Jenelia KATHA Movie Review

Film: Katha

Banner: Just Yellow Media pvt ltd

Cast: Arun Adit, Genelia, Prakashraj, Shafi, Raghubabu, Tulasi, Jayalalitha, Ravikiran Babu, Praneeth, Srilatha, C M Kalyan and others

Dialogues: Gunnam Gangaraju

Lyrics: Anantha Sriram

Music: S K Balachandran

Cinematography: I AndrewEditing: Marthand K VenkateshStory, Screenplay, Director: Srinivas Raaga

Producer: Gunnam Gangaraju

Release date: Dec 12 2009

Slated to be a romantic thriller and that too with the bubbly beauty Genelia in the lead, the film ‘Katha’ was meant to be an interesting treat. Whether it is really interesting or not, let us go into details.

Essense:Chitra (Genelia) is a school teacher who comes to Araku to teach school students. Krishna (arun) is an aspiring director who comes along with his team to make a movie at the same place. Soon, their paths meet and Krishna falls for her. However, there is a flashback for Chitra that is revealed later and to add to it, Chitra says she has witnessed a murder as well. Was it really true or a hallucination? What is the real ‘Katha’? All this forms the essence.

Artistes:The bubbly beauty Genelia has given her best efforts to do justice to the film but then her role was not given that depth and portrayed correctly. However, her chirpy looks and cute smiles make up for the score.

Arun Adit has shown confidence in front of the screen but then he is raw. There are a few things he has to work on like his expressions, posture, body language etc if he is looking at making a career in film industry.

Prakashraj has given another decent performance, though he plays a crucial role and a brief one, he made his presence felt whenever required. No complaints on that one.
The entire film revolves pretty much around Genelia so it must be said that the stand out act has been that of Raghu Babu who spreads good laughter with his witty dialogues and expressions. Shafi was not used to the fullest, Tulasi was standard and so was Jayalalitha, Ravikiran Babu was alright, C M Kalyan was usual, they were regular and contributed as required.

Sign-Out Lines:The film came out with an interesting concept but then it was caught between two genres – romance and thriller. That led to a lot of confusion and it must be said that there is a major flaw in the direction. The storyline was appealing but the narrative was very weak, presentation was good in many places. Dialogues were mild, the script lacked the spine, screenplay was erratic. Another flaw in the film is the background score which was overenthusiastic in every scene. To create an impact in a thriller, silence at the right time works best and the music director is busy giving a sentimental tune which is a major turn off. Editing was not crisp. Songs were not good either barring one which was a bit melodious. Cinematography was professional and the locations were good in few scenes.

The film runs on a very slow pace and given the lack of depth in the plot, it is quite boring. While the first half revolves around the lighter elements, the second half tries to get serious and there are one or two scenes where the audience interest is engaged. But soon, it loses its grip and gets back to a monotonous tune. The lack of comedy is another drawback and despite the presence of highly talented stars like Prakashraj, Genelia, Shafi, the director could not pull a good one. There is nothing for the mass audience, family audience might come for Genelia but lose interest in no time, and youth don’t have much to talk about it either. The film is mostly ending up as a dud at the box office.

Jagapathi Babu, Priyamani PRAVARAKHYUDU Movie Review

Film: Pravarakhyudu

Banner: Tolly 2 Holly Films

Cast: Jagapathi Babu, Priyamani, Hamsa Nandini, Brahmanandam, Sunil, Ali, Chalapathi Rao, Dharmavarapu, Rajyalakshmi and others

Music: M M Keeravani

Cinematography: Surender ReddyE

diting: M R VarmaDirector: Madan

Producer: Ganesh Indukuri

Prime star Jagapathi Babu and Priyamani are being known as the ideal pair of Tollywood and here they are with a new movie that is meant to be a different love story and an entertainer. Let us see if it was impressive or not.

Story: Sasi Kumar (Jagapathi) and Shailaja (Priyamani) study in the same college and though they are of opposite natures Shailaja gets attracted to Sasi. However, he doesn’t believe in love and Shailaja is disgusted with him. They get into their lives separately.

Years pass and Sasi becomes a noted name in his field of Zoological studies. He leaves Harvard job and comes to join a girl’s college as a lecturer. The principal of that college is Shailaja.
Why did he come to this college? Will their love rekindle? Will ‘no love’ factor transforms to ‘full love’? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances: Jagapathi Babu:He has carried out his role with ease and the scenes where he is shown as a student, he looked too puffed up. Performance wise, it was a normal walk in the park so not much to be said.

Priyamani She has done her job perfectly in terms of glamour and performance department, though she looks more sensuous in the Indian outfits, Priyamani was seen in all varieties. Two emotional scenes were good from her.

Hamsa Nandini She has a brief presence and looks hot. As is the custom, she was given with a song and she has not disappointed.
SunilThough his role was small, he managed to come up with good laughter from the audience.
OthersBrahmanandam was regular, Dharmavarapu was effective, Ali failed to impress. Chalapathi Rao, Rajyalakshmi and other senior actors came up with the standard performances to add value to the film.

Highlights:
Content in plot
Music
Cinematography
Picturization of songs

Limitations:
Jagapathi Babu touching the tummies of young girls while teaching music is not convincing but confusing and appeared ‘extra’!
Girls’ getting carried away by charms of Jagapathi Babu is repetitive
Lion episode is not well-fitting although pictured with good technique
Ali’s comedy turned mere waste
The climax scene where students and staff hold placards recommending love was ridiculous.
Analysis: The director has come up with a simple tale of relationships and with a message that each has their own outlook depending on their experiences. The dialogues were simple but they could have added more depth, script was okay and screenplay was good during the first half. Comedy was not that much and editing was neat.

Costumes and art department made their presence felt. Full marks to cinematography and background score. The songs were captured really sensuous and though they were not situational, the picturization made up for it.

There were few silly things that the director could have avoided to make things look mature. Overall, the film relied heavily on the screenplay and due to that, the first half went smoothly without much complaint. However, the second half fizzled out and got dragged with unwanted songs and weak comedy. The climax should have been etched out with more impact to drive the message. The mass will like the songs and the family audience might find the narrative appealing barring a few elements of erratic script.

Manchu Vishnu, Ileana SALEEM Movie review

Film: Saleem

Banner: Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures

Cast: Vishnu, Ileana, Mohan Babu, Kaveri Jha, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Tanikella Bharani, Hema, MS Narayana, Ali, Raghubabu, Venkat etc

Music: Sandeep Chowta

Art: Anand SaiFights: Vijay, Kanal Kannan

Camera: Ram PrasadProduction: Padmasri Mohan

, Screenplay Direction: YVS Choudary

Release Date: 12th Dec 2009

Manchu Vishnu’s ‘Saleem’ released today after a long wait. Ileana, the heroine in demand paired up with him. Mohan Babu also played a key role in the film and that attracted the audiences, obviously. Walk into the details to know more…

Essence:The movie starts with Satyawati (Ileana) and her story in a village backdrop. She is the daughter of Singamanaidu (Napolean), a respectable villager. She comes to the village for a brief vacation and lives amidst all lovable relatives recalling the movies Murari, Athadu, Ninne Pelladatha etc etc (sorry for taking the comparison. This film has no glory close to an iota of those master pieces)!! Like in many other films the hero (Vishnu with character name Munna) arrives in that village and stays along with the family in the disguise of orphan. The story runs with insipid dialogues, stupid screenplay and energy less narration till the interval. And the interval bang has got a twist that rotates the heads of audiences to 360 degrees. I cannot reveal that here as that is the only ‘suspense factor’ in it. And the post interval period is another hard nut to bite. Mohan Babu plays the mafia don OJO (an acronym for Ogirala Joginatham) and he has a duet with Kaveri Jha. The twist in the interval narrates rest of the story line with all confusion and cacophony. Who is Saleem is another part of the story that unwraps in second half. What happened for about 150 minutes will be in question mark at the conclusion of the movie.
Artistes:Mohan Babu wouldn’t have played this role OJO at all. He has shown a teacher as source of eroticism. The artiste of his age shouldn’t have encouraged the director to demean a female teacher that way. It’s a head-down for entire female teacher community. I feel the teachers in Mohan Babu’s school ‘Sree Vidya Niketan’ would keep their heads down if they identify themselves in Kaveri Jha’s character and their master Mohan Babu in the role he played.

Vishnu has picked up considerably. He is really looking smart with lean look. His face is also showing some glow and young charisma. Dances are also impressive. But he needs to do exercise in voice modulation. He should take a few leaves from his father’s experience for next film.
Ileana is restricted to enticing male crowds through songs. YVS Choudary seems to have crossed the caliber of K Raghavendra Rao in igniting screen to flame with female glamour. But Ileana’s over action while delivering some dialogues is horrible. Kaveri Jha is also used for the glamour factor. But her role is disgusting.

Ali looked promising when he entered the screen as choreographer Gafar Khan. But his rotten country comedy makes decent crowds inconvenient.
Technically the movie is good. The sound effects, action part and cinematography are dealt up to perfection. Music is below average. And the main spirit of the movie is missed by director with erratic screenplay and punch less dialogues.

Underlines:
Poolu Gusagusaladenani, the old from 1973 ‘Sreevaru Mavaru’ is remixed here and canned on Mohan Babu and Kaveri Jha Ramya Sree, the actress known for playing vamp, servant maid and college lecturer in different films appeared in a serious deglamorised role in it!

Sign-Out Lines: This is the nastiest movie that I have ever seen. Rotten comedy, over exposing heroines, non-piercing dialogues, and senseless screenplay- everything is worth forgetting. I’ve been a filmophile but happened to review this film for the first time. It swallowed my patience completely but I’ve got no other way than reviewing this since I promised the admin.

To sign out on lighter note, Saleem boils the heads of audiences like ‘Haleem’!