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Movie:Ta Ra Rum Pum                                             Hindi Movies

Cast:Saif Ali Khan,Rani Mukherjee,Shruti Seth
Director: Siddharth Anand
Producer:Aditya Chopra
Music:Vishal Dadlani,Shekhar Ravjiani
Review

Banks and credit card companies may not be too happy with writer-director Siddharth Anand, Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee. Together they propagate the trend of 'buy-not-pay-later' as bad. Installments are bad, going down heavy on credit cards is bad, saving is cool, spending lavishly is not so cool! So much is Rani Mukherjee a.k.a. Shona conscious about money in spite of being daughter of owner of 'Fourth largest Database whatever' [or is it third largest?] that she buys the cheapest possible wine and cheapest possible iPod but finds an 'asli heera' in the form of low-intellect-high-values pit worker turned country's numero uno car racer RV [Saif Ali Khan].

He is the kind who loves to spend his first ever big time earning of $ 5000 by throwing a party to 200-250 odd friends and is constantly broke. But then as all goody-goody heroes are, he loves to keep smiling....and spending. Everything for making a wonderful today. "But the man never thinks about his future", says Shona's dad, Victor Bannerjee, who doesn't let the stereotypical dad from the era of 60s die. Probably the writer himself felt guilty of bringing on such a character on screen and this is why he gives him some flexibility by making him utter some unbelievable lines - "Go, have an affair, have a fling (sunne mein to cheap lagta hai!), and then forget all about him!" The girl forgets her dad instead and walks down the altar, oops no, drives down the car, and marries RV on a fast track. Pronto they have two designer kids and it's time to sing along 'Ta Ra Rum Pum'. So far, so good...actually feel-good!

Interspersed amongst all this fun is some real engaging action on the fast tracks. Details about how changing a tire after a few laps is important, filling in a particular brand of lubricant is a real necessity and placement of the sponsors' hoardings at all the strategic spots where Siddharth Anand places his camera is of vital importance, are explained to the audience in some subtle and not-so-subtle manner. No one seems to mind all this, you know, because the action is pulsating, crashes make you gasp and editing is slick. In short, the kind that would make you hold on to your popcorn for some more seconds before you can heave a sigh of relief. RV fails to find a new team, his credit cards and loan companies take away all his assets [this is why buying things on credit is bad, you know!] and he finds himself from Manhattan to a kind of 'machchi-bazaar' found on the backyards of New York. Placed in a one room downtrodden apartment, he, his Shona and his children try everything to call it loud - Life Is Beautiful!

And guess what, in case you wouldn't have done it so far, RV is back o his winning ways. But not before he has been through some annoying neighbors, petty jobs like being a pit worker again, taking care of trolleys in super-stores, failed attempts at being a car salesman and finally being a cabbie on the road. "Wo aisa hai naa, US mein jab kisi ka sapna toot-ta hai, to woh cabbie banta hai" - as said by Gujjubhai at the very beginning of the film! While first half is quite breezy, thanks again to Jaffri bhai [dialogues like - 'I Love You Brother, son of a different mother' - do keep you in splits], the second half begins on a highly predictable note. The sufferings, the pain, smile on your lips and tears in your eyes kinda emotions, one family-happy family-we are together factors can be seen coming but still credit to the director that he doesn't let them drag beyond a point. He also does well in bringing a different side of New York in this half.What happens next is best on the silver screen.

Pointers
But guess what, none of that actually looks bad at all. Placed well in the film, they still make you look forward to the story that unfolds. Add to it some real masala ingredients of high adrenaline races and a funky background score [Salim-Suleiman delivering well, yet again] and TRRP ensures that you get back your movie tickets, popcorn/cola and parking ticket worth.Partially…

 

Movie: kya love story hai                                              Hindi Movies

Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Ayesha Takia,Kareena Kapoor
Director: Lovely Singh
Producer: N.R. Pachisia
Music: Pritam

Review
To add to the woes, Ayesha Takia has all the reasons to be sidelined! And no, it is not due to Kareena Kapoor being more prominent on billboards, posters and other publicity material but a certain South African blonde called Martha! Reason? As Ayesha's snooty to-be-husband’s [Karan Hukku] secretary, she makes it into the record books to be spending more time with her boss discussing business deals and contract sign-offs. Considering the man is touted to be one of the most successful entrepreneurs around, whatever happened to good old 'art of delegation'! Well, talking of art, even our very own lead actor [Tusshar] boasts of prowess in one form of art - that of architecture. He can make out the wrong symmetry of a building in one look and even declare that what looks good from distance may not quite be the same when close. Alas, the entire audience (or whatever little number present in the auditorium) understood the reference but poor Ayesha doesn't quite till the film's end! Ayesha's characterization itself is a paradox of sorts, as is the entire film in fact. On one hand she proclaims at the film's start itself that she is career oriented, wants to start early, grow early and be big, while on the other hand at an age of 20 she is willing to marry a 'perfectly-wrong-stranger'! In the times when even small town girls are willing to give themselves some time before taking a plunge into marital hood, it is comical to see her falling pray to her 'sapnon-ka-rajkumar' fantasies on the first given opportunity.

Now let's talk about 'sapnon-ka-rajkumar' who is perhaps modeled straight on the ever-so-snobbish-and-high-headed Prince of SHREK series. He is rude, he is angry, he has a constant frown on his face, he fires people because they spell him as whatever-Uberoi instead of whatever-Oberoi, he calls a girl who shows him a mirror as 'over smart' and he kicks and hurts Ayesha’s good-friend Tusshar in a beach rugby match! But guess what? The girl forgives and forgets (well almost)! She says, "I am confused"! Girlie, what's there to be confused about? Just kick him aside and move on! What is anyways there at all in this model-trying-to-look-like-an-entrepreneur who doesn't come personally to pick his girl for his first date, asks his secretary to choose flowers for her and heck, even asks one of them to write a so-called personal note! And by the way, when he takes her out eventually, he is supposed to make an audience believe that he is having fun while dancing amidst tanks, soldiers, choppers and bikes, all in the middle of a city! So what happens to the 'good-friend' eventually? Well, he gets a 'dhakka' of his life when his 'good friend' tells him that he needs to have an identity. So off he flies, gets an identity in around 15-20 days flat, wears a 'mehnat-ki-kmaai-se-earned' glares, walks out of an airport in slow motion and walks back to somewhere with a tear in his eye after realizing that his 'good-friend' is now engaged to someone. To add to his horror, the girl has even changed her hairstyle for the occasion by knotting her hair back!

Pointers
He supports her decision, girl starts seeing her dreams shattering as she comes close to Mr. Model, Mr. Model refuses to grow up, eventually he realizes that two 'good friends' love each other, he sportingly backs out, 'good friends' say "I Love You' to each other, I clap and eventually the 22 odd people in the auditorium wake up and ask - "Picture is over, is it?"

Movie: Hat Trick                                               Hindi Movies

Cast:Danny Denzongpa, Nana Patekar, Kunal Kapoor, Rimi Sen, Paresh Rawal
Director:Milind Luthria
Producer:Ronnie Screwvala Pritam
Music:Pritam
Review

There is a young Punjabi couple [Kunal Kapoor and Rimmi Sen] who get married after being in love. The only trouble in their what-could-have-been-a-blissful-life? The World Cup is on and the guy wants to cheer for the Indian cricket team on TV even on his 'suhaagraat'.So on a friend's advice, Rimmi does what anyone who is loosing may do. Join them if you can't beat them. And there she is, wearing Indian team blue T-shirt and munching popcorn with her nice-n-cute 'sardar' while enjoying 4s and 6s. Sab khush? Nahi! Because now the post match winning celebration romp in the bed sounds of moans and groans of Dhoni for Rimmi! And that's because she has fallen in love with the super sportsman!

From marital discord, there is a different kind of chord building up somewhere else. The one between a patient with kidney problems [Danny Denzongpa] and a doctor [Nana Patekar] who is worried more about the lack of beds in his hospital than spending moments at the dinner table with his wife and son.The most delightful story of all, it is the kind of Tom & Jerry show. Jerry is Danny who plays an ex-cricketer; someone who hasn't lost his passion and wants to watch World Cup. And the challenge he puts before Tom, who happens to be his doc-in-charge is that it would be cricket that would heal him rather than medicines.Another challenge is to bring a smile on the face of doc. Does he succeed? Very much, because gradually the light hearted full-of-life nature of this very-much-dying patient rubs upon everyone in the hospital [something on the lines of MUNNABHAI MBBS situation] and the doc was no exception. In the same time period in London, a lower middle class Indian [Paresh Rawal] lives with his wife and a teenage daughter while working as a janitor on an airport. Ashamed about his social status and constantly trying to get a British citizenship, he is the most humane of all.

Not a perfect person by any means, he lives a double standard life by hating the Brits but also trying to appease them to be accepted. So while he accuses the white skin folks of discriminating him, he too gets into the same mould when he encounters his daughter of having an affair with a Black boy! A follower of cricket, he loves to cheer for the Indian cricket team even if he is surrounded by Brits all around. But when it comes to a surprise check, he replaces the posters of Sachin with Queen Elizabeth! His dreams are shattered when his citizenship is rejected by the British government. And that leads him to something - Introspection.

Pointers
Pritam's music is very good on ears, especially the number 'Ek Pal' that runs in the background throughout. Nirmal Jani's cinematography is decent while the sets, especially the ones that make for Kunal/Rimmi paradise are well done. Director Milan Luthria and writer Rajat Arora spin a tale (or rather tales) that do no attempt to run in parallel and then culminate into a common ending. Well, enough of those in recent times

Movie: Namastey London                                       Hindi Movies

Cast:Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Upen Patel, Rishi Kapoor, Javed Sheikh
Director: Vipul Shah
Music: Himesh Reshammiya

Review
In just released 'The Namesake', it was shown that the prime protagonist Kal Penn decides to marry his American girlfriend since she is the one who matches his ABCD sensibilities. There was nothing wrong in that his parents [Irrfan Khan/Tabu] do not really get offended by his declaration. In case of 'Namastey London', a similar scenario is repeated though with a different twist in the tale. The girl [Katrina Kaif] wants to marry an English man due to the same reasons but her father [Rishi Kapoor] is not quite kicked with the idea. And off he takes her to India with a plan to hitch her with someone 'hindustani'. Now this is where this entire talk of two different kinds of films being made comes up again. One is left wondering why commercial Hindi films have to make everything so stereotypical. Just because it was always intended at paper that a NRI girl should eventually get hooked with an Indian boy, the Englishman here is shown to be thrice divorced Mr. Richie Rich who turns into Apoorva Agnihotri of 'Pardes' when he insists on getting a little extra close with Katrina pre-marriage.

Now what if this Englishman was a real gentleman, had a clean record behind him and could have been patient enough for a romp on the bed? Would it still have made it so simple for the father to think of someone Indian as his daughter's groom? In that case one ends up thinking if the seed of the film lied in its simplistic plot just because everything out there was black and white. And by the way, how are NRI parents still surprised if their children try to let them know about their views when it comes to an ideal partner. Don't they discuss it over the years or do they just discover about it one fine day when the talk of marriage comes up?Still, to the film's credit and if one stops over-analyzing the film, 'Namastey London' works to a good degree when one just sees it as an entertainer without getting into the 'why', 'how' and the 'oops' mode. The script is such that it leads to ample fun situations, especially in the first half while numerous dramatic situations (along with some fun ones too) make up for the second half.

For a viewer to be entertained in a film like this where you know what's coming your way as scenes unfold, it is imperative that the pace is fast, performances are good, visuals are striking, music is ear pleasing and eventually no boredom creeps in. In this context the entire crew [Vipul Shah, Suresh Nair, Himesh Reshammiya, Salim Sulaiman and Jonathan Bloom] contributes well while the three chief protagonists Akshay Kumar, Rishi Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are highly believable.

Pointers
It has been around 5 years since a statement is being made that "Akshay Kumar is quite dependable now" and with 'Namastey London' he proves it once again.Katrina Kaif was never a bad actress, even though some sections of the media have been hell bent on saying that in spite of three good performances [Sarkar, Maine Dil Tujhko Diya, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye]. Rishi Kapoor gets to sink his teeth into a good role and with Vinod Khanna making a comeback and Big B already sitting at the top, one wishes once again that a sequel to 'Amar Akbar Anthony' being made. Upen Patel is only in a supporting role.

Movie: Shakalaka Boom Boom                                        Hindi Movies

Cast: Bobby Deol, Upen Patel, Celina Jaitley, Kangana Ranaut
Director: Suneel Darshan
Music: Himesh Reshammiya

Review
Upen Patel, a wannabe star with the gift of 'saraswati' with him, isn't all 'seedha-saadha' and oh-so-humble even as he sees the world turn against him in his quest for name and fame. So much so that he even disrespects his very own father and 'guru' [Anupam Kher] in moments of frustration and overconfidence!On the other hand there is Bobby Deol, who could justify his 'ahankaar' due to 5 superhit albums behind him, but deep inside down he pretty much realizes that he is nothing but mediocre. And this is where the insecurity creeps in and he goes an extra distance to ensure that a new kid on the block is destroyed even before he becomes a competitor.Third character in the story which is forced to breach the line of gray and turn really nasty is that of Celina Jaitly, a PR person, who cannot bear the sight of her client [Upen]. Pulling down the very ladder that she had set for him, she cannot face rejection after she helped him meet the big daddies of the music industry.

He used me", she cries and then allows Bobby to use her further in their common quest of bursting Upen's bubble. They go all out in sabotaging his upcoming career. They help him come up with his debut CD and then ensure that the album is 'killed' even before people get a chance to hear it.Critic reviews are fixed, posters from the music stores disappear, Upen's name vanishes from Page 3 columns, music industry bigwigs are brainwashed and last but not the least an attempt is made to crush Upen's morale - all of this to make sure that a rising star never happened.They make him so sick with all the drinks and late night parties that he is on the verge of self destruction. Naive, vulnerable and new to the going-ons of the music world, he believes in them as his friends, little knowing that he was being finished minute by minute.

Decisive phase of their lives comes when Bobby decides to use Upen's original tunes and bring them to the market on his own name. Unfamiliar to the tactics of his senior and made to believe that he was composing the album for himself, Upen falls into Bobby's trap. All this and more even when his much mature girlfriend [Kangana Ranaut], a rising stralet herself, warns him that the world isn't what it seemed.Celina is there for 4-5 scenes and 2-3 songs but makes her presence justified for the duration she is there.Her co-actor Kangana has a much larger screen presence but somehow her oscillation from Bobby towards Upen is hard to digest. Getting to play a light part (in the first half of the film).Upen Patel is truly a revelation. Once you watch the film, you would forget that he ever made an average debut with 36 CHINA TOWN. His looks, body language and mannerisms are just right for the overconfident .Bobby step by step. Watch him destroy himself unknowingly in Bobby's hands and get killed in the 7 days of meeting composing deadlines! What happens next is best on the silver screen.

Pointers
‘Director Suneel Darshan gets into the underbelly of music industry and pretty much succeeds in telling 'what goes beneath'.For a film based on music, it is a must requirement to have some entertaining tunes being played. Himesh Reshammiya doesn't disappoint here as he opens a new catalogue this.  

Movie: Water                                               Hindi Movies

Cast: John Abraham, Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman, Raghuvir Yadav, Vinay Pathak, Rishma Malik
Director: Deepa Mehta
Music: A.R Rahman

Review
Circa 1938, Pre-independence India, which was under the colonial rule of British. Reforms were being introduced by Mahatma Gandhi and other social activists but that still had to catch on momentum. And while the heat was still building, somewhere up there in North, young widows were still living a tormented life. One such girl was Chuiya, all of 8 years of age, whose husband had died and the only way out for her was to be sent to a widow-ashram managed by 80 year old Madhumati [Manorama].Innocent and still waiting for her mother to come and pick her back from the place, the good thing about Chuiya was that she wasn't projected as someone who cried in isolation and whined in public. Instead for her even the ashram was nothing short of a play school. Oblivious to the reality around her, she had fun while sharing a love-hate relationship with Manorama, finding a friend in Kalyani [Lisa Ray] and getting a sympathiser in Shakuntala [Seema Biswas].

What she was unaware about was the fact that the ashram also doubled up as a supplier of widowed women to the influential men in the city. In this profession, Kalyani was one of the favorites with Manorama who was hands-on with Gulabi [Raguvir Yadav], a eunuch who acted as a pimp.As someone who was confidant of Kalyani, Chuiya sees a subtle romance building between Kalyani and Narayan [John Abraham], a richie rich young man who was heavily influenced by Gandhi and was trying to bring about reforms as possible in his capacity. The first step towards doing something substantial? Marry Kalyani.Thankfully there isn't much dramebaazi in this entire episode as after a initial war of words, Kalyani fights the battle and leaves the ashram in search of a better life ahead with Narayan. Little did she know that he would turn out to be the son of the very man who had bedded her in one of her nights of her forced profession.

Deepa Mehta does tell a tale about the era gone by in an utmost convincing manner but one wonders how much would an average Indian viewer be interested in seeing a tale that does nothing more but force you to feel disgusted. Inmates of ashram not allowed to have fried food or sweets, young girls not even into their teens forced into prostitution, widows required to keep a bald plate, pundits narrating the way of life for the widows, a tragic ending....there is just no entertainment value in the film that would make you wish to spend your weekend in the plush seats of your neighboring multiplex.The pace of the film is fine considering the genre but some of the sequences do make you restless. For example the tale of a near-to-death widow who last had sweets in her childhood and has been craving for them ever since then sounds interesting to begin with but gets on you when it is repeated after every 15 minutes. While Seema Biswas holds the film together with her excellent act [yet again] and acts as a strong force keeping together the ashram, her conversations with Kulbhushan Kharbanda get boring after a point and take you through a philosophical/intellectual route.

Lisa Ray is fine but her looks come in the way of portraying a character that was meant to evoke sympathy and hope. John Abraham is good but it would be wrong on one's part to imagine himself to be a 'hero' in the film. He is there for barely a few scenes and how much one wishes there was more of him. The good part though is that he is convincing and portrays his character well. Vinay Pathak, as his friend, is fair while Waheeda Rehman [his mother] has barely a scene or two.As said before, Seema Biswas is the best actor in the film as she gives even in the few scenes she gets. Manorama is consistent and it is good to see the veteran actor showing the vulnerability of her character so well. Raghuvir Yadav is fair. What happens next is best on the silver screen.

Pointers
Outdoors of the film have been shot well, especially in the initial reels of the film. Giles Nuttgens gives a a gray look to the scenes with not much colors thrown in, hence depicting the mood and flavor of the film well. Rahman's music flows well with the film, especially the tracks sung by Sukhwinder Singh.

Telugu Movies: “TELUGU KOTTA filmi reviews only at mana GIFTAGIFT.COM”

www.giftagift.com’s Tollywood’s top hit picks this season. Come enjoy a unique picturesque experience through our latest filmi style.

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Movie: Aadavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule                              Telugu Movies   
 
Cast:Venkatesh, Trisha, K.Viswanath, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Sunil, Sunil shetty, Jeeva
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Director: Sri Raghava
Producer: N.V.Prasad, Shanam Naga Ashok Kumar

Review:
Though the number of films by Venkatesh is less when compared to his contemporaries, he bagged more number of hits than others due to careful selection of stories and he always keeps off from a specific image by doing different films. Incidentally, he chooses one action and one family subject alternatively in the process. The film reminded the audiences of his earlier family subject 'Nuvvu Naaku Nachav'. The film has good entertainment value and is worth watching. The first half is a good time pass, while the second half was full of sentiment and emotions. Ganesh (Venkatesh) is from a middle-class family. He makes several vain bids to secure a job due to his poor language skills and inadequate educational qualifications. Ganesh has two friends Vasu (Sriram) and another friend (Sunil). His father (Kota Srinivasa Rao) was a teacher. Ganesh falls in love with Keerthi (Trisha) as he loses his heart in first sight. Keerthi is a short-tempered girl. When Ganesh reveals his love to her, she refuses saying that her marriage was fixed with her brother-in-law.

Ganesh returns to India in a depressed mood. Watching his son in depression, his father meets Keerti. The girl abuses him and accidentally slaps both Ganesh and his father. That night, Ganesh's father dies of heart attack. To change Ganesh's mood, Vasu takes him to his home. Incidentally, Keerthi the sister-in-law of Vasu. After several turn of events, Keerthi realises that she too was in love with Ganesh, but it is too late. Ganesh tells her to forget him as it would create problems in a happy family. But Vasu's grandfather notices them and chides Keerthi for spoiling their family prestige. Whether Ganesh left the place? Did the family accept their love? Did Vasu marries Keerthi or not? Answers to all these questions form part of the climax. Venkatesh really excelled in the character and totally involved in the character. He showed perfect emotions in facial expressions.

Performance of other artistes including Trisha, Viswanath, Sriram and Sunil was also very impressive. The director devoted the entire first half to portray love and the second half to sentiment and emotions. The snake episode was hilarious while the love episode between 'Colours' Swati and Venkatesh was also hilarious. Swati excelled in showing innocence. Kota Srinivasa Rao performed in his inimitable style and did total justice to his role. What happens next is best on the silver screen.

Movie:   Munna                                   Telugu Movies   
 
Cast:  Prabhas, Ileana, Prakashraj, Kota Srinivasarao, Tanikella Bharani, Rahul dev, Bramhaji, Raghubabu, Venu Madhav
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Director: Vamsi Paidipalli
Producer: Dil Raju

Review:

Prabhas' latest flick 'Munna' is an admixture of different film stories and had the shades of his blockbuster 'Chatrapati'. There are also resemblances of a Bollywood flick 'Trishool'. Though the film had a divided talk before its release, the film was opened with a good talk. Dil Raju's anticipation did not prove wrong. Debutant director Vamsi Paidipally looked promising. Prabhas, who is craving for a success, strived hard and Dil Raju's winning streak helped him in realising his dream. Surely, Dil Raju could look for another hattrick as he already had four successive hits earlier and the number went up to five with 'Munna'. Kamalakar @ Kaka (Prakash Raj) is a mafia don and the entire city bows before him. He controls the State politics and nobody dares to write or talk against him. Munna (Prabhas) who was an orphan joins the bridge course offered by the government and continues his studies with scholarships. Once he joins the college, he had an altercation with Kaka's son Rahul. This leads to an altercation between Kaka and Munna.

However, Munna bashes the goons sent by Kaka and surfaces right in front of Kaka to declare that he is none other than his son. Munna warns Kaka that he would make him to count his days. Munna crumbles the citadel built by Kaka by getting his controversial factory closed and halting his political clout. How Munna became an orphan? What made Munna to revolt against his father? How he took revenge against Kaka? form part of the remaining film. Prabhas gave an impeccable performance all through the film. He flexed his muscles in action scenes and Peter Haynes and Ram-Laxman were able to choreograph action scenes in such a way to attract the mass audiences. Prabhas also showed good ease in dance sequences and the different long hairstyle gave him a new stylish appearance.

Debutant director Vamsi failed to elevate the glamour of Ileana and she had a very insignificant role in the film except to shake legs with Prabhas. Again Prakash Raj walked away with honours in a routine villain character. Posani Krishnamurali, Brahmaji, Rahul Dev gave good performance as villain's side kicks. Shriya sizzled in an item song and in fact it is the stuff that is generally done by Mumaith Khan kind of item girls. Unfortunately, a talented artiste like Kalyani was roped in an insignificant role in this film. Venumadhav's comedy failed to evoke laughter. Lack of comedy is the basic drawback in the film. Harris Jayaraj's music is also not very impressive and is just okay. However, the choreography of songs was good. Thanks to cinematographer C Ram Prasad and the digital intermediate technology. Marthand K Venkatesh should have used his scissors further, as there were several scenes which were kept unnecessarily to boost the hero's image. What happens next is best on the silver screen.

Dil Raju's production values are excellent. Especially, the establishment of the hero using his mental power in the climax while counting the number of bullets is extraordinary and a novel experiment. The director though maintained certain tempo in the first half, lost grip on it making the audiences feel bored till the climax. The second half looked quite dragged with unnecessary scenes to elevate the hero's image.

Movie: Aata                              Telugu Movies   
 
Cast: Sumanth, Sada, Kamalini Mukharjee
Music: koti
Director: K.Vijaya Bhaskar
Producer: Sravanthi Ravikishore

Review:
Srikrishna (Siddhartha) is the son of Seshagiri (Saratbabu) an operator in a film theatre. Sri accidentally meets Satya (Ileana), when some goons and police are after her. He comes to know from Satya that Home Minister's (Jayaprakash Reddy), son Vicky (Munna), rapes and murders a girl against whom Satya takes up an agitation with the help of students.

However Vicky escapes from punishment with the political clout of his father.In order to take revenge Vicky, who was a crook, wanted to marry Satya. In this backdrop, Sri agrees to save her, but takes her straight to Vicky's house. Later, Sri challenges Vicky to win the love of Satya. After several twists, Vicky learnt that Sri is playing a game. But finally, Sri escapes with Satya. When Vicky is after him, Sri teaches him a lesson with the help of students, who make the rape and murder case reopened by sending SMSs en masse to the judge. The film ends with the union of Sri and Satya.

Siddhartha gave a tremendous and extraordinary performance in the film. It is quite youthful and his comedy timing, ease in dances, performance, body language — all worth watching. The first half of the film was devoted to escape drama, the second half was utilised to show the glamour of the heroine.Cinematographer Chota K Naidu captured the beauties of Ileana in every possible way to catch the attention of the youth. Music is a highlight of the film and Devisri Prasad needs kudos for his youthful tunes.

Moreover, the choreography of all the songs is very good. Two of the songs 'Ninnu choostunte…' and 'Muddulata….' Were quite romantic and it is a feast for the audiences to watch Ileana.After a long time Brahmanandam gave a fantastic comedy and another surprising point is that the comedy is quite healthy, sans vulgarity. Technically also the film is worth watching as the director utilised the Digital Intermediate technology in songs.What happens next is best on the silver screen.

Pointers
VN Aditya and MS Raju made a magic and presented in a novel way, with the assistance of youthful hero like Siddhartha and hottest heroine Ileana, efficient cinematographer Chota K Naidu and music director Devisri Prasad. MS Raju, who got a break to his winning streak with Pournami, bounced back with a perfect hit in the form of 'Aata'.

Movie:  Sivaji                              Telugu Movies   
 
Cast: Rajini Kanth, Shreya, Raguvaran, Suman, Vivek
Music: A R Rehman
Director: Shankar
Producer: Saravanan, Guhan

Review:
Sivaji (Rajnikanth) is a rich NRI software pro. Son of caring parents (Manivannan and Vadivukkarasi), and the nephew of an ever helpful uncle (Vivek), Sivaji comes to India with the larger than life dream of running universities and hospital for the benefit of the poor. (The idea is smartly done when he talks of every riches coming to India, but beggary not going away).

Sivaji has to however contend with Adikesava Reddy (Suman), a slimy crocodile of a educationist and a hospital owner. He has vested interests in not allowing Sivaji to get on with his ambitious projects. Sivaji,, however, has his heart set. Despite running into a non-cooperating administration (the red-tapism prevalent is exposed in an irony-filled humour), Sivaji soldiers on. He unwillingly greases the palm of venal babus and politicos to get sundry permission required to build the infrastructure. But Adi consistently turns out to be the spanner in the works and even goes to the extent of unseating the government to stop Sivaji in his tracks.

In the meanwhile, Sivaji falls in love with a midlleclass Umadevi (Shriya), who is the daughter of uncompromising parents (Raja and Uma Padmanabhan). Sivaji, with the aid of his uncle, goes out of the way to court the girl and her family. The scenes involving the two families are such a lark that they bring the theatre down in laughter. (Watch out for that riotous Deepavali scene when the families have some rollicking fun). Umadevi, despite the fear engendered after a fortuneteller predicts calamity for Sivaji if she marries him, finally agrees to be his life partner (the scene at the railway tracks where she accepts as him as his lover is both romantic as well as very humorous). His light-hearted attempts to look fair are also very funny.

But on the business front, the evil administration and wily Adi ensure that Sivaji loses all his wealth and all his dreams lie shattered as a dust heap. Sivaji has nothing left in life, and in a heady taunt Adi tosses a one rupee coin, in an effort to say that Sivaji is now a beggar.Sivaji is now a transformed lion, he vows to use the same one rupee coin as the 'investment' to take not just Adi, but all the money sharks. Rooting out black money is his broad and dramatic theme. Along with his uncle, Sivaji plays smart, but under the law tricks, to shatter the wits of the villainous group.

The way Sivaji goes about is very gritty and provides the film with the right lift. The way he brings in all the black money, which he prises out of the evil hands, ingenious and inventive (it is through the hawala route).Sivaji manages to build his dream projects with lot of arm twisting and sweet villainy. But Adi and the other baddies hit back, they plot and get Umadevi herself to reveal all the details of Sivaji's modus operandi. They even kill him when in the custody of the police. But they cannot get the details out of his personal laptop (it has all the minutiaes of his transactions) as it is voice-recognition password protected. Sivaji is however dead and the laptop would not budge for any other voice command (this is a smart usage of modern techno gizmo to carry on the narrative).

How can the hero die without finishing off the baddies? Well, there is an interesting twist in the tail. Watch it for the exhilaration and the sheer stylish audacity of it all.Vivek as Rajni's uncle is in great form. His smart jokes, all specked with contemporary idiom, are a delight and make you break into a chuckle spontaneously. He also soldiers the role of being a guiding force to his impetuous nephew with elan.Suman, in a larger than life villain role, is an inspired choice. His dark coolers-covered face convey the subtle evilness dramatically. He has understood the script and shaped his character to a nicety..What happens next is best on the silver screen.

Pointers
All of Rahman's songs get the right ambient backdrop to look like a piece of inspired dream. Shankar's inspirational visual ideas provide that.K V Anand's camera is first rate all through and covers the screen with amazing feel and richness. The stunts have been captured, making all the action come so close to reality.Peter Heynes fights, though over the top in places, matches the needs of modern films.

Movie:  Dubai Seenu                              Telugu Movies   
 
Cast: Ravi Teja, Nayantara
Music:Manisharma
Director: Srinu Vytla
Producer: Danaiah D.V.V.

Review:
Srinivas (Raviteja) is very popular in his village as Dubai Seenu. He has dreams of going to Dubai to earn lots of money. However, Seenu and his friends reach Mumbai get cheated by a fraudster (Venumadhav). After realising that they were cheated, they start a Pav Bhaji centre with the help of Patnaik (Krishna Bhagawan). He is also a fraudster.

Madhumati (Nayanatara), who was working as a Radio Jackie goes to Mumbai in search of her brother. Seenu meets Madhu in a local train and loses his heart. Luckily she surfaces right before his Pav Bhaji centre. Seenu dares to propose his love, but Madhu did not reply and disappears. While Seenu was in search of Madhu, he meets Chakri (JD Chakravarthy).

In fact, Seenu helps Chakri who loved Puja (Neha) and got them married. Chakri and Puja promise Seenu to help him to go to Dubai. They make all arrangements. They too plan to return to Hyderabad to repay the loan borrowed by Chakri's father for his education. Just before leaving the office, Chakri finds that their boss is none other than Jinna (Sushant) the most wanted mafia don in India. Finding that Chakri recognised him, Jinna and his brother (Raghu) kill both of them right before Seenu. Minutes before his death, Chakri reveals that Madhu was his sister. Seenu returns to Hyderabad and avenges the killing of his best friend Chakri by killing Jinna and his brother.

Sreenu Vytla's direction, fantastic and superb performance of Raviteja, Nayanatara's glamour, comedy by MS Narayana are the highlights. Sayaji Shinde played a typical role of comedy villainy, while Venumadhav and Krishna Bhagawan went away with honours as fraudsters. Bhanuchander's character looked too insignificant. The hero's catchword 'Appadam Ayipothundi' has become very popular. The film has Raviteja's mark comedy as well and he perfectly maintained the comedy timing.

Music by Manisharma is good and choreography of songs was also good to watch. Cinematography by Bharani K Dharan was excellent. Especially in action scenes the different kind of shots looked variety. Dialogues by Chintapalli Ramana are okay. What happens next is best on the silver screen.

Pointers
The satires on how the heroes involve in the director's work and give suggestions these days were perfectly shot. As a whole the film which was aimed at attracting the mass and youth audiences could reach its goal easily

 


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Movie:  Agaram                 Tamil Movies
 
Cast: Nandha, Hardeep Singh, Vivek, Raj Kapoor, Illavarasu
Director: Nagaraj
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Review

Nandha starrer Agaram is an action-paced entertainer. The movie is a tale of vengeance and has riveting action all through. Director Nagaraj has managed to sustain the momentum in the screenplay throughout. The problems that trigger off problems are, incidentally, those that spark off after a trivial and yet, a regular problem that many of us face as commoners.

A major portion of the movie unfolds in Tuticorin. An innocent youth is forced to take on a dreaded gangster. Who prevails in the end forms the crux of this engrossing entertainer.

Pointers
Yuvan Shankar Raja has come up with catchy numbers and his re-recording is very brisk. Mention must also be made of cinematographer Vetrivel who has come up with a pleasing visual approach in the film, which actually complements the action packed film to a great extent. Agaram is a movie for action-lovers

Movie:  Paruthi Veeran                 Tamil Movies
 
Cast: Karthik Sivakumar, Priyamani
Director: Ameer
Producer: Gnanavel
Music: Yuvanshankar Raja

Review

It is some time since Tamil cinema had an earthy movie that is realistically redolent of the pastoral predicaments and emotions. Ever since Bharathiraja left behind his hey days, such movies were replaced by either kitschy or campy kind of village recreation on screen. But Ameer has brought alive rustic simplicity and complexity on our screens. You come out of Paruthi Veeran smelling of baked earth with an echo of pastoral patois

Giving life to this charmingly boisterous village are the spirited team of Karthi, Priya Mani and company. Karthi, as his brother Suriya said not long ago, has proved his acting credentials right at the start of his career while he (Suriya) took a few films to really warm up earnestly.

Karthi's genes are filled with acting and it glows beautifully where he has handled the rather uncouth character of Veeran with finesse. He shows a lot of maturity in understanding the needs (of the script and the character). Priya Mani, in a pared down de-glam look, is another revelation. She is spunky and spirited and makes you wonder why big-time breaks are still eluding her.

Pointers
Ameer's success is not only on the script, story or casting side. He has managed to wrest compelling performances from all the technical crew members. The story is a simple one of a village lout coming of age and getting refined through the alchemy of love. The trick and the success of the story lies in the small details that are rich and believable.

Movie:  Mozhi                 Tamil Movies
 
Cast:Prithviraj, Prakash Raj, Jyothika, Swarnamalya, Brahmanadam, M. S. Bhaskar
Director: Radha Mohan
Producer: Prakash Raj
Music: Vidyasagar

Review

It takes courage and conviction to take an untreaded path and leave a trail. That way, Prakash Raj can be called a trailblazer for he has, through Duet Movies, encouraged fresh talents and has consistently been translating dreams of creators into realities.

Mozhi is a musical love story. It is the light hearted and at the same time, intense portrayal of love between a musician and a deaf and dumb girl. Karthik (Prithviraj) and Viji (Prakash Raj) are musicians who work in the dream factory. They are keyboard players who live and love music. They exhibit an infectious enthusiasm and enjoy life the way it is.

Be it Anthapuram or Naam, Azhagiya Theeye or Kanda Naal Mudhal, the themes he chooses seem to reflect the larger than life person that he is. And now, with Mozhi, we understand that he has dared to dream bigger and think taller.

Pointers
Mozhi is a clean entertainer that justifies the tagline that is found in the promotional materials of the film. “It is not the expression, but the emotion.” Indeed!

Movie:  Lee                 Tamil Movies
 
Cast: Sibiraj, Nila, Prakash Raj
Director: Prabhu Solomon
Producer: Sathyaraj
Music: D.Imman

Review
Sporting’ ideas and Tamil cinema rarely go hand in hand. Forget a Lagaan kind of magnum opus or an Iqbal, even smaller level of sporting theme-based scripts have been rare. So when Lee is made with a football-team-centered story, one had some initial misgivings. But Prabhu Solomon, the nifty director, has used the motif of a soccer team, symbolizing the values of camaraderie, honesty and healthy rivalry, and has fused this into a larger canvas of revenge drama. The director’s ingenuity is in making this work. Solomon also needs to thank Sibiraj and Prakash Raj for making the movie tick with conviction. The young hero, looking for a major break, has done all that he could possibly do. Prakash Raj as the coach is remarkable. Quite simply, his success is in his ability to make us think that nobody else in Tamil could have played this character..

Pointers
Imman is very good in music and even more so in the background score. He is not loud, mercifully. Rajesh’s camera is very sturdy and brings alive the drama and intensity of a sporting game. Solomon’s direction is good in two parts. One, in sticking to his base and two, in going beyond that. He has mixed a simple revenge story and the odds stacked up against the underdogs of the system and has created a moral fable for our times. Lee certainly has its goal right.

Movie:  Pachai Kili Muthucharam                      Tamil Movies
 
Cast: Sarath Kumar, Jyothika, Andrea, Milind Soman
Director: Gautham Menon
Music: Harris Jayaraj

Review
It takes guts and gumption to stitch an icy thriller with the tapestry of commercial cinema. It takes an ability almost bordering on genius to pull it off. Take a bow Gautham & Co, you have just pulled off a memorable coup as Pachai Killi Muthucharam is an over two-hour non-stop excitement that pins you down to your chair (albeit on the edge of it).

This glossy and gritty, slick and stylized in typical Gautham’s style of fast-cut narrative, is an answer to all those who demand their entertainment to be intelligent and interesting. The story, the performance, the presentation and the entire everything belongs to top-drawer and those associated with the film can take pride that they have done something worthy.