The movie starts with Indu (Mrunal Thakur) praising Govardhan (Vijay Devarakonda, VD for short in this post) and telling whoever is listening to her about his good nature.
VD is the good boy of the family, who even takes care of the families of his 2 elder brothers, (who have no role in the movie at all). He is single, because he is yet to find a wife who thinks like him, who is ready to accept to live in a joint family, with responsibilities and all.
Now enters Indu, a new tenant in VD’s house and his life changes. All is well, till they decide to make things official but soon VD finds out that Indu is infact submitting a thesis on VD and his family in her University. She is an anthropology student and the book she published is called ‘The Man! (Highly unlikely and unbelievable even by the standards of anthropology and the movie, BUT whatever!)
VD feels insulted that she chose to approach him with a thesis at the back of her mind. He slaps her, doesn’t let her talk why she had done, what she had done and that’s the sign of INTERMISSION in movies.
Then comes the brain sucking, yawn inducing second half. What have I done to deserve this?
VD rakes his brains and comes up with a master plan on how to get back at Indu!
He contacts the company that had initially hired him during his campus placement days, meets with Jagapathi Babu, the MD. He not only asks for the job, but also for 2 or 5 year salary advance! (I am not sure if it is 2 or 5 yr advance because, at this point I was like, what the hell!)
Interestingly, Jagapathi Babu not only accepts his proposal but also decides to send VD for on-site work in the USA!
Can you guess what VD does with his salary advance, which is in crores? He pays off loans, buys bike, jewellery for the ladies in the family. Well and good. But he shows it off to Indu, through video calls! Such a loser!
He gets ready to fly to USA and guess who is accompanying him, but none other than the new CEO, Indu, who is the daughter of Jagapathi Babu!
Wait! So Indu’s father is running a construction company. She is his only daughter who inherits everything. She will surely be the CEO. Then why the hell did she go about studying Anthropology in Central University and write a thesis on VD! Beats me…
From here on the movie is a drag, with fights here and there and boring story line and sad faces and taunting lines.
Even Vennela Kishore is wasted in this movie, with no scope for humour. I wasted 350 bucks for a recliner seat and 750 bucks for caramel popcorn (I thought the movie would be entertaining!)
This is an all time bakwas movie I had ever watched, right behind LOVE STORY 2050, which is still going strong at the first spot.
P.S:
Rohini Hattangadi as the grandma is a plus for the movie. I love watching her always. The other side characters are passable, not worth mentioning. The fresh pairing of the main lead is a positive for the movie.
The director even tried to remind us of Geetha Govindam by clever placement of classical dancers near Mrunal Thakur, (as in Inkem Inkem kavale song) but still, this is no Geetha Govindam.
To think that the movie was made by the director who made my all time favourite movie SOLO is a little surprising, but then, humans make errors.
Solid editing would have made the movie better.
Interestingly, die hard fans of VD say that the movie is fantastic and big heroes are trying to bring VD down, just like they did with Uday Kiran. I think that is trash talk. Uday Kiran movies were wayyyy better!
Last but not the least, the name VD goes by in the movie is Govardhan and everytime I heard the name, I could only think of Subbaraju as Govardhan in Khaleja (another favorite of mine).
I am not a fan of Mahesh Babu. (Sorry fans!) I am more of a story centric viewer. I was not at all eager to watch Guntur Kaaram. Firstly, I didn’t know it was directed by Trivikram Srinivas, secondly, I didn’t particularly enjoy the trailer! In-spite of this, I watched Guntur Kaaram, because, we have a family friend A, who gave us free passes for the movie! (Fans do so much for their Stars!)
The story starts with a fire accident and the ensuing fight causes Raghu Babu to kill Sunil by mistake. (Sunil in a brief cameo.) Incidentally, the fire also causes Ramana (Mahesh Babu, MB for short in this post) to lose sight in his left eye. (I am not exactly sure about it, but how can a person who is partially blind in an eye, not even show a little bit of discomfort in his fights or dances? That’s hero worship for you, where even the director is blinded by the hero and his fandom!)
The fire accident also causes a rift between both MB’s parents, where his father ends in jail and mom leaves her only child to marry another gentleman, Rao Ramesh. They have a son, Rahul Ravidran (another useless cameo!), who could have been replaced by a card board figure and no one would have known the difference, as such!
Jayaram, plays the father of MB, who does nothing but sit in his corner table and listen to situational songs. (Perfect example of casting an actor for a role without scope for acting. He hardly gets a scene to perform. I loved him in Ponniyin Selvan and even Ala Vaikuntapuramlo)
How would a child turn out if the father lives in his own world and a mom who leaves the child and never stays in touch? The child would have issues, with everyone and everything. That is the reason for MB’s temper issues. (Guntur Kaaram)
Ramya Krishna plays MB’s mom and she gets a scene or two, to show her prowess.
Anyway, Prakash Raj, plays maternal grandfather of MB. As you might have guessed he is the villain, who wants nothing but MB signing off his inheritance and the likes. His lawyer Murali Sharma is incharge of getting MB to sign. This somehow brings Vennela Kishore and Sree Leela into the picture, who are after MB to get him to sign.
That is where everything goes wrong for me. Which lawyer in the world would send his own daughter to pester a man, who is known all around to be Guntur Kaaram, known for his temper issues? Why is there a need for so many cameos? Why did Jagapathi Babu even work in the movie? Why is there a character of cousin in the movie, called Raji? What is the significance? The only thing I could come up with is, Trivikram roped in one actor each from all his hit movies, to give Guntur Kaaram an extra push!
But…
Guntur Kaaram feels similar to Ala Vaikuntapuram.
Rahul Ravindran replacing Sushanth,
Ramya Krishna mirroring Tabu, (both living with their rich fathers)
Meenakshi Chaudhary and her counter part Nivetha Pethuraj
Mother sentiment in both the movies, even background score is similar to Ala Vaikuntapuram. Lack of creativity and imagination from director and music director is sad.
Trivikram even managed to rope in Eashwari Rao ( the nurse from Ala Vaikuntapuram. She plays MB’s aunt.)
Seasoned actors Prakash Raj, Ramya Krishna, Jayaram, Murali Sharma, Vennela Kishore performed well within the scope of their respective roles. MB never lit so many cigarettes in any movie ever! He has performed better in the dance numbers, probably not wanting to lose to Sree Leela! The movie is worth watching only for its seasoned actors and MB.
I am not a fan of the unnecessary dance performance by Sree Leela, in the godown! We all know she is a fabulous dancer, but the sequence is so out of place. I loved Ala Vaikuntapuramlo better, because, the hero worship was less apparent! (Atleast it had top notch acting from Murali Sharma, Sachin Khedekar and Allu Arjun, while the story was the main hero!)
P.S:
It has its moments, but it is no ‘Athadu‘ or ‘Khaleja‘. It is just a forgettable Guntur Kaaram! (But fans may disagree with me.)
I dozed off in the second half of the movie, that sums up everything for you.
I know a hero needs to cater to his fans, but I was surprised by mass song MB performed at the end! It reminded the song, Ma Ma Mahesha from Sarkar Vari Pata. That is not all. The concept of the heroine approaching MB with ulterior motive is similar to what Keerthi Suresh did in Sarkar Vari Pata. Overall, Guntur Kaaram is a mash up of two hit movies but it still is a mediocre one time watch!
If you are in a mood for a new movie, with fantastic visuals, goose bump moments and without cheap thrills, head straight to ‘Hanu-Man‘ and thank me later.
Ever since I saw the trailer of Hanu Man, that too with Teja Sajja as the main lead, I wanted to watch the movie in theater, thanks to it being a super hero movie based on Hindu Mythology. Added to that Teja had been my favourite child artist after my other favourites and National award winners Tarun and Shamilee, both from the children’s movie directed by Mani Ratnam, Anjali (1990).
Anyway, watching same kind of movies is so boring. I also watched Guntur Karam. I will review it next. I think this is the month of movies as I also watched 12th Fail and The Archies in quick succession!
Let’s get back to the Hanu-Man.
Review:
Directed by : Prasanth Varma
Release Date : January 2024
Hanu-Man
The movie starts with a school going child Micheal and his love for super heroes. (which is generally normal in kids) But once his love turns into obsession, this child grows into a super villain and as far as I know, that is the first instance in a movie, where the villain is introduced in the first scene itself! His mom tries to give him good advice and he also manages to retain it in his brain, the only thing is that he never understands the true meaning of it. So that is our clever, rich and psychotic villain.
Then comes the drone shot and the majestic Hanu-Man statue, guarding the village of Anjanadri, where we find the male lead Teja, playing Hanumanthu, a common thief. Thanks to the build up given during male lead introduction, we may imagine the hero to be good at fights etc, but he is not! He is a failure in many ways. (That clearly shows the contrast between Hanumanthu before and after gaining his super power.)
He is in love with his childhood crush, Meenakshi, a doctor, who visits the village for summer holidays and also enlightens the villagers, who are under the iron fist of a local pehlwan.
Long thing short, during a fight among the goons and the hero, who is in it to save Meenakshi, Hanumanthu falls into the ocean and finds himself a stone, with the power of Lord Hanuman. (The stone is said to contain a drop of Lord Hanuman’s blood. Nice!)
Suddenly the good for nothing thief, finds himself at the centre of supreme power and uses it to help the locals bring down the pehlwan. He also manages to get them to start electing a local head to rule them.
Meanwhile, Micheal happens to see a video of Hanumanthu showing off his super power and lands at Anjanadri, on the pretext of constructing a hospital for them!
The rest of the story is about how Hanumanthu saves the stone from the villain. The movie ends with Hanumanthu becoming a super hero, with a red cape, like Doctor Strange!
Teja as Hanumanthu is believable and is a natural. He is better than some other star kids, who suck at acting.
Amritha Aiyer as Meenakshi has little scope for acting, she is good in her scenes.
Vinay Rai, the hero of Vaana (2008 movie, meaning Rain) now plays a villain who is on the verge of being psychotic. Even if the duration of his role is small, he is impactful.
Sathya, Getup Srinu bring some laughs. I liked how a bird, probably a humming bird, hovered on Sathya’s head, always! Lol! This scene itself shows how well comedy has been blended in the scenes, without adding extra dialogues to impress us, the audience.
The best role however went to Varalaxmi Sharatkumar. Her role is relatable too.
Lastly, there is Samudrakhani, who plays an important character in the movie. I won’t reveal it! (I will forever remember him as the villain from Ala Vaikuntapuram. He even has a song in the movie. Which villain ever had a song in a movie? It is a rare feat!)
Vennela Kishore, for once played a character role and not anything related to comedy. He is one actor who has a natural flair for comedy after the world record holder, Brahmanandam. This is purely my personal opinion. (Sunil used to have similar flair for comedy. But he has transitioned effortlessly into character and villain roles. He is not suited for hero roles, thank God he found his positives.)
Hanu-Man has its highs and lows, but some scenes are memorable and will remain with us for sometime. Just like how Rajamouli makes a powerful statement with memorable scenes, Prashanth Varma has also executed it.
The one scene I love, is where Hanumanthu, after beating up the goons, sits on top of them, which is similar to how Lord Hanuman makes his own throne with his looooong tail, in Lanka, to sit a few feet taller than the Lankesh, Ravana.
Hanuman seated on tail throne in front of Ravana – @Tadipatri, A.P.
The other scene I love is when Hanuman is shown as the shadow of Lord Rama. Chef’s kiss on its way!
It is satisfying to watch Hanuman at the climactic scenes. Thankfully, the CGI is beautiful, which will satisfy an average movie-goer and the scenes with gold coloured Hanuman statue are good too.
Overall the movie is a pleasant watch. There is no vulgarity or cringe worthy scenes, so that’s a plus.
Go ahead and watch it, I am eager to see what will follow this movie.
P.S:
Prasanth Varma, the director is ambitious and the movie is made under Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe! There will be sequels coming up and I hope they will surpass the first installment. Way to go. About time someone made a super hero franchise in India.
Even though Hanu-Man showed a lot of potential, only limited number of theaters or multiplexes had shows for this movie. Injustice! It proved the rumour that big producers don’t allow small movies.
I loved the song in which the hero Hanumanthu fights the bad guys while the village ladies were busy making the yummy mouth watering mango pickle!
High on the beautiful saga of Ponniyin Selvan -1, I managed to watch Ponniyin Selvan -2 yesterday and here comes the review, while it is still in fresh in my mind!
While PS-1, was all about introducing the various important characters of the Chola Dynasty and their power equations and enemy rulers Pandyans, PS-2 is all emotions and drama!
Adithya, Arulmozhi and Kundavai
***Major Spoilers ahead***
Title : Ponniyin Selvan – 2
Director : Mani Ratnam
Released in: May 2023
QB watched on: May 2023
PS-2 starts with the love story of Nandini and Adithya Karikalan, which although is beautiful, it is short lived. I loved watching the young actors perform the sad love story! Once Adithya shows off Nandini as his love interest, she is deported from the Chola empire, thanks to crown Princess Kundavai and Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi (yesteryear heroine Jaya Chitra), both of who despise Nandini, largely due to the fact that she is an orphan. Adithya only finds her, years later, with Veera Pandyan (Nasser in a cameo), who takes her under his wings. Here, we was left wondering what exactly the relation was, between Nandini and Veera Pandyan.
Meanwhile, Arulmozhi Varman and Vandiyadevar, survive the ship wreck thanks to the oldmute Mandakini Devi (Aishwarya Rai,in dual role, supposedly the birth mother of Nandini) who manages to save the injured Arulmozhi Varman. Vandiyadevar diverts the pandyans (and sends away Arulmozhi to a safe location) in search of Arulmozhi, fights Pandyan Ravidasan (Kishore, who also happens to be Forest Officer from the Kantara movie, if you need the reference) and is captured and taken to Nandini, the ally of Pandyans. Nandini vows to avenge the death of Veera Pandyan. Here, Vandiyadevar finds out that Nandini intends to kill Adithya Karikalan by herself.(The Pandyans have their doubts, because, it is a known fact that Karikalan and Nandini were once lovers) Once Vandiyadevar reveals to Nandini, about meeting her mother in SriLanka, she spares his life in return. The boat scenes in the movie, are beautiful to look at, I loved the cinematography.
Vandiyadevar meets Kundavai and tells her Arulmozhi is safe and sound with the Buddhist monks, whereas Nambi relays the same message to Adithya Karikalan. Both the siblings reach Lankan Buddhist monastery and meet Arulmozhi, who plans on returning to the Cholan capital of Thanjavur. (Meanwhile, Madhuranthakan is creating an army for himself, which consists mostly of Shiva Bhakts, in the hopes of defeating Adithya Karikalan and Sundara Chola and ruling the Chola Kingdom. At first glance I thought what are Aghoras doing with Madhuranthakan!)
Here, Kundavai, Vandiyadevar and Arulmozhi warn Adithya Karikalan against meeting Nandini at Kadambur. (Earlier in the movie, Parthibendran Pallavan(Vikram Prabhu), best friend of Karikalan, who is besotted with Nandini, convinces Karikalan to meet Nandini at Kadambur) Nandini, who is the famed beauty of Cholan Empire, has a sway with men. (I loved the costumes and jewellery of Aishwarya rai in the movie. Excellent work by the design team.)
Soon, we learn that, Sundara Chola and Mandakini Devi (the mother of Nandini), loved each other! During the Pandyan assassination attempt on Sundara Chola, Mandakini saves him and dies in the process. Thank God for that. (I didn’t like watching Aishwarya Rai as an old lady, with little scope for acting!) At one point in the movie, I wondered if Nandini and Kundavai, Adithya Karikalan and Arulmozhi were really half siblings, thanks to the love between Sundara Chola and Mandakini Devi. But the doubt is soon clarified. Nandini and the Cholan siblings are not related. Phew, the story would have been so sad, if they really were half siblings!
Adithya Karikalan, inspite of his knowledge of his planned assassination, meets Nandini and dies in the process. (He is ok with dying at the hands of Nandini. Just like in the Hindi movie, Raanjhanaa, where Dhanush dies in a similar fashion!) The death predicted at the beginning of PS-1 is that of Adithya Karikalan. Vandiyadevar, tries to save him, but fails and he is mistaken to be the murderer!
Later, Nandini finds out VeeraPandiyan was infact her father and she commits suicide, unable to come to terms with the death of Karikalan. (I still don’t understand Nandini and Karikalan, if they were so in love, why didn’t they just run away and live happily after? This point might have been explained in the book, but in the movie, it is still a mystery!) There is a fight between Pandyans and Cholas and Madhuranthakan aides Cholas. Cholas win. Ponniyin Selvan Arulmozhi Varman crowns Madhuranthakan as the new Cholan King! (and 15 years later, Ponniyin Selvan ascends the throne of Chola Empire and his reign saw most advancements in the Empire. He comes to be known as Raja Raja Chola, king of the Kings!
*** spoilers end***
What I liked, is the top notch acting. It is sad to see Adithya Karikalan and Nandini’s love come to a tragic end, Vikram and Aishwarya Rai shine in their roles. Like I said in PS-1 post, Karthi excels as Vandiyadevar. All the others have bit roles and limited screen time.
What I didn’t like is the last twenty minutes seem rushed. The fight could have been better. But that is not all. Why name the movie Ponniyin Selvan if the actor playing Ponniyin Selvan gets less screen time? I liked Jayam Ravi as Ponniyin Selvan and he shows in bits and pieces why he is liked and loved by his people. He is level headed and intelligent. The movie should have been named, Adithya Karikalan! Although I love Vikram and his acting, I didn’t understand why he got top billing in a movie about Ponniyin Selvan! I was eagerly waiting for scenes of Arulmozhi Varman, but the achievements of Raja Raja Chola are mentioned at the end and the credits roll! (Does that mean, PS-2 is just a tragic love story, albeit in a historical setting?)
Such a disappointment!
P.S:
I searched the net far and wide to see if there is going to be a Ponniyin Selvan – 3, but I don’t think there is going to be one! So it is a big let down, rushing the last twenty minutes of the movie, with reams and reams of story remaining!
According to online sources, Ponniyin Selvan , as written by Kalki Krishnamurthy, focuses and heroes Arulmozhi Varman, but this PS-2, although named after Ponniyin Selvan, talks more about his elder brother Adithya Karikalan! (I forgave the first movie with less screen time for Ponniyin Selvan, because, Mani Ratnam had to introduce us to many characters and I was fine with it.)
I am hungry for more information regarding the real Arulmozhi Varman, i.e. Raja Raja Chola, who was the inspiration for Ponniyin Selvan. He was the man behind the construction of Brihadeswara Temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. I hope to visit it someday, in future. Probably in my 40s!
The elder brother of Arulmozhi, Adithya Karikalan was murdered in real life too and it still remains a mystery, but some historians believe the Pandyans were behind the crime. Pandyans wanted Adithya dead, for killing Veera Pandyan. (Kalki Krishnamurthy had used real historical figures as characters for his novel, including the Chola siblings.)
Although the movie, Ponniyin Selvan -1 was released last year, what with the mixed reviews of it being confusing and lengthy, I refrained from watching it! Then again, with Ponniyin Selvan -2 releasing a week ago, I really wanted to see what all the buzz was about. So a late review of PS-1 is here.
Let’s jump right into the review.
Disclaimer : I hardly know Tamil and Tamil literature. My review is based on my understanding of the movie.
Title : Ponniyin Selvan – 1
Director : Mani Ratnam
Released in: September 2022
QB watched on: May 2023
Streamed on Amazon Prime
Review:
The movie starts with a falling star and death of an important person in Chola Empire is predicted! Now, who is the important person in chola Empire? Is it Sundara Chola (weak and sick Prakash Raj) or the Crown Prince Adithya Karikalan (Chiyan Vikram, still looking like a 40 year old!) or Kundavai, the only daughter of Sundara Chola (Trisha) or Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi as Ponniyin Selvan)? Or is it the Sundara Chola’s cousin Uttama Chola or Madhuranthakan (Rahman)?
***Major spoilers ahead ***
Adithya Karaikalan, is stationed at Kanchi, fighting wars and annexing new kingdoms to the Chola Empire. Kundavai is stationed with her sick father, aiding in the rule. Karikalan, sends his trusted friend, Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan (Karthi), a Vaanar clan prince , as a spy to relay some of his doubts regarding unrest in the political scene of Chola Empire, to Kundavai and Sundara Chola.
During his visit to Kadambur, Vandiyadevan finds out that Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar (Sharat Kumar), Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar (Parthiban), some other ministers don’t want Adithya Karikalan to ascend the throne. They want to back Madhuranthakan to be the new face of Chola Empire! Madhuranthakan, is the cousin of Adithya and Arulmozhi.
We also get a brief glimpse of Adithya Karikalan and Nandini’s love story. As the movie progresses, we find, Nandini is in fact married to Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar (whom Adithya Karikalan addresses as grandfather! )
Meanwhile, Vandiyadevan comes across a Vaishnavite Azhwarkkadiyan Nambi( Jayaram), who is also a spy for the Cholan Prime Minister. Thanks to the information from Nambi, Vandiyadevan manages to reach Nandini (Aishwarya Rai). He later reaches out to Sundara Chola and Kundavai and relays his message. (Vandhiyadevan is a clever and brave ally to Chola Crown Prince and he proves his worth time and again.) Kundavai asks him to bring Ponniyin Selvan aka Arulmozhi Varman to Chola Empire, from far away Sri Lanka!
That is the first time we see Ponniyin Selvan, at SriLanka, where he is busy learning the wisdom of life from Buddhist monks and also defeating Raja Mahindra in Lanka. Ponniyin Selvan infact means, son of river Kaveri, because, Arulmozhi was once saved from drowning in the river. In fact, he was saved by a lady with long tresses of grey hair. (We later learn that it is Aishwarya Rai in a dual role.)
Unknown to all, the Pandyans are after the three heirs of Chola empire, Karikalan, Kundavai and Ponniyin Selvan. They want all of them dead!
Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and the other ministers force Sundara Chola to issue an order to arrest his own son, Ponniyin Selvan in SriLanka and bring him to Thanjavur, the capital of Chola Empire. (PS had infact rejected the throne of Asoka’s daughter, given to him by the Buddhist monks and that is considered an offense by the ministers of Chola. Sundara Chola agrees to arrest his son, only because he thinks, that will guarantee his son’s safe travel!)
Meanwhile, the pandyans arrive at Lanka, to assassinate Ponniyin Selvan. Samudrakumari or Poonguzhali (Aishwarya Lekshmi) who admires the Ponniyin Selvan, warns him regarding the Pandyans, once they enter Lankan waters. (Poonguzhali is actually the niece of old Aishwarya Rai!)
Vandiyadevan agrees to be the decoy, by dressing up as Arulmozhi Ponniyin Selvan. He gets captured, whereas Arulmozhi manages to escape the Pandyans. Once Ponniyin Selvan finds out that Vandhiyadevan is captured, he returns to save his friend. The movie ends with the storm wrecking the ship with Arulmozhi Varman and Vandhiyadevan and Chola Empire hearing the news of the death of Ponniyin Selvan! (We also get to see old Aishwarya Rai, dive into the ocean waters, trying to save Arulmozhi Varman, once again, that is the actual end of the movie!)
After watching the movie, the revelation was Karthi! Boy can he act. He is a natural. He fares better than his sibling, who is more popular, I don’t know why (He seems stiff and one dimensional!) It is a pleasure watching Karthi in the movie. Bravo!
Once I saw the movie poster, I thought the main character of Ponniyin Selvan was played by Chiyan Vikram, but nope, it was played by Jayam Ravi! (He is built for the character of a future king. He looks powerful and level headed.)
Vikram’s role is a piece of cake for him , Trisha, has a sizable character. Sobhita (lover of Ponniyin Selvan), Prakash Raj, Aishwarya Lekshmi have very little screen time. I liked watching Jayaram as Nambi, who is a little goofy, perfect as a spy. Aishwarya Rai gets the best role, which has internal conflict, grey shades and scope for acting.
It was an engaging watch (doesn’t seem lengthy or boring at all) and I hardly knew what was in store. It didn’t have any hero elevation moments or stuff like that. But still, it managed to capture my heart. It shows what an efficient director can do, even without any theatricals. (Mani Ratnam movie direction style is so different from that of Rajamouli. I don’t mean to compare them, as they are as different as chalk and cheese.)
All in all, I wanted to watch the PS – 2 , as soon as I was done watching PS -1 .
P.S:
Ponniyin Selvan is a fictional historical novel written by the Tamil writer, Kalki Krishnamurthy. Although I never read his novel, I became a fan, once I was done watching the movie. I want to start reading the novel too, if I get a copy in either English or Telugu. Need to surf the net regarding the same.
After studying briefly about Mr.Kalki Krishnamurthy, I wonder if he was an inspiration behind the story and or character names of Baahubali movies too! He had written a novel called Shivagami Sapadham and Karikala Kattappa reminds me of Adithya Karikalan (it might just be a coincidence).
Ponniyin Selvan character is based on the historical figure, which we had studied in our schooling(long forgotten), Raja Raja Chola!
The hair bun of Trisha seems so unique and must have been heavy on her neck, though!
The words with ‘z’ in it, like in Poonguzhali need to be pronounced with a ‘lla’/’lli’ sound. I found it the hard way, when I first pronounced the old and famous Shobhana starrer Malayalam movie, Manichitrathazhu!
Since the movie has loads and loads of characters, it is a little tricky writing the review! Review of PS-2 coming soon!
Firstly, I watched the movie, only because one young friend, Ska advised me to and now, I would like to review it here, for my dear readers.
The poster sums up the movie – the three important characters!
Title : Mrs. Undercover
Director : Anushree Mehta
Made and Released in: March and April 2023 (apparently the movie was made in a month!)
QB watched on: April 2023
Streamed on Zee5
Review:
The movie starts with the death of a young lawyer, by the hands of a psychotic killer, whom we know as the Common Man (Sumeet Vyas). He also films the crime to let people know that he is on a killing spree! (Oh! And the movie is set in Kolkata and once I saw the heroine on the streets of Kolkata, I was immediately reminded of much loved Kolkata based movies like Kahaaniand Piku, both movies with strong female protagonists. I already had high expectations from this movie!)
After the crimes against independent women by the Common Man (mentioned as CM for the rest of the post) keep getting out of hand and also the murder of undercover officer, there is a post to be filled, to catch the CM.
Enter Durga, the average house wife, who after years of inactivity (that is, inactive office life, but very active life as a house wife) is rusty. Chief Rangeela (Rajesh Sharma) tries desperately to recruit the ex-undercover officer into the case, but she is skeptical. I loved watching Chief Rageela. He also has the best lines in the movie, thanks to his character of being a gentleman, who understands a woman and knows how to encourage her.
The character of Durga is relatable, because, the once undercover agent, who is now a full time mom and who forgot she was an agent, is scared of walking alone at night or leaving behind the family to follow someone, without making a proper excuse.
Durga joins a woman empowerment workshop, to be able to follow one of her leads. (Here again, we get to see why a previous agent is now so scared. It is because of the husband, who doesn’t trust her skills and who never encourages her. ) Her husband is put in his place, by Durga’s mother in law, who teaches her son about being a good husband. This particular scene shows how much a good mother can influence her son.
Meanwhile, Durga’s husband has an affair with a neighbour, who happens to be an accomplice of the CM. Then again, we see the vulnerability of Durga, who is shattered. (I loathe the character of the hubby)
Spoilers aside, finally, Durga manages to find the bomb, de-activates it at the nick of the moment (How do all the important characters in different movies always find the correct wire to cut off, to stop bomb explosion?) and saves the day! Phew! I didn’t enjoy the climactic scenes. The supposedly bad villain takes a good beating from Durga, he takes the blows, one after the other, without hardly raising a hand to hurt Durga! What nonsense! A chauvinist letting a woman beat him to pulp and getting away with it?
It is a one woman show, through and through. The first half manages to make us smile once in a while. The CM, the villain doesn’t have a back story, except that he is a chauvinist, who hates women who are independent and brave. He even kills his own mom! In-spite of that, we hardly have any emotion to spare for him. I was neither scared of him nor loathe him. The CM character could have been shaped better, with better scope to perform. It is a very one dimensional character. Only with a powerful antagonist, can we see a powerful protagonist and that elevates the movie. Since there is neither of that in this movie, it remains an average fare.
Radhika Apte is a natural in this role. I also liked Rajesh Sharma as Chief Rangeela. It is a memorable one.
If you are a die hard fan of Radhika Apte, you can’t miss the movie, for her acting chops! If you have time to kill, go ahead and watch the movie. But it is not on par of Kahaaniby Sujoy Ghosh and Pikuby Shoojit Sircar!
P.S:
I don’t know what it is, but movies based in Kolkata have a charm of their own!
First half of the movie was promising, but the end was flat. I loved how simple and elegant Durga’s look was in the movie. Although the result is average, I commend the makers for trying something new. I hope they make a better sequel! Yes, the end was open!
I don’t think I ever reviewed Kahaani and Piku. I will post them soon. They are the best!
Incidentally, this is the only movie I have ever watched of Radhika Apte. Previously,I had watched the Netflix series, Choker Bali in 2017 (another Bengali connection! I think I have a thing for Bengal/Kolkata!). Interestingly, Radhika Apte and Sumeet Vyas play lovers in it!
Like how every situation has a positive and negative angle, being a person who watches movies or documentaries, if and only if the review is good has a drawback. It means we have to depend on others good review or opinion. We may sometimes miss out on a gem, if there was no review or if someone didn’t understand the said movie or documentary at all!
I would have missed out on watching The Elephant Whisperers, had they not won an Oscar! There are also other documentaries on elephants and the elephant whisperers, but I have never watched them. I think this is the time to get into watching the new genre that is the documentaries!
Belli and Raghu – The Elephant Whisperers
Title : The Elephant Whisperers
Director : Karthiki Gonsalves
Made and Released in: December 2022
QB watched on: March 2023
Streamed on Netflix
Review:
Firstly, I remember watching many a news about how elephants in South India, mostly in Kerala region, would enter villages and towns, destroy property and in one incident, which I will forever remember, an elephant was captured killing its Mahut, almost like how Hulk beats up Loki in the Avenger movie.
In The Elephant Whisperers, however, we get to see the beautiful bond between an Elephant Whisperer (can be a Mahut or the trainer, but who uses soft language/body language to train the animal) and the elephant Raghu.
When the forest officials of Mudumalai National Park rescue a baby elephant, Raghu, who has its tail bitten off by stray dogs and has skin infested with maggots, they entrust the responsibility to Belli, a local tribal man, whose forefathers have also been involved in raising elephants. To assist him, they also assign Bomman, who is the lone woman elephant whisperer in South India and also probably in India!
Through the documentary I understood that, raising an elephant is similar to having an overweight baby! Difficult as well as dangerous and injuries happen! Also, by raising Raghu, Bomman is able to overcome her personal tragedies of losing both her husband and daughter.
The beautiful scenery of the Mudumalai National Park forms the perfect backdrop to the touching tale of how two individuals come together to raise an elephant and later end up marrying each other! Their family becomes complete once Ammu, a baby girl elephant joins them.
It is indeed interesting to know that Raghu and Ammu fight for their parents’ affection just like any human siblings! (Sibling rivalry!)
Although I never expected it, I managed to shed a tear or two after watching the documentary. It is worth a watch and it is really difficult to write at length about all the emotions one feels watching it.
The best scene which stole my heart and made me smile was when Bomman and Belli comb her hair and tie two pigtails for baby Ammu! She is a 3 year girl after-all, albeit an elephant!
P.S:
Have you ever heard about the world famous South Africa born, Wildlife conservationist, Lawrence Anthony, the original Elephant Whisperer ? It is said that after his untimely death, number of elephants visited his home, to mourn his death, treating him as one of their own. I think I watched his program during my childhood on National Geographic Channel.
Interestingly, even before this documentary was released, we had planned on visiting the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve during November 2022, but due to unforeseen circumstances, our trip had been shelved indefinitely!
I have been trying to write a post for more than a week, but thanks to Mr.Bee, it was a no-show from my side. Normally, after he is back from work, he takes care of the kiddos, while I write away. But thanks to his busy schedule from past 10 days, he couldn’t spare a minute and I ended up having little time on my hands. Even if I start writing, KBee is always behind my chair, breathing down my back, playing peek-a-boo and I can hardly shoo him away! GBee doesn’t disturb me when I am writing, I think he understands I am working.
Stray dogs can be a menace even for baby elephants! GHMC has given guidelines to follow in Hyderabad, on how to behave when under attack by stray dogs, such is the menace. I am already scared of dogs and stray dogs don’t help improve my opinion at all!
By the way, congratulations to team The Elephant Whisperers and team RRR for their respective Oscar wins.
Long ago, but not very long ago, in 2019 B.C. (Before Covid!), Mr.Bee , I and GBee, then an only child, flew to Maldives, for our summer vacation. (Do visit Maldives if you love to travel, because, nothing beats the quaint little cluster islands! Nope, Tourism Department of Maldives has no idea I am promoting their country. It’s just goodwill.)
Anyway, while we were returning to the airport, (There will be a detailed post about our travel, soon), we met a fellow Indian, a doctor at that. She was serving the people of Maldives. It is my privilege meeting her, because, anyone working on an island, for people’s health needs all the respect one can give! The said doctor , KV became a very good friend of mine. (I don’t make friends easily. I am an introvert and introverts generally treasure their friends.)
We have stayed in touch and I hope to meet her again some day. She stays in Pondicherry, so I need to plan well ahead to visit her!
Meanwhile, KV once suggested all her friends to watch Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey! (a Malayalam movie on Disney Hotstar) As soon as she did, I watched it, sacrificing my precious sleep and I don’t mind it one bit.
It is one such movie you should never miss. What a movie!
Movie Name: Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey!
Released in: 2022
Actors : None that I know of. (No Malayalam Super stars in the movie)
Queen Bee watched in : December 2022
Firstly, if you thought the story has hints of patriotism, since the title is the lyrics of our Indian National Anthem, then you are greatly mistaken.
The movie is about Jaya, a lower middle class girl from Kerala, whose life decisions are always made by her father and maternal uncle and after marriage by her husband. She is not even allowed to study as per her choice. Her uncle is against her studying away from home and manages to convince her dad that studying in a local college is the best choice for Jaya.
She adjusts to a course, falls in love with a lecturer there, who in fact encourages her to study well. Turns out, he is not as good as he lets on, he is a possessive guy who is also abusive. (Yuk! Possessiveness and abusive nature are both repulsive, in both men and women.)
Like all Indian parents,once her love story gets out, she is soon married off to the first guy her parents find for her. I liked the subtle emotions the heroine Jaya shows, like how she is frustrated when her uncle is crying during her bidaai. (He was the one who spearheaded her marriage!)
The initial days of her marriage show that her husband Rajesh is a guy of routine, who hates trying anything new. It is, personally, so off putting and exasperating at once. He eats the same food every single day! I mean, how is that even possible? If someone takes the pain to cook something new each day, they should be appreciated for putting in effort. But Rajesh begins to abuse Jaya! (Maybe the song from Saaho, Saiyya Psycho, would have been apt here!)
At first, he feels bad that he slapped Jaya. He takes her out on a date to appease her. But the same story keeps happening in a loop, slapping her, taking her out.
Jaya’s mother in law and sister in law, who stay with the newly weds, have no say in the house. Jaya reaches out to her parents and they tell her to shut up. Just when we begin to think the movie is going to take a routine turn, Jaya shows us what a topper with a will of steel can do. She gives back what she gets, the abuse, to her husband! (That is the moment which made me sit up and watch!)
From this point on, the movie is on an upward curve. It is more like who will let their guard down first and who will win.
I really loved the acting of the lead pair. Jaya made me admire her grit and determination, Rajesh made me want to kick him repeatedly. Top class!
Even when everyone is against Jaya for turning against her abusive husband, only her brother seems to understand her, which was unexpected. We never see much bonding, but, when they have a common enemy, it shows, blood is truly thicker than water! (In typical Telugu movie style, it is called Rakta Sambandham!)
The one scene that I liked a lot is the one, where the egoistic, chauvinistic hero, (I have never used such adjective for a movie hero, ever!) finds his mom and sister in the kitchen. His mom had been a young widow, his sister had been abandoned within a year of marriage by her husband. But both manage to survive, because women are mentally strong. The hero is already defeated, because, he knows he can’t survive as a single man!
Thankfully, it is not a sob story. It is more about women empowerment and teaches us without being preachy and I love it more for that! If you are up for watching a movie, why not go ahead and watch Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey and you can thank me later!
P.S:
The most important thing that one needs to remember is that women listen! So be careful about what you talk around her. She may look homely and demure, but she packs quite a punch and she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to!
This is one such movie which gets top marks for the effort, the story, the presentation. I watched the movie when I was feeling low and it instantly cheered me up. Why not watch it and decide on my credibility?
The other malayalam movies that I love are Mohanlal’s Drishyam (Sorry Venkatesh, I love the original better, even if I saw it a lot later than yours!) and Ayyappanum Koshiyum.
Bidaai or Vidaai is the process of sending away one’s daughter after marriage.
Dear friends, if you ever meet someone who is being abused or if a victim confides in you about his/her partner being abusive, kindly help and support them. Even a famous actor like Johnny Depp was abused by his wife, so men and women can both be victims of domestic abuse.
I had watched Kantara in the beginning of October and had even written down the review the next day. But due to some unforeseen circumstances (health of KBee) i was forced to shelf the post and let it gather dust, cobwebs and the likes!
Firstly, I am going to be very frank in my review and it is completely my opinion and I have a right to write! (It looks like the beginning of a political speech, but no, I sometimes manage to have strong emotions on certain topics)
Secondly, who has not watched Kantara? If you have watched it is well and good, if not, I advice you to go to the nearest laptop or T.V. , login to Prime and watch it!
I never watch a movie, until and unless I like either the trailer, poster or the word of mouth talk! I have very little patience for mediocre movies and tear jerking stuff. (Life already has loads of problems and ups and downs. Who the hell wishes to go to a theater, pay 200 bucks or more and cry again in an A.C hall, in front of strangers? Not me!)
After the buzz about KGF 2 died down (which I didn’t watch), I read tweets from different actors online, raving about Kantara. (I don’t follow any actor on twitter, but I still found the tweets, some how in my homepage!) Since I hardly knew either Tulu or Kannada, I had no idea what the title meant. I googled it and found out it meant ‘a mystical forest‘ and that’s when I decided to watch the movie.
*** SPOILERS AHEAD***
The opening scene is the back story of the present day.
A King, who has everything he needs, wealth, a happy family and vast kingdom, yet has no peace. He wanders in his kingdom alone,as advised, reaches a spot in the forest, where he finds the Deity of the tribals. He wants the Deity for himself. The Panjurli demands vast lands for his followers, in exchange of coming with him. If the promise is broken, ever, then the Guliga Deiva, a violent servant of Panjurli, will exact revenge! The king accepts. (I may be wrong, but I think the Panjurli at the beginning must have been the grandfather of Shiva.)
Years later, the king’s son breaks the promise by demanding the forest lands, which are worth in crores and demeans the Panjurli. The one performing the Bhoot Kola (as seen in the movie poster) at the beginning is the hero, Shiva’s father. (Dual role by Rishab Shetty as both father and son) The moment the performer runs into the forest and disappears, the titles roll and that was a bang of an opening.
Once the story begins, it shows how Shiva doesn’t respect the very animal pig (or the Varaha Roopa, which is actually their Diety), hunts and kills pigs on a regular basis, eats their meat, feeds the leftovers to his dog, does drugs and also drinks at the drop of a hat. He is probably the worst guy to lead a rebellion or even a movie for that matter! He is brash and arrogant, doesn’t have a job except being the right hand man of a wealthy Zamindar, the heir to the King we see at the beginning of the story. ( Instead of referring to him as King’s successor, I will refer to him as zamindar, to make it easy.) The curse of the Panjurli had indeed come true, because the Zamindar’s son is physically and mentally challenged.
The rest of the story shows some extra characters of the heroine who is a constable, the hero’s mom, some other side kicks and a Bhoot Kola performer who is Shiva’s cousin. Since Shiva’s father vanished into the Kantara forest, Shiva avoids performing the BhootKola, which is their family tradition. His cousin takes up the mantle instead of Shiva as the Bhoot Kola artist.
It is also shown that, whenever Shiva participates in immoral activities, he dreams of either Varaha Roopam or his father in Bhoot Kola attire. It shows that, in spite of his rogue exterior, he is still a God fearing man. We get brief glimpses of his father, appearing suddenly in his dreams and those moments were the only reason I continued watching the movie. (It thrilled me to no end). Rest of the movie was passable. Nothing much to write about. So I will just jot the main points.
As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that there are only 3 important characters. One, Shiva. Two, the forest officer whose aim is to save the forest from smugglers. Three, the Zamindar, the villain. (He is one bad-ass villain, as we can see in the climax)
Zamindar kills Shiva’s cousin, to demoralize the tribals. He tries to pin the murder on the forest officer. But, one blacksmith, who is high on drugs, reveals the truth to Shiva and the pre-climax fight sequence happens. (After the death of Shiva’s cousin, we get a subtle hint of who is going to be the next Bhoot Kola performer, i.e. Shiva. There is an under current of anticipation for the big reveal. The build up for the final act of Kantara, the movie!)
When the whole village along with the forest officer gathers to fight against the zamindar, Shiva is still reeling under his new found gyaan. (In the middle of the movie, there is this scene about Shiva’s cousin dreaming about what may happen in near future to Shiva. This indicates that Bhoot Kola performers sometimes have premonitions and that is what is happening to Shiva during the climactic scenes. He is in a daze!) He knows he will die. He is still coming to terms with this information.
After a lag, Shiva gets into the fight, protects the forest officer, because he is the only one he trusts with his life. One of Zamindar’s chamcha kills off Shiva, by hitting his head, right at the center. (A hit on the head at the top, generally results in Kapala Moksham! There is no way anyone can ever survive that. This is the truth.)
That’s when Shiva’s father breathes new life into Shiva, by making the unique sound, synonymous to the Bhoot Kola.(He increased his son’s life span a little for the sake of the helpless tribals) All hell breaks loose. The violent Guliga Deiva, the servant of Panjurli, acts through Shiva and kills off the villain. (The zamindar, till his last breath is not scared at all, because he thinks Shiva is only acting!)
Finally, Shiva, turns into a Bhoot Kola performer (while Varaha Roopam song plays in the background), tells all the tribals the forest officer and other landlords to stay together and be happy. Just then, Shiva’s father calls him from the Kantara forest, signalling, his borrowed life has come to an end. Shiva rushes into the forest, just like his father and unites with him and both disappear.
Final word:
No one can ever beat the acting Rishab Shetty managed to do at the end. Not a single dull moment in the climax. The movie is elevated beyond anything, only through the last 10 minutes of acting. This moment, I may never forget! I had goosebumps through the climax. I re-watched the climax, a little over 10 times. (I only watch a movie once and never comeback to it. I rarely listen to the same song twice. That says a lot about how much I liked this one.)
Let me not forget to add the supporting cast were also apt and had done justice to their role. But there is always one black sheep! (He spoils the perfect moment by raising his hand too early!)
And God, what a song to accompany the mind blowing acting. Varaha Roopam is a mesmerizing song, divine and memorable. The shehanai (Sannayi in Telugu) and violin make the song a classic.
P.S:
1. Who is Rishab Shetty? How can one direct a movie and also act perfectly? I admire multi taskers, because it is soooooo sooo hard!
2. There was a controversy regarding the Varaha Roopam song. The Kerala based band, Thaikkudam Bridge went to court, saying their song has been copied. Frankly speaking, even if the Varaha Roopam was inspired by the Navarasam of Thaikkudam Bridge, I am willing to forgive it. Why? Because I like it better, sorry guys!
4. I think there is going to be a prequel to Kantara. I wonder how even Rishab Shetty can live upto the extremely high expectations!
On a different note, after the movie was released, Karnataka government has taken up the welfare of the Kola performers, which is a welcome move. (Who knew such Kola existed before Kantara? )
