Honorable Mention : Gaddalakonda Ganesh
5. Agent Sai Srinivas Athreya
4. Oh! Baby starring Samantha Akkineni
3. Brochevarevarura
2. Evaru starring Adivi Sesh and Regina Cassandra.
1. JERSEY starring Nani and Shraddha Srinath
Samantha Akkineni
Top 5 Tamil Films of 2019
Honorable mentions:
Viswasam:
and Bigil starring Vijay:
5. Kaithi:
4. Magamuni:
3. Asuran:
2. Peranbu:
1. Super Deluxe:
Super Deluxe was my favorite Indian film of all of 2019.
Mahanati Review – Keerthy Suresh captures the magic of Savitri
I have been anticipating Mahanati for a year, since Dulquer Salmaan posted a picture of himself on twitter as Gemini Ganesan, announcing that he was debuting in his first Telugu film, a period piece.
I didn’t know anything about the legendary actress Savitri until I posted my trailer reaction to the Mahanati teaser trailer. I asked for people to send me links and clips, and my Youtube viewers sent me songs and scene clips, but universally, they all told me I HAD to see Maya Bazar. Boy, am I glad I watched the 1957 classic film before I watched Mahanati. Because the very first glimpse of Keerthy Suresh in the film is a filming of a famous scene from Maya Bazar, and I recognized it immediately. Watching Maya Bazar meant I could judge whether Keerthy was nailing it as Savitri — and boy did she ever!
Here’s my full review of the film:
Dulquer Salmaan had to walk a fine line. He played the actor Gemini Ganesan, who married Savitri even though he was already married, and also had a mistress (with whom he fathered Rekha!). He has to be so charming and compelling that you believe that Savitri would fall for him, and you also don’t like him very much at many points in the film. He did an exceptional job.
Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha Akkineni play newspaper reporters compiling a story about the mystery of Savitri’s last days. They have a wonderful chemistry together. Samantha Akkineni has a career best speech in the final 15 minutes of the film.
Hats off to director Nag Ashwin, for an incredible film, only his second full length feature film. This film covers the 50’s through the 80’s and the period details seem to be perfect. Many, many scenes from classic films are recreated, including actor Naga Chaitanya playing his grandfather ANR. It’s an amazing scope for a film, and so ambitious a project.
But the key is that Keerthy Suresh really captures the charm and spirit of the legendary actress Savitri. It’s a career best performance for her. The soundtrack is also exceptional, and I’m playing Mooga Manasulu (Muted Hearts) on repeat.
Attarintiki Daredi Movie Review – My First Pawan Kalyan film
In anticipation of Agnyathavasi, I watched Attarintiki Daredi (Which Path Leads to My Aunt’s House?) (2013), which teams Pawan Kalyan with the same director, Trivikram Srinivas. This was a decent family drama pairing Pawan with two heroines, Samantha Akkineni and Pranitha Subhash and with Nadhiya, Boman Irani and Brahmanandam in supporting roles.
It was super fun to see Boman Irani in a Telugu film, even with his voice dubbed. I assume he doesn’t speak Telugu well enough. He plays the family patriarch, and Pawan’s grandfather. Pawan is tasked to bring home his estranged aunt as his grandfather is critically ill, and wants to reunite with her while he still can.
Nadhiya plays the estranged aunt. and she was fantastic! She was the best part of the whole movie for me. She and Pawan share some very emotional scenes. I looked her up afterwards as it was making me crazy where I’d seen her before. She was Prabhas’s mother in Mirchi.
Pawan’s character is super wealthy but he enters his aunt’s household as a driver (sort of like Dharmendra in Chupke Chupke, but not as funny.)
Pawan has some cool action scenes. (Evidently he’s a martial arts expert in real life). Of the two heriones, Samantha is given nominally a bit more to do. It’s not her best role ever — she’s improved considerably in the years since this film was released.
Brahmanandam has a lengthy cameo. I can only take him in small doses, and it was TOO much. However, at one point there is a Gladiator reference that is hilarious. I didn’t need the half hour preceding it, however.
So, Attarintiki Daredi is an average family drama, elevated by Nadhiya’s performance. I know Pawan Kalyan is supposed to be a Telugu cinema superstar, but he really doesn’t do much for me. His signature is his dialogue delivery, and it just doesn’t come through to me, watching with subtitles.
Pardesi Reviews 