Watch Out For Him !!!!

Can anybody forget the small kids voice which says Chikubuku Chikubuku Railey in Shankar’s first film Gentleman. He is G.V. Prakash, nephew of our music genius A.R. Rahman. That small kid now is all grown up and turned into a music director. His introduction as a film composer was again under Shankar through the critically acclaimed Tamil film Veyil (Vesavi in Telugu) directed by Vasanthabalan. This film had been adjudged as the best film for the Filmfare Award.

His other releases so far are Oram Po, Evano Oruvan and Kireedom, all in Tamil. All these films are musical hits so far and his music has been receiving rave reviews and is acclaimed by all. He is currently working on two films in Telugu which are Adhi Oka Idhi Ley (Leelai in Tamil) and Ullasanga Uthsahanga for Karunakaran.

Even though I do not understand Tamil, songs were rocking and made me hear again and again. He is a grade 8 gold medalist in solo piano from Trinity College, London. Though he is only 19, he had already worked with the big names in the industry like A.R.Rahman, Harris Jayaraj, Bharadwaj, Vidyasagar, and Anu Malik. It is also rumored that Anu Malik's only musical hit in the recent years Jaan-E-Mann was actually composed by GV Prakash.

When his telugu songs gets released, I am sure he is gonna rock our TFI. Mark my words and Watch out for him !!!

Chirutha Audio

Finally the audio of the most awaited movie of the year is out. Here is short glimpse at what Charan has offered us in the first installment.

1. Yamaho Yammaa... 3.75 / 5

Song starts slowly and builds the tempo which suits best for a dance number. There seems to be Himesh Reshamiyya’s influence on this song especially on the hindhi lyrics. Good song to start an album with. Mani Sharma neither disappoints nor excels in this song. He did his job and now it is upto Charan and Puri to complete the job.

2. Love U raa... 3 / 5

Here comes another Puri and Krishna Vamsi’s trade mark BEACH song. Nice melody as interludes. This is the only song which more or less falls into soft melody. Definetly could have been better.

3. Yenduko pichi pichi ga nachaave.... 3.5/5

This reminds of a situational youth song. Starts with the same guitar beat as in "Avunu Nijam" song in Athadu. Mani should have avoided this.

Rough ga vundey oka kurraaadu, oka ammaayini chusi one-side prema lo padi soft ga tayarayyi aame chuttu tirigi tirigi, aame enthaki padakakunda pose kottadam tho, koncham visugocchi aa abbayi vesukunna song idhi.

High Energy undhi song lo and best suits for few Teen Maar steps in between.

4. Champaka Champaka..... 3 / 5

This would have been a sure shot chartbuster if only the tune was a little more catchy. Orchestrization chaala bagundhi kaani ,Tune anta catchy ga ledhu.

Again dance ki ekkuva scope vundhi along with picturization.

5. MaarO Maaro....... 4.5/5

Excellent Opening...Racha Racha beat song..Hit song of the album. I am sure none of MEGA FANS would be in their searts for this song. Okalliddaru fanatics aithe battalu chimpukunna aascharyam ledhu on the first day morning show.

On the flip side ee range beats ki repu on-screen steps match kaaledu antey asalukey mosam vastundhi. I am sure this would be one of the few telugu songs which is gonna rock dance floor’s in the near future.

6. Kanniti..... ????

Yedava Sodhi Bit song. Acts as lump in the throat after listening to Maaro Maaro song.

7. Ivvale..... 3.25/5

Song takes-off like a rock song but something is surely missing. A fast paced song but after the first charanam song just falls flat. It’s so sad that they let go off a sure shot winner again.

8. Innalla dooram...... ?????

Yet another sad bit song. They should have avoided these two sodhi sad songs atleast in the audio album.

Overall ga cheppali antey :
1. Complete dance oriented songs. There is a huge talk that charan is a step above Allu Arjun in dances. Audio further supplements the talk. It will be a litmus test for Charan in dances. It all depends on his dances now.

2. I kind of expected few mass songs. Kaani Mass kante youth ki baaga nache album idhi

3. I can’t help but observe the careless attitude of the protoganist which is seen in almost all of Puri Jagannath’s movies. Careless attitude, nirlakshyam, pogarubothu tanam anni ee songs lo kudaa vunnayi. Hopefully the movie is also on the same lines.

4. A little more care on “Champaka Champaka” and “Ivvale” song would have made them sure shot winners.

But again, Puri is one of the very few directors now in TFI who wraps a movie in a very short time. And the kind of music he extracts in that short period is amazing.

5. Okka feel good, romantic number vuntey this would have been a full meals, but still I am not complaining.

6. Koncham hindhi songs influence could be seen.

Final Word:
Mani Sharma icchina music ki if Charan can match even 50% in steps then I am sure MEGA FANS would proudly lap him as “CHIRUTHAnayudu" and make him the Yuvaraja for the dance samrajyam which his dad has built over the years.

Good Luck Charan !!!

Stupid Six

First Day First Show generally seals the fate of a movie. In very rare cases the slide downhill is thwarted and word of mouth creates an upswing. And if response on first day first show is not that encouraging then PR team goes all out to save the movie.

Here is a look at what I call the “Stupid Six” rules which our telugu film industry tries too often to save their movie.

1. On Second Day, an interview of either the Hero or Director appears on all channels stating that “Industry lo bad talk enduku vachindo teliyadu kaani Public antaa chaala enjoy chestunnaru”.

2. By Third day, you will see posters everywhere, i.e., on walls, sidewalks, telephone junctions, outside Public loos, inside railway platforms, at the back of buses– all having Super Hit printed either in Red or Black on white background. The more desperate ones go for Super-Duper Hit splashed across the posters.

3. All print media carries full page ads from distributors from various territories congratulating the entire team of a film and its makers for such a stupendous opening. Collections from all theatres from all prints are clubbed together to give a gross figure mentioned as Rs.4,84,54,547. Never a rounded off figure e.g. Rupees Four Crores Eighty Four Lakhs Fifty Four Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Seven. The PR team probably thinks that if the number is rounded then the public thinks it is not true (so true )

4. First day First show reactions of selective audience is edited and played non-stop on electronic media to create the buzz. Generally, the remarks selected go something like: Good movie, Awesome, Fabulous, Hero has given wonderful performance, Heroine has just given…. Wonderful…..Direction is too good.(to be true)…..Songs are fantastic(beyond fantasy).

5. Abhinandana Sabha by Fifth day. An actor who is out of form or retired by now congratulates the team for their brilliant effort and requests them to make similar movies in the future too.

6. If all this does not seem to be working then they take out their Brahmasthram i.e, Vijaya Yatra.

Cheeni Kum

This is a film to be savored and enjoyed. This script is maturely written and what impressed me the most was the dialogues between the lead pair. It has humor interlaced in the conversations with wit and sarcasm.

Cheeni Kum has Amitabh Bachan as Buddhadev Gupta, a 64 year YOUNG chef-owner of a restaurant in London, a restaurant he claims is the best in London for Indian food. He has a ego which is as big as his age. His ego receives a big dent when Tabu ( as Nina Verma) sends back a Zafrani HYDERABADI BIRYANI ( hmm…my mouth watered whenever the dish came up on the screen) saying that it’s too sweet. Arrogant Bachan instead of looking into the mistake makes use of his sarcastic tongue at Tabu. This start’s a battle of wits and ego which leads to something more.

Bachan comes to India to ask Tabu’s hand from his father Paresh Rawal who is 6 years younger to him making the film much more interesting. The way he keeps reminding Bachan of their age is something which needs to seen.

Amitabh is an Icon. As far as I know, he is the only actor who’s had films written for him, as he ages. The hero has become older with Amitabh. Matching Bachhan with height, grace and talent, Tabu does an outstanding job as the confident yet understated Nina.

Balakrishnan (renowned ad film maker) who directs a commercial film for the first time has etched out his characters well as he takes up a controversial topic. It is said many times between the characters itself that Bachan could be the father of Tabu keeping in mind 30 years age gap between them. Even though the last 30 minutes of the film goes down in terms of entertainment, this film entertains on whole.

Music by “Maestro” Ilayaraja enhances the film’s appeal, and the refrain “Cheeni Kum hai” is totally apt.

Romance is hard to do in film, and only VERY FEW movies succeed. Fortunately, Cheeni Kum is one among those. A CLASSY FILM, it’s hard to say any more.

For your weekend, go out and a grad a DVD now !!

Banthi Dorledhi Eppudoo ???

I don’t think anybody can forget the role Banthi played by Sunil in Nuvvu Naaku Nachaav. Sunil aa role lo enta jeevinchaadu antey, since then all the servant roles are done only by him. After Andala Ramudu became a hit, Sunil wanted to do a movie titled Banthi. Trivikram Srinivas who is Sunil’s best friend and his room mate during their struggling days has completed the script. But the problem was who should direct this film.

Trivikram Srinivas has become a hot shot director after the classic Athadu. The project will not be commercially viable if he directs it. Then the name which was seriously considered was Seenu Vytla. Venky is a classic example of how Seenu Vytla can handle comedy. Seenu Vytla also agreed to do the film when he was going through a low after the colossal failure of Andarivaadu and Dhee was stuck in the cans for an year.

When Dhee got released and became a Surprise Hit of the year, scene mottam maari poyindhi. He followed it up with Dubai Seenu. Now every other hero who is worth a pie is vying for Seenu Vytla to direct a movie for him. This had put Sunil’s project on the back burner now.

Mari Banthi Dorledhi Eppudooo ?????????

Press Meets

Gemini TV and Teja TV telecasts NEWS and FILM NEWS respectively at the same time 8.30 PST. Being a movie buff, I always watch film news on Teja TV. 7 days a week they have film news for 30 minutes a day. I always wonder how they can procure so much news daily. This lead to an interesting observation.

Right from the announcement of the film to the 100 days function, the filmmakers meet the Press umpteen times. Take a look at where it begins and where it ends.

1. Announcement Meet
2. Muhurath
3. First Schedule Progress
4. Second Schedule Progress
5. Third Schedule Progress
6. Songs Picturization
7. Logo Aavishkarana
8. Audio Launch
9. CD Launch
10. Trailers
11. Day before Movie Release Meet
12. Excellent First Day Talk Meet
13. Bhaari Openings Meet
14. Platinum Disc Function
15. Success Meet / Tour
16. Abhinandana – One actor praises the star for his performance
17. Hexa Platinum Disc Function
18. Last but not the least, if the film runs for 50 days and then to 100, you again have 50 days and 100 days celebrations

Apart from these, you will have the interviews of the actors, director, producer, music director, cameraman on the side. Big budget movies also have almost all of the above press meets except that of schedule progress and songs picturization, as these days most of them are filmed on a low key. But when the movie is ready for release, again you will see all the press meets stated above from 8 to 18.

This is definitely a Creative Field.

Flop King

Okappudu (or even now) Mohan Babu was/is called as Collection King. But does any one of you remember when was the last time he had a HIT ? The last hit or atleast an average movie from him was Collector garu way back in 1997. He stopped acting in outside banners and only acts in movies produced by himself. His banner Sri Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures produced a series of flops like Rayudu, Yamajatakudu, Postman, Adhipathi (Even Nagarujuna couldn’t save this movie), Rayalaseema Ramanna Chowdary, Tappu Chesi Pappu Koodu, Shiva Shankar, Political Rowdy (not necessarily in the same order). He then introduced his sons Vishnu and Manoj to TFI and produced Vishnu, Suryam, Sree and Raju Bhai.

Can you imagine how much money he would have lost making these miserable movies ?? Any guesses on how he is still able to churn out more miserable movies one after another ??. He must be getting his money through his colleges in Tirupati and his commercial properties elsewhere but where is he heading towards?? As I mentioned in my earlier posts, Dabbuntey Herolu ayipovacha ? Does his sons have to be Hero’s ?

Whenever I watch him in a press meet, I always hear from him “Kathane nammukuntaanu”. But look at the movies he had produced or acted. He never ever gave a chance to new and young talent. A glance at his movies in the last 10 years, tells me that Cinemallo avakasam raani vallandharu MB chuttu vunnaru. Real worth vunna vallu ayana deggara ku vellaraaa ?? Leka he won’t let them come near him aa annadhi manaku teliyadu.

He is working real hard to establish his sons as heroes in this industry. But when Dhee was stuck for more than a year, he never tried even to push it. And when it finally released, it gave Vishnu the much needed HIT. Deenini batti emi artham avutondhi antey, Mohan Babu had lost his judgement over the movies.

What I really don’t understand is why is he still trying to romance with Charmi at this age ?? MB has an impeccable style in dialogue delivery. He is aptly called as Dialogue King. Why don’t he experiment in his roles which I am sure would get elevated with his dialogue delivery ?? Is his role in Yama Donga his first step towards this ?? Let wait and see…

Lakalakakalakalakalakalakalakalaka

Everyone knows how big hit the song 'Ra Ra' in Chandramukhi was. Even though this song was in Tamil, the song and the movie was a huge HIT. But this was not the first time a Telugu Film was having a Tamil Song. Long back, Nagaiah's film Tyagaiah also had a Tamil song.

Occassionally, we do have films in other languages with Telugu songs . Here is a list of some of other South Indian films which had telugu songs:

Tamil Films with Telugu Songs

1. Mogamulu

2. Salaingai Ozhi

3. Maragada Veenai

4. Kavari Maan

5. Thava Purulavan

6. Navarathnam

7. Arivazhli

8. Krishna Bhakti

9. Isai Padumu Tendral

10. Madana Kamarajan

11. Devaragam

12. Tandu Vitten Enne

13. Gowri Manohara

14. Chandramukhi


Kannada Films with Telugu Songs
1. Apthamithra ( Chandramukhi )


Malayalam Films with Telugu Songs
1. Shankarabharanam

Putra Ratnalu !!!

We all know that A.M.Ratnam came up the hard way in life from being Vijaya Shanti’s makeup man to one of the biggest producers in South India. Literally, Kinda nundi paiki vachaadu. He made films with Chiranjeevi and Rajnikanth and gave break to many people.

Have a look at the HIT films he produced-
1. Karthavyam
2. Peddarikam
3. Gentleman
4. Premikudu
5. Bharateeyudu
6. Jeans
7. Sneham Kosam
8. Oke Okkadu
9. Narasimha
10. Kushi

11. Run

12. Boys

13. Gilli (Okkadu in Tamil)

14. 7/G Brindavan Colony

Ratnam’s elder son Jyothi Krishna directed Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu with Tarun, Trisha and Shriya. It had music by none other than A.R. Rahman. There were 2 songs which were beautifully composed by ARR and also were well shot. Except for that, the whole movie was a piece of crap. A.M. Ratnam lost around 8 crores on this movie. I appreciate his guts to invest so much money on Tarun.

Then he introduced his younger son Ravi Krishna through the bi-lingual 7G Brindavan Colony (7G Rainbow Colony in Tamil). This was a master piece aesthetically shot by Selva Raghavan (Known as Sri Raghav for Telugu Audience). Then he launched Jadoo (KD in Tamil) with his younger son as hero and directed by his elder son. This film had Ileana and Tamanna as the heroines. This was a colossal failure in Tamil though it got good appreciation for Tamanna. The telugu version Jadoo is still lying in the cans and yet to see the light. Reportedly, this movie also put a dent of around 6 crores for A.M. Ratnam.

All these losses had a huge impact on A.M.Ratnam which made his Vikram starrer Bheema delay. It has been in the making for the last year and half. Ippudu dubbing avutondhi. Thondarloney re-recording finsh chesi September lo release cheddam anukuntunnaru. Can you imagine a film of a Superstar like Vikram with a producer like A.M. Ratnam getting delayed so much due to financial difficulties ??

Jeevitam lo sampadinchindhi anta rendu cinemallo iddaru putra ratnalu valla pogottukunnadu A.M.Ratnam. This reminds me of Venky's dialogue in Nuvvu Naaku Nachav "Podigina Guddu Pilla ayinappudu Kodiki, Edigina Koduku Prayojakudu ayinappudu Thandriki ........"

All in the Family

Does the following names sound familiar to you.

· Keeravani
· Rajamouli
· Gunnam Gangaraju
· Chandrasekhar Yeleti
· Cherry

If Yes, then let me explain you how closely they are connected.
· Keeravani and Rajamouli are sons of brothers i.e. Anna Tammudu
· Keeravani’s wife Sreevalli and Rajamouli’s wife Rama are sisters i.e. Akka Chelli
· Gunnam Gangaraju is Rajamouli’s wife Rama’s cousin i.e. Annayya
· Gunnam Gangaraju wife’s brother is Chandrasekhar Yeleti i.e. Bammardhi
· Chandrasekhar Yeleti’s brother-in-law is Cherry i.e. Baava

No wonder, everyone is working so hard for their home production Yama Donga. Yama Donga is

• Directed by Rajamouli
  
• On Viswamitra Creations established by Rajamouli


• Produced by Gunnam Gangaraju’s wife Urmila and Cherry
  
• Music by Keeravani
  
• Costumes by Rajamouli’s wife Rama
  
• Story by Rajamouli’s father Vijayendra Prasad
  
• Music has been released on Vel Records which is owned by Keeravani’s wife Sreevalli

So all the work for the film has been done by family members. Andukaney antaaru anukuntaa, Kalasi Vuntey Kaladu Sukham ani….

Bheja Fry

I under estimated this movie and at the end of it I was so glad that I under estimated it. I am talking about Bheja Fry. What a pleasant surpise it was !!. I really can’t understand how can they make a movie with 57 lakhs with so much talent, original songs and complete FUN. It is reported that it collected 20 times its investment.

Though this film has its inspiration from a French film, it is completely Indianised. An extra ordinary Vinay Pathak, who fancies himself as the true K L Saigal follow up, completely carries this film on his shoulders. Rajat Kapoor aptly supported him for most part of the movie. The fun multiplies when Ranvir Shorey enters the scene.

This movie easily qualifies as the most hilarious movie in the recent times. This film is seriously funny and a celebration of low budget cinema. This film has great acting, great situations and a very simple script. In a nutshell, BHEJA FRY is a time pass fare that doesn’t tax your BHEJA. It is 100 minutes of pure humor. Go out now, grab a DVD and enjoy this weekend with BHEJA FRY.

P.S: It seems that S.V. Krishna Reddy is trying to remake this movie in Telugu. If he does, I personally think that Sunil might be a great fit for the lead role.

Aata is now Chirutha

Now more dope on Aata. When Harish Shankar was removed as the director from Aata, he took the same story to his friend Puri Jagannadh and requested him to produce the movie. Puri was so impressed with the story that he took the story and made some changes and gave a narration to Chiru. Chiru was so impressed with the story that he asked Puri to launch his son Ram Charan through that story.

Harish Shankar might be extremely happy as his story was chosen by Megastar himself for his son's debut. Also, it would get him a good break if Chirutha turns out to be a hit.

So finally, Aata is now being made as Chiruta. Kahani mein twist haa !!!

Ullasanga Uthsahanga

Finally I got to lay my hands on the DVD of Happy last night. I thanked Allu Aravind inside my heart for finally releasing a DVD from Geeta Arts Banner. Watching this movie reminded me of the director Karunakaran.

Karunakaran the Tamil born director who has never directed a Tamil film so far has only one hit Tholi Prema to his credit. He followed it up with Yuvakudu which was a youthful entertainer. This film will serve as a best example where the whole film goes down just because of the CLIMAX. The last 30 minutes of the film does not gel with the rest of the film. Karunakaran seems to be carried away with the Kargil war at that time and tried to infuse kargil point into this entertainer.

He then made Vasu which again was a decent entertainer but Venkatesh was a complete miscast. It would have definitely fared better if it had anyone else other than Venkatesh. You simply can not watch venky in ¾ ‘s and Gotti.

Then he re-united with Pawan Kalyan after Tholi Prema and made Balu. This had a very bad script which was used umpteen number of times before. Then came Happy with Allu Arjun. This has a nice story with an interesting screenplay.

Karunakaran’s strength lies in his ability to chip in sweet nothings which leaves a strong impression on you even after you walk out of the theatre. This one aspect is good enough to make any movie HIT. But he also seems to mess up the climax as seen in Yuvakudu and Happy which leaves the audience curse him when they walk out of the theatre and finally making the film a FLOP.

Now to prove his mettle he is coming back with vengeance with a film titled Ullasamga Utsahanga with a new hero and Sneha Ullal, an Aishwarya Rai look-alike.

The music director is GV Prakash (nephew of AR Rehman) who’s pretty famous now in Tamil Nadu. I will talk about him in detail later.

I sincerely wish he gives us a breezy entertainer and make us leave the theatre Ullasanga Uthsahanga.