Tag Archives: Adivi Sesh

HIT: The Second Case

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HIT1 introduced us to the Homicide Intervention Team and investigator Vikram Rudraraju, and I was hopeful that HIT2 would reveal more of his back story. But instead we have a completely different case, in Vizag this time instead of Telangana area, and a new investigator Krishna Dev (Adivi Sesh). I didn’t enjoy this film as much as the first one and I definitely missed Vishwak Sen, but HIT2 has a few suspenseful moments and the investigation twists keep the film interesting.

The action takes place in Vizag where Krishna Dev (aka KD) has a new boss, DGP Nageswara Rao (Rao Ramesh), but not much excitement in his cases which he describes as being committed by stupid criminals. In the opening sequence he solves a murder in just a few minutes, much like the beginning of HIT1 where just a few clues allow for some major jumps in investigation and an easy solve of the case. At the start of the film, KD also asks his girlfriend Aarya (Meenakshi Chaudhary) to move in with him, and again, everything is smooth and easy. She moves in, her mother (the excellent Dhaasshyam Geetha Bhascker) comes to stay and even though she does not approve of the live-in arrangement, doesn’t cause any major arguments. The romance mainly plays out in a song and Aarya seems to only be added to the film to give KD another potential victim to try and protect. Just to make this even more obvious, Aarya quickly falls pregnant, giving KD another reason to keep her safe. There is little passion or emotion between the two and generally KD seems rather cold to everyone, which makes this part of the story seem rather clinical and formulaic. Basically, there is a murder, clues are left behind and KD works to put everything together and find the killer. The addition of Aarya and her unborn baby should have been the key relationship to add emotion and drama, but there just isn’t much warmth here.

The second case starts when a young woman is found murdered at a bar, and KD is brought in to investigate. Her head, torso and limbs have all been severed, and although the head is immediately identified as the bar manager, Sanjana (Anu Varna), forensic investigation reveals that the torso and limbs belong to different women. KD has not only to find the killer, but also needs to identify the other victims, with only a bite mark, a club stamp and some shoe prints as clues.

Still following the beats of the first film, KD has a potential antagonist to work with and this time it’s his subordinate Varsha (Komalee Prasad). The pair apparently have history (although the specifics aren’t revealed) and on learning of her appointment to his team, KD immediately tells her she annoys him and quickly dismisses her. But aside from ignoring Varsha for most of the first half, there is no significant friction between the two and Varsha copes well with her arrogant boss. Abhilash (Maganti Srinath) who was Vikram’s rival in the first film appears here as well, visiting Vizag to get some help with a case in Hyderabad. There are links back to HIT1 and some of the events with Vikram, giving some hope that perhaps Vikram’s story will get some resolution in subsequent films.

There is little suspense in the investigation until the second half, when KD and Varsha find a potential link and start to discover the identities of the other victims. They find a suspect and there is an encounter scene which ramps up the tension while Sanjana’s friend Rajitha (Divya Narni) and Aarya are both threatened by the killer, adding to KD’s problems. But the finale is a bit of a let down, with a protracted torture scene and plenty of blood and gore that still doesn’t pack much of a punch. Perhaps it’s the contrived fight scene at the start, or rather formulaic denouement, but the only character I was worried about during all the bloodshed was KD’s dog Max, who has a fairly significant role to play at the end.

Part of the problem I had with the film was the character of KD who appears arrogant and entitled for much of the first half. His behaviour to Varsha is particularly obnoxious without having any backstory to account for his attitude. KD also seems to treat Aarya like a possession, and for all his modern theory about wanting to live together before marriage to check that they are suited, it all comes across as tediously superficial. There is little warmth to their ‘romance’ and Aarya could have been replaced by any other possible victim for KD to react in much the same way. Adivi Sen is fine in the role of KD, but the character is just quite unlikeable, which makes it difficult to care about what is happening. Komalee Prasad fares better as Varsha and gets to show that she can be a good investigator when given the chance. Hopefully she will return in the third case.

Another oddity is the character of DGP Nageswara Rao who seems to think he’s in an American cop show. He’s antagonistic towards JD, tries to hush up various parts of the case and generally seems corrupt, but without having any rationale behind any of his actions. It’s an odd note in an otherwise fairly straightforward police procedural, and I’m really not sure what Sailesh Kolanu was aiming for. Also incredibly frustrating is a number of written clues that appear onscreen without any subtitles. There is a message left behind for JD and clues in newspapers, but these are all written in Telugu and while JD does discuss them with his colleagues, they don’t talk about what they say. While eventually it’s possible to work out what is going on, it’s annoying not to be able to understand what some of the key pieces of the puzzle actually are.

While HIT2 definitely benefits from Sailesh Kolanu’s experience making the first, the story here isn’t as gripping or the characters as immediately sympathetic. It’s still a fairly solid drama and I have hopes that the third case will be the best yet. 3½ stars.

Goodachari (2018)

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Goodachari is great when it’s good. Sashi Kiran Tikka keeps things flying along, and the film and cast looks amazing. Unfortunately the writing is not as compelling although there are some decent twists along the way.

Satya (Prakash Raj) and Vijay (Ravi Prakash) are on a secret mission that goes horribly wrong. Satya survives, and returns home only to have to tell his colleague’s son that his father will not be returning. Knowing that the kid has no family, Satya takes Gopi in. But then he starts training the boy to forget his previous life and name.

After 174 unsuccessful applications to join Indian intelligence services, grown up Gopi who is now called Arjun (Adivi Sesh) hits the jackpot on number 175. He is summoned to a secret office below a shop, and told he has been shortlisted as a potential agent of the elite Trinetra agency. He is mentored by Damodar (Anish Kuruvilla), mildly threatened by Nadiya (Supriya Yarlagadda), and immediately singled out as the other potential alpha male by Mohammad (Rakesh Varre) and Leena (Madhu Shalini) although she seems more receptive to his presence. Shaam (Vennela Kishore) is kind of the Q of this ensemble, fussing over people messing up his stuff and keeping a beady eye on everyone. Sameera (Sobhita Dhulipala) is Arjun’s neighbour and eventual girlfriend. But something goes horribly wrong and Arjun has to run from his own team and from the real enemy. How will he prove his innocence, and how is he going to live long enough to do that? As they say in all the classic Wikipedia plot summaries, “this forms rest of the story”.

Arjun is driven by emotion and poor impulse control rather than the cool lack of inhibition that makes someone like Bond such an efficient killer. I guess the sentimentality of the character was supposed to make him sympathetic and relatable. But I was left thinking he was just going to get all the good agents killed. The way to get Arjun to focus on a task is to hurt his feelings and make him want to prove you wrong. Adivi Sesh spends an inordinate amount of time welling up in tears as Arjun feels sorry for himself that he isn’t living up to his idealised dad. He rarely questions why and how he could make his own contribution, his sole motivation was to be like a man he barely knew. I kept wondering why someone who was so obviously not completely stable kept getting through the screening. And for an elite intelligence operative, he was as sharp as a bag of hair. A critical incident hinges on interpreting a 4 digit code and this film would have you think it takes a master linguist to do that. I reckon anyone who’s tried to use Outlook might have been up to scratch. I feel that with a bit more thought for the writing and more variation layered into the performance, perhaps a little more moral ambiguity and less self indulgent wallowing, Arjun could have been a great character.

It is always refreshing to see a Telugu film include women who act like adults, had day jobs that you actually saw them do, and who had their own agendas, and generally got things done. Sobhita Dhulipala is stunning to look at as Sameera but her character is more subtle than just a throwaway love interest. Her relationship with Arjun seems a bit convenient initially, but they have some good conversations and grow closer through that mutual understanding.  Supriya Yarlagadda’s Nadiya is a gun as a training officer and makes some hard calls in the field, acting coolly with authority and decision. Madhu Shalini was more of a token girl agent, but she kicks arse in some crucial scenes despite being ditzier than she should be.

Prakash Raj is in Prakash Dad mode here, playing Satya as a fiercely loving parent while still utterly cynical about people and their motivations. And rightly so. Satya’s ability to hide in plain sight while still being connected to his networks was extremely useful. Arjun could learn a thing or ten from Satya about thinking before he leaps. Damodar is Arjun’s workplace mentor and I quite enjoyed the range of exasperated expressions and side eye Anish Kuruvilla brought to the role.

I know the Indian context and history is different and some things will take on a different tone with a local audience. But in Australia it feels like every day there are more and more hateful commentators and media pundits taking potshots at Muslim Australians among other groups. I am weary of it, and struggle to imagine how it feels to be on the receiving end of such unrelenting negativity. So when the head terrorist Rana (Jagapathi Babu) is revealed, I was glad to see a good actor giving a well thought out performance and not just a eyeliner wearing caricature. Rana articulates the question about what made people call him a terrorist when he and Satya were using the same tactics. He also asks Arjun to consider whether he might see things differently if he had not been brainwashed by Satya. They are brief moments and only a couple of lines, but I appreciated seeing a little more inner life to the bad guy as well as the question of perspective.

The direction, editing and visual styling are top notch and the action feels really dynamic. The fights are fast and full of aggression and Adivi Sesh is well up to the action choreo. There is a little too much shooting with total accuracy while looking the other way. It’s a boys own adventure idea of what cool looks like. There are some good spy gadgets and tech that bring a bit of quality and flair to Trinetra. The story is well constructed and there aren’t too many loose ends left. That might be a little bit of a drawback. I feel like this is being positioned as the start of a series and maybe some characters should have been allowed to survive into a potential sequel.

I guessed most of the plot twists and devices well in advance of the big reveal but perhaps I am just gifted like that. I didn’t spot one surprise at all and was thrilled to bits by how that played out. I was hooked the whole way through, and only found my mind wandering when anyone started on about their daddy issues. If you like high adrenalin action with a righteous (but slightly dim) hero, this is the film for you.

Inji Iddupazhagi

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Inji Iddupazhagi-title

Ever since she was a little girl Sweety has been collecting fortune cards from a machine, all of them telling her that happy is beautiful, and goodness and a genuine smile will win the day.

Grown up Sweety (Anushka Shetty) still collects these fortunes, and believes that her value is more than the size of her thighs. Her mother Rajeshwari (Urvashi) wants to see her married off, and blames Sweety’s size for her single status. While Sweety remains resilient under family pressure, and rejects many an unwanted match, she does tire of all the BS. Sweety meets fitness freak Abhi (Arya) and while the pair turn down the proposed match, a friendship develops. Sweety realises she actually has feelings for him, but clueless Abhi chooses skinny model looking do-gooder Simran (Sonal Chauhan) as his girlfriend. Sweety knows she missed her chance, and starts to believe that if she slims down, cute boys will like her. When her friend Jyothi (Pavani Gangireddy) becomes seriously ill from treatment at the dodgy Size Zero clinic, Sweety takes on Satyanand (Prakash Raj), the clinic owner and nominal villain.

Sweety is a fantastic character and I am so happy Anushka took the risk and did this film. I also love that she didn’t go the fat suit route, and probably had to eat like a non-celebrity for months and months to get Sweety’s physique.

All too often the fat chick in films is socially inept, asexual, and a charity case – but Sweety is sexy, funny and confident.  She isn’t desperate to get married and will not pretend to be someone she isn’t just to please some bloke and his mother. She has some good friends, enjoys her work, loves food, and has an eye for a hot guy. She also has a rich fantasy life, a temper, she makes mistakes, and makes amends. I loved that family pressure all about looking better for boys did little to budge Sweety, but when she found her own motivation she was sensible and healthy in the changes in her lifestyle. And she never became a stick insect. I also love that this is a South Indian film that revolves around a woman and there is no revenge or rapeyness in the plot. It’s a really simple, engaging, character driven story and Prakash Kovelamudi and Kanika Dhillon give their great cast the material to bring it to life.

Arya is a bit of a weak link. He is very personable and looks good but I never got any emotional development from Abhi, and Anushka’s more nuanced performance overshadowed him. And also – Abhi is a bit of an idiot. Sonal Chauhan is a good pair for him as she is also adequate without being interesting as Simran.

Abhi did engineer the right of reply for Sweety to give her version of a foxy item, the direct retort to Size Zero Clinic’s skanky advertisement. I wish Anushka was a better dancer, but again I am so happy they just went for it. It isn’t all that long ago that Jayamalini and Jyothilaxmi were shaking it for all it was worth, but the trend towards downsizing female bodies makes Sweety’s sassy dance seem quite startling.

Prakash Raj is more of a sleazy used car salesman than true villain. He makes the most of his big speeches and I did like his dedication to himself as the brand and the brand as himself. Adivi Sesh is suitably puppy-eyed as smitten Shekhar, the nice rich man who falls for Sweety as she is. There are comedy uncles, but they actually more or less serve a purpose. And Master Bharath plays a decidedly not size zero young lad. Rao Ramesh makes a short appearance as Sweety’s dad who died while she was still a child. Impish Mouli Thatha (Gollapudi Maruti Rao) loves his granddaughter and is more likely to feed her a jalebi than make her run a lap of the park. Urvashi is note perfect as Sweety’s grumpy but loving and ultimately supportive mother. You can really see where Sweety gets her backbone from, and understand why they clash.

The film is quite fanciful but stays within my tolerance for whimsy – more like Chungking Express (which gets a name check) than Amelie levels of whimsy. It’s beautifully filmed and has a fairytale air in some scenes. The camera freezes some moments, and then explores the scene layer by layer. There’s a device of cheesy but sincere fortune cookie messages that Sweety writes, a nice extension of her fondness for the positive messages she collected for herself. And there was a nice pay it forward demonstrated with said fortune cookie. If I am being picky I have an issue with the choice of wafer as a stand-in for the fortune cookies as they are what one friend calls “povo wafers” – the cheap ones you get in rubbishy gift hampers. I am not as strongly opposed to the cylindrical wafer as she is, while I agree they’re a bit sad. But I digress.

In lieu of any of the traditional action elements, the film loads up on star cameos and a massive spin class with special effects. The film community gets their lycra on to support Sweety’s campaign against Size Zero. Rana is hilariously Hulk like, flexing as as his avatar goes all Bhallaladeva on his animated foes. Tamannah has her game face on and looks like she is set for days. Other familiar faces included Jiiva, Nagarjuna, Revathy and Kajal Aggarwal. All of this is juxtaposed with dodgy animation and effects and some excellent Prakash Raj scenery chewing. So that replaced the usual car explosions and dismemberings quite nicely.

I missed out on seeing Size Zero on its two (yes two!) shows in Melbourne, but luckily the Tamil version, Inji Iddupazhagi, is easily available online and with English subs. (Thanks SakhiSpeaks for the HeroTalkies tip! And you can read her review here.) I love this movie and hope it reaches a wide and appreciative audience. 4 1/2  stars!