meanders in the second half. But he made sure that there are some fresh comedy moments in the film which you would remember after watching the film. The way Sonu Sood is abused in the second half is entertaining. Screenplay is good in the first half and a little shabby in the second half.

Technical departments: music of the film is pretty nice with 'Singh is King', 'Bas Ek Kinng' and 'Jee Karda' being chartbusters. Dialogues are witty and good. Cinematography is cool with rich visuals. Production values are grand. Editing is ok. Runtime of the film is considerably less.

Analysis: First half of the film is very good. The second half is shabby. The plus points of the film are Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and comedy moments. The negative part is lack of proper narration in the second half where people get bored. On a whole, if you like mindless entertainment you may watch this film

Banner: Studio 18 & Blockbuster Movie Entertainers
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Neha Dhupia, Javed Jaffrey, Ranvir Shorey, Kamal Chopra, Om Puri, Sudhanshu Pandey, Sonu Sood, Kirron Kher, Yashpal Sharma
Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty
Cinematography: Ben Nott
Lyricist: Mayur Puri
Art: Adam Head
Story - screenplay - direction: Anees Bazmee
Producer: Vipul Shah
Release date: 8 August 2008

hyderabadinf rating :: 3.25/5