TeLuGu HaNgOuT

Prince of Tollywood Mahesh Babu’s most awaited film in combination with Trivikram Srinivas, has arrived on the floors on 25th March. The regular shooting began at Annapurna Studios. Presented by S.Satya Rammurthy, it is the second production of Singanamala Ramesh on Kanakarathna Movies banner.

Mahesh Babu in a talk said “Followed by a hit like ‘Athadu’ in our combination, Trivikram has narrated this storyline to me. The theme has inspired me a lot and we are passionately working on this movie. It is designed with multiple elements on very high standards to amuse the viewers and fans.”

Anushka who made to the top recently with ‘Arundhati’ and much talked about film ‘Billa’ plays the lead lady. Incidentally she has replaced Parvathi Melton from this role. First time working with Mahesh, she is very happy about the film in the direction of Trivikram.

Aiming to create a sensational hit in combination of Mahesh and Trivikram, producer Singanamala Ramesh has decided not to compromise in making.

The first schedule began on 25th March and will continue till the end of June, during which half of the movie will be completed. A special village is built at Gandipet with an expense of two crores for this shooting schedule. Similarly an expensive Rajasthan Temple set is also being constructed.

Shaping up as the most expensive movie in the history of Telugu Cinema, the unit will tour Namibia in South Africa in July, Rajasthan in August for shooting and the locales of Italy in September to film the songs. It is planned to complete post-production works in October and November and get ready for release by December.

Mani Sharma has rendered many chart busters like ‘Rajakumarudu’, ‘Murari’, ‘Okkadu’, ‘Athadu’ and ‘Pokiri’ for Mahesh Babu. He is set to score yet another musical hit for this film.

The supporting stars in this film include Prakashraj, Brahmanandam, Sunil, Venu Madhav, Ali, Nazar, MS Narayana, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Tanikella Bharani, Shafi, Sudha, Sriranjani.

Photography is by Sunil Patel, Art direction is by Ananda Sai, fights designer is Vijayan, Stills by Das. Jasthi Hemambar and Ravi kiran are the associate directors.

Big time producer Allu Arvind is producing ‘Magadheera’ starring Ram Charan Teja and Kajal Agarwal on Geetha Arts banner. Director of super hits SS Rajamouli is making this action packed entertainer which is all set to treat fans this summer.

Following blockbuster hits ‘Jalsa’ and ‘Ghajini’, ‘Magadheera’ is next in the line that is slated for worldwide release on 9th April. The movie is in the last lap of production with just a month to go.

The distribution rights for the Non- U.S. countries including UK- Ireland, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore has been obtained by Krishna Productions.

Krishna productions will release the movie in all these centers on the same date as in India.

Looks like Vikram has been persistently spelling his dazzling talents on the course of filming ‘Kanthaswamy’. Uh-huh! The first one to turn spotlights on him was his astounding performance of bullfight that was filmed on the real grounds of Mexico.

As a matter of fact, the real matadors were indeed stunned with this speculative show. Later, it was about Vikram crooning for all 4 songs for both the versions in Tamil and Telugu. Precisely, Vikram happens to be the only actor who has crooned for his songs, say around 60 years followed by Tamil Cinema’s ever-cherishing Superstar Thyagaraja Bhagavathar who rendered the voice for his own films. And above all this, here’s something more exciting for Vikram’s fans. The actor would be taking on with more mimicry in this magnum opus ‘Kanthaswamy’.

Well, dubbing for various actors including Prabhu Deva and Abbas in various films has made him sharper in intonating his vocalisms to extents. It’s more implying that it would be a film out and most a complete show of Vikram’s brilliant prospects.

Srikanth is now acting in his 100th film ‘Mahatma’ which began during the mid of February. Unique director Krishna Vamsi is making the film after ‘Sasirekha Parinayam’ starring Tarun and Genelia.

‘Mahatma’ is being produced on Golden Lion Productions banner and the actor who had rendered more than forty 100 day hits is keen to make this film a blockbuster. Under the direction of art director Srinivas Raju, grand extravagant sets are being erected at Ramoji Film Citry. Once the crew is through with the talkie scenes, they will move to these sets to continue regular shooting.

In the film’s script, the set plays a prominent part and it will be occupied for a month’s time to complete the planned portions.

‘Mallanna’, the high profile project starring Vikram and Shreya is directed by Susi Ganesan. Kalapuli S. Thanu is producing the film which is being simultaneously made in Tamil titled ‘Kanthasamy’.

The movie has a lot to offer for the crowd with the star appearing in 12 different get-ups and Shreya for the glamour quotient. News in the recent past stated that Vikram has sung four of the songs for the Tamil version ‘Kanthaswamy’ and we were not sure whether he would reiterate the same for Telugu.

Inside sources have confirmed that he will sing the songs for ‘Mallana’ and also dub for the movie in Telugu.

On Tuesday, some of the songs were recorded and later speaking to the press, Vikram said, “It was a wonderful experience working with music director Devi Sri Prasad. Lyricist Sahithi and the composer encouraged my efforts. Sharing screen space with popular star Krishna was a memorable experience and I am happy to have rendered by voice for both the languages.”

Devi heaped laurels on the actor and complimented that he will make a good singer in the future. Based on a fantasy plot, ‘Mallana’ will get released this summer along with Tamil, Italian and Spanish versions.

Mahesh Babu, the prince of Tollywood is gearing up to entertain his ardent fans with the upcoming ‘Varudu’. Trivikram Srinivas’s ‘Athadu’ was a super hit for Mahesh which was a slick, action entertainer in pure prince style. Followed by the outstanding technical wonder, the duo is all set to ‘GO’ after a long wait, on 18th with this new film.

Singanamala Ramesh will be producing the film on a high caliber to cope up with Mahesh Babu’s image on Kanakarathna Movies banner. The shooting is being said to kick on from Hyderabad and later move on to Rajasthan for a lengthy schedule.

Well acquainted news is Parvathi Melton shares screen space with Mahesh. Trivial scoop is Mahesh Babu’s wife Namratha will design the costumes for the heroine and look after the make-up for the artists. As it has been officially confirmed now, everyone eagerly awaits ‘Varudu’ to begin shooting and arrive in time to appease the starved fans of Mahesh Babu

Ramcharan Teja after Chirutha coming as Magadheera in the direction of Rajamouli . Kajal Agarwal is the female lead.Ace producer Allu Arvind who got huge money with jalsa and Ghazini with aamir khan is making this film on his Geetha Arts banner. The story will be based on re-birth. How the love between lead pair gets succeed in the present life whose love gets fail in the previous life is the basic plot.The audio of the film is planned to be released in the first week of March. Supreme Music acquired the audio and distribution rights for this film.

The maker of ‘Ghajini’, Allu Arvind is elated by the blockbuster hit of his Bollywood venture and is keen to make a change in South Indian Cinema. He also said that the rules here should be recreated to favor a global reach.

In the first step, Geetha Arts production ‘Magadheera’ starring Ram Charan Teja and Kajal Agarwal will be dubbed and released in both Tamil and Malayalam. Made on a high budget, the film is an action entertainer to suit audience of all classes. Even though Ram Charan is a new entrant into the languages, he is determined to take a dip and find out how far his lucky charm might work out.

The gigantic sets erected at Ramoji Film City for ‘Magadheera’ is the hot topic in tinsel town. The distributors are betting high even before the first copy is ready. Based on the plot of re-incarnation, director SS Rajamouli is churning out one more entertaining package which is slated for summer release this April. Music composed by MM Keeravani will most probably be released in the first week of March.

Banner: MMK Arts Cast: Gowtham, Sridevi, Raghuvarun, Saleem Panda, Ramaraju, Ashok Kumar, Bramhanandam, Jeeva, Bhanuchander, Surya, Dandapani, Silon Manohar, Gopikrishna and others Direction: Saibhanu Production: Kella Gopikrishna Music: Shekar Chandra

On a random pick of the lot, when we watch few films they remind us constantly that we have seen it somewhere earlier. The same nudging feel prevails while watching ‘Manjeera’ produced by the newly floated MMK Arts banner which got released on 31st January. Starring debutant Gautham and Sridevi, debutant Sai Bhanu has directed and Samba Siva Rao produced the film. Here we go through the pros and cons of the movie. Storyline The story begins in Vizag when the orphan Vasu (Gautham) in an attempt to save a pregnant woman, loses his ring with small bells (Muvvalu or Manjeeralu) in the spot. The ring was the last gift given to him by his mother in her death bed which goes into the hands of Beebi Nanchari alias Beena, a Muslim girl. She recovers the ring but misses Vasu and her attempts to handover it goes in vain. Without knowing that Vasu works for a Dada Ansari (Saleem Panda), who’s the right hand for MLA Mudiraj (Dandapani), Beena falls in love with him at first sight. Vasu who works as a thug and hitman for the goon, commits murders and indulges in illegitimate activities. Meanwhile, the proud beauty Beena dreams beyond her reach and waits for the man. On a fateful day, her cousin (Surya) demands her father the debt back. As they were unable to do it, he takes Beena to Hyderabad to sell her off to the Arab Sheiks. Unaware of the impending danger, she follows him to Hyderabad where she encounters Vasu. In a sale bid, Ansari competes with others even cutting a sheiks hand buys Beena for his own. In a tiring end, Beena at last reveals her love to Vasu. How will the hero marry Beena as he already works under Ansari and a criminal? Will he be forced to sacrifice his love or will he triumph over bad and marry his girl? Watch it yourself on screen. Performance of Artists Right from the word go the character of the protagonist played by debutant Gautham has a baffled look which sticks on to us at times. We can’t deny he got a good build but as an actor, he needs to improvise a lot. Sridevi has done a graceful job as she is kind of experienced in the role. At certain instance, we can’t help but Saleem Panda’s performance mesmerizes us and makes us feel he’s the hero. Even though, a group of most talented artistes like Raghuvaran, Bhanuchandar, Dandapani, Rama Raju, Jeeva, Venu Madhav, Y.Vijaya are a part of the cast, they were not given much screen space and their acting skills has been underplayed. Apart from sitting and play chess, Raghuvaran in the role of ring master who controls the Dada has no scope to performance in his last film. His role has clear shades of Sivasena leader Bal Thakre. Near the end, slight remembrance lingers about Bhanu Chandar, in his role of ACP. We have to laugh for the sake of said comedy done by Jeeva, Suman Shetty and Venu Madhav. Story, Screenplay and Direction Opportunity once wasted takes a long time to come back. This proverb should be inculcated to director Sai Bhanu by his well wishers because he failed to play the cards properly. The end product depicts he was more keen to go to the sets rather than building a proper script in pre-production stage. He unnecessarily travels the storyline by moving the heroine to Hyderabad by her cousin, letting the hero slip his ‘Manjeera’ adorned ring, making the villains as senseless humans which results in the only sensible act in the halls, a big yawn from us near the end. Such a script should have a taut screenplay and characters designed after contemplation. While watching, it goes on its own way and is like the scenes were dragged like gum to buy time for the director. In the huge pile of cons, pros are seen in meager amount. Technical Aspects Camera cranked by Sathibabu beautifully brings in the scenes and the director has also rendered more concentration on visuals than the script. Young musician Sekhar Chandra has composed some good tunes which is a welcome relief for us. Notably, heroine’s intro song and ‘Siri Vaana’ are good to listen to. Ram – Lakshman have always choreographed new style of stunts every time for their films and in ‘Manjeera’ we need not reiterate about their working style. Fight scenes are far above the range for a debut star which is a deliberate mistake done by the director who tried to elevate the newcomers image to a mass hero at the first movie itself. Criticism ‘Manjeera’ is one more new arrival in the list of Hindu – Muslim love stories. Usually, our filmmakers have been getting inspired by world cinema and Hollywood flicks in the recent past. But, director Sai Bhanu seems to have been mesmerized by 'Two Town Rowdy', 'Okkadu' and 'Varsham'. While watching this film we do can guess randomly that the director might have watched those above said movies atleast ten or more times before coming up with this one. A question to the filmmaker, won’t an average audience understand the meaning that Manjeera means bell, unless they speak French. What’s the motive to show the small bell on screen often (often irritates) to show the story is being spun around it. Keeping the director’s work aside, albeit the producer’s expenditure to bring out the film ‘Manjeera’, even without turning a deaf ear, we cannot hear the sound of the bell. Bad luck, we don’t get saved by the bell here.

The sun shines on the magic forest. It also shines on a giant oak tree, many centuries old. It’s in this tree that Miri’s family lives. Miri is a young Fairy, she’s very small, barely a few centimeters(A couple of inches) like all the fairies of her race.

Miri loves that tree with the many cavities sculpted with art and dedication. But with the respect for the survival of the living tree, of course.

The problem is that poor Miri is suffering from a mysterious illness. The magician healer was very upset. He had never encountered any such sickness before. He searched the memory books left by previous magician-healers to no avail unfortunately.

The little fairy, courageously continued to believe, in spite of her suffering, that she would heal. Winter was long for little Miri who, from her bed entertained her friends. She could not stand sorrow so she kept her morale up. With spring came a hope, as fragile as the eggs in the nest.

The healer had discovered a cure. But it was the powder that rests on the wings of butterflies. Hundreds maybe even thousands of butterflies,would be needed to harvest sufficient quantities for the medicine for Miri. Miri’s father was at the inn with his friend. He was discussing the problem of which no one seemed to know the solution. It was a sad day for Miri’s father.

A stranger seated at a neighboring table, approached them discreetly as the custom prescribes. He told Miri’s father; ”I think I can help heal your daughter”.

“Stranger, if you can accomplish that, I’ll give you everything you want”

“I have no need for everything, all I need is work.”

“Are you a healer?”

“No a gardener, if you hire me I guarantee that your daughter will be healed by the end of summer."

The honest tone and truthful gaze in the eyes of the gardener convinced Miri’s father to give him a chance. He had nothing to loose and Miri all to win...

From her window, Miri looked at the gardener work, an old man with the precise movements acquired along a lifetime dedicated to the love of plants. The gardener planted lilac trees in many shades. He even planted unknown plants, bushes and flowers with strange, mysterious names that brings visions of exotic places.

The old man told Miri that soon, he assured her, it would translate into a symphony of colors and textures that will perfume the air. He had such a pleasurable expression as he said it, that Miri was certain “HE” could smell it already. Miri observed as the young sprout escaped the soil, as the tender green shoots grew. Soon flower buds appeared followed by the most beautiful blooms.

The gossipers were having a good time. “Shameful, he buys himself a garden while his daughter, poor girl, lay sick and all. Shameful, I tell you.”

Then one warm day, attracted by the selected flowers butterflies came, more and more of them kept coming to invade the garden. The gardener installed a lawn chairs in the clearing and installed Miri comfortably in it.

Miri received a shower of the powder falling from the wings of the butterflies. The powder was of many colors shining in the sun. The rays of the sun reflected in the fine powder.

The clearing was bathed in the light and in that light Miri’s healing… In a week Miri was cured. Her delicate wings shone brightly again. Her face had regained her healthy colors and above all her smile was resplendent.

And this is how Miri got her name: “MIRI THE BUTTERFLY FAIRY

Movie: Mast
My Rating: 1.5/5
Cinematography: Srinivas Reddy
Story ,screenplay & Direction: S V Krishna Reddy
Art: Jaya Prakash
Executive Producers: VRK Rao, Suresh
Editing: Nagi Reddy
Produced: Zee Motion Pictures
Cast: Shivaji, Srinivas Reddy, Ali, Siva Balaji, Anchal, Sunil, Brahmanandam, Uttej, Raghu Babu etc
Release Date: 23rd Jan 2009

Review

Story
Visually impaired youngsters Siva (Shivaji), a deaf (Srinivas Reddy) and normal guy Pandu (Ali) are good friends
and they live together. They meet a beautiful orphan Anupama (Anchal) and give shelter to her. In the mean time, Siva falls in love with her. But there is a twist in the tale. She actually is running away from a goon called Bahadur (Mukul Dev) who pressurizes her to love him and she has a lover too.

Total Analysis:
S.V.Krishna Reddy who lost his magic long back comes with Mast this time to regain his past glory. But the movie clearly proves that SVK is still languished in early 90’s and his style of narration is clichéd and boring. The film’s story is copied from Bollywood film - Tom Dick and Harry (2006) which itself was remake of Tamil movie 123. Only basic point is taken for it and changed the story (if there really exists?) with old-styled jokes, half-baked scenes.

Not a single scene in the movie is praise worthy. Most of the movie seems like a street play. Nor are the performances are good. Technically too it is substandard.

Sivaji does overboard in the role of blind person and he looks like a buffoon most of the time. Ali and Srinivas Reddy try hard to create laughs but their weak characterization has no scope for it. Newcomer Anchal shows off her assets but she doesn’t have grace. Mukul Dev (of Krishna fame) does a guy of sadistic villain and he is okay.

Director SV Krishna Reddy might have directed some memorable movies in the past but his flicks in the recent times are scaring the audiences. Of all his recent bad movies he delivered, this one takes the cake.


Finle Analysis:
Mast is an entirely avoidable film. A big bore. No two ways about it. One wonders how does corporate company Zee Motion pictures okayed this dumb script.

Movie: Maska
My Rating: 3.25/5
Banner: Sri Sumanth Arts
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Sekhar V Joseph
Fights: Ram - Lakshman
Story: Surya
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Screenplay & Producer: MS Raju
Direction: B Gopal
Cast: Ram, Hansika Motwani, Sheela, Sunil, Mukesh Rushi, Pradeep Rawat, Naresh, Brahmanandam, Paruchuri Gopala Krishna, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Ali, Krishna Bhagawan etc
Release Date: 14th Jan 2009

Review

Story
Krish Jagarlamudi (not the Gamyam director, but hero Ram) is a spoilt brat who looks for shortcuts to earn fame and money. Unable to clear his graduation and get a job, Krish plans to love and marry a rich girl Manju (Sheela) who is going to USA. In the process he meets another girl Meenu (Hansika Motwani) and really falls in love with her. The rest of the story is all about when both these girls come to know about the cheating nature of Krish. There is also a political twist to the story.

Artists Performance:

Ram: After Devdas, this film gives an oppurtunity to Ram to portray the entire gamut of emotions. His dances are amazing in Hare Hare Rama (1st song) and Bagdad Gajadonga (last song). He moves his body like a spring in those songs. He handles comedy department exceptionally well with the right dialogue delivery and diction. However, we do notice an uncanny resemblance to the body language of Pawan Kalyan in Ram’s performance.

Heroines: Hansika Motwani did a traditional character in this film. She is pretty good. The fans of Hansika will have a whale of time in ‘Kalloki Dilloki’ song where she wore a micro mini skirt (with a low angle camera). Sheela who looks pretty traditional did the role of temptress in this film. And she is extremely glamorous with liberal exposure of her dusky skin.

Other actors: Sunil did a full-length role in this film after a long gap. He is extremely good and provides lot of entertainment. After doing Kokapeta Aunty in Tulasi, Jhansi has done another entertaining role that speaks in Nellore slang. Brahmanandam did the role of a kidnapped doc and he is just average. Introduction scene of Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao is good. One does not understand what Krishna Bhagawan is doing in this film. He has one insignificant scene with a single dialogue. Ali is also wasted. Mukesh Rushi, Pradeep Rawat, Naresh, Dharmavarapu and Telangana Sakuntala are adequate.

Technical Departments:
Story of the film is provided by Surya. He judiciously mixed a triangular love story with an action backdrop. Screenplay of the film is considerably good. MS Raju borrowed the Vaali screenplay where hero shows a photo of a girl to tell the story to heroine and the girl in photo meet hero in real. The thread of conversing in numbers has got good commercial payoff in the second half. The direction by B Gopal is decent in the first half. There is a bit of lag in pre-climax scenes. The hero shifting his love from Sheela and Hansika should have been shot more efficiently. The villains are projected as the most dreaded till climax and they are shown in the positive light at end. Hence there is no commercial payoff for the action/mass part of the film.

Music by Chakri is good. The picturization of the songs is excellent. But the director could not place these songs effectively into the film. The choreography for 1st song (Hare Hare) and last song (Bagdad Gajadonga) by Prem Rakshit is pretty cool. Cinematography is nice. The locations in 'Kalaganna' song are good. Dialogues by Paruchuri brothers are good. They wrote nice comedy one-liners as well as good mass dialogues. Production values by MS Raju are grand.

Final Analysis:
First half of the film is handled well and provides entertainment. You can see B Gopal kind of mass elements in the second half. The movie goes slow towards the climax of the film. The plus points of the film are Ram and first half. On the flip side, there is a bit of lag in the last half an hour of the film and more clarity is needed in love triangle. On a whole, Maska has got entertainment elements that might work at box office.