Genelia stills from ready movie

Mere Baap Pehle Aap

Mere Baap Pehle Aap

Cast: Genelia Dsouza, Akshaye Khanna, Naseruddin Shah, Shobhana, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Archana Puran Singh

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Slapstick, Family, Relationships

Lyrics: Tausif Aktar, Vidyasaagar

Music Director: Sameer

Director: Priyadarshan

Producer: Ketan Maroo, Mansi Maroo

Release Date: 13 June 2008

Review:

Janaradhan [Paresh Rawal] has spent his life bringing up his two kids, Chirag [Manoj Joshi] and Gaurav [Akshaye Khanna]. Now when the duo has grown up, Gaurav takes up the responsibility of his father. They both manage the household chores and their business to the best of their abilities. Though he is the younger son, he treats his father like his son. Gaurav shouts, threatens, fights, even locks up his father occasionally so that his prankster-friend Madhav [Om Puri], who is desperate to get married, does not spoil him.

Madhav and Janaradhan, who are always in search of a bride for Madhav, forever land up in trouble and every time Gaurav has to bail them out and face the embarrassment.Gaurav starts getting prank calls from a girl who turns out to be his old college friend Shikha [Genelia D'Souza]. Shikha is staying with her guardian Anuradha [Shobhana], who happens to be Janardhan's first love.

Gaurav and Shikha notice changes in Janaradhan and Anuradha's behaviors when they come face to face after many years. They come to know about their past. Now Gaurav wants his father to get married to his lost love. Of course, the path is not so smooth, there are obstacles.

Mere Baap Pehle Aap is a complete time pass venture. Priyadarshan is very clear that he isn't out to become a Madhur Bhandarkar or Amole Gupte and take away accolades. Priyan establishes his connect with the masses and is no doubt the good luck charm for all his producers.

Mere Baap Pehle Aap takes off as a complete laugh riot. The sequences and flow of events are so well executed. No one does such sequences better than Priyan. His characterization is simply splendid. For those who have had a sensation that Paresh Rawal is overdoing his comedy bit, watch this flick.

Priyan just didn't want to rely on comedy to run this flick but ropes in drama too. The drawback comes in here as he fails to sustain the length of the film which goes over 2hrs 30 mins. Except for the last 20 mins or so, the movie is tightly held and bound by Priyan's style and brilliance.

Cinematography by Piyush Shah is a delight with the splendid locales of Goa, Kerala etc. The movie requires a little trimming.

Music by Vidyasagar blends well with the film. The 'Ishq Subhanallah' and 'Maine Hawa' are tracks out to become hits provided they are promoted well.

On the acting front, Akshaye Khanna fits the bill and excels with his expressions, dialogues and body language.

Genelia does well primarily with her expressions. She's one heroine who is set to go places. No one besides Priyan could have given her such a meaty role.

Om Puri comes in as a revelation with comedy. The actor makes you giggle nonstop. Watch the interaction between him and Genelia at a mall. It's hilarious. He is no doubt the best in this flick.

Paresh Rawal too excels with comedy and this time doesn't look or sound repetitive. The sequences involving him and Archana Puran Singh are splendid. Do watch out for the combination of Om Puri and Paresh Rawal.

Rajapal Yadav surprisingly is barely there. Manoj Joshi is ok. Shobana impresses. Archana Puran Singh does well with her bit as the cop.

Mere Baap Phele Aap is the right mix for the family. It's sure to make you either giggle or laugh for most portions. Priyadarshan proves it once again that he holds stron.

Santosh Subramaniyam

Santosh Subramaniyam

Banner: AGS Entertainment Pvt Ltd

Cast: Genelia, Jayam Ravi, Prakash Raj, Kausalya, Geetha, Premji Gangai Amaran

Genre: Family

Music: Devi Sri Prasad

Director: Raja

Producer: Kalpathi S. Agoram

Release Date: 11th April 2008

Review:

Hats off director Raja and Jeyam Ravi for hitting the bull's eye for the fourth time in a row. The duo continues from where they left in Unakum Enakum to provide a feel-good light-hearted family entertainer sure to be enjoyed with the family.

It is a whiff of fresh air amidst the nauseating action-packed flicks where men run around wielding guns aimlessly and the hero mouthing punch dialogues. The movie probes deep in to the psyche of parents and their grown up children to analyse where and how conflict between them starts. It also presents a solution.

Prakashraj plays a dotting father while Jayam Ravi his callous son. Both have handled their roles with ease and elegance. Both are natural and render justice to their characters. Ravi is bubbling with energy and is enthusiastic on screen. He is charming and elegant. Genelia is the perfect foil for the female lead.

In the role of a innocent and fun-loving girl, she has managed to deliver one of her best performance so far. She is spontaneous as an happy-go-lucky-girl and expressions come out quite comfortably from her. Hitherto she was looked as a glamour doll in Kollywood. Thanks to director Raja, she has managed to prove everyone that she too can sparkle in performance-oriented roles.

Santhanam in the company of Premji Gangai Amaran evokes laughter. His slapstick comedy evokes laughter at several places in the theatre.

The movie has a huge star cast which includes Kousalya, Geetha, Shayaji Shinde, Sathyan and former Indian cricketer Sadagoppan Ramesh. All have a contribution to make in the movie.

Devi Sri Prasad's pulsating musical score is a major highlight of the movie. The racy numbers linger in our hearts, while his background score sets up the momentum.

Santosh (Jayam Ravi) has everything in life, but in excess amounts. His father, Subramaniam (Prakash Raj), decides on what is good for Santosh and gives him more than what he asks for. But never he gives a chance to his son to express his opinion.

He selects the girl of his choice to Santosh. That is when Santosh meet a bubbly beauty Hasini (Genelia), whom he has waited all his life for. Now he has a complex situation. First he need to propose and win her over. Then convince his over-obsessive father. Then make his ladylove's father accept him. Then break the engagement. How he successfully comes across all these is Santosh Subramaniam.

Raja now joins the big league of directors delivering a movie that will satisfy all sections of the audience. Producer kalpathi Agoram should be equally complemented for churning out the venture.Santosh Subramaniam is no doubt a film that is sure to spread santhosam (happiness) to one and all.

Director Raja said, "I had taken great pains with Genelia's character and she has done justice to the role of a chirpy, innocent girl. Genelia will definitely make her mark in the industry."

Genelia steals the show in the role of Hasini. Her spontaneous and innocent performance convinces everyone that no other actress could do the role like Genelia.

Mr. Medhavi

Mr. Medhavi

Banner: Lifestyle Art Films

Cast: Raja, Genelia, Sonu Sood, Dharmavarapu, Suman, Tanikella Bharani, Suman Shetty, MS Narayana, Brahmanandam, Hema

Genre: Love

Music: Chakri

Cinematography: Sunil Kumar Reddy

Art: KV Varma

Editing: KV Nagireddy

Story - Dialogues - Screenplay - Direction: Neelakanta

Producer: Bodduluri Rama Rao

Release date: 26 January 2008

Story:

Vishwak (Raja) is an orphan who is adapted by his school teacher. Later Vishwak becomes independent and takes care of himself. During this process, Vishwak becomes manipulative guy in order to succeed life. During his childhood, he happens to meet an NRI kid called Swetha who joins his school for a few days. They develop a close friendship. They happen to meet again after they grow up. The rest of the story is all about whether they fall in love or not.

Artists Performance:

Raja is looking very handsome in this film. He suited the role very well and got into the skin of the character. Genelia is cool as usual. Her performance is excellent when she invites Sonu Sood to her house. She gave a matured performance in the climax of the film. But her make-up and hair style should have been better. Sonu Sood did a guest role and he is adequate. MS Narayana and Dharmavarapu Subramanyam provided comic relief. Suman, Hema and Tanikella Bharani are good.

Technical Departments:

Story - Screenplay - Direction: Story of the film is simple and narration is linear. Mr. Medhavi who is an expert at giving love advices to everybody failing in his own case resembles us of Hitch. The director followed different narrative (like main leads narrating the story in Mr & Mrs Smith) in the film. Screenplay of the film is adequate and there is a nice twist towards the climax. Direction of the film is good. Neelakanta stuck to his own plot instead of diverting the attention in order to attracts the masses. However, the narration of the film is very slow and there are boring moments in the second half.

Other Departments: Main asset of the film is the superb cinematography by Sunil Kumar Reddy. Shot framing, lighting techniques and camera angles are different. Music by Chakri is good. The kids songs and Manasu song stand out. However, the last two songs in the second half appear forcibly inserted. Dialogues are well written. Editing is alright.

Analysis: The film starts with an interesting note. The kids episode is impressive. First half is decent. The second half has some dull moments, but the climax twist makes it up for sagging second half. The plus points of the film are casting, narrative style and clean concept. On the flipside, the second half should have been in a more interesting way. The way Raja is taught about relationships is good. Neelakanta should be appreciated for having guts to insert the 'HR SWOT' episode in the film which lasts for over 15 minutes. On a whole, Mr. Medhavi is a well intended and a decent film. This film will definitely appeal the ultra A class audiences. The commercial appeal for an average moviegoer is very much limited.

Dhee

Dhee

Banner: Siri Venkateswara Films

Cast: Vishnu, Genelia D'Souza, Srihari, Tanikella Bharani, Sunil, Brahmanandam, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Supreet, Chandra Mohan, Prema, Ajay, Master Bharat (Venky fame), Chitram Seenu, Giri & Delhi Rajeswari

Genre: Comedy

Story - dialogues: Kona Venkat

Story development: Gopi Mohan

Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh

Art: Narayana Reddy

Cinematography: Prasad Murella

Executive Producer: Tallam Surendra

Co Producer: K Surya Narayana Reddy

Screenplay - Direction: Seenu Vytla

Producer: Mallidi Satyanarayana Reddy

Release Date: 13 April 2007

Review:

Story

Shankar Goud (Srihari) is a popular don in old city. He dotes on his lovable sister Pooja (Genelia). Srinivasa Rao alias Babloo (Vishnu) is a wayward youngster. He joins as an employee in Shankar Goud's accounts department. There he gets to know Pooja and the inevitable happens. The rest of the story is all about how Babloo plays some mind games to win Shankar Goud's confidence and marry Pooja.

Artists Performance

Vishnu: Vishnu's main strength is his spontaneity and the director exploited it to the full extent in this film. Vishnu is home playing the role of Babloo. Vishnu's always took care of fights in his earlier films and ignored the main content. But in this film he seemed to have stuck with the script. In one certain scene he even imitates Mohan Babu in a prank call given to Srihari.

Genelia: Watching Genelia on the big screen gives us a lot of relief as we are fed up with so many new heroines coming in and going out of the industry without leaving any impact. Genelia is exceptionally good and she contributes a lot to the script with peppy portrayal of the character.

Others: Srihari is very good. His role in this film reminds us of the role he played in Mahanandi. He adds value to the film with his neat work. Brahmanandam and Sunil never entertained the crowds in such a way in recent times. Brahmanandam is superb. The way he refers to Vishnu as 'Rao garu' and then sums up by saying 'Nannu Involve cheyyakandi' is cool. Sunil is excellent. The situational comedy on Jaya Prakash Reddy is also good. Supreet (Katraj of Chatrapati) is competent as villain. Shafi is pretty cool as assassin.

Technical Departments:

Story - Screenplay - direction: Story of the film is simple and certain part of it reminds us of Mahanandi (don-heroine-hero relationship) and Ranam (mind game). What makes this simple story into enjoyable fare is the screenplay. Screenplay of this film is very good. Seenu Vytla's forte has always been his comedy timing and he made sure that he filled the entire film with entertainment. He has the uncanny ability of creating humor out of nothing and runs it successfully for minutes together. He arranged the content of romance, comedy, action and suspense in such a way that they complement each other. The way hero traces the heroine's place in the climax of the film is pretty intelligent. On the other hand, he made the role of Srihari passive throughout the film which made the movie lose out on action drama aspect

Other departments: Music by Chakri is alright. But it is under promoted. Hence many people would not have heard the music before coming to the film. Dialogues by Kona Venkat are very good. There are neat one liners (Brahmanandam to Sunil: Mahesh Babu milk boy laga vuntadu. Nuvvu milk iche geda laga vunnav.) and philosophical dialogues (chaavu ante santhi). Prasad Murella's cinematography is fine. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh is good. Fights are adequate.

Analysis: First half of the film is very entertaining. Second half is good too. The best part of the film is screenplay. Vishnu is likely to get a commercial break with this flick. Genelia is a plus. The comedy by Brahmanandam and Sunil is spread wisely throughout the film. The major minus of the film is that the Srihari's character is made dumb throughout the film for screenplay convenience. Hence the title 'Dhee' will not be appropriate as it becomes one-sided match. On a whole, Dhee is an entertaining film and is the only film I liked in this year's Telugu releases so far. Hence, I have no second thoughts about recommending it to you..

Chennai Kadhal

Chennai Kadhal

Banner: V. Creations

Cast: Bharath, Genelia D'Souza, Radha Ravi

Genre: Romance

Music: Joshua Sridhar

Director: Vikraman

Producer: Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Release Date: 8 December 2006

Review:

Story

It is not easy for anyone to try something different from their routine. Director Vikraman, hitherto known for his sentiment packed family entertainers, has tried a commercial pot-boiler with Chennai Kadhal. And with youngsters by his side, he has managed a decent outing.

Though he has taken a beaten-to-bush theme, where the hero and heroine fall in love and thereby antagonize their parents, the director has infused pace in the narration, which works out well.

Chennai Kadhal is a city based love story that alternates between Chennai and Mumbai. It is totally a different fare for Vikraman and the hero Bharath, as the neatly choreographed stunt sequences take Bharath on a different plane altogether. A mish-mash of romance and action with a liberal sprinkling of humour sums up Chennai Kadhal.

The story begins with a bang. Indeed so, for even in the opening we get to see the hero bashed up by some thugs, stabbed, and thrown atop a moving train in Mumbai. And his flashback unfolds amidst curiosity. Gowtham (Bharath) is a happy-go-lucky-youngster in Chennai. Irresponsible and spirited, he does not take life seriously. He incurs the wrath of his father for his attitude.

Gowtham meets Narmada (Genelia) near her hostel accidentally. They get into a teeny-weeny argument. Later on, he comes across Narmada in an express train. Due to some untoward mishap, the train gets halted in a remote village for three days. Gowtham and Narmada get acquainted with each other. The sequences in the train remind one of certain scenes in the Hindi flick DDLJ. Nevertheless, the sequences arouse interest.

Goutham is mostly seen in the company of his friends who run 'Cine Vehicle Suppliers,' a company which supplies vehicles for film shoots. As it happens, he also gets a chance to share the frame of a film in a Police costume. The turn of events leads Narmada (Genelia) believe that he is, in fact, an inspector. She expresses her love to him, which he accepts, and things go well until she comes to know that Gowtham is not a police officer. However, she is soon convinced by Gowtham.

Enters Sakthivel (Radharavi), father of Narmada, a dreaded thug in Chennai. Narmada, who had cut off all ties with him after knowing that he is a ruffian, had been studying and staying in a hostel while working part-time to manage her expenses. At such circumstances, Sakthivel decides to get Narmada married to a gangster's brother. Sensing trouble, Narmada and Gowtham elope to Mumbai. Sakthivel's men go on their trail. But an unexpected turn of events brings about trouble to the lovers again. The rest is about how Gowtham fights against all odds and successfully marries Narmada.

Radha Ravi's comeback to films is heartening. It goes without saying that he has done a commendable job. Bharath has done enough justice to his role, so has Genelia. Genelia's costumes deserve special mention here. She is indeed a treat to the eyes. Likewise, the foreign locales where the songs are picturised. They transport you to cool blue waters, captured beautifully by Muthu Ganesh's camera. Joshua Sridhar emerges a winner with songs belonging to different genres and re-recording, which is easy on the ears. Editing by Antony is crisp. Jaguar Thangam's stunts are also good.

Vikraman has introduced the winner of a popular regional television show in this film. He has played his part well, and his histrionics has helped to carry the story forward.

Laudable performances, a racy screenplay and the light-hearted comic sequences make Chennai Kadhal a definite winner.

Bommarillu

Bommarillu

Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations

Cast: Siddardha, Genelia D'Souza, Prakash Raj, Kota, Jayasudha, Sunil, Satya Krishnan, Sudeepa, Dharmavarapu, Surekha Vani, Chitram Seenu, Vijay, Ravi Varma, Neha & Bill Bitra

Genre: Family

Music: Devi Sri Prasad

Dialogues: Abburi Ravi

Lyrics: Sirivennela, Chandrabose, Bhaskarabhatla, Kula Sekhar, Anant Sreeram

Cinematography: Vijay K Chakravarthy

Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh

Story - screenplay - direction: Bhaskar

Producer: Dil Raju

Release Date: 9th August 2006

Review:

Story

Siddu (Siddardha) has everything in life, but in excess amounts. His father (Prakash Raj) decides on what is good for Siddu. He selects the girl of his choice to Siddardha. That is when Siddu meet the girl Hasini (Genelia) he has waited all his life for. Now he has a complex situation. First he need to propose to Hasini and win her over. Then convince his over-obsessive father. Then make Hasini's father accept him. Then break the engagement. And so on!

Artists Performance

Bommarillu is the best example of perfect casting. Here is another tailor-made role for Siddardha. He is very natural, charming and elegant. The most crucial part of his performance comes in the confrontation scene with Prakash Raj. Genelia steals the show with her mind-blowing performance as a happy-go-lucky and innocent girl. She is like an angel with lot of purity. Savitha Reddy (dubbing artist) has given her best output for the Hasini character in this film. Praksh Raj is at his best in this role that demands extraordinary performance. One wonders why Jayasudha is taken for such a role which has got very few dialogues, but her performance in confrontation scene with Prakash Raj in climax is enough to justify why it takes a natural actress like Jayasudha to do that role. After many years Sunil has done a superb comdey role. His expressions as servant in Prakash Raj's house remind us of comedians of golden era. Kota is very good in the role of Genelia's father. Sudeepa is terrific as aspiring beautician. Satya Krishnan is cute. Bill Bitra is very smart as kid in Prakash Raj house. Dharmavarapu Subramanyam is neat. Chitram Seenu, Vijay and Ravi Varma are adequate as friends of hero.

Technical Departments:

Story - screenplay - Direction: Bhaskar arrives with this film as a terrific talent that makes Telugu film industry proud. There is lot of freshness in the film. Director understands the nuances of filmmaking extremely well and applies them all with perfection for his debut film. Story of the film deals with the relationship that sours between a good father and a good son. Screenplay of the film is tight. Direction is exceptionally good. He dealt both fun scenes and emotional scenes with same degree of dexterity. At one point of time, Bollywood produced great flicks like DDLJ and KKHH. I always wondered why can't we have such films in Telugu. Telugu film industry too produced such films, but most of them are inspired ones. Bommarillu is one film that matches the brilliance of above mentioned films.

Music: Music of the film is very good and background music is excellent. The scenes in the first half are so good that songs come as speed breakers to the narration. The songs in second half are excellently blended into the narration with good emotional quotient. The choreography for 'Bommani Geeste' song (4th in the film) is exemplary. The pathos song that comes in parts in second half is brilliant.

Other departments: Cinematography by Vijay K Chakravarthy is priceless. He makes this film a visual treat with rich and vibrant colors. Dialogues by Abburi Ravi are excellent. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh is crisp. Artwork is fabulous. Dil Raju produced this film with high standards of filmmaking. Dil Raju knows the recipe for success and this time the recipe is more yummy than his earlier films.

Analysis: First half of the film is excellent. Second half is even better. The last 20 minutes of the film is extraordinary with perfect emotions. This film is so good that I don't find any negative points. The huge plusses of this film are director Bhaskar, perfect cast (Genelia's exceptional performance), priceless piece of work by Vijay K Chakravarthy, appropriate music by Devi Sri Prasad and good judgment and involvement by Dil Raju. If director Bhaskar can make films of other genres the way he made Bommarillu, he is the one who can take the Telugu cinema to the next level. After a gap of 44 months, it gives me a great pleasure to give a 'Jeevi Rating' of 4.5 for a Telugu cinema in the form of Bommarillu.

Tail piece: Watching Bommarillu at Prasadz is like sitting in a ladies special show (as 75% of the patrons were good looking women). The film is so good that people are refusing to leave the auditorium as the titles are scrolling.

Raam

Raam

Banner: Sri Venkata Ramana Pictures

Cast: Nitin, Genelia D'Souza, Hrishitha Bhatt

Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Producer: N. Sudhakar Reddy

Director: N. Shankar

Release Date: 30th March 2006

Review:

Story

Revenge is one of the basest of human emotions. And that is why you have many films still being made on that theme. Perhaps after love and friendship (other basic human emotions), revenge is the most played out feeling in films.

In N Shanker's Ram, the theme of revenge is packaged around youthful romance and some other mass fun. Despite the best efforts of Nitin and others in the cast, the film does not rise beyond the ordinary simply because the packaging is very average. The film does not go beyond the mundane as the script is infantile and unimaginative. A hero taking it out on the baddies for their sins of the past needs to be told attractively to hold the viewers' interest. The director, Shanker, who is also in charge of the script, fails on this count.

In the event, the well-intentioned efforts of Nitin, who is full of energy and enthusiasm, and the gamine charm of Genelia all go waste. The story is wafer thin. Ram, the eponymous hero, is a happy go lucky guy in Hyderabad. He is an up and coming cycle champion. A win in a competition takes him to the final round in Mumbai.

But in Mumbai life pans out differently for him. He ends up unravelling the gritty knots of his family, especially that of his grandfather (Krishnam Raju). The granddad had been a do-gooder for the society but had been taken out by the baddies (Devraj and Jeeva). They also have an eye on the old man's property. So our hero avenges all the killings and in the process also wins the hand of one of the baddie's daughters (Genelia).

It is a tacky story that needs all the push from the script. But unfortunately it doesn't come. In the event, Nitin's vivacity and spirited dances all go in vain. Nitin sure has good screen presence, but alas it is still not big enough to carry off a bad script. Genelia looks cute and cuddly. Her role is limited. So is Hrishita Bhatt's who plays Genelia's sister. The two provide some feast in cool beauty. Devraj and Jeeva as baddies go through the motions. Brahmanandam as a doctor is okay. Venu Madhva's comedy is in the so-so category.

Yuvan's musical score does not get extra lift on the screen. His rerecording is pretty good. The technical values are nothing much to complain, overall.

But you cannot say the same thing to the efforts of the director Shanker. There are mass elements and there some good moments too. But if only he had worked even harder, Ram could have been a battering Ram. But it ends up as battered Ram.

Happy

Happy

Banner: Geeta Arts

Cast: Allu Arjun, Genelia D'Souza, Manoj Bajpai, Brahmanandam, Tanikella Bharani, Suman Setty, Venu Madhav, Vijay, Rama Prabha, Seetha, Apoorva & Jahnavi.

Genre: Comedy/Romance

Basic Story: Radha Mohan

Dialogues: Kona Venkat - Swamy

Cinematography: RD Rajasekhar

Editing: Anthony

Music: Yuan Shankar Raja

Lyrics: Sirivennela, Chandrabose, Kulasekhar, Vishwa, Pothula Ravi Kiran, Anant Sreeram

Art: Chinna

Fights: Vijay & Allan Amin

Screenplay - direction: Karunakaran

Producer: Allu Arvind

Release date: 27th January 2006

Review:

Story

Bunny (Allu Arjun) is an orphan who works as a Pizza delivery boy. Madhumati (Genelia) is the daughter of a caste-based politician and studies MBBS. Bunny and Madhumati meet each other in a strange situation and are forced to get married in an unforeseen situation. The rest of the story is all about how this couple who never had any intention of love find soul mates in each other.

Artists Performance

Allu Arjun: Allu Arjun has given his career best performance in the last 2 minutes of this film. Allu Arjun's characterization in this film is of a typical happy-go-lucky guy. That's a tailor-made role for him and he did it with great élan. Dances have always been a big asset to Allu Arjun and his steps in 'Vassa' song make masses go crazy. There is stylishness in Arjun and his wardrobe is pretty good.

Others: Genelia has got lots of scope for performance in this film and she did exceptionally well. Manoj Bajpai impresses everybody with his cameo. The one who did the role of evil cop has shown intensity in his performance. Rama Prabha, Tanikella Bharani, Suman Setty and Jahnavi are adequate.

Technical Departments:

Story - screenplay - direction: Direction by Karunakaran is fairly good. There are a few scenes in the film (hero behaving like God scene, a replica hero dancing when genelia sits on his bike for the first time) that shows the exceptional creativity of the director. Screenplay of the film is smooth, but for the last 25 minutes. Karunakaran's ability to chip in sweet nothings in songs is exemplary. The scene in which heroine shows door to hero in the second half is unconvincing.

Music and songs: Music by Yuan Shankar Raja is excellent. All songs are well picturized with nice themes. The best song of the film is 'Ye Hrudayam'. Here is the description of each song n the order of appearance -

1. Hyderabadi: This song showcase the landmarks of Hyderabad coupled with riveting dances of Allu Arjun. Probably a song is shot for the first time at Buddha statue in Hussain Sagar. This song is merged into narration and shows how hero got settled in Hyderabad.

2. Happy: This song has a theme. The best thing about this song are the editing cuts by Anthony. The set was used pretty creatively to narrate the song theme with right picturization. On a whole it's a typical music video kind of song done with high quality.

3. Vassa Vassa: This is a massive mass number of Happy album. Mass steps composed by Ashok Raj rocks masses away. It is a set song and Allu Arjun shows his dancing prowess again with this song. The way director made Manoj Bajpai sing the first lyric of the song and clubbed such a mass song into narration smoothly is innovative.

4. I hate you: This song comes as the first song after the marriage. It is a very trendy song that has teasing elements. It is shot on the mean leads and their friends. It is another creative song.

5. Egire Mabbulona: This song is the best song of Happy. And its scored high in all aspects - lyrics, situation, music, melody and theme. Karunakaran canned this song with lots of dexterity. This song shows the blossoming of love between the lead pair.

6. Nee Kosam: It is another good song that is used for the separation of the couple with ample flashback scenes.

Other Departments: Photography by RD Raja Sekhar is exceptional. Editing by Anthony is cool and trendy. His editing cuts in songs are good. Set work by Chinna is first-rate. Fx work is really fine, especially the titles animtion. Fights are adequate. Dialogues by Kona Venkat and Swamy are good. Production values by Geetha Arts banner are exceptionally good.

Analysis: First half of the film is entertaining and promising. Second half is adequate. The last half an hour of the film does not gel well with the rest of the film. However, the last 2 minutes of the film is heart-touching. The plus points of the film are Allu Arjun, songs picturization, technical values and comedy. On the flip side, tempo in the latter part of the second half went down. On a while, Happy is a happy film watch for its songs and comedy.

Naa Alludu

Naa Alludu

Banner: Sri Bharati Enterprises

Cast: NTR, Ramya Krishna, Shriya, Genelia D'Souza, Suman, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Krishna Bhagawan, Nassar, Charan Raj, Rajiv Kanakala, Kanchi, Brahmanandam, Hema, Master Teja, Kanchi, Rallapally, Ali, Ram, Lakshman.

Genre: Family Drama

Story: Vijayendra Prasad

Dialogues: A Ratnam

Music: Devi Sri Prasad

Lyrics: Veturi, Chandrabose, Sahiti

Camera: K Ravindra Babu

Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao

Fights: Vijay

Executive Producer: A Raghunatha Reddy

Producer: Bharati

Screenplay - direction: Vara Mullapudi

Theatrical release date: 14th January 2005

Review:

Story

Karthik is an MBA graduate who wants to join in Bhanumati Industries as an employee. Bhanumati Industries is found and run by a billionaire Bhanumati (Ramya Krishna) who gauges the entire world through the lenses of money. She mistreats Karthik during the interview process which irks Karthik. Karthik challenges to Bhanumati that he would set her straight and marry one of her daughters. The rest of the story is all about how he implements his schemes to win over Bhanumati and her daughters.

Artists Performance

NTR: NTR donned two get ups in this film. His get-up as Murugan is entertaining. His dialogue delivery with Tamil accent for that character is entertaining. He had shown variations between these two characters in terms of mannerisms and body language. He did extremely well in dances, as usual.

Others: Ramya Krishna is very glamorous in the role of haughty Bhanumati. She still looks like main heroine of the film than a character actress. Shriya and Genelia are just like props in this film. They do not have much roles and individualities. Their characterizations are pretty confusing. Nassar and Suman are adequate in their responsible roles. Comedy by Brahmanandam as cop in New Zealand did not click. Ali, Kota Srinivasa Rao and Kanchi are so so. The roles of Charan Raj and Rajiv Kanakala are routine.

Technical Departments:

Story: Story of the film is a typical atha-alludu story. It is about how a responsible son-in-law teaches a lesson to his haughty mother-in-law whose eyes are blinded by the love for money and false status. However the interesting startup of the film where a temple priest announces that one of the twins would kill the other one do not have much link up to the storyline of the film except for misguiding the audiences to believe that Murugan and Karthik are two different people.

Screenplay - direction: The debut by Vara Mullapudi - protégé of K Raghavendra Rao and the son of Mullapudi Venkataramana - is unimpressive. The direction lacks clarity and the screenplay is petty confusing at times. For a first timer, it is a wrong choice to handle such an oft-repeated script.

Music: : Music by Devi Sri Prasad is pretty mediocre. Background music is good. 'Naa Peru Murugan' has the style and spice we expect from Devi Sri Prasad. 'Banthichenu kaada' and 'Andala Bommaro' songs are average. The other songs are of no interest value.

Dialogues: Dialogues by A Ratnam are pretty average. There are a couple of entertaining dialogues like

1. NTR: 'mee iddarini (Shriya & Genelia) kalipi tookam vesinaa naa thodanta raaru'.

2. NTR: 'ee coin bomma padithe Peddadaanni (Shriya) borusu padithe chinnadaanni (Genelia) pelli chesukunta.

Krishna Bhagawan: Mari gotu padithe?

NTR: (points his fingers at Ramya Krishna)

The prasa dialogues written for NTR in the first half are uninteresting.

Other departments: Photography by K Ravindra Babu is sufficient. Set work by Anand Sai is impressive (especially the ship set penultimate song and the sets in the last song). Fights by Vijay are OK.

Sye

Sye

Banner: Sri Bharati Enterprises

Cast: Nitin, Genelia D'Souza, Pradeep Rawat, Nassar, Sashank, Rajiv Kanakala, Tanikella Bharani, Indu, Venu Madhav

Genre: Action

Story: Vijayendra Prasad

Dialogues: M Ratnam

Music: MM Keeravani

Camera: Senthil

Stunts: Ram-Lakshman, Vijay

Costumes: Rama Rajamouli

Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao

Art: Anand Sai

Screenplay - Direction: SS Rajamouli

Producer: A Bharati

Theatrical release date: 23rd September 2004

Review:

Story

Pruthvi (Nitin) & Sashank (Sashank) are the leaders of two warring students groups in a Hyderabad college. They are fond of Rugby game and they sort the things out between them by playing Rugby to prove superiority. One fine day, a local mafia leader Bhikshu Yadav (Pradeep Rawat) gets a court notice that he has purchased the land of college from its legal heirs. The groups of Pruthvi and Sashank unite together by forgetting differences to fight an united cause of winning back the land for college. After getting affected by assaults of students, Bhikshu Yadav throws a challenge to defeat his team in Rugby play to win back the land for their college. The rest of the story is all about how Pruthvi leads his team to the victory.

Artists Performance:

Nitin looks pretty hip with sophisticated looks and different hair-do. He did well in the role of protagonist. But he needs to work harder on his dubbing. Genelia is cool as teen college going girl. She is a treat to watch, but unfortunately has no role to play in story. Sashank is competent as the gang leader. Pradeep Rawat is impressive (credit also should be given for the characterization). Rajiv Kanakala is good in an inspiring role of Rugby coach. Venu Madhav's comedy is hilarious. Tanikella Bharani and Nassar are adequate. Director Rajamouli did a guest appearance.

Technical Departments:

Story: First half of the story deals with gang wars (a la The Westside Story). If Aamir Khan and his team wins cricket match to abolish tax in Lagaan, Nitin and his team win Rugby game to get back the land for their college in Sye. Vijayendra Prasad provided story for Sye.

Screenplay - direction: Taking style of Rajamouli is stylish and trendy. Direction of the film is decent. He is exceptionally good in the introduction scene of the film and canning the Rugby fight at the climax. Rajamouli succeeded in canning all the episodes of Rugby game in a way where everybody can understand the basics of the game. However, Rajamouli could not establish the following points strong enough

1. Why do these two groups (Arts and Science) clash without any proper provocation? The rivalry emotions could not be established.

2. The love thread between hero and heroine.

3. How silly follies by student's gang would trick a big mafia leader.

Music: Music by MM Keeravani is good, as usual. He liberally used various English tunes (including that of 'We Will Rock You - Queen' and 'Miss Lova - Shaggy') in background music. All the songs in this film offer wide variety of tunes that range from extreme class (Ganga A/C) to extreme mass (Gutlo Vundi Bellam Mukka). From extreme melodious (Nalla Nallani) to extreme racy (Chantaina Bujjaina)! Picturization of the songs is also good. However, there are no strong situations to place the songs.

Dialogues: Dialogues by M Ratnam are adequate. There is one good inspirational dialogue in this film that lifts up the mood and spirits of climax - Otami satruvu rupamlo raadu. Bhayam roopamlo manalonunde vastundi.

Other departments: Senthil Kumar (who worked for Aithe earlier) did a tremendous job again for this film as the cinematographer. Artwork by Anand Sai is excellent. The locations chosen are good. Producer Giri has produced this film on a vast and lavish scale. Color grading is good. Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is adequate.

Hip Stuff: This film definitely broke some barriers (with the help of censor board, ofcourse) by having certain gestures that are unheard/unseen in past telugu films

1. The 'Chantaina' song ends with chorus - Wham bham: thank you maam

2. There are quite a few scenes that have hero and his buddies showing middle fingers.

3. Use the f word directly (Rajiv Kanakala saying ****ing difficult)

Analysis: The film starts with a terrific episode. First half of the film is slow and little boring. The second half is better. Climax is good. Plus points of the film are Raja Mouli's stylish taking and MM Keeravani music. The main negative point in the film is failing in getting the emotions right till the climax of the film. The box office prospects of this film would depend on how youth embrace this film. This film opened with terrific collections.

Samba

Samba

Banner: Kodali Movies Private Limited

Cast: NTR, Bhumika Chawla, Genelia D'Souza, Prakash Raj, Vijay Kumar, Tanikella Bharani, Chalapati Rao, Ahuti Prasad, Mansoor Ali Khan, Hemanth Ravan, GV, Jessy Singh, Ali, Venu Madhav, LB Sriram, Krishna Bhagavan, Malladi Raghava, Prasanna Kumar, Brahmaji, Subbaraju, Nutan Kumar, Sameer, Master Teja, Vijay, Sitara, Sukanya, Sukumari, Vijaya Singh, Pragati, Kalyani, Shirmili, Saraswatamma, Reshmi, Baby Greeshma, Baby Abhinaya

Genre: Action

Story: GS Rao

Dialogues: Kona Venkat

Cinematography: K Ravindra Babu

Music: Mani Sharma

Art: Srinivasa Raju

Fights: Vijay

Editing: Gowtam Raju

Lyrics: Bhuvana Chandra, Chandra Bose, Sahiti & Suddala Ashok Teja

Choreography: Prabhudeva, Lawrence, Raja Sekhar, Ashok Raj

Executive producer: Arikepudi Sivaji

Producer: Kodali Nani

Screenplay - direction: VV Vinayak

Release date: 9th June 2004

Review:

Story

Dharmayya Naidu (Vijaya Kumar) lost his wife because he is uneducated. Hence he wants to felicitate education in his seema area by constructing schools. He realizes that the quarry he owns has good quality granite deposits. Samba (NTR) is the son of Dharmayya Naidu. Prakash (Prakash Raj) is the son-in-law of Dharmayya Naidu. Prakash plays the game in such a way that Dharmayya Naidu is forced to give granite quarry as a dowry to Prakash's family, due to which Dharmayya Naidu's daughter commits suicide. When Samba comes to know the reason behind his sister's suicide, he occupies the quarry and kills the brothers of Prakash. Prakash kills everybody in the house of Samba in retaliation.

Samba and his nemesis Prakash take shelter in Kanchi and Amritsir respectively as police ban them from entering AP for a year. Samba settles as a saree manufacturer and trader in Kanchi (Tamil Nadu). The rest of the story is all about how he returns to Seema and takes vengeance against Prakash and then starts serving in educational field.

Artists Performance

NTR: NTR performed extraordinarily well in emotional episodes that require tremendous screen presence and towering mass persona. His dances are peppy and are full of enthusiasm, as usual. His style of groaning when he lost his dear ones is good. His demeanor has class orientation in the first half and mass orientation in the second half. However, NTR should 'seriously' consider reducing his weight now, as it's started showing negative effect on his grace/style while doing dances.

Heroines: When NTR is the hero, the heroines do not have much role to play unless they are related to villain. Since both Bhumika Chawla and Genelia are not related to villain in this film, they do not have much to perform while sharing the screen with NTR. Bhumika is pretty good, but has a very short role. Genelia is naughty. She looked sexy while donning rose color outfits in the first dance bit of 3rd song (Tagilindirabba).

Others: There is heavy star cast in this film. Prakash Raj is good as villain. The way he pricks on the dead body of Dharmayya Naidu with knife is ghastly. Mansur Ali Khan is authentic as McDowell Mani (an evil man in Kanchi). It was Venu Madhav who created good comedy in the 1st half and Krishna Bhagawan in the second half. These guys are sidekicks of villains (Like Allu Ramalingaiah for Rao Gopal Rao in old films). Vijay Kumar, Malladi Raghava and Tanikella Bharani are adequate.

Technical Departments:

Story: The basic point of the film is about the hero fighting it out for establishing educational institutes in Rayalaseema so that the land of factionists could become the land of humanists with better education and wisdom.

Screenplay - direction: First things first! VV Vinayak has handled 6-7 episodes of the film extraordinarily. These scenes would exhilarate the crowds a lot. He managed enough to make the movie in such way that the audiences would come out of the theater in a positive mood. The direction is cool in few scenes and wild in some other scenes. He opted for ruthless bloodshed to feast the eyes of mass audiences. He also neglected the family audiences while conceiving the second half. VV Vinayak should improve his taste for the music, as music has been a weakling in most of his films. He should also concentrate on making movies that entertain all section of audiences equally good than concentrating too much on mass episodes.

Dialogues: Dialogues by Kona Venkat are good. Here are few dialogues in the film

NTR to goons (Kanchi): Cheeralu ammukune vallu kada ani cheap gaa chooste cheeresta.

NTR to Mansur Ali Khan (Kanchi): Nipputho pettukunte tagalapadi pothav. Neetitho pettukunte munigi pothav. Sambatho pettukunte chachipothav. (This is a very powerful dialogue and it would have been used more than once in this film)

Bhumika to NTR: Yesey bava! (asking NTR to hit out rowdies)

NTR to Bhumika: ardharathri peratloki raa. Muddista. Paipai chesukundam. (when NTR said paipaina twice there is very good response)

NTR: Chaduvuto rayalaseema lo factionists ni humanists chestaanu.

Other departments: Music by Mani Sharma is average. Songs picturization is good. Quality of photography by Ravindra Babu is short of what we expect from films of big stars. Luxemburg Lux Sundari song got great response as it appears when the movie is going through great tempo. Artwork by Srinivasa Raju is OK. But the colors used in the sets he erected for songs are gaudy. Fights by Vijay are good. The production values are good. However, the cost incurred to make this film is not transferred on the screen.

Analysis: First half of the film helps as a foundation for the flashback in the second half followed by subsequent climax. There is suspense value. It is the latter half of second half that unleashes the bloodbath. Second half is too heavy for normal audiences and is exhilarating for the mass audiences. There is comedy in this film, but most of it is not done by NTR, who has excellent comedy timing. The director made hero use the path of bloodbath to achieve his goal of educating people instead of choosing a soft method. Over all, Samba is a good film for masses and is a definite hit. The range of hit would be known depending on how all section of audiences receive it.

Masti

Masti

Banner: Maruthi International

Cast: Ritesh Deshmukh, Genelia D'Souza, Vivek Oberoi, Aaftab Shivdasini, Amrita Rao, Tara Sharma, Lara Datta, Satish Shah and more

Genre: Comedy

Music: Anand Raj Anand, Sanjay Wandrekar

Writer: Indra Kumar

Director: Indra Kumar

Producer: Ashok Thakera

Run Time: 2 hrs 47 min

Release Date: 9 April 2004

Bolly wood's current hot topic of adultery is presented in new light in director Indra Kumar's latest offering Masti. The film tells the story of three friends who, tired of their forever bickering wives begin to seek some fun and masti outside their marriages.

Meet [Vivek Oberoi], Amar [Ritesh Deshmukh] and Prem [Aftab Shivdasani] are clo se friends with an easygoing attitude towards everything in life. They

have had their share of fun when in college but their lives have begin to dry up after their marriages.

Having

tasted the proverbial sourness in shaadi ka laddo, the

three gear up to do some masti and decide that the only way to spice up their lives is to seek to excitement outside home. So the trio begins on their wacky and hilarious adventure to taste the forbidden fruit of an adulterous relation. To their further provocation, the three come across a desirable belle (Lara Dutta)

But before they could indulge in the act of infidelity, their adventure hits an unexpected hurdle when they become the unusual suspects in a crime case.

Enters into the scene Sikander [Ajay Devgan], a cop who sees the threesome with a suspicious eye. The problem gets bigger for the three as they now fear prosecution by law and the exposure of their extra marital adventure before their oh-so-loyal wives.

From the very first reels, it becomes clear that the director has made an attempt to make a light-hearted flick without going into mushy sentiments. The story begins to grip a viewer right from the moment the three friends decide to look beyond their wives for intimate moments. And the interval point takes the film to a different high altogether, with the story getting into the crime mould. The film's ending however is a bit let down.

The escapades of the three protagonists are quite hilarious, especially between Ritesh Deshmukh and Rakhi Sawant. The chemistry between the two is pretty good.

But the scene-stealer in the movie is dimpled Aftab Shivdasani, who does an excellent job of mimicking Jim Carrey with his facial contortions and dialogue delivery. His comic timing is precise and body language well suited to the role.

On the other hand, Vivek Oberoi just about manages to play his character with his hamming act. The actor doesn't really have a knack for humor and looks out of place mouthing those oneliners that may have acquired a different weight had they been rendered by a deft comedian.

Ajay Devgan plays his role with remarkable ease and Lara Dutta too catches an eye with her marginal appearance.

Abound with slapstick humor that does make one laugh, Masti is a delightful and situational farce on the subject of sex. The movie is an out-and-out comedy without any hilarious moments. However, the humor is not the most witty, incisive or charming comedy, but it does a good job of entertaining viewers.