Tag Archives: Radha

Marana Mrudangam

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Marana Mrudangam is Chiranjeevi in his mass hero avatar – meting out justice, charming the ladies, fighting evil-doers and dancing up a storm. I never cease to be amazed by A Kodandarami Reddy’s imagination and Marana Mrudangam is full of crazy details, wild schemes, stunts and an array of dodgy looking props. Plus – Ranjeet!

Johny (Chiru) and Billu (Nagendra Babu, Chiranjeevi’s brother) run a small restaurant/bar.

One day Johny stops to help Utpala (Suhasini) and Anusha (Radha) when their car has broken down. Utpala is a nurse, and Radha is a high powered manager of a hotel that also seems to trade in import export.

Two girls, two guys – it’s a love triangle waiting to happen. Utpala falls for Johny who has fallen for Anusha while Billu seems to fancy Utpala a little.

I don’t mind rom-coms when Chiru is doing both rom and com, but I was hoping for a bit more masala inspired action. Imagine my delight when Billu cracked an egg to make an omelette and found it was full of COCAINE!

No I don’t know how Johny knew how to identify cocaine. But he also knew how to track the drug back to its origin and so the thrills and spills began!

Salim (Ranjeet) is a very bad man, and not just because he wears an excessive amount of very tight denim. He is a cold eyed killer and rapist and the enforcer in Vasantdada’s (Suresh Oberoi) gang.

He has no impulse control and his character could be summed up as ‘Rapey’. Ranjeet also has a thing for staking people out to die. It’s neither fast nor efficient but he does persist.

Salim impersonates a policeman and lures Anusha out of her home, intending to assault her, but Johny intervenes. Utpala needs help too. Her brother fell into the clutches of Vasantdada and before dying managed to write a letter that will bring the gang down. Johny and Billu rise to the occasion and decide to eliminate the gang and get revenge for Vasantdada’s past crimes. Vasantdada’s henchmen all wear matching outfits in different styles and colours each time they appear which was a nice detail (and helped me remember which fight was which).

Suhasini is one of my favourite actresses and while this is a fairly small role she made an impression as the good natured and straight forward Utpala. She suffers terrible loss but is determined to do the right thing. Utpala isn’t confident to act on her own and relies on Johny and Billu for advice and to do what is needed. She has a comedy scene or two, and Suhasini is not a woman I expect to see rolling drunk on screen.  But she still looked lovely.

Anusha is a haughty heroine who doesn’t lack self-confidence at all. She is independent and determined but still needs Johny to save her on numerous occasions when having a sharp tongue isn’t enough.

And I haven’t mentioned the costumes. I think in this song the wardrobe guys were so horrified by this outfit

that they gave up on clothes for a while:

Chiru tends towards the high pants with the low belt, often doubling up on the fabric for both shirt and pants, and nicely accessorised with an eye catching array of gloves.

He opts for pleather for the big occasions, but as demonstrated in that song, costumes are not necessary for Johny to make a splash.

Chiru has better chemistry with Suhasini than with Radha, though perhaps that’s just my bias. It’s clear that the saucy Anusha is Johny’s type.

But really the focus of his performance is the heroics and that he does with his customary verve.

Nagendra Babu is sweet as Billu. Compared to Johny he is quiet and shy but he is handy in a fight. He favoured denim overalls and flowery shirts which added to the slightly comedic nice guy image. He is quite tall so the effect when he was flinging little bad guys around with abandon was very funny. It’s not surprising that he and Chiru have great rapport on screen and I liked seeing them bounce dialogue off each other in their scenes.

The story is based on a popular novel. The author Yandamoori Veerendranath adapted the screenplay himself and the pace and plotting is a strength of the film. There are obviously some scenes designed purely for maximum Mega presence, but Chiranjeevi manages to incorporate them all into the character of Johny so it flowed quite well.

The climax of the film is fantastic but I did have a horribly sick feeling in a couple of minutes of footage involving horse stunts. I am certain not all of the horses were unharmed and suspect a couple didn’t survive. If this worries you please don’t watch from around 2hrs 5 min to 2 hrs 8 min. Before that I was delighted by one of the most ridiculous fake aircraft I think I have ever seen and there were some nifty come-uppances for the baddies.

The Illaiyaraja soundtrack is nice enough but I struggle to recall the songs without the visuals. Chiranjeevi and Radha don’t have the greatest choreography to work with but give it all loads of energy and flair. Visually the film is very striking with lots of crazy camera angles, stylised compositions and reminds me a little of some vintage 60s spy shows, albeit with acid wash denim.

Marana Mrudangam is a pacey masala entertainment, and if you are prepared to perhaps skip the horse scene, this is very good fun. And really, it was worth seeing just for the surprise of the naked Chiru chicken dance. 4 stars!

Yamudiki Mogudu

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Yamudiki Mogudu was made in 1988 which may explain some of the costume choices or, then again, maybe not! Whatever the reason the wardrobe guys seem to have had the time of their lives and the costumes used in the songs here are fabulous. Our DVD came with a breezy alert stating  “Regret Poor Quality”. It turns out that was not useful life advice or a comment on the film, but a warning that the picture quality was a bit dodgy so we regret the poor screencaps.

But what about the movie … Well this is another Chiru film which manages to fit in plenty of action, drama, fight scenes, obligatory machetes, preposterous moustaches and hairstyles, romances with two heroines, a double role of sorts and plenty of singing and dancing.  And at 147 minutes  the pace is cracking, with never a dull moment.

We meet Chiru first as Kali, a thief with a heart of gold who robs, steals and works as a mercenary in order to help fund his brothers education, support his family and generally look after the inhabitantsof the slum area where he lives.  On one occasion he is called to the mansion of Kailasham, to be punished for daring to steal from the magnate, when his daughter looks out of a window and spies Kali fighting off her father’s goons in true hero style. Of course, like us, Radha falls instantly in love with the dashing Kali and grabs her video camera to rush down and immortalise the action.

Her love is reciprocated and Radha’s  father is appalled when he sees photographs of the two of them together.  These photographs are from a dream sequence song so we’re not quite sure about the science that made this possible.

Kailasham conspires with his onetime enemy Kota Kondappa (Kota Srinivasa Rao with a flamboyant moustache), and his repulsive son Chantibabu  to destroy Kali. This will allow Chantibabu to marry Radha and put a stop to the depredations Kali is making into the business of the two conspirators.  They have been the ones employing him to steal, but logic doesn’t play a big role here.  They assassinate Kali on his wedding day, at which point Kali is taken to hell.  Kali argues with Lord Yama (Satyanarayana) about his early demise, and gains the assistance of Vichitra Gupta (Velu) who points out the rather serious error made by Chitra Gupta (Allu Ramalingaiah). Lord Yama does some quick thinking to get rid of this loud and irritating human who has dared to tap dance, rock and roll and even disco (yes, really)  in a range of amazing costumes with the heavenly apsara played by Ambika.

Kali’s body has been cremated meaning he cannot simply return to his old life. Lord Yama  shows Kali three other men who look identical to him, and who are each about to die. Kali can choose to inhabit one of their bodies once they are dead, and in this way return to Earth.

Since he has no other options he takes on the body and thus the life of Balu, a rather pitiful man who has been beaten down into the life of a servant by his free-loading uncle.

Although Kali isn’t supposed to remember his former life, he does know that he is no servant and proceeds to turn his new family upside down. Balu assumes control of the family fortune, frees his mother from kitchen drudgery and spends time with his girlfriend Gauri (Vijayasanthi).  His uncle really should have known as soon as that steely eyed stare fell on him that his easy living days were well and truly over!

Of course we know this can’t last, and events conspire so that Kali does regain memory of his former life.

We finally get to a resolution where the bad guys lose, the good guys win and Kali/Balu has to somehow reconcile his relationships with both women.  Kali appeals to Lord Yama to help sort out his marital problem.  Surely he should have realised that Lord Yama was perhaps a bit unreliable in his decision making?

Chiru is his usual wonderfully athletic and energetic self as Kali and the songs were obviously choreographed to show off his dancing style.  While the inspiration for the costumes is anyone’s guess, the backdrop in the many songs is equally bizarre and colourful and we love it!  Radha initially plays it straight as the spoilt and indulged daughter, but once she falls in love she is vivacious and energised and does a really good job of keeping up with Chiru in their songs together.  She even manages to look comfortable in all the ruches and ruffles of her costumes.  Vijayasanthi is beautiful as the feisty Gauri and we thought she had made it through the costume department almost unscathed until she emerged, draped in pearls, from a clam shell. Then we saw Chiru had also been clam shelled. The design department on this film really made it their own!

The film was written by Satyanand and directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty. The fight scenes are well choreographed and flow nicely with the action sequences.  The best comedy is in the scenes with Chiru, Lord Yama,Chitragupta and Vichitragupta.  The character of Chantibabu initially is fairly repulsive as he tries to rape Radha to ensure that she will have no choice other than to marry him, but he very quickly becomes a figure of ridicule.  Most of the remaining comedy subplot revolves around the relationship between Kota and Kailasham and is not particularly funny, although Kota’s untameable hair is.  The real reason to watch it is Chiranjeevi, of course, and the fabulous song picturisations based on the compositions by Raj-Koti and lyricist Veturi.

Heather says: This is one of my favourite Chiru films and I think one of his best performances. The fight scenes are well choreographed, and the dancing is superb, when you can take your eye off the costumes that it! Any film that includes Lord Yama will appeal to me, as I like the opportunity it gives to make the impossible happen, and it usually means plenty of mayhem. I also like the bumbling conspirators and their vacillating between being enemies and friends. Both Radha and Vijayasanthi are lovely in this and do well to hold their own against Chiru in his energetic performance. Its such a shame the set and costume designers don’t get credited as their work in this film is truly outstanding. I did also like the glowing skull eyes in hell and horns on the demons that were very floppy when they danced! But of course Chiru is the reason to watch this film, and the Megastar really delivers. 4 1/2 stars from me.

Temple says: This is so very entertaining, and if you haven’t seen a Chiranjeevi film before I think this is a great place to start. The songs and costumes are brilliant and completely over the top, while still being linked in to the story. I liked that there was some sort of discussion about the whole taking over someone else’s body idea. Kali not only had his self-preservation instinct but felt protective towards the displaced soul and wanted to somehow repair things for Balu. All the performances are good, with Vijayasanthi and Radha being both decorative and memorable. But it really is Chiru’s film, and the film succeeds in keeping my attention through all the plot permutations because he gives it his all. He is fun as Kali and quite pathetic as Balu, and gets to show some dramatic range even while pummelling the bad guys. Like Heather, I always enjoy an appearance by Yama in a film as it usually means lots of sparkly gold and a dance number. My expectations were met, and then some! I’m an unashamed Chiru fan, and I really loved this film. 4 and 1/2 stars from me.

State Rowdy

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It is no secret that we are fans of Chiranjeevi, masala, action, dancing, convoluted stories and crazy outfits. State Rowdy fulfils many of our film wishlist items. In addition, this film is often cited as the inspiration for Pokiri/Pokkiri/Wanted.

Chiranjeevi plays Kalicharan – the local tough guy, self designated State Rowdy and goon with a heart. He systematically takes on and eliminates all other rowdies on his turf (the coastal rowdy, the Rayalaseema rowdy, the Nizam rowdy …you get the picture).

Bhanupriya plays Asha, a local girl who witnessed a murder and flees the scene. The killers know she saw them, but don’t know who she is. The SP (played by the impressive and elegant Sharada) also wants to find Asha as the murdered man is the policewoman’s husband.  And oh yes, she is the long lost daughter of… never mind. Just go with the flow!

Kali and Asha cross paths and romance sparks – especially once she gets an eyeful of his manly dance style and gold tipped boots.

The police try to find out who is kidnapping all the rowdies, and the goons plot to rid themselves of the menace who is kidnapping their men.  Meanwhile, the lovely Radha pines over her lost love Prithvi….but how is this all related?

Just to add to all this confusion we also have local crime lord Narendra Bhupati, his merry band of brothers one of whom was responsible for the murders, and local businessman and would-be CM Mankamatti Bhaskar Rao who are all searching for the eye witness for various reasons.

All paths lead back to Kalicharan. Through a series of slightly confusing but very charming flashbacks we learn of his early life as good boy Prithviraj who wore white pants and parted his hair neatly on the side. Prithvi was a promising police cadet but was apparently passed over for promotion, had a spat with his superior, and left the force. His life went off the rails and he became the scourge – Kalicharan.

Radha (played by Radha), Prithvi’s cousin and fiancee, discovers his double life and engineers an emotional confrontation between the headband and muscle shirt wearing Kalicaharan and his sari clad mother.  The truth behind his fall from grace is revealed and like all things confided in secret, becomes well known in no time at all. All parties seek to use him to gain victory and to exploit his vulnerability while he strives to achieve his goal and protect his loved ones…and keep the girls from learning of each other’s existence.   Displaying a fine sense of political fair play he accepts payment from opposing sides and splits his resources to cover both obligations. And then resumes his policing career. There are kidnappings, mistaken identities, corpse swapping, and that’s not even the tip of the iceberg.  Once again, these succeed because Chiranjeevi is believably physical and heroic.

From a heavily customised budget friendly Bond style motorbike to the thrilling conclusion, the laughs and gasps just keep coming.  The climax scenes involve a return from the dead (that corpse swapping incident), kidnapping, blackmail, a masala death trap of delightfully rickety and impractical design and a lot of explosions and crashes.  And a brilliant sequence with Chiru, trapped inside a spherical metal cage, being used as the ball in a game of car-soccer. We said this got a bit convoluted!

Chiranjeevi is in fabulous form. Even in this broadly drawn character he manages to convey some nuance and a deft comedic sense. Prithvi’s flirting with Radha is sweet and a bit awkward and a total contrast to the swaggering Kali. There is drama, emotion and romance galore and his performance hits all the right notes. He seems to be having a fine time in the action scenes, and his dancing is fabulous.  He even puts in a brief appearance as Arjuna in full gilded kit. One thing we just love is that he never seems inhibited by even the most peculiar wardrobe choices.  In fact, he looks so happy and as if this is all huge fun for him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCKRGMO077k

We must make special mention of the costumes, especially in the song sequences. Even for 1989, and allowing for flights of fantasy and a bit of a fashion time-lag between Paris and Hyderabad, there are some absolute shockers. The star cast give the songs a boost as they all throw themselves into the choreography. Bappi Lahiri does his disco thing and the songs are really catchy and fun.

The supporting cast are all solid and do what they do in every film. Sharada has credibility as the angry SP and as the grieving widow and mother. Allu Ramalingaiah plays Quotation Chakravarti, part of the comic side plot, and is very effective. We struggle with many of the comic side plots but this is fairly well integrated into the story so works better than some.

The stunts and fights are so over the top and fantastic to watch. Once again, these succeed because Chiranjeevi is Chiranjeevi. Of course good will triumph, love will find a way and justice will prevail. But we encourage you to watch the film to see how much fun the journey to a foregone conclusion can be!

Heather says:  This has to be one of the most bewildering films I have watched for some time.    The plot is incredibly convoluted and the various relationships of the characters to each other didn’t seem to be necessary for the story but just added to the confusion.  I felt that there were really two separate films rolled into one, but this did have the advantage of giving us two Chiru’s. One suave, charming and dedicated to fighting crime, and the other tough, street wise and just dedicated to fighting.  He is fantastic in both avatars, and the switch between the two is very clear and well defined.  The female leads – all three of them – deliver some very fine performances, as do the supporting cast.  While the songs themselves are great, they seemed to be oddly placed in the narrative. The really terrible (and therefore fantastic in a ‘so-bad-its-good’ way) costumes didn’t help with this sense of displacement and for me, detracted from some very good choreography.  The dancing and action scenes were of a very high standard, as we’ve come to expect from a Chiranjeevi film, but what stood out for me was the dancing of both Bhanupriya and Radha.  Both kept up with Chiru and managed to make their moves look effortless.   Despite the confusing storyline the film is great fun.  My advice is to forget about trying to understand what is happening and why, and just try to keep up with the action!  I have to say that Chiru in a uniform makes any amount of mystifying storyline watchable. And since everything works out in spectacular style by the end I would recommend this film as a must see. 4 stars from me.

Temple says: I didn’t find the film all that confusing, just unnecessarily convoluted and a bit fragmented as it relies on flashbacks to fill us in on the story. But it is immensely enjoyable as it plays around with the rowdy stereotypes and allows Chiru to be both the good boy and the dangerous ruffian. There is a common theme of justice  in many Telugu films, and a few interesting takes on what justice is. In many instances it seems that despite what the law says, if the consensus is that a good man kills a bad man, then that’s probably OK. These themes do get a work out in State Rowdy but ultimately the law is seen to triumph; albeit with some help from the invincible Chiranjeevi and the determined Sharada. In addition to the excellent acting, the director decided to unleash the full might of the wardrobe team and make sure that Prithvi and Kalicharan looked nothing alike. Some dubious, but very entertaining, outfits were the result and the backing dancers and support cast enjoy the fruits of these labours too. And the ladies didn’t fare much better. For the most part the songs were reflecting the heroines’ wishes or dreams so they didn’t have to look at all realistic or be cohesive to the narrative either. The more pertinent question would be why, if you are fantasizing about a man, would you dress him up like that in your imagination? So much shiny metallic lycra – it’s quite concerning! I was going to say “less is more” when it comes to costumes but that might be misconstrued so let’s just move on. The support cast were very good, and there were some amusing little subplots and throwaway lines in amongst all the dancing, prancing and biffo. I found this very entertaining. I like detail, and this film has lots of it! I know this might not be to everyone’s tastes, but if that is the case then I think there is something wrong with you. Chiranjeevi is just awesome as State Rowdy. I give this 4 and 1/2 stars!