Anjaan - Tamil Movie Review

On the lines of Baasha Bhai and Vishwa Bhai, here comes a powerful Raju Bhai who enjoys killing and also finds time for some love. A simple story revolving around a revenge spree is what Anjaan is all about. The dazzling Suriya looks dashing and smart. The Neymar like hair do, toned down costumes and exquisitely built body are all thoroughly convincing.

 

Santhosh Sivan's yellow DI throughout the film gives the much needed look to the Mumbai based underworld film. There was no darkness in the compositions, to bring out the brevity of the script. All the gloss and shine goes with the art direction and shot divisions. Anthony sets a pace and rhythm to this almost 3 hour long commercial film. Lingusamy has written the film based on the 'present to memories' filled non-linear narration to detail a suspense attempted story. Dialogues to a great extent are acceptable except for one that keeps coming along.

 

The Tamil mass audiences want popcorn films. Essentially, the film has to get over before the eatable gets over. Anjaan takes its own sweet time to start and wrap. Though not much time is spent on how Raju and Chandru became a name to be feared, the Raju Bhai phenomenon is given the typical cliched hype almost till the second half.

 

Samantha is cute and apt. The love portions almost work. Yuvan's background score gives varied colors. The siren used in the BGM during the build-ups is an experimentation. Special attention could have been given to the lip-syncs.

 

Starting from the perspective of the challenged Krishna who goes on the picaresque search of his lost brother, the story dwells too much on the already experienced cinematic liberties like the act of love, friendship and revenge.

 

The pre-interval stunt sequence needs a special mention. Stunt Silva has made it look live and realistic. Thanks to Suriya, Vidyut gets his slice of stunts in the flashback. Dissolved characters, unfurnished villains, stereotypical narration and song placement duds the flow of the film. The comedy portion of Brahmanandham forcefully put post-interval catering to the Telugu audience, is a speed breaker to the already lurching movie.

 

The predictable climax makes the whole product less impactful. One palpable connect towards the denouement is a life saver. Anjaan goes to the list of, 'Could have been better' movies.

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Citizen - Telugu Movie Review

Citizen

Synopsis: Gunasekaran, a socially responsible youth, kidnaps Easwaran, the brother of Sadasivam, the law minister, after the latter orchestrates violence among students. Sadasivam loses his post and Guna releases his captive but Easwaran wants revenge... 

Movie Review: You have kidnapped the brother of a minister. He is also a ruthless gangster but you have managed to keep your identity (read face) a mystery from him. You have reached the place where you are hiding him, and right at that moment, you get a call from your girlfriend. You attend the call rather than ignoring it (or even texting a 'will call bk ltr') and go on to discuss banking details, saying out loud her account number, despite the chance that your quarry could hear it and use it to discover who you are. If such a circumstance feels logical and plausible enough for you, then, Ivan Vera Maathiri is right up your street. Else, steer clear! 
The film opens with visuals of violence unleashed on some students in a law college (with policemen remaining mute spectators), a not-so-subtle reference to the incidents that occurred in a Chennai law college in 2008. Gunasekaran (Vikram Prabhu), a 26-year-old advertising professional, is affected by the news, and decides to take on Sadasivam, the law minister, who orchestrated the assault. To do that, he kidnaps his brother and hit man Easwaran ( Vamsi Krishna), whom the minister has unlawfully b
rought out of jail in parole.

Guna's idea is to hold the man hostage until his parole lapses, humiliate the minister in public and make him resign his post, and take away the power that made him a fearsome individual. Guna also meets Malini ( Surabhi), an airy-fairy college student, who falls in love with him. 

Meanwhile, Sadasivam resigns and becomes the target of a police investigation, and a contented Guna releases Easwaran. Now, the prey becomes the hunter, searching for his captor, despite being pursued by the hard-nosed cop Aravindan ( Ganesh Venkatraman). 

If the screenplay was the strength of Saravanan's debut Enageyum Eppothum, here, it becomes a weakness as the director's attempts to make a "different" vigilante film get lost in implausibility, patronizing (a line about girls who do not receive calls or SMSes being "good girls" is downright condescending) and sub-par acting. He has the outline of a terrific action movie plot; generally, it is the hero who is at the receiving end in the first half and goes after his tormentor in the latter portions after piecing together his identity but here, it is the opposite. However, the scenes aren't particularly interesting beyond a strictly functional level. Guna isn't directly affected by the violence in the college and so, his decision to turn a vigilante should have been compelling. But what we get are a couple of scenes where he is aroused by stray remarks. And, while his plan to hide Easwaran seems well thought out, the manner in which he goes about smacks of carelessness. He reveals his real intention to his captive, gives him a blatant clue to his identity, and worse, when the minister is arrested, lets Easwaran loose on the streets rather than ensuring that he gets into police custody. And, in the end, Aravindan is conveniently shown as someone who believes vigilantism to be good. 

But the weakest section is the romantic track — Malini is certainly the latest in the ignominious list of daft heroines in Tamil cinema. She allows Guna, a stranger to her at this point, to use her house loo, and later carries a fish all over the city after he leaves it with her. Saravanan wants these scenes to be funny but they only trivialize Malini's character. And to add to her insult, we are repeatedly told, she has 18 arrears! Even after Malini and Guna fall in love, we never sense their chemistry. That Vikram Prabhu is far more convincing as an action hero than in the romantic scenes also doesn't help.

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Bhadram - Telugu Movie Review

Bhadram

Synopsis: Vettri joins a detective agency and is assigned a series of subjects to observe. He falls in love with Madhusree, one of his targets, and just when everything seems to be going fine, Vettri's subjects start dying mysteriously. Can he save Madhu before it is too late? 

Movie Review: Thegidi is the latest in the list of new-age Tamil films that are popping up at regular intervals since Karthik Subbaraj's trendsetting Pizza. It has all the elements that characterize these films —relatively new but familiar actors, impressive cinematography, likable music, competent direction, recognizable locations, and a little of envelope pushing (though nothing radical). There is even a Pizza-like post-climatic twist here that leaves the film an open-ended mystery.

So, it comes as no surprise that the film works. The plot has the feel of a 80s Rajesh Kumar/Subha/Pattukottai Prabhakar potboiler, in which an intrepid detective finds himself in an intriguing situation and solves a mystery with his daring and (a little bit of) cleverness. Here, Vettri, a young criminology graduate, lands a job in a private detective agency (Radical Detective Service), and is given a few subjects to track, observe and report. Like any beginner, Vettri is enthusiastic and passionate about his work and does a flawless job, impressing his employers Sadagopan and Sailesh.

But when he given the task of observing Madhusree, Vettri breaks the rules of his work, and falls in love with her. She too reciprocates and everything seems to be going smooth until one day, Vettri discovers th
at two of the subjects have died under mysterious circumstances. He senses that something is amiss and tries to warn a couple of them but they too are murdered in front of his eyes. Now, he becomes convinced of a sinister plot and tries to save Madhu, who doesn't know the actual nature of his work. 

What's refreshing about Thegidi is how director Ramesh manages to keep things understated even when the situations seem to turn overwhelming. Barring a couple of scenes, there is a matter-of-factness in the approach that keeps the movie from turning into a bombastic thriller in which everything is at stake. This is the film's plus and also its weakness. While this low-key approach helps to keep the events realistic and believable, it also takes away the nail-biting quality (even the fight that you get is more of a scuffle than a choreographed action scene) that we expect from films in this genre. But the earnestness in the actors' performances helps sidestep this flaw to an extent. 

Of course, there are some developments which are baffling. Despite realizing that Madhu's life is in danger, Vettri doesn't immediately try to inform her of the threat. Even when she walks out on him after coming to know of his true identity, he doesn't explain the situation to her. And, we can't help but question his bravado when he goes snooping inside an antagonist's house, after having taken the issue to the police. He even puts his life in danger at this point, which only makes the character seem like a rash person. And, given that he has only a handful of characters, it becomes easy for us to guess the master brain behind the antagonists' scheme, while the final twist is just rug-pulling for the sake of a twist.

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Veerudokkade - Telugu Movie Review

Veerudokkade

Synopsis: A straightforward man, who uses violence to settle disputes, decides to mend his ways for the sake of his lover, but when he learns that her family is in danger, he decides to save them at all cost.

Movie Review: Right in the opening segment, director Siva lays out his cards. There is a fight between two groups in a college and the new principal, who wants to put an end to this, goes to meet the elder brother of one of the parties involved in the scuffle. And, there, we see that the brother himself is a ruffian, who will feed people before beating them as he wants them to be strong to take the blows. But since this person is also the hero of the film, he is what we could call a genial rowdy, and the scene plays out mostly for laughs. The district collector, who is his friend, is present at the scene, happily requesting a similar "entertainment" the next day as well. If this is what your of idea of fun is, then, hop on aboard, the director seems to say.
The film is a template masala film — a superhuman hero, his cronies who will sing his praises all the time, a beautiful-looking heroine, a raging villain. It has no room for logic, moving from one hero-worshipping scene to the next and is aimed at our visceral tastes. The story is in service of its star and, it is unapologetic about it.

The plot, which kicks in only in the second
half, and revolves around Vinayagam (Ajith) and his four brothers, who are do-gooders who will not hesitate to meet violence with violence. Vinayagam falls in love with Koperundevi ( Tamannaah), the daughter of Nallasivam ( Nasser), a pacifist. He tries to mend his ways for the sake of his lover, but when he learns that a revenge-seeking convict (Atul Kulkarni) wants to annihilate her entire family, he decides to stop him at all cost.

The very purpose of Veeram is to be a showcase for its star, Ajith, and that it does quite well. Right from the hero introduction scene, Siva creates moments specifically designed for his hero to shine — you see him being praised by those around him, mouthing punch dialogues, being nice to kids and elders, fighting on a running train, and in the climax, coming back from the dead to destroy the villain and his men. The best scene among the lot is one where Vinayagam goes to meet Vanangamudi, a goon with whom he has had a few run-ins, and orders him to do his bidding, all the while making it seem like he is begging for mercy, for the sake of the peace-loving Nallasivam. And, Ajith effortlessly conveys the heroic nature of his character and completely plays to the gallery.

The challenge with this sort of film is that it should keep moving forward without losing momentum. And that is where Veeram slips, at least in the initial stages. The entire first half involves the shenanigans of Vinayagam's brothers who, with help from their lawyer Bail Perumal ( Santhanam) try to get their brother fall in love with Koperundevi. Throughout these episodes, we are left wondering where the plot is heading and the film doesn't make it clear even by the interval point. The brothers too are uniformly uninteresting — all the four of them look the same and behave the same, and their characters are hardly defined. The romantic portions and Santhanam's quips, while entertaining, travel through previously trodden ground.

As for the second half, it coasts along once the plot kicks in and for a while, we are engrossed in Vinayagam's efforts to track down the various teams of hitmen sent to wipe out Koperundevi's family. But, even here, the villain doesn't come across as too much of a challenger to the hero, and, despite having an actor like Atul Kulkarni, Siva fails to build a truly terrifying character.

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Gang of Ghosts - Hindi Movie Review

Gang of Ghosts

Story: A dilapidated bungalow is home for a group of ghosts with their own idiosyncrasies. When a builder threatens to bring it down, the spirits turn mean.

Review: Satish Kaushik's Gang of Ghosts is a remake of the Bengali social satire, Bhooter Bhabishyat (2012). So as such, the plot that comments on how land-grabbing sharks in cities like Mumbai have torn down beautiful bungalows and breathing spaces to accommodate ugly malls and modern monstrosities is convincing.

The narrative in-film style is entertaining, told as it is by a budding scriptwriter (Sharman Joshi, always good) to an aspiring filmmaker (Parambrata Chatterjee, fresh). The ghosts — Anupam Kher, Jackie Shroff, Rajpal Yadav, Mahie Gill, Meera Chopra, Asrani and Saurabh Shukla -- have some endearing (often irritating) character traits.

Yet, the ghosts' attempts to mess with one another and even their need to serenade the alcoholic actress (Mahie) feels funny initially. If you're feeling indulgent, you may even guffaw at filmi references to Ragini (MMS), Ram Gopal Varma and Makarand (pronounced Maa ka rand). But the jokes get too sidey and the jest is short-lived. In fact, w
hen proceedings are interrupted with an unspirited item song by the dusky Paoli Dam, in a hotspot called Bhoot Bar, where only ghosts are invited, you want to shoot some more people dead.

Post-interval, the real plot of a tycoon (Rajesh Khattar) who has acquired the disputed property with the intention of turning it into a mall is introduced. And the ghosts vow to seek revenge. But their hare-brained plan to bring the tycoon down to his knees is so amateur, that it fails to amuse.

Clearly, makers like Kaushik, who had a formidable box office record in the '90s remaking South Indian films, need to borrow modern-day technique and storytelling tactics to keep the ever-evolving viewer engaged. In the case of GOG, the only ones who seem to have had a blast are the actors - Mahie, Anupam, Saurabh and Jackie, all of who ham.

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Ankhon Dekhi - Hindi Movie Review

Ankhon Dekhi

Story: Life passes you by when you are too busy making plans for tomorrow. In times when the art of survival has overtaken the art of living, can you manage to live in the moment?

Review: Societal norms often dictate our actions and beliefs. Day in, day out, you try hard to fit in. Who would want to come across as ignorant, odd and a prude to the judgmental lot after all? It's easier to agree with the majority, hold our heads high and ego higher. In order to safeguard this pretence, we lose out on discovering who we really are. Right from our childhood, we are trained to follow what's been told to us. No questions asked, no risks taken.
The film's protagonist Bauji (Sanjay Mishra) faces this dilemma. Trapped by the burden of duties and responsibilities forever, an incident in his daughter's life directs him to a path of self-discovery and forces him to only believe in what he sees. But can you sustain these idealistic visions in the real world without being tagged either 'crazy' or 'saintly'?

Rajat Kapoor's film is thought-provoking and as a storyteller, he touches a chord. His satirical take on how everyone conforms to the herd mentality is relevant and praise-worthy. It inspires us t
o unlock the shackles of mediocrity and standard behaviour - comprising of what's right and wrong, true or false.

What we liked the most about this film is its old Delhi setting. It is as authentic as it can get and contributes immensely to the film's emotional quotient. The intricacies of a joint family have been explored beautifully. In fact, this track works better than the one revolving around Bauji's spiritual epiphany. Sadly, the latter gets more prominence.

The performances are another asset. Sanjay Mishra and Seema Bhargava (as Bauji's wife) are flawless. They infuse life into the story. The younger actors are impressive too and thankfully, not a single character's loud and Bollywoodised Punjabi, unlike many Delhi-oriented films.

What however doesn't work for the film is the fact that it borders on abstract at regular intervals and lacks continuity, making a few scenes and conversations seem out-of-context.

Nonetheless, the film is emotionally liberating. See it to believe it.

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Muppets Most Wanted - Hollywood Movie Review

Muppets Most Wanted

Story: The Muppets take their show on the road, this time in Europe, with a tour visiting Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and London. However, Kermit is replaced by an evil impersonator called Constantine who plans to use the Muppets roadshow as a front for a heist.

Review: Almost every Muppet you might or might not have seen on TV as a kid features in this caper. The Muppets realize that they need to step up their stage act if they are to give their careers a shot in the arm and in order to do so, they must go on a tour. They are persuaded to hire a shifty character called Dominic Badguy (Gervais) who will provide his services as road manager for the group.

What the furry fellows don't realize is that Dominic has his own long-term plans for the job. His first step is to get the real Kermit (Whitmire) kicked off to the Siberian gulag and install Constantine (Vogel) in Kermit's place. None of the Muppets suspect the switch, even if Constantine speaks in an accent that's decidedly more Ukraine than Utah.

Meanwhile in Siberia, Kermit's prison is
presided over by a rather fetching looking warden called Nadya (Fey) who rules over the prison with the proverbial iron fist but it seems, has a soft spot for Kermit. Back on the train travelling through Europe, Constantine and Badguy go about their plan to rob the Crown Jewels. It is only Miss Piggy (Jacobson) and Animal (Jacobson again) who suspect that their leader's mannerisms have changed somewhat. Will they be able to tell the faux Kermit from the real deal? The rudderless Muppets are allowed to do what they want by Constantine even as things spiral into chaos.

There are cameos aplenty in this fun film. People as unlikely as Tom Hiddleston and Ray Liotta (both gulag inmates) to some hip names in Hip Hop (Combs) and R&B (Usher) put in appeareances. And the song sequences are both fun and wacky - two words that sum up this film.

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Need For Speed - Hollywood Movie Review

Need For Speed

Story: Tobey Marshall (Paul) and friends are struggling to keep their garage business from going broke. He reluctantly accepts an offer from wealthy ex-NASCAR driver Dino Brewster (Cooper) to soup up a Ford Mustang for a big price. However, Tobey soon finds himself in a race that's about revenge as well as redemption.

Review: Aaron Paul's (of Breaking Bad fame) character Tobey is loosely reminiscent of Ryan Gosling's look in 'Drive', minus the gore. He speaks very little and prefers to put the pedal to the metal. His friends Maverick (Mescudi), Joe Peck (Rodriguez), Pete (Gilbertson), Finn (Malek) and him make a living by modifying and racing muscle cars. But the money's barely enough, so when Paul's former rival Dino pays them a visit, he offers Tobey 25% to trick out the Mustang, valued at $2million.

While Tobey's pals are incredulous about the idea, he is more pragmatic and accepts, knowing that the money could really come in handy for the garage. They do the modification so well that an exotic cars investor called Julia Maddon (Poots), whom they meet at a party, is impressed and says she'd buy it for $3 million if it can exceed 230 mph. When the car clocks 234 mph, the deal is done.

But simmering tensions betw
een suave bad boy Dino and righteous Tobey come to a head during a race when Dino, Pete and Tobey race three illegally imported Koenigsegg Agera supercars. Tobey is double crossed by Dino and the former ends up serving a two-year prison sentence. When Tobey leaves the slammer, all he desires is vengeance - preferably on a racetrack and in fourth gear.

The setting for this 'battle royale' is the big ticket De Leon race organized by a reclusive individual called Monarch (Keaton). Although light on plot and performances, the film delivers exactly what it promises. Devoid of CGI, the races you see are real and the stunts, really well done. Apart from Paul's promising performance, it's the supercharged cars that tear up the asphalt and steal the show in this one.

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Lakshmi - Hindi Movie Review

Lakshmi

Story: Lakshmi is sold off and forced into prostitution but she has the grit and gumption to free herself from the bondage of the brothel.

Review: Fair, fresh and barely fourteen. Pretty and virgin. Comes with a price tag (negotiable). Ready for sale! This is what a brothel-broker's sale-pitch would've been for teenage girl Laskhmi (Monali). A good bargain for a piece of puberty (sic!). Lakshmi's story of tragedy, trauma and triumph begins here.

An obnoxious pimp Chinna (Nagesh) buys off Lakshmi from a village in Andhra Pradesh and packs her off to a brothel (owned by his own corrupt brother, Reddy - Satish Kaushik) called Dharam Vilas Girls Hostel - a sham set up to run his sex trade. Soon she's thrown into a dark world of sex-hungry men who're ready to pay premium for her puberty. The 'madame' of the brothel (Shefali) trains her for the job (with padded bras and jellies to 'slip it in') while her roommate (Flora) teaches her how to allure the sleazeballs. She forges a friendship, but unable to suffer the atrocities, Lakshmi tries to escape the sex slavery. It leads to more unbearable brutality, but she's a fighter. She drags her oppressors to the courtroom and exposes their despicable crimes.

Kukunoor's 'Lakshmi', based on a harrowing true story, is a thought-provoking, disturbing film told with heartbreaking detail and a narrative that is so raw and ruthlessly realistic, it often becomes repul
sive. The repeat scenes of sexual exploitation (layered with lewd dialogues: 'Machine mein tel daal, factory kholna hai') are gut-wrenching. Several movies and documentaries have been filmed on this subject, what makes this special is the steadfast resolve of a 14-year-old to fight social demons.

We wish Kukunoor had focused more on her spirit and triumph - our experience would've been more fulfilling, less overbearing. Shefali is brilliant, debutant Monali expresses with her beautiful eyes. Kapoor and Kaushik are average and Nagesh doesn't push his performance too far.

Lakshmi's story makes your heart bleed. If you have the courage, watch it.

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Konthayum Poonulum - Malayalam Movie Review

Konthayum Poonulum

Story: The film is woven around a group of disconnected characters and their conflict with myths and beliefs regarding the existence of ghosts.

Konthayum Poonulum switches between scary myths and logical truths. It spreads out a varied set of characters, each of them grappling with apparitions or their own contorted beliefs. Jijo Antony, who has directed and co-scripted the film, follows a non-linear pattern to narrate this tale, wherein he constructs spooky sequences and reserves plausible explanations for the later.

On the face of it, Konthayum Poonulum boasts of some decent effort that went into the making of a script that tries to meld belief with logic. He is assisted by a seasoned, commendable cast as well. The film falters with the way the sequences are managed.

A money-lender who cooks up a tale of meeting a ghost to guzzle liqour finally falls prey to his own ploy. A depraved, religiously disinclined cop finds himself struggling with a nervous encounter with a woman. A photographer who prides himself in his skills with camera is flummoxed as he fails to develop the image of a corpse.

Despite the earnest attempt to churn out a riveting plot, the scenes suffer from a dreadful langour. Jiju lavishes disorient
ed, aimless scenes teeming with a confusing array of colours and light as if to enhance the intricacies of his plot. The act misfires as the film slumps into a drab barrage of sequences. The fluidity that flashed here and there vanishes forever.

The mystery that builds around the character Krishnan played with brilliant restraint by Kunchako Boban stays on, one of the very few factors that make the film watchable.

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On the way - Malayalam Movie Review

On the way

Story: Three friends who lead a peaceful life chance upon a stranger and they find themselves charged for theft and murder.

On the way primarily dwells on values of friendship. The attempts at demonstrating this idea involve outrageously aimless sequences stitched together only to cause laughter. This would start from a newspaper man hurling his paper with such force that it knocks over the tea-cup of an old man waiting at the entrance of his house and startle a woman so badly that a flour-filled vessel slips from her hands.

Two scenes later, the director gets so much obsessed with this comic discovery that an extended sequence is added where a flabby man tries to catch the paper flying in the air and tumbling over a thin man. The film features three friends, for whom the ultimate joy of having fun is to drink.

The narrative is so hollow that the director has no other choice but to stretch the plot until he reaches a point where he can snap it and spread out the twists he has reserved. The twists happen as predictably as the ants in motion. The friends face trouble, run around for help and man
age to wriggle out.

On the way is way below mediocrity, trying to present a cinema with a pitiably amateurish plot and a set of characters that seem clueless about the antics they enact on screen.

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Hangover - Malayalam Movie Review

Hangover

Story: The film is about the close friendship shared by four youths and the unexpected turn of events they face during a trip.

Jobless, rich youngmen get together, have drinks, crack jokes and shun advice. In his debut film, Sreejith Sukumaran moulds his plot around a set of stereotypes. Ebin (Maqbul Salman), the richest brat among the lot, suffers heartbreak and his friends prod him to kidnap the girl from her marriage venue.

A trip is thus materialized in a manner closely resembling the narratives of flicks produced both inside and outside the country of late. The joyous, booze-soaked trip is halted by a series of events, later explained with the aid of flashbacks marked by monologues.

Hangover shows faint glimpses of likability, scattered like patches of green on a pasture in summer. The film hugely benefits from the na
tural joviality that springs from youthful chatter. However, the ever-lingering sense of predictability stalks it, making the acts of characters look mundane.

The cast finds themselves at ease, with Maqbul and Bhagath playing out their roles with a charm that sometimes act as a saving grace. The cinematographer, Anishlal, unearths subtle beauty in his frames, combining the dull tainted walls of a hostel room and the green of creepers hanging from a red pot.

In a film that inadvertently borrows from some of the greatest hits featuring male boorishness,Hangover fails to offer something new, an interesting side-track or a set of sequences that could keep viewers guessing. Instead, the narrative is plain and straight, moving on at a convenient pace without ever producing the riveting jolt that makes such narratives engrossing.

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Ettekal Second - Malayalam Movie Review

Ettekal Second

Story: The film is a love-story between two people who meet unexpectedly and later watch their chance meeting evolve into a relationship.

As a film that comes with an interesting title, Ettekal Second never actually goes beyond the science that inspired the title. According to scientists, if a man maintains an eye-contact with a woman for a period of 8.25 seconds, he finds her so attractive that he falls head over heels in love with her.

Working around this fact, Ettekal second is a monotonous arrangement of sequences that have marked love-stories for ages. Boy meets girl, her rudeness hurts him first and her sweetness melts him later. They also find themselves on the familiar opposite ends, the rich and the poor.

Song sequences are added adequately to give the narrative more sense, one of the songs even shot completely underwater. It's a beautifully shot sequence though, perhaps one of the rare moments where the film holds interest. There is an attempt to bring in a few good moments, l
ike the ruthless money-lender who is transformed into a pure soul after a man who owes him money donates blood for his son when everyone else turns him down.

However none of the scenes stand out simply because they appear squeezed in solely for the purpose of creating tenderness in a film built with cliches. Padmasurya shows flashes of promises, never overstraining himself and adding a touch of ease to the character of a lover boy. The curiosity around the title is sustained for a prolonged period and is broken almost abruptly.

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Swapaanam - Malayalam Movie Review

Swapaanam

Story: The film is an exploration of the emotional psyche of a percussion artist and his quest for love and art in life.

Swapaanam is a stretched out, hypnotic narrative that progresses with a person's artistic fulfilment and emotional anguish. It's about a percussionist who sways between a feverish quest for art and an aimless pursuit of love. While spreading out a maddening mosaic of love, passion, art and turbulence, Shaji N Karun wilfully administers a sedative languor to the film.

Unnikrishnan, played by Jayaram, has to deal with a mind that wobbles on the brink of delirium. He has long curls and restive fingers, his persona is a mirage that flits away into far realms irretrievably with every moment. He runs his fingers along the body of his partner like he taps on his percussion instrument. When he presses himself against his partner, his face is aglow not with searing desire, but with a contentment that plays on the face of an artist at the end of a masterful rendition.


Deep inside his strife-torn self, he is searching for his identity as he carries the stigma of being an illicit child. There is a woman who stirs him deeply with her expressions of art and passion. When implored, he pains her deeply so that she remembers him, he makes love to her so that she finds her own fulfilment.

For all its intensity, Swapaanam digresses too far without settling down, sketching more and more characters and wandering incoherently between the present and the past. Often, the plot is a blurred, incomplete dream with the characters ambling around as though in a never-ending haze.

Unni and his lover Nalini (Kadambari) exchange words that are profoundly poetic and unceasingly philosophical, but rarely human. Kadambari's portrayal appears strained, taking away the subtlety of Nalini's romance with Unni. Beyond a point, the film drags on aimlessly, the characters wandering in search of a final resting place.

Siddique lends brilliance to Narayanan Namboothiri, a weird, honest man who has a taste for art and astrophysics. His presence will be remembered for the exceptional manoeuvring of his vocals and his facial expressions.

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Hrudayam Ekkadunnadi - Telugu Movie Review

Hrudayam Ekkadunnadi

He's not only an architect by profession, he deems it only right that he be the architect of his own life. But when he falls in love with a schoolmate, it is a clash between his heart and head. His heart wants to marry the girl but his head refuses to bow to her father - something that the girl suggests only so that her father's heart could be won by him. 

Madhav (Krishna Maadhav) bumps into Divya (Anusha) at a restaurant and immediately recognises her as the girl he had a crush on when in school. They get talking and its leads to talking about marriage. In two months Divya will complete her studies but she's scared that her father will get her married to someone of his choice. Madhav is not perturbed. They make plans together on how Madhav will impress her father. And that is where the clash between Madhav and Divya takes place.

Just so that he can get an entry into her house, Divya introduces Madhav to her father and sees that he gets to design the new restaurant the family is planning to open. The architect gets on the job rightaway but when Divya asks him to show respect to her father by touching his feet, the level-headed man will not. That is only the beginning of differences between them. And then, there's also someone who is keen on seeing that Madhav does not finish the work in time. 

It is when things seem to be getting out of hand and there's too much pressure on him that Madhav encounters another problem: Nitya. 

Nitya (Samkruthi) objects to the construction work during the night as her father is a heart patient. Madhav handles the situation se
nsitively and in due course is drawn towards her. 

With whom does Madhav end up? That the question even on Manmadha's mind as the 'captain' who oversees all love affairs in the world. 

As a subject, the film has hardly shown that it can interest an audience. The pace of the movie is also painfully slow. Krishan Maadhav could do well to hone up his histrionics and dancing skills. Anusha is expressive and Samskruthi makes sure she limits herself to her brief. 

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Hyderabad Dreams - Telugu Movie Review

Hyderabad Dreams

Each one has a dream. The urge is to leave their village, land in Hyderabad and realise their dream. Hopes get crashed, dreams turn nightmares and burdens refuse to sink into the Tank Bund. The movie's main purpose is to tell everyone with a dream not to get disappointed or disgusted with life just because the path has not been easy or rosy. The director chooses to tell the story from the points of view of different people. 

Instead of studying, a child would rather want to be seen on television as a dancer and leaves home to Hyderabad without telling his parents. Ditto with a young girl who is simply fascinated by the silver screen and wants to enter tinsel town. Encouraged by her friends, she leaves her home without informing her parents and much as she might try for that elusive chance that will make her a heroine in Telugu films, she lands up a disappointed girl. To make matters worse, a manager in a film production takes advantage of her and she even loses her self-esteem.

Another character refuses to take up a job in his village because he has a Dubai dream. He lands in Hyderabad but the agent che
ats him of his Rs 3 lakh. There are similar stories of others who struggle to realise their ambitions. They are crestfallen but at a crucial juncture a professor enters the scene. At the Tank bund in the city, he encourages them not to give up on their aspirations. That is exactly what they want in life - such encouragement. 

Technically, the movie falls short of minimum expectations, though as subject it is good. There is nothing entertaining also in the movie, so it does not exactly fit into those commercial film categories. If you are looking for all those filmi elements to entertain you, the film is 'poor'. If you want to watch a docu-drama, you have no right to complain.

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Nuvve Na Bangaram - Telugu Movie Review

Nuvve Na Bangaram

Story: ​Haritha (Sheena) has a fight with Surya (Sai Krishna), a scooter mechanic. ​A girl calls up Surya one day. They talk. ​Haritha tries to get his attention away from the girl he has never met at all but speaks only on the phone. Haritha loves Surya who is interested in the girl who he speaks to always. Is there a way out?

Movie Review: ​The doting father's only condition for sending her father all the way from Vizag to Hyderabad is that she should assure him that she would not fall in love. The man's got a reason to be protective of his daughter because his son, rejected in love, commits suicide. The girl gives her assurance to her parents and lands in Hyderabad - and not realising it herself - in love.

Haritha (Sheena) has a fight with Surya (Sai Krishna), a scooter mechanic. He's rude and she's brutal. So, the chances of them ever exchanging even a pleasantry or even a glance are remote. A girl calls up Surya one day. They talk. The calls become more frequent. But the girl always avoids meeting him until, when she surprisingly agrees and asks him to meet him near her college bus stop. She does not come. Surya is terribly disappointed. When he calls her, she explains to him why she was not able to meet him.

Unexpectedly (for him), Haritha shows up before Surya and quite expectedly, he's mad at her considering that they've had a fight earlier. In subsequent meetings, Haritha makes him forget the fight just so that they could at least be friends. He agrees. Haritha tries to get his attention away from the girl he has never met at all but speaks only on the phone. Somewhere along, Haritha loses her heart to Surya. Now, that's quite dangerous for her. Sh
e had given her word to her parents that she would have nothing to do with the emotion called love. And moreover, Surya is interested in the girl who he speaks to always. Is there a way out?

Tanikella Bharani as Surya's father plays an uncharacteristic father. He's got to even handle his son Surya's undiluted honesty and truthfulness. Because the truth hurts, he wishes that it would be better if his son lied to him. Suman as Haritha's father is happy because of the name he has in society as one who brings up his children with discipline. He fits into his role well. The deliberately intended coarse comedy completely spoils the show. The raw and vulgar dialogues (wonder how they escaped the censors!) remove the focus from what could have been meaningful entertainment.

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