Yuganiki Okkadu - Injurious to Health
(Rating - 2/5)
I was teased by the trailers and intriguing posters. Though skeptical of Tamil director Selva Raghavan’s ability to create a magnum opus, I nodded in agreement when my best buddy invited me for Yuganiki Okkadu, expecting the movie would be at least visually enchanting.
A sense of déjà vu, however, crept in as the show schedule neared because of my bitter experiences with the recent big-budget Tamil movies - Rajini’s Sivaji, Kamal’s Dasavatharam and Vikram’s Mallanna (Kandasamy in Tamil).
Yuganiki Okkadu (Aayirathil Oruvan in Tamil), is no different. Imbecile storyline, unintelligent sequences and pathetic screenplay make it difficult to sit through the 160 minute movie. In fact, I am now concerned about the forthcoming big-budget Tamil movie Robot, starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai.
The movie starts on an interesting note where a Chola king along with his people is shown escaping to a distant place in Vietnam, after losing the battle to Pandyas. In the process, the Cholas take away the idol of Pandya’s deity and the Pandyas continue to hunt for it for centuries.
In the 21st century, an archeologist goes missing under mysterious circumstances trying to locate the Cholas, prompting the central government to send a team - led by Reema Sen and including the archeologist’s daughter Andrea, some military officers, and a group of laborers headed by the protagonist Karthi - to unravel the mystery.
The team has to survive seven traps laid by the Cholas to prevent others from entering their settlement. The rest of the film is all about the team’s dangerous journey to the Chola’s hamlet and the incidents thereafter.
The first half of the movie has some interesting sequences and subtle comedy involving Karthi, Reema Sen and Andrea. But hackneyed screenplay and some silly special effects, especially the scenes involving the deadly water-inhabitants, mar the progress of the movie. The scenes in the desert are picturized amateurishly and the make-up is highly inconsistent.
The second half of the movie has some stunning visuals, but again clichéd scenes and weak narration overshadow the special effects. The camera work is good in the second half post the arrival of the Chola king (Parthiban). The scenes are dark and reminiscent of movies such as Gladiator, Beowulf and 300. The narration of the scenes involving Parthiban is not smooth while some scenes are hard to fathom. There are some bold yet crazy and extreme scenes that are typical of Tamil films.
G V Prakash’s background score is brilliant but the songs are loud and hard to understand, thanks to the idiotic picturization. The placement of songs is not convincing either. Luckily, the Telugu version has only two songs, and about 15 minutes of the Chola king's barbaric acts were trimmed.
As for the actors, Reema Sen is bold, Andrea is sexy and Karthi suits the coolie character to the T. But, it’s Reema Sen in the first half and Parthiban in the second half who steal the thunder from Karthi.
Top 5 ridiculous scenes:
1. Reema Sen’s greasepaint is still intact even after the horrendous journey through wild forest and desert.
2. Availability of telephone signals in the mysterious land that is far off from the civilized world. Wonder which network is that?
3. The army using helicopters and reaching the foreign land (Chola's dwelling) in no time. Why didn't Reema Sen's team use helicopters even though they knew of the blockades? Also, involving army in the mission that involves slaughtering of hundreds of ethnics is hard to digest.
4. The climax battle between soldiers and Chola army; AK 47s versus swords and daggers.
5. Graphics after Reema Sen reveals that she is a Chola messenger.
Nonetheless, a decent attempt to raise the bar of Indian cinema, but I suggest you to watch at your own risk. Please refrain from taking kids as the movie has liberal usage of expletives and some erotic scenes.
PS: Tamil websites have given thumbs up to this movie. But after watching the colossal Magadheera and breathtaking Arundhati, and given the overdose of Tamil nativity, the movie is sure to bomb in Andhra Pradesh.
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)
Jalsaa - Lives upto its name (rating - 3.75/5)
Yes! the most awaited movie in the recent times doesn't dissappoint you. In short, full paisa vasool. It has got everything except a great storyline. Yet the maverick writer director Trivikram ensured that there is plenty of fun and jalsaa. The movie is far better than any other recent Pavan Kalyan's movies in terms of screenplay, charecterisation and even presentation.
There is never a dull moment in the first half with Pawan Kalyan stealing the show. Even the flashback episode, supposed to be very very serious, is shown in a lighter vein without disturbing the actual point. When the audience start to feel that the film is heading nowhere, the director introduces Brahmanandam and then the laugh riot starts and it only gets over in the final shot.
Other assets of the film are Mahesh Babu's voice over which runs through out the film and the heroine Ileana. Though Trivikram has failed as a storywriter with this film, he has lived up to his expectations as a poetic dialog writer.
Finally, it was a great experience watching Pawan's movie on the first day and I am planning to go again this Saturday.
Watch it at least once for Pawan Kalyan's audacious and unique style and Trivikram Srinivas' dialogues.
