Telugu Reviews
The enemy within
Desperate situations call for desperate actions, they say. In Tollywood, there was nobody more desperate than Vadde Naveen --- a hero looking to safeguard his place. In a sense, Shatruvu, was his make or mar film.In his anxiety to please all, Naveen seems to…
Double trouble
Mistaken identities as a story are dime a dozen in our films. In fact, they have become so regular that fans become skeptical when a hero or heroine says that he or she is doing a double role.When you see Mona Lisa (dubbed from…
This doc says laugh your guts out
If ever there is a winning prescription for box-office success then it has be to Munnabhai MBBS. Vidhu Vinod Chopra's film was a major hit in Hindi. And its remake in Tamil is perhaps the success of the season there. It is also being made…
Good, but could have been better
It is an old saying that art movies are art movies, commercial ones are commercial, and the twain shall not meet.What will happen if they try to?Well, it will be a mismatch like it has been in Anand.Director Shekar Kammula, who is…
Rajasekhar has to grow up
Peter Pan never grew up. But there was an impish attraction to him that made his mischief acceptable. But when grown up men are struck in the same groove, it becomes boring and unacceptable.Rajasekhar is no Peter Pan. And his heroism as a youth…
Not a perfect couple
Lost and found themes have a special appeal to Indian cinema. Mother and daughter. Father and son. Brothers and sisters. Lovers. Animals. You name it --- everything is lost and found. It is a theme that allows for comedy, intrigue, sentiments and heaven knows what…
Gear-less and pedestrian
Last week we saw the problems of image trap in Rajasekhar's Apthudu. This week it is Rajendra Prasad in Appa Rao Driving School.Now, his essential brand is coarse and lurid comedy. Since it has won him a couple of successes at the box-office he…
Old-fashioned, but relevant
In this fast-changing world, sometimes past is the most re-assuring prop for us. And K Vishwanath's films offer a glimpse of what life was and comes in muted and pastel shades. His films are about believable humans, like you and I, in believable situations. The…
Chanti (The Zero)
A good man against a bad man. A revenge remix. It is almost the essential leitmotif of Indian films. Chanti is no different.It is about an honest military man against a corrupt MLA. The rest of the story is only a prop and difficult…
Catching them young
In many ways, Yuvasena is an amplification of youthful righteous indignation. Most youths, before they fall prey to the inexorable and ineluctable corrupt system, harbor notions of cleaning it. It is a feeling that combines Naxalism, Communism with the wide-eyed enthusiasm for the world.What…
