Manoj Manchu’s latest film Jhummandi Naadam is going to release on 1st July. Lakshmi Manchu is officially producing this movie for the first time. The press meet was attended by Mohan Babu, Manoj Manchu, Lakshmi Manchu, Tapsee, K Raghavendra Rao and Ashok.
Mohan Babu said, “Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures banner was launched in Vijaya Gardens, Chennai and It was launched by NTR. Dasari Padma lighted the lights. My first film was launched in Tirupati and Chandra Babu Naidu sounded the clapboard. I produced Major Chandrakath film with my favourite hero NTR in 1992. Lakshmi Prasanna sounded the clapboard for Major Chandrakanth and Chandra Babu Naidu switched on the camera. NTR nominated be to Rajyasabha. It all happened because of my discipline and sincerity. K Raghavendra Rao directed Alludu Garu as his first film on our banner. I produced 56 films so there. There were record breaking movies as well as unsuccessful films. Recently Dasari said that I am the only actor who produced so many films in the history of India. It is truth, indeed.”
“K Raghavendra Rao is directing a film in our banner after a gap of 14 years. It is every actor’s dream to act in K Raghavendra Rao’s movies. K Raghavendra Rao brings stardom to actors. I was a zero before Alludu garu and he made me hero with that movie. I am not doing many films these days. I am concentrating more on my educational institute as I want to serve people. Lakshmi Prasanna is turning full-fledged producer with this movie and I wish that audiences will bless her with the success.”
“There are nine songs in the movie and all are good. K Raghavendra Rao gives lot of comfort and peace to the producer he is working for. I am like a financier. Producer Lakshmi and executive producer Ashok did budgeting for the movie and K Raghavendra Rao completed the budget within the limit. He said that we should spend as per the market limit of hero. I wanted to spend more, but K Raghavendra Rao didn’t want it.”
“Manoj has been growing his stature as an actor from Nenu Meeku Telusa movie. He succeeded in all movies since then. He is also working with outside producers. We want to release the movie on 1st July. It will be the biggest release in the career of Manoj in terms of number of prints. It was my daughter who selected the heroine Tapsee. K Raghavendra Rao endorsed her. She is a disciplined girl and she is like our family member. I was the one who took legend NTR to Shirdi for the first time. We presented him with a big Shirdi Sai Baba’s idol at that time. We went to Shirdi recently and I presented K Raghavendra Rao with another idol of Sai Baba.”
Producer Lakshmi Manchu said, “I would like to thank my father for guiding me during the production of Jhummandi Naadam. K Raghavendra Rao used to ask me for my opinion even though a director of his stature doesn’t need. It gave me great experience and I learnt a lot as a producer because it is directed by K Raghavendra Rao. I am acting in his son Prakash’s movie. I want to thank Manoj Manchu as well. K Raghavenda Rao used to say ‘Veedu Samanyudu Kaadu’ whenever Manoj enacts a scene in the sets. I also contemplated on using it as title of this movie. The combination of K Raghavendra Rao and Mohan Babu is a reputed one. I am happy to introduce a talented artist like Tapsee as heroine through this movie. My mom used to get home food whenever I wanted it. I want to thank media for supporting us throughout. I will continue doing good movies in the future as well.”
Tapsee said, “I am happy to make my debut with this movie and I want to thank Mohan Babu for making me feel like his family member. I love listening to the songs of Jhummandi Naadam and I listened to them innumerable times. I want to thank K Raghavendra Rao for giving us such a great music. I leant a lot about acting from K Raghavendra Rao. Producer Lakshmi treated me well and Manoj cooperated a lot during the shoot. S Gopal Reddy has shown me really beautiful on the screen.”
Manoj Manchu said, “I feel fortunate to act in the direction of K Raghavendra Rao. He is like a God and its very comfortable working in his direction. Keeravani and S Gopal Reddy’s work is going to be really good. I worked under the direction of K Raghvendra Rao along with my father in Major Chandrakanth movie. I was tensed to work with my father in this movie, but Raghavendra Rao gave me lot of confidence. It would be better if I tell something good about the movie after the release.”
The director Adivi Sesh has conceptualized a story in which he describes a Telugu girl’s life when she is born and brought up totally in America. While the director himself plays a male lead sources say that Jade and her appearance totally matches of that of an up-scale Telugu girl. The movie titled ‘Karma’ brings together the believers and non-believers of ancient Indian concept ‘Karma’.
What is the specialty of this birthday?
I do not believe in the culture of celebrating birthdays. According to me any happy moment in life is a celebration time. Infact, there were occasions when my sister would remind me of my birthday by wishing me. Now that you have asked, I would say that the specialty of this birthday is the success of my latest release ‘Golimaar’. My fans are celebrating the success and most importantly my producer as well as the distributors is very happy with the box office results. I’m glad to say that my wish to work with Jagan is fulfilled and that our combination also became a successful one.
Are you involved in any social service?
Yes! Three years ago I adopted 10 students from World Vision in Vishakapatnam. I want to do my best in providing the educational facilities to these children.
You are branded as an action hero. When can we see you doing complete romantic films?
All the films that I’ve worked so far, right from ‘Yagnam’, ‘Ranam’ ‘Lakshyam’ to the recent ‘Golimaar’ have action, romance and drama. I always wanted to do a romantic family entertainer like ‘Kalisundaam Ra’. If any director or producer is interested, then I’m ready for the deal.
Are you looking to work with any specific director?
I would say working with Jagan not only gave me a complete job satisfaction but also gave me more new ideas to build my skills further. So given a chance I would like to act with him again. I am also looking forward to work with SS Rajamouli and VV Vinayak.
As an actor, which of your movies gave you the most satisfaction?
‘Okkadunnadu’ tops the list. I also liked ‘Yagnam’, ‘Andrudu’ and ‘Ranam’ because I portrayed different characters in these films as well.
Do you have any specific roles in mind which you crave to do?
I do not want to experiment with others’ hard earned money. When I’m doing a film I see to it that it is well received by the audience and at the same time also wish to see my producers and distributors being happy.
What are your efforts to retain and expand your market?
I was introduced to Tamil audience as a villain through ‘Jayam’. There also the film was a huge success. Post Jayam’s success, I got many offers from Tamil producers but did not accept any. I’m just waiting for the right offer to come my way. I might also do ‘Golimaar’ in Hindi.
What are your on going projects?
Presently I’m involved in two projects, one with Nallamalapu Bujji and the other with Bhavya Creations banner.
What is your interest in the present trend of twitters and face book?
Most of my interactions are on phone. Therefore except to check my emails I usually don’t go online.
Can we expect news about your marriage this year?
(Laughs) I can't say that now.
So far we have seen heroes like Mammooty and and Mohan Lal acting in Telugu films, but this is going to be the first time a Telugu star will be acting in aMalayalam film. The entire star cast of this film is the children in the age group of 12 and 14. The shooting will begin on June 30 at Mumbai. To be produced by Konda Krishnam Raju under Aditya Productions banner, the film has story by JK Bharavi, cinematography by Sekhar V Joseph, art by Ravinder, Make-up by Christen Tinsley and executive production by Seshu.
While the musical scores are rendered by Vishwa, lyrics are penned by Suddala Ashok Teja and Vishwa, dialogues are written by Jandhyala Venkatesh Babu and cinematography is handled by Sivendra. G Sridhar is the presenter. Other prominent actors are Pradeep Rawath, Vijay Sai, Subhash and Uttej.
On this occasion R B Chowdary said, “We are introducing Thathineni Satya as director, who is the grandson of Thathineni Prakash Rao. Satya’s father Thathineni Prasad is a popular director who directed many hit films in Telugu, Hindi and Bengali as well. I’m happy with Satya work. He handledthe film in a matured manner. We are also introducing cameraman K Chitti Babu and music director Selva Ganesh through this film.
One of the producers NV Prasad informed that the film has all required elements for the youth. He said that the music also gained good popularity. “The first copy of the film will be ready shortly after which we would send it to censor board. We are releasing the film 24th June.”
The unit is going to be busy in July to shoot the film on a single schedule at places like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai and Pondicherry. While Prajwal and Noyal Sen plays the lead pair, other prominent actors are Pushpi, Gautham, Harshita, Rishita and Aarshiya. The co-producers are Maram Aruna and Puli Srinivas.
Naga Chaitanya’s latest movie in the direction of Sukumar was launched at a function organized in Annapurna studios today morning. Bunny Vasu is being introduced as a producer on Geeta Arts banner. This is the production no. 31 of Geeta Arts and Allu Arvind presents it. Devi Sri Prasad composes music.
D Rama Naidu did pooja ceremony, Nagababu switched on the camera, Nagarjuna sounded the clapboard, SS Rajamouli directed the first shot and ANR handed over the script.
Allu Arvind said, “I saw the story around two and half years back. Sukumar always narrates his stories first to me. I like Sukumar a lot. He has got 4-5 varied versions for every scene in his movie. We decided to cast Naga Chaitanya as hero prior to the release of YMC. Sukumar narrated the story to Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya . Both of them liked it. I saw Happy Days and booked Tamanna’s dates for Geeta Arts long back. We wanted to cast her for Magadheera and she didn’t suit it. Naga Chaitanya is an intelligent guy. Geeta Arts had done movies with other heroes in the past and we continue to do it in the future too.”
Naga Chaitanya said, “I feel happy to work for Geeta Arts banner. Lots of good technicians are working for this movie and this movie is going to be technically good. I heard that Sukumar is a dedicated director and I realised it when he narrated the script to me. I wanted my third film to be an action entertainer, but changed it after listening to this script. There is something for everybody in this film.”
Tamanna said, “I am doing a straight Telugu film after a year. I am happy to work for Geeta Arts. I am doing a performance oriented role in this movie.”
Sukumar said, “I narrate all my stories to Allu Arvind first. I didn’t have any hero in mind when I penned this story. Only Arya 2 script was made with Allu Arjun in mind. I opined that Tamanna is apt for heroine. I loved Naga Chaitanya’s performance in YMC. It is a romantic action movie. Devi Sri Prasad is giving fabulous music.”
Producer Bunny Vasu said, “Bunny liked the story and recommended it to Allu Arvind. Allu Arvind suggested the name of Naga Chaitanya. I am really happy to produce my debut film in Geeta Arts banner.”
Dress launch of T20 teams of Tollywood Trophy slated on 13 June was organized at Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy stadium on the night of 6 June. All the film celebrities along with Hyderabad city police commissioner AK Khan attended this.
AK Khan announced the names of brand ambassadors for the teams. Anushka – Richa Gangopadhyay, Charmme – Bindu Madhavi, Priyamani and Bhumika Chawla – Deeksha Seth will act as brand /team ambassadors for Venky Warriors, Chiru Cheetahs, Nag Kings and Balayya Lions.
Fortune Butterfly City, XXX Energy Drink, AP Rajiv Swagruha and Sreeram Group are team sponsors for Venky Warriors, Chiru Cheetahs, Nag Kings and Balayya Lions respectively.
Chiranjeevi said, “The stadium became vibrant with my entry now. Film industry is my forte. Tollywood Trophy is meant to do noble things. I wish all the best to the teams of Venky, Nag and Balayya. My team won the cup for the last two times and my teammembers are willing to make it a hat-trick by winning this time as well. But I am not such a selfish guy and I take it as my win even if other teams win it.”
Nagarjuna objected saying that his team won in Vizag match. Chiranjeevi clarified by saying that it was the match between cine actors and cricketers.
Nagarjuna said, “I am very happy that they have given us two brand ambassadors (Priyamani & Shraddha Das). I had been given youngsters and Vishnu is my vice captain. He has already done strategies and match fixings for my team (laughs).”
Bala Krishna said, “There is victory in our team name. We are doing good practice. We will definitely win the cup. This tollywood trophy is being played for a noble cause. My father NTR started off this trend by taking the entire industry and getting the donations for noble causes. I am sure that this trophy will also be hugely successful like earlier matches.”
Pop singer smita performed her ‘Masaka Masaka’ song. Poonam Kaur, Mumaith Khan, Bindu Madhavi performed for a few songs on stage. AVS and Udaya Bhanu anchored the event.
Jeevi rating: 3.5/5
Punchline: laws (loss) of life
Genre: Romance/Action
Type: Straight
Banner: Arka Mediaworks
Cast: Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu (guest), Anushka, Nagayya, Manoj Bajpai, Deeksha Seth, Lekha Washington, Siya Gowtam, Satyam Rajesh, Brahmanandam, Saranya, Ravi Prakash, Pruthvi, Posani Krishna Murali, Krish (guest) etc
Music: MM Keeravani
Cinematography: VS Gnana Sekhar
Editing: Sravan
Fights: Ram - Lakshman
Art: Rajiv Nayyar
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Radha Krishna (Krish)
Producer: Prasad Devineni & Shobu Yarlagadda
Release date: 4 June 2010
Theater watched: Screen 4, Prasads
Story
Story 1: Chakravarthy (Manoj Manchu) is an aspiring rock star. His mother wants him to serve army just like his deceased father. Chakravarthy wants to follow his heart to become a rock star. He starts from Bangalore to Hyderabad to give his first live performance.
Story 2: Ramulu (Nagayya) is a weaver from Sirisilla. His grandson is a bright student. Ramulu owes 50000 rupees to a financier and the financier takes Ramulu's son as a daily labour. Ramulu desperately needs money to get his kid back and put him in school. He finds a way of procuring the money and visits Hyderabad along with his daughter-in-law for that purpose.
Story 3: Saroja (Anushka) is a prostitute in Amalapuram. She works for a brothel company and she gets a cut of 20% as the pimp takes away rest of it. Her dream is to go to Hyderabad and start her own brothel company. She dupes her employer and flees to Hyderabad overnight with her hijda assistant.
Story 4: Raheemulla Khureshi (Manoj Bajpai) gets discrimnated in Hyderabad for being a muslim and he wants to leave for Dubai to make a living out there. He gets his visa and was about to fly to Dubai from Hyderabad. But his past catches up with him.
Story 5: Cable Raju (Allu Arjun) is a cable operator in the slums of film nagar. He gets hold of a rich girlfriend (Deeksha Seth). He dupes her saying that he is rich kid and spends lot of money on her. She asks him to take her to New Year party eve for which the entry ticket costs rs. 40000 per couple. He is in search of that money.
Artists Performance
When certain directors make movie, they make sure that each and every character is impactful and well-etched. Krish is one of those very few directors in Telugu cinema. Allu Arjun comes up with an awesome performance as cable Raju who pretends as a rich guy to his girlfriend. His performance in realization scenes towards climax is his best in his career. He has also entertained as a brat. Manoj Manchu comes up with another honest performance as an aspiring rock star. His performance in the hospital scenes and the scene with his mother is excellent. He performed the live action in the scene where he breaks the glass of car. Anushka titillates as the prostitute Amalapuram Saroja. She oozed sexiness and effused the vulnerability/innocence needed for the character. Nagayya is authentic for a first-timer. However, a better dubbing would have helped his character as his voice is little feminine. Manoj Bajpai comes up with power-packed performance as a righteous Muslim who is troubled by the cop. Deeksha Seth is sexy with nice smile and dimples. She has done well. The voice dubbed to her is excellent and that voice suited the Telugu we hear from the upmarket Hyderabad girls. Lekha Washingon is good as a companion of Manoj Manchu. Satyam Rajesh is excellent as side kick of hero. The person who has done the hijra role is the personal makeup man of Anushka and that person did an excellent job. Ravi Prakash comes up with his finest performance as a cop who hates Muslims. Brahmanandam is entertaining in a small role. Raghu Babu, Pruthvi and Posani Krishna Murali are entertaining in their brief roles. Giri is good in the noticeable character of a pimp. Director Krish who appeared in Che Guevara get-up as a naxalite in Gamyam appears again in Vedam as an entertaining Baba.
Technical departments
Story - screenplay - direction: It is a multiple story film where all the stories converge into the climax of the movie. It is extremely difficult task to narrate five different stories in one film in a gripping style. Krish who is just one film old comes up with terrific work in his second movie. He connected all the stories with brilliant screenplay. Each and every character in this movie has human element in it. Screenplay of the movie is authentic though similar pattern is being followed since Ameros Perros (2000) and was popularized by the Oscar winning Crash (2004) movie. Krish has shown how he sticks to the core human elements without losing the undercurrent commercial elements with his debut film Gamyam. He maintains the same philosophy in this multi-storied film as well. First half of the movie looks little disjointed because, the director has to establish and narrate five different stories. He connects all the stories well and gave a gripping narration in the second half. He would have started the movie with the accident episode (pre-climax scene). If he had started the movie with that (like he did for Gamyam movie), then the audiences would have got connected to the first half more intently. He probably avoided it because there will be a direct comparison with Crash movie. The transformation of characters from having selfish goal to do selfless service might appear similar to crash where all positive characters turn negative and vice versa. The climax scene reminds us of 26/11 Mumbai episode.
Other departments: Music by Keeravani is good. Songs are nicely integrated into story line except for Allu Arjun’s party song. Background music is very good and very apt for the movie. Dialogues by Krish are an asset for the movie. He penned entertaining dialogues and humanity-oriented ones extremely well. Cinematography of the film is of top-notch quality. Action sequences by Ram – Lakshman are well-choreographed. Editing by Sravan is excellent. Art direction by Rajeev Nair is nice. Producers Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni should be appreciated for producing sensible/coming-of-age film like Vedam (more so because they come from the family of K. Raghavendar Rao who is known for commercial cinema).
Analysis: First half of the movie gets interesting towards the interval. Second half is good. It is a big experiment to do such a sensible movie with commercial actors like Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu and Anushka. Three of these actors should be complimented for coming forward to act in this movie. Such big names help in taking this movie into masses. Vedam also shows the finest taste of producers. The success of Vedam will propel sensible producers to encourage new subjects and different screenplays in Telugu film industry. Krish proves himself with Vedam that he is a director who can take Telugu sensible films beyond regional borders. This film will be liked by classes and A center audiences. If masses and B/C centers patronages Vedam, it will not only do good to the film, but to the entire Telugu film industry. On a whole, Vedam is a good film. Please watch it and encourage good/meaningful cinema.
Disclaimer: I got a lot of criticism for my 4 rating for Ye Maya CHesave in the past as it was not lapped up by all kinds of audiences. That’s because the visitors expect the movie to be a huge commercial hit when it’s rated above 3.5. I would like to declare here that Vedam is not an entertainment film. It is a film on humanity and is narrated in new format. And there are under-current commercial elements. I loved this movie and it doesn’t mean that it will be liked the same way by everybody else. If you are purely an entertainment seeker, you may seek other sources of feedback without solely depending on my review.
ChimataMusic.com and Raghu Malladi (of PravasVani Radio program in the Silicon Valley) are proudly presenting a Telugu musical concert with an exclusive list of best melodies of the Maestro, Ilaiya Raja. The venue is the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple Auditorium, CA and the date/time is Sunday, June 13th from 4: 00 - 9: 00 PM.
ChimataMusic.com earlier successfully organized two similar concerts on the music Directors, Sathyam and KV Mahadevan in June 2009 9(with an association of the local Telugu Association, BATA) and November 2009 respectively. The Bay Area music lovers are just awaiting this upcoming awesome concert.
A total of around 25 full songs will be performed. The popular playback singer, Mallikarjun and Geetam.com sisters, Deepika and Shilpa and a popular Houston based singer, Sarada Akunuri are going to be a special attraction in this concert. An Ilaiya Raja Songs based Singing Competition event (before the main concert begins) will be held in between 12:00 and 3: 00 PM to encourage the kids and the enthusiastic adult singers. In addition, they are accompanied by our talented local Baby Area singers (Sudha Sastry, Vamsi Nadella and Narayanan Raju).
The concert is going to be a Live-Orchestra with ten best instrumentalists in the Bay Area and the team is often compared with the SP Balu's Orchestra that performs during their the US tour. For the first time, a world renouned Saxophonist, Ramesh Maraj is going to join the local Orchestra team to play the saxo pieces in the songs as well as two of his solo performances during the dinner break.
We are expecting a crowd of 2000+ music lovers to attend this event. A few music lovers are also flying from the distant places like New Jersy, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina etc just to experience the live-show thrill.
There will be a few 10 feet taller Ilaira Raja cut-outs at the entrance and on the stage and a gallery will be exhibited on the Ilaiya Raja's rarely available vintage pictures. We kindly request all of you to spread a word on this June 13th event to your near and dear ones in the Bay Area, California.
For more details on this spectacular Ilaiya Raja Concert and for online tickets, visit ChimataMusic.com and Sulekha.com.
Natti Kumar is producing a movie titled Bhairava with Srihari as hero by introducing Poluri Srinivasa Reddy as director. This movie was launched at Rama Naidu studios today. NTR switched on the camera, Srihari sounded the clapboard and Ramesh Prasad directed the first shot.
Srihari said, “People underestimate a producer like Natti Kumar. He released my earlier movie Dasanna with 150 prints. There is an important kid’s role in this movie. My younger son Meghansh is going to do that role. He is going to be introduced as child actor with this movie.”
Natti Kumar said, “We are going to complete the shoot in a single schedule. We plan to release the movie on 12 August on the eve of Srihari’s birthday (15 August).”
Story and dialogues are provided by Swamiji and Vijay. MM Sreelekha composes music. Jaswant handles cinematography.
In Vijaywada when I was doing my engineering there were so many times when I used to stand in the line waiting to buy a ticket for the new Sridevi movie and I used to keep staring in awe at her on the hoardings in the theater compound.
Her beauty and her sex appeal were so strong that it took many many films and many many years for both us audience and the film industry realise and recognise the actress in her which was first showcased according to me in the most effective way in ‘Mr. India’ by Shekhar Kapur. Even though many films even in the beginning of her career showed her acting talent right from her debut film, her super stardom kind of brought out only her sex symbol image which was so strong that it blinded everybody to the tremendous talent in her.
Mr. India made the audience discover a new Sridevi primarily because of the way how Shekar Kapur’s aesthetics captured both her extraordinary beauty and her incredible performance.
My journey to Sridevi started when I was preparing for my debut film ‘Shiva’. I used to walk from Nagarjuna’s office in Chennai to a neighbouring street where Sridevi used to live and I used to just stand and watch Sridevi’s house from outside her gate. I just couldn’t believe that the goddess of beauty lives in that stupid looking house. I say stupid because I believed that no man made house deserved to house that beauty called SRIDEVI. I used to so desperately hope to catch a glimpse of her as she went in or out of her house. But sadly to my utter disappointment no such thing ever happened.
And then after ‘Shiva’ released and became a big hit producer Gopal Reddy came to me and asked if I was interested in doing a film with Sridevi. I said “Are you mad or what? I will die to just see her, let alone make a film with her!” Gopal Reddy arranged a meeting with her and took me to meet her at that very same house where I used to stand outside the gate and stare. At around 7.30 in the night we went and as luck would have it there was a power cut in her house. so I was sitting in her living room in candle light along with Gopal Reddy waiting for the angel to appear and my heart was thumping like mad. Her mother told us she was busy packing as she was about to catch a flight to go to Mumbai.
As we were waiting, every once in a while Sridevi was rapidly crossing the living room as she was moving from one room to another room in a rush to finish her packing even as she apologetically smiled at me for the delay. Everytime she was appearing and disappearing in a flash the director in me started slow motioning her and running her backward and forward for my visual pleasure.
Finally she came and sat in the living room, just said a mandatory few lines that she would very much like to work with me, which I am sure she would have said to a host of other directors and then she left for Mumbai. I continued talking to her mother with enormous respect and awe because she actually gave birth to Sridevi.
I went back to my place feeling like I was in the seventh heaven. The way Sridevi sat in front of me in the candle light got imprinted in my mind like an exquisite painting and with her image completely filling both my mind and my heart I started writing Kshana Kshanam.
I wrote Kshana Kshanam with the one and only purpose so as to impress Sridevi. Kshana Kshanam was intended by me as a love letter to her.
Throughout the making of Kshana Kshanam I just couldn’t take my eyes off her charm, her beauty her personality and her demeanor was a new discovery for me. She had an invisible wall around her and she does not let anyone cross that. Behind that wall she maintains her dignity and her self-respect and she never lets anyone inside. Also during the course of working with her and observing her technique of acting I began to understand more and more as a director about the nuances of performances and characterizations and for me she formed the epitome of cinematic acting which I believe is many times more complex and many times more effective than theatre acting.
When I was shooting “Andanantha Ettha Tara Theeram" song in Kshana Kshanam. After a certain shot in which Venkatesh and Sridevi were dancing I said “fantastic” and the dance master asked for one more take. After the shot was done, once again I said “fantastic” and the dance master again asked for one more…
I asked my assistant why he is asking for one more and he said “Sir, you are looking at Sridevi and he is looking at Venkatesh”.
Well, if she was in the frame no matter who else was there and what else was happening I and millions of others used to only look at her.
Her popularity and stardom had to be seen to be believed. We were shooting for the climax in Nandyal for Kshana Kshanam and the whole town came to a standstill when they came to know that Sridevi was in town. Banks, Govt offices, Schools, Colleges everything in town stopped functioning as everyone wanted to see Sridevi.
She stayed in a traveller’s bungalow in Nandyal and at a little distance me and Venkatesh were staying in another bungalow. There used to be a crowd of atleast 10,000 around her bungalow throughout the night just staring at it. There were about 50 tough local guys along with a 100 strong police force who used to continuously guard her.
When we were at location we used to know that Sridevi started from her bungalow to come to location because we used to see a column of dust that was travelling towards us from the distance. The dust was due to the thousands of people running behind her car.
Well anyway to cut short, a very long heart touching story of my feelings towards Sridevi I finished Kshana Kshanam and then went on to make Govinda, Govinda with her and in due course I have seen her going through a lot of personal tragedies like her father’s death and her mother’s mental illness.
The woman who the men of the entire nation desired was suddenly left all alone in the world till Boney Kapoor stepped in to fill the vaccum.
So straight from her super stardom and magazine covers and her dazzling beauty on the silver screen, I saw her in Boney’s house serving tea like an ordinary housewife. I hated Boney Kapoor for bringing that angel from heaven down to being just an ordinary housewife.
I don’t go to Boney’s house these days because I can’t bear to see Sridevi in a realistic house, in a realistic atmosphere and with realistic people around. For me she is like a highly precious diamond which should be seen only in beautiful settings or in exotic locations and only in the surroundings of cinematic brilliance.
Sridevi is the most beautiful and the most sexiest woman God ever created and I think he creates such exquisite pieces of art like her only once in a million years.
So what if Boney has the real Sri in his house…? …. I have her captured as a cinematic goddess in the temple of my mind camera and as a divine angel in the heart of my celluloid dreams.
I thank god for creating Sridevi and I thank Louis Lumiere for creating the movie camera to capture her beauty forever.
Jeevi rating: 3/5
Punchline: -
Genre: Action
Type: Straight
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Cast: Ram, Arjun, Priya Anand, Bindu Madhavi, Nassir, Brahmanandam, Benerjee, Sayaji Shinde, Srinivas Reddy, Pragathi, Bharath, Pruthvi, Shankar, Sekhar, Gracy Singh etc
Music: MM Keeravani
Dialogues: M Ratnam
Cinematography: Sekhar V Joseph
Editing: Gowtam Raju
Art: AS Prakash
Story - screenplay - direction: Srivas
Producer: Dil Raju
Release date: 12 May 2010
Theater watched: Screen 1, Prasads
Story
Rama Krishna (Ram) is the son of a Gandhipuram village president (Nassar). His father is a strict disciplinarian and wants Rama Krishna to be perfect. Rama Krishna is a funny youngster who pretends to be good in the presence of his father but does a lot of mischief on his back. Ashok (Arjun) is a mafia don in Mumbai and he goes into a sabbatical after the death of his his wife. Ashok along with his two sisters settles in Gandhipuram. Rama Krishna unfortunately gets in to the bad books of Ashok. Meanwhile,. Ashok’s past catches up. The rest of the story is all about how Rama Krishna uses his intelligence and muscle power to achieve the good will of both his father and Ashok.
Artists Performance
Ram comes up with yet another energetic performance. His dialogue delivery in Godavari dialect is nice. NTR gave the voiceover to the introducing of hero character.Arjun suited the role well and he dubbed his own voice. Priya Anand is alright as female lead. Bindu Madhavi’s role is pretty much limited. Naseer is extremely good. Brahmanandam’s character doesn’t offer required level of comedy. Pruthvi and Bharat are entertaining. Srinivas Reddy is one of the most promising comedians who can generate laughter with his dialogues like Ali and Krishna Bhagawan. He is good in this movie. Gracy Singh did a small role as Arjun’s wife. Sekhar’s (Chatrapati fame) performance is odd in the first half.
Technical departments
Story - screenplay - direction: Story of the movie is little formulaic with inspirations from films like Basha (Arjun’s character) and Bangaru Bullodu (villains searching for hero in villages). Unlike earlier movies, the director preferred straight narration where the mafia don’s role is revealed in the first scene of the movie. Srivas penned a commercially viable screenplay by mixing sentiment and action. The aspect of interval where the thread of hero converges with the thread of Arjun is the best point of the movie. Direction of the movie is okay in parts.
Other departments: I liked title song and Sankranthi song (2nd song) in this movie. Tugo Jilla comes at the right time. All other songs are not effective. The song bits (mostly rap style) are interesting. Cinematography by Sekhar V Joseph is just okay. But the producer didn’t seem to have taken proper care in post-production of the movie. There is no DI (color grading). Most of the CG work is okay (chase sequences and blasting of vehicles), but it’s hazy in some of the vital parts (especially hero’s intro scene). Dialogues by M Ratnam are good in parts. Production values are good by Dil Raju.
Analysis: First half of the movie is alright. Interval episode is good. Second half becomes predictable. Climax should have been better. The plus points of this movie are Ram, Arjun and commercial elements. This movie suffers from predictability and lack of freshness in second half. On a whole, RRKK is a commercial film that is intended to cater to families and masses. We have to wait and see if this movie clicks with the target audiences or not.
