Category Archives: Tollywood

RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt 2022)

Posted on by

After the pandemic, 2 years of living in one of the most locked down cities in the world and increased pressure of work, it was going to take something special to get me back to the cinema. So, a film by Rajamouli seemed like the perfect way to get back to the big screen, especially with both NTR Jr and Ram Charan starring in a plot focused on rebellion against the British. RRR is a swashbuckling adventure with plenty of action and daring do that explodes onto the screen from the very first frame. Both heroes get exciting introductions before finally meeting in another explosive (literally!) scene that mixes their two elements of fire and water in equal measure. After such a long hiatus, this was definitely worth venturing out to the cinema to watch on a cold autumn evening in Melbourne.

The film is essentially a bromance between Raju (Ram Charan) and Bheem (NTR Jr) as the two mow their way through various opposing forces until they end up facing each other on opposite sides. There are romantic interests for both, but they are mostly one dimensional and appear only to move the plot forwards to the next major point. What is important here are the two heroes and the whole masala spectacle surrounding them as Rajamouli tells the story in his inimitable style. It’s interesting that the characters are based on Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, both real revolutionary leaders at the same time in India, although they never actually met in real life. K.V. Vijayendra Prasad’s story takes some real life aspects as the basis for each character however the tale itself is pure fiction.

The story is set in 1920 and starts with Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson) and his wife Catherine (Alison Doody) visiting a Gond tribe and forcefully taking a young girl, Malli (Twinkle Sharma) back to Delhi with them. But even in this opening scene, Rajamouli adds more to immediately fills in some background and set the tone of the characters. The Governor’s Chief of Staff Edward (Edward Sonnenblick) contemptuously throws a few coins in the dirt as Malli is dragged away and when her mother throws herself at the Buxton’s car to save her daughter, Buxton tells his soldiers not to waste expensive British bullets on brown trash. So right from the start we know the Buxton’s are evil, Edward is a nasty character and we assume that they will all get their comeuppance before the end of the film.

Raju is a police officer in Delhi but is introduced defending a police station from a hoard of protestors somewhere outside the city. When his superior officer calls out for a man who threw a stone to be arrested, Raju throws himself into the howling mob to find the culprit. Much machismo action later, he drags the offender back to the police station but is later disappointed not to be promoted as a result. Much of Raju’s behaviour is explained later but from the start he appears cold, ruthless and driven to reach the top in his chosen profession. The only warmth we see comes from his friendship with Bheem, at least until his backstory is revealed. The enduring image of Raju from the first part of the film is his stoic demeanour while on duty followed by relentless pummelling of a boxing bag in the privacy of his quarters.

Bheem is the Gond tribe protector and we meet him during a hunt where he inadvertently ends up taking on a tiger. When the trap fails and the tiger roars at Beem, he immediately roars back before demonstrating that he truly is the king of the jungle. With a few trusted men, Bheem heads to Delhi to find Malli and bring her back to the tribe. He poses as a Muslim working as a mechanic while he searches for a way to get into the Governor’s palace with Lacchu (Rahul Ramakrishna) and Peddanna (Makarand Deshpande). During his time in the city, Bheem meets Raju when the two work together to rescue a small boy caught on the river after a train bursts into flame on the bridge above and falls into the water. The two have instant rapport, communicating at a distance via a series of signals and finally clasping hands under the bridge in a symbolic moment that foreshadows later events. It’s over the top, wonderfully cinematic and simply splendid as the two Telugu heroes meet amidst the roar of flames and again under water.

Tarak and Ram Charan have amazing chemistry together and the energy they share makes it easy to get engrossed in their story, without caring about how excessively extravagant and spectacular the entire plot actually is. Their action sequences are incredible, totally over the top with cartoonish violence, but it all works beautifully in the environment that Rajamouli has created. Tarak’s stockier frame is perfectly suited to his role as the Gond protector, but even with all the crazy action scenes, there are moments where a softer side is allowed to break through. What I love is the effort taken to show Bheem’s respect for the forest and wild-life, and I also really appreciate the emotion Tarak adds to the song Komuram Bheemudo. Ram Charan’s back story is also a tearjerker, and while Ajay Devgan makes an appearance as Raju’s father, the actor who stands out for me is Shriya Saran as Raju’s mother Sarojini. She only has a few brief moments onscreen but makes a mark with her performance, despite her limited role. The actor playing young Raju (Varun Buddhadev) is also excellent in this sequence and for a change, Ajay Devgan is not as annoying as usual even with his repeated ‘load, aim, shoot’ dialogue. Perhaps the biggest disappointment is Alia Bhatt as Raju’s fiancée Sita. She has very little to do and quickly fades into the background as soon as her lines are delivered. I don’t feel that either of the two love interests were necessary for the story but of the two, Olivia Morris as Jennifer is the more memorable.

Everything in the film is completely over the top, the action, the dances sequences and even Bheem and Raju’s friendship. When Raju transforms into Ram, complete with bow and arrow, and Bhhem picks up a motorcycle to use as a weapon, it doesn’t seem overblown at all after the excesses of the previous action scenes. Naturally the British are all horrible, with the exception of Jennifer although she has little to do once she provides the way for Bheem to access the palace. Buxton and his wife are caricatures of villains, both completely vile, with Catherine revelling in the blood and gore during torture sequences and Buxton showing disdain for anyone and anything not British at every possible opportunity. I totally love how absolutely horrible they all are and it really seems as if the actors enjoyed their roles thoroughly. Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody and Edward Sonnenblick are all good and make their exaggerated roles fit into the screenplay much better than expected although I would have liked to see Edward have more of an action role in the final sequences with all the explosions and carnage.

RRR is riotous, extravagant and totally mind-blowing. The action sequences are fabulously staged and spectacular while the two main leads are outstanding. There are just not enough superlatives to describe just how totally over the top this film is, and all I can say is do not miss this experience at the cinema! RRR is masala entertainment as it should be. After the last few difficult years this really was a triumphant return to a theatrical experience, and I loved every minute. 5 stars!

Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya

Posted on by

Swaroop RSJ’s 2019 film is a neo-noir style comedy mystery that is a departure from the more usual fare from the Telugu film industry. I haven’t seen many Telugu films at all that involve detective investigations, and very few that combine comedy and suspense so effectively. Naveen Polishetty is excellent in the titular role while Shruti Sharma makes a great sidekick and best of all, there is no dodgy romance to muddy the waters. I really enjoyed this film, despite a few plot holes, and the mix of comedy and serious investigation make Agent Sai Srinivas Athreya well worth a watch.

Sai Srinivasa Athreya (Naveen Polishetty) goes by the name Agent and runs the Fatima Bureau of Investigation or FBI for short. For Agent, being a detective is all about the look and the attitude, despite running his business from a small office in the market area of Nellore. He’s teaching the ropes to new recruit Sneha (Shruti Sharma) which mostly consists of asking her to watch a series of classic detective movies and discussing famous literary detectives such as his hero, Sherlock Holmes. Also involved in his instructions are to always carry a take-away coffee cup (actual coffee is optional) and to dress with style and panache. Agent interprets this by wearing a waistcoat, an overcoat and sporting a fedora which do at least serve to make him stand out from the crowd.

Agent’s actual detective work consists of small cases and barging in unwanted on police investigations, which earns him the ire of the local officers and ends up with him being forcefully ejected from crime scenes. However, when his friend Sirish (Chanakya Tejas) tells him about unidentified bodies being found alongside railway tracks, Agent has a whiff of a case that he can really sink his teeth into. The only problem being that the police arrest him on suspicion of the murder when they find him at the site of a recently discovered body. During his night in jail, Agent speaks to an old man, Maruthi Rao, who tells him about his daughter who was raped and murdered. The police aren’t showing any interest in the case and Agent vows to find Vasudha’s killer. Agent assigns Sneha to follow the more dangerous looking of two suspects, while he himself shadows Ajay (Sandeep Raj) but when both Harsha (Vinu Varma) and Ajay turn up murdered, Agent is once again prime suspect for the police. Along with a fellow private detective Bobby (Suhas), Agent slowly starts to unravel the case, which ties into the railway bodies mystery and even has connections to his own personal life. With the police determined to blame Agent for the murders, it’s a race against time to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together and solve the crime.

The film works primarily due to Naveen Polishetty’s portrayal of the fast-talking and slick detective at the centre of the story. The comedy scenes are excellent, and he gets the delivery just right for maximum impact almost every time. He’s just as good though in the moments when he does have to show more emotion and for the most part, he gets the mix of over confidence and vulnerability just right. I also liked the no-nonsense relationship he has with Sneha and really appreciate that Swaroop didn’t go with the obvious and add a romance between the two. Their working relationship is well written and the mix of Agent’s brilliance and Sneha’s down to earth practicality serves the story well. The support cast are all fine but have little depth, apart from Krishneswara Rao who is adept and adding mystery to his role as Maruthi Rao.

One of the only issues I have with the film is that we are told everything, often in great detail as Agent describes every scene and what each clue means. It would have been less overwhelming to show a little more and tell less, which could also have been used to give the most significant moments more impact. There are many, many twists and turns in the tale which does make it interesting, but since they occur at break-neck speed, by the time I could process the information and make the link back through the various characters, Agent was already on to the next twist. I really wanted Swaroop to slow down some of these scenes and draw out the revelations a little more, particularly when the film started to delve into the shady operators who prey on their victims’ superstitions and beliefs. 

Despite the uneven pacing, the story itself is well put together and the twists are unexpected and cleverly integrated into the narrative. Sunny Kurapati makes sure the film looks good and Mark K Robin’s background score suits the mix of action and more cerebral detective work. It comes down to a good story, a clever mix of action and comedy and two great lead characters who work well together. So good in fact, that I really hope they put together a sequel! A very different film from the Telugu film industry and one well worth catching now that it is available online. 4 stars.

HIT (2020)

Posted on by

Sailesh Kolanu’s film Hit is a procedural crime drama that focuses more on the flawed investigator at the heart of the story rather than on the victim or the crime itself. It’s an interesting concept, but unfortunately isn’t backed up by enough suspense to overcome the rather pedestrian nature of the investigation. However, the addition of plentiful scientific procedures and a large field of suspects does keep the film engaging, while Vishwak Sen is good as the police investigator with a traumatic past.

HIT stands for Homicide Intervention Team, the department where Vikram (Vishwak Sen) works despite both his therapist and his girlfriend Neha (Ruhani Sharma) advising him to take some time off. There are frequent brief flashbacks to some traumatic moments in Vikram’s life, most often when he is confronted by fire, suggesting that he has some form of PTSD which threatens to derail his career if left unchecked. The film starts with the disappearance of a young female student, Preethi (Sahithi) after her car breaks down by the side of the road. The last person to see her is Police Officer Ibrahim (Murali Sharma) who lets Preethi use his phone to contact her father. When he drives past in the other direction he notices her speaking to someone in a dark blue car, and assumes it’s her father, but later realises his mistake when Preethi’s parents come to report her missing.

Neha is involved in Preethi’s case and when she also goes missing, investigating Preethi’s disappearance is the only way Vikram can get involved in the case. With the help of his trusty sidekick Rohit (Chaitanya Sagiraju) Vikram throws himself into the investigation, risking his job and potentially his sanity, as he desperately searches for Neha.

The film throws around a lot of scientific techniques, and in a very CSI-like fashion DNA tests come back immediately and pictures can be ‘de-pixilated’ to reveal more detail that was initially apparent. While this is interesting, it starts to become a little monotonous and repetitive, particularly when there are also the repeated flashbacks to the same 2 scenes that cause Vikram’s distress. In fact, much of the investigation feels like a TV series as Vikram sniffs, tastes and tests his way towards an answer. All that’s missing is the white-coated lab technician with an attitude! Instead we have Vikram’s rival who is initially tasked with finding Neha, but whose dislike of Vikram threatens to derail the entire investigation. Vikram also runs into difficulties with the head of HIT who appreciates Vikram’s intelligence but is intolerant of his maverick tendencies. What works well here is Vikram’s obvious frustration, and his careful and calculated methodology in working through the few clues he has. With each small snippet of information the investigation moves slowly but inexorably forward, while still leaving plenty of questions unanswered.

There are numerous red herrings thrown into the mix, but the final answer is a bit of a let-down, coming out of the blue and without any real build-up. The reason behind the abductions seems too inconsequential to be the cause of such an elaborate plan, and the characterisations of the key players up until that point also mean that the reveal doesn’t ring completely true.

Vishwak Sen is excellent as a smart investigator trying to deal with PTSD. At times his blanking out at key moments is a little overdone, but for the most part he is believable in the role. His romance with Neha is less successful, perhaps because the couple has little time together, but also because Neha’s dialogue with Vikram is generally stilted and unrealistic. A conversation where Neha asks Vikram to take time off and says she is worried about him is incredibly awkward and seems nothing at all like the concern someone really would feel for their lover in this type of situation. Vikram’s responses also appear rather off in this scene and perhaps this is why the entire search for Neha feels more like an intellectual puzzle that Vikram must solve rather than a race against time to save his lover. Indeed, neither Ruhani Sharma nor Sahithi have enough time on screen to make much impact, but Hari Teja has a better realised role and she is excellent as Preethi’s neighbour Sheela who is one of the main suspects in the disappearance.

The film also suffers from poor subtitling, with some terrible spelling mistakes and poor grammar which definitely does not help create any suspense. However Garry BH’s editing is first class and S. Manikandan adds atmosphere through good use of camera angles and lighting. As I was watching I kept thinking that HIT would be great as a web series where Sailesh Kolanu could have spent more time delving into the psychology of each character as the investigation brought them under the spotlight. The development of Vikram’s character is where the story really comes together well and adding more background about each suspect’s motivations would have helped create additional suspense. However, the end of the film does set up the plot for Case #2 (this was Case #1) so hopefully there will be some more detailed character development in the sequel. Despite its flaws, HIT has much to recommend it. There are some clever ideas here and while the idea of a flawed protagonist isn’t novel, the treatment here is different to most Telugu thrillers.  Despite the disappointing reveal, the performances are good and the story engaging, particularly at the start of the second half. HIT is well worth catching in the cinemas, and I will definitely be looking out for Case #2.