Month: September 2017

Telugu Trailer Roundup

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Here’s a roundup of some of the latest Telugu trailers.  I think I’m most looking forward to Chay Akkineini’s newest film.

 

Rana Daggubati is center in this trailer for what may be a web series.  Looks like a cross between Mr. Robot and Scandal:

 

Meda Meeda Abbayi:

 

 

Mahanubhavudu starring Sharwanand and Mehreen Kaur, directed by Maruthi.  I like this nerdy persona by Sharwanand, an actor new to me.

 

Paisa Vasool just looks insane.

 

Ravi Teja in Raja the Great:

 

I’m also really psyched for Jr. NTR in Jai Lava Kusa.

 

Rajinikanth and Akshay – Making of 2.0

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Rajinikanth’s Enthiran (Robot) was pretty mind-blowing in the imagination.  It’s also very unusual to have a Sci-fi themed Indian film.  I love this first look behind the scenes of 2.0.  We get to see the makeup sessions for Rajinikanth and Akshay (love that look!) and some of the green screen work.

This is a Tamil film I’m looking forward to.  The release date will be in January.

Malayalam Trailer Roundup

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With the holiday of Onam, there is a cluster of big releases in Kerala.  There are new releases from Nivin Pauly, Mohanlal and Prithviraj.  Also we’ve had a few teasers now for Solo, Dulquer Salmaan’s upcoming film Solo.

Mohzin ( ) reports from Kerala that the Prithviraj and Nivin Pauly films are doing well in Kerala and getting decent reviews, while the Mohanlal is average.  There can be a couple of week delay until we get Malayalam films here in Chicago, but I hope I can catch some of these new films in the theater.

Here is my song reaction to Enthaavo from Nivin Pauly’s Njandukalude Naatil Oridavela.  Enthaavo has been on the top of the Malayalam charts on Saavn.

 

There’s also been a  trailer and a song from Mohanlal’s Velipadinte Pusthakam.  Mohanal plays the vice principal of a school in the film.

 

 

Adam Joan is a new thriller starring Prithviraj.  It seems to have been mostly filmed in Scotland.

And finally, we get another teaser trailer from Dulquer Salmaan — the character Siva from Solo.  I’m not sure we’ve ever seen Dulquer play a gangster like this.

Movie Review: Ajith in Vivegam

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vivegam-800x450Ajith Kumar’s Vivegam is a pure action film by Siva, the same director as Vedalam. And that’s my issue with the film.  It’s trying to be something like a Bond film or a Mission Impossible type of movie.  Spies and double crosses and missing nuclear codes and so on.  But it doesn’t have heart.  It doesn’t have a story between all the great action set pieces to keep you interested in the story.

kajal-1Kajal plays Ajith’s wife in the film, and there is no romance track.  She becomes a woman in peril, as you would expect in a film like this.

There are some wild action scenes and nearly the entire movie is set in Serbia.  If you want to see Ajith doing amazing motorcycle chase sequences and fight a samurai sword wielding warrior woman with nun-chucks.   Then this is the movie for you.

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I was hoping since it was the same director, Siva, as Vedalam, that it would be a similar experience.  It was more Hollywood influenced.  Maybe that’s what the Tamil audience wants, but the NRIs I saw the film with were also disappointed.  I talked to two different groups in the lobby to see if it was just my negative reaction.  It wasn’t just me.

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But, it was a roller coaster ride of action.  I’ll give them that.  And Vivek Oberoi was a good villain.

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Movie Review : Ajith in Vedalam

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In anticipation of seeing Ajith Kumar’s new Tamil film Vivegam, I watched his 2015 film Vedalam (Phantom).  I thought that it was my first Ajith film, but in looking him up I realized he was in Ashoka as SRK’s younger brother,  and most notably as the dream boat young filmmaker in Kandukondain, Kandukondain paired with Tabu.  Hubba, hubba.

 

I really enjoyed Vedalam.  It has fantastic action sequences but it really has heart at it’s center.  The romance with Shruti Hassan provides some comic relief and a few nice song sequences.  The interval point is when Ajith tells his story, and gives us the flashback that explains  how mild mannered Ganesh came to Kolkata and what happened to his sister.

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I absolutely adored Ajith’s relationship with his sister (Lakshmi Menon), and the story of how they became close.  I love the trope of a rowdy who blossoms from the love of family.

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The moment that Ajith turns was quite something and one of the most memorable sequences I’ve seen in Indian cinema.  I can see why Ajith has such a fan following.  He won over this new fan with this film!

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A Gentleman is Super fun!

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A Gentleman was at first talked about as a sequel to Bang Bang.  It isn’t really, but it’s very similar in the tone and feel.  Which means that I liked it a lot.

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Siddharth Malhotra is great in the action scenes.  And I loved his dorky persona, too.  Lots of inside jokes about Desis in America.  The fight sequence in the middle of Home Depot cracked me up.

 

sidharth_malhotra_is_looking_smokin_hot_in_this_trailer_of_a_gentleman_980x457Jacqueline Fernandez is great at comedy.  I gained new respect for her from this film.  She also had a great American accent.  She doesn’t really get a big dance number, but she pole dances (!!!) in a song sequence at a karaoke bar.

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Jacqueline had great chemistry with Siddharth.  She’s got Guarav in the friendzone, and then is attracted to the exciting dangerous Rishi.

Basically if you like films like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and True Lies, you’re going to like this film.  A Gentleman is just a fun action comedy.

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