Vicky Donor

I had been reading all these fab reviews of Vicky Donor and I was very curious. I actually thought it must have been funded by the Fertility doctors of India Association. With all its emphasis on sperm donors, I thought the message being rammed was a bit excessive. Felt as if Aamir Khan was promoting something.

The movie had some delightful characters, especially the mom and grand mom of the protagonist. Annu Kapoor showed once again how underutilized he is in Bollywood. The setting of the movie, the Lajpat Nagar vs CR Park was too good, although I do wish somebody finally shows that some culture other than the Punju prevails. It is sickening to see as if the only culture worth emulating is the loud Punju song and dance and the other ways of life are staid and boring and not worth practicing.

The movie also seemed to be celebrating the "male" all through. The lead had to be an "innocent divorcee". Hindi movies still cannot seem to get away from the virginal image of the heroine. For all the hero's seeming acceptance of the heroine as she is, the plot still had to be twisted to ensure compliance to all Hindi movie norms. The lead pair could only adopt a baby who was born from the protagonist's sperm. That seemed quite regressive especially when the views of the grandmother in the movie were so progressive. Also wish that the movie showed the natural progression in the interest that Annu Kapoor has for the protagonist's Mom.

As with so many movies, it seemed to be on the right track, before somebody in the interests of the commercial viability of the movie derailed the script. Still, despite the derailing, an interesting movie and maybe shows some respect for the audience's maturity.

Prasthanam

I have been wanting to write about Prasthanam for quite sometime. I was worried that my enthusiasm for the movie was coloring my perspective but I guess I do have to write. Although the movie released in 2010, I saw it only this year. My brother gave me a copy of the movie way back after the movie was released, but after seeing the first few minutes of the movie, I couldn't go farther, as I was not sure what my reaction would be. I finally saw the complete movie this year and it has been an absolute revelation!

Hamlet has been an inspiration to many, but this is a beautiful adaptation and I did not think Telugu film industry had the wherewithal to actually make a movie like this. Although the screenplay is significantly different from the original play, but the plot remains the same. It has however, been the characterization  of Loknath - step father of Hamlet that has stood out. In India unfortunately, the character that slays the so called villains and romances the girl is called the hero, but to me it was Loknath that was the hero of the movie. His motivations, aspirations, weaknesses, frailties around which the movie centered. It was also the war that was between unconditional love and love tinged by weakness. To me, Mitra, the character played by Sharwanad that was the supporting character. 

The director virtually takes us through the mental map of both Loknath and Mitra. Such powerful characterizations are so rare in Telugu movies. It could also be the power of Sai Kumar's performance that I am still raving about the Loknath character. The dialogues and the delivery are something so rarely seen in the recent past. I have also been watching some of the older Telugu movies like Thotukodallu and Mangalyabalam. I was struck by the relative ease of acting in those movies instead of a preponderance of heavy sighs and dramatic lines and exits although quite a few artistes in the star cast came from a theatrical background. Wonder when the regression in Telugu movies actually took place. 

Coming back to Prasthanam, the other think that struck me was the diction of Sai Kumar. I think we tend to confuse between dialects and diction. Recent heroes in Telugu movies just cannot speak the language properly. Their diction is terrible. It is almost as if they are doing a disservice to the very language and art form that is sustaining their millions and lifestyle.

The only place where the movie disappoints is in the placement of songs. These actually act as speed breakers in the movie. The songs by themselves are beautifully written and composed. But in the context of the movie all barring two - the title song and "Evado Vadu" are irrelevant to the movie. I like the song "Murali Lola" song very well. A beautiful rendition of a mythical tale and in a tradition that we seem to be forgetting. 

All in all a movie I would definitely recommend and would want to re-watch so that I can see all those nuances that I have missed previously.

100% Love

Saw 100% Love a few weeks back. Obviously, a bad print and some scenes deleted. I did not have too many expectations. Director Sukumar's movies leave me feeling discontented. It feels as if I am on the cusp of some discovery but when I reach the destination the ending is just not what I hoped it would be.

I had liked Jagadam to a certain extent. It was a story of a young boy on the verge of manhood. To some extent like Marlon Brando's Wild One. It had so much promise, but the story never went beyond platitudes. It does not help that Telugu movie industry is dominated by "Stars" who have to perpetuate the star dynasty and their "Viraasat" than a love for art or issues or a medium. And Sukumar never goes beyond these "Stars" in his cast.

Thats the reason I was determined not to see too much in the movie 100% Love. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie to a certain degree. The whole issue of ego in a relationship and gender bias in India, the role of the woman despite so called "progress" that we have made in women's empowerment does get highlighted to a certain extent. However, the need for a commercial closure ruins everything. One cannot forget that the ticket cost is finally paid by the male in the house and "Taming of the Shrew" is a very popular play.

Still, I would say Sukumar has done a better job of portraying relationships in 100% Love whether Hindi or Telugu film industry and far more mature than running around in Switzerland or Punjab. I just hope to see an edgier movie from Sukumar and not just the Arya-2 version (Thank God!).

Orange

I am on a roll tonight. 3 blogs in a day or in the space of a few hours. Looks overwhelmingly that I do not want to study tonight!

Well, I saw Orange a few days back and a slightly abridged version. Somebody played around with some of the scenes. My take still on the movie...

I loved the way Bhaskar (the director) was so brutally honest in an otherwise ostrich like industry. In a time where the standard plot is Love Story+Factionalist Angle, he actually dared to make a pure love story with very little action. These action sequences were anyway included to pander to the Megastar fans.

This also brings me to one of my rants. Such a beautiful story line killed by the commercial elements, fans of the Megastar and of course the Megastar himself.

A guy is underwhelmed by a nagging and suspicious girlfriend. Poisons the guy's outlook towards relationships. He starts believing that love is temporary. The movie does a good job so far. It falters when the director starts looking for the Happy Ever After Closure.

I have a few doubts which I seek to clarify myself in the absence of adequate responses from the director. Why is the movie set in Sydney? For the Opera House backdrop? So that the heroine could wear outfits that no middle class male in India would even fantasize of? Or did the hero/producer never go to Australia and wanted to have a look around?

There was one scene where the hero shows the heroine a lion in a jungle or lets say the CGI version of it. Firstly, if ever, one tried to scream at a lion or come out of the car when the lion is standing on the bonnet of the car, I suspect, I would see the remains of the people saved by the lion for the hyenas. Also, are there lions in Australia? For real? In the jungle? Not in the zoo?

Loved the fact that Mr.Brahmanadam read MBs in the movie. Just could not figure out what Srinivasa Avasarla was doing in the movie? He did not even do an item number.

Final thoughts, do you think it is feasible that your passion for a person remains unchanged with time? I am not sure. I think possibly respect and affection might remain unchanged. Instead of highlighting similar points, the director gets scared and we are treated to a scene where the hero realises the error of his ways. For how long are we going to live in the sarson ka khets of DDLJ?

Parugu

I read "My family and other Animals" a long time back and the first thing that struck me was the aptness of the title. I and my brother have very diverse opinions among others about Telugu cinema. He is the true "mass follower" of Telugu movies. It is my personal opinion that he and Raju sustained the commercial viability of all Telugu theaters in RTC cross road between 1999 and 2001. His endorsement of Bhadra type movies further alienated his taste of Telugu movies from mine. I started an internal ranking of his reviews.



My brother first recommend the songs of Parugu, which I did not find too appealing. Later, when I saw Parugu, I was struck by the songs and Allu Arjun's dances. I enjoyed most of the songs except "Parugulu". I also liked the village sets and the comedy track in the movie. It became my movie of choice to watch while I stood in pasport renewal queues.

As I watched Parugu multiple times, I was struck by a few things. One of the major "revolutions" brought out by Chiranjeevi in telugu films is gendar role reversal. In older movies, heroines were asked to dress down (literally) and given complicated dance steps for song sequences to cover up "obese" heroes. Chiranjeevi changed this aspect completely. Now heroes perform all the complicated dance steps and the heroines are further marginalised to just shedding their clothes.
The other point that struck me was that the heroine in "Parugu" did not have a voice at all. She kept following the lead of the hero and her father at all times without developing her own opinion. The one time that she expresses an opinion and shows the spunk to follow through with her actions, she is over-ridden by the hero. Infact there is just one song in the entire movie to express the heroine's thoughts. It looks like she is continuously in need of an overwhelming force in her life. This characterisation is so unlike the director's first film heroine - "Hasini in Bommarillu". Wonder if this change is due to the story line or the fact that he was working with a hero like Allu Arjun and interference from the first family of Tollywood.

The story was run of the mill - girl eloping with her lover in the face of family opposition. A tried and trusted hackeneyed plot, it also opened interesting threads due to the excellent interpretation from the director. There was one thread of the consequences of elopement on the couple, weakening of caste rigidities due to education and urbanisation (not explored at all). Instead the focus was on the impact on the family due to elopement ( a la Chiranjeevi's daughter). The director could have done away with the entire second half and still made a good movie. movie.

I am now looking forward to see Bhaskar's next movie without the first family's influence.

Ashta Chamma Review

There have been some terrific movies adapted from novels. Classics in English like Gone with the Wind and the Lord of the Rings series demonstrated how an excellent novel can be adapted into equally smashing movies. Hindi novels like Suraj ka Satwaan Ghoda and Shakesperean plays MacBeth and Othello have been successfully translated into the big screen. Movies adapted from classical Telugu literature like Kanyasulkam also proved equally adept at the translation from literature to the big screen. However, my personal favourite is Ashta Chamma. Directed by Krishna Mohan Indraganti, this movie is a faithful adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play "The Importance of being Earnest".

Although the movie follows the plot of the Oscar Wilde play to the "T", it also updates the props and the context of the play to modern times. Where the movie adaptation scores is in introducing the various characters and providing the background to the plot. "Colours" Swati plays the role of Lavanya a young girl madly in love with Mahesh Babu. The director was spot on in the characterization of Lavanya. The one scene of young Lavanya in school providing the inspiration for Puri Jagannth punch dialogues in Pokiri is brilliant. Similarly, the insistence of Lavanya to marry a person whose name is Mahesh is perfectly understandable to an ardent fan of Mahesh Babu. I could completely empathize with the character. In fact, the movie has inspired me to insist on this condition in my personal life as well. My life partner will have to change his name to Mahesh if he already has another name.

With this background, the rest of the twists and turns that the movie takes following the plot of the Oscar Wilde play faithfully are understandable and do not seem out of place or ridiculous. In fact the satire on Telugu film industry's "faction" inspired movies to set the background for the double-life of the hero is outstanding. The attention paid to the details especially support characters sets this movie apart from other regular Telugu movies. The chronology of Mahesh Babu movies however does not seem correct and the movie seems to have conveniently forgotten Mahesh Babu duds like Sainikudu. The songs especially the title song is beautiful to listen to. The cinematography could be better. The editing is good except in one of the songs where it is extremely jumpy - quite needlessly so. The supporting cast of Srinivasa Avasarla and the late Bhargavi is very good, with Srinivasa Avasarla standing out heads above the rest of the cast both in terms of height and acting skills.

This movie also continues the tradition of movies like "Guddi" in highlighting the impact that movies and especially popular romantic heroes can have on the lives of young women. The point where this movie differs substantially is in not trying to recommend a cure or sitting judgment on the women's choices but empathize with the character. This ends up as a feminist movie without being preachy or boring.