Kandireega Movie Review

The makers promised it.  And, they have delivered it.  Kandireega was, in its hero's words, described as a "fresh commercial movie" by those who watched the rushes.  It would have seemed mere trumpeting, but for the confidence seen on the face of Ram, who, after a BO dud (Ganesh) and a near-average grosser (RRKK), believed in  Santosh Srinivas's script.

Starving for new ideas to keep the audience from becoming uninterested in cinema itself, Telugu cinema found an idiom some years ago.  Was born the tricky hero, who crafts a plot to con practically everyone in the film.  Not long before, everyone (be it the ruthless but doting father/brother of the heroine, the rival-lover and the anti-hero comedic sidekick) are trapped into his mousetrap or ship out.  All aimed to have a happy ending where he will marry the girl he had charmed before the vaudeville began.

Kandireega only improves on a solid template and offers full-on entertainment.  And how?

Seenu's (Ram) journey begins from Anakappali, moves to Hyderabad, only to to end in an expected climax in Warangal.  He begins as a loser, cursed by everyone in the village for becoming a nuisance.  The ever-so casual Seenu is stirred into doing his graduation when his maradalu (Swati in a cameo) refuses to marry a semi-illiterate like him.  He moves to the city, and soon falls for the beautiful Shruthi (Hansika Motwani).  The only problem to him appears to be Bhavani (Sonu Sood in one of the best performances), a much-feared goon for whom murdering is a daily routine, who too loves Shruthi.

The story takes an unexpected turn when Bhavani throws up a challenge to Seenu: to woo Shruthi as best as he can and win her love if he can.  (At first, it threatened to become a major defect in the film when Bhavani behaves in a manner that seems unrealistic with the way he has been projected from the beginning.  It soon becomes trivial when the film presents yet another surprising twist in the first leg of Half Two).

How does Seenu win over the love of Shruthi?  Does his plan to marry her go well as expected?  Is Bhavani playing with the fire?  More so, do Seenu and Bhavani have to overcome a new challenge?  Answers to these questions are revealed in the second half, which is a laugh riot.

Kandireega is different in both the first and second halves.  While we are entertained by Ram's heroic antics in the first half, in the second half it is a hotch potch of comedy, confusions and romances that keep us hooked to the seats.

The performances of Ram, Sonu Sood and Aksha need special mention.  While Ram is at his lively best, emoting naturally and delivering punchy lines in everyday lingo, Sonu Sood is menacing at first, then goes soft core mode.  The Bollywood import has got so much potential when it comes to delivering live wire performance without going overboard,  with just facial expressions.  On her part, Aksha (playing Sandhya) emotes well, be it when it comes to romance or doing comedy, and her Warangal dialect, albeit dubbed, is all right.  In fact, in the second half it is Sonu Sood and Aksha who are the leads.

Santosh Srinivas plays his game quite well.  With a well-written script, he executes it with craft.  Thaman's music and background score help.

Watch Kandireega for its comedy and its cinematic bells and whistles.

Released on: 12th Aug, 2011

Write Your Review On 'Kandireega'

Ram is back with Kandireega.  Those who have watched the film aver that the sweet insect was really entertaining.  Comedy, action and romance, you name it, Kandireega has got.

Are you among those who have watched the film?  If yes, do not hesitate to write your review on the film.  If we like it, it will be published on IndiaGlitz.com

Which all scenes excited you?  How are the performances?  Does Kandireega live up to the hype?  Does it deserve to be termed as a fresh commercial entertainer?

Wear your thinking caps and talk about the film in your own words.

Dhada Movie Review

Story

Vishwa (Naga Chaitanya) is a Telugu guy who completes his graduation and enjoys his life in Newyork along with his brother Rajiv (Sri Ram) and sister-in-law (Samiksha). Vishwa later falls in love with Rhea (Kajal Agarwal), daughter of multimillionaire (Mukesh Rishi). Rhea has everything except love from his father and so spends most of her time lonely watching old videos of her dead mother (Satya Krishna). In no time Rhea falls for Vishwa too, who shows love and care on her. On the other hand, Vishwa saves 100 young women from a trafficking business deal set for sexual exploitation between Kelly (Kelly Dorji), a Colombian drug lord and a local Don (Rahul Dev) and becomes their target. Meanwhile, Rhea’s father arranges her wedding with a top millionaire Amit? What does Vishwa do to win Rhea? How does Vishwa get out of theses circumstances and kill RD and Kelly forms the rest of the story.

Performances

Naga Chaitanya comes up with a mass look in the film. He evolved as an actor from the time of Josh and this time he did action sequences to attract the masses. Unlike his earlier flicks, Naga Chaitanya has come up with good dances too. However, he still needs to work on his expressions and dialogues while pulling off the intense and emotional scenes.

Kajal Agarwal looked stylish with splendid outfits but her weird hair-do’s did not suit her. She has put up blue eyed lens. Chinmayi, who dubbed for Samantha in YMC, has dubbed for Kajal in Dhada, but it did not go well with her.

Sriram as Chaitanya’s brother is good, Sameeksha is acceptable. Brahmanandam and Ali are wasted, Venu Madhav and Uttej are irritating, Mukesh Rishi is fine, Rahul Dev and Kelly Dorgee are adequate.

Technical Analysis

Cinematography by Gnanasekhar is on the top notch and is the biggest asset of the film. The film was shot in the amazing locales of Bangkok, Philippines, Newyork etc. Each and every frame looked rich. Devi Sri Prasad has delivered his regular best and a couple of songs are good on-screen but the misplacement of songs makes them dispassionate. Background score is good and elevated few scenes. Abburi Ravi dialogues were good. The action scenes are well choreographed and looked stylish. However, Editing is pathetic and screenplay is poor. Ajay Bhuyan has come up with poor storyline that lacked substance. Debutant Ajay Bhuyan except in a couple of scenes here and there, failed to make his mark with his directorial abilities.

Analysis

Dhada takes off on an interesting note but it looses its grip slowly. The whole story gets revealed in first few minutes and the rest carries with predictable screenplay. The story has no twists and turns and has absolutely nothing to offer for a regular moviegoer.

The comedy is other let down in the movie. Brahmanandam, Ali and other comedians roles are merely wasted. The makers have forcibly inserted few comedy scenes into the script which is quite annoying. D.Siva Prasad Reddy spent a bomb on the movie that can be seen in every aspect for this senseless and illogical project. The title Dhada seems to be apt for the buyers and exhibitors as the chances for the film to survive at the Box-Office are quite low.

Final Verdict

Dhada- A letdown...

Naga Chaitanya misses his hattrick

Sachin & Ranjeeta's classic love story turns into 'Jaana Pehchana'

Released in 1978, Rajshri's hit 'Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se' won over the audience then, especially those who were young and in love. Sachin Pilgaonkar and Ranjeeta Kaur's heartfelt romance, songs, and movie's sad ending (heroine's demise) - everything about the movie has a memorable impression on movie buffs. And now in this new age of glitter and shine the banner is going to present a contemporary version of the classic movie.

Rajshri Productions is taking the magic of 'Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se' (AKJS) forward with a sequel titled 'Jaana Pehchana'. The movie will again feature Sachin and Ranjeeta in the lead.

Talking about the new project, Sachin revealed, "In AKJS, we saw the beautiful romance between Arun Mathur and Lily where eventually, Arun was left alone after his beloved,

Lily's (Ranjeeta) death and he has been living in her memory ever since. Jaana Pehchana introduces Asha (Ranjeeta), an author, who has an uncanny resemblance to Lily. She walks into the life of Arun Mathur to write his biography. What follows from there is a contemporary love story with a beautiful blend of old school romance combined with young love."

With 'Jaana Pehchana' one can see Sachin in different roles - he is not only acting in it but also did the screenplay and is even taking the directorial reins.

The movie's music will be composed by legendary Ravindra Jain whose compositions in the original went on to become a huge when they were released.

'Poru Telangana' to hit screens on Aug 19

The versatile film personality, R Narayana Murthy, who had produced several films with leftist ideas, had produced and directed a film titled 'Poru Telangana' in the backdrop of the recent Telangana agitation.

He had completed the shooting of the film recently with a story based on the agitations that took place in the Telangana region, right from the days of Nizam to till date.

Very recently, the audio of 'Poru Telangana' was unveiled at a simple function by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao. Like many of his earlier movies, R Narayanamurthy had taken the responsibility of music, direction, production of the film besides playing the hero of the film.

The film is being produced on the banner of Sneha Chitra. As per the latest information, the film is all set to hit the screens on August 19.

Arbaaz drops his quickie in favour of Salman's 'Dabangg 2'

It's a known fact now that Salman Khan won't be beginning 'Dabangg 2' before next year. However brother Arbaaz Khan had been devising a Plan B earlier to mitigate this situation. The latest though is that the actor turned producer and now also the director (with 'Dabangg 2') has decided not to go ahead with a quickie that he was earlier contemplating to make during the interim period before he gets 'Dabangg 2' on floors. "Yes, there was a possibility of doing that but I guess there is no point going ahead with that. If at all I have to make any film other than Salman, it has to be with an A-lister. Now dates of none of the top stars are currently available. And if I think of making a film with a smaller star or say a newcomer, it requires all the more effort to make them understand expectations and then further market and promote the film," says Arbaaz. He further goes on to reason, "Moreover, even a quickie requires 8-9 months at least from start to finish. By that time 'Dabangg 2' schedule would be staring at me. It would be too much too soon I guess and I don't want to drain myself out. I would rather wait for the next big one instead of worrying about not shooting for the next few months." Good decision Arbaaz.

Salman to revisit history

B-town's news-grabber, the 'Dabangg' Khan Salman is soon going to take over the small screens again.

After 'Dus Ka Dum', Sallu miyaa will don the role of a host for History channel. According to sources, the management of the popular channel were keen to make it Indian friendly and so wanted to rope in someone who is quite popular and mass appealing. And going by the dhamdaar status that Salman enjoys on the screens and among the audience, they decided to bring the star on board.

The handsome macho Khan will be styled by his sister Alvira Agnihotri and designer Ashley Rebello.

Well, the History has never been this exciting, right? Be 'ready' for Salman's History class, folks.....

Rana to go national in ads too

Rana Daggubati is not satisfied with making his presence felt in Bollywood alone. He even wants to soar ahead of others in his home industry by endorsing a national brand.  According to a credible media report, the actor has been approached a big brand to be its brand ambassador.  With his face becoming popular with Dum Maro Dum and Department promising to only raise his popularity in future, Rana seems to be a favourite choice of top brands. This is not the first time that a manufacturer has thought of signing Rana.  In the past, it is learnt, a mobile brand had approached him and he had almost given a nod to it.  He was dissuaded to reject it by some well-wishers to debut in ads with a greater brand. The hunk, given his physique and looks, is likely to endorse many more brands in the near future.

Karungali Movie Review

Karungali - Crude is the word

Director Kalanjiyam of  'Poomani' fame has landed on a controversial knot in his comeback film 'Karungali', in which he wields the megaphone besides playing the lead role. He has chosen the grey shades of Chennai for this venture that is set in a theme with the likes of Anjali and Sunitha Verma among others playing the lead roles.

Ravi called as Pottalam Ravi (Kalanjiyam) is an orphan, who grows with a group of children in a Chennai slum. He is forced to take up the sale of drugs and falls into all illegal activities.

While escaping from the clutches of cops, he comes across Kanimozhi, a doctor (Sunitha Verma) who is injured in an accident. He saves her and Kanimozhi immediately decides to marry her 'saviour'.

Knowing about Ravi's bad past that he was a drug seller and had killed his own lover, Kanimozhi still thinks that she can change his heart, and marries him. But Ravi acts innocent and waits for an opportunity to show his colours.

Coming to know from Kanimozhi about Amudhanila (Anjali), one of her patients, who is desperate to have a child, Ravi decides to play dirty tricks with her. Does Ravi exploit Amudhanila? Does the doctor and Amudhanila's husband find out about Ravi?

A movie that begins on narrating the sufferings of slum children goes haywire as it progresses. It touches upon lust, cheat, and mistrust in a crude way. Impotency is portrayed as disease. Many a dialogue and scene are vulgar.

Songs by Srikanth Deva alone stand out. Anjali, Sunitha Verma, Srinivas and Asmitha seem to have done a good job in the film. Anjali deserves special credits for she has given a matured performance as a perplexed girl.

Kalanjiyam tries to fit in the shoes of a man, who everybody would love to hate. Unfortunately, his film too is quite typical for his character in it. 

Bodinayakanur Ganesan Movie Review

Bodinayakanur Ganesan - Treading a familiar path

After 'Madurai Sambavam', Harikumar is back with a movie that is again set against rural milieu and loaded with commercial elements to appease front-benchers. There is action, humour, romance and emotions in �Bodinayakanur Ganesan'.

Director O Gnanam has penned the script keeping in mind the 'emotions' of a rural youth and he is heavily inspired by 'Paruthiveeran' in the characterization of Harikumar, who has comedian Soori giving him company all through.

Harikumar plays the lead role of Ganesan, around whom the whole movie revolves. Arundhathi of 'Veluthukattu' fame plays the heroine and unlike contemporary cinema where an actress appears and disappears, she has a meaty role to play in 'Bodinayakanur Ganesan'.

Ganesan (Harikumar) and his friend Gilaki (Soori) incur the wrath of everyone in the village for they sell arrack and ganja. They work under a local goon Thiruvachi (Sai Ravi). Frequent jail birds, Ganesan and Jilaki spend their leisure in a mentally-challenged home in the village where Ganesan's brother is admitted.

Enters a nurse Saraswathi (Arundhathi) in Ganesan's life and it is love at first sight for him. But knowing about Ganesan, she stays away from him. She urges Ganesan to reform and then come to her.

Twist in the tale is that Thiruvachi, the bad man in the town, too decides to marry Saraswathi. Ganesan takes on Thiruvachi. A flashback reveals that Thiruvachi and Ganesan have lots of issues to settle between them since their childhood. The battle culminates with the fight to hold Saraswathi's hands. Who emerges the winner forms the climax.

Harikumar does his part well, playing to the gallery. His punch lines are passable. A choreographer-turned-actor, he excels in dance sequences. At places, he seems to speak loud.

Soori comes all through the film quite like what Saravanan did in 'Paruthiveeran'. Watch out for Sai Ravi, the baddie who speaks from his stomach. He oozes violence in his words.

Prabhakar's camera captures Bodinayakanur lush green locales in a beautiful way. The fish catching festival has been shot well. Thyagu's sets compliment the camera work. Anal Arasu's stunt sequences form the backbone for the film.

John Peter's music reminds songs of yesteryear Ilayaraja. A couple of numbers are catchy while the racy stuff 'Vanchira Meenu...' is hummable. Gnanam, who has directed the film, seems to have made it a commercial cocktail. But a sense of deja vu prevails as we watch 'Bodinayakanur Ganesan'. 

Sega Movie Review

Anjana Ali Khan whose debut 'Veppam' released in Telugu as 'Sega' today had great openings. Audience thronged to theatres to get a glimpse of hit pair Nani and Nitya on the screen. Released admist massive publicity and hungama, Sega also marks the debut of Nani into Tamil cinema industry. We watched this film today and here is what we think of it...

Story

Balaji and Karthik are brothers.Unable to bear the torture of her husband (Jyothi), their mother commits suicide. Balaji being the elder one, takes care of his brother Karthik(Nani). Their well being is ensured by their neighbour who is a hoarding painter. Karthik grows up with Revati(Nitya), the daughter of that painter. Jyothi who is a broker and runs a prostitute house wants Karthik to handle his business. But Balaji keeps Karthik and Jyothi away. Vishnu who is the son of a mechanic is Karthik's best friend. He falls in love with Veena(Bindu Madhavi) a prostitute in Jyothi's business. To get Veena out of Jyothi's prostitution business,Vishnu agrees to deliver a drug packet given by Jyothi.He seeks his best friend Karthik's help in this operation. The rest of the story is on how Jyothi plays games with Karthik's life and how Balaji confronts him to save his brother.

Performance

Nani and Nitya recreate their 'Ala Modalaindi' magic on screen. Their chemistry is outstanding and a great asset to this film. Nitya looks super cute and realistic in her role.Bindu Madhavi steals the show with her role as a prostitute. Though her screen space is less, she leaves an impact with her role.Infact, in comparision, Bindu Madhavi stole the show. Despite being the first film for many of the other star cast, they did a decent job.None of the actors in this film let you down.

Clap worthy moments

Shashank Vennelakanti's dialogues for this film are well written. For instance, Nani's father asks him, 'Bandi Tholathava, Thooluthava'. Music by Joshwa Sridhar is good. The audio of this film is worth purchasing a CD. All the tracks in this album are melodious and pleasant to hear. The cinematographer needs a pat on his back for doing a great job. Though the screenplay is haywire, the narration is quirky and interesting.Kudos to the director's casting sense.

Cringe worthy moments

The story is boring and predictable. We found the audience screaming the next scene. The movie doesn't stand out if the audience can easily predict the upcoming events in the script. The background score is pale and did not support the intensity of a scene. The locations are irrationally depressive. The costumes are a curse to the film. The songs in this film have no leads. You will be left wondering why there is a song all of a sudden. Nitya's lip movement and the lyrics are an absolute mismatch in the songs. Since there is hardly a comical scene or even a simple situational comedy, this movie leaves a very depressive impact on the viewer's minds.Since this movie was made keeping Tamil audience in mind, the charecters are all too raw and crude. Telugu audience can't relate themselves to such de-glamorous charecters. The director seemed to have been caught in conflict between her style of making the film and the commercial obligations.

Verdict

This film is very depressive and boring. History says that Telugu audience never liked such films. History repeats...

Nanna Movie Review

Call 'Nanna' an honest attempt once again by director A L Vijay. And, perhaps the need of the hour too. It's far from the madding crowd of commercial masala films.

With no double meaning dialogues or flashy song sequences shot abroad or 'high-voltage' stunt scenes, the film is an emotional journey between a father and daughter and their love towards each other.

The USP of the movie is immaculate performance by Chiyaan Vikram. He plays a dotting father to a five-year-old daughter. But he is not the usual dad - he is an adult with the mental maturity of a five-year-old. The actor in Vikram seems to have taken it in his stride to deliver a power-packed performance.

Matching him by scene-to-scene is young Sara who plays his daughter. The sequences involving Vikram and Sara are the major highlight of 'Nanna'.

Anushka as an advocate and Amala Paul besides a huge star cast that includes Nasser, Santhanam and M S Bhaskar among others have given their best on screen.

Krishna (Vikram), who has the mental maturity of a five-year-old, works in a chocolate factory in Ooty. His wife delivers a baby girl and dies. The girl, Nila (Sara) is brought up in his own way by Krishna.

He showers all his love and care on her. But fate takes a quick turn. Nila's grandfather Rajendran (Sachin Khedkar), a powerful and influential man in society, enters the scene. Fearing that his grand daughter is not safe under a mentally-challenged dad, he takes away the girl from Krishna.

His other daughter Shwetha (Amala Paul) takes care of the child. Krishna runs from pillar to post to get back his daughter. He gets acquainted with advocate Anuradha (Anushka) and Vinod (Santhanam), her junior.

They listen to Krishna's past and promise that they would do their best to get back the custody of Nila. Bashyam (Nasser), a leading advocate, appears for Rajendran. The rest is legal battle and arguments in court and who wins at last.

It is one of the best performances by Chiyaan Vikram. Right from the first scene when he is thrown on street till the last court sequence, he is there playing his part well. Anyone who watches the movie will love Krishna. Such is Vikram's performance as he brings out the innocence of the character well. As a father, friend and guide, he is scintillating.

Sarah is rare find. She is cool in her emotions and performs with ease. It's a different Anushka in 'Nanna'. No glamour but leaves a mark with her decent portrayal.

Amala Paul impresses in few scenes. There is Nasser, playing his part as advocate and Santhanam is good not just in humour but also in emotional scenes.

Nirav Shah's extraordinary visuals and G V Prakash Kumar's music are life and blood to the tale. Na Muthukumar's lyrics add pep to the songs. Vijay has handled things in a mature manner. He is sure to leave an impression.

With engrossing performance by Vikram, backed by strong technical team, the movie is sure to impress you, despite the fact it is predictable in parts.