Tag Archives: Tanikella Bharani

Theen Maar

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Theenmaar is a fairly faithful remake of the Hindi film Love Aaj Kal, with a few minor changes and thankfully a lot more Southern style action and drama.

We do think that Pawan Kalyan has the most enthusiastic fans we have ever encountered. There was a good turnout at India Talkies, especially considering this was the second night showing, and more ladies and families than we usually see. In many of the Cape Town location scenes, bikini clad extras strutted around to no audience reaction at all. But let PK appear in shot and the roof almost came off! And we must add – it was the guys making the most noise!

Pawan Kalyan is Michael, a chef working in Cape Town while he waits for an opportunity to be a stockbroker in New York. Trisha is Meera, a fine arts graduate who specialises in restoration work (or something). Michael is selfish, impulsive, charming but ultimately high on talk and low on commitment. His dialogues are hilarious and he actually used the vintage line ‘Coffee, tea …or me?’ which had us in fits of laughter. It was followed up by a kiss so clearly the old material hasn’t lost any of its magic…or maybe it’s all in the delivery? And he does speak Italian (not so well, but it was actual dialogue in actual Italian delivered with great gusto).

Trisha plays Meera as vain and princessy, accepting compliments on her beauty with a smile and an ‘I know!’ Their relationship is shown in a series of montages deteriorating from the happy honeymoon phase to him being bored and her being restless and the performances develop more subtlety as the characters situations change.  Meera loves Michael but goes back to India to pursue her career dreams. They both try to move on from this relationship, but really don’t, and the question of will they or won’t they get back together is the story.

Paresh Rawal introduces the flashback story of his friend Arjun (Pawan Kalyan) and his love, played by Kriti Karbandha. The Varanasi locations and slightly faded colour palette are simply stunning. Arjun is a student activist, albeit one who never seems to do any study, a man of few words and deep feelings. Arjun and his nerdy mates follow Kriti around Varanasi and these are some of the funniest scenes.

Pawan Kalyan’s expressions flicker from nervous to smouldering to determined and back again as he wordlessly conveys his feelings and confusion. There is a fabulous vintage style song with Arjun and his mates skipping around and dancing like madmen and it is just brilliantly done. Kriti didn’t have a lot to do except stand around and stare at Arjun and is a bit low energy in many of her scenes. She does come to life in her dances and those scenes are where she looks her most appealing. Her family don’t approve of Arjun and his determination and resilience are a total contrast to Michael’s floundering and apathy. His body language is completely different to Michael – Arjun stands up straight, shoulders back, head up and looks people in the eye where Michael’s gaze is always shifting or angled and he rarely stands still or takes a stand.

One of the side effects of Filmi True Love is that all other partners end up as Romance Roadkill. Australian Misha or maybe Michelle (played by someone maybe called Jahna) and Sonu Sood as Meera’s new man are adequate in their roles, but they aren’t given a lot to do. Sonu makes more of an impression, mostly because he gets more dialogue and also has a confronting scene with Trisha. We did find it interesting that although the relationship between Meera and Michael was clearly physical, it was only the white girlfriend who was overtly shown as having a sexual relationship. It is obvious she is a pale (pun intended) substitute for Meera, although she did spark a truly funny Dirty Harry impression by Michael.

The remaining support cast were their usual selves. Tanikella Bharani was Michael’s Skype savvy dad, Paresh Rawal was avuncular and natty in golf knits, Mukesh Rishi was imposing and mean as the olden days father. The actors who play Arjun’s friends are really expressive and fun, and have a fab collection of Seventies polyester body shirts and flares. The male backing dancers were great and looked the part – if they were random street dancing IT guys, they looked like IT guys. There were too many skinny white girls in the club dances. Considering we were supposed to be in Cape Town, there was little diversity in the ethnic makeup of the extras so it was a bit odd. Another very strange thing – no Brahmi. We really can’t recall the last Brahmi-less film we have seen. Ali however did turn up in a fairly restrained (for him anyway) cameo.

Mani Sharma’s music is well matched to its place in the story.  We particularly liked a gorgeous temple song dedicated to Shiva that used perfect retro Bollywood choreography. The club numbers were fun, and Pawan Kalyan went all out to entertain. The costumes were occasionally puzzling – we have no idea who was styling Meera’s return to India wardrobe but apparently going home means wearing lots of patchwork and garish harem pants. A big hurrah for whoever designed Arjun’s look. We loved Pawan Kalyan in the simple kurta and jeans.

Imtiaz Ali’s story is a great basis, and Trivikram did really well in translating it into the Southern film style.  We missed a lot of the dialogue based jokes, but judging by the audience reaction, they were very funny indeed. The action scenes are way more energetic than in the Hindi original. We aren’t sure about the climax fight that seemed to have been designed solely to allow a motorbike blow up but heroes must be heroes. Jayant Paranji kept the story ticking along for the most. There is a draggy section towards the end, but as usual the final scenes seem to happen at breakneck speed.

Theenmaar is a really entertaining film that has something to say but doesn’t beat you over the head with a message. We can’t wait for the DVD!

Godavari

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Sekhar Kammula has become one of my favourite directors, always entertaining me with interesting observations and a satisfying story. In Godavari he deposits his characters and their relationship issues on a boat, adding a philosophical dog, a sideplot or two and some beautiful scenery to leaven the mix. I’m not totally convinced by all of the elements but I do really like this film.

This song sets up the main characters, and acts as the now familiar promotion clip for Andhra Pradesh.

Kamalinee Mukherjee is Seetha, a would-be fashion designer. She has nightmares about losing her independence and her close relationship with her parents after she marries. I liked Seetha’s spirit, and I really felt for her coming off a rejection from a groom her parents pressured her into accepting. That had to sting. Seetha is vain and bratty at times but she is funny, insecure and compassionate as well, and admits fault when she is wrong.

Sumanth is Sriram, an unassuming guy who wants to get into politics and make the world better. He reveals a manipulative side as he cons his way into appointments with party officials. Perhaps he is a precursor to Arjun Prasad from Leader? He isn’t as effective in his personal life however. Ram is inarticulate when he should speak up, and doesn’t really see things for how they are – he is lost in a vision of how it should be.

Raji (Neetu Chandra) is spoilt, silly, self centred and yet not totally unlikeable. Raji judges a relationship by the trappings of Valentines’ cards, fancy coffee shops and all the showy things, things that just never occur to Ram, and she uses this as an excuse to push him away. Her parents know Ram wants to marry her but refuse as his simply isn’t the best offer and they are quite honest with him about this. Perhaps they know their daughter better.

Ravi (Kamal Kamaraju) is a cashed up bully, making the most of his status in the IPS. He seems to have some notions of manners and decency underneath all the arrogance, but has done a marvellous job of burying his better side. I can’t say I liked him at all, but I did end up thinking he could be a good match for Raji if he got over himself a little.

All the characters are flawed, but not in a dramatically damaged way. They’re just a bunch of people who have good and bad points, and for the most part are quite unremarkable. I found them easy to relate to, even the unpleasant ones, as they were well rounded and I could imagine them having lives outside of the film setting.

The boat setting appealed to me for a number of reasons. Not only did it provide a great device for containing the characters and their interactions, it looked great. It had all sorts of strange little additions,extensions and even a tower of sorts. I thought it looked delightfully like something out of a Miyazaki film. Whoever did the set dressing did a fantastic job too. All the powers were invoked to keep the boat safe and sound.

The boat trip also allowed the supporting characters to have things to do other than hang around Ram and Seetha.There was a nice sense of energy as the ever reliable Tanikella Bharani (the captain) and others bustled around. I enjoyed their presence all the more as they contributed to the background life and colour of the film. Seetha’s parents and sister had their own stuff going on at home, and there was a real lived-in feel to their domestic scenes as well. The nominal villains Raji and Ravi had their own issues to deal with, and even in their smaller roles showed some growth.

It wouldn’t be a boat story without stowaways. Chinna is a poor kid who pursues a mystery man (OK, it was Ravi) who does him out of the balloons he sells.  Koti, a dog, decides for his own reasons to get out of town. When Koti sees Chinna pay his bribe, he has a flashback to Daana Veera Suura Karna and swears fealty to his new master. They team up and give us their points of view but also provide the catalyst for people to reveal their own character – are they charitable, curious, mean or oblivious to the boy and dog?

While I liked the idea of Koti and the voiceover (by Sekhar Kammula, and what a world weary creature with a 3am whiskey voice he sounded), I did not like the CGI dog. The real dog had ample charm and verve and I don’t see the animation was necessary. I kept hoping it wasn’t because the real dog became, er, unavailable after a boating mishap. For those of you who demand pirates, there was a fairly silly episode involving a fugitive and a night ambush but it only served to show that Ram is reliable and Ravi isn’t so I will move on.

There is no surprise in the romantic pairing of our waterborne humans as their journey to Bhadrachalam follows that of Ram and Sita. Our Ram and Seetha are attracted to each other but there are obstacles, both real and imagined. I really enjoyed their conversations and the way both Sumanth and Kamalini showed the growing intimacy and comfort they felt in each other’s company as well as the pressure of the potential relationship.

They did daft things, sure, but there was no sense of them being stupid or unpleasant people. Kammula uses a lot of voiceover monologues, and both actors did a good job of mirroring the inner voice with their expressions, ranging from funny to heartfelt. Sometimes I find a voiceover can leave me at a distance, but in this case it worked well enough and suited the introspective nature of the characters.

I don’t like the background score at all. It is too cheesy, and seemed to try too hard to be whimsical. But the actual songs are more attuned to the mood of the scenes, and subtitled, so I could at least appreciate a fraction of Veturi’s lyrics as well as K.M Radha Krishnan’s melodies and the beautiful scenery. There is little dancing in the film, and it wouldn’t have been appropriate to much of the story; but if I have a criticism of Sekhar Kammula it is his over use of the montage. Then I saw Sumanth dance and I thought well, yeah, montages have their place— but there has to be a limit.

The lyrics draw attention to the beauty of the river and the power of unseen forces in our lives. The river is a metaphor for the forces in life that nudge us hither and thither, and the power of chance meeting and parting. But this Ram and Seetha also show that you can fight the current when you want to and make your own way.

Finally, I give Godavari 3 and ½ stars. For those who think 3 and ½ is just plucked from the air , it goes like this – Points on for the convincing performances, points off for the animated animals, points back on for the real dog, more points on for a parrot asserting her independence, some points off for too many montages, and finally points on for the film being so pretty. Watch it for the beautiful balance of observational style with a fresh twist on the filmi clichés.

Heather says: I really like the way that instead of road movies, the Telugu film industry has river films which surely do a great job for the tourist industry. The river looks beautiful here and the Godavari boat is fantastic. I love the way it’s at least 3 boats joined together, one of which has fantastic wooden panels and just to add a little more space it’s also towing a raft behind. It looks like a great way to travel from Rajamunday to Bhadrachalam, although I suspect in reality it would be rather wet and cold. I do appreciate the way that in time-honoured fashion everyone jumped underneath big blue plastic tarpaulins when the rain started. I remember those well from travelling on the top of buses in India and Nepal!

The story of the romance between Ram and Seetha, both rejected by their prospective partners, is different enough from the usual to be interesting and I like the way that Ram had to deal with being in such close proximity to Raji and her fiancé Ravi for the duration of the boat trip. Kamalinee Mukherjee’s Seetha is beautiful and chirpy and I really liked her character from the beginning. Even her obsession with her beauty is funny rather than irritating and I feel that she stayed true to her independent nature throughout the story. Although Ram is initially a very pedestrian character with his idealistic ways and mooning over Raji, he becomes more likeable in his interactions with Seetha and the young balloon seller Chinna. Ram and Seetha’s gradual attraction as they argue is realistically handled and I think both Sumanth and Kamalinee Mukherjee are well cast in their roles here. The cook Pullamma is a great character and her indignation when she thinks Ram has given her brother money because he feels sorry for him is one of my favourite scenes. I like the way Sekhar Kammula’s points out that poor people have pride and dignity very well, particularly since there is so much emphasis in the story about altruistic behaviour being the ideal to aim for.

As well as another reason to dislike Ravi (and I’m not sure we needed quite so many), Chinna’s character adds some funny comedy. The CGI talking dog is strange and I agree with Temple that it wasn’t necessary. The talking dog idea was fine and the voice-overs were quite funny and used well but I think this could all have been done with the real dog,  rather than introducing the CGI. But it wasn’t too much of a distraction and the story of Chinna and Koti is well written into the main story.  The characters of Raji and Ravi are also more than just part of the backstory and I appreciate the way that all of the supporting cast are used to further develop the romance between Seetha and Ram, either by helping them or by adding more obstacles to their path.

There are a few things that confuse me. I’m not sure why the fortune-teller decides to jump into the river. I can’t work out if he’s just chasing his parrot or if his declaration to Rama is more significant. The fight scene also seems totally unnecessary and the whole storyline of Veeraiah didn’t add anything other than a chance for Ram to be a hero.

There is so much to enjoy in this film. the boat setting, the lead actors, the story and the support characters are all excellent. I love the songs as well, especially Tippalu Tappalu in the rain, and the shots of the river are beautiful. Godavari is a really entertaining film and I give it 4 stars.

Ek Niranjan

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We did say it is silly season here and what could be sillier than Sonu Sood’s wardrobe in this film? Exactly.

Ek Niranjan is a typical good guys versus bad guys effort from Prabhas and Puri Jagannadh who teamed up previously in the almost equally silly Bujjigadu. Kangana Ranaut supports in a surprisingly conventional heroine role, and Sonu Sood makes a splash in his familiar quirky villainous avatar. The story is simple enough in a convoluted way. But really, the power behind this film was firmly in the hands of the departments of dress and dance.  We suspect they wrote the screenplay too.

Prabhas is Chotu, stolen from his parents as a baby by a local wild-haired Fagin like figure, Chidambaram (played by Makrand Deshpande who is familiar to us from Swades). Chotu spends his whole life trying to find his family, and keeps in touch with Chidambaram, who is now in jail.

Chidambaram, dodgy mentor and dubious father figure, often says God plays kabadi or chess with people’s lives but he seems to have a fair go at playing kabadi with Chotu’s life himself. Chotu makes a living as a bounty hunter. He is a thug on the side of the law, and probably more morally upright than many of those in uniform. His rowdy bashing brings him into contact with local thug Jani.

Kangana is the local guitar teacher, whose brother is in the gang headed by Jani Bhai. Her neighbours happen to be Prabhas’ long lost parents and also the parents of Kailash, a killer in Jani‘s gang (yes, that does make him Chotu’s brother so you can see where this might be heading).  She is a standard film heroine – not much to do but run after the hero and away from the bad guys once she sorts out who is who. We kept waiting for her more usual persona with the drugs and tortured psyche to turn up, but the most tortured thing about her were the hotpants.  Kangana’s character started off quite promisingly, if unbelievably, as a guitar teacher but was quickly relegated to the sidelines.

Budget conscious directors please note the sensible use of hotel bathrobes for backing dancers, and the minimal fabric required for the girls:

Sonu Sood is Jani Bhai, the local crimelord and fixer for crooked politicians. He seems to think he is a misunderstood hero, although it is clear he is a petulant psychopath with possible colour blindness.  Let’s just take a moment and appreciate Jani’s style. He seems to subscribe to the Shahid Kapoor school of shirt buttoning:

 

 

 

 

 

It’s obvious (to us) why Jani feels he doesn’t get the respect he is due.

 

 

 

 

 

Rather than come out and say ‘man, it’s about the scarves!’ his gang pretend they don’t notice. Sonu does struggle to keep a straight face in some scenes, which is understandable given the outfits and dialogue, but still detracts from his supposed villainy

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Brahmanandam and Ali take care of the separate comedy side plot, and it’s not their finest work. Brahmi is a guru married to a young and lovely woman and Ali is his Captain Jack Sparrow inspired rival. There is a small comedy track with Venu Madhav as the loser enamoured of Sameera who gets beaten up by a horde of angry ladies wielding snake beans . And another unnecessary comedy track involving Sunil and the ladies of Bangkok.  None of these scenes make any sense and don’t add anything to the story, having the opposite effect of distracting us instead.

There is all the usual confusion and heavy-handed signalling of things to come. Prabhas and his parents cross paths over and over. They talk, they share food, and they know each other as neighbours. This was probably supposed to be tantalising in the ‘will they or won’t they recognise each other’ arc, but really didn’t create any sense of urgency or tension. Veeraiah (Tanikella Bharani) and his wife (Sangeeta) are really just there as something for Chotu to miss and allow Prabhas more excuses to perfect his sad puppy look.

More could have been made of the contrast between the two brothers, one who grew up with loving parents but turned to a life of crime, and the other who grew up in a gang of beggars and thieves but ended up fighting crime. There is lots of predictable action: running, fighting and crying (Prabhas), running, crying and squealing (Kangana), and drinking, whinging and rampaging (Sonu). There are multiple double-crosses and switches of allegiance in the course of the story but throughout it all, Chotu is the hero and always does what is more or less right, a bit of slapping excepted. His enemies are all bad guys – they deserve what’s coming to them!

The climax of the film is set in Bangkok, as all the characters are beset by coincidence and end up there for no apparent reason. It includes a really peculiar tribute to Michael Jackson, starring Erina (that item girl from Arya 2). It’s refreshing to see people missing MJ for the great artist he was rather than focussing on all the weirdness, despite the somewhat odd placement of the song and its lack of connection to anything else in the film. Finally, Jani gets his comeuppance, thanks partly to long suffering Brahmaji (Brahmaji) and everyone goes home to continue the great divine kabadi match.

The supporting performers, and there are possibly too many of them, do what they have done so many times over. Tanikella Bharani is wasted in his role as he is at best a background presence. Posani Krishna Murali is an uninhibited and unhinged politician with a murderous intent and an equally strong fear of being caught, and outdoes Sonu Sood in scenery chewing. Makrand Deshpande manages to make Chidambaram memorable and imbues the drunken conman with a level of pathos and complexity this film didn’t really deserve.

Prabhas wasn’t granted any immunity from crimes of fashion, switching from jeans & solid colour shirts to the more exotic in the blink of an eye.

The Mani Sharma soundtrack isn’t particularly memorable, and does borrow heavily from western songs. Choreography by Pradeep Anthony seems to be designed to show Prahbas in the best possible light, so is rather hilarious on occasion, possibly intentionally. Maybe not. We are particularly delighted by how lame this one looks – is there any cliché from the 80s that they missed?

A suitably silly offering for the festive season.

Temple says: This is just daft from beginning to end. Entertaining, but really daft. The story is improbable, which is not unusual, and the costumes are ridiculous which is also par for the course, but they go all out in their chosen direction which I find pleasing. What does set it apart from a mediocre pot-boiler are the performances which are pretty good. Prabhas is gawky and always seems slightly startled to find himself dancing away like a mad thing. I really like Kangana in this and I thought she handled the light heroine role with ease. It was nice to see her not play a character with overwhelming problems (apart from the overwhelmingly silly plot). Sonu Sood pretty much reprised this role in Dabangg and I think he enjoys being a villain, although I would like a bit more serious darkness from his performances from time to time. The support cast were good but there were too many of them cluttering up the story and not really going anywhere. The plethora of comedy sidekicks was just annoying and for the most, lacking in comedy.

The soundtrack is average and really, without the spectacular visuals the songs don’t hold up so well. The movie is dominated by Prabhas and Sonu Sood – I think they have a long and promising hero-bad guy future ahead of them. They’re on the same eye-level so it must make those dramatic glaring scenes a lot easier to film too as they both fit in the same frame!  And please give a round of applause to the wardrobe team who made it possible for me to watch this film again and still be thoroughly entertained. I didn’t even use ALL the scarfy screencaps in the post. Imagine what you’ll discover when you watch it for yourself! This gets 3 stars from me.

Heather says:  This really is a very silly film! Just when you think they can’t possibly get anything more ridiculous for Jani Bhai to wear – they do! And every song just has more and more amazing moments and totally over the top choreography – I love it! There is something very endearing about Prabhas, maybe because he is just that little bit tall and looks slightly awkward. He is always entertaining to watch as he throws absolutely everything into his role, and Ek Niranjan is no exception. While Sonu Sood does go a little overboard in his villainy, Prabhas manages to keep the story in sight and delivers a credible performance. The interplay between the various gang members, the various twists and double crosses and the posturing and menace between Jani Bhai and Chotu really lifts this a bit above the usual good guys bad guys movie.  I would have liked a little more focus on the hunt by Chotu for his parents and there could have been a nice contrast between the two brothers.  But the performance by Makrand Deshpande as Chidambaram made up for that lack as he really is excellent in his role.

Some not so good points. The comedy with Brahmi and Ali is irritating at best, and Sunil is also wasted in his weak comedy role.  Venu Madhav’s comedy track at least has some relevance even if it isn’t particularly funny.  The other disappointment is Kangana, who looks out of place and uncomfortable for much of the film. She really doesn’t seem to fit the guitar teacher role at all, and has very little rapport with the kids.  However as the film progresses and there is more interaction with Prabhas, she did loosens up and is a little more convincing.  An unsatisfactory performance when I know she is capable of much better than this.  However these are small quibbles when looked at against the truly amazing endeavours of the wardrobe department. Overall an amusing film and although I won’t watch the entire film often, the songs are definitely worth a number of viewings. 4 stars