Telugu Cinema

Spyder – Spoiler Free Review

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If you want no spoilers at all, watch this video review I made minutes after coming out of the theater.  I saw the very first show in Chicago — one of the first in the US.  I liked the film, even if it’s not perfect.  It’s not my favorite Mahesh Babu film, that would be Pokiri or Athadu maybe, but I left satisfied.  AR Murugadoss, who made one of my favorites, Ghajini, has a compelling script.

The backstory of the villain is especially creepy.  It’s a story I’ve certainly never seen before.  The romance track with Rakul Preet Singh is not the emphasis of the film, but I enjoyed the sweetness of their relationship.

Good dance numbers, but the background score is notably good, and kept the tension going in this enjoyable thriller.

I will be writing and recording another review with spoilers – coming soon.

Mahesh Babu SPYDER full trailer released!

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Still no subtitles, but Kartik tells me Mahesh is playing the equivalent of an FBI analyst.  The romance track looks so cute!  That boulder shot down the street — THAT I was not expecting.  Hmmm.  I’ll be there first day, first show to see what it’s all about.

Jai Lava Kusa Full Trailer looks Amazing!

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This Jr NTR trailer looks really good.  I was loving all the teasers of the three characters he plays in the film, Jai (Raavan type), Lava (the nerd) and Kusa (rowdy hero?), but now this full trailer with subtitles shows me how much humor will be in the film.  So funny!

I also love the indication of the big dance numbers, since NTR is a great dancer.  Also, the fact that the characters are related is NOT a big secret to be revealed as it is in so many other double role Indian films.  That’s refreshing.

I may not be able to see this one the first few days it’s out here in Chicago (it’s out on a Thursday here) and it’s killing me.

So excited to see NTR on the big screen for the first time!

Here’s the trailer with subtitles (which don’t work inside my reaction videos.)

Arjun Reddy – An Amazing Telugu Film

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Arjun-Reddy-1Many of my commenters on my Pardesi Youtube channel encouraged me to do a trailer reaction for Arjun Reddy, and then the drumbeat started, “When are you going to review Arjun Reddy?  It’s a sensation here!”

I am SO glad these people let me know about this film.  I’m not sure I would have gone to see it in the theater otherwise, and I’ve now seen it twice in one week.  It’s that amazing.

This video review is spoiler free.  I recorded it right after I came out of the screening.

 

I was gobsmacked by the film.  It is unlike any other Telugu film I’ve ever seen.  This is no Masala film.  It is raw and real, both in the story and the dialogues.  It’s a debut director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, and was made on a shoestring budget.   It’s more like an indie film in many ways, and it is a sensation.

There is an intense romance between two medical students played by Vijay Deverakonda and Shalini.  I have never seen a romance with a seduction by pulling the girl out of anatomy class to draw the muscles and bones on her hand.

arjunreddy250717_002Because they are of different castes, here family is adamantly against them.  And then the film becomes very much like a modern Devdas, but it goes places I wasn’t expecting.

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Arjun is a complete hot head, and it’s a cautionary tale on how because he cannot control his rage, he loses everything in his life.

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The actor, Vijay Deverakonda is amazing in the role.  He was willing to show himself wetting his pants during an overdose, something I can’t imagine pretty much any other Indian actor doing (well, maybe Rajkummar or Nawaz).

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The film has intense romantic kissing just as a matter of course.  The freakin’ poster is the kiss.  A politician ripped the poster off buses, and Vijay at the press conference said, “Granpa, chill.”  There’s a real attitude around the film.  It’s not trying to be a film festival art film.  It’s out there, and proud about it.

This is a five star film for me.  It’s that good. It felt realistic in the way that Malayalam films often do.  I felt like the characters were real people and I was seeing inside their lives.  I love a film like Mirchi, too, but there are no machetes or goondas or Masala elements in Arjun Reddy.  Arjun Reddy is intense about his calling as a doctor, about his romance and his friendships.

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Rahul Ramakrishna, who plays Arjun’s best friend, was my favorite secondary character of the film.  He gets some of the best comedic lines, too.  He says at one point something like “People don’t understand what it’s like to be your friend.  It’s like I’m pissing all over myself and only I can enjoy the warmth.”  Amazing!

This is a film that is going to stay with me.  I cannot recommend enough that you try to see this film in the theater with a crowd.  I know I wasn’t getting all the wordplay, but people around me were laughing a lot at the dialogues.

Margaret of Don’t Call It Bollywood and I saw the film together my second time, and then we had an on camera spoiler filled discussion.  ONLY if you’ve seen the film already, should you watch this video.  Seriously, watch the film first, so you experience for yourself.

 

Margaret has on her blog a spoiler free review here, and a spoiler review here.

 

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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.

 

Trailer Reactions – Solo, Bhoomi, Simran and Yuddham Sharanam

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So many trailers came out last week!  Here are my reactions to four of the new films that I’m looking forward to seeing.

Any new movie from Dulquer Salmaan is one I’m looking foward to seeing.  After I posted this, someone commented that the film is an anthology and Dulquer will play several characters in the film.  This is just the first character, Rudhra.

 

Bhoomi shows Sanjay Dutt as the father of his daughter Bhoomi.  No subtitles but I get the basic gist that this is a revenge story.  I’m looking forward to seeing Sanjay play a father role.

 

Simran is the “maid” picture that was filmed in the States.  What I just learned is that the director Hansal Mehta is the same one who directed the fantastic Aligharh.  No subs, but it looks super quirky!

 

Finally subtitles, although they don’t show up in my reaction.  This is just a teaser for Chay Akkineini’s latest film, but it looks exciting.  Chay is definitely a great action film actor, and I’m enjoying following his career.

Movie Review – Rana and Kajal in Nene Raju Nene Mantri

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After the horrible events in Charlottesville on Saturday, on the spur of the moment, I went to a packed late show of Nene Raju Nene Mantri (I am the King, I am the Minister.)  Whoo boy, it was not an escape from violent politics.

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I did like the film, but the ending, not just the very last moments, but the last ten minutes or so were very much wtf plot turns.  I left shell shocked and so did the audience.  I had to approach some women in the lobby to talk about their reaction to the ending.  I went by myself, and it was one of those kinds of films where you just have to talk to someone and say — what about that ending??  What did YOU think??  So please, if you’ve seen the film, please leave a comment and tell me what your takeaway was from that ending.

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It was just delightful to see the chemistry between Rana and Kajal.  This is a tour de force film for Rana Daggubati, but Kajal gets to show depths of acting that I have not seen in her other roles, especially in the melodramatic scenes.  Rana starts the film very sweet – he’s a money lender, but a soft hearted one who helps poor farmers, not the kind who bashes heads to demand payment.

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We don’t see the romance of Kajal and Rana, but do see a flashback of them as childhood sweethearts.  The film shows them as an established happily married couple.  Jogendra (Rana) is obsessed with keeping his Radha (Kajal) happy.  When a tragedy befalls them, then he is hell-bent on revenge.  He sees a path through politics to gain the power he needs to rain down justice.  But then the power corrupts him as he climbs up the political ladder.  Nothing and no one can stand in his way.  He says it is from the love of his wife, but she points out that that is not really true.

Frankly, Jogendra becomes a monster.  I felt like it was an abrupt change of his personality when the tragedy happens, but the descent thereafter was somewhat believable as the power corrupts him more and more.  The last 10 minutes though.  Yowza.  I’ll leave this spoiler free, but again, please comment if you saw it!!

It was a worthy film to see, and Rana gave a great performance showing a range that he wasn’t able to fully show in the Baahubali films.  The people in the packed theater were there to see him, and I’m looking forward to see where he goes next in his career.  While the director Teja, tried to give a critical look at a corrupt political system, where he took it left me rather stunned as he showed crowds sympathizing with the extremes of Jogendra’s acts.

What was also fun for me was now that I’ve seen more Telugu films that just about every character actor in the industry had at least a small part in the film.  There was a lot of “Hey, it’s that guy!” for me.

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Pardesi – Launching my new YouTube Channel!

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I have just launched my new YouTube Channel Pardesi with Kartik of Bollyfools.  He first interviewed me right after that very first IMAX showing of Baahubali 2, and we struck up a frienship.  After I did Indian Cinema reviews for the Bollyfools Youtube channel for the last few months, we’ve decided to strike out on our own with this new Pardesi Channel.  We decided on Pardesi because I’m a foreigner reviewing Indian Cinema, and Kartik is an ex-pat in America.

I’ll be doing movie reviews for the most part in the four main Indian Cinema:  Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.  I’m going to try trailer reactions and song reactions.  In fact I just did one for the first song Boom Boom from Mahesh Babu’s Spyder.  I had to take the Picture in Picture and audio out from the song because I got dinged right away.  I think I look ridiculous bobbing my head to silence but I have to know — why is there the word Hogwarts in a Spyder song??!!  It’s so strange!

 

I hope if you follow me here, you’ll subscribe to my new Youtube Channel Pardesi.

Ninnu Kori – Wonderful Chemistry between Nani and Niveda Thomas

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I went to see this Telugu film, Ninnu Kori (Wanting You) with Margaret of Don’t Call It Bollywood, going in knowing nothing.  Margaret had heard it was a good Rom Com, so I took a chance.  It was a delightful Telugu Rom Com with great chemistry between the leads Nani and Niveda Thomas.  Go here to read Margaret’s review.

 

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It was driving me crazy where I had seen Nani before — and at the interval I asked Margaret, and she reminded me Nani was the the hero in Eega!

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The first half is fantastic and I loved the meet cute between Nani and Niveda.  Nani’s dancing is also terrific.  Character actor Murli Sharma who normally plays cops, is Niveda’s stern father, and it was great to see him in a comedy role like this.  The initial conflict in Niveda and Nani’s relationship is quite believable.

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The love triangle with Aadhi is where I started to have issues.  Maybe it’s just my American sensibilities, but the first half was SO great, that the resolution of the film was a let down.  I felt like the screen writers were forced to tell a more traditional story ending, and they didn’t sell it to me as Niveda’s HEA.

Still, I really enjoyed seeing Nani and Niveda on screen together, and I’ll definitely be seeking out more films from both of them.

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Spoiler Free Review of the Very Entertaining DJ with Allu Arjun

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My first Allu Arjun film on the big screen, and he was great.  DJ is a very entertaining film, both a comedy and action film.  Allu Arjun’s grace as a dancer makes for very acrobatic action scenes that look super cool.

Allu Arjun’s DJ is both a priest/caterer AND a vigilante.  This is a bloodthirsty film, not for young kids, although there were plenty in the audience of my theater.  There are quite a few impalings, but what’s blurred for the censors is a crotch shot of Pooja Hegde coming out of a swimming pool in a one piece bathing suit.  I wasn’t impressed with Pooja Hegde in Mohenjo Daro, but she was quite good in DJ.  She has good chemistry with Allu Arjun, and I loved the way she puts him back on his heels by kissing him on the cheek in public.

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There are a lot of dance numbers in this film, but only one is a real show stopper even approaching the great dance moves in Allu Arjun’s Arya 2.

 

This one, though with the mundu dance, was my favorite of the first half.  It happens right after that momentous cheek kiss.

 

I didn’t like this film quite as much as Arya 2, but it’s very fun and entertaining.  The romance track isn’t the main thrust of the film — the vigilante action is the main story line.

 

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