Tag Archives: Trivikram

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!

Khaaleja

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Friday night and time for another expedition to India Talkies for the latest Telugu release.  Mahesh time!  Even though we’ve only been watching Telugu movies for 8 months, we were caught up in the excitement around his long-awaited return to the big screen .  We had with us a true Mahesh fan – someone who had been there for him right from the start – and despite her concern over the lack of subtitles, came along with us for our first look at Mahesh on the cinema screen.  So how did it go?

Although the plot was surprisingly easy to follow for the most, we won’t get too detailed or reveal too many spoilers in this review. We thought this appeared to be two separate films in one.  It starts out with a very funny story about Raju, a taxi driver who is jinxed by the stunningly beautiful and walking disaster Subbhasini, played by Anushka.   It detours into buddy film territory as Raju meets up with a documentary director, played by the very funny Sunil. And then becomes a story about corruption and environmental politics all tied together by Mahesh as the saviour of a village in Rajasthan. And we should probably mention that Raju somehow becomes identified as an incarnation of Shiva. Our friend the Mahesh fan spotted his godliness as soon as she saw his snake wrangling skills. It was very exciting!

Our hero starts off as the taxi driver who has a disaster every time he meets up with Subbhasini.  There are many excellent and very funny scenes set around the numerous ways in which it is possible to destroy a taxi. These are nicely illustrated by Mahesh in later discussions with his boss by the use of model cars – a technique which really should be used by all insurance agencies. The romance is played well by both leads. They are worlds apart, don’t speak the same language (he is pure street, she is more the college girl) and of course, she seems to be an omen of doom for Raju. Their meetings are usually capped off with Raju’s taxi being totalled so it was always going to be a rocky relationship.

Anushka plays the daughter of a wealthy businessman who has some very undesirable associates, and an eye for marrying her off to his own advantage. She is smart, well off, a really bad driver but seems to be a decent human being. She does have terrible taste in get well gifts though (and Mahesh would seem to agree with us).  Her father is involved in some dealings with GK – the evil Prakash Raj. We were perturbed by the wardrobe chosen for the multi-billionaire GK as some of his suits looked to have been designed for a schoolboy not a magnate.

Through a series of typically filmi coincidences, arguments and relationships (no really you don’t need subtitles to work this bit out), our hero and heroine find themselves in Rajasthan and on the run. Raju is delivering or demanding an insurance payment relating to a deceased friend or colleague or the guy who died and landed on the cab  (we don’t know and it didn’t matter so much why he went). Subbhasini is running from her intended fiancee who turned up for a romantic dinner in the desert and in a fine public health announcement, dropped a packet of condoms. So she ran to her almost certain death rather than deal with an over eager boyfriend who planned to practice safe sex. Hmmmm.

Once Raju and Subbhu are together in the desert, the plot takes a turn.  Siddha (played by Shafi) has been searching for the saviour of his village, a man he will recognise by certain signs. Guess who? Yes. Raju was indeed the man. Anushka was then sidelined for the remainder of the film as it became the more familiar Mahesh style of action adventure.

The ending was both predictable and exciting in it’s epic scale and the grandeur of Trivikram’s vision. Mahesh fans will be delighted to see their hero in full flight, and dominating the action.  Prakash Raj was in total villain mode, and made the most of every second of his gore-splattered finale.

The songs were well filmed and the choreography suited the performers. They were also well placed in the story so actually helped enhance our understanding of the plot and the developing relationships. And the songs gave the costume designers the chance to see how many layers of clothes they could make Mahesh wear and still allow him to dance.  We did enjoy the occasional daring flash of an elbow or even a collarbone whenever the three shirts and a scarf permitted. The modesty singlet made several appearances too. Mahesh keeps himself well under wraps. It just adds to the allure according to our resident Mahesh fan.

None of us expected Mahesh Babu to have the comic flair and style to carry this off. We know the dialogues must have been hysterical as we could hear the crowd laughing and the boys sniggering like naughty kids at some of the colourful language. But to perform this role , and still keep us fully engaged, laughing and cheering along really takes something special  from an actor. Mahesh delivered that. In fact we found him funnier than comedy stalwarts Ali and Brahmi and he certainly kept up with Sunil who is one of our favourites. Khaaleja really is hilarious! We were never bored, it seemed to make sense despite our lack of language, and the time just flew by. We would have to give this 5 stars!

Athadu

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We know what we expect from a Mahesh Babu film – lots of action, great fight scenes, and a tenacious, tough hero with a heart of gold. We also expect to be thoroughly entertained by a good story, and Athadu lives up to expectations on all those fronts.

Mahesh plays Nandu, whom we first meet as a child when he shoots a gangster called Vanka Suri. This is never really explained so we assume he was just on the fast track in his chosen career. Escaping from Suri’s henchmen (shooting one while the other runs away, although as Nandu only had a sawn off shotgun, had fired two shots and hadn’t reloaded, we’re not sure why the other thug ran away – but that’s a minor detail), he meets up with the gangster Sadhu and gets recruited into his fold. Following a bank robbery the gang ends up in custody at the police station, but Nandu manages to escape and rescue Malli and Sadhu, killing a police inspector along the way. So this establishes that Nandu is a killer who has no compunction about taking whatever action he feels is necessary to ensure his survival.

We can therefore jump to the present where we see that Nandu is a contract killer, still working with Malli now played by Sonu Sood, and he seems to be very good at his job. Malli on the other hand appears inept as a getaway driver, since the first time we see him he gets stuck in traffic, and the second time he manages to drive into a petrol tanker and is blown up! Nandu accepts a job for politician Siva Reddy who wants to garner the sympathy vote resulting from a supposed failed assassination attempt, and use this to get into power. Nandu is hired to shoot but not kill Siva Reddy. The mission goes badly wrong when Siva Reddy is shot and emphatically killed – by someone else. The police know exactly where Nandu is, suggesting that there is some sort of set-up going on, but despite this Nandu manages a spectacular escape onto a train.

This is where he meets Pardhu, who is returning to his village after a self-imposed exile of 12 years. Pardhu is accidentally killed by the police and after escaping the police pursuit, Nandu goes to the village in Pardhu’s stead. To further complicate matters, Pardhu has issues to deal with back in the village, one of which is his fiancée arranged since childhood, Poori, played by Trisha.

This is where our ‘heart of gold hero’ manifests, as Mahesh helps Pardhu’s grandfather who is having land rights issues, and generally makes himself useful. Over time he also falls in love with Poori – they ‘accidentally’ kiss and many colourful song picturisations ensue!

In time however, the CBI in the form of Prakash Raj catches up with Nandu. Prakash Raj also gets a chance to display his excellent Identi-kit Artist skills after somehow deciding to interview old time gangster Sadhu who is in jail. It could only be a matter of time til they identify Mahesh Babu from that sketch!

The detailed description

The amazing artistry of Prakash Raj!

If the plot seems convoluted up until now, it just gets twistier. The CBI has already realised that Nandu couldn’t have been the killer, but they keep pursuing him as the number one suspect. When the action shifts back to Hyderabad, a number of other factors come into play until almost everyone who was involved with the plot to assassinate Siva Reddy is dead.

The final scene between the actual killer, Nandu ,various officials and police takes place in a church and is very reminiscent of John Woo’s excellent film, The Killer. Nandu confronts the real assassin and explains: “Killing is not wrong. If you kill your enemy it is a war, if you kill your friend it is a crime, and if you kill a betrayer it is justice.” And the resolution of the film hinges on those words.

Mahesh has mastered the official patented hero run, which he does use to good effect in his many escape efforts in this film. He excels at playing the hero who doesn’t say a lot, but instead lets his actions speak for him.

A comment on Mahesh’s wardrobe – he seems able to pull off the most amazing moves despite his love of the layered look. We never see him without at least 2 T-shirts and a shirt, or a T-shirt, shirt, jacket combination. We like to call this look “Maxi-layer Mode Mahesh”. It is hard to believe he doesn’t collapse of heat exhaustion while dancing! Instead he looks cool and in total control.

Trisha is believable as Poori, the pampered princess whose elder sister isn’t as pretty or as spoiled as she is. But she is genuine in her love for Nandu, and Trisha manages to make her character’s self absorption come across very well in the initial scenes. This film has the usual suspects of Sunil as the best friend, Brahmi as the cantankerous son-in-law, Ajay as the son of the murdered politician, and the various other actors who play mums, dads, uncles, aunts and thugs and who never seem to be out of work in Telugu cinema! The action is well choreographed as usual by Peter Hains, and fits well within the narrative. The plot is complex enough to require some concentration, if only to remember who everyone is and their connections to each other. One of the credited choreographers is Vaibhavi Merchant, and indeed the dancing in this is a cut above some of the other Mahesh films we’ve seen.

While Athadu is an action packed film, there is still  the obligatory comedy track which allows Sunil and Brahmi to do their thing. Both play characters that serve a purpose in the narrative, and both perform well. Sunil in particular gets to show some of the range that made Maryada Ramanna so enjoyable. There are other light moments throughout the film that just happen along the way. One local goon sends his gang off to thrash  Nandu but insists that as petrol prices are high, they should travel in one car. While we missed the traditional Sumo convoy, we did enjoy this:

Heather says: This is one of my top 3 favourite Mahesh films with an excellent performance by Mahesh, and a really well developed story. The character of Poori is nicely played by Trisha, and she manages to hold her own in her scenes with Mahesh. Given that she is playing a rather shallow and selfish character she does instil her with enough warmth that we do want to see the romance work out in the end. Mahesh is in top form as the über-cool all action hero who can fight through the various gangs of thugs, police and various other obstacles in his way; capture the respect and heart of a family and romance the heroine. He really is perfect for this role – able to express so much just by small changes in his facial expression, and moving his gaze – just too good!  The transformation from cold killer by the realisation that he didn’t need to be the lonely outsider was a different take, and used the storyline of the family with a missing son very well.
The supporting cast keep the story cracking along at a fast pace, and everyone has a part to play. For a change Prakash Raj is the good cop, and turns in a slick and polished performance in this role. There is really little I can criticise in this film as it all comes together so well, and Trivikram has done a fantastic job with the screenplay and direction. It is fairly violent, but never in a way that is purely gratuitous, and certainly no worse than many Hollywood films. This gets 4 1/2 stars from me!

Temple says:  This is one of my favourite Mahesh Babu films. It doesn’t have the best soundtrack, dancing or story but it just has a bit more depth than the usual loner-on-a-mission fare and manages to blend the action, romance and comedy very successfully. I give much credit for that to Mahesh Babu. His performance is fantastic and nuanced and he really drew me into caring about what happened to Nandu despite that character being a sociopath and murderer. His subtle reactions to being welcomed into a family – such a foreign experience for him – were funny and touching. His struggle to understand women, especially the irritating mosquito style of Poori, and his dry sarcastic put-downs were brilliantly delivered. I thought Trisha did well with her role which was a shallow princess-y character although I don’t think there was much chemistry between Poori and Nandu/Pardhu. The fight scenes are expertly choreographed, better than the dancing for the most part, and are restrained yet gory and very effective. The climax scene, a beautiful tribute to John Woo, just went a bit overboard on pigeons and men who couldn’t shoot straight. I liked the comedy track but I did have issues with the rather daft police investigation process in this. Much as I could sympathise with Nandu for the Siva Reddy debacle and the fact that he seemed like a decent guy in light of his actions in the village setting, it doesn’t alter his past as a contract killer. So while I applaud the ending, it’s all a bit wrong. Only in films!  Points off for a so-so soundtrack and dancing, and more so for not getting Prakash Raj a stunt-artist and for the abysmal marksmanship. I give this 4 stars!