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.