Tag Archives: Kaikala Satyanarayana

Gharana Mogudu (1992)

Posted on by

Gharana Mogudu

Gharana Mogudu is a step back in time to the Nineties, although it seems more like the Eighties considering the costumes and general shenanigans. The songs deliver the costumes and as for general shenanigans, there is Uma Devi (Nagma) – a boss from hell who plots a marriage with her factory’s union leader to get her revenge for his popularity and force him to fall into line.  Naturally since the union leader is Chiranjeevi, Uma Devi’s plans are never going to work out the way she wants, but there is a lot of entertainment in watching her attempts.  Nagma is wonderfully arrogant and egotistic in a role that lets her be as nasty as possible, but still look stunning as she efficiently crushes anyone who dares to oppose her management style.  Chiranjeevi’s Raju is naturally the complete opposite, kind-hearted and generous, but just as stubborn and quite determined to stand up for his rights and those of his fellow workers.  Of course he also dances up a storm and dishooms when and where required making Gharana Mogudu an excellent celebration of all things Megastar and perfect for this year’s Megabirthday celebrations.

Gharana MoguduGharana Mogudu

Before we can get to Uma Devi and her hazardous factory in Hyderabad, Raju is introduced as the dock worker to turn to in a crisis – even if that crisis is getting beaten up at an illegal fight betting ring.  Naturally Raju wins the subsequent show-down but finds that the money he won has vanished – cue the excellent Bangaru Kodi Petta (which was remixed and re-imagined for Rajamouli’s awesome Magadheera ) with Disco Shanti running off with the betting money.

When his mother (Shubha) has a stroke, Raju leaves Vizag and the joys of waterfront employment and heads home to Hyderabad.  After arriving in the city, Raju fortuitously saves local businessman Bapineedu (Raogopal Rao), from a gang of thugs and as a reward is given the opportunity to work in his family factory. This sounds too good to be true, and of course it is, since Bapineedu and the family business are both actually run by his daughter – the boss from hell. Uma Devi has no interest in her workers except as a means to increase profit and make her the top tax payer in India (her ultimate ambition apparently).  She has the union rep firmly under her thumb to ensure that there are no strikes despite her heavy handed treatment and is prone to petulant displays of temper if her will is crossed.  I’m not sure if it’s one of her petty cruelties to make her secretary Bhavani (Vani Viswanath) wear such odd outfits to work but in her own time Bhavani looks much more appropriately dressed, so I have my suspicions, particularly when Uma Devi appears so co-ordinated.

 

Uma Devi is just as bad at dealing with people on a personal level and the thugs who attacked her father were actually sent by Ranganayakulu (Kaikala Satyanarayana) after Uma Devi turned down a marriage proposal from his son (Sharat Saxena).  Ranganayakulu and his son are the main villains of the piece and while their response to a marriage refusal may seem a little over the top, to be fair Uma Devi is annoying enough that wiping her from the face of the planet doesn’t seem all that unreasonable.

Gharana MoguduGharana MoguduGharana MoguduGharana Mogudu

Uma Devi’s plan to marry Raju also disrupts the course of true love as Raju and Bhavani embark on an office romance after they meet each other on the way to work. A bicycle ride in the rain leads to this excellent song, with Vani Viswanath keeping up with Chiranjeevi in the dance stakes despite his tendency to attack her with a bicycle – I really did want Bhavanai to dispose of Uma Devi and run away with Raju after this song!

Sadly Bhavani is much too sweet to be a murderer, so Uma Devi goes ahead with her plan and Raju ends up moving into Bapineedu’s massive mansion with his new bride.  The house is incredible, with statuary everywhere and a huge central imposing staircase, but none of that fazes Raju who continues to work on the shop floor and fight for workers’ rights.

Gharana MoguduGharana Mogudu

Now at this point you might think that Raju’s morals and basic decency might start to have an effect on Uma Devi and make her realise the error of her ways, but she’s still just as unpleasant as ever and it takes a drunken night and a lungi dance before she even begins to appear remotely bearable.  Before then there are plenty of great confrontations between Uma Devi and Raju, shifty scheming from Ranganayakulu and Uma Devi’s manager Sarangapani (Ahuti Prasad) and plenty of those fantastic costumes to enjoy.

Chiru is dashing and very much the mega star as he mixes romance, compassion, ethical principles and his stance on workers’ rights with great dancing and action sequences.  Pretty much everything gets mixed into the film and Chiranjeevi really is awesome no matter what he is doing! Nagma is delightfully vile and holds her own against Chiru keeping the focus of the film on Uma Devi and her machinations, while the plots of Ranganayakulu etc are totally overshadowed by her stormy relationship with Raju. She’s almost the classic Disney villainess and it seems obligatory to boo and hiss whenever she appears and naturally cheer for Chiranjeevi and Bhavani. Yes, even when watching on DVD in the comfort of your own living room.

Along with all the drama there is room for some comedy too – Brahmi pops up but unfortunately makes little impression without the benefit of subtitles.  However the rest of the humour is based on interactions between Raju and the other characters, and being more situational comes across better. It’s a true masala film and although the plot is ridiculous and the characterisations over the top, Gharana Mogudu is still completely entertaining.  Excellent performances, great songs and plenty of Megastar style make this definitely one to watch. 4 stars.

Chiranjeevi

 

Jebu Donga (1987)

Posted on by

Jebu-Donga-Title

While Jebu Donga may not be the most deep and meaningful film of 1987 (or indeed any other year), it does have a slightly different approach to the Mass Hero as well as sufficient quantity and variety of dances and explosions to keep me amused.

Chiranjeevi is Chitti the pickpocket, happily fleecing the rich, helping some of the deserving poor and indulging his love of disguises. Bhanupriya is his rival in petty thieving, and has an equally strong commitment to the dress-ups and convoluted schemes. Satyanarayana Kaikala and Maruthirao Gollapudi are the not as bumbling as they seem CBI officers who need to get a spy into Raghuvaran’s gang. And Radha is a woman of mystery. The police decide to use the unwitting Chiru as a distraction, feeding the crooks a fake top secret file that names him as Special Agent Chakrapani. While he goes about his daily crimes, the crooks are after him and the cops are watching the shenanigans. But eventually things come to a proper masala conclusion, albeit one with a couple of surprises.

While Telugu mass films are all about the hero, one of the things I enjoy most about Jebu Donga is that Chiru’s character is not as much in control as he thinks he is. He reacts to the confusing succession of attacks and rescues but has no idea why some things are happening. He tries to beat Bhanupriya’s character to a heist but ends up losing his trousers – don’t panic, it is all quite family friendly. Radha appears as a woman from Chakrapani’s past and Chitti is unable to say no to her. And the police manipulate him so easily. He does have to do his bit to save everyone at the end of the film, but he is not the usual know-it-all lone hero.

Chiranjeevi makes the most of his role, adding a dash of levity to the fight scenes as well as flirting up a storm. I looked over my notes from watching the film and at one point I have just written “Jeep! Whips! Leaping!”  Chitti is a good person apart from being a thief, and he helps out where he can. One of his robberies even helped a reluctant bride escape an unwanted marriage. He has what might be a sister and younger brother (Shanmukha Srinivas) as well as his mother to provide for, and pretends to them that he is a labourer doing honest work. The songs are a real highlight, and not always just for the outfits. I love Rajaloo Rajalakshmi where Chiru steals Bhanupriya’s clothes while she is bathing.

His dancing is uninhibited and cheeky (even including a bit of snake style), and once she finds something to wear she dishes it up in equal measure.

I’m not so sure about his wardrobe choices. The double denim and highpants are a symptom of the late 80s but I really do not get the sleeveless skivvy.

Bhanupriya’s character is a bit ditzy although she exhibits competence in her chosen field of cons and theft.  While Chiru is relatively plainly dressed, she wears some outrageous outfits and more than holds her own in the dances. I’m not sure how she is related to Chitti but when she falls for him it feels more as though they have been meant for each other for a while but are only now admitting there is an attraction. And where many a filmi heroine has to be rescued, she does her share of saving him too. She knows she is smart and sees no reason to let the slightly dim but charming Chitti overrule her.

Radha’s character is the real secret agent. I think she tells Chitti that he is a perfect lookalike for the deceased Chakrapani and he cannot resist her helpless female act. He should have been alerted when her dream sequence song turned up looking like this! She is smart, runs her own operation although her dad is one of the CBI officers using Chiru, and she has firm views on what needs to be done. Like Bhanupriya, she will accept help but she doesn’t always wait around for it to materialise.

All good heroes need a bad villain. Raghuavaran is the sleazy Peter, the main man who runs operations  for the completely insane Kannada Prabhakar. I always like a bit of megalomaniacal set design and sadly that is where Jebu Donga fails me. Peter lives in a respectably glossy mansion decorated with portraits of himself and masses of horrible modern sculptures while the bad guy HQ is a simple rustic camp. Not quite up to the Mogambo gold standard despite the impressive commitment to training shown by the minions. Most of the thugs wear that pale blue or mauve, but there are special colour coded sets as well as some plain clothes goons. Satyanarayana and Gollapudi are actually lots of fun as the police masterminds. They amble around, two portly middle aged gents who giggle like school girls as they watch the drama ebb and flow around their hapless helper. They also have some odd little flashbacks to what I think are Gollapudi’s terrible ideas for going undercover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry25Oa7qNro

Chakravarthy’s soundtrack  borrows from Mr India, Michael Jackson and who knows what else. It’s all great fun, largely due to the enthusiasm of Chiranjeevi and Bhanupriya. And for once, the ladies get the sequins and lycra while Chiru dresses relatively conservatively.

I always have reasonable expectations of a Chiranjeevi/A Kodandarami Reddy film. There will be heroics, fights, dances, romance, eyeball melting colour and movement and almost no traces of logic. Jebu Donga delivers and shows Chiru in a more comedic, blundering hero role. Chitti may be a bit thick but Chiru knows exactly what he is doing and how to wring maximum entertainment from his material. The movie is available on YouTube. If you’re wondering, I deliberately chose the upload with the most offensive watermarks. Dear Reader, if you know anyone at that poxy company, please gently slap some sense, or at least some shame at defacing a film, into them.  Well worth seeing for the excellent cast and the frothy material. 3 ½ stars!

I will leave you with a Megabirthday Masala Multiple Choice Quiz. Please examine the following image.

Jebu-Donga-Quiz

Which of the following happens next?

  1. Evil Overlord makes crippled dance-obsessed Shanmukha Srinivas dance (a bit like Basanti in Sholay)
  2. Chiru, tied up and dangling in mid-air, escapes by breaking the trees from which he is dangling
  3. A Ma is terrorised by being given an unwanted haircut
  4. Radha kicks the bejesus out of about 47 bad guys
  5. Someone is so determined to detonate a bomb that he sets himself on fire and rolls across a clearing to ignite the fuse
  6. What do you mean which of the following? That’s a rookie question. All of the above, of course!

Pistolwali (1972)

Posted on by

pistolwali

I often wonder how gangs of ne’er-do-wells get along before they reach the critical mass that attracts a hero to sort them out, and what it is that they do all day. Pistolwali doesn’t answer the first of those questions, but it does provide plenty to look at as you ponder whether what they do all day is make their own outfits and fight over the dress-up box.

K.S.R Doss’ Pilla? Piduga? was either dubbed or partially reshot in Hindi as Pistolwali. Both (unsubtitled) films are on YouTube so choose your poison. I have chosen to use the Hindi version as some actors and both Helen and Jayshree T appeared to be speaking Hindi and this film is all about the authenticity…Plus I understood more of the dialogue even if I couldn’t read the significant clue written in blood.

Like so many other Telugu cowboy themed revenge films, this one is set in a time and place that exists only in Telugu cowboy themed revenge films.The movie opens with Raaka (Satyanarayana Kaikala) and his gang attempting a train heist. A brightly clad cowboy (Ramakrishna as Amar) puts them out of business from his perch in a convenient tree. It’s cowboys vs cowboys and hat colour is not a reliable indicator of anything.

Maybe if we saw the floral sunhats being stolen from helpless old aunties it might be suitably Bad, but instead it just looked like a job lot guaranteed to brighten up every occasion. And there was that one guy who just painted his scalp silver. Reeka (Prabhakar Reddy) seems to have fewer marbles and fewer outfits than Raaka. He throws childish tantrums that quickly escalate into homicidal rampages. And that is the nicest thing I could say about him.

“South Bombshell” (according to the poster) Jyothilaxmi is Neelu. She is first seen cavorting in a daring swimsuit but later changes into equally fashion forward pantsuits. The villains go too far when they steal from the temple, and Neelu sets off in pursuit. She swaggers, shoots and curses like a hero rather than a heroine relying on womanly wiles, and generally she rescues herself. Jyotilaxmi wears some abbreviated costumes and gets a big dance number, but Neelu isn’t a girly girl. Neelu gets roughed up by her adversaries but how to say this… they don’t get rapey and creepy with her despite the allure of her midriff. She is a foe and they deal with her as a threat, not as a plaything. She is tough cookie and I suspect it would take a bit to outrage her modesty in any case. When Helen gives it her all in Hoga Sa Hoga, Neelu fills the time honoured role of hero looking like they’d rather be elsewhere. Although that may also be professional item girl rivalry.  Neelu has her own ideas and just goes and does her thing. Even if that includes falling through a trapdoor and wrestling a (sight impaired) tiger.  And she has a straightforward approach to relationships.

Pistolwali-Graceful

I am not sure it was desire for authenticity or just directorial cruelty that had her struggling to get on and off horses, but it looked like Jyotilaxmi did a lot of her own action scenes.

The viewer learns that Raaka is Neelu’s biological father long before she does.  Raaka raped Lakshmi and left her for dead before also maiming his friend and rival for Lakshmi’s love. She fell pregnant as a result and she and the baby were taken in by her now one-legged true love who seemed to think it was the right thing to do. He may have been grooming Neelu for vengeance as well, but he seemed like an affectionate and over indulgent filmi Daddy. Neelu was none the wiser about her parentage until quite late in the film. That might all sound a bit progressive so let me assure you that the way it was revealed to her made me deduct a lot of the good parenting brownie points.

Ramakrishna is technically the hero but Neelu overshadows Amar in all respects. He does an OK job and he doesn’t get in her way, but apart from some excellent outfits he achieves little of note. Although I did giggle at his inept dealings with the ladies. On the subject of costumes, it looks as though each main character was issued with one distinctive pair of boots and they pretty much wear them throughout. Raaka’s boots were particularly special and Satyanarayana Kaikala was suitably over the top to match. And the outfits did help a little with identifying characters in the many and varied fights and action scenes. K.S.Madhavan threw everything and the kitchen sink into the stunts. However I have to say that the plot is quite cohesive and to an extent, I would almost say logical.

The background music is a brilliant mish-mash of fuzzy surf rock and funky Hammond organ with classic cowboy guitar strumming and the odd slide whistle. The song set pieces are unashamedly random and the film has an embarrassment of item girls that all get a guernsey in featured numbers.

Jayshree T is always so perky, I love watching her dance. She always seems to wear more hair than clothes but I never see her as really skanky.

 

Helen and her creepy blue contact lenses appeared in a nightclub song and Jyotilaxmi got a dance in a fabulous Fauxgyptian inspired village set with what may be happy go lucky tribal cannibals. The camera is often at crotch level which is a bit confronting. But to be fair, the camera wasn’t just upskirting the ladies. Once seen, never unseen.

This is one of my favourite heroine-centric B movies from 1972 and Jyothilaxmi is perfect as the righteous gunslinger. See it if you have ever harboured thoughts of wearing a fur trimmed vest with fringed pants but weren’t sure how to accessorise, or if you want a primer on tiger wrestling for the modern lady. 3 stars!