MY TOP 5 TELUGU MOVIES
First of all Ugaadi Subhaakankshalu. Like any Andhraite (I mean a native of Andhra Pradesh), I too have grown up watching hell lot of Telugu movies, irrespective of their fate at the box office and their impact on my mind.
Ugadi is the actual New Year for Telugus. Upon my friend Akhil's suggestion, I am putting down my top 5 Telugu movies (in any order) released between 2007and 2008 Ugadi.
Jalsa: As told in my last post, Jalsa is a paisa vasool and Pawan looks really cool and energitic after the dull Annavaram. I never laughed so much in a theater in the recent past. Trivikram Srinivas' dialogues were as sweet as honey and Pawan's audacious imitation of big names adds to the humor. Though there has been a divide talk on the fate of the film, Jalsa is undoubtedly the best comedy film in recent times.
Gamyam: No great story, no huge star cast and no scintillating music. That is Gamyam for you. The film is all about lifestyle of a rich man's spoiled son and a poor motorcycle robber and their journey in finding the lady love of the former. Fast screenplay and Naresh's mass action ensures that the pace of the film doesn't go down. Though unnecessary elements were added towards the end, the director was clear in what he wanted to tell.
Mantra: Though Charmi took away all the accolades, the director, the cameraman and the dialog writer should be commended for making such a scary movie. The director's aim was to frighten the audience and he succeeded. Never a dull moment throughout the film and the hero Sivaji was simply brilliant.
Chandamama: Not a great movie, but a simple and lovely village movie, which banks on Telugu nativity and flavor. Krishna Vamsi weaved the story around characters and the casting was perfect without huge stars. Good songs, local flavor, Nagendra Babu and Ahuti Prasad contributed a lot towards the success of the movie.
Dhee: Though the name is often mistaken for an out and out action movie, Dhee offers plenty of serious and situational comedy. The plus points of this film are pucca screenplay, superb dialogues, Genelia, Brahmanandam and Sree Hari. Though Vishnu did his best, Ravi Teja or Arjun would have taken the film to a new level in terms of commercial success.
Other movies which could have made it to the list but for a few loopholes are
Mahesh's Athidi - Technically brilliant but never ending climax and poor comedy reduced it to an average fare.
Nithin's Aatadistaa - Good second half but poor first half and a bad technical department makes it a B-grade film.
Nagarjuna's Don - Everybody who saw this film felt that the direction was highly inconsistent and with a little guidance Raghavendra Lawrence would have done a fantastic job. What could have been a blockbuster was reduced to an above average flick just because of a few immature takings.
Mr. Medhavi - One of the most talented directors Neelakantha, who won the national award for best screenplay for his first movie SHOW, was caught between commercial and art cinema and Mr.Medhavi was the result. Still an intelligent movie that teaches you the importance of human relations.
Anasuya - Technically brilliant, but slow narration in the second half throws is out of the top 5. Special mention about Bhoomika's tremendous acting skills. Further, with only five positions available, Anasuya cannot make it to the top 5, but definitely in the top 6.
Yamadonga - NTR's breathtaking action and dance sequences are negated by Mohan Babu's continuous hamming and the movie length. But overall an enjoyable flick.
Happy Days - Again caught between commercial and art movie, director Shekar Kammula sacrificed some important incidents that occur during college days to accomodate love track between actors.
There are a few movies which were hyped but turned out to be normal flicks. Some of them are:
Rajini's Sivaji - The lesser we talk about it the better it is. The over hyped Sivaji has nothing but garish first half and unrealistic fights in the second half. Shankar too joins the mass directors from Tamil Nadu who wants to cash on Rajini's image.
Ramcharan's Chiruta - Though a tremendous hero introduction scene, the film moved on predictable lines and offered nothing new, except racy numbers. An average flick copied from a number of movies - KNPH, Apocalypto, etc.
Krishnaarjuna - Only Nagarjuna was the saving grace. The film should have come at least 10 years earlier.
But the mother of all is Balakrishna's OKKA MAGAADU (one and only)
Ugadi is the actual New Year for Telugus. Upon my friend Akhil's suggestion, I am putting down my top 5 Telugu movies (in any order) released between 2007and 2008 Ugadi.
Jalsa: As told in my last post, Jalsa is a paisa vasool and Pawan looks really cool and energitic after the dull Annavaram. I never laughed so much in a theater in the recent past. Trivikram Srinivas' dialogues were as sweet as honey and Pawan's audacious imitation of big names adds to the humor. Though there has been a divide talk on the fate of the film, Jalsa is undoubtedly the best comedy film in recent times.
Gamyam: No great story, no huge star cast and no scintillating music. That is Gamyam for you. The film is all about lifestyle of a rich man's spoiled son and a poor motorcycle robber and their journey in finding the lady love of the former. Fast screenplay and Naresh's mass action ensures that the pace of the film doesn't go down. Though unnecessary elements were added towards the end, the director was clear in what he wanted to tell.
Mantra: Though Charmi took away all the accolades, the director, the cameraman and the dialog writer should be commended for making such a scary movie. The director's aim was to frighten the audience and he succeeded. Never a dull moment throughout the film and the hero Sivaji was simply brilliant.
Chandamama: Not a great movie, but a simple and lovely village movie, which banks on Telugu nativity and flavor. Krishna Vamsi weaved the story around characters and the casting was perfect without huge stars. Good songs, local flavor, Nagendra Babu and Ahuti Prasad contributed a lot towards the success of the movie.
Dhee: Though the name is often mistaken for an out and out action movie, Dhee offers plenty of serious and situational comedy. The plus points of this film are pucca screenplay, superb dialogues, Genelia, Brahmanandam and Sree Hari. Though Vishnu did his best, Ravi Teja or Arjun would have taken the film to a new level in terms of commercial success.
Other movies which could have made it to the list but for a few loopholes are
Mahesh's Athidi - Technically brilliant but never ending climax and poor comedy reduced it to an average fare.
Nithin's Aatadistaa - Good second half but poor first half and a bad technical department makes it a B-grade film.
Nagarjuna's Don - Everybody who saw this film felt that the direction was highly inconsistent and with a little guidance Raghavendra Lawrence would have done a fantastic job. What could have been a blockbuster was reduced to an above average flick just because of a few immature takings.
Mr. Medhavi - One of the most talented directors Neelakantha, who won the national award for best screenplay for his first movie SHOW, was caught between commercial and art cinema and Mr.Medhavi was the result. Still an intelligent movie that teaches you the importance of human relations.
Anasuya - Technically brilliant, but slow narration in the second half throws is out of the top 5. Special mention about Bhoomika's tremendous acting skills. Further, with only five positions available, Anasuya cannot make it to the top 5, but definitely in the top 6.
Yamadonga - NTR's breathtaking action and dance sequences are negated by Mohan Babu's continuous hamming and the movie length. But overall an enjoyable flick.
Happy Days - Again caught between commercial and art movie, director Shekar Kammula sacrificed some important incidents that occur during college days to accomodate love track between actors.
There are a few movies which were hyped but turned out to be normal flicks. Some of them are:
Rajini's Sivaji - The lesser we talk about it the better it is. The over hyped Sivaji has nothing but garish first half and unrealistic fights in the second half. Shankar too joins the mass directors from Tamil Nadu who wants to cash on Rajini's image.
Ramcharan's Chiruta - Though a tremendous hero introduction scene, the film moved on predictable lines and offered nothing new, except racy numbers. An average flick copied from a number of movies - KNPH, Apocalypto, etc.
Krishnaarjuna - Only Nagarjuna was the saving grace. The film should have come at least 10 years earlier.
But the mother of all is Balakrishna's OKKA MAGAADU (one and only)
Don - Good and Bad
One can imagine the outcome of a movie when one person does all of the following in that movie
1.Story
2.Screenplay
3.Direction
4.Music
5.Dance choreography and
6.a Major role
It takes a lot, especially if the director has only a couple of films to his credit and the protagonist is a very big star.
I am referring to the latest Telugu release, Nagarjuna starrer Don. The movie starts on a promising note and Nagarjuna's entry was one of the best intro scenes in the recent times in the Indian cinema. The immediate scene (comedy) between Nag and the director Raghavendra Lawrence takes us back to 1970s. Then 15 minutes later, the villain's (Kelly Dorji) introduction scene again takes us to another world (a la Hollywood scene). The ensuing sequences where the hero romances the heroine always remind us of some old movies. The interval bang comes out as a big surprise with the two Dons (the hero and villain) challenging each other but in a very cool manner.
The second half is full of chases and three songs (of which two come as barriers to the fast-paced screenplay). The best scene is when Nag goes to Mumbai to meet his counterpart. Thus, the excellent and poor scenes play hide and seek with the viewers. The good thing is that the climax is very different from the routine stuff that Indian movies generate.
Coming out of the theater, one feels that they have seen a movie that would have been better had it been directed by someone more passionate and experienced than the dance director.
All in all, a movie which had the scope to become a huge blockbuster and a trend-setter, turned out an average flick.
1.Story
2.Screenplay
3.Direction
4.Music
5.Dance choreography and
6.a Major role
It takes a lot, especially if the director has only a couple of films to his credit and the protagonist is a very big star.
I am referring to the latest Telugu release, Nagarjuna starrer Don. The movie starts on a promising note and Nagarjuna's entry was one of the best intro scenes in the recent times in the Indian cinema. The immediate scene (comedy) between Nag and the director Raghavendra Lawrence takes us back to 1970s. Then 15 minutes later, the villain's (Kelly Dorji) introduction scene again takes us to another world (a la Hollywood scene). The ensuing sequences where the hero romances the heroine always remind us of some old movies. The interval bang comes out as a big surprise with the two Dons (the hero and villain) challenging each other but in a very cool manner.
The second half is full of chases and three songs (of which two come as barriers to the fast-paced screenplay). The best scene is when Nag goes to Mumbai to meet his counterpart. Thus, the excellent and poor scenes play hide and seek with the viewers. The good thing is that the climax is very different from the routine stuff that Indian movies generate.
Coming out of the theater, one feels that they have seen a movie that would have been better had it been directed by someone more passionate and experienced than the dance director.
All in all, a movie which had the scope to become a huge blockbuster and a trend-setter, turned out an average flick.
