Baby (2023)

Baby (2023)

Written and Directed by: Sai Rajesh

Starring: Anand Devarakonda, Vaishnavi Chaitanya, Viraj Ashwin

Spoilers ahead.

Firstly, I want to start by writing about what I felt about the trailer - what bugged me were the dialogues which generalise. Anand's dialogue goes: "prathi kashtam mundu devudu edho oka signal isthadu, nee lanti ammayi okalla jeevitham loki vachinappudu assal signal enduku ivvade?". Now instead of this, if the dialogue was: "prathi kashtam mundu devudu edho oka signal isthadu, kani nuvvu naa jeevitham loki vachinappudu assal signal enduku ivvaledhe?" - then it would have been personal to him. This is one big issue in the whole film. "Nee lanti ammayilu" instead of "nuvvu", "maa abbayilu" instead of "nenu". This generalising dialogue seems like it's for the film to hit everyone, but it ends up making the audience feel either defensive or attacking instead of feeling empathy for the characters. Instead if the film treated the exact same story as just their story and makes us see them as individuals and not representing a gender - it would still hit and it wouldn't make the audience polarized.

Keeping this aside for a second, the film has a beautiful, endearing opening - which captures first love, the adolescence around it so well - and especially the song which has a chorus of children making the whole thing so innocent and beautiful. At this point, you'd want them to be together (if you forget what happens in the trailer). But post the premise kicks in, the film gets into murky territories. The thing about theatre viewing experience is - it's very tricky to crack grey characters - because when we watch the film as a crowd - especially as a hyper-charged crowd in a single screen - we tend to drop our IQs. The audience isn't in a space to appreciate nuances. It's either black or white. Which is why whenever Vaishnavi makes certain choices, the crowd jumps into a space where they want her to be called names. Though there were some inconsistencies with her character, I could see her. Coming from a small background, when she finds herself in the 'big' world - all she wants is some validation and attention - which she never gets from Anand. Anand treats her like a controlling father. So though she knows that Anand is part of her life, she strays in the process of trying to find her identity amidst trying to fit in. She loses herself. And in the process, a lot of irreparable damage happens. 

Also, because of the way the plot progresses in the second half - them making a deal that she'll "date" him for a month and then he'll be okay & one of the biggest plot holes in the film - "I'll sleep with Viraj so that he'll finally let me go to Anand" - these plot points make this film less of an inter-personal relationship film and more of a conniving drama. How the film arrives at these points, didn't seem convincing to me - yes, the characters are naïve, but it's disturbing to watch naive characters make bad choices throughout the film. Apart from this, the film sets up the characters for them to face bad situations. But the way the film worsens the situations is a little convenient. Although, after all these conveniences it cracks creating one of the most disturbing sequences I've seen in a long time - Premisthunna song. 

Keeping aside all these issues, the film is in the Malcolm and Marie space - where you say the worst things possible you could say to each other. The film operates on people's worst fears - need not be boys - but anyone who's anxious within a relationship. The performances were beautiful - especially the way Anand's heartbreak and pain was portrayed. The mindset of a person who's been cheated on was also captured pretty well. And overall, it was quite an experience for me watching the film. Though there were some issues with the film, the film landed for me. 

Virupaksha (2023)

Virupaksha (2023)

Story and Direction: Karthik Dandu
Screenplay: Sukumar
Starring: Sai Dharam Tej, Samyuktha Menon

I really enjoyed this film - it transports you into the world right away - and it uses mystery and horror to sustain tension and I feel like that's even more scary because there's the fear of the unknown. Usually in films where there are superstitious beliefs, we as the audience tend to not take them seriously because we assume a higher ground of rationale. But this film beautifully tricks us into buying the superstitions by scaring us whenever characters break free. I was surprised when I found myself rooting for characters to stick to them because that's what's the horror and mystery did to me. The theatre I watched the film in, the sound was too loud and even annoying in portions which is why even the jump scares felt like a bit of a cheat and there was frequent shrieks by characters almost forcing me to close my ears. But apart from this one thing, the way the mystery was building up step by step till the point of interval was amazing. The reveal that happens in the interval was a nice Sukumar-esque piecing things together. One more thing I felt a little dicey about what was how Surya keeps grabbing Nandini's hands forcibly, repeatedly. That gesture just made me tad bit uncomforable, but otherwise I love how their love story was also organically woven into the main plot. 

Spoilers Alert here on. While I enjoyed the twist that Nandini was also behind this, it felt like a bit of a convenient detail to add in the ending. Because the hints that they planted that it could be Nandini were too much of a far shot. Having said that, I definitely enjoyed the twist. I just wish there was more set up to pay this off. And after the reveal was done, the film was practically over for me - but there was a lot of shrieking and yelling and a lot of noise. I wish the film concluded the finale in a simpler way after the reveal was done. But yes, after having watched the film - the images and sounds from the world are still resounding in my head and I'm happy that a film in this tone and space is made in a mainstream way without losing its essence. 

Dasara (2023)

 Dasara (2023)

Directed by: Srikanth Odela
Starring: Nani, Keerthy Suresh
Spoilers Ahead.

I loved the opening 15-minutes, where they show us the world and the characters - I found it to be very interesting. Halfway into the first half, I realised that the film is opening up a few plots and running them in a parallel way and that the film could go take any direction from there. I absolutely loved the interval, but I just wish they explored Dharani & Suri's friendship in a more humane way for the interval to land better. To me, the entire 2nd half felt a little flat because I knew the story by the interval. Everything that was adding didn't change anything drastically. And if the villain kills him for the girl anyway, then what's the point of that whole elections bit? But though these questions came up in my head, my favourite scene from the entire film was Dharani going to bat after downing a lot of alcohol. It was sheer swagger.

What I loved about the film is, it has a strong sense of visuals, strong sense of character and setting - which we don't see a lot in Telugu cinema. There lies the problem with the film too, it feels slightly derivative of films we've already seen. And to me, though there were moments that were emotionally landing, there were a lot which weren't also. To me the whole climax didn't have the emotional effect I'd have liked it to. Having said all of these, apart from the few writing issues - the film has a strong directorial voice and I have mad respect for the film for exploring new avenues in terms of the tone and texture. I enjoyed the film, I guess I just expected more.

Waltair Veerayya (2022)

Waltair Veerayya (2022)

Directed by: Bobby Kolli
Starring: Chiranjeevi, Ravi Teja, Shruti Hassan

In spite of the commercial cinema template, with cut-away dance numbers interrupting the story, I partly enjoyed the film. Mostly because it's been so long since we saw Chiru as a character who is not perfect. He's an alcoholic, loose character with vulnerabilities and the goofy scenes done in his own style were a delight to watch. I enjoyed the second half, mostly parts between Chiru and Raviteja - there was some beautiful bromance there. The film is filled with references, I enjoyed them too. And though it reminded me a little of Racegurram, the flashback was really nice which added some more depth into their relationship. There are some really heartfelt moments in the film, especially the scene where Chiru goes and rubs the mud off Ravi Teja's posters, and the scene in the car. In the ending, when the court finally gives a verdict, Chiru does a light bang on the court stand - that was brilliant.

Now what didn't work for me in the film was the entire Rajendra Prasad plot in the first half. It didn't seem enough of a conflict, where he's trying to find justice for his colleagues. If it was his family or so, it would've been more impactful. But since it's his colleagues, without having their relationship established too, it didn't land as much. Which is why, the interval scene too felt a little flat for me. Although, why Chiru is so easy going is beautifully paid off with the Ravi Teja's flashback. And I did not enjoy the placement of songs with Shruti Hassan, at all. Because there's no love story explored between them, and whenever they need a song, they place a random interaction and cut to a foreign location. But apart from these hiccups, I enjoyed the core plot of the film. If not for the commercial template, or at least if the template was a little bit of a midground, then I would've enjoyed the film a lot more than I did now.

HIT: The Second Case

HIT: The Second Case (2022)

Written and Directed by: Sailesh Kolanu
Starring: Adivi Sesh, Meenakshi Choudhary
Minor Spoilers Ahead.

It's a well crafted serial killer film. The film carries terrific tension throughout, it could either be by the details unfolding in the plot, or it could simply be by someone's possible presence around. There's a scene in the second half where KD and his colleague are discussing a scene on the road at night, outside a house. I just couldn't concentrate on what they were discussing because the possible presence of someone around created terrific tension. Though it was predictable that Raghavudu is definitely a red herring, they carried tension there too by eventually presenting evidence against him. And though almost the entire first half is a red herring, it doesn't seem meaningless because of the film's commentary on vigilantism and society's response to it.

There are a lot of beautiful set ups and pay offs, some really nice moments and the final reveal was unpredictable to me. So the film worked on almost every level to me. My only problem was with the violence. I'm not talking about the murders done by the serial killer, but for example the whole sequence between KD and the killer. I think violence can be fun if you see the act. It can get uncomfortable if you see the consequences. We see the shot of a disfigured face of the killer, which I thought they could've done without. But apart from this one thing, I liked pretty much everything in the film. I especially liked how the killer's backstory is not opened after the killer is caught, which I'm usually not a big fan of. I liked how they opened the film with some of that, almost like a cold open in a show. Looking forward to the universe building up.

Ammu (2022)

Ammu (2022)

Written and Directed by: Charukesh Sekar

Starring: Naveen Chandra, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Bobby Simha

Streaming on Prime Video. 

I loved the idea and the premise. The film is a little in the lines of Gone Girl, although here the woman is clean without any shades of gray. It's essentially about a woman who decides to get back at her abusive husband. The abuse is a tad bit triggering too. It affected me a lot, to an extent where I was expecting a terrific pay off. The abuse reminded me of Secret Superstar, which eventually has a really good pay off. Although in this film, whatever she does to get back at him, the last 45 mins of the film, feels just like one scene instead of a whole act. It's a small loophole she catches onto and acts on it, and it didn't feel like a good enough pay off. She helps an ex-convict, Bobby Simha by seeing some humane qualities in him, and makes life tough for the cop. I think why it doesn't work as much is because, the consequences the cop faces are not really in Ammu's control. She's just doing some damage hoping that there'll be bad consequences to him, which it works. But since the cause and effects are not very direct, it doesn't seem vengeful enough. In the ending, when she faces him and talks to him, it's a good moment, but I wished she faced him, confronted him and attacked him in some ways at least one or two times.

I like how the film explores multiple facets within domestic abuse, like how when the victim tries to seek for help, the perpetrator can emotionally manipulate the victim into not calling them out. The abuse is more than just the physical abuse, it's the mental manipulation too. How the film explored the abuse was terrific and triggering as I mentioned. And the film is technically beautiful too. I just had issues with the writing. With the same first half (setup) and a different second half (pay off), the film could've been completely different and a lot better too. The performances are good . Naveen Chandra is menacing and convincing as a guy who could be good and both be bad. Aishwarya Lekshmi also did a really good job, she has a lot of depth even when she's not doing anything on screen.

Oke Oka Jeevitham (2022)

Oke Oka Jeevitham (2022)

Written and Directed by: Sree Karthick
Starring: Sharwanand, Ritu Varma, Vennela Kishore, Amala, Priyadarshi

It's a simple story at an idea level. A story told so many times, but it's told really well. Time travel. Characters wanting to change their past so that they can have a better life in the current times. Them realizing that no matter how much you try to change the past, you can't change your destiny and all you can do is make the most out of your present. Sharwanand was terrific in this film, he carried beautiful vulnerability throughout the film. A sweet surprise was Vennela Kishore, I never saw him like this. A comic actor doing drama hits so hard. Sharwa goes back in time to spend time with his mother and be with her, and perhaps save her life. Vennela Kishore goes back in time to make his younger self study and not end up like this. The best apart about Vennela Kishore's subplot is, it talks about self loathe. The way he looks at his younger self, his inner child, he's angry at himself. At one point, he's almost about to hit him. I really liked the arc this character had by the ending, it talks about acceptance but it's done in a simple way. They use one scene where he sells the question paper to talk about acceptance, instead of making it complicated. They use this scene to redeem the character from his own loathe. Priyadarshi's subplot is really funny. The auto scene where he's ignoring the girl as a kid was hilarious. Happens happens. 

What I enjoyed the most about the film was, the heart of the film is in the right place and though the emotional scenes land, for me the most compelling scenes were the parts where there were plot turns. Like the interval scene, the scene where Amala sees that Sharwa is his son and then the bang, the tension in these scenes was terrific. Also, I particularly liked the scene where Sharwa is afraid to sing in the beginning, the sound design was terrific in that scene. 

Karthikeya 2

Karthikeya 2

Written and Directed by: Chandoo Mondeti
Starring: Nikhil Sidhartha, Anupama Parameshwaran

It’s an adventure travel film, with the core of film being the enigma of Lord Krishna. The beautiful part about the film is that in a lot of moments in the film, I found myself feeling that enigma. It made me think and wonder. It was like a nice foray into the world of Indian mythology, or rather history as the film says. For an adventure film like this, the most important thing is about where it goes. The film goes to a lot of uncharted territories which we don’t see coming and it keeps us interested. I enjoyed Srinivas Reddy’s character a lot, he made the film grounded and rooted. Although what didn’t work for me as much was, the film keeps slapping us with conflicts after conflicts and it’s very heavy on us. Some of the episodes only have some physical hurdles and they don’t feel like they’re strong links to move the plot forward either. Although action/adventure fans would enjoy these episodes, I would’ve liked fewer of them to be in the film, but really well explored.  

Also, the tonal shifts were a little tough to handle. One on hand, the film talks about the enigma of Lord Krishna, and on the other hand a man comes and severs another man’s head, like in a Boyapati film. Although I didn’t mind this because, this film tries a new format – adventure travel – which isn’t much explored in Telugu cinema and it does so by sticking to the Telugu meter of storytelling. So it was interesting to see this. The comedy in the film makes you chuckle a number of times – with all the actors like Praveen, Srinivas Reddy, Viva Harsha, etc. It was refreshing to see no romantic angle/love songs being there in a mainstream Telugu film. For me, in spite of the little issues I had, the film made me think, curious and feel that enigma, especially whenever the flute theme played.

Pokiri

Pokiri (2006)

Written and Directed by: Puri Jagannadh
Starring: Mahesh Babu, Ileana, Prakash Raj

Pokiri is undoubtedly a benchmark in Telugu cinema, and a lot of us have seen the movie countless times. One huge factor is the dialogue of the film. Not only in Pokiri, but in a lot of Puri's films, there is this style of dialogue. In Pokiri, almost every dialogue that Mahesh Babu says is a punch. Sometimes, they're so on the face, like the famous, 'evadu kodithe...' and sometimes, it's subtle, where in the opening scene Subbaraj says, 'nee perentra', and he responds, 'peru chepthe kani thannulu thinava'. He almost never answers a question anyone asks, and even when he does, he says something unexpected. I feel like Puri has this natural instinct of writing dialogue where before he writes a dialogue, something comes to his mind, and he goes, not this, this is a normal response, we need an absurd response here. And somehow this doesn't even feel forced. 

Another very interesting aspect about the film is, Ileana's character. The film is centered around Pandu, a bad guy, which is what the film is centered around. We see his life, the consequences of his action. Ileana's character is a beautiful subplot which explores a different facet of a bad guy - how does it feel to fall in love with a bad guy? It's charming initially, but when you later get to know him better, it's confusing. The brain and heart conflict with each other. She's heartbroken throughout the second half. There's this terrific scene where she has this intuition that he is around, and I feel that women can sense things like this, they have this intuition. And Shruti has so much conviction on her intuition that she says that if she's wrong, she'll forget him. And yet, he lies to her face. That's what I love about this film, it seems like a hypermasculine film, but even Ileana's character and her plight is explored beautifully. 

Sita Ramam

Sita Ramam (2022)

Written and Directed by: Hanu Raghavapudi
Starring: DQ, Mrunal Thakur, Rashmika Mandanna
Spoilers Ahead.

They say, everything is fair in love and war. Though love and war seem like two opposites, they’re quite similar. You fight in a war, and you do the same for love. There is pain in war, and so is in love. So, a romance set amidst war is a beautiful way to explore the extremes of life. Sita Ramam is shot beautifully, with visually appealing locations, production design and costumes. The film borrows the structure from Mahanati, where two people are on a quest for a big story, played by Rashmika and Tharun Bhascker. The film keeps intercutting between DQ’s story and this track. Although there is a terrific twist in the ending, which joins both these tracks. For me, though the romance in the first half was middling a bit, it beautifully talks about longing. Waiting for someone’s letter for days together, in today’s day and age of quick replies, I can’t even imagine how it’d have been to wait for hear from someone indefinitely.

The interval gave me goosebumps. The film already has a lot of barriers between the both of them, and the film keeps increasing these barriers further and further as the characters grow become fonder of each other. The ending was really good, especially the scene where the small girl takes the letter from his hand with an innocent smile on her face. That shot broke my heart. Rashmika’s character has a beautiful arc – from being an arrogant woman, to being someone who learns gratitude. From someone who hates India, to someone who realizes that an Indian man saved her, who didn’t care about which country she was from. He saved her, only because both of them were humans. In the ending when she meets Noor and asks if he’s alive, Noor says no, and she almost says it with a straight face. That expression carried a lot of pain. I enjoyed the film, and the terrific ending made up for whatever middling there was in the middle here and there.

Ante Sundaraniki

Written and Directed by: Vivek Athreya

Starring: Nani, Nazriya, Rohini, Naresh, Harsha Vardhan.

This is one of the most emotionally compelling experiences I’ve had in a long long time. This film has one of the best writing I’ve seen in mainstream Indian cinema. Firstly, the film is beautifully rooted in our culture. The very premise of two people going to lengths to convince their families so that they can get married, is very Indian. There is an element of community in this. In an individualistic world, this premise would just be non-existent. I love how both Sundar and Leela were introduced. It starts off as a very personal, coming-of-age story of two characters, because we see them at their deepest vulnerabilities. And then the film evolves from there into something larger. Sundar having his taste of first heartbreak very young in life, fears being the butt of every joke. Leela fears being the one who is never seen or appreciated. And they both find acceptance in each other. That’s why the romance, though not so romantic, it feels very personal. 

Every subplot somehow beautifully fits in the whole story. There is not one scene that you can take off, and have the film stay as organic. I loved the angle of how if you lie about something enough, you basically wait until it becomes the truth. This angle hit me so hard, and it added beautiful depth to the story. The comedy works wonders, and there are so many hilarious moments in the film. Every actor was terrific in the film. One beautiful aspect about the film is that it never judges the characters – it accepts them for who they are and still manages to give them arcs. And that’s beauty and compassion right there.

Major (2022)

Directed by: Sashi Kiran Tikka

Written and Performed by: Adivi Sesh

Spoilers Ahead. 

A life story like this could be told in so many different ways. Major tells it in a conventional way by starting from his childhood – we see how Major was as a kid, how the germ of wanting to be a soldier got into his head, we see his family, his girlfriend and though all of this seems a little dry, it works because that’s how his life was. It was mundane and simple like all of our lives, and suddenly one day something happened, and everything changed. From the moment, the film takes off into the attacks, the film races. I loved the way the action was shot and edited. My favourite fight was the one on one combat with the terrorist in the red T-shirt. I really like the visual grammar of this film and Goodachari too – there are some similarities – we don’t see a lot of wides, it’s mostly shot in closes and tights with the camera constantly moving – even the drama scenes are shot like this. This technique subconsciously makes us feel that the film is racing.

In an otherwise linear narrative, the divorce angle being explored in the middle of high octane action was a brave choice and it really worked for me. Because that was a low point for him in the attacks – he gets injured and has to take a step back, and it’s a low point for him in his life too – he’s not able to be there for the love of his life when she needs him the most. The divorce angle was one thing that made the whole film more than just the attacks, because the love angle and the family is sort of there in everyone’s life. This low point in the second half, sort of encapsulated what it means to be a soldier for me.

Shyam Singha Roy

Shyam Singha Roy (2021)

Written and Directed by: Rahul Sankrityan

Cinematography: Sanu Varghese John

Spoilers Ahead.

This film beautifully uses the technique of 'set up and pay off' all over the film. It's used in the writing and visually too. In writing, a lot of things like, the short story that Shyam gives to his brother, Rosie's last wish. Visually, it's things like the two pearls that Shyam picks up in the flashback, which he places them back in the ending. Usually a lot of Telugu films have a vague beginning 20-30 mins, where there is no relationship to the core plot. Here too it seems like that in the beginning, but the first half is full of set ups which are paid off later. Also, since we see him from his short film days, to him becoming a director, there is time flowing in the film and it feels like the plot is moving even before the arresting incident happens. The filmmaking struggle is also hilarious. I loved the entire flashback except for the part where he brutally kills the man in the temple and saves them - that one sequence felt out of tone, it was too high on drama - and it again goes back into tone when he saves Rosie and moves to Kolkata, and becomes a writer. 

I loved the visuals - of course the flashback is shot beautifully - even in the present parts, the camera is so fluid. The DOP recently shot Malik, so it makes sense. The way Rise of Shyam was edited was beautiful - with the usage of some real footage in between. The making out scene was really good and smooth, can't recall such good making out in Telugu cinema before. And the act of writing is usually boring to visually see, but I loved how they dramatized the act of writing in the flashback, with camera moves, props and music. Overall, I enjoyed the film.

Skylab

Skylab (2021)

Written and Directed by: Vishwak Khanderao
Starring: Nithya Menen, Sathyadev, Tanikella Bharani

When I first heard of the premise of the film through a friend, I was really excited. I saw the trailer, and I saw something different than what I had expected out of the film. The trailer had a nice, slice of life tone to it but it was not quite dealing with the premise. The film does exactly the same that the trailer showed. The film uses the incident of Skylab as a setting and merely as a backdrop, it doesn't use it as a conflict or a story element. The film instead explores characters within the setting of Skylab. In spite of the tone being really warm and nice, and the amazing execution of the film - it felt like the film was introducing the characters for 70% of the film. I felt like there wasn't much happening, and they had an amazing premise right there. They could've done so much more with it. Tanikella Bharani's track was beautiful. Nithya Menen's track was also beautiful. Rahul Ramakrishna's track was also beautiful. But the way they were placed with respect to the core idea of the film 'Skylab' was what could've been done differently so that we'd have felt the stakes throughout, which would've resulted in a more emotionally satisfying experience.

The film became emotionally satisfying in the last 20 minutes of the film - because we see the characters having an arc, and we get a beautiful sense of closure. The cinematography was beautiful - it had a haze to it throughout which added a nice dreamy touch to the world, giving it a slight fantasy sense. The dialogue was so musical and wonderful to listen to. The acting of every character was really good, the way they performed is what created a unique tone to the film. The last 20 minutes of the film made the experience worthwhile. 

Mahasamudram

Mahasamudram (2021)

Written and Directed by: Ajay Bhupathi
Starring: Sharwanand, Siddharth, Aditi Rao Hydari
Streaming on Netflix.

The film has a nice setting - smuggling in the Vizag port, two best friends with opposing ideologies who later become rivals, one of them slowly becoming a gangster, there is a woman involved between both the friends - there is a lot of scope for drama. For me, the transition of Arjun from a man with values, to a man who starts shooting goons was too fast. It happened like a sudden jump. It just happens after Chunchu mama convinces him about something. The same with the transition of Siddharth's character in the ending, it happens after some revelations by Chunchu. Yes, there are some twists that come out here, but still when a character changes polar opposite because of some information, it's not visually convincing. For me, the motivation of Vijay was unclear throughout the film. Initially, he left Maha and went somewhere, and later he comes back and feels bad that Arjun is with her. Anu Emmanuel's character didn't add much to the story apart from someone having to observe the contrast in Arjun - from how he was back then to how he is now. This could've been done by his mother too. 

But apart from these things, I liked how the film was shot. I could see the palette of Vikram Vedha, and I liked how they used the setting so well. There were shots of the beach in between, used as a transition from one scene to another. Rao Ramesh's character was designed very well - it's a nice way for the audience to strongly remember a character. Chunchu mama was also interesting - I've not seen Jagapathi Babu play a manipulator like that lately. The world building is also good, but the character motivations, and the arcs weren't coming through. There were huge jumps there. That was the issue for me. 

Pushpaka Vimanam Analysis

Pushpaka Vimanam

Written and Directed by: Damodara

Starring: Anand Devarakonda, Geet Saini, Saanve Megghana.

Spoilers Alert.

The film essentially has two premises. One, is about how a married man tries to hide to people that his wife has eloped. It has a fun tone to it. He is embarrassed, and he doesn't know how to deal with the situation. He's also heartbroken, lonely and frustrated. But he's trying to mask it all by putting up a facade. It's endearing to see the vulnerability. Here, they have a few physical conflicts as to how he covers it up. After this, the second premise makes a big turn in the film, the tone changes, it's almost like it's Andhadun suddenly. Shit gets real. From there, it goes into another territory by retaining the fun tone. What I felt was, the subplot of Akash, should've been revealed earlier so that some cards are open to the audience and they keep guessing.

The film was fun and engaging. I liked how they explored his heartbreak through him venting near her wife's friend. The choice of who the killer is, is interesting. I didn't expect it'd be him. But his reason for killing could've been something more. Because after so much mystery, when you see that it's someone who had an urge and they attacked her, it feels a bit convenient. You could close any woman's murder mystery like this, by saying that someone around had an urge and raped/killed her. But apart from these small things, I loved the film.

Raja Raja Chora Analysis

Raja Raja Chora (2021)

Written and Directed by: Hasith Goli
Starring: Sree Vishnu, Megha Akash

It's a fun film. It had the residue of Broche and Jersey here and there in terms of the tone and texture. The best part of the film is confrontations. The way people face the truth. That is the best part. It starts off with Sree Vishnu seeing Megha Akash in the store and them having a double confrontation with each other. And of course, the interval. And even in the second half, there is a lot of confrontation happening. That's how both drama and humor is generated in the film. Whether it's the guy who confronts the cop about why he was having an affair with this wife. Megha Akash getting to know that Sree Vishnu's wife is alive, and him having to face his son. The cop's mother facing the truth that his son is not what she thinks. The double confrontation of Sree Vishnu and Ravi Babu in his house when Megha Akash calls him home. If this was a show, there would've been tons of scope for cliffhangers all over. What happens post the confrontation is something normal and expected, and yet the anticipation that these confrontations build up - it's terrific. 

These moments work on paper at a script level. They don't need a background score, or terrific editing for these moments to work. These are the best kind of moments. When they work on paper, everything else elevates them. Sree Vishnu has found a very consistent tone to his performance that even something small he says, is eliciting humor. For example, Megha Akash says, 'let's leave' and Sree Vishnu too says 'yeah, let's leave' and it's such a small, instinctive that but the theatre was erupting with laughter. Vivek Sagar adds a beautiful layer to the film with his music, and so does the editor. I enjoyed the film, it just took me about half an hour to get invested in the film. So perhaps the opening wasn't as gripping to me.

SR Kalyanamandapam Analysis

SR Kalyanamandapam (2021)

Directed and Edited by: Sridhar Gade
Written by and Starring: Kiran Abbavaram

The film excited me on an idea level. A wedding hall, built by the hero's grandfather loses its reputation because of his alcoholic father. Now, his mother requests him to take care of the wedding hall and revive it and save the family. The hero along with his friends, goes on a journey to revive the wedding hall. It's equivalent to a bunch of friends starting up and looking for investors - just that the milieu is more grounded and familiar. Apart from this core idea, there is another beautiful layer to the story which is the fractured relationship between the father and the son. There is good conflict, characters are authentic, and it's interesting. Everything seems organic. But the problem is when the film doesn't stick to these ideas for long. It goes into different territories. The director being the editor, there is a lot of style tried in the edit - it works in some parts, but sometimes it felt overdone. But I'm sucker for style, so I'd actually not mind someone trying style.

The film disappointed me because I was excited with the idea, and the film worked whenever it stuck to the idea - the portions where they go from houses to houses looking for clients, them doing their first wedding - it works. But soon, it goes into the potboiler format. Also, the love track didn't work one bit for me. And the politics of the love story were weird even for someone like me who says that films need not be PC. The first scene of him being drunk and bashing a few goons - it falls into the masculine zone - it would've worked if the core idea of the film was masculine too, like if it dealt with such themes. The angle of respecting a person irrespective of the money they make is good - but again, it's more like a subplot without any link to the core idea. It felt like there is good stuff sprinkled here and there but overall, it didn't work that well for me.

Zombie Reddy Analysis

Zombie Reddy (2020)

Written and Directed by: Prashant Varma

Streaming on Aha!

It's a fun flick. It sticks to the zombie film genre, doesn't subvert much or it doesn't have any socio-political comment going on undercurrent. But the way, it reimagines the popular Telugu cinema faction genre, is terrific. It's a blast in those episodes. The comedy is also physical, and out in our faces. It feels like a parody at places. They create humour out of weird hair and make up choices - actor Prithvi not having two arms, RJ Hemanth's beard - create fun. The scene where Getup Srinu headbutts every one and ends up headbutting an iron pole is hilarious. Teja Sajja is good, I was not sure about him looking at the posters - but in the film - he fits very well. The angle of 'gamers never give up' is interestingly explored.

I felt that the scientist was too caricature-ish, his experiments - they don't even try to shoot these scenes in a convincing way. I think the film is unapologetically on the face and it works in favor of the film for the most. The poster sets the expectations right. There are some really good moments, like the mother breastfeeding her baby when she's bit. The plot of temple's water being a cure was also a visually interesting choice. The film takes a good path when the girl doesn't pull the trigger and gives up her own life because she can't shoot - the stakes suddenly go up. All in all, it's a fun film. It is extremely self aware in what it's trying to do and this is how I'd love to watch commercial, masala films where they exactly know what they're doing and what they're not.

Cinema Bandi Analysis

Cinema Bandi (2021)

Directed by: Praveen Kandregula
Produced by: Raj & DK
Written by: Vasanth Mariganti
Streaming on Netflix.

It has a very interesting premise, initially when I watched the trailer - it felt a bit similar to Sainma. Villagers trying to do something with film. But while, watching the film - it has a different tonality. This film has a mix of Tharun Bhascker and Venkatesh Maha - it has the quirks and humor of a Tharun Bhascker film and the humanitarian angle of a Venkatesh Maha film. A lot of the film reminded me of our experiences with short films in college - finding actresses, messing up with basics and learning them the hard way, etc. The screenplay is solid with structure, inciting incident, Act 1, all is lost moment and the redemption. The plot of who lost the camera was interestingly opened by them looking at the videos, and then intercutting to that piece of the story. The climax reminded me of Cinema Paradiso - where they captured the joy people get by watching movies. 

I read a piece on how 'Everybody is a filmmaker at heart' is insulting to filmmaking as a profession, and how you won't say 'everybody is a doctor at heart'. It's an interesting argument, perhaps that comes from a point of view of mise-en-scene and crafting the production design, costumes, hair and make up to communicate something. But I think the idea of films, filmmaking is so broad and perhaps an exact, specific word to use would be content/creator. The film tries to capture the satisfaction of creating - and that satisfaction need not come only with creating art house cinema - it could come from a masala movie, or even a Tiktok video. So the film celebrates creating and is trying to encourage that. I get it, probably the word filmmaker is too broadly used that Martin Scorsese is also a filmmaker, and so is an Insta influencer. But, what's wrong in that? We call everybody humans, that doesn't make anyone any less of a person.