Tollywood Kaburlu: Recent Episodes
Teja Rao
For feedback and requests can write to: tollywoodkaburlu1@gmail.com
Andariki Namaskaram! Welcome to Tollywood Kaburlu, a weekly Telugu movie podcast dedicated to the latest Telugu movie reviews, news, and interesting topics hosted by Teja Rao, an aspiring actor and screenwriter in USA.
Can follow our latest Telugu movie reviews and articles in written format at TejaRao.com
Credits
Banner: Lakshmi Productions
Cast: Ravi Teja, Sneha, Ashutosh Rana, Raasi (SA), Srinivasa Reddy, Chitram Seenu, Ramchandar, Tanikella Bharani, Delhi Sakuntala, Brahmanandam, AVS, Venu Gopal, Krishna Bhagavan, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Ahuti Prasad, Mallikharjuna Rao, Kaushal, Apoorva, Bharat, Sirisha, Suman (SA)
Dialogues: Kona Venkat
Lyrics: Sahiti
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Art: Narayana Reddy
Stunts: A Vijay
Producer: Atluri Purnachandra Rao
Story - Screenplay - direction: Seenu Vytla
Release date: 26th March 2004
Agenda
1) First Impressions
2) How your liking towards it grew
3) Music, Cinematirapghy, Art Direction, Editing
4) Writing and Direction
5) Why it will always be a classic
Credits
Cast: Gopichand, Tapsee Pannu, Shakthi Kapoor, Suman, Ali, etc
Music: Sri
Camera: Shyam Dutt
Art: S Ramakrishna
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswararao
Dialogues: K.K. Radha Krisha Kumar
Lyrics: Ananth Sriram
Fights: Selva
Story, screenplay & Direction: Chandra Sekhar Yeleti
Producer: BVSN Prasad
Release date: 12 July 2013
Movie collected 13.5 crores share and while it was a safe project for producer but small loss venture for distributors, everyone who bought the movie had small losses so it can be termed as above average movie.
Writing/Direction
So this is basically National Treasure + Indiana Jones mixed into one.
Also add the chandamama kathalu in there which I personally never read but I remember when I was young just hearing about Ali Baba and the 40 thieves open sesame etc it’s all there.
This is given a India Pakistan border conflict with Hinglaj Devi temple backdrop ate serve as catalyst for the story.
Why it’s National treasure is granfather or relative goes looking for treasure and leaves a treasure map for others to come find it where a mount Ian of wealth lies. There it was Nicolas Cage and then here it’s gopichand.
Indiana Jones because of the globetrotting adventure aspect. Here they go from one border to the next but this Indiana Jones is the GOAT of adventure movies, oviisuly the comparisons will be there where hero and villains looking for treasures, huge dive into the final location, hero fights villain and something usually happens where treasure gets lost forever.
Here they talk about partition but everything about it so well done and makes for an intriguing adventure drama in Indian context.
The last 45 mins however were very good. Classic adventure movie where hero and villain come down to find the treasure and then have a fight for it. Stakes are brilliantly done and movie ends on a cliffhanger actually. We never see what happens to Gautham and his financial satiation but finally koteeswarudu ayyadu. Also that dialogue sums up his characterization: naaku kaanidhi koti rupailu aina voddu, naadhi annadi adha rupailu kuda voddhulukonu.
Direction by Yeleti is good. But the villains needed to be written better, the movie needed more entertainment to keep pace consistent which would have helped the movie overall. But due to uneven pacing some parts are really good while others are very slow. I think with a director os his creativity we only expect the best and when it has flaws, we feel a little disappointed.
Cinematography is by Shyam Dutt is excellent! The movie looks extremely rich and grand and also the color palette is basically brown or white along with blue for night scenes but there’s also red and green and the lighting especially is excellent like the scene where they explain theres a lamp in Sulthan’s house and the light will reflect on it and the same thing happens. Overall it’s a visual wonder and he did an excellent job in terms of the framing, lighting, and overall color palette.
Art Direction is MASTERPIECE. Adventure movies are a production designer’s dream and literally all of the sets and props are so good especially the climax all of the levels they created are so well done. The props like the locket, books, bag, diary, keys, Bird statue, everything is so well done. Also the location costing deserves a special mention, The rough terrain of Pakistan is seamlessly blended as Ladakh and you actually believe they’re in Pakistan with all the signs around in Urdu. It’s so well done.
Banner: Clap Entertainment
Cast: Gopichand, Neha Julka, Mahesh Manjrekar, Suman, Nassar, Tanikella Bharani, Rahul Dev, Giribabu, Brahmanandam, Raghubabu, Uttej & Ramesh
Crew:
Dialogues: Koratala Siva
Music: MM Keeravani
Cinematography: Jayakrishna Gummadi
Art: R Ravindar
Choreography: Noble & Raju
Thrills: Allen Amin, Ram Lakshman & Vijay
Editing: Mohan - Rama Rao
Lyrics: Seetarama Sastry, Jonnavithula & Anant Sreeram
Direction: Chandarsekhar Yeleti
Producer: Cherry
Release Date: 2 March 2007
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/news/2000march20/chitchat-cherry.html
https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/chandrasekharyeleti.html
Credits
Banner: DVV Entertainments
Cast: Nani, Priyanka Arul Mohan, SJ Suryah, Sai Kumar, Murali Sharma, Aditi Balan, Harsha Vardhan, Ajay, Sivaji Raja, Ajay Ghosh, Vishnu Oi, Supreeth, Jeevan Kumar, Josh ravi, Abhirami, Subhalekha Sudhakar
Music: Jakes Bejoy
Cinematography: Murali G
Editor: Karthika Srinivas
Art Director: GM Sekhar
Fights: Ram Laxman, Real Satish
Story, screenplay - dialogues - direction: Vivek Athreya
Producer: DVV Danayya, Dasari Kalyan
Release Date: August 29th, 2024
Context: After flop of Ante Sundaranimi, Nani and Vivek Athreya teamed up once again for another movie and was more surprised because giving chance to flop director is extremely rare in film industry but nani did it so many times with Hanu Raghavapudi, Vivek Athreya, venu Sriram, and teaser came out and was excited because thought it was superhero concept but then maybe it would be like Maveeran but wasn't very impressive. Teaser wasnt great, no chartbuster songs, and then trailer was excellent. Generally always watch nani movies with family so went last night and movie was purely average at best. It was good until a point but then started to get tired. Will explain
Interesting Facts
- After Ante Sundaraniki flopped, The day when our film was declared a flop, I asked Vivek to come up with a solid script where an action film has all the closed threads and he also wanted to do an action film and he did it with Saripodhaa Sanivaaram which I loved and greenlighted on a massive scale with Saturday concept like “Saturday Baasha concept”
- October 23rd, 2023 movie was officially launched with a concept video with the title Saripodha Saanivaram
- Filming started in In November 2023 and the interval fight was the first thing they filmed, how Because on February 24th, 2024 they released the glimpse and all the action scenes in that trailer are mainly from the interval fight
- Production Designer GM Shekar built a set called Sokulapalem and was built with a lot of money and was expected to be one of the highlights of the movie.
- SHot in 120 days and surprisingly pretty rare but entirely filmed in Hyderabad in real locations with a lot of real locations which is pretty rare
- SJ Suryah after a long gap coming back to Telugu and become very famous with eccentric villain roles after Spyder and Manaadu. After Spyder this is his next Telugu movie so gap of 7 years
- Finally released on August 29th and running successfully. Already made 2 million in America by the time of this recording.
Revisiting 1 Nenokkadine (2014) - Is it Really Underrated?
Banner: 14 Reels Entertainment & Eros International
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kriti Sanon, Gautham krishna, Nassar, Anu Hasan, Sayaji Shinde, Pradeep Rawat, Kelly Dorji, Vikram Singh, Posani krisha murali, Srinivasa reddy, Anand, Sophie Choudry.etc
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Camera: R. Rathnavelu
Art Direction: Rajeevan
Fights: Peter Hain
Editing: Karthika Srinivas
Lyrics: Chandrabose
Choreography: Prem Rakshith
Story: Jakka Hari Prasad
Story sahakaram: Arjun YK, Thota Sreenu
Direction: Sukumar
Producers: Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta, Anil Sunkara
Release date: 10 January 2014
Why did 1 Nenokkadine flop link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOLUn84Y2m4
Credits
Banner: Lakshmi Narasimha Visuals
Cast: Raviteja, Trisha, Mukul Dev, Brahmanandam, Chandra Mohan, Dhandapani, Sunil, Tanikella Bharani, Shayaji Shinde, Jayaprakash Reddy, Venu Madhav, Sudha, Karate Kalyani, Sana, Sujatha Reddy, Rajan P Dev, M S Narayana, Satyam Rajesh, Giribabu, Fish Venkat, CVL Narasimharao, Chitram Srinu, Kalyani, Revathi, Master Abhijay, Murali Krishna,
Presenter: DVV Danayya
Music Director: Chakri
Story & Dialogues: Siva Akula
Screenplay: V.V. Vinayak
Cinematographer: Chota K. Naidu
Editor: Goutham Raju
Art: A.S. Prakash
Costumes: P Ramesh
Stunts: Ram-Lakshman
Lyrics: Chandra Bose
Choreographer: Suchitra Chandra Bose, Pradeep Anthony, Dinesh & Nobel Paul
Producer: B. Kasi Viswanatham
Director: V.V. Vinayak
Release Date: January 12th, 2008
Agenda
1) First Impressions and where you saw It
2) how your liking towards it grew
3) Music and other Technicalities
4) Writing and Direction
5) Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Credits
Banner: Just Yellow Media
Cast: Charmy, Jagapathi Babu, Sashank, Pavan Malhotra, Harsha Vardhan, Narsing Yadav, Pooja Bharati, Jagga Rao, Sivannarayana, Ravi Prakash, Kaushal, Amit, Pingpong, Vasu Inturi, Sandra, Jayalakshmi, Baby Roopika
Dialogues: Gangaraju Gunnam
Lyrics: Sirivennela, MM Keeravani, Gangaraju Gunnam & Marut
Music: MM Keeravani
Choreography: Nixon
Cinematography: Sarvesh Murari
Stunts: Ramana
Editing: Mohan - Rama Rao
Art: Ravindar R
Costumes: Rama Vastala & Sandhya Ravi
Presents: Ramaraju D
Executive Producer: Urmila Gunnam
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Chandra Sekhar Yeleti
Producers: Gangaraju Gunnam & Venkat Dega
Theatrical release date: 30th June 2005
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/movie/postmortem/anukokundaokaroju.html
Prudvi's Writeup: https://pennedbypro.wordpress.com/2020/06/30/anukokunda-oka-roju-breakdown/
Basically ivve mana reasons
1) Most good lyric writers are dead
2) Lack of evergreen music/shelf life
3) Death of audio launches and music units
4) Singles culture
5) Virality and views for insta reels and tiktok and facebook
6) Lack of music directors for commercial music
Andariki Namaskaram!
Episode title is exaclty what is sounds like. Mana industry lo ippati daridram gurunchi almost ganta sepu cheppam.
Enjoy and write in comments if you agree!
Credits
Banner: Vyajayanthi Movies
Cast: Rebel Star Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Hassan, Disha Patani, Pasupathy, Vijay Deverakonda, Dulquer Salmaan, Anna Ben, and others
Music: Santosh Narayan
Cinematography: Djordje Stojiljkovic
Editing: Kotagiri venkateswara Rao
Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary
Costume Design: Thota Vijay Bhaskar, Sheeleena Nathani, Sahithi Patha,
Written & Directed by: Nag Ashwin
Producers: C. Aswini Dutt, Priyanka Dutt, Swapna Dutt
Release Date: June 27th, 2024
Too much to cover in description so enjoy!
Andariki Namaskaram!
Glad to announce our 175th Episode today where we are joined by the one and only Surya Tej Borra talking about timeless classic Manmadhudu starring King Nagarjuna directed by K Vijaya Bhaskar and written by Trivikram Srinivas.
Enjoy!Agenda)1) First Impressions 2) How your Liking towards it Grew 3) Music and Other Technicalities 4) Writing and Direction 5) Why it will always be a classic
Credits
Banner: Aditya Arts
Cast: Ram, Isha, Pradeep Rawat, Prakash Raj, AS Rav Kumar Chowdary, Tanikella, Telangana Sakuntala, Satya Prakash, Raghubabu, Saranya, Chitram Seenu, Duvvasi Mohan, Krishnam Raju, Venu, Surya Narayana, Suchitra, Lirisha, Nihal, Devi Charan, Dasanna & Shiva Varma
Crew:
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Ratnavelu
Fights: Vijay
Art: Kiran & Prakash
Editing: Srikar Prasad
Story - dialogues - screenplay - Direction: Sukumar
Producer: Aditya Babu
Release Date: 16th March 2007
Interesting Facts
- So basically how the movie started was whenever Sukumar saw someone fighting whenever he got there it would stop and he was always wondering what if they foought how it will be, he got to thought of Jagadam
- Initially he wanted to make it with Mahesh babu and Allu Arjun before Arya and even came out but due to some unknown circumstances it didnt happen, so. In this gap he made Arya and had a lot of love stories but felt I wanted to do something different and show new movie with violence backdrop. He started working on the script.
- Right when he finished the script, YVS Chowdhary Devadasu starring Ram had released and it had a been a week since it came out
- Anukokunda, Sukumar watched that movie and felt Ram was acting very hushaaru and effortlessly he would be a good fit so he approached Sravanthi Ravi Kishore, narrated it to Ram and got the green signal. Inttially he narrated the movie to Dil Raju but he had differences and Sukumar was very adamant at the time and said he behaved like a little kid and was movie should be like this only and in that anger he cancelled it and started it night night and started with a new producer and project was launched on February 4th, 2006. Sirivennela lyrics and then Kiran as art director their debut but both were replaced later on by Chandrabose and Sahithi and then AS Prakash filled in for Kiran after he left the project
- JD Sompalli son Aditya Babu was the producer making it only 2nd movie on Aditya Arts banner and funny enough Dil Raju came for opening
- Since he already had good relation with them, DSP music and then Ratnavaelu cinematography were on board. Both remained as highlights
- Sukumar asked DSP to compose a song between two vasthulu madhyana prema yela vuntadi and that was 5 feet 8 inches song and then when Sukumar told Chandrabose the story, he immediately wrote the song and Devi scored music for it and that is Violence is a fashion song. CBFC opposed to it I don’t know why but they changed it to Jagadam is a fashion.
- Filmed with Super35 MM Camera, first time in South India,
- For visual color palette, Rathnavelu used color psychology. I used bluish color for brother’s death scene because it gives chill effect. Generally we have the habit of using back and white or monotone while opening the flashbacks. But I used warm tone for the Jathara scene which comes as opening scene in flashback. I used the ting of yellow and saffron for this scene because it represents turmeric and kunkuma. I used to neutral tone while narrating the present.
- Finally March 16, 2007 movie released and movie didnt run. Audience like that after a movie like Arya, Sukumar chose to make a movie like this and they couldn’t connect to it and the dark theme didnt connect with people
- Sukumar couldn’t tell the point he wanted to tell, Soft faced Ram seeing him in such a rugged role, ISha Sahani acting and worst love track and screenplay issues all of these conturbited to failure of the movie
- Finally biggest plus was Sreekar Prasad konni naalu taravatha met Sukumar in a flight and brought up Jagadam. Sukumar said flop movie kasha enduku. Sreekar Prasad said im coming form Mumbai and a lot od directors have Jagadam movie in their library antha kanna yemi kavali.
- A lot of people might not call you or meet you but it got a lot of appreciations and technicians use it as a reference.
Credits
Banner: Arka Media
Cast: Sunil, Saloni, Nagineedu, Brahmaji, Rao Ramesh, Supreet, Venu Gopal, Prabhakar, Kanchi, Anuj Gurwar, Kosuri Bharat Nag & Ravi Teja (voice)
Music: MM Keeravani
Lyrics: Sirivennela, Ananta Sreeram, Rama Jogaiah Sastri and Chaitanya PrasadCinematography: C Ram Prasad
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Art: R Ravinder
Visual Effects: RC Kamalakannan
Fights: Peter Heins
Styling: Rama Rajamouli
Story idea: Vara MullapudiStory - dialogues: SS Kanchi
Screenplay - direction: SS Rajamouli
Producer: Shobu Yarlagadda & Prasad DevineniRelease date: 23 July 2010
Writing/Direction
It’s basically remake or adaptation about Our Hospitality a silent movie and its a faction movie.
So obviously faction movies ruled from 1999-2005 it became outdated. Then 3 more movies came with the same story which brought something new:
Maryada Ramanda
Mirchi
Aravinda Samantha
Movie is very well done and so simple yet entertaining. Literally movie starts and brings into light the conflict. Sunil mom doesnt want him to fall prey to the violence so she dies and raises him in the city. And interestingly where movie starts, it also ends there. It opens with Gandikota visuals and then climax is there itself.
Hero and heroine both have goals in the movie. Hero needs money so he comes for the land and he’s very relatable because he’s a common man doesnt find etc just a simple guy, heroine likes to draw but her entire family and her would be bava makes fun of it and she’s very likable too so you start liking this love story too.
Then Ramu’s relative tells him about why it might be dangerous and explains about the godavalu. Ramu is innocent and he doesnt know. Then he meets Mallasuri and he finds out and danger starts.
They play hide and seek and then Sunil finds out and cuts back to what his babbai said and he realizes he is in danger and overhears everything.
Then fun starts with comedy and they want him to leave and he does everything he possibly can to not leave as it’s Avery unique point can only kill the guy if he’s outside the house. And you also start to feel the tension. He cuts the swing and he sets that up in the beginning and he cuts it, pretending to fake it and then hilarious situations ensue of everybody trying to get to leave the house.
Like the scenes:
He gets on a pole and it falls
Letter falls down and its outside, he comes from inside to outside and back inside and they miss the chance.
Balancing the tension and humor aspect is very tough and Rajamouli did a brilliant job at it.
For example: lead into Teluguammayi song. You literally have tension that anything can happen to Ramu but the Brahamaji dad puts pellichoopulu and makes things very funny and lighthearted
Also their uncles death ceremony, kind of symbolic like he’s responsible for his death in a way being born to Chatrapathi Sekhar was very funny.
Then the bath scene very funny. Just utilizes Sunil and the tension so well.
Climax gets very serious and riveting with action sequences and chases. Crazy turn of events. Jump is very athi from the cliff. But its very entertaining and then climax has the needed emotion and its very well done.
The cycle as well is brilliant stroke. Best thing is you can literally see Raviteja performing the dialogues too. The circle is a great character because it always helps Ramu when he’s in need, like in the beginning and then climax but its always trolling him too.
Direction by Rajamouli is very good. This movie proves once again why he’s the master story teller. Utilizing Sunil comic timing and pricing great entertainment int he train scenes and then bringing story to Rayalaseema and then one again going from entertainment and balancing the humor and tension was so well done. It doesnt have typical Rajamouli elements like hero elevations or mass scenes but it does have emotions and grandeur to be frank and good convict which drives the story forward. Such a simple story but told in an entertaining manner.
Credits
Banner: Viswamitra Creations
Cast: Mohan Babu, NTR, Priyamani, Mamata Mohandas, Kushboo, Rambha, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Narendra Jha, Rajiv Kanakala, Naresh, Ali, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana,
Camera: Senthil Kumar
Dialogues: M Ratnam
Music: MM Keeravani
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Art: Anand Sai
Story: Vijayendra Prasad
Presents: Rama Rajamouli
Screenplay - direction: SS Rajamouli
Producer: Cherry and Urmila Gunnam
Release date: 15 August 2007
Interesting Facts
-
Tell us about how Yamadonga project happened?In response to our offer to direct a film for us, Rajamouli called me and Urmila Gangaraju one day and said that he would be directing a film for us on his banner Viswamitra creations. He wanted us to be the producers of his first venture on Viswamitra banner.
-
Yama Donga, one of the most eagerly awaited premium product of Tollywood is all set to hit the screens very shortly. This film is by far the costliest movies made in the Telugu film industry. This film boasts of the biggest indoor set erected so far in whole of Asia and incidentally is the costliest individual set. This Yama Lokam set was erected over period of 90 days with 300 workers working on the set day and night. The magnitude of the set was so much that it took almost another one and half month to dismantle the same. This set was erected in Ramoji Film City and the no.of shooting days in this set was 42 days. Apart from this the other sets erected for four songs, the set of the Hero House and the Heroine House are also done with lot of richness and grand taste.
- The biggest set in RFC was erected for Vaaji song in Sivaji and it occupied only 60% of the floor. The Yamalokam set occupied 100% of the floor. We used 15 generators at a time to light up the floor. It took 4 days to set the lighting to that floor.
Senthil Kumar used the best available equipment to shoot this film. Since Yamalokam set demanded a great amount of lighting, we procured almost all available lighting equipment from Hyderabad movie infrastructure providers. We had to borrow some of the lighting equipment from Chennai too.
Graphics work plays a very vital role because it is a socio fantasy. We employed various e-fx companies. Adel Edeli - a renowned 3D animator from Iran - did the 3-D work for the exterior of Yamalokam. EFX studio did the major work (around 90%) of the graphics part. They have been working on the film from April to August. Rajamouli did online editing and made sure that graphics work is done simultaneously along with the shooting.
A team of 80 professionals spread over three outsourcing houses spearheaded by EFX are working on the graphics and the production house is confident of coming out with the most impressive visuals.
Keeravani started the work on 2 July and will complete it on 7 August. It is taking over a month. Keeravani is immensely enjoying rerecording as it is a challenging task to work for a socio-fantasy
It is partly true. Prabhas did the role of Viswamitra. But not for Yamadonga film. When Rajamouli wanted to design the logo of Viswamitra Creations, he needed a model for Viswamitra photo. He requested Prabhas as his physique is very good. Prabhas obliged for a photo shoot. The designer cut the physique of Prabhas and inserted in the logo of Viswamitra creations.We started the shooting on 2 January 2007 and completed it by the end of July. It took us 148 working days spread over a span of seven months. We exposed around 2 lakhs feet of negative.
We shot most of the film indoors by erecting massive sets in Ramoji Film City, Annapurna studios and Rama Naidu studios (Nanakram Guda). Climax was shot in Talakona forest. A song and some scenes were shot at Golconda Fort in Hyderabad.
Audio launched on July 14h, 2007 at Hotel Marriot in Hyderabad. Finally movie released on
Movie was a hit at the box office collecting 29 crores share and ran for 50 days in 400 centers and 100 days in 61 centers. 3rd consecutive hit in SSR NTR combination.
Credits
Banner: Harika & Hasini Creations
Cast: Allu Arjun, Ileana, Sonu Sood, Rajendra Prasad, Kota Sreenivasa Rao, Rao Ramesh, Tanikella Bharani, Brahmaji, Brahmanandam, Dharwavarapu Subramanyam, MS Narayana, Raghu Babu, Ravi Prakash, Shravan, Pragati, Hema, Kalpika, Tulasi, & Udayabhanu (item song)
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Chota K Naidu & Sam K Naidu
Editing: Pravin Pudi
Art: S Ravinder
Stunts: Peter Heins
Story - screenplay dialogues - direction: Trivikram
Presented by: DVV Danayya
Producer: S Radha Krishna (Chinababu)
Release date: 9 August 2012
Writing/Direction
Movie is supposed to be a cat and mouse game between two very intelligent people or high IQ people.
Trivikram described the movie in a single line: laksha rupayala lottery ticketni kooda kastapadi sampadinchina okka rupayithone konali’
Movie title is Julayi and hero is jobless but I had so many questions…
- What are his qualifications. Ok he is middle class but what did he study etc
- How is so intelligent yet he’s jobless. A person who has so much knowledge they dont even show how such a person is struggling in society. Instead he is chitti and satellite combined, he somehow knows everything before it happens which is ridiculous. And apparently if you solve Rubik’s cube in 5 minutes you are Einstein I guess
- He meets Bittu like once yet somehow he knows every move within one meeting. Here hero just happens to know everything because Bittu tipped the police off and doesnt trust Ravi because he’s worried he might tell them. But he’s always doing the polices job for them. Mari erollu laa choopistharu. I just didnt know how he knows everything.
When I first saw the movie, opening scene was pure Dark Knight. If I ever meet Trivikram, I’ll ask him how many times we saw the movie.
During pandemic time because people had nothing better to do, Trivikramization became a thing and its one thing to copy but to blatantly copy form such an iconic film that everyone has seen is another thing. Reduces the impact. And it lacks the intensity to which Nolan pulled it off anyway.
Also no bank would 15000 crores just like that all cash and then somehow Shafi has enough time to throw trash on top it that nobody would care to notice.
Climax is copied from Italian job changing containers.
Also interval scene is so illogical. That’s not possible at all and a single airbag doesnt go out that entire time. Literally if you rear end someone the airbag goes off he hits about 2-3 cars and then drives through a building from such a height, no airbags, no injuries, nothing. Takes gun and shoots him.
set up and payoffs is in
- He says eppudu choosing eppudu Radio Mirchi yenti raa babu, naa istham nenu adhe vintanu raa.
- Climax he uses his friend Pradeep MAchiraju to create a diversion to rescue the container.
- Dad says what if we try to earn money easily, I make 1 lakh, 120 days salary, will you do it in 120 minutes? Basically point of the movie is dont try to earn easy money, sanka naaki pothav.
- As with most Trivikram movies, where movie starts it ends. At a bus stop it tells the Bhairakona story
- Last scene of movie radio concludes the story
The only comedy that I enjoyed was 3 scenes: Brahmanandham playing with the hospital thing pressing buttons, everyone getting slapped by Ileana, and then Brahmi explaining the kidnap story of the kid and how he went to jail.
When a director like Trivikram is making a movie, you expected great writing, dialogues, comedy, and entertainment. And to be frank in Julayi you have none of those.
Direction by Trivikram is average. It lacks his trademark strong writing and effectiveness. While there are some set ups and payoffs, it results in a timepass movie at best. Nothing great about it.
Credits
Banner: Keerthi Creations
Cast: Ravi Teja, Anushka, Prakash Raj, Vineeth Kumar, Brahmanandam, Ruthika, Rajiv Kanakala, Raghubabu, Ajay, Jayaprakash Reddy, Sekhar, Amit Kumar, Baba, Baby Neha,
Music: MM Keeravani
Cinematography: Sarvesh Murari
Dialogues: M Ratnam
Art: R Ravinder
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Story: Vijayendra Prasad
Stunts: Ram Lakshman
Costumes Designer: Rama Rajamouli
Executive producer: Cherry
Direction: SS Rajamouli
Producer: ML Kumar Chowdary
Release Date: 23 June 2006
Interesting Facts
- After the success of Chatrapathi, Rajamouli floated his own banner (banner stapinchi) and wanted to do his next for his banner. Wanted to do a movie called Mudra with NTR and a big movie. But pre production and budget would cost a lot for it. So he kept it aside due to market limitations. In the meantime, we can do a movie and then do our own production and Vijayendra Prasad had readied a script about a slice story and he found it to be very exciting and powerful. If we have a powerstar as hero, it will be industry hit.
- He went to Bangaram set and met Pawn Kalyan and told him the store. PK said we will do it later im taking a gap right now so he said no. then Rajamouli thought of doing the movie with other heroes, for some reason Raviteja came to mind. Around Sye time, there was also some discussion during that time for they combination. Raviteja always said im ready and gave his word.
- Then Rajamouli told Vijayendra Prasad to change the story with Raviteja mark energy without missing my mark. Raviteja can do any character but entertainment is his main asset. That’s how they created Athili Sathi Babu character.
- They didnt change the police story and did some changes here and there (marupulu cherpulu chesi) within 15 days he readied the full script. M Rathnam write the dialogue version and script came out superbly.
- December 11th, 2005 movie was launched at Annapurna Studios. NTR, Prabhas, K Vijaya Bhaskar came as chief guests
- Filmed in Annapurna Studios, Athadu House set, Ramoji Film City, Rajendra Nagar Granite Quarry, 2nd half flashback scenes Karnataka Dharwad district. Filming was completed in just 5 months 90 days with great planning they finished the movie in short time.
- When filing at the granite quarry, the workers there threw stones at the film unit and some of them got injured.
- May 31st, 2006 audio was launched at a set in HiTec City. YVS Choudhary and K raghavendra Rao were the chief guests. Suma anchored the event and Adiyta Music took music rights.
- MM Keeravani worked day and night for 22 days to compose BGM. He gave different BGM for all emotional episodes related to Vikram Rathod character
- Finally on June 23rd, 2006 with 180 prints, movie released amidst huge expectations due to Ravi’s image and Rajamouli success rate got huge openings.
- Keeravani BGM pranam posaru and Rajamouli taking proved his track record again. Movie got some divide talk at first but after some time mass audience brahmaradham paddaru. Even in A centers movie ran every well
- Breakthrough for Anuksha who became star heroine, villain break for Ajay and Vineet Kumar Telugu turning point
- Audience thought Raviteja lo into powerful actor vunnada aascharyam vesindu. After Idiot and Bhadra gave another huge break to Ravityeja and he got full craze in masses with this movie
- Box office event with competition with Pokiri prabhanjanam and other movies competition, movie was a blockbuster at the box office grossing 18 crores share and 26 crores gross. In Vizag and Guntur 2nd highest grosser all time after Pokiri
- Ran for 100 days in 54 centers and was top 5 grossers of 2006. For 100 days function, Allu Arjun, Ileana and Allu Aravind came as chief guests. This movie was remade in 5 languages 6 different times.
- Tamil remake was dine by Karthi directed by Souryam Siva, Kannada directed and starring Sudden, Hindi starring Akshay Kumar directed by Prabhudeva, and remade twice in Bangladeshi with different heroes and heroines.
CreditsBanner: Sri Venkateswara CreationsCast: Allu Arjun, Anuradha Mehta, Siva, Devi Charan, Vidya, Rajan P Dev, Subba Raju, Venu Madhav, Devi Charan, Babloo, Jogi Brothers, Sunil, Ramana MurthyPhotography: Ratnavelu Music Director: Devi Sri PrasadLyrics: Viswa, Chandra Bose, Veturi & SirivennelaEditing: Marthand K VenkateshAction: Ram and LakshmanChoreography: Nixon, Harish Pai, Shankar, AshokPresents: AnitaExecutive Producers: Sirish & LakshmanProducer: RajuDialogues, Story, Screenplay, Direction: SukumarRelease date: 7th May 2004Interesting Facts: Box office details with a 4 crore budgets, it collected 16 crores share the box office and was a blockbuster at the box office. In Hyderabad Sudarshan it collected 1.34 share it created a sensation Completed 50 days in 90 centers and 100 days 56 centers, celebrated 125 days and Chiranjeevi was chief guest. Dubbed into Malayalam and was a super hit there and created a market then itself. Was even remade in Sri Lanka film industry as well. Too much to list here so just enjoy the episode!
Revisiting Tholi Prema (1998): Review + Interesting Facts - 168
Credits
Banner: SSC Arts
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Keerthi Reddy, Vasuki, Ali, Venu Madhav, Nagesh, Achyuth, PJ Sarma, Ravi Babu, Sangeetha, A. Karunakaran
Music: Deva
Cinematography: Y.Maheedar & Chota K Naidu
Art Direction: Anand Sai
Lyrics: Sirivennela and Bhuvana Chandra
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Story, Screenplay, Direction: A. Karunakaran
Producer: GVG Raju
Release Date: July 24th, 1998
Interesting Facts:
- In 1997, Kanarukaran wrote a story. Already worked for Prema Desam as AD, and the movie was such a big hit and wanted his first movie to be that big a hit and wrote a new love story and met around 100 producers in Chennai but nobody accepted it. He had a lot of confidence on his story and but wasnt finding the right hero.
- He felt if he gets the right hero, then producers will be attracted. But the right hero for the story wasnt crossing his mind, one day in a Tamil magazine he saw Pawan Kalyan’s photo and felt he would be apt for the story and role. He knew PK was a telugu hero and didn’t know he was Chiru’s brother at the time. He tried to contact Pawan and tried a lot but didnt get Pawan appointment. Finally get an appointment and said after listening to the story, he said ill wait for this story as long as it takes, he liked it that much
- He liked doing regular movies, but for some reason Pawan connected to story of THoli Prema a lot.
- Finally filming started, wanted to spent a lot for the budget but due to the Taj Mahal set, whatever they planned it went over budget and Pawan who already took advance and the remuneration he was supposed to get after the movie he said no use it for the production instead
- When filming the accident scene 2 junior artists Loyola lo padipoyaru, Pawan immediately went into the Loyola and rakshinchadu.
- One day when filming the song Ee Manase, the music wasnt there so Karunakaran just hummed the tune and Pawan danced to it. With that amount of dedication they filmed the movie
- Original title of the movie was Kalavara Maye Madilo, finally July 24th, 1999 movie released. PK was still known as Chiru brother, his only hit at the time was Suswagatham, so movie released without any expectations. People who saw it were in shocks. Can you make a movie this neatly, and can you show this heroine this well in a movie. Yuvatha yega badi choosaru ee movie ni.
- Love stories Ila vuntattai ani trend ni marchina movie Tholi Prema. Hero and heroine dont have any duets, chemistry, or vulgarity. It showed the meaning os swetchamiana prema achamaina niravacham cheppina movie Tholi Prema
- Cant forget Pawans acting as a boy next door character lo vothigipoyadu Pawan and his expressions and body language, Every kid saw themselves (thanani thanu) in Pawan in this movie and they followed him in youth and became a youth icon and it gave him stardom
- Karunakaran is a painter and the painting of Keerthi reddy in the movie was done by Karunakaran only
- Movie audio was a super hit and the movie has no female vocals very rare feat.
- Box office: sold for 3 crore pre release business, made 3x profit. It was going to become industry hit range but due to Choodalani Vundi which released a month after and became a blockbuster. Even then (aina sare) it became a blockbuster in Pawan’s career. Complete 100 days in 16 centers and 200 days in 2 centers. In Warangal, it ran for 300 days.
- In Nizam they bought it for 90 lakhs and 90% of the share came from Sandhya 70 MM
- First movie distributed by Dil Raju and it made Pawan close to number 1 spot in Telugu industry and remained a classic movie in his career and a movie with no haters. Everybody likes it even anti fans.
Credits
Banner: Anandi Art Creations
Cast: Sundeep Kishan, Rakul Preet Singh, Nagineedu, Brahmaji, Saptagiri, Tagubothu Ramesh, Pruthvi, Jaya Prakash Reddy, MS Narayana, Narsing Yadav etc
Music: Ramana Gogula
Lyrics: Bhaskarabhatla, Srimani, Kasarla Syam
Art: Sahi Suresh
Fights: King Salman, Venkat
Choreography: Shekar VJ
Camera: Chota K Naidu
Editing: Gautham Raju
Direction: Merlapaka Gandhi
Producers: Gemini Kiran
Release date: 29 November 2013
Interesting Facts
Merlapaka Gandhi real name is Che Guevara. I am born and brought up in Vedullacheruvu near Renigunta. My relatives and friends started called me Chegu, Jaggu etc since they found it hard to pronounce Che Guevara. Then my father changed my name to Gandhi when I was 5 after watching Attenborough’s Gandhi in his village.
My father Merlapaka Murali used to be a journalist and worked in Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy newspapers. He likes writing novels. 25 of his novels were published in Swathi magazine. He was interested in Communism I studied in Tirupathi till intermediate and then did my B.Tech. in Allagadda.
I wanted to become a director since I was in 10th class. But my father wanted me to finish studies first. After completing B.Tech, I told my father that I would do a diploma course in cinematography so that even if I fail in movies, I can live by doing wedding photography. My father agreed and I have joined LV Prasad institute in Chennai for cinematography course. I was never interested in cinematography and I used to attend direction classes. Sujith (Run Raja Run director) was my senior in that film institute.
Then he after 1 year of Course felt I knew everything and made a short film called Karma Raa Devuda. It became popular and he started to get calls from the industry and one of them was Khayyum, brother of Ali in Super movie. Then they did a short film together.
The first line I thought about is that a guy who wants to go to Tirupati missed his train in Hyderabad and boards it at Tirupathi. Then I added father character who gives son a last chance to stay at house and it has added tension factor. Then there is a heroine who gets tagged along. And then I wrote characters of Saptagiri and Thagubothu Ramesh for entertainment aspect.
I told my father the story but he wasn't impressed intitially and he likes romance so he actually wrote the love track in the movie between Sundeep and Rakul. Most of the characters I have written are taken from real life.
Narrated it to Sundeep Kishan, then told it to Chota K Naidu and he felt very excited and introduced him to produce Kiran and after listening he immediately said lets go to shooting.
Producer actually gave suggestion for the title Venkatadri Express and it was fixed and it was also his suggestion to get Raman gogula for the Music after a long gap of 6 years after Yogi for a notable movie.
First combo of Sundeep and Chota K Naidu. This is his first film made entirely with digital cameras. He has used Arri Alexa and Red Epic cameras.
He has used lights in an effective way. We have hired a train for 11 days and shot in real locations like Kachiguda Railway station.
For Saptagiri’s role, Ali was actually the first choice and that point in time Prema Katha Chitram hadnt released when they were filming. Saptagiri’s was fresh and Gandhi liked his innocence but Chota K Naidu didnt like him.
He said let me call Ali garu right now but that character required Sundeep Kishan to yell at him, he didnt like Sundeep chiding (thittadam) didnt sit with well with him (ekkatle).
So they continued with Saptagiri and he got very good name with it and rest is history.
Movie was a hit at the box office and honestly speaking this was the last movie of Sundeep Kishan that I actually liked. Completed 50 days.
Credits
Cast: Balayya, K Vishwanath, Simran, Asha Saini & Preethi Jingyani
Music: Mani Sharma
Story, Screenplay: Chinni Krishna
Cinematography: VSR Swamy
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Art Direction: Brahma Kadali
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Direction: B Gopal
Producer: Medikonda Murali Krishna
Theatrical Release Date: 11th January 2001
Interesting Facts
- In 2000, 4th collaboration between Balayya nd B Gopal got fixed. It was B Gopal’s 25th movie, started with a powerful cop story and shooting started and already scored 3 super hits with Balayya and fans did hungama and chuttesaru and told him have to give us another industry hit
- Realizing that we might not be able to score an industry hit with the cop story, he told Balayya the same and then Balayya after thinking it over said ok let’s do another story and then B Gopal called Chinni Krishna who had been in touch with for last 2 years and told him to narrate the story to Balayya
- In Punjab, there’s a rule that someone from every family must go to the army, then he readied the concept. Faction backdrop and fictionists have to save their people and ready an army with people from their family
- Balayya liked it and then they told it to Parachuri Gopala Krishna, he suggested some corrections and said it’s superb. Then they called Posani garu and the police story that got started Posani wrote that story so they told him to keep the advance.
- Main heroine Soundarya, and then 2nd heroine Simran. Then after a week, Soundarya couldn’t do it and informed them and then Simran become main heroine and then Thammudu movie heroine Preeti Jhangiani became 2nd heroine. Finally shooting started and title was confirmed as Narasimha Baidu
- Araku valley, Ooty, Hyderabad, and Vijayanagaram movie was filmed. For the songs they went to Canada and Tokyo. In Araku, they put a 120 foot bridge which costed 60 lakhs.
- Train and sumo chasing scenes with 100 fighters was shot over 8 days and 30 sumos were destroyed just for this scene itself
- Parachuri Brothers wrote a version of each dialogues in 100 different ways, dialogues have to so good for Balayya, they wrote a dialogue for Sr NTR katthulu tho kadu raa, kanti choopu tho champestha they used it in this
- Finally 6 crores budget filming finished but the length was too long, had to trim 30 minutes. Chinni Krishna, B Gopal, Parachuri Brothers sat and discussed. 2nd half turned out super. So they decided to trim the 1st half and as a result the interval scene got changed. Original interval scene is when Balayya gets down from the train and goons get sacred of him but due to trimming, it became Simran marriage scene is interval.
- Finally January 11th, 2001 amidst heavy competition in huge Sankranthi and clash of titans, movie finally released and due to the combo fans racha racha chesaru. B, C centers lo jathara vundedi and finally it became Sankranthi winner.
- Mass audience ki viprathamga ekkesindi ee movie and for 50 days straight anywhere you look, housefull boards. Simran glamour and acting, songs, fights, B Goal taking, dialogues, everything worked and specifically Mani Sharma BGM pranam posaru.
- With he movie becoming a sensational hit, Balakrishna image doubled, Simran became no 1 heroine, Chinni Krishna became star hero, B Gopal got so many offers and producers were trying to give him advance
- Box office details box office toofan: First movie to gross 30 crores and collect 20 crores share in Telugu cinema history
- In every center all time records, in a week 101 shows all time record
- Hyderabad Devi theater 53 days and 212 shows all houseful all time records
- 100 days in 105 centers first South Indian movie to run in more than 100 centers for 100 days
- Movie created so many records that Tamil newspaper Dinakaran wrote an article about it.
- Remade in Tamil as Ezhumalai with Arjun and couldn’t repeat the success as Balayya performance was so good people couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role.
Credits
Banner: Satyanarayanamma Productions
Cast: Nandamuri Balakrishna, Anjala Zhaveri, Simran, Jayaprakash Reddy, Saghavi, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Babloo Prithviraj, Kailkala Sathyanarayana, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana, Venu Madhav, and others
Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: V.S.R. Swamy
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Art: Raju RS
Co Director: Swarna Subba Rao (director of Vijayendra Varma)
Fights: Vikram Dharma
Lyrics: Bhuvana Chandra, Sirivennela, Vennelakanti, Veturi
Choreography: G. Kala & Raghava Lawrence
Story: V. Vijayendra Prasad
Screenplay: Vijayendra Prasad & Ratna Kumar
Dialogues: Parachuri Brothers
Direction: B.Gopal
Producer: Chengala Venkat Rao
Release Date: January 13th, 1999
Today our review will include a little history so as well so enjoy the review and information. Too much to write in the description and won't fit so didn't wanna leave anything out!
Enjoy as always!
- Teja Rao, die hard Telugu movie fan
Credits
Banner: Shreya Productions
Cast: Sunil, Swathi, Brahmanandham, Raghu Babu, Ajay, Raviteja
Music: Koti
Editing: Praveen Pudi
Cinematography: Sudhakar Yakkanti
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Ram Gopal Varma
Producer: Kiran Kumar Koneru
Release Date: February 18th, 2011
Writing/Direction
Movie is supposed to be a satire on Telugu film industry and everything Ram Gopal Varma has seen and experienced in Telugu film industry.
The parallels are so funny yet he roasts everyone including himself. Cinephiles, critics, heroes, heroines, producers, distributors, music directors, and financiers.
Spoofs are well done
Nandi Awards - Gurram Awards lmfaooo
Kottukundam Raa movie and the starting lo movie name is Yedava
Sunil - RGV
Kota - Dil Raju Onti Kannu Gavarajju
Ajay - Star hero
Kanishkha - Anuksha
KT Rao - Idk who but its some star hero
Babu Garu - Naga Chaitanya
Srirsailam Anna - Am Rathnam, Dawood Ibhrahim spoof maybe.
Ringtone Rahman Sharma - Melody Brahma Mani Sharma
Data Base - Idk who this is but Krishna Bhagwan did a great job
The Peon in Rakhi office is always sleeping which is a great gag, he even sleeps standing up against the wall.
Also the assistant directors are so annoying - MS Naryana worst character, Rudraveena the most irritating guy if I ever meet someone like that ill def slap them or beat him, only character I liked was Annamacharya Suman Shetty, Swathi character was so annoying.
Basically the movie has no point. The intentions as to show that making a movie will have compromises with hero, heroine. Music director, producer, distributor everyone when it finally hits the screen.
The movie starts off well and its funny with RGV roasting everyone in Abba Sutti Kaadhu Raa Talent and then Mayabazar songs which ar every funny spoofing all star heroes and directors but then it just becomes stupid with the introduction of Raghubabu and Harshavardhan. Harshavardhan was one of the most annoying characters.
The comparative movie is Neninthe which is directed by his protege Puri Jagan. Yet Neninthe is way better and more commercial way in such an entertaining and emotional manner.
Here its done so poorly. Mainly movie is really slow and boring. There are some funny parts but then after a post just everyone’s bad acting and horrendous direction just made everything worse that comedy turned into boredom and irritation.
And im not sure what the intuition was the movie. Was it to be a satire, a tragedy, pr comedy as he said. Ok the movie is very meta but its more like a frustration movie more than anything. Sunil character is clearly RGV and whatever he faces we dont feel anything or do anything.
The point is that you will have to compromise to achieve your dreams but the way in which it’s done is so stupid. Brahmanandham character is stupid and then Venu Madhav is very athi with his characterization and gives irritation.
I don’t even think its underrated movie, its frankly boring and just badly made.
Heroes are also shown to be idiots and Ajay and Adarsh Balakrihsna are terrible. However that item song was actually very catchy not going to lie.
But I did like how he touched upon how the industry is obsessed with astrology. Narsing Yadva says change the movie title to Na Yayaya Ki Ki Ki Ki and change your name to Appapapa Ra ra ra raju
The out of nowhere Raviteja comes for no reason. I dont even know what the point was.
Basically its a good concept but worst execution. There is no conflict, no direction, no acting, no dhum in the direction. Very weak and boring movie. So slow. Despite funny moments if you are not entertained, how can you say movie was good.
Direction by RGV is terrible. Theres no flow or plot or any direction or point to the movie. That too coming after 12 years, there’s no point. The spoofs and satire is good but as a movie it so slow and boring and just frankly badly made.
Credits
Banner: kamakshi Movies
Cast: Nagarjuna, Arti Agaral, Shriya, Sudha, Mukesh Rushi, Brahmanandam, Ali, Sunil, Allari Ravi, Pasupati, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Siva Parvathy, Tanikella Bharani, Subba Raju, Jenny, Anant, MS Narayana, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Kaushal & Anitha (special appearance)
Camera: J Siva Kumar
Story: Bhupati Raja
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Music Director: MM Keeravani
Lyrics: Sirivennela & Chandrabose
Action: Vijay
Choreography: Lawrence, Raju Sundaram & Ashok Raj
Art: Srinivasa Raju
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Producer: D Siva Prasad Reddy
Screenplay and Direction: VN Aditya
Release date: 7th April 2004
Interesting Facts:
- VN Aditya who just directed Manasantha Nuvve and met Nagarjuna and told NAgarjuna a youth subject. Nagarjuna said maybe 10 years ago it would have worked but I cant do it now. My age, character, and behavior should be very matured and then put his story aside and they took Bhupathi Raja’s story and VN Aditya developed it and added a love story
- In this time, VN Aditya 2nd movie became a flop and lot of people advised them to change the director bu Siva Prasad reddy said no. Aditya is a class director, Sivaprasad wanted to make a mass film so they spent 6 months writing a screenplay that appeals to class and mass audiences
- Keeravani music apparently was one of the highlights of the film. But as well all know he was not the first music director of the film.
- First they hired RP Patnaik to compose the music for the movie. He already composed a 2 tunes for the movie.
- Then Keeravani came and scored the music and BGM. Siva Prasad Reddy was a huge fan of ANR and wanted to remix one of his old songs. First they thought of remixing song Muddante Cheda from Adrushtavanthulu, finally because it suited the situation they remixed Ettago Unnadi Olammi from Dasara Bullodu
- They thought about the title of the movie for a long time (chill rojulu) but after Seetharama Sastry wrote the song Nenunannu, they fixed that as the title
- The song Ee Swasalo became very famous. Nagarjuna and the public loved the song, heroine sings while hero fights so theres that class and mass.
- Audio was launched on March 11th, 2004 at Shilpa Kala Vedika. The fans of Akkineni Nagarjuna had a field day as their favorite hero had just completed a hat-trick in the form of - Santosham, Manmadhudu and Shivamani - and is going to continue the winning spree with Nenunnanu as well.
- Stars of four generations of Akkineni Dynasty - ANR, Nagarjuna, Sumanth & Akhil - graced the occasion.
- ANR released the audio and gave the first cassette to Nagarjuna. Venu Madhav and Suma anchored the event.
- VN Aditya watched the movie in editing an dubbing setup many times, after watching, first copy he didnt feel anything but NAgarjuna and Siva Prasad Reddy felt nervous. They didnt know what to expect and watching the movie in theater andholu praracharam chesthunaru. After watching first half, Nag and Siva Prasad didnt say anything and it made VN Aditya nervous. But after watching full movie, Nagarjuna put his hand on Aditya’s shoulder and said the movie came out very well and you’re sending me for a Nice holiday very happily.
- Nagarjuna released the movie on his own in Nizam. And movie became a hit at the box office. Nagarjuna said at the audio launch of the movie it would be a hit and it came true.
- VN Aditya watched the movie with fans at Vijayawada on release day. Talk in industry was that movie poyyindi and VN Aditya felt bad. On 7th day of release he went to 15 theaters to see the movie with public. Audiences response was great from audience. During the making of Nenunannu, Nagarjuna liked his working style and offered him another movie which was Boss I love you and it was a flop.
- Box office details: The film collected 14 crores and had a 50-day run in 125 centres and a 100-day run in 42 centres. It was one of the highest grossers in Nagarjuna's career while major business was from A centers
Banner: Vyjayanthi Movies
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Shriya, Neha Oberai, Gulshan Grover, Jersey Singh, Sunil, Suman, Saurabh Shukla, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Rajan P Dev, Brahmanandam, Jaya Sudha,
Music: Mani Sharma
Dialogues: Kona Venkat
Lyrics: Sirivennela, Jonnavithula, Chandrabose
Choreography: Kalyan, Vaibhavi Merchant, Saroj Khan
Cinematographer: Ramesh
Art: Anand Sai
Stunts: Stun Siva & Vijayan
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Karunakaran
Executive Producer: Saibaba
Co Producer: Priyanka Dutt
Producer: Aswini Dutt
Theatrical release date: 6th January 2005
Interesting Facts:
- Both Karunakaran and PK were struggling at the time. PK didn’t have any successes after Kushi with Johnny and Gudumba Shankar disappointing the audience and Karrunakaran after Tholi Prema directed Yuvakudu and Vaasu which both didnt do well at box office.
- Apparently Karunakaran had PK in mind when making Vasu but instead they made with Venkatesh. Around that time Aswini Dutt announced that he wanted to make a film with Pawan Kalyan
- Karunakaran readied a nice love story and narrated it to PK during Gudumba Shankar time and Pawan okayed it. Pawan actually gave the outline for the film and Karunarakan developed the story.
- During that time in 2004, a lot of star directors now were upcoming and it was very hard to narrate a story to PK back then and didn’t have access. If they did, either he rejected it or he slept during the narration and missed films like Athadu, Idiot, Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammayi and Ghajini.
- During this time, Aswini Dutt finalized combination of PK and Karunakaran on Vjyanthi Movies banner and project was announced. Since he gave good music for Gudumba, PK put Mani Sharma as music director and his good friend Anand Sai as art director
- Movie has two heroines so they took Shriya for one main heroine role and for 2nd heroine, they wanted to cast Asin in it the role. But later on they felt we need a fresh face girl to get the right impact and casted Neha Oberoi.
- This film also has the backdrop of Delhi, Agra and Old City. We erected a set with Taj Mahal backdrop. We did a set worth 90 lakhs for Old City in RFC. This set would have a bit of Roman architecture. For the first time in Pawan Kalyan's career, the backdrops for songs in this film are very vivid and most colorful.
Nitin Raikwar came to Hyderabad and stayed here for 4 days to pen lyrics for the Hindi song Hut Hatja
- Back then, PK was a style icon so whatever he wore became a trend. He went to Milan, Italy and stayed there for 5-6 days to explain the pants makers about what he want. Four months after placing the order, the pants makers delivered it in India. Renu Desai designed the pants and in Jan 1st week they held a pressmeet in December 1st week in 2004 to announce this.
- Pants sold really well. Just when websites were becoming popular, they put a few stills of the movie in idlebrain.com and said showcase your talent in idle brain with these stills.
- Not just PK fans, but MB Fans and youth eagerly waited for the movie due to the sensation Tholi Prema created in youth back then. It also started MB vs PK fan wars in discussion sites and SKN was involved in these fights. MB fans said why 1.5 lakhs cost for pants, PK fans said why put 20 crores for Arjun.
- December 25, 2004 audio was released and got a great response. Inthe Inthe and Hut Hatja got terrific response in public and due to cassette being sold have to listen to everything and slowly all the songs caught on and audio become a super hit
- Title was Balu ABCDEFG, around that time youth stayed using phones and SMS language so going with the trend they put the title like that. After hearing the title, fans thought they’re coming with another solid love story, thought of releasing 1 week before Sankranthi. Finally they announced Jan 6th 2005 released and budget was 15 crores and released grandly.
- But movie didn't get expected result and was finally above average grosser at box office.
Credits
Banner: MS Arts
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Namrata Sirodkar, MS Narayana, Tinu Anand, Bhupinder Singh, Rami Reddy, PT Raj, Saraswatamma, Baby Keertana, Baby Meghana, Baby Muthya, Master Vamsi, Master Bharat, Master Ajay, Ramya Krishna (SA), Rajya Lakshmi (SA) and Reema Sen (SA)
Music: Mani Sharma (Sri for one song)
Dialogues: Satyanand
Cinematography: Chota K Naidu
Art: Ashok
Lyrics: Sirivennela, Bhuvana Chandra, Chandrabose
Choreography: Lawrence, Raju Sundaram, Raja Sekhar, Robert
Stunts: Kanal Kannan, Peter Heins
Visual Effects: Firefly Creative Studio
Creatives for visual effects: Bapu
Editing: KV Krishna Reddy
Production: Edu Kondalu
Story - Screenplay: MS Arts Unit
Direction: Kodi Rama Krishna
Producer: Shyam Prasad Reddy
Release date: 15th January 2004
Writing/Direction
It's perfect example of good concept, bad execution. The story has potential but the screenplay is so bad to be honest. Its so badly written lmao.
The movie is so clearly a mixture of Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade: In temple of doom, he has to bring back the Shiva Lingam and in last crusade they have to find the Holy Grail which grants immortal powers. Holy Grail is in a temple, here the Shiva Lingam is also in a temple or in some save when you enter it.
Opening sequence and first 15 minutes is excellent, then the credits roll and everything seems well and good until Anji intro and first song. Ok. Then a random scene with forest people trying to capture an elephant. Then it introduces heroine and tries to bring in conflict point and tie in the story.
But the villain is very weak, heroine is irritating and MS NArayana character is supposed to be henchman of the villain and it also gives irritation and is not funny. It's so forced and cringeworthy.
Basically its an adventure movie with commercial elements: action, comedy, romance, emotion, and drama.
But any adventure movie, the set pieces need stakes.
Look at Indiana Jones, the opening scene which this is clearly inspired from he takes the thing and then a giant boulder comes and basically the villain gets it. I didnt feel it so much in this movie. For example he goes to get the sessanam, gets it, comes back, it gets burned. Ok. But somehow Naga Babu knows everything lol.
The drama is decent, action is there but forced, comedy is worst, and romance is non existent. Basically movie starts off well but then it tries to go in romantic and comedy track and fails miserably.
Also interval is illogical and so convenient. He falls off a cliff of such height, he will most likely not be alive and falls where the snake and that knife formed into 72 years ago.
Also if the tantrik 72 years ago dropped the praying materials into some black hole, how did some random priests in Uruvakona recover it? We are never told.
Then Bhatia comes and then its like he has motives and then they bring tie in the subplot between elephant trapper and Bhatia who join hands to kill Sivayya.
And then from there movie just gets unbelievably violent. He dies. And then Anji comes for revenge to kill everyone and then finally they go to climax. And it got very boring and exhausting.
Climax is illogical because only Anji goes yet somehow if everything was that difficult how come in climax Bhatia comes just like that. In any adventure movie hero and villain always go through final hurdles and location together. Here he just comes somehow.
And its just athi that he shoots the girl. So violent and over the top for no reason.
Finally the movie ends and its just like. Ok. Movie ends but you dont feel anything.
Are the graphics good? I mean maybe but ive seen Star Wars and Indiana Jones but it doesn’t feel anything. Its very clear its not that range.
Direction by Kodi Ramakrishna is not good. As said before beginning and end are very good with set pieces and excitement but rest of the movie is so badly directed and executed you can’t forgive the rest.
Credits
Banner: Creative Commercials
Cast: Venkatesh, Bhumika Chawla, Ali, Vijay Kumar, Manjula, Varsha, Sunil, Jogi Naidu, Achyut
Dialogues: Trivikram Srinivas
Lyrics: Sahiti, Pothula Ravi Kiran & Sirivennela
Camera: Ramesh Babu
Art: Anand Sai
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Fights: Vijay
Story - Screenplay - Direction: A Karunakaran
Producer: KS Rama Rao
Theatrical Release Date: 10th April 2002
Interesting Facts:
It’s Venkatesh’s 50th film
Harris Jayaraj Telugu debut, I heard it was Venkatesh's choice
They filmed the last song Vaale Vale Poddula of the film in a set erected at Chennai on Venkatesh and Bhumika Chawla.
The first set of 2 lakhs of albums was sold in 4 days after the audio release. The audio has got unanimous hit talk all over.
Writing/Direction
Oh man, where to start? Honestly speaking watching this movie was an experience. One because it was relatable, but two because it could have been so much better.
If you want to work in the arts or want to be an artist, it will be so relatable for you and it was for me since I want to be an actor and writer in films.
Movie is basically about a guy who aspires to be a singer and what obstacles he faces to get there. Similar movies are Satyam and then Gowtam SSC.
After watching this film I realized this and Satyam almost same story. Good intention hero, gets into a fight and thrown out of his house by his dad, has aspirations in music industry, heroine misunderstands him, his friends are there to support him, lastly needs heroine family permission to marry her, father accepts their mistake and he gets heroine in the end.
The conflict in the movie isn’t well done or strong enough is the problem. The two points aren’t good.
The first point is between Venkatesh and Vijayakamumar. His dad wants him to become IPS but he wants to become a singer. There’s really only one scene where we feel this emotion and thats when they have a heart to hear conversation. This is the only time.
Other conflict point is making heroine like him. He does all chiller stuff stalking the girl and doing weird things following her and trying to make her fall for him.
And they have no chemistry because heroine is not developed properly. What does she do? What are her interest? What are her goals in life? We know nothing about Divya as a character other than the fact that she is Vasu’s love interest.
Also all of the songs are Vasu’s fantasies about her. He imagines something and then cut pana oru song Thalaiva except intro song and climax song. None of them are natural and are so out of sync.
Their love story is not believable at all and is so convenient that she happens to stay in their house.
Also the point of the movie is Vasu’s struggle etc. To be quite frank, we never actually feel it in the movie due to weak conflict points. He gets rejected, he hangs out with his friends, etc. but we never feel the real struggle of his musical efforts.
Because we don’t really feel invested, director tries to add sister sentiment as a subplot and it works to an extent because its all connected to the story but it felt more forced rather than natural.
Vasu is a rom com so the romantic part is bad but comedy is surprisingly good. Trivikram’s dialogues and Venkatesh and Sunil comic timing are good and keep you entertained.
However last 50 minutes are excellent and have great emotion. If rest of the movie was like that, definitely movie would have been a success. Climax is clear Trivikram inspiration of hero liking a girl but her marriage is fixed with someone else so inside he is feeling bad etc.
Direction by Karunakaran is ok. He should have focused more on having stronger conflict points and heroine character to make her a real character so romantic track would have been better but overall it was a weak effort from him. Because the movie never bores you, his direction seems fine, but writing wise its a huge disappointment.
Credits
Banner: Sridevi movies
Cast: Sudheer Babu, Aditi Rao Hydari, Naresh, Tanikella Bharani, Pavitra Lokesh, Harshini, Nandu, Kadambari Kiran, Hariteja, Rahul Ramakrishna, Kedar Shankar, Shishir Sharma
Music: Vivek Sagar
Cinematographer: PG Vinda
Production design: Ravinder
Lyrics: Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Ramajogayya Sastri
Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh
Story, Dialogues, Screenplay & Direction: Indraganti Mohan Krishna
Producer: Shivalenka Krishnaprasad
Release Date: June 15th, 2018
Sold or 8 crores WW and Finally it collected 7 cores are at the box office and was average at the box office.
Writing/Direction:
So honestly speaking its basically Notting Hill but with telugu masala. If you ask me Sammohanam is a commercial film but its missing the two things that would make it more appealing which is action and emotion. But its a rom com for sure. And its a very conversational film and the conversations are very meaningful and well done.
You can almost think of film as more than meets the eye. That’s precisely Sudheer babu’s point in the movie. He feels film industry is so fake and its basically a mukhabhagam. He doesnt like his dads thing and if you notice his sankocham towards it when he’s asked to help Aditi Rao Hydari out.
He sincerely feels its so fake and tells his dad this and everything. If you notice the whole movie whenever something related to films is Brought up, he always denies it and has a chinna choopu towards it.
So when the love interest themselves is a heroine, it has the potential for a lot of conflict and interesting moments and it does. The more time they spend with each other, the more the attraction goes, Thats why when she leaves, they both feel bad and he feels he’s losing a part of himself.
Movie goes in a very smooth and breezy manner in first half. But this movie can be summed up as a tale of two halves. First half is very entertaining but the movie literally ends at the interval.
For comedy purpose they put Naresh track and introduced that subplot and its so entertaining and funny. Naresh makes it so believable.
Also that movie Kummestha is very funny. At times I got reminded of Neninthe because its a film set within film industry and the characters and people are so funny like the guy who plays the writer of the film promises Naresh.
Also Vijay’s friends and everyone are so excited when he meets Samara he has that clout etc. so its very funny.
The only conflict left in the movie is if they will unite which they do because its a Telugu movie.
And 2nd half is so boring and slow man. It tested patience. All the scenes felt like filler. And then introduces heroine flashback which seemed so out of place unconvincing. Just randomly in there and felt forced. It also doesnt help that that guy really couldn’t act. The comedy scene they put is also funny but by that point you’re just kind of waiting for the movie to end.
Basically thats the reason she rejected him and overall when I saw it felt unconvincing mainly because of how badly done it was. If they gave another reason I would have believed it.
The only meaningful scene was the rejection scene which is very real and relatable because it all happens to us at some point. When he gets rejected as well, its also very well done.
Also liked that Vijay’s character is a children’s book artist. The book he wrote was very good. The climax is also feel good and leaves you with a good feeling but I dont know. Felt very mixed on rewatch. It was ok at best.
Direction by Mohankrishna Indraganti is pretty good. Writing, acting, rom com feeling, and overall vibe of the movie is very good but pacing and 2nd half were not great.
Music and BGM by Vivek Sagar is CLASSIC.
Overall:
Sammohanam is a decent movie on rewatch. First half, good music, relatable scenes and performances are the good part but a boring 2nd half and slow pace outdo the positives. Movie ends nicely but its take it or leave it in the end. I dont think its repeat value movie.
Credits
Banner: Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions
Cast: NTR, Keerthi Chawla, Rajan P Dev, Ali, LB Sriram, Chalapati Rao, M.S. Narayana, Ahuti Prasad, Raghu Babu, Rajeev Kanakala, Venumadhav, Sangeetha and Bangalore Padma
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Music: Mani Sharma
Edting: Gautham Raju
Choreography: Pradeep Anthony, Raghava Lawrence
Photography: Ram Prasad
Stunts: Vikram Dharma
Story - Screenplay - Direction: VV Vinayak
Producer: P Naga Lakshmi
Theatrical Release Date: 28th March 2002
Interesting Facts:
- In 2001 Switerzland Vadde Naveen Cheppalani Vundi and NTR Student No 1 was shooting in pakka location. VV Vuinayak was working as co director for Cheppalani Vundi, executive producer for the film was Nallamalupu Bujji and they went to meet NTR one day as Bujji already parichayam ayyadu. Vinayak has a story will you listen to it he asked NTR and NTR said once we get back to Hyderabad we will meet but he said in thappinchukovali ani uddesam lo cheppadu
- But once they got back to Hyderabad, Vunayak and Bujji relentlessly tried to meet NTR and NTR was fixated to allowing them to narrate just to say no. they met and he narrated it. At first NTR pretended like he wasnt listening but by the end was so interested and liked it and said Anna we are doing this film. This will become as big of a hit as Nuvve Kavali and hugged Vinayak
- Then NTR met and told this to Kodali Nani who said not Nuvve Kavali, do a mass movie like Narasimha Naidu and told him to cancel it. NTR immediately called Vinayak and Told him this issue and he felt so bad, but koncham terukuni but told him 2 action scenes, I will ready the story in a week but if you dont like they do it with someone else
- Exactly after a week with 58 scenes he readied the story and NTR heard it. He said dont think for another second start it immediately. Always wanting to launch him as a director, Bellamkonda Suresh was made producer and Bujji executive producer and started shooting.
- The 2 scenes that impressed NTR to do the film were little boy throwing bombs and then NTR whistles and sumos fly in the air
- Filming was completed in 65 days in Hyderabad, Rayalaseema, Ramoji Film City and Australia for the songs. Budget was 2.5 crores. NTR was in fire at the time and there was no scene paper on set and Vinayak just said scene and dialogue and NTR showed his Viswaroopam
- Movie released on March 28th, 2002 with no expectations because new director and despite NTR being from Nandmuri family, he did not have the support of the fans and people went first day first show to troll hi, But they were shocked, faction backdrop new style and hero elevations were all new for the audience
- From a nothing movie to houseful boards to a prabhajanam, edda NTR mall puttadi raa janalu cheppevaru and NTR amazed everyone with his emotional action and dialogue delivery at just 19 years of age.
- Coming to box office, it collected 19 crores share creating a sensation, becoming just the 3rd film in Telugu movie history to do so after Narasimha Naidu and Kushi, in Nellore and Uttarandhra it created all time records,
- In 4 centers, it collected more than 1 crore gross and shocked people. In a lot of areas and towns and districts and did box office oochakotha, set new records like 100 days in 96 centers, only Narasimha Baidu ran in more at that point of time
- Released in 105 centers and completed 100 days in 96 centers and created a sensation
- After this movie, NTR became a star hero and made Vinayak a star director, got Ito the league of Chiranjeevi and after Balayya, Nandamuri fans felt they have a new heir
- Lastly, the love story that Vinayak narrated was titled Sree and to this day its still with Vinayak and never got made.
Credits
Banner: DVV entertainment
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kiara Advani, Prakash Raj, Sarath Kumar, Rao Ramesh, Devaraj, Posani Krishna Murali, Brahmaji, Ravi Shankar, Yashpal Sharma, Anish Kuruvilla, Ajay, Rahul Ramakrishna, Shatru, Devadas Kanakala, Prudhviraj. Jeeva, Suriya, Sithara, Aamani, Banerjee, Rajitha
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematographer: Ravi K. Chandran & Thirunavakkrasu
Lyrics: Ramajogayya Sastry
Production design: Suresh Selvarajan
Editor: Sreekar Prasad
Fights: Ram Lakshman
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues, Direction: Koratala Siva
Producer: DVV Danayya
Release date: April 20th, 2018
Interesting Facts:
- Mahesh Babu inspiration to play the character is his brother in law politician Jayadev Galla who also studies in America, the way he conducts himself, and in parliament videos he also says Madam Speaker
- Mahesh babu got tension when he Koratala said CM character as he’s not into politics, he got excited after a 10 mins narration, then 15-20 minutes and then in Bangkok in a health resort 5 hours narration: 1 day 2.5 hour narration first half, 2 days later 2.5 hours 2nd half narration, his first question was how are we gonna have 5 hours, how are gonna condense it down to 3 hours, after watching the final copy we feel could have made part 1 and part 2 because we left out so many scenes
- For the assembly scenes they didn’t want to cut the flow so Mahesh did what he calls master scenes which means they run the entire 5-8 page scene entirely without any breaks or lag and everyone is rehearsed all artists with 2-3 cameras, as you can see in the film they came out superbly with a lot of tension and intense dialogues and Mahesh found it difficult to pronounce the political dialogues. It was one of the first schedules they did for the film and they all clicked a photo together in the Assembly set
- Talking about the assembly set, Koratala Siva said it was all due to Suresh Selvarajan’s team and detail and worked on the film for 1.5 years. At max they will give one week to shoot in Assembly in Hyderabad and one week doesnt justify a set so let’s go other states like Bhopal, Kerala, and they saw it and felt our nativity isn’t there. They said let’s stay for 10 days to do some set work but they didnt allow it and they said shoot it as is. Lastly after doing some research for the Andhra Assembly, they built the set in Annapurna Studios for a cost of 2 crores
- About the first oath, Mahesh said that they filmed the scene in Lucknow first, after filming told Siva that let’s take proper care to dub. That January they filming the climax and Mahesh was filming the in the dust and then on jan 26th, media team came up with the idea of the first oath but I have to dub it right and later that evening we will do it
- First Devi and Koratala composed a different introduction song, but then after first oath used BGM to make 1 min rough cut
- Tuck for the chief minister was done as part of a look test in Mumbai
- Spent 4 crores for a set for the song of Vachadayyao Saami in an open ground in Hyderabad. It was built just for the song and they destroyed it after.
- Kiara Advani was selected as the heroine marking her Telugu debut and also marked Farhan Akhtar’s Telugu singing debut with the song I don’t know
- Plus everybody knows, there was a fight in the movie known as Holi fight. When Bharat (Mahesh Babu) develops closeness with his brother, both go out to play Holi, their faces smeared with colours. Then comes the fight sequence. Though they had shot the scene for nearly three days, the makers had to delete it. Fans have been asking and even after 6 years they still haven’t released it.
- Finally movie released on April 20th, 2018 to good talk. Overall movie collected about 95-100 crores share and was above average to hit at the box office, Its first 100 crore share movie for Mahesh babu and it collected 3.5 million at USA box office becoming 4th highest all time grosser after Rangasthalam.
- Completed 50 days in 25 centers and 100 days in 6 centers
Credits
Banner: Swapna Cinema
Cast: Keerthy Suresh, Dulquer Salmaan, Samantha Akkineni, Vijay Devarakonda, Rajendra Prasad, Tanikella Bharani, Malavika Nair, Shalini Pandey, Tulasi, Divya Vani, Naga Chaitanya, Mohan Babu, Prakash Raj
Music: Mickey J Meyer
Cinematographer: Dani Sanchez-Lopez
Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry & Ramajogayya Sastry
Costume Design: Gaurang Shah and Archana Rao
Dialogues: Sai Madhav Burra
Production Design: Shivam Rao
Art Director: Avinash Kolla
Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Written & Direction: Nag Ashwin
Producers: C Ashwini Dutt, Swapna Dutt, Priyanka Dutt
Release Date: May 9th, 2018
Writing/Direction:
Obviously this is the biopic of the greatest Indian actress of all time and Nag Ashwin chooses a back and forth screenplay meaning it runs on two parallels: the past and the present.
Generally with these types of movies, they tend to test your patience and confuse you but here its brilliantly done and so seamless.
You can look at this movie in so many different ways but much like the story I’ll talk about it in two ways: a biopic and its actually a mass movie at the same time.
So usually in films biopics are whitewashed which means you purposefully dont know the flaws or bas things about someone to glorify them.
That’s where mahanati gets things right in that it elevates Savitri garu but also shows her flaws as a person which led to her downfall.
Why I see it as a movie mass is because it has everything you’d expect from a mass commercial film and also because mahanati has the rare distinction of appealing to literally everybody.
It is about the period that made Telugu cinema famous so literally from old people to young people even those who dont know Savitri, they will enjoy the movie. Naresh gives that elevation in the movie about it:
It has amazing music, it has comedy, it has romance, it has the best drama, it has emotion and most of all it has highs, not one but so many goosebumps moments and elevations. Movie has so many elevations I lost count but here they are:
- Intro scene itself crowd comes and they ask who is this Mahanati and the scene comes
- Naresh speaking about Savitiri
- Savitri intro on sets of KV Reddy film
- What KV Reddy says to her after that
- NTR introduction, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao ee peru guthu pettukovali
- Savtiri being praised for her performance in Tamil film leading into Sada Nannu song and whole Sada Nannu song
- Their marriage scene temple in temple due to the Veena in BGM and dialogues: jeevitham lo natinchachu gaani, jeevithani natinchalemu
- Misamma scene all time classic movie
- Entire Mooga Manasulu song
- Chakrapani comes and says: neeku cinemalu asavarasam vunappudu cinemalu nee avasaram teeruchindi gaa, ippudu cinema ki nuvvu avasarama, Rama Rao Krishnudu, Nageswara Rao Abhimanyudu, cinema peru MAyabazar the greatest telugu movie ever made, unlimited goosebumps
- Entire MAhanati song: old man giving namaskaram, SVR saying today is scene with Savitri give me the scene paper, and Chakrapani saying everybody waits for NTR, ANR, and Sibaji Ganesan dates but all of these guys wait for Savtiri’s dates
- Sivaji Ganesan always likes Savitri but he gets jealous of her success and then starts drinking to get out of the sadness. Then he tells her to do the same so she does.
- Movie premiere she comes home and then in rain says im now Savitri Ganesan
- Fire scene and entire Chivareki Migiledi scene
- Climax scene and last shot. End credits.
I usually dont cry in movies. But the last 30 minutes made me cry and climax scene and credits made me cry a lot. It’s so sad knowing that the greatest actress who ever lived is not with us anymore.
Direction by Nag Ashwin is perfect. This movie is a masterclass in storytelling and it a classic. From writing, direction, and all technicalities, it is flawless. These are the types of movie they should make on a weekly basis meaning this range or quality in Telugu instead we get such rod films almost every week.
Credits
Banner: Sri Sai Deva Productions
Cast: Venkatesh, Kalyani, Arti Agarwal, Tanikella Bharani, Chandra Mohan, Surya, Vizag Prasad, Ahuti Prasad, Delhi Rajeswari, Akash, Sunil, VVS Laxman (special appearance)
Dialogues: Chintapally Ramana
Music: SA Raj Kumar
Songs: Veturi, Sirivennela, Kulasekhar & Chandrabose
Art: Raju
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Co-director: Uma Maheswara Rao
Producer: NV Prasad & Sanam Naga Ashok Kumar
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Vikraman
Release date: 11 July 2003
Interesting Facts:
Film is was simultaneous shot in Tamil as Priyamana Thozhi with madhavan, Jyotika and Sridevi. It was average in Tamil but super hit In Telugu.
Audio was released on June 14th 2003 in Ramanaidu Studious and it was the first Vasantham is also the first Indian film to be shot in Greece (Ninnu Choodaku song was filming in Mykonos)
Additional songs shot in Switzerland and then Ammo Ammayena song was filmed at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan
It released alongside Simhadri and ran better than Simhadri in some areas.
Overall it was a super hit at the box office.
Writing/Direction:
Based on friendship but unlike Nuvve Kavali which had great entertainment, pacing, and emotions, Vasantham has none of these. Its straight up boring.
Julie and Ashok have been childhood friends ok, and he respects her religion and everything but like nothing worked for me on the rewatch. It aged terribly.
Also his family doesnt like him because he’s trying to be a cricketer and he comes home late at night etc. But this aspect isn’t even explored well either. Its so over the top and almost serial like. They’re annoyed he comes home but how does it affect their family it’s never shown. I always come back to the movie but a guy who drinks and wastes time with his friends is much better explored in AMAV.
Movie is full of illogical and cringeworthy scenes
- Chandramohan comes back home and starts laughing. And he dies while laughing. Its so suddenly and out of context. When she dies, I should feel emotion but I didnt feel shit
- Venkatesh is jobless or whatever hes trying for cricket team, they find match for him for thammudu. There are 3 brothers. They go to the pellichoppulu and say please serve the coffee for Pelli koduku and she serves his brother. He feels avamanam.
- When taking a photo, he sees a girl on video and falls in love with her. Finds same girl on train and when she goes to bathroom he puts a cassette in her bag. She comes back home and listens to it and falls for him.
- He finally goes to Pellichoopulu and then hears the girls voice and he starts singing, girl recognizes him and they hug and cut panna Ammo Ammayena song
- They get married much to the irritation of her sister and they come to a wedding and while theyre eating, she insults them. Eating also insults? What the fuck is wrong with you? So illogical and cinrgwrorthy. Such athi
- He comes back home to treat his friends and you’d think its funny but its so cringeworthy and not funny at all
- Ahuthi Prasad gives him a bribe and idk where such people exist much like Nuvvu nenu movie and Venkatesh agrees and then starts ill treating Julie in the name of promise. So artificial as he feels bad every time
- Climax is peaks of illogical stuff. Venky and Aarti get ready to leave but they have enough time to stay in the station and watch the press conference on some tv in the station. Julie and Michael have enough time to come to station and she sings Gaali chirugaali and he hears her from being so far away and they hug and go away
Sunil and Dhamarvarupu entire comedy track actually every comedy scene is cringe max. Its not funny at all. That too Sunil tries to do his best but the comedy didnt work at all.
Direction by Vikraman is terrible. No emotion, no entertainment, and nothing. It’s flat out boring and just unintentionally funny. Movie was aged terribly and is a rod in present day. Venky has many great family movies but Vasantham is not one of them in present day.
Credits
Banner: Ushakiron Movies
Cast: Tarun, Richa Sharma, Sai Kiran & Varsha
Music: Koti
Camera: Hari Anumolu
Art Direction: Ranga Peketi
Editing: A. Sreekar Prasad
Dialogues : Trivikram
Story: Iqbal Kuttippuram (Niram)
Story, Screenplay & Direction: Vijaya Bhaskar
Executive Producer: Sravanti Ravi Kishore
Producer: Ramoji Rao
Theatrical Release Date: 13th October 2000
Interesting Facts:
- Initial choice was Mahesh babu and they sent the CD of Niram to him but no response from mahesh after a month, then they tried for Sumanth and he wanted to do it but he had already accepted two big movies at that point. They thought instead of casting big heroes, let’s try to for new faces.
- 75 lakhs budget was finalized for the movie but Ravi Kishore didnt have the funds for it so he approached Ramoji Rao who agreed to co produce the movie and made him an executive producer on the movie with 10 lakhs base salary and 20% of the profits in final collections go ahead. The movie was green lit.
- Finally filming started and 90% of the movie was done in Ramoji Film City. First they thought 75 lakhs budget but additional 40 was needed and final budget was 1.15 crores.
- Finally October 13th, 2000 released in 36 centers. Bagundi ani talk bheembatsamaina range ki vellindi.
- Yevanam lo vunde sneham and prema, 0 vulgarity and anni varghalu prekshalu ki nachale cheisndi movie. Kotu musić specifilay Anaganaga Aaakasam and Kallaloki Kallu Petti were heard everywhere.
- Dialogues became very famous such as paalu ante allergy, kana pale energy, manta doomramga vunte vidi telidu manishi deggaraga vunte prema telidu, ishta padithe bayapadaku, bayapadithe ishta padaku, isthapadi bayapedithe badhapadaku
- Tarun became a overnight star, Richa got a break, Trivkram and Vijay Bhaskar became star writer and star director and it helped so many careers.
- Started with limited released and increased to 200 theaters there after, it completed 100 days in 30 centers, 200 days in 21 centers,225 days in 17 centers, 250 days in 15 centers, 365 days in 6 centers. It is the only telugu movie to run in this many centers for this many days continuously.
- Without any drop it was the last movie ti run for than year and industry talk is it had the highest footfalls of any telugu movie ever during its run.
- Collected 1 crores in Hyderabad Odeon Deluxe theater itself and in Nizam it collected 8 crores share double what Kailsundam Raa made back in January. Except Ceeded it set all time record in every area and became biggest industry hit of Telugu cinema until Narasimha Naidu.
- Officially the movie collected 18 crores share.
- It remains the ONLY telugu movie to be an industry hit that features newcomers.
To give insight into the run it just ran and ran and ran
-
Srikakulam - Keerthika - 252 days
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Vizianagaram - Sivaranjani - 273 days
-
Vizag - Leelamahal - 266 days
-
Rajamundry - Urvasi - 252 days
-
Kakinada - Sridevi - 266 days
-
Eluru - Kalpana - 266 days
-
Bhimavaram - Mini Mahalaxmi - 266 days
-
Vijayawada - Shanti - 295 days
-
Machilipatnam - Mini Revathi - 266 days
-
Gunadala - Vinayak - 203 days (Late release)
-
Guntur - Pallavi deluxe - 252 days
-
Tenali - Mini Sangameswara - 266 days
-
Ongole - Tulasiram - 219 days
-
Nellore - Leela mahal - 242 days
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Anantapur - Gowthami - 277 days
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Kadapa - Sudha - 247 days
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Kurnool - Apsara - 259 days
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Madanapalli - Mini Siddartha - 210 days (Late release)
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Nandyala - Mini Venkateswara - 201 days (Late release)
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Hyderabad - Odeon 70mm - 266 days
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Warangal - Kakatiya - 252 days
200 days run with shifts : 2 centers
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Tirupati - Srinivasa 94 days + Mini Pratap 164 days - 258 days run
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Chittoor - Raghava 195 days + shift - 200+ days
Remaining 175 days centers : 4
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Ballery - Sri Rajeshwari - 175 days
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Nizamabad - Devi 70mm - 175 days
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Bansuwada - Ramakrishna - 175 days
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Hindupur - Venkateswara - 175 days
Credits
Banner: Usha Kiron Movies
Cast: Uday Kiran, Reema Sen, Tankiella Bharani, Banerjee, Chitram Seenu, Rallapalli, Gundu Sudarshanam
Cinematography: Rasool Ellore
Choreography: Shankar
Art Director: Narayana Reddy
Editor: Shankar
Music: RK Patnaik
Dialogues, Story, Screenplay and Direction: Teja
Producer: Ramoji Rao
Release Date: June 16ht, 2000
Context: Don’t even remember the movie just know that is Uday Kiran, Reema Sen, and Teja first movie. Rewatched it and it was ROD RAA BABU. Unbearable cringe just so slow and so boring and gave headache. It the worst movie we have rewatched since starting this podcast. I hated it that much.
Acting:
Uday Kiran is decent. Looks the part thats about it. Looked very rough but obviuiosy improved.
Reema Sen is obviously vert attractive and has great screen presence and suited the character perfectly, Acting wise she did ok as they’re both new actors.
Tanikella Bharati is the hug light as typical middle class father who is always yelling at his sons.
Banerjee is decent.
Entire friend gang gives irritation and they were terrible. Rallpallai garu was ok.
Gundu Sudharshanam has a cameo as auto driver.
Not much to talk about acting overall.
Writing/Direction:
This is a perfect example of a movie that has aged so terribly its not even funny. The core concept of teenage pregnancy is good but the execution is so bad.
First of all the whole movie gives irritation with its taking. And because by that point I was already so frustrated with the movie, whatever conflict they faced after having the baby I didn't care at all.
- Heroine is a American born person yet she has no American accent and she’s 17. What fucking college allows people to join at 17. Typically it happens at 18 so idk but it was illogical
- She meets hero by following the green line to the music hall or whatever it is. You could go normal instead she does athi and goes there dancing in classrooms and etc. And she just stares at the hero
- Tanikella Bharani and wife cheera track is the dumbest fucking thing I’ve seen in a long time. It was cringe max. Idhi comedy ah?
- Friends gang was so irritating and so fucking annoying. Especially that guy with the mop hair. What idiot plays drums in the class and then every tome hero and heroine talk to each other, he plays drums and camera switches to either of them. Those fucking drum sticks brought so much irritation
- I dont’t understand why you’d get married at 17 years old. So illogical. You can be together and have the baby but why get married. She basically drops out of school and doesnt finish her degree.
- Their love track wasnt convincing at all and frankly it was quite uncomfortable to watch. He’s always trying touching her bondalu and clearly she’s uncomfortable but he keeps doing it. And then eventually they do it and idk if its a family movie or whatever but it was uncomfortable to watch for sure.
Movie was so slow and boring, No entertainment, just straight up boredom and irritation more than anything, There’s literally nothing to praise in the movie. It was pukka rod.
Direction by Teja is terrible. Movie has aged so badly and its so slow and boring in present day with no entertainment and illogical writing.
Technicalities:
Songs and BGM by RP Patnaik are pacha lite. I didnt like a single song.
Cinematography is decent and so is Art Direction for the music portion.
Editing is awful. Theres no pacing or flow to the movie whatsoever
Production Values by ramoji rao are decent. Its a low budget movie and clearly looks like one.
Overall: Chitram is unreadable rod in present day. With no entertainment, cringe pro max, and such a slow and boring movie. Dont even bother trying to watch it again, That is all. Thank you.
Credits
Banner: Anandi Arts Creations
Cast: Uday Kiran, Anita, Tanikella Bharani, Sunil, MS Narayana, Dharmavarapu, Shakuntala, Rallapalli
Music: RP Patnaik
Lyrics: Kula Sekhar
Cinematography: Rasool Ellore
Art: Narayana Reddy
Editing: Shankar
Story, Dialogues, Screenplay & Direction: Teja
Producer: P Kiran
Theatrical Release Date: 10th August 2001
Context: Watched it when I was young and the only reason I remember the movie is Gajuvaka Pilla, even today that’s the only song I liked and remember and of course one of Uday Kiran’s biggest hits, 2nd of the 3. Decided to rewatch it as we are doing all youthful love stories during that time, and it was ROD RA BABU. ROD RAMBOLA.
Interesting Facts:
- After Chitram, director Teja had some many offers, and he got an offer from Venkatesh. He readied the story, artists, tehnciaisna but at that tome Vneky was already committed to Nuvvu Naaku Nachav. Teja felt really bad and since they already had everything set under same production house and everything was ready, one day he was seriously driving the car and road addamga gorrelu tholuthu oka andamaina girl
- Looking at her chiraakly, a man in a Benz car. Seeing this suddenly teja got an idea, he went back and told the producer who was supposed to make the movie with Venkatesh, thats cancelled and instead listen to this story, hero is a millionaire and girl is a gorrelu owning guys daughter and told some scenes. The producer liked it and they put murtham the very next day and started the next day. Dasaradh and Trivikram Srinivas saharakam.
- Besides hero and heroine, entire cast and crew was finalized. First they asked Sumanth, he said no and Madhavan rejected it. Teja was in a dilemma, then Uday Kiran came to mind/ Uday Kiran considers Teja as his godfather, and he came to him asking for next movie advice. Teja was just observing him and Uday Kiran thought hes in some thought and as he got up to leave, Teja told him go to the gym and build a nice body youre the lead of my next movie. Uday Kiran was very excited
- For heroine, they auditioned 100 people. One girl was finalized but he started asking for palana hotel, palana car, and started to do buildup so then Teja looked all the other girls left and asked who’s the cheapest girl here, the girl showed Anita’s photo and Teja said this girl is my heroine you can now leave and told this to that girls face and she got shocked.
- Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Vikarabad entire shoot for completed very quickly.
- Movie had 11 songs and producer asked to remove 3 of them but Teja didnt agree to it. For the movie they wanted to do with Venaktesh, Gajuvaka Pilla had already been composed and they used it for Nuvvu Nenu instead
- The scene where hero’s father wants to get his son married to his lovers daughter was objected by Dasaradh but Teja said high range people are like this only.
- Shooting was completed and 1 crore 60 lakhs budget August 10th release and movie got blockbuster talk from morning shows. Though we have seen such love stories, screenplay really hooked audience in and then songs, emotions everything aakatu kunnayi.
- Mee Pedollu vunnare dialogue became iconic and wherever you went you heard Gajuvaka Pilla
- Movie made Uday Kiran a star hero and fans clubs started around Andhra, Teja became a star director. RP Patnaik became a star music director, Dharmarupu, Vizag Prasad and Telangana SHankuntala all got. Huge break with this film
- Coming to box office details and run, it collected 15 crores share and more than 20 crores gross and caused a sensation. It collected 1 crore gross in a single theater in Hyderabad
- After Narasimha Naidu, Kushi, and Nuvve Kavali, it was 4th highest grossing movie ever after final run ended and Uday Kiran got the record which no star hero had at the time having a top movie in all time highest grossers currently. Late release added it completed 100 days in 70 centers.
- It gave all distributors 10x laabalu. It won 5 Nandi Awards and 4 Filmfare Awards South.
Credits
Banner: Sri Sravanthi Movies
Cast: Tarun, Sreya, Prakash Raj, Chandra Mohan, Sunil, MS Narayana, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Chitti Babu, Sudha, Pragati, Rajiv Kanakala, Anitha Chowdary, Swapna madhuri, Silpa Chakravarthy, Sudarshan, Naveen
Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry
Music: Koti
Photography: Hari Anumolu
Editing: Srikar Prasad
Art: Peketi Ranga, Ram Mohan
Choreography: Suchitra Chandra Bose, Shankar
Producer: 'Sravanthi' Ravi Kishore
Story - Dialogues - Screenplay - Direction: Trivikram
Release date: 10th October 2002
Interesting Facts:
Nuvve Kaali Vanamani house shooting, Trivikram narrated the story to Ravi Kishore. He went to his car and brought his check book, and gave him advance as much as he got entire rumenuration as writer for Nuvve Kavali, he bought a bike with that money.
At that point Nuvve Kavali still hadn’t released and he had confidence in him to do it. So basically everybody who worked for Nuvve Kavali worked again for Nuvve Nuvve as a formality basically as goodwill. Went to Mumbai to meet Shriya to narrate the story
I directed Nuvve Nuvve film after the release of Nuvvu Naaku Nachav. I couldn’t do that film the way I wanted. I was not completely satisfied with my work. I think the dialogue writer in me dominated the director in that film. However, it was a commercially successful project for the producer and was a hit at the box office.
Writing/Direction:
So actually the main point is that a father’s love for his daughter can never be beaten. The entire movie is actually a flashback because Prakash raj narrates entire story to Tanikella Bharati of what happened.
The best part of the movie is that its very realistic but also the whole world created for the characters. Basically all of them face the same problem which is everybody is torn between father and lover all 3 main characters.
Also with Rishi, Anjali, and Viswanath, you get to travel with them, learn their worlds, learn their ideologies, and learn the way they think and go through this wile journey with them which is rare for a film.
But much like the movie idiot, this is one of those point of view movies, and if you ask me the only correct POV is Prakash raj. But yourself in his shoes and whatever doubts he has they are valid. Praksh raj isn’t even the villain, hes just a man trying to understanding veeyrhting and fears that someone other than him will love his daughter kore than him.
Vishwananth seems like a man with such high morals and everything but theres a crucial scene with Rajeev Kanakala where he calls out Viswanath’s hypocrisy and he starts to think about it.
Also Rishi and Anjali’s actions start to affect their families as well and its like everything that’s going on is basically like a chain reaction, IN that aspect this is a brilliantly written and directed film.
He eventually loses and gives Anjali to Rishi.
That being said two points seemed very over the top: First one was them just casually going to Mumbai and back,
idk how that works but it seemed quire unrealistic and illogical and then they run out of petrol and just keep pushing the motorcycle towards Annavaram. What he did there was actually stalking even though they like each other.
Also the movie pace was really slow and especially 2nd half it just completely slowed down. The copy iw watched was 2 hrs 48 mins. Also movie is so dialogues heavy that I get exhausted. Its one thing to have heavy dialogues and they work, like theyre really good, the opposite would be Aagadu so I hope it makes sense.
These drama movies aren’t my thing no matter how good the drama might be, I need some other commercial elements in the movie. Very little Trivikram mark comedy as well.
Direction by Trivikram is good for the characterizations, writing, and dialogues. But huge pacing issues as the movie is very slow and feels like a lot of lag in between giving boredom.
In the end, Amma avakayi Anjali bore kottindi actually.
Credits
Banner: Suresh Productions
Cast: Venkatesh, Katrina Kaif, Balaiah, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Tanikella Bharani, Naresh, Ahuti Prasad, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Mallikharjuna Rao, Chalapati Rao, Sunil, CVL Narasimha Rao, Devdas Kanakala, Chitram Seenu, Benarji, Ganesh, Prabhu, Raghunadh Reddy, Gowtam Raju, Chitti Babu, Poosala, Lakshmipati, Sudarshan, Rajya Lakshmi, Rajitha, Sana, Padma Jayanth, Priyanka, Hema, Baby Greeshma, Gajala (SA) & Smita (SA)
Story - dialogues: Trivikram
Lyrics: Sirivennela & Bhuvana Chandra (Janma Janmala)
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Raja Sekhar, Krishna Reddy
Co-director: Sudhakar G
Art Director: Bhupesh R Bhupathi
Editing: Srikar Prasad
Stunts: Stun Siva
Cinematography: Sameer Reddy
Music: Koti
Producer: D Suresh
Screenplay - direction: Vijaya Bhaskar K
Release date: 18th February 2004
Interesting Facts:
https://www.idlebrain.com/news/functions/pressmeet-malliswari.html
Katrina Kaif was paid 65 lakhs for the movie, all time record salary for a heroine in South Indian cinema at the time.
All the songs were picturised in outdoor locations except a song. He said songs were picturised in the beautiful locales of New Zealand (2 songs) and finest islands of Bangkok (1 song) along with Mysore, Goa and Hyderabad.
Collected 14 crores share at box office and was a hit
Ran for 50 days in 119 centers and 100 days in 33 centers
Vijaywada Apsara theater 112 days run - 62.77 lakhs gross
Rajamundtry Syamala theater 110 days run - 50.26 lakhs gross
Guntur Venkatakrishna theater 100 days run - 33.86 lakhs gross
Vizag Jyothi theater 111 days run - 58.03 lakhs gross
Gajuwaka Mohini theater 111 days run - 25.76 lakhs gross
Gudivada Sarath theater 100 days run - 15.53 lakhs gross
Machilipatnam Siri Venkat theater 105 days - 15.08 lakhs gross
- First watch and impressions
- How your liking towards it grew
- Songs and Technicalities
-
Writing/Direction Set up and Payoff
-
Asks the panthulu if when he sees the girl lighting will come, flowers will fall, directly after that it happens,
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Prasad tells Malliswari he can give her worlds most comfortable life salary with 9000 rupees. He says nuvvu ooh and oka yuvarani laa chooskunta, roju saintram, mallevppuvu, varaniki oka cinema, vela ki oka sari picnic, samsraaniki okasari ye OOtu no Kaidkonal trip, ippudu em cheppaakkarledu, take your won time, but rep saint ram vasthanu baga alochinci yes ani cheppeu kuummedham anthe, And despite her not paying attention to him, she remembers what he said in climax
- She asks him about the necklace, he says when I was young my mother gave this to me when I was young, hold it and ask for anything you want and it will give it to you, naa pranam paying teeyanu, in climax he gives it to her symbolically showing that she is now his life and what means most to him.
- Snoopy snoopy come on okkadu antadu, Brahmi says rei thana thali meed cheyyi vesthe karichi champesthadi, Sunil and venky do the same thing and then he dies lmaoooo
- Krishaveni wants Hyderabad transfer from Vizag and then MS comes and says Vizag transfer ayyindi.
5) Favorite Scenes
6) Why it will always be a classic - evergreen dialogues, clean comedy masterpiece direction, and evergreen entertainment from start to finish.
Credits
Banner: SP Entertainments
Cast: Venu, Shaheen, Prema, Giribabu, Gundu Sudarshan, Brahmanandham, Ali, Anantha, Giridhar, Sudha, Chandramohan, Prakash Raj
Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: K Prasad
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Story & Dialogues: Trivikram
Director & Screenplay: Ram Prasad
Producer: Shyam Prasad
Theatrical Release Date: 10th November 2000
Interesting Facts
We met Ram Prasad for the first time when he was assisting B Gopal for the film 'Gang Master' in the year 1996. He is a hard worker and a very sincere guy. His experience helped us in the making of 'Chiru Navvuto'. He worked without an assistant for that film most of the times. I give all the credit for the success of the film to G Ram Prasad for his direction.
During Nuvve Kavali making, Trivikram had simultaneously penned story and dialogues for Chirunavvutho.
After the unit of SP Entertainments returned from Canada after canning three songs on Venu and Shaheen, it commenced its scheduled at Hyderabad recently. After giving a good thought on various titles, atlast it was decided to call this different love story as Chirunavvu (Smile).
A situational song was picturised on Venu and his friends alongwith 250 junior artistes at Annapoorna Studios.
The budget for Chirunavvuto was a little over 2 crores and it collected a share of 5 crores and was a hit at the box office.
Ran for 100 days in multiple places
Writing/Direction:
So basically the movie summed up in a line is a man who thinks with his brain and heart and cannot be friends with a girl after expressing his love. Whether or not he’s successfully is the story.
This movie is literally a sequel to Swavyamvaram. Same producer, same hero, same writer, and literally same cast with addition of Brahmanadham and LB Sriram. And almost same story as well. There it was love is greater than marriage, here its you love with different mindsets affects people after learning abut their mentalities in love. Thats it. But a great 2nd half and excellent dialogues makes the difference for Navvutho.
3 characters Venu, Sandhya and Pratap you get to see their intentions and the movie actually places Sandhya is a very confused state and you start to feel for her.
Venu says I always talk with my heart and do whats in my mind and he cannot be friends with Sandhya after expressing his love. He wont force anything.
Sandhya meanwhile likes Pratap but one scene int he jewelry store shows how controlling he is and doesnt care about Sandhya’s likes or wishes only his. Already a red flag.
And then Pratap cheated Venu’s maradalu which already shows hes not a good person.
The dialogues, characterizations, and sensibilities were very well done.
Also the scene where Sandhya talks to her mom and who will we be happy with: she says madam preminche vaalu kante, manalni preminche vaale tho jeevitham baguntadi. After hearing this, Sandhya decides that venu is the right person for her.
That being said, this review is coming 24 years after the movie released for the first time and I found it to be exhausting with this trope. Literally of Trivikram’s movies as a writer dealt with marriage and issues and specifically hero likes heroine, but heroine marriage gets arranged with someone else and in the climax she realizes she likes hero and goes back to him only.
Literally every single one: Swayvamvaram. Nuvve Kavali, Chiru Navvutho, Nuvvu Naaku Nachav, Manmadhudhu, Malliswari, Vasu, the only exception is Jai Chiranjeeva becayse theres no pelli there only killing of Arbaaz Khan and Im so tired of seeing this trope.
From Swayamvaravam all the way to Geetha Govindam literally every single love story or rom com same exact ending. Solo as well. It gets exhausting and tiring.
Comedy is not Trivikram range that we are used to either. Its just something but the dialogues for the majority are incredible.
Direction by G Ram Prasad is very good. I was never bored at any point and movie is very breezy throughout.
Credits
Banner: Usha Kiron Movies
Cast: Akash, Renuka Menon, JD Chakravarthy, Preethi Jinganiya, Sunil, Devan, Sivaji Raja, Hema, Rajya Laxmi, Sumalatha, Venu Madhav, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, MS Narayana, Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao, Sudhakar, Jayaprakash Reddy, Sumithra, Bharath, Zeeba, Sudeepa, AVS, Gowtam Raju.
Music: Koti
Dialogues: Diwakar Babu
Cinematography: Ajay Vincent
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Seenu Vytla
Producer: Ramoji Rao
Release date: 6th February 2004
Writing/Direction:
To be honest its quite hard to describe this story in one sentence. An orphan who works at an NGO falls in love with an aspiring painter who has a huge joint family.
Two conflict points in the movie is Akash mistaken identity and then JD CHakravathy conflict with the family. And nether of them work because neither are convincing enough or strong enough to run the entire movie.
Also clear to see that comedy inspiration would become two full length tracks in the future: Painting thread with G=Bhuvana in King was expanded and then train scenes with Akash, Venu Madhav and Gotham Raju were used in Venku right after this
What does work are the separate comedy tracks which are brilliantly done and Sreenu Vaitla was comic genius. First track is between Venu Madhav, Kondavalasa, MS Naryanaa, Sudhakar, Dharmavarupu
1st thing: Venu Madhav tells Kondavalasa to have happy hour at 7 PM to get max profits but within 30 mins he runs out of alcohol and the people beat him up. One guy cheated
2nd: MS Narayana is screening Manmadhudu byt Venu Madhav tells him to screen Shakeela movie during happy hours and put English movie bits as well. He screens the movie and then Censor Board members come and he tells him to watch it and he gets his theater seized
3rd: He tells Sudhakar to go to pakka ooru Rajahmudnry club and play there. That night a police played by JP Reddy comes and tries to arrest him. He forgot his keys and then steals the Police’s motorcycle itself
4th: NGO track with higher officer he gives his suit to Dharamvarupu and he books Dharmavarupu. All of these are very funny.
Dharmavarupu dialogue delivery was actually quite annoying and brought irritation.
2nd track is between Sivaji Raja and Bharath. Highlight. Sivaji Raja always roasts him are chetulu lo cinema actors chopistava, Hyderabad lo Taj Mahal vundi ante and then the classic monologue: title Pepepa anti
Ananganaga oka pedha kutumbam, aa kutumbam lo thanri chala pedhavadu thalli kuda pedhade valla pillalu Thota malli vontavadu, aakiriki car driver kuda pedhavade, papam vaalu tinnadaniki chicken biryani kuda doraka, alkali tho AC car tho velthundaga
Orey! pandi yedava 20 mandi panollu AC car lo vunnolu pedhola, idi rayadaniki school yega dobbuthava.
And then to escape from JP Reddy 2nd time with his wife on his cycle, he comes to store on his bicycle and he finds Sudhakar and he to escape he puts on Enugu costume and then he steals JP reddy’s cycle.
The comedy is really good. But main negative is The main story lacks emotion and it’s not convincing. Preeti character is like a pysco and she acts very weird.
Also some scenes are so weirdly done, she calls her dad and she’s like Nanna nenu chahipithujna Amma Mahi! And the flashback is not convincing at all. Not enough conflict for there to be a family conflict at all.
And then JD Chakravarthy comes back and everyone is so casual about it Mahi chanipoyindi andi antaru. It was such comedy. So in the end except for some comedy scenes, there’s noting in the movie.
Direction by Sreenu Vaitla is ok. Comedy is excellent but main story, emotions, and everything else is not so good.
Credits
Banner: SP Entertainments
Cast: Venu, Laya, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Sudha,, Ali, Giri Babu, Brahmaji, Venu Madhav, MS Narayana, Ananth Babu, Ironleg Sastri, Rajitha,
Music: Vandemataram Srinivas
Cinematography: K. Prasad
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Story-Dialogues: Trivikram Srinivas
Producer: Venkata Shyam Prasad
Screenplay - Direction: K. Vijay Bhaskar
Release Date: April 22, 1999
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/interview_shyam.html
Acting:
Venu is amazing in his role. His first movie, incredible comic timing, dialogue delivery and intensity towards the end and incredible screen presence. It proved his talent with first movie itself.
Laya is equally as good. She is exceptional in the emotional scenes and has great chemistry with Venu. Both leads but killed it in their debut movies.
Giri Babu is excellent as the evil father. Technically he is the villain, typical heroines father.
Kota is very good as usual as hero’s father. He also gets a chance to showcase his comic timing in some scenes.
Sudha is very good, MS Narayana is hilarious as usual. Ananth Babu is breif and Dharmavarupu scene is hilarious in a cameo as dr. Dhariyam, Venu Madhav also has a cameo.
Ali plays a their in a separate comedy and he’s funny.
Writing/Direction:
Logline is about a man who doesnt believe in marriage and prefers love. But his characterization is like beware guy and then heroine hates him for most of the time. And the conflict point isn’t strong enough which makes the 2nd half completely dragged and dull. Other than the Dharmavarupu scenes, hardly any of the scenes make you laugh.
Storyline has potential and it has a few good scenes like post interval that scene, then Kota coming and apologizing to them, the scene where Venu meets her mother and thats about it. Theres an attempt to create entertainment through Ali in a separate comedy track and Venu’s friends but it didnt work really. Ali’s tracj becomes of like a disturbance and then vent’s friends aren’t funny and dont do much.
Also the other reason I probably didnt really enjoy it is because this movie is a pure drama movie. I need some commercial elements in there like comedy or action, which this movie doesnt have much of at all. To run an entire movie based on drama itself, it needed better drama in the 2nd half.
Vijaya Bhaksar movies are sensible in that they deal with things like Paruvu and avamanam in very classy ways instead of simple. The human emotions and chraxctrerization make a difference to his movie.
There are glimpses of Trivirkma’s vintage writing, as this was first movie it was fully developed yet and the dialogues and some scenes are good, but overall it lacks the entertainment value of their other films together completely. The trademark clean comedy and punches are not here.
Also after watching this film I realized that all Vijaya Bhaskar movies are the same and it created the trope of heroine getting married to someone else, but in the end she chooses hero or something else happens and they unite in the end and somebody is made a bakra. Here its Brahmaji. This movie ends the same way and actually ends on a cliffhanger.
Direction by Vijay Bhaskar is ok. First half is decent with some entertainment and then boring 2nd half, some scenes work to an extent. But the rest doesnt. Its a timepass film but of course he would go onto to become a legend with the next 4 movies.
Credits
Banner: Bhavya Creations
Cast: Gopichand, Ansuhka, Poonam Kaur, Dharmavarapu, Aali, Ajay, Manoj K. Jain, MS Narayana, Sarat Babu, Tanikella Bharani, Krishna Bhagwan, Supreet, Subbaraya Sharma, CVL Narasimharao, Vijaya Rangaraju, Sudha, Aarthi.
Dialogues: M. Ratnam
Lyrics: Bhaskarabhatla, Anantha Sriram, Rama Jogayya Sastry
Fights: Vijay, Ram-Lakshman
Dance: Ashok Raj, Dinesh
Art: Vivek
Stills: Anand
PRO: Pulagam Chinnarayana
Pro. Managers: Mahender Reddy, R. Seshadri Raju
Pro. Exe.: Bandi Seshayya
Co-Dir.: Satyam Bellamkonda, Rajasekhar, G. Adinarayana
Asso. Dir.: Anil Ravipudi, Anil Nayudu, M. Harikrishna
Editor: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Camera: Vetri
Music Director: Mani Sharma
Producer: V. Anand Prasad
Story, Screenplay, Director: J. Siva
Interesting Facts:
https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/siva-souryam.html
https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/gopichand2008.html
Movie was launched on April 18th, 2008 basically in 7 months they filmed the movie and released it,
Audio was released on August 21st, 2008 Hotel Marriot, Hyderabad and got a good response.
The starlit gathering had the presence of Seenu Vytla, YVS Chowdary, Gopichand, Anushka, Poonam Kaur, Pokuri Babu Rao, VN Aditya, Anand Prasad (producer), Siva (director), Ratnam (Dialogue writer), lyricists Bhaskarabatla and Ramajogayya Sastry and others. Jhansi anchored the event.
Pramuka darsakudu Anil Ravipudi worked as Assistant Director for this film and what I heard was the entire classic Krishna Bhagwan comedy track in 2nd half was written by him. He’s also in the movie, watch the scene when Sivaram Gowd comes to hospital he comes to the desk a man hands him papers, that guy only is Anil Ravipudi. He also made a lot of changes
Finally it released on September 28th, 2008 and became a hit movie at the box office, collected 13 crores share and ran for 50 days in Hyderabad in 3 theaters,
Odeon Deluxe - 64 days
Brahmaramba 70 MM
Rajadhani 70MM
What works is are the 3 threads:
Action: Conflict between Sivaram Gowd and Vijay is very well established. And actually the writing keeps you in suspense until interval with whole chasing aspect we typically see. Its kind of like Baasha, guy hiding from his past and villains looking for him that template and everything gets revealed at interval. Flashback is easily the best part is and is so entertaining. Conflict is pretty basic but its done so well and in an entertaining way its fun to see.
Sentiment angle: brother sister sentiment actually has stakes to it and is heart touching. They are orphans after their father dies and nobody isn their basti wants to help and everyone hates them. Christina missionaries come and The brother doesnt want to see his sister struggle and wants her to have a good life with food and etc so he tells a lie, but she takes it seriously and they separate for 15 years. Finally he comes back for her because he loves her. So the reasoning behind it is logical
Comedy angle: Ali as gyms develops the romantic track actually as Gopichand trolls Gymson and then highlight of the movie is 2nd half comedy track, it lasts for about 15 mins and its so good. Keeps you so entertained you dont even care about the story after that.
What didn’t work:
The romantic track: Its so cringe worthy and didnt age well at all. Anuksha gets drunka and says she’s going to rape Gopichand. I think dont think it helps that Gopichand and Anuksha dont have that great chemistry so it doesnt make it smooth or believable.
Emotion: the movie should make you feel something but when Sivaram Gowd terrorizes the town and then fight back, I didnt get that high.
Also huge Vikramarkudu inspiration I felt for 2nd half. Police fights a ruthless criminal who is terrorizing a small town and then instills souryam in them to fight back against them. And its for personal revenge.
Overall the writing is good overall for most of the commercial elements which results in a very entertaining movie.
Direction by Siva is very good.
Banner: Haarika Hassine Creations & Geetha Arts
Cast: Allu Arjun, Pooja Hegde, Sushanth, Nivetha Pethuraj, Murali Sharma, Tabu, Jayaram, Sachin Khedekar, Rajendra Prasad, Samuthirakani, Vennela Kishore, Sunil, Navdeep, Rahul Ramakrishna, Ajay, Harshavardhan, Brahmaji, Tanikella Bharani, Rohini, Chammak Chandra .etc
Music: Thaman S
Cinematographer: P.S Vinod
Art: AS Prakash
Action: Ram-Lakshman
Lyrics: Seetha Rama Sastry, Ramajogayya Sastry, Kalyan Chakravarthy, Kasarla Shyam & Krishna Chaitanya
Editor: Navin Nooli
Story, Sreenplay, Dialogues & Direction: Trivikram
Producers: Allu Aravind - S. Radha Krishna(Chinababu)
Release Date: January 12th, 2020
Interesting Facts:
After Sarrainodu, Allu Arjun didnt have a single hit, DJ average and NPS disaster, he took a little break and decided to work with Trivikram. For Trivikram as well, he just delivered a disaster in agnythavaasi and then did Aravinda Samantha but its outside his comfort zone. They wanted to make a family story and he narrated it and Allu Arjun. December 31st, 2018 movie was officially announced
- Filming started on April 24th, 2019 and on August 15th, glimpse was released and movie was titled Ala Vaikuntapuramlo. Trolls started on social media that another Agnythavaasi loading with the title. September1s,t first look poster was released. Funny enough that shot/scene isn’t there in the movie
- Spain, France, Hyderabad mainly Annapurna studios and other sets were used to film the movie. Specifically the Vaikuntapuram house set, It is the house of NTV Chairman Chowdary's daughter Rachana's in-laws. They are relatives of Harika Hassine Creations owner Radha Krishna and on his request they agreed to shoot from the outside for a couple of days. The estimated cost to build this mansion is around Rs. 100 Cr"
"It was tough to get a house with interiors that match the exteriors of that mansion and they only gave 2 days permission for exteriors shots. Hence, art director AS Prakash erected a set in Annapurna Studios with Rs. 5 Cr budget that was so perfect as the interior for Trivikram's Vaikunthapuram."
In mid-October, the team moved to France to film the song ''Samajavaragamana''. Parts of the song was shot at Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France, and the Eiffel Tower, in Paris. The song was also filmed at Lido de Paris, a world-famous cabaret theatre, and became the first South Indian film to shoot there.[45] The makers cost up to ₹5 crore (US$630,000), for the song shoot.[46] The team also shot the song "OMG Daddy" in parts of Europe.[47]
Later on December 2019, the makers moved to Hyderabad to shoot the song "Butta Bomma", for which a huge set was erected at the Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad.[48] The shooting of the film was wrapped up on 28 December 2019.
After Samajavrargama, Raamulo Raamula was released and that also become a sensational hit some 200 million views as well, after that OMG Daddy, after that Butta Bomma, and album just became e a huge sensation that instead of pre release event, for the first time they held something called a musical concert on January 6th, 2020 at Yousufguda Police Grounds where all of the songs were performed and later they released jukebox.
AVPL is the biggest Telugu album of all time with 2 billion streams/views on YouTube and is one of the greatest commercial albums ever made.
Finally movie released on January 12th, 2020 to somehow positive talk, they paid all the media sties, 3.5 ratings on all major websites except Greatandhra, bad reviews for Sarileru all around, and then it was declared Sankranthi winner after one day.
It collected 160 crores share overall and collected 3.61 million in USA, becoming Non BB industry hit in India and USA until it was beaten by Hanuman in USA this year which has collected 5.12 million so far.
Completed 50 days in 106 centers and then 100 days in 8 centers.
Credits
Banner: EVV Cinema
Cast: 6 heroes, 6 heroines, 6 child artists, 6 comedy artists, 6 characters artists & one and only Chalapati Rao
Background Music: Kamalakar
Dialogues: Janardhan Maharshi
Cinematography: Trinetra
Editing: V Nagi Reddy
Story - Screenplay - Direction - Producer: EVV Satyanarayana
Release date: 6th February 2004
Story:
6 10th standard studying girls were forced to depart from each other as their parents are moving from Korukonda. They decide to meet again after 6 years. When they meet, five of them are already married and sixth one is about to get married. This film is all about the stories of their marital life and husbands.
Acting:
Girl who plays Sita did a really good job, guy who is Pelli koduku in Athadu plays his wife, and then that guy is in Nayak movie starting they all did a good job,
Highlight is the guy who plays 3rd story husband, so funny and over the top. Was laughing the entire time.
Rest of the actresses did natural acting as they are new and theres not much ti judge.
Writing/Direction:
I have seen many EVV movies like Hello Brother, Alluda Majaka, Evade Gola Vaadidi, I know his style, this is produced, directed, and written by him, wanted to make a different concept.
I get the intention behind the film but by the end it becomes exhausting and stupid. It basically states whatever the women do, it’s correct and there’s no solution to anything.
Movie talks about a lot of themes like sex, extra marital affairs, toxic husbands, and marriage as a whole. It attempts to show what problems women may face after marriage but overall there’s such a lack of connection because the director doesnt even know what he wanted to sya.
It’s definitely unique and progressive movie such it talked about things most people wont. The first story seems mind blowing and crazy but by the end it just becomes comedy. Actually all of the writing becomes comedy.
1st story: Husband has ED so his wife wants physical intimacy and she gets it from someone else, he finds out, and then cant leave her, so he suggests all 3 live together. In this story he wanted to show that women need and want physical intimacy and sex. But the solotuin is so comedy. Nobody would do that. Guy is a cuck and tbh honest such a Jaffa.
2nd story: Nathi angle gives irritation. Here he attempts to show that society still wants women to be housewives and w=men should work but girl has too much self respect so she doesnt do it. Ok. And to make her annoying mother in law settle in down, she set up the broker and her at night. Ok.
3rd story: funniest thing man, acting is so rodidciulous and over the top,. Literally Andrew Tate, also im not sure if people wear underwear under lungi, I was surprised and also the guy working out has such bad form doing the dumbell raises. The acting os the husband is so funny. And then when he gets injured it’s such comedy. Falls on the rock by slipping. What dude would scale his own house like that. Peaks of stupidity. Dad claims the guy is a sadist when in reality he is a sadist for being happy when hes in that position, girl decides to stay with him for unknown reasons because bartha.
4th story: so illogical, which guy would get stuck in an elevator for so long and then during Kashmir shootout he has phone sex with this wife guns blazing and bullets firing then he dies. Such illogical writing. Stupid.
5th story and 6th story I turned it off, I had enough
Direction sucks. EVV wanted to say something but in the end, its just useless.
Technicalities: Movie has no songs which is interesting and BGM is good with veena and other stuff. All other technical values suck. Its like short film quality. Editing is decent with some intercuts like stove getting turned on when girl is touched and then soldier dying and then his photo breaking in house.
Overall: don’t watch the movie, just enjoy the memes. Such a waste of time. Boring movie. That is all thank you.
Credits
Banner: Suresh Productions
Cast: Tarun, Arti Agrawal, Kiran Rathod, Laya, Sunil, Brahmanandam, Gundu Hanumantha Rao, Sararh Babu, Chandra Mohan, Sudha, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, K Viswanath, Ahuti Prasad
Director of Photography: Sekhar V Joseph
Choreographers: Suchitra Chandra Bose, Lawrence, Ashok Raj
Art Director: Narayana Reddy
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh, Madhav
Music: RP Patnaik
Lyrics: Veturi, Kula Sekhar & Y Kasi Viswanath
Story - Screenplay - Direction - Dialogues: Y Kasi Viswanath
Production: D Suresh Babu
Theatrical Release Date: 14th January 2002
Interesting Facts: too many - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHZ_9JA5ylA&t=1065s&ab_channel=RajeshManne
Writing/Direction: Writing is mish mash of 3 successful movies, yet somehow the movie works.
So basically the story is two childhood friends realizing they have feelings for her each other and how they unite and their love wins everyone over is a time tested story. This is literally the plot of Nuvve Kavali.
So two friends falling in love plot is Nuvve Kavali
Ahuthi Prasad hates Chandramohan family for not marrying his sister and marrying someone else - literally Srihari from Kalisundam Raa
Tarun sacrifices his love in climax for greater good of the two families as he didn’t want to break the friendship - Nuvvu Naaku Nachav Venkatesh
It literally mixes all 3 movies and presents it to you as Nuvvu Lena Nneu Lenu. To make a difference, the finance/busuiness angle is there as well as the presence of K Viswananth.
Since this is a Suresh Productions banner and because the director worked for Kalisudnam Raa, the comparison and influence is inevitable.
Despite that, the leads have very good chemistry yet I felt the way that they like each other was a bit unconvincing. Only after their Panama says you two should marry, then they start taking it seriously but I guess they always liked each other.
Aarti Agarwal character is the best written character as the emotion in the film stems from her. Kasi Viswananth merged all the themes of friendship, love, and sacrifice seamlessly and then added his own comedy track to keep you entertained. Sunil is the biggest source of entertainment in the movie and his comedy keeps you laughing like anything
Two things I really liked were set up and pay off of the following:
- Piggy bank: Sarat Babu gives the little girl money in the beginning for her bank and then when they are in financial troubles, the little girl comes back and says use this money. Heart touching moment
- Necklaces: they have matching necklaces I think, so when Tarun jumps into the water to get it back, it shows that he does really care about Radha and this is actually the moment she realizes she actually has feelings for him. The love starts here.
Another thing I really liked was hero’s name is Radha and girls name is Krishna, so symbolically they are saying they are eternal lovers.
Direction by Kasi Viswanath is very good. I can’t explain it, but its so well directed, emotions are so good, and most of all movie is so entertaining you never feel bored. Also since this is a musical hit, the elevation scenes are the songs much like Nuvvutonante Nenoddantana and many other films. His creative inputs and writing was excellent in his first film, and after 22 years we still remember the movie, that must mean he did an extraordinary job which he did.
Music and BGM by RP Patnaik is CLASSIC RAA AYYA, each and every song is a classic, the only song I dont like is Chi Chi Bulamma sounds funny and isn’t as good as the others. My favorite songs are Ela Ela Ela and title song, childhood memories. Nindu Godari is also too good and then Edo Edo is also classic. BGM is too good. Elevates so many scenes and gives goosebumps. Classic that’s it.
Credits
Banner: Sumanth Arts
Cast: Uday Kiran, Reema Sen, Sunil, Tanikella Bharani, Chandramohan, Sudha, Tanu Roy, Shiju, Parachuri venkateswara Rao, Sireesha, Devadas Kanakala, Shiva Reddy, Kaushal Manda, Sagar, Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry (cameo)
Music: R.P. Patnaik
Cinematography: S Gopal Reddy
Editing: KV Krishna Reddy
Art Direction: Rajesh Touchriver apparently
Fights: Ram Lakshman
Story - Producer: MS Raju
Screenplay: Parachuri Brothers
Direction: VN Aditya
Release Date: October 19th, 2001
- After the flop of Deviputurdu in 2001, MS Raju was left in heavy losses and wanted to do a small movie either a love story or family movie
- Then MS Raju’s friend the legendary S Gopal Reddy said there’s a new guy looking to make his debut as director VN Aditya he worked under Jayant C Paranji, he has matter or talent and gave him his phone number. VN Aditya said he had multiple offers to make his debut in various banners at the time. S Gopal Reddy gave him his phone number and MS Raju tried calling him 4-5 times but VN Aditya took to lightly as why would such a big producer be trying to call me.
- But finally he met MS Raju in his office and he told me he wants to do a small movie, I’ll tell you two lines, you tell me which one you like. VN Aditya selected the 2nd one. Inspired from Anmol Gad and Bhagyaraja’s Darling Darling, MS Raju wrote the line. MS Raju and VN Aditya finished the script work
- When the hero is crying in the rain, his friend tells him orey varsham kudos appudu appudu manaku mail chesthundi raa, mana kaneelu yedutha vaari kanapada kunda dachesthundi. This line touched MS Raju’s heart (manasu hathukundi). He wrote a 25,000 rupee advance check to VN Aditya and confirm chesaru movie ni. Parachuri brothers worked on the screenplay. The day after, they announced the movie title Mansantha Nuvve. First choice was Mahesh Babu but he had already committed to a movie with Gunahskear at the time which was Okkadu and he rejected it. VN Aditya felt if a new hero did it, it would it better. At that time, MS Raju felt Chitram hero Uday Kiran would be a good fit. At that time, Uday Kiran was shooting for Nuvvu nenu and it had not released yet
- Then MS Raju went to the set and saw the rushes of Nuvvu Nenu and fixed Uday Kiran as the hero, and Reema Sen was confirmed as heroine. Then Parachuri brothers said the scenic order (in sequences) scenes aren’t good, we have to change a lot, VN Aditya got sacreed and then within 10 days Aditya, MS Raju, Veeru Potla, and Parachuri Brothers worked on the script and readied a final version
- Then recently famous comedian Sunil was cast along with Chandramohan, Tanikella Bharani, and Sudha and then shooting started. Araku Valley, Hyderabad, and Malaysia they filmed the movie. Finished very less working days.
- Budget was 1 crore 30 lakhs, because Nuvvu Nenu hadn’t released, it was done in a lower budget, audio released and became a bumper hit, every song became a classic and The song "Tuneega Tuneega" became a massive hit. It was re-arranged from Vidyasagar's original composition "Kannadi Koodum Kootti" from Pranayavarnangal (1998). RP Patnaik worked a lot to get the antique watch sound right in re recording and mixing
- MS Raju went for own release and on October 19th, 2001 movie release in theaters
- Literally everything in the movie the audience liked and RP Patnaik became a star music director in industry with his amazing re recording and BGM and VN Aditya got a good name after his 1st movie and would go onto to make Nenuannu. Relief for MS Raju and Sunil became a star comedian with this movie
- Box office details, 3rd consecutive blockbuster for Uday Kiran after Chitram and Nuvvu nenu, ran for 100 days in 36, with shifts 175 days in 4 centers and collected 12 crores share overall and was one of the highest grossing movies of 2001. Uday Kiran also got an all time record: he is the only hero to deliver 3 straight blockbusters which gave 10 inthala laabam thechipette oke oka hero Uday Kiran.
Credits
Banner: Primeshow Entertainment
Cast: Teja Sajja, Amrutha Aiyer, Ravi Teja (voice), Vinay Rai, Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar, Vennela Kishore, Raj Deepak Shetty, Getup Srinu, Satya and others
Music: Anudeep Dev, GowraHari, Krishna Saurabh
Cinematography: Dasaradhi Sivendra (same for naa Saami Ranga)
Editor: Sai Babu Talari
Art Director: Sri Nagendra Tangala
Screenplay - dialogues: Scriptville
Writer - director: Prasanth Varma
Producer: Niranjan Reddy Kandagatla
Release Date: January 12th, 2024
Interesting Facts: https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/director-prasanth-varma-on-hanuman-this-cinematic-universe-will-also-have-a-female-superhero-film/article67694986.ece
Writing/Direction: the Line of the movie is basically like every superhero movie: A man gains superpowers to save to world and fight evil. Here the stone gives him superpowers and the evil is Michael who intends to do bad things with the stone if he ever got it.
Hanuman tries to be a superhero origin story and a commercial masala Telugu movie at the same time and I felt it did neither fully. The balancing act was not there.
Positives in the writing were Hanumanthu’s characterization, elevations, the world building Anjanadri etc, actions sequences and fun factor which is main.
The action sequences were so well chroerhpraged and the first fight when he gets his powers is typical but very fun. Its a must scene in every superhero movie of the hero getting his powers and learning how to use them.
The references scene was a delight because I love that stuff and then they give elevation for Balayya. Scene when he finds the stone is very good. Gajapathi fight scene at interval is very good and then Avakayi fight was very well done with symbolism basically hes gonna beat the villains into a paste. Reminded me of Sitharala Sirapadu and theaters probably went crazy for that scene.
The elevations were also superb. If you are Hindu, then you have heard the stories and mythology and know of Hanuman’s powers and greatness and this movie does them very well.
The negatives were actually some of the commercial elements: romantic track is not believable at all nor was I entertained by it, comedy didnt work except the bird that follows Satya and then the movie really didnt have emotion. To generate emotion they kill Varalaxmi. Then I felt it, but other than that I never felt the sister brother bond. The one scene which is done really well between them is when Hanumanthu’s grandma tells him that the reason his sister isn’t married is because of taking care of him, so Hanumantu makes everything without his superpowers by hand so she can take care of herself. Touching and well written moment. Aslo Vinay rai’s villain was very weak despite an interesting backstory. He has no motives for us to connect. Its just he is bad guy and wants to do evil things.
There’s also the themes of a village that is under a ruler and they are all salves. Who will free us from atrocities and it happens to be Hanumanthu with his superpowers. Once they are freed, immediately another conflict comes in.
Direction by Prashanth Varma is amazing and very good to be honest. Despite such limited budget the output is outstanding and looks like easily a 70-75 crore film. The VFX is tacky for the animals and some scenes but what else do you expect. That being said the way he was able to craft a Telugu superhero movie despite it being a routine template movie and package it very well is amazing.
scenes that how his brilliance
- Hanumanthu outside the medical camp the bullets eventually create a Ramudu from the light/fire and then behind lighting strikes and you see the Hanuman statue to symbolize that Hanuman himself is watching everything
- Vibhishana elevations in climax
- Actually the last 15-20 mins is unlimiuted goosebumps with taking and elevations and last frame when Hanuman wakes up and flies to Hanumanthu and seeing them in one frame in the sky was goosebumps. Movie leaves you with a high
CreditsBanner: Haarika & Hassine Creations Cast: Superstar Mahesh Babu, Sreeleela, Meenakshi Chaudhury, Ramya Krishna, Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh, Vennela Kishore, Eeswari Rao, Murali Sharma, Sunil, Rahul Ravindran, Brahmaji, Ajay Ghosh, Madhusudhan Rao, Mahesh Achanta, Music: Thaman S Cinematography: Manoj Paramahamsa & PS Vinod (50%)Editing: Navin Nooli Production Design: AS Prakash Lyrics: Ramajogayya Sastry Fights: Ram - Lakshman, Vijay Choreography: VJ Shekar Executive Producer: Suryadevara Naga Vamsi Producer: Suryadevara Radha Krishna (Chinababu) Release Date: January 12th, 2024 Interesting Facts: As said before, On May 1st 2021 they officially announced the movie as SSMB28 and said 2022 summer release. On August 9th, 2021 they announced Pooja Hegde as heroine along with technical crew AS Prakash art, Navin Nooli editing, and Madhie as DOP. Originally supposed to start shooting in November 2021 but due to SVP shooting delays they never started. Then Madhie was replaced with PS Vinod and on Feb 3rd, 2022 muhurtam pooja happened at Ramanaidu Studios. But filming only started on September 12th, 2022 with what they called a high octane action entertainer that was choreographed by Anbariv master. What I heard was the original story was revenge drama action thriller in which Tabu plays Mahesh’s mom, he is fatherless, and Anil Kapoor is a huge Mumbai based gangster who Mahesh wants to take down. They filmed a 6 minute heavy fight with the footage Babu in full form. 2nd schedule was supposed to start on Dussera 2022 with Mahesh and Pooja Hegde but it never happened. Naga Vamsi removed Anbariv masters from the project And then they scrapped the original action entertainer script and converted it into a commercial family entertainer with action. Full confusion started on the project and everybody wondered why they scrapped it to begin with. Then in Butta Bomma promotions in early 2023, Naga Vamsi said Pooja Hegde and Sreeleela are the heroine August 11th release or so we thought New script and movie finally started filming on Jan 18th, 2023 in Saradhi Studios glimpse fight was filmed by PS Vinod and now Ram lakshman as fight masters. Then as with any Trivikram movie, the huge house set you see in the movie was built by AS Prakash and they built it in Shankarapalli Telangana for a cost of 10 crores so they claimed. 2nd schedule started in Feb and ended in April. March 26th, 2023 first look poster released with Sankranthi release date on it Babu smoking beedi. And then all the problems started. Filming stalled, people said the output wasnt good and they were gonna do reshoots. The only content they had were first look poster of Babu smoking beedi with chillies and then first fight so they released that in the glimpse on May 31st. Then filming never continued due to delays after delays. Nobody knew what was happening. Pooja Hegde left and then Sreeleela took her role and then Meenakshi Chaudhury was cast in Sreeleela 2nd heroine role. Then due to more delays PS Vinod left the project and no DOP. Became like a big boss house set with elimination every week. Talk was also that Thaman was going to get replaced with GV Prakash Kumar but Naga Vamsi said no Thaman is our music director and they kept him. Filming continued on June 24th, 2023 but then a month later July 22nd, PS Vinod walked out of the movie. Then Manoj Paramahamsa replaced PS Vinod and then filming continued. Somehow they were able to finish the entire film and shooting finished on December 28th, 2023. Movie did not release any actual content about the movie besides the glimpse in may and finally trailer came on Jan 7th, 2023. First song Dum Masala on Nov 7th and then Oh my Baby on Dec 13th and then Kurchi Madhapetti on Dec 30th, 2023. Only Dum Masala got a good response but nowhere near AVPL range songs. So very disappointing stuff from Thaman. Negativity mainly from disappointing songs.
Best Movies - Top 10
Top Movies
- Salaar - very good commercial movie after a long gap
- Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty - except first 25 mins, Naveen Polishetty comic timing and screen presence carried entire movie and made it funny
- Hi Nanna - With pure emotion director tug your heartstrings along with amazing acting and awesome BGM and songs from Hesham. Shouryuv director to watch out for 35 crores share
- Samajavaragamana - my favorite type of movie, switch of son helping his father getting a degree was hilarious along with rakhi scenes and whole Vennela Kishore track. Except last 15 mins, hilarious movie Need more movies like this. Clean family entertainers.
- MAD - hilarious movie with funny one liners. Friendship, beautiful girls, catchy songs, what else do you want from a youth movie. Sangeeth Sobhan next big talent in Telugu cinema.
- Bhagavanth Kesari - unexpected movie from Ravipudi and Balayya, 0 cringe with a good message about women empowerment along with presentation of Balayya and elevations and commercial elements, it was a refreshing movie to see Balayya play his age and design mass within that.
- Balagam - comedy was great but lot of melodrama. However it showed culture in a great light
- Writer Padmabushan - idgaf what anyone says, movie was great and I laughed a lot. Clean movie
- Virupaksha - I didnt like it it was so weird but the sound design, cinematography, direction, BGM, and production design were all outstanding. A genre movie 100 crores range ante its huge.
- Bedurulanka - interesting and funny movie about exploitation of society with village heads conning people
Worst 5
- Skanda - rod, so much athi,
- Veera Simha Reddy - worst writing and worst fights and worst story and flashback, such a fucking boring movie
- Dasara - boring fucking movie except climax
- Baby - Anand is a pussy, Vaishnavi is a bigger pussy, and Viraj is the biggest pussy
- Adipurush - Watch Chota Bheem or Hanuman with Chiranjeevi, it’s way better
Special mention: Waltair Veerayya not Chiru range movie and acting was very artificial very overrated movie bad album and then Boss saying hey have 2.25 ratings but we did 2.25 million,
Rangabali, Kushi, Tiger Nageswara Rao, Bro, Mem Famous, Anni Manchi Sakunamule - Nanindi Reddy said my film will have a self life of 25 years despite the bad talk. Nobody will watch it again.
Top 10 Songs:
- Needhe Needhe - from Hi Nanna
- Samayama - Hi Nanna
- Ye Vaipukuki Saguthondi from Miss Shetty
- Dum Masala from Guntur Kaaram
- Lady Luck from Guntur Kaaram
- Swaasa Meeda Dyaasa - Keeda Cola
- Ram Sita Ram from Adipurush
- Priya Mithunam from Adipurush
- Aradhya from Kushi
- Adigaa from Hi Nanna
Worst Songs of the year: Poonakallu Loading from Waltair Veerayya, Cult Mama from Skanda, Ole Ole Pappayi from Extra Ordinary Man
Awards
Hero of the year: Prabhas two highest grossing movies but result wise Adipurush disaster and then Salaar TBA
Best film - Salaar
Best Director: Prashanth Neel for Salaar
Special mention: Ram Abbaraju for Samajavaragamana
Best Actor - Naveen Polishetty for MSMP
Special Mention: Nani for Dasara
Best Actress: Mrunal Thakur
Special Memtion - Samyuktha Menon for Virupaksha
Best Debut Male - Sangeeth Sobhan for MAD
Best Debut Actress - Vaishnavi Chaitanya for Baby
Song of the Year - Needhe Needhe from Hi Nanna
Singer of the year male - Karthik (Nachavule, Adipurush 2 songs, Anni Manchi Sakunumule title song, Adigaa Hi Nanna)
Singer of the year female - N/A
Best Supporting Actor: Naresh for Samajavaragamana, Raviteja for Waltair Veerayya
Best Supporting Actress: Rohini for Writer Padmabushan
Best Cinematography: Sathyan Sooryan for Dasara, Bhuvan Gowda for Salaar
Worst movie: Bhola Shankar, Agent and Veera Simha Reddy
Worst Director: Meher Ramesh, Surender Reddy and Gopichand Malineli
2024 Preview
Guntur Kaaram
Saindhav
Devara
Pushpa 2
Kalki 2898
Game Changer
OG
Ustaad Bhagat Singh
Hari Hara Veera Mallu
Saripodha Sanivaaram
VD12
Credits
Banner: Homble Films
Cast: Prabhas, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Shruti Hassan, Jagapathi Babu, Bobby Simha, Tinnu Anand, Easwari Rao, Sriya Reddy, Garuda Ram, Madhu Guruswamy, Brahmaji, Shafi, John Vijay, Devaraj, Saptagiri, Prudhvi Raj, Jhansi, Mime Gopi,
Music: Ravi Basrur
Cinematography: Bhuvan Gowda
Editor: Ujwal Kulkarni
Production Design: T L Venkatachalapathi
Costumes: Thota Vijay Bhaskar
Action choreography: Anbariv
Dialogues: Sandeep reddy bandla, Choudary Hanuman, Prashanth Neel, D.R. Suri
Story - Screenplay - direction: Prashanth Neel
Producer: Vijay Kiragandur
Interesting Facts:
After KGF, Prabhas himself kept hearing from fans manodu KGF chest bagundedi and everybody was talking about KGF including people in his home but he hadn’t seen the movie until then. Then he watched it and said it was extradoinary then a producer in the industry said Prashanth wants to meet him. Initially Prabhas was hesitant because in Telugu industry they say hero wants tp meet director ula kaadhu so he asked for clarity does he really want me to meet me or producers trick so he said ok. They met and talked about what movies they like general talk it was not a meeting for a film. They liked each other after it. And Prasanth was surprised because they thought Baahubali actor was big egotistical guy loos attitude. Then Pramod who is prabhas cousin and owner of UV Creations got a call from Vijay Kirangandur and he had just signed Adipurush and Project K and said Prasanth wants to direct you. They never gave him a response and he thought there was some 100 heroes he could have chosen. Then one night at 12 AM, he and Pramod were deciding and and if they say yes Om Raut and Nag Ashwin will get angry, if he says no then he can ever work with Prashanth need again so they asked how many days Hombale needs. They said 45 days. He was like Prashanth need 45 days his last two movies took 6 years to make and we can lie to other producers. But he understood one thing, if he said to Prashanth Neel and fans found ut, they will kill me so he agreed to do it. All his projects took a long time, Project K took 3 years and finally it took 112 days to complete Salaar.
For Prithviraj, Neel narrated the story when he was filming a movie called Aadujeevitham in Dubai and then COVID happened and he has a huge physical transformation and then Prashanth need narrated Salaar. Initially he wanted to say no because generally pan India movie dont give Malayalam actors big roles but within 10 minutes he said yes. But now due to Aadujeevitham dates issue he called need and said I cant do it. Because he was the only choice for the role, Prashanth Neel spoke to Prabhas and said we will wait for you let us know your dates when you can make it and he ended up doing the movie.
For SHriya Reddy she made a comeback to Telugu cinema after 17 years, apparently she’s in Amma Cheppindi movie so its her first straight movie after 17 years. Of course we all remember her fro. Pogaru and its her first movie in a long time. Prashanth neel had her in ind for the role and called her monthly to keep in touch and let her know about the progress.
Godavarikhani, Italy, and Ramoji Film City entire shooting happened. Filming started on January 27th 2021 in Govadarikhani and ended up on December 1st, 2023 after 114 working days.
The movie is a reimaginging of Neel’s own Uggaram which starred his brother in law Srimurali,
Movie was shot on Alexa 35 with Signature Prime and Signature Zoom Lenses by Bhuvan Gowda. So why didnt they use Arri Alexa LF since its such a big scale film he tired it for about 2-3 days but the backgrounds were coming really into focus not the image and he wasnt getting the proper framing.
Finally teaser on July 6th, 1st trailer on December 1st and then 2nd trailer on December 18th finally movie release on December 22nd. Fans loved it, ok for general audience and running successfully.
Credits
Banner: Niharika Entertainments
Cast: Nani, Sai Pallavi, Kriti Shetty, Madonna Sebastian, Rahul Ravindran, Jisshu Sengupta, Murali Sharma, Abhinav Gomatam, Manish Wadhwa, Leela Samson, Subhalekha Sudkahar, Sivaranayana, Anurag Kulkarni in Pravanyalaya song
Music: Mickey J Meyer
Cinematography: Sanu John Varughese
Production Design: Avinash Kolla
Editing: Navin Nooli
Fights: Ravi Varma
Story: Satyadev Janga
Story Development - Dialogues - Screenplay - Direction: Rahul Sankrityan
Producer: Venkat Boyanapalli
Release Date: December 24th, 2021
Interesting Facts:
Writer Satyadev Janga worked on the story for 3 years and he knew Rahul Sankrityan from a long time.
The inception of Shyam Singha Roy happened in 2019 when the filmmaker met writer Satyadev Janga. The latter pitched a one-liner with the backdrop of Calcutta.
The highlight of the movie is that Kalighat Temple Set in Hyderabad. It was The set costed them Rs 6.5 crores and the shoot of the film is currently happening in the set. The film is a periodic drama set in the backdrop of West Bengal. A 100-year-old Kali temple set was constructed using bricks and clay to bring the authentic feel of an old Bengali temple. Over 1200 workers took two months to construct the special set that is spread across 10 acres in the outskirts of Hyderabad. Even the workers for the set are flown down from West Bengal as the makers did not want to miss the unique style of the temples in their state. But the set was damaged by heavy rains and The makers spent close to Rs 2 crores and 10 days on the set work again.
Movie got average talk I think and was a hut but the weirdest movie. Budget was 4-60 crores but they undersold it for just like 20 or 25 crores and it made 27 crores share and was a hit at the box office. Its considered a success.
Writing/Direction:
The big problem with this movie is actually the present portion. Any story of reincarnation needs conflict but here there is none. Vasu’s entire character has no point because his whole point is that he is Shyam Singha Roy reincarnated. Theres nothing else. The main villain Mahanth is already dead and if he wanted to take revenge, then Shyam’s brothers are also dead cobvienelty in a a car crash. So the entire present portion is useless.
I still standby my comment that if the director had made the entire movie in 1970’s Kolkata with the same themes of caste, communism, and devadasi’s this movie would have been an all time classic. Because there’s so much to explore.
The directors efforts in writing are present in set up and payoffs which some of them work brilliantly.
- Shyam first scene in the movie is fighting for a Lower caste person (intouchables) then he happens to marry someone of a Lower caste that leads to his death. So his first and last scenes are mirrors of each other
- His ideologies were the reason for his downfall. His brothers have differences since they are a conservative family so he decides to leave
- Used Navaratri as a way to establish the love track, they meet almost every night. And Shyam is an atheist.
- Rosie tells him that she Ila okrka Amma vasya roju, nee vodilo padukunni, ninne choosthu, moham meeda chirunavvu tho chanipovali ani vundi, ache naa aakhari korika and in cliamx thats what happens when Vasu comes back
- His right pinky finger is interlocked with her when they are married and when he dies the same finger shakes. And when she dies in Vasu’s arms, his pinky finger is with her
- The story that Vasu directs happens to a butterfly that a little girl drew on a boat. This comes back in the climax.
- 2 Bells burn in opening scene and then Nani brings them to Rosie in climax and leaves them on a table before he meets her.
Production Design by Avinash Kolla. MASTERPIECE. The Bengali architecture is perfect and the whole atmosphere created for the period setup, printing press, houses, village, etc is so good and authentic and realistic. Its the highlight technicality of the movie if you ask me.
Credits
Banner: Vyjayanthi Movies
Cast: Nagarjuna, Soundarya, Raghuvaran, Shilpa Shetty, Banerjee, LB Sriram, Prakash raj, Brahmanandham, Sujitha, Nutan Prasad, Raghunatha Reddy, Tanikella Bharani, Dharmavarupu Subramanyam, Narsing Yadav
Music: Mani Sharma
Lyrics: Suddala Ashoka Teja, Veturi, Chandrabose, Sirivennela
Cinematography: Chota K Naidu
Art Director: Srinivasa Raju of Manmadhudhu, Sitaramaraju, and Rajakumarudu fame
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Fights: Kanal Kannan, Thriller Manju
Screenplay Assistance: Feroz Bhagat, N Maharajan, Crazy Mohan, Bhupathi Raja, Yandamoori Veerendranath
Dialogues: Parachuri Brothers
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Thirupathi Swamy
Producer: Aswini Dutt
Release Date: September 29th, 2000
Context: Saw it on TV when I was like 8 years old in India but only from Chamma Chekka song and remember that song so well, asked what movie this is and they said Azad, wanted to watch it since it has Nagarjuna and I knew of him. Bought the VCD and watched it. Remember liking it and then downloaded the songs and used to listen to them a lot. Later on came to know that the movie was not a big success. Revisited the songs when making a Hariharan playlist and realized theyre very good. Decided to rewatch the movie and see how it is. It’s a good action movie with emotions. Its entertaining. You never feel bored. Should have been a success.
Interesting Facts:
This is director Thirputahi Samy’s next telugu movie after the super hit Ganesh with Venkatesh.
Tirupathi Samy Died In a Car Accident In Chennai In June 2001.
Tirupathi Swamy, being a Journalist himself by profession has chosen a story that is based on a Journalist. He took Amitabh Bachchan’s’ Main Azad Hoon and Legend of Zorro movie as inspirations and wrote the story.
He must have approached Aswini Dutt after to make a movie and then they cast Nagarjuna as the hero and movie was launched. Vyjayanthi is known for making movies with high priodictwuon values with all the commercial elements and Azad is the same.
Casting they took Soundarya who dubbed for herself for the first time in Telugu for this film and then Shilpa Shetty who had done Sahasa Veerudu Sagara Kanya and then Veedavadandi Babu starring Mohan Babu before this making it her 3rd Telugu film in her career. Her last one would be Bhalevadivi Basu.
Set evergreen villain Raghuvaran and remaining actors such as Prakash raj, Brahmanandhan, etc.
Filmed in Rajahmundry, Hyderabad, Pollachi mainly then songs in Switzerland.
Songs were released on Supreme Music audio label and it became a super hit.
Since it was coming after Nuvvu Vasthavani huge hype for the movie and for Nagarjuna and finally it released and movie was declared above average or average I think.
Despite this movie ran for 50 days in 72 centers and 4 days in 100 centers. Movie also ran for 104 days in Sandhya 35MM and in Anakapalle Nagarjuna created a record: His three films ran for 100 days in a span of 6 months:
Nuvvu vasthavani - Raja theater
Ninne Premistha - Satyannarayana
Azaad - Gopal krishna
For singer Mahalakshkmi Iyer it was a breakthrough as she had sung just two songs in telugu before this in Okke Okkadu which was a dub and first straight movie was Ammo! Okato Tareekhu music by Vandemataram Srinivas.
Perhaps due to Nuvvu Vasthavani hype and then competition from so many other movies.
List of movies released against it were Ninne Premistha 14th, Rayalaseema Ramanna Chowdhary 15th, Vamsi on Oct 4th, Jayam Manaderaa on October 7th, and then Nuvve Kavali on October 13th which would go onto to become industry hit and highest grossing movie of 2000.
Nagarjuna had 3 releases as said before and one of them was actually in competition with this movie Ninne Premistha in a edition to Jayam Manadera which released a week later and almost became industry hit range movie and stopped.
For Soundarya she had 3 released in 3 weeks in Ninne Premistha Sept 14th, Azad 29th, and then Jayam Manadera October 7th.
Credits
Banner: Vyra Entertainments
Cast: Nani, Mrunal Thakur, Baby Kiara Khanna, Priyadarshi, Jayaram, Nassar, Angad Bedi, Viraj Ashwin, Shruti Haasan (cameo),
Music: Hesham Abdul Wahab
Cinematography: Sanu John Varughese ISC
Editor: Praveen Anthony
Production Design: Avinash Kolla
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Shouryuv
Producers: Mohan Cherukuri (CVM) and Dr Vijender Reddy Teegala
Release Date: Dec 7th, 2023
Writing/Direction: So our podcast motto is if the writing is good, the way you make the movie will good as well. For Hi Nanna thats apt for the most part.
The story seems like a rom com between 3 characters but much like Jersey it actually does genre shifts and its purely a drama movie. The writing is actually very good for all the emotional scenes and director has written some good threads.
Good part first is that the movie is all about relationships and how it affects others. Nani daughter one, Nani Mrunal one, Nani mother in law, Mother and Jayaram and how it affects Mrunal, all of these bring conflict into he story. Also everybody wants something
Mahi wants to know who her mom is, Yashna wants just wants to be happy, Viraj wants to be free from his guilt of what happened to his wife, Jayaram doesnt want to fail as a parent.
The writing is very strong especially in emotional scenes. The hospital scene, pre climax, and climax are so strong that you will get tears from your eyes. If you got cry then you eyes definitely will get wet for sure. Its that strong and relatable. Through Yashna’s character, director has created a lot of relatability and actually her character is the best.
I felt this is the movie Kushi wanted to be in terms of husband wife conflict but failed miserably at. The brilliance of Hi Nanna actually is that the whole flashback sequence its not convincing their love story its just there and I’ll come back to that but their conflict after marriage is very convincing so you relate to their marriage and love story during that part,. Due to strong emotions, things work.
I felt the most emotional part is that Viraj is such a dedicated father that he attended every ceremony based on cystic fibrosis and lives his daughter so much hes willing to any extent and fight withe everybody to make sure that she lives. That part hit hard.
Also loved the thread between Pluto and Yashna. She doesn't like dogs but then the dog gave her confirm, she likes dogs and then that day Pluto still remembered her after all these years despite her not remembering him.
Interval twist was expected but accident scene was heartbreaking man. So crazy. Also liked the two mass warning scenes basically when Yashna’s mom tries to insult Viraj in the hotel and then at wedding party in 2nd half he also gives her warning. There was no fight.
Also the symbolism of doors closing. Idk if you guys noticed. Every time Mahi asks Nani to tell her about her mom, Viraj always shuts the door implying that chapter is closed and he doesnt want to talk about it. But Mahi does. And then in operation room, the door starts to close and last thing Mahi sees is her mom and dad outside the ER ward showing that this chapter has finally been opened and now its closed. She knows the truth.Very cool.
2nd half has a trope of bakra track and initially I thought why is Angad Bedi there. Greatest bakra ever asalu the level of class and respect was too good. We got whistles in our theater when he came in climax to do the operations.
Interestingly, the movie keeps going just based on emotion. Theres no traditional commercial elements or entertainment. I wish there was more because movie has inconsistent pacing. Towards the interval and then post interval movie really felt flat and slow but then last 30 mins is outstanding with emotion that you leave the theater with a feel good feeling. The two scenes are when they hide in the cabinet and Nai runs away and then their fight after they drunk in Odiyamma song, Wish more scenes were there like that.
Credits
Banner: T Series and Bhadrakali Pictures
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Rahsmika Mandanna, Anil kapoor, Tripti Dimri, Bobby Deol, Babloo Prithviraj, Shakthi Kapoor,
Music: Harshavardhan Rameshwar and other
BGM: Harshavardham Rameshwar
Cinematography: Amit Roy ISC
Eidting: Sandeep reddy Vanga
Production Design: Suresh Selvarajan
Fights: Supreme Sundar
Screenplay: Sandeep reddy Vanga, Pranay Reddy Vanga, Saurabh Gupta,
Dialogues: Saurabh Gupta
Story - Direction: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Release Date: December 1st, 2023
Writing/Direction:
The movie’s story or core point is a man who has been traumatized by his father since hid childhood has psychopathic tendencies and he goes insane because of his dad’s neglect since his childhood. Therefore he’s supposed to have animalistic qualities about human nature. It’s hard to explain this stuff without using English words so please forgive me this time.
Writing is actually the biggest villain of the movie not Bobby Deol I will explain why. Given the core point and movie was promoted as such, you would think its a family drama with strained relationship between father and son. Movie is not about that. It’s about a man’s descent into madness because of father’s neglect and he never gave him the love and affection that deserved so he is like this. BUt it’s not convincing at all. Thats the biggest problem. There’s no reason/nothing shown for us to connect as a father son relationship or for us to care. I will take example of a movie that Im not a big fan of but in Ala Vaikuntapuram Lo he clearly shows Murali Sharma has made his life a living hell since he was young with a grudge on Jayaram so we feel for Allu Arjun’s character and relate to him and buy that father son relationship.
Here Vanga doesnt show anything. He tells you but doesn’t show it much. Yet this guy still loves his dad. The opportunity to make a commercial film is there but it didnt work for me.
Family drama part is nonexistent, romance part is comical she falls for one dialogue about alpha males and then next scene cancels her engagement and then Hua Main song, and then action part about grandfather wealth wars. But he villains have no proper motives etc. nothing is properly established or explained about the family heir wars to begin with.
Another example a lot pf people didn’t like KGF2 but its same like animal yenti ante, whatever Rocky Bhai does since you connect with him, it seems believable. Because I didnt connect here, you dont connect with what he’s doing so Vanga’s paithyam is in full affect.
To positives, Hua Main to interval is next level movie. Masterpiece level if you ask. Best sequence in the movie is revealing the suspense of Varun and that flashback. Too good. That entire stretch was so entertaining and amazing. Also the body double part was so ridiculous but so entertaining. But then rest of the movie never reached that level again. And then the post credit scene didnt really work. Remembered oh Zoya said that right but it felt forced and then im not sure theres even scope to make a sequel to be honest. But thats just me.
Direction by Sandeep Reddy Vanga is decent. Hero characterization throughout the movie is superb and 1st half taking is very good for that stretch but rest of the movie doesnt work or feel convincing. Due to the lack of conviction you feel a disconnect and as said before 2nd half was like his piathyam whatever he wanted to show was more for triggering audiences and critics rather than telling a emotional and relatable story with an interesting hero characterization. That being said whether you disagree or agree with a film or whatever the content is, Sandeep Reddy has created a brand for himself making unique movies which star controversy and open for a lot of discourse. This is for sure. So while I might agree or disagree with what he showed, its the audience responsibility to take it however they do. That is for sure.
Credits:
Banner: Sumanth Arts
Cast: Venkatesh, Soundarya, Anjala Zaveri, MS Narayana, Suresh, Kota, Ali, Babu Mohan, Ahuthi Prasad, Raghunatha Reddy, Prema (Goddess), Bhupinder Singh
Music: Mani Sharma
Lyrics: Jonnavitula and Veturi (Okati Rendu Moodu)
Cinematography: S. Gopal Reddy
Editing: Tata Suresh
Art Direction: Sabu Cyril
Fights: Peter Hein, Kanal Kannan
Choreography: DKS Babu, G Kala, Ahmed Khan, Saroj Khan, Brinda,
Sound Mixing: Madhusudhan Reddy
VFX: Kartik Dayanand Boddapati and VS Elangovan
Dialogues: Jonnavitula Ramalingeswara Rao
Story: Sumanth Arts Productions
Screenplay - Direction: Kodi Ramakrishna
Producer: MS Raju
Release Date: January 14th, 2001
Interesting Facts:
After Devi movie, Venky is good friend of MS Raju and he recently got a huge hit and decided to make an ambitious movie and they settled on Deviputrudu and put Kodi Ramakrishna as the director. This combo already scored a super hit in Satruvu in 1990. They kept the same technical team S Gopal Reddy camera, Suresh Tara editing, but changed Mani Sharma as music director since he was number 1 at the time. Raj Koti did the music for Satruvu. Movie also had Kota and this movie does as well.
"I preferred my hero Venkatesh for the project conceptualized Devi Putrudu. It is a film which could only be made with directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The story of the film was wonderful and I became emotional and started that project. After starting the project I realized the depth, duration and budget. Then we realized that it would take 10 years to make. Hence we wound up the film and released it. The film became a flop and my position was back to square one. I had to compensate my buyers, my finances and my ego, very dearly".[9] - MS Raju
Filmed in Dwaraka, Mumbai, and other sets I believe.
All 3 movies composed by Mani Sharma all time record and all the albums for all 3 movies became superheats. But after the movie nobody heard the songs again. Its still a record I think no dmusic director has ever done or will do tbh. Recently can only think of Thaman Business vs Bodyguard Sankranthi 2012 it released and both movies had music by him.
It was made with a record budget of 14 crores back then which in todays conversion is about 140 crores in present day.
Mrugaraju, Deviputrudu occupied majority screens and Narasimha Naidu released in 14 screen very limited screens and later became Industry HIT.
Movie released and got flop talk but then it got good traction on TV later and appreciated it. People were particularly turned how in 2001 with limited technology Kodi Ramakrishna made those graphics.
Jagadamba Theater, Vizag 38 Days RUN
Closing Gross : 19,73,006/
Hyderabad-Sandhya70 MM -54 days
100 days theaters
Vijayawada – Alankar A/c – 130
Guntur – Naaz
Writing/Direction:
The film scores points for it’s attempt. The movie is extremely unique and scary but also very good in terms of ambition and making something new and also the whole mythology and rituals aspect like the poojari explaining to Soundaraya or that element about the box and the destruction it can cause. All of this causes intrigue and suspense. For that reason alone its become a cult movie. But the writing could have been a lot better.
Direction by Kodi Ramakrishna is amazing. He was a visionary when it came to fantasy genre and this movie is actually stunning in certain portions especially the VFX in 2001 when that range technology in India was not developed yet, the little girl going to space scene, the green helmet, the kumkuma from the sadhu, the whirlpool scene, the ghost scene, box opening scene, and climax scene and then the signs changing after Venky gets left alone. And the movie is actually very scary haha. Mix of BGM and content with ghosts, rituals and all of that stuff. The direction gets 100//100 but the writing isn’t good so the execution is a missed attempt for sure. Nonetheless the effort and attempt itself we must appreciate it.
Credits
Banner: Super Good Movies
Cast: Akkineni Nagarjuna, Simran, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandham, Sivaji Raja, Sudhakar, Ali, Mallijarkuna Rao, Ramaprabha, Tanikella Bharani, Surya, Ponnambalam,
Music: S.A. Rajkumar
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Art Direction: N/A
Editing: Hari Nandamuri
Lyrics: Sirivennela, ES Murthy, Chandrabose, Pothole Ravikiran, Suddala Ashok Teja
Fights: Kanal Kannan
Choreography: Lawrence, Prema, Raju Sundaram
Original Story: Ezhil remake of Thulladha Manama Thulium
Dialogues: Madhuri Raja
Screenplay - Direction: VR Prathap
Producer: RB Choudhary
Release Date: April 5th, 2000
Interesting Facts: RB Choudary the original producer of the Tamil version produced the Telugu version as well. Simran reprised her role and SA Rajkumar as the music director who also did the Tamil version.
From what I heard back in the day, movie was slow for people but it was a huge musical hit and slowly the movie picked up and just ran and ran and ran and became a blockbuster at the box office.
First movie to collect 5 crores share in Nizam.
It ran for 100 days in 61 centers, a record 125 days in 42 centers, and 175 days in 7 centers
Almost 50+ areas lo town records unna movie
Nizam Top1 ( Raja Top2)
Ceded Top2 (SSR Top1)
UA Top1 (SSR Top1)
Krishna Top4
KONASEEMA RECORD in Amalapuram by collecting 14,67,184/- gross for 154 days in Deluxe theatre
1st 150 days run ever in Nellore
1st 50 lakhs grosser in Nellore
Devi theater ran for 155 days, only hero to have 4 movies to run for more than 20 weeks
Annamayya - 176Days
Shiva - 155Days
NinnePelladtha - 189Days
Nuvvu Vasthavani - 155Days
Palasa Ravi Shankar theater ran for record 136 days
Madanapalle Sai chitra lo regular ga 5 shows esaru appadu
Non stop housefulls paddayi ee movie ki
Finally it collected 15 crores share at the box office becoming all time top 2 highest grossing movie after Kalisundam Raa.
Writing/Direction:
The reason why this movie is illogical is it starts with Simran’s character’s intelligence. She has negative IQ. First things first, if you go blind does your brain stop working? No. But maybe in the case of this movie it does. I rewatched the movie to see if she knows what he sounds like and she does in that first scene. And she does.
Let’s talk honestly
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If you disliked someone that much, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to know exactly what they look and sound like to stay away at all times? If she really hated him that much then how come she doesnt know that its him and recognize his voice. This is biggest logical flaw in the movie. Not only this movie I had same problem in Bodyguard. Now we are living in the world of AI which they used in MAD movie so it made sense but in that movie she just talks and then Venky has no idea its the same person and hes superseded to be best bodyguard in India. But he doesnt have a brain either
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Basically he’s right next to her the entire movie, she knows what he sounds like but doesnt know its him. So dumb
- In what town does there exist a huge medical college opposite a market and also in the scene she sees him, he literally sleeps in the middle of a traffic jam. I understand deep sleep you dont hear many sounds but really in the middle of the road with trucks and everything he doesnt hear anything?
- He sings Paatiki Pallakivai and she can somehow hear him from a mile away. Does she have supersonic hearing?
- He’s telling everyone on the train about his story and then suddenly they drop everything theyre doing to reunite with him
- Him going to jail reason is so silly and stupid. Simple suitcase random what re the chances he gets sent to jail for that. And he spends some 7 years in jail and then in his entry scene he starts singing and entire compartment starts singing and dancing
- Again she has superpowers and can hear people singing the song from a while away on a bus. She catches the bus and runs back to realize its the same guy.
Credits
Banners: Haarika & Hassine Creations
Cast: Allu Arjun, Samantha, Adah Sharma, Nithya Menen, Prakash Raj, Upendra, Rajendra Prasad, Rao Ramesh, Ali, Brahmanandamm Sampath Raj, Vennela Kishore, Sree Vishnu, Chaitanya Krishna, Sneha & Sindhu Tolani etc
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Lyrics; Sirivennla Sitrama Sastry, Ramajogayya Sastry, Sri Mani, Devi Sri Prasad,
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Editor: Prawin Pudi
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Ganesh, Sekhar, Jani,
Production Design: S. Ravindar
Action: Peter Hein
Written and Directed: Trivikram
Producer: S. Radha Krishna (Chinababu)
Release date: 09 April, 2015
Interesting Facts:
Principal photography began on 19 September at a Hyderabad-based shopping mall.
As with any Trivikram movie, a major portion takes place in a house set this time a house in Madurai so Art director Ravinder said In the film, the house was supposed to be near the Chennai seashore. We did find one but it was very congested, so we then chose to build a set in Hyderabad,” “We brought big trees from Kadiyam village near Rajahmundry and wood from Delhi and other material from Chennai to build the house,” he says. The cost of this set was nearly Rs 1.5 crore which was, in fact, far less than what it would have cost the production house to go and shoot in Chennai.
It collected 20 crores on opening day, Third highest of all time ever and on a pre release business of 54 crores it collected 52 crores finishing as above average at the box office with minimal losses. Allu Arjun became the first Telugu actor to score back to back 50 share movies iN telugu cinema history with Race Gurram and Son of Satyamurthy.
Writing/Direction: Main story is Satyamiurthy dies and now Viraj’s family is in debt. He meets Paida Sambasiva Rao and then his life takes an unexpected turn and wants to marry Sameera but he tells him to get land documents from Devaraj Naidu. Then he meets Devaraj and finds himself in another situation. These 3 points are the main story.
Subplots:
Niece school fees
Vennela Kishore John thing
Adah Sharma wedding thing - actually Sree Vishnu getting his revenge on Allu Arjun for something he did
Rao Ramesh and MS Narayana reunitung in family
Devaraj Naidu - Veeraswamy Naidu faction fight - we dont; even know why they; e fighting its stretotpycal faction conflict in a movie.
Nitya Menon - bava story
Brahmanandham story
With all of these things going on at once, its so difficult to write a perfect script and entertain audiences and do setups and payoffs for all these subplots within the script. Trivikram tried, but as a result the writing gets bogged down and to be honest there’s actually too much going on in this movie. Because Triviram is a very experienced writer he held it together but even a master like him you can tell something is off.
The movie mainly runs on dialogues and situations. There are no elevations, mass dialogues, warnings, etc. So this is actually the closest Trivikram has come to making a pure drama.
There are commercial elements in there but the action doesnt necessarily feel blended seamlessly, the comedy is almost non existent, the romantic track isn’t convincing at all why would Sameera fall for Viraj they have 0 chemistry to be honest. And basically none of them work except the drama and situations created for the characters.
Technicalities:
Songs by BGM are CLASSIC RAA AYYA. Each and every song is a classic. Lyrics deserves special mention and maturity is realizing Chal Chalo Chalo is the best song in the album. Seethakalam also banger and then Sirivennela mass in Come to the Party. Super Machi shook all of India and still does. If you ask me this is a way better album that Attarintiki Daredi. Its more varied and songs are more catchy for sure.
BGM is also very good and is apt for each situations.
Cinematography by Prasad Murella is AMAZING.
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Cast: Venkatesh, Mahesh Babu, Prakash Raj, Anjali, Samantha, Rao Ramesh, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Tanikella Bharani, Murali Mohan, Ravi Babu, Ahuti Prasad, Jayasudha, Rohini Hattangadi, Rajitha, Abhinaya, Ramaprabha,
Songs: Micky J Meyer
Background Score: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: KV Guhan
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Lyrics: Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry & Anantha Sriram
Art Direction: AS Prakash
Dialogues: Ganesh Patro & Srikanth Addala
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Sreekanth Addala
Producer: Dil Raju
Release date: 11 January 2013
Agenda:
1) Context and How your liking towards it grew
2) Characters
3) Songs & Lyrics, Cinematography, Art Direction, and Editing
4) Relatable scenes and situations from the movie - Connect with our Experiences
5) Impact, Takeaways and Closing Thoughts
Credits
Banner: Creative Commercials
Cast: Venkatesh, Meena, Nasser, Brahmanandham, Sujatha, Allu Ramalingaiah, Vinod, Prasanna Kumar, Maharshi Raghava, Kallu Chidambaram, and others
Music: Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography: K Ravindra Babu
Editing: Krishnamurthy - Siva
Art Direction: A. Chanti
Dialogues: G. Satyamurthy
Original Story: P Vasu
Screenplay - Direction: Ravi Raja Pinisetty
Producer: K.S. Rama Rao
Release Date: January 10th, 1992
Writing/Direction: Probably have to credit P Vasu here as he wrote the original story. I dont have the knowledge of the olden days but its a typical thing where its a poor guy falls in love with rich girl but their family doesnt approve of it. Eventually they have to fight to win for their love.
Here they took two incredibly innocent characters and it made all the difference to the treatment. Screenplay by Ravi raja Pinisetty is amazing.
Movie has 3 themes that we need to talk about
- Class differences/slave complex - the village is called Ramapuram and a family of zamindars rule. Typically in the heirarchy of society, yejamani is always above and beyond. To symbolize this, the director shows the house of the family as being on a hill top away from all the villagers and its rich and grand already symbolizing in their place of living that they are above and beyond. They rule over the villagers and make the riles. For example they make the rule that if anyone looks at or talks about Nandini they will make them bald and face the consequences. As a result the villagers have to listen to what the rulers say. They dont have anyone to entertain their sister and sing songs for them so they get the idiot in Chanti and make him do it almost with a Chinna choopu. If you notice, Chanti is basically a slave in there compound. He has to do whatever they say otherwise they will make his life a living hell. And they essentially own him. Nandini is also the same in a way where she has been confined to 4 walls and is a slave in her own house unable to go out as per as brother’s wishes
- Innocence: Chanti and Nanindi are both innocent people - Chanti because he is uneducated but has a heart of gold but doesnt understand things and Naindi because she doesnt know what the outside world is due to being a prisoner in her own house. She doesnt know how to feel, interact with people, or any of that stuff. She has some friends but they don’t visit very often. She understands Chanti for who he is, a erri bagoledu with a heart of gold and falls for him.
So many examples but Chanti asks what it means when a mogga visiri poovu avvadam anamaata, he actually thinks its a flower becoming bigger, then there’s that scene where he ties the knot not knowing how a marriage works.
Also beautiful set up and payoff for that scene: one scene where the pain manishi asks Chanti to ask when Brahmi will tie to the knot to her and starts talking to her about the various threads in the village but doesnt understand the manga sutra and then at interval does the same when the pichodu comes and unknowingly ties to know and marries Nandini
3) Fear: Nandini is afraid of her brothers but finally gets the courage to stand up to them in the climax whereas Chanti is always afraid of what they will do to him if he does something wrong or if they find out what Nandini has been doing to him.
Using these two characters, they build conflict in each and every scene and it;s so brilliantly done. Their chemistry is also heart warming to see.
But more than anything, Especially the character of Chanti. So likable and so lovable that if anything happens to him you feel like saying no don’t beat up Chanti. Especially in interval Venky acting brings tears to your eyes. Such an innocent guy they beat him up and you’re like no same reaction as Nandini.
Direction by Ravi Raja Pinisetty is masterpiece. With amazing emotion in each every scene, there’s a certain intensity and most of all suspense in the movie like what will happen next as it keeps going.
Credits
Banner: RR Moviemakers
Cast: Ravi Teja, Shriya, Anjana Sukhani, Srihari, Mahesh Manjrekar, Brahmanandam, Ali,Yashpal Sharma, Sayaji Shinde, Kasi Viswanath, Venu Madhav, Brahmaji, Sudha, Surekha etc
Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: Sameer Reddy
Editing: Gowtam Raju Rao
Screenplay - dialogues: Kona Venkat
Art: AS Prakash
Fights: Stun Siva - Ram Lakshman
Story - screenplay - direction: Gopichand Malineni
Producer: Venkat
Release date: 6 August 2010
Context: Watched it in 2010 or 11 on YouTube, liked it then watched it again during lockdown in 2020 and loved it so entertaining then washed it again with my mom after a few months again in 2020, then wanted to see how it holds up now. In the 4 times ive watched it, everything has stayed the same. Movie has fantastic rewatch value and is every entertaining.
Interesting Facts:
(Gopichand Malineli) I am from Boddularivaripalem near Ongole. I am born and studied till 10th class in that village. I have completed by graduation in VR College, Nellore. I was attracted to film industry since I was a kid and I came to Hyderabad to fulfil my dreams.
I have joined the producer Mahendra (AA Arts) and worked for a Srihari film called ‘Police’. Later on I assisted in five of Srihari’s films. Then I joined EVV for Chala Bagundi film and did a few films with him.
My next break came with Seenu Vaitla’s Venky. I have worked for Andarivadu and Dhee as well.
Then I joined AR Murugadoss and worked for Stalin and Ghajini (Hindi). I also assisted Srivas (Lakshyam) and Meher Ramesh (Kantri and Billa). He used to be very active when he was assistant director and then working with Prabhas In Malaysia on Billa, Prabhas asked him if he had any story and told him to narrate it to him. First point of Donu Seenu gave him 5 mins narration, he was developing the story at that time and Prabhas said bagundi Darling we will do it but then when they got back to India he was already committed to Ek Niranjan so chance missed.
Then the story went to hero Gopichand and he asked if he had any story, he was supposed to do it and Gopichand Malinenli was still developing the script and the producer was supposed to be Dil Raju but at time he has started Brindavanam movie and he wanted to change banners, but Gopcihand said he wanted to do it only on Dil Raju’s banner.
Then Raviteja garu had heard about the story. Amitabh Bachchan, entertaining hero characterization, even when he told Dil Raju the story, Dil Raju felt the same.
Project was set in a week and due to Raviteja working with them for Kick, project was finalized on RR Movie Makers banner.
January 25th, 2010 movie muhurtham happened Ravi Teja’s latest movie Don Seenu was launched at Rama Naidu studios today morning. NTR sounded the clapboard, D Rama Naidu switched on the camera and VV Vinayak directed the first shot.
Huge star cast was set with Sayaji Shinde, Srihari, intitally Trisha was cast as the lead but replaced with Shriya who returned to Telugu cinema after 5 years. Ajana Sukhani was cast as other heroine.
Filming occurred in Hyderabad and Switerzerland even though they say it’s Germany.
July 23rd, 2010 audio was launched at Taj Deccan Hotel. D Ramanidu garu released first cassette.
And then on August 6th, 2010 movie released and got hit talk and grossed 15 crores share at the box office and was a hit.
Movie ran for 50 days and 100 days. What more could you want from a debut movie?
Gopichand got good name as a new commercial director and of course would go onto to direct Venkatesh next in Bodyguard, then Balupu, Padnaga Chesko, Winner, Krack, and Veera Simha Reddy.
Credits
Banner: Amigos Creations
Cast: Raja, Kamaline Mukherjee, Anish Kuruvilla, Satya, Baby Bakita, Master Abhijit, Chandana, Gururaj, Bharat, Ali, Patel, Pruthvi, Meenakshi, Gopi
Music: KM Radha Krishnan
Lyrics: Veturi
Camera: Vijay C Kumar
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Choreography: Nixon & Sekhar Kammula
Art: Kishore Chowksi
Production Manager: Arvind Kumar
Story - Dialogues - Screenplay - Direction: Sekhar Kammula
Executive Producer and Chief Assistant Director: Anish Kuruvilla
Producer: Amigos Creations & NFDC
Theatrical release date: 15th October 2004
Interesting Facts:
- He made the movie Dollar Dreams but didnt know how to promote it. Made with 16 lakhs he suffered 4-5 lakhs loss on the movie but won Best Debut Director. It took him 3 years to start looking for opportunities again
- Then he started thinking about his next film. He wrote a script and made about 25-30 people listen to it. Gram phone tirguthundi, Manasuna mallela maalaloogene is playing and Andam ayina ammayi baita vaana ani Katha cheppadam modhiletadu. But nobody showed interest. Anish Kuruvulla told him stop with the gram phone and Sekhar asked everybody he met to read one page of the script but they didnt want to. Finally he decided to self produce
- Budget was going to be 80 lakhs and despite funding from friends, Sekhar coudln't afford it.
- Sekhar wrote the story keeping Pawan Kalyan in mind, and he tried as well but it didnt happen. Casting sangathi, they went for Raja who had done a bunch of movies most notably Arjun at that time but didnt get a solid break. He had done acting course in Florida. He is also a method actor. We cast all non-established actors as character artists in Anand. The process took 3 months.
- Casting heroine was very tough task. We went to Mumbai and Bangalore and could not get the appropriate one. Since the story revolves around her they tried for popular heroines like Asia and Sara but didnt happen. Finally they watched a Ayush shampoo AD on TV and in that there was a Bengali girl named Kamalinee Mukherjee. She had done theater arts and was doing modeling. She was acting in Phir Milenge Salman Khan movie at the time and didnt have any interest in South movies.
- KM Radhakrishna was selected as the music director 2nd Telugu movie for him and he composed the songs in Necklace Road and in college campus, cinematographer and editor Vijay C Kumar rand Marthamd K Venkatesh who worked for Dollar Dreams were selected again. Sekhar loved Veturi’s lyrics and all the songs were written by him.
- Since no buyers came forward, Sekhar tied up with a distribution company and went for own release everywhere. And it clashed with the biggest movie of the year Shankar Dada MBBS. Talk of the industry was Sekhar’s guts to go up against Megastar of all people.
- Movie started with limited release with just 5 prints in Hyderabad, Warangal, Vijaywada, and Vizag lo release ayyindi. Seeing first week collections Sekhar had no hopes but then something happened, suddenly the talk picked up and ee manchi coffee lanti cinema janalni aakatukundi. The fresh feel, simple and natural dialogues and melodies songs spun magic on the audience. Prints were increased to 23 and then with hit talk buyers came forward. Sekhar kept Nizam rights and sold the rest
- Ran for 130 days in Hyderabad and then on January 28th, 2005 movie completed 100 days and had a function. Dasari Narayana Rao was chief guest and Bapu garu also complimented Sekhar.
- Overall it was a success at the box office and made Sekhar Kammula a notable director. Breakthrough for the entire cast and crew except Anish Kuruvilla who would have to wait 12 years more to get a break in Pellichoopulu. He also directed a film called Avakai Biryani in 2008 starring Kamal Kamaraju and Bindhu Madhavi which did not work at the box office. He also directed Ko Ante Koti starring Shawanand and Srihari
Credits
Banner: Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions
Cast: Venkatesh, Charmme, Nayana Tara, Sunil, Sayaji Shinde, Pradeep Rawat, Rajiv Kanakala, Sarvanand, Sameer, Sanjay, Baljeet, Sudha, Venu Madhav, Telangana Sakuntala, Revathy, LB Sriram, Master Teja, Brahamanandham
Music: Ramana Gogula
Background Music: Mani Sharma
Story - Dialogues: Akula Siva
Cinematography: Chota K Naidu
Art Direction: Chinna
Editing: Gowtam Raju
Lyrics: Chandrabose, Kulasekhar & Vishwa
Fx supervision: RaNa daggubati
Screenplay - direction: VV Vinayak
Producer: Nallamalupu Bujji
Release date: 14th January 2006
Interesting Facts:
- Bunny cinema taravatha, VV Vinayak got offers from Nagarjuna and Prabhas. Prabhas dates konchem late ayye laa vunnayi, could wait for Nagarjuna but Rendu nelalu taravatha next year cheddam ani challaga cheppadu,
- Then he got a call from his friend Nallamalupu Bujji and said I have Venkatesh’s dates, then Bujji told Venkatesh and he also felt it would be new for me to do a movie with Vinayak and gave the green signal
- Initially the story was set in Rayalaseema faction backdrop how an elder son save his family was the story going with the trend at the time, Venkatesh liked the story but felt faction movies are getting boring, take the same line but change the backdrop. Then Vinayak and his writer Akula Siva worked on the story and finished the changes within a month and Akula siva also wrote dialogues. He wrote them in accordance with Venky’s image and wrote the story to appeal to class, family audience and mass audience and Venkatesh ki baga nachesindi
- Title should be new and they fixed Lakshmi. Casting started and initially main heroines were Aarthi Agarwal and Charmi but due to Aarthi Agarwal’s personal problems at the time she dropped out and was replaced with Nayantara marking her Telugu debut
- They appointed Mani Sharma as the music director but he was full busy at the time and couldnt compose songs but gave his word that he will compose BGM at least and then Nallamalupu Bujji gave me the offer.
- Ramana Gogula said about the music speficially am letting out a secret to you now. Generally, we give tunes to the situation in films. But for the first time, I got so much of freedom that I scored the songs first and then they customized the situations and themes to fit in these songs in Lakshmi. For example, there is no slot for Hey Satyabhama song in the film, so they created an appropriate one.
- Filming was done in Hyderabad, Rama Naidu studios 3 sets they put, Kolkata 15 days schedule, Ghatkesar they filmed some scenes in engineering college there, and then filmed songs in New Zealand,
- Within 80 working days and 12 crores budget, movie finished filming. Due to the combo craze, trade vargalo craze yeru padindi, Lakshmi sold like hot cake in all areas such that Bujji got 5 crores table profit before release
- January 14th, 2006 in 320 centers for Sankranthi, Lakshmi movie released and due to the mass posters before release, Venky fans did baari hungama and enjoyed the movie. Venkatesh acting, family sentiment and comedy entertained everybody and it became a blockbuster at the box office
- The idea of having a cartoon animation for Venu Madhav Telangana Shakuntala fght was Rana Daggubati’s idea and he worked as VFX supervisor for the movie.
- Venkatesh mass chesthe box office yela shake avuthado choopinchindi Laskhmi movie. Brought Venkatesh renewed craze in mass movie, nayantara became a star and signed Boss with Nagarjuna, Venu Madhav image got elevated again and Vinayak and Akula Shiva combo garnered a lot of craze so Lakshmi was a turning point for a lot of people who worked on the movie
- Box office details: 1st week share was 9 crores which was all time top 2 movie at the time and collected 24 crores share becoming the highest grossing movie in Venkatesh’s career at the point, was the 6th film in Telugu movie history to collect 24 crores share at the time,
- Ran for 50 days in 215 centers and and 100 days in 94 centers.
Credits
Banner: Sri Sravanthi Movies
Cast: Venkatesh, Aarti Agarwal, Prakash Raj, Chandramohan, Bramanandham, Sunil, Sudeepa Pinky, Asha Saini, Sudha, Babloo Prithviraj, Tanikella Bharani, Babu Mohan, Mallikarjuna Rao, MS Narayana, Shiju, Hema, Bandla Ganesh, Giridhar,
Music: Koti
Cinematography: K Ravindra Babu
Editing: A Sreekar Prasad
Art Direction: Ranga Peketi
Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry & Bhuvanachandra (O Priyathama)
Story - Dialogues: Trivikram Srinivas
Screenplay - Direction: K Vijaya Bhaskar
Producer: Sravanthi Ravi Kishore
Release Date: September 6th, 2001
Interesting Facts
- During the shooting of Nuvve Kavali, Sravanthi Ravi Kishore signed both Vijaya Bhaskar and Trivikram for one more project said to ready a good story, within 2 month they worked hard and wrote Nuvvu naaku nachav script and told it to Ravi Kishore. Flat ayypoyadu and then he kept the script and gave them 25 lakhs advance. By then Nuvve Kavali had release and became industry hit
- They wanted to cast a kotha ammayi as heroine and started auditioning people. Among them were Trisha and Gajala but finally they selected Aarti Agarwal from New Jersey and she had already done 1 movie as heroine in Hindi. Casting was finalized except heroine father role. Initially Vijaya Bhaskar wanted to Nasser but Ravi Kishore wanted Prakash Raj ani pattuthala tho vunnadu. But at that time there was a industry ban on him so they felt we can do his portions last so they started filming. Hyderabad Chennai New Zealand Bangalore lo shooting chesaru. Heroine house set Ramanaidu Studios lo vesaru. Songs pictured in New Zealand are visually gorgeous on screen and Venkatesh had a full fever at the time but still he completed them
- Actually the movie didnt have Brahmanandham character. Due to Venky’s suggestion to include him, they wrote a comedy character into the script and it worked ut brilliantly. The inspiration for the character is Mr Bean
- Shooting chala saradaga gaa jarupukunnaru, ee madyalo PRakash Raj meeda ban teesesaru so ayna part kuda Chaka Chaka ayypoyindi. 64 working days lo movie cp,ete ayyindi and budget 4.5 crores. Venkatesh asked for share in profits and signed the agreement as Suresh Productions was distributor for the movie so he didnt take remuneration
- Alage September 6th, 2001 movie released with 113 prints across Andhra. Since Venkatesh was already in peak form with back to back blockbusters fans baari hungama chesaru
- Cinema anther baga chesaru kaani fights Levu ani complain chesaru fans> kaani families ki ee movie pichi pichi gaa nachesindi. All of the scenes and everything were so good for people and they fulled enjoyed in theaters.
- Of course Aarti Agarwal ee Okka cinema tho overnight star ayypyyindi. Thana terrific perpfmance and comic timing tho Venkatesh ee movie ni nilapetti inko bpokcbister kottadu
- Taravatha Vijaya Bhaskar and trivikram ki Nagarjuna lundi phone call vachindi of course for Manmahduud. Their time with big heroes officially started in industry with this movie
- Box office Vishyam ki vast super hit mass cinema sachinde collections ee movie simple sachindi, all major centers lo 100 rojulu housefuls ayyi record create chesindi, 50 days in 93 centers, 100 days in 57 centers, 175 days in 3 centers, Hyderabad Shanti theater lo 1 crore 18 lakhs collect chesindi, overall collected 19 crores share and was all time top 3 highest grosser of telugu cinema at that point. Narasimha Naidu and Kushi tarvatha idle highest. That too with an out and out family movie with 0 fights. Idhi raa nijamaina mass ante.
Agenda
1) Context and First Impressions
2) How your liking towards it grew
3) Music and Technicalities
4) Writing/Direction
5) Favorite Scenes/Dialogues
6) Why it will always be a classic
Banner: Sri Sai Ganesh Productions
Cast: Ram, Hansika Motwani, Aksha, Swati (SA), Sonu Sood, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Chandra Mohan, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana, Fish Venkat, Raghu Babu, Dharmavarapu, Dil Ramesh, Brahmaji, Pragati, Hema, Rama Prabha etc
Music: S Thaman
Cinematography: Andrew
Dialogues: Rajendra Kumar
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Art: Chinna
Fights: Stun Siva & Ganesh
Co Writer and Dialogues: Anil Ravipudi
Story - screenplay - direction: Santosh Srinivas
Producer: Bellamkonda Suresh
Release date: 12 August 2011
Interesting Facts:
This film was initially announced in October 2009 with Ravi Teja playing the lead role and with Krishna Vamsi as director, with the producer announcing the film as a partly fantasy venture.[4] The film progressed in pre-production with Tamannaah Bhatia and Sneha Ullal being considered to portray the heroine role, whilst the fantasy elements in the original script were removed.[5]
Around that time cinematographer Santosh Srinivas was looking to become a director and landed in Bellamkonda camp. They worked on this script and he made the necessary changes to it.
In April 2010, it was revealed that the producer and Ravi Teja had fallen out and he was replaced by Ram.[6]
Coming to hero Ram he said “As I said before, due to certain bad experiences, after ‘Ganesh’, I felt that I should not do movies with new directors. So I took a pretty period of 7 months to go through various scripts, 17 to be precise to short list the right script. Finally it was a story of Santosh Srinivas which compelled me to jump into the project.
The filming began in October 2010 with Ram and Hansika Motwani, whilst actress Swati Reddy shot scenes the following month.[7] Ram stated on his Twitter account that the film had three female lead roles, and suggested that Nisha Aggarwal was signed on.
During the first schedule, events on the set of the film became the reason for the Telugu film industry strikes of 2010 after Telugu film fighters attacked Tamil film technicians in Chennai on the sets of the film in December 2009.[8][9] Enraged by this, producers called for a bandh the next day. However, film workers declared a strike immediately after that for an indefinite period. The crisis affected the whole film industry and no films were shot in Andhra Pradesh during late December and early January during negotiations.[10]
After filming had resumed, the original music director Chakri was replaced by S. Thaman in March 2011.
Filming was done in Hyderabad Hi tech City, Ramlji Film City and Kokapet MArayadam Ramanna house set which was modified to reflect Warangal backdrop and Switzerland.
Finally shooting finished and they launched audio on Kandireega's audio was launched at Taj Deccan in Hyderabad on 14 July 2011. Venkatesh was the chief guest at the audio launch. Audio became a super hit.
August 12th, 2011 movie released amidst heavy competition with Dhada and became a super hit.
Collected 22 crores share at the box office, becoming the highest grossing movie in Ram’s career at that point in time and completed 50 days on September 30th, 2011 and then 100 days on November 18th, 2011.
Breakthrough for Aksha Pardasani in Telugu who would go onto appear in Bengal Tiger, Dictator and Radha.
Credits
Banners: United movies
Cast: Ram, Rakul Preet Singh, Sonal Chauhan, Sai Kumar, Ravu Ramesh, Brahmanandam, Jayaprakash Reddy, Raghu Babu, Supreeth, Brahmaji, Subbaraju, Abhimanyusingh, Vennela Kishore, Prabhas Srinu, Fish Venkat, Tejaswini etc
Cinematography: Sameer Reddy
Editor: Goutham Raju
Music: SS Thaman
Lyrics: Bhaskarabhatla, Sri Mani
Art: A.S. Prakash
Action: Ram-Laxman, Vijay & Stunt Shiva
Choregraphy: Raju Sundaram
Story: Veligonda Srinivas
Dialogues: Anil Ravipudi
Screenplay & Direction: Gopichand Malineni
Producer: Paruchuri Kireeti
Release date: 29 May, 2015
Context: If you remember correctly this movie came in peak summer season in 2015 with no competition, I was in senior year of HS with about two weeks left for finals it came on May 29th, 2015. Liked the songs before release binged them and then saw the trailer and was like I’m not doing anything better this weekend so my dad and I went. The theater was so full that my Dad and I were the only people in the theater. But we enjoyed it timepass. For some reason, just was in the mood to rewatch it again. And it was below average movie. First half was good but 2nd half tested patience like anything.
Interesting facts
I gave dates to producer Paruchuri Prasad during the shoot of Balupu. Ram wanted to do a film right from Don Seenu days. I was doing a script for Allu Arjun - Dil Raju combination film. It was a family entertainer. Meanwhile Paruchuri Prasad delivered Shadow and he was in urgent need to make an entertainer. He has asked me to start the project asap. After taking permission from Dil Raju, I went to Paruchuri Prasad.
I needed a good script in minimal time. That’s when VV Vinayak has suggested a story written by Veligonda Srinivas. I listened to the story and liked the idea. We took the raw story (Me, Kona Venkat, Veligonda Srinivas and Anil Ravipudi) and developed into full-fledged script. In 3 months, we had the perfect script.
We had pooja ceremony on May 17 and started to shoot the film on 1st June. We were affected by two big strikes in Telugu film industry. We also had a cast containing 30 people. It became difficult to get back the dates due to strike. However, the total number of working days is just 92 which is fair for a big budget film.
You will see a stylish new look for Ram in this movie as we hired Baski who is instrumental in Prabhas having great looks in Mirchi movie.
Hansika was cast as the female lead but replaced with Rakul due to dates issue. They also tried to get Jagapathi Babu as villain but it didnt work out. For 2nd heroine tthey asked Catherine Tresa but she said no due to wanting to focus on female leads not supporting roles. Finally in July 2014 they casted Sonal Chauhan as 2nd lead.
Due to delay in music sittings filming began June 16th, 2014 in Hyderabad. Initially they wanted to film in the United States but for some unknown reasons they changed the location to Lisbon Portugal for the outside India portions.
Pollachi, Annapurna Studios, Ramoji film City, and climax was filmed at Samalkota.
May 1st 2015 audio and theatrical trailer launched on May 1st at JRC Convention Center in Hyderabad. Initially they wanted to release on may 15th but got postponed to May 29th.
Movie released in 525 centers and 750 locations overall. and people said timepass routine commercial template and format. But in summer with AC people went and enjoyed.
Sold for 16 crores and collected 15.44 crores share and ended up as above average. With satellite and audio rights movie was likely a hut but dont know.
Writing/Direction:
Interesting writing happens in the form of Rakul Preet’s character and interval twist. You won’t expect that Ram planted everything and Rahul Preet’s character as a treehugger generates a lot of entertainment and gives a fresh feeling for heroine’s personality.
Comedy and jokes are excellent in 1st half with Vennela Kishore and JP Reddy but then 2nd half, honestly its so exhausting.
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra & Reliance
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Samantha, Praneetha, Boman Irani, Nadiya, Rao Ramesh, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Ali, MS Narayana, Raghubabu, Mukesh Rushi, Dr. Bharath Reddy, Posani Krishna Murali, Ahuti Prasad, Brahmaji, Sameer, Hema, Srinivas Reddy, Dhanraj, Jai Venu etc
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Lyrics: Ramajogayya Sastri, Sri Mani, & Devi Sri Prasad
Choreography: Siva Shankar, Dinesh, Shobi, Ganesh, Jani
Production Designer: S. Ravindar
Fights: Peter Heins
Director of Photography: Prasad Murella
Editing: Praveen Pudi
Written & Directed by: Trivikram Srinivas
Producer: BVSN Prasad
Release date: 27 September 2013
Writing/Direction: So basically by the 11th minute you get to know the story of the movie and the point, Trivikram establishes it. Trivikram is my favorite writer in Telugu cinema and I aspire to be like him and I’m a huge fan of his writing because logically, they always have a proper set up and payoff. Like in the beginning you’re wondering who kidnapped Samantha and it’s revealed be Brahmi. But this movie actually feels overwritten and as a result, it gives an underwhelming feeling.
At the time it released, the movie seemed so good due to Trivikram’s direction and writing particularly emotional scenes and entertainment. 10 years later, the emotional scenes work but the entertainment has not aged well at all, giving the movie just an average feeling, This is honestly the worst feeling you have for a movie but can’t deny what you saw.
The movie’s main story is Gautham has to bring back his aunt. Main conflict point. Trivikram’s style of writing always has multiple subplots going on parallel with main story. And it;s same Trivkkram template of a guy posing as somebody else and solving all the problems in the house. If you think about it Athadu is the same template but that movie is a masterpiece writing and direction and technical wise.
Attartiniki Daredi follows the same template but here it’s an ultra rich dude who’s trying to solve his family issues. So not only does he have to bring back his aunt, he has to Now it is upto him to make a chink in his aunt's steely armor, untangle the tangled lives of his cousins and their marriages, pick one for himself, protect his aunt's family from unscrupulous businessmen, and then deal with baddham Bhaskar.
All of these subplots go on within the movie to provide entertainment. Yet I felt the only scene that worked was the elevation and warning scene where PK beats up Posani to get the hotel contract back. The elevation here is goosebumps and I felt was the best scene in the movie.
Then in 2nd half Sidhappa Naidu track is introduced for another half of conflict and then is Brahmi is brought in. But it just didnt give that feeling of a complete amazing entertainer like the first time. It’s just average like strictly ok in present day. Mainly because the romantic track is worst, neither of them have any chemistry with Pawan Kalyan, bava maradalu track gives irritation and then PK is slapping his assistant or anybody else the entire movie like Ali or Brahmi.
Brahmi track is actually savior in the 2nd half because the rest of it is so flat. Interval and climax twist work very well due to the sensible emotional scenes but other than that, nothing else besides some dialogues that are really good.
There is also a lot of athi scenes in the movie such as jeep chase scene it falls in the water and then other jeeps bump into that and it reaches land, Samantha slipping and getting memory loss, Ali falling on that spiky thing on the car, glasses fight, interval chase, and then climax buying out an entire train station for a meeting.
Direction by Trivikram is ok. I think due to the fact that it's not his best written work or directed work it feels that way. But some dialogues and scenes are brilliantly written like the warning scene, interval, climax twist, and Brahmi scenes.
Credits
Banner: Sri Bharati Enterprises
Cast: Nitin, Genelia, Pradeep Rawat, Nassar, Sashank, Rajiv Kanakala, Tanikella Bharani, Indu, Venu Madhav, Ajay, Chatrapathi Sekhar, Sameer, Supreeth, Madhunandhan, Ping Pong Surya, SS Rajamouli, SS Kanchi, Shravan,
Story: Vijayendra Prasad
Dialogues: M Ratnam
Music: MM Keeravani
Cinematography: KK Senthil Kumar
Stunts: Ram-Lakshman, Vijay
Costumes: Rama Rajamouli
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Art: Anand Sai
Screenplay - Direction: SS Rajamouli
Producer: A Bharati
Theatrical release date: 23rd September 2004
Writing/Direction: Writing is thop raa babu. Simply its a tale of good vs evil and its extremely well written and even better executed.
Story goes on two conflict points much like any Rajamouli movie. Entire 1st half is dedicated to fight between the students and then literally at the perfect time at the interval BIkshu Yadav character is brought in and the two parallel stories combine into it. In screenwriting, there’s something called when all hope is lost for the protagonists. Generally it happens in 2nd act of a movie, here it happens at interval so its like now what, how are they going to win? 2nd half is packed with a cat and mouse game and then it reminds of Lagaan in terms of the final challenge given by Pradeep Rawat.
Ironically Lagaan has cricket, this has rugby and Pradeep Rawat is part of both iconic films.
But more than that to blend a foreign sport that literally nobody knew about in Rugby with mass elements and revenge in it is just brilliant and actually mind blowing to be honest. Nevause nobody would even think of that.The most important character is actually a cheerleader next to Indu at 29:19 she explains the entire rugby game to the audience so they understand it.
It also perfectly captures the college life, trends, and the lifestyle of youth back then so if you notice there’s a lot of youth elements combined with mass moments in the entire movie, so it appeals to all sections of audience.
So in a way it was ahead of its time and could say its pathbreaking movie because nobly had made a youth film like this so far. Despite whole Uday Kiran and Tarun dmination, dont believe they made something like this.
It also has a love track to create romance, comedy track with the students, Venu Madhav and SS Kanchi, and then so much action with he rugby scenes.
Themes of the movie are human belief/sprit the will to win for the eagles, good vs evil in the team vs Bikshu Yadav and then revenge, Generally revenge is done for main characters in Rajamoulo movies but this entire movie if you think about is Rajeev Kanakala;s revenge on Bikshu Yadav for taking his land and killing his father.
Direction by Rajamouli is perfect and proves why he’s the master story teller. Entire 1st half is extremely trendy and well done with the student fights and romantic track with Bikshu Yadav in between, but the way he established all the characters and in creating drama and emotion was too good.
Especially Nassar death scene that’s the highlight scene of the movie purely due to the raw emotion it invokes. You hate the villains so much and want to go into the screen and kill them. Theres always one scene like that in every Rajamouli movie which makes you hate the villain and want to see them die asap.
Also symbolically he showed wings and claws. Because claws destroy wings if they touch them both the student groups are always fighting with each other, but what happens when a bull crushes the claws and wings? Then an Eagle forms and the eagle somehow kills the bull. Climax scene is goosebumps stuff.
The taking, emotions, and pure adrenaline it gives the audience you have so many mass moments in a 40 minute climax episode. End shot is unlimited goosebumps. And you see the stamp. Even in 2004 he was it his peak story telling abilities.
Credits
Banner: Suresh Productions
Cast: Venkatesh, Nayana Tara, Sivaji, Ramya Krishna, Asish Vidyardhi, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Rahul Dev, Ravi Babu, Riaz Khan, Tanikella Bharani, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Ali, Raghubabu, Jhansi & Shriya (item song)
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Dialogues: Paruchuri brothers
Cinematography: B Bala Murugan
Art Direction: Nrayana Reddy
Lyrics: Chandrabose, Bhaskarbatla & Sahithi
Action: Kanal Kannan & Ram Lakshman
Story: Boyapati Seenu & Akula Siva
Screenplay - direction: Boyapati Seenu
Producer: Suresh
Release date: 12 October 2007
Interesting Facts:
- As we all know, Boyapati was an assistant director for Pavitra Bandham. Became close with Venky during the shoot. Venky liked his style and promised to do a film with him.
- Then of course in 2004 Boyapati was trying to become a director and narrated his first script Bhadra, a Rayalseema faction backdrop movie first to Venky and liked it a lot but it didnt work out as Venkatesh was busy with Malliswari and Sankranthi movies.
- Then Boyapati started narrating it to the other heroes and eventually Raviteja accepted to do it and it was Bhadra. It went onto become a blockbuster and in the meantime Venkatesh did Sankranthi, Lakshmi, and AMAV which were all blockbusters
- After Bhadra 100 days function, Boayapti got a call from Venkatesh and asked him to come to AMAV shooting spot and Boayapti went immediately. Venky do you have an interesting script with you.
- Boyapati said ok sir give me 3 months time and he worked on the script. Within 2 months actually I. June 2006, Boayoati narrated the full script and Venky liked it a lot and gave the go ahead.
- Venkatesh roped in parachute brothers to write the dialogues. Suresh Babu was in flops post Malliswari and he was selected as the producer. When coming to the heroine part, Venkatesh suggested Nayantara’s name to Boyapati and he casted her. Their combo was fresh off the blockbuster success of Lakshmi and expectations and anchalanu periggayi. Then rest of the cast was finalized
- Intiial budget was 8 crores and then in October 2006 filming began. Bangalore was a place it was shot and court set looked like Ramanaidu Studios, Austria they did most of the flashback part in the beginning and the songs Mia Mia and Vennelintha Vediga. The plan was the complete it within 6 months and release it in early 2007. But 3 months in during a fight sequence, Venkatesh injured his shoulder and was advised bed rest for 4 months and filming got delayed again
- The budget went from 8 crores to anywhere from 13 crores as a result of the delay. Filming finally finished and on September 22nd 2007, audio was released. K Raghavendra Rao, D Rama Naidu and KL Narayana attended this function as guests.
- Audio was successful and DSP gave super hit music. Particularly the song Nee Kallathoti was the most famous.
- October 12th, 2007 with 295 prints in 312 screens theaters, movie released and got super hit talk.
- Another super hit for Venky and mamulu records kaadhu. It if the first Telugu movie to run for 50 days in 225 direct centers, all time record. 2nd movie in Venkatesh career to run for complete 50 days in more than 200 centers, Lakshmi did it for 50 days in 212 centers,
- In Nizam alone it completed 50 days in 75 centers with 16 days of those theaters being in Hyuderbad itself, it is the first Telugu movie to create this record: to run in more than 10 centers for 50 days in Hyderabad itself
- In Vijaywada it ran for 50 days in 10 centers created a sensation. 12 days share was 12 crores and then final clollections it collected 18.43 crores share and did 32 crores gross on a pre release business of 12 crores and was a super hit at the box office. 3 consecutive blockbusters for Venky and return to form for Suresh Productions. It was also released in 21 centers in Karnataka and 7 centers in Tamil Nadu and collected a share of 3.5 crores share from both areas combined
- Gave breakthrough for actor Jhansi who played Kokapeta aunty in this movie
Credits
Banner: Parameswara Art Productions
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Shruti Hassan, Abhimanyu Singh, Suhasini, Nagineedu, Ajay, Tanikella Bharani, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Gayatri Rao, Ali, Rao Ramesh, Brahmanandam, Giridhar, Fish Venkat, Malaika Arora Khan (SA) etc
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Jayanan Vincent
Art: Kadali Brahma
Editing: Gowtam Raju
Original Story: Abhinav Kashyap & Dilip Shukla
Screenplay: Ramesh Reddy and Vegesna Satish & Harish Shankar
Dialogues - direction: Harish Shankar S
Producer: Ganesh Bandla
Release date: 11 May 2012
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/movie/postmortem/gabbarsingh.html
Writing/Direction: Writing is already proven story. Dabangg is a blockbuster story with the right emotions. Harish Shankar just took the basic story and adapted it to our Telugu sensibilities to perfection. The difference here is the addition of the Antyakshari scene and then in Hindi, Mahesh Manjrekar dies but in this one Kota lives and they changed that aspect of romantic track.
Writing I Felt was decent and its basically like watching a Puri Jagan movie where hero character carries entire movie and dialogues are like bullets. Movie is entertaining and it Like it keeps the movie going but the hero villain conflict which is the only point in the film wasnt equal. Gabbar Singh is always ahead of Sidhappa Naidu.
But much like Dabangg where Salman Khan carried the movie, its the same thing here. Its out and out Pawan Kalyan mania from start ti finish. He carries every single scene with his timing and charisma and dominates everybody. Its true one man show. Literally without Pawan this movie is nothing.
There is entertainment in each and every single but I guess on rewatch, the emotional connect just wasnt there. The Antyahkshi scene was the bumper offer here basically. That scene isn’t in the original but here it was the scene that elevated the movie to blockbuster I feel. And the situation for it happen was Sidhappa tells Gabbar that he will make him get a heart attack. Next day he checks the watch and realizes something is off so he kidnaps the entire villains gang. Meaning he could have put that scene just for entertainment but he actually added stakes and purpose to it which made it even better, In a commercial movie like this, have to appreaicye that writing and creativity.
Direction is perfect. What happened was However Harsih Shankar did what everybody or every fan dreams of. Presenting the their hero as fans would want to see him. I think due to Pawan’s stardom in youth and family audience, it made the movie a blockbuster. Also unlike Bro, the references like Kushi, Gang Leader, Mutamestri, and Jalsa song references worked brilliantly and they were used partly for the situation. Not like Bro.
Harish Shankar I think it’s his best movie mainly due to entertainment and the way he handled the adaptation to Telugu nativity. Some scenes are brilliantly handled
- PK Intro scene
- Dekho Dekho gabbar singh song
- First meeting between Gabbar and Sidhappa
- Market fight
- Interval scene
- Antyakshari scene
- Brahmanandham elevation scene
All of the are peak elevation scenes and give goosebumps due to the direction, PK screen presence and BGM.
Technicalities:
Songs by DSP are CLASSIC RAA AYYA. Each and every song is a classic. One of the best commercial albums and a huge reason for the movie being a hit I think was due to the amazing album. 6 songs, all chartbusters especially Kuvvu keka. My personal favorites are Dekho Dekho Gabbar Singh and Akasam Ammayithe. BGM is good. The main one used is the title song BGM that comes in interludes with trumpets basically. But interval scene BGM gives goosebumps.
Art Direction by Brahma Kadali is OUTSTANDING. Entire RFC was redone, the market set and then street set and then Pollachi flavor and then to recreate the whole village atmosphere where the story is taking place. Carnival set in interval and then dolls and everything designed for Shruthi Hassan house and store.
Credits
Banner: Vaarahi Chalani Chitram
Cast: Nani, Sudeep Samantha, Noel Sean, Aditya Menon, Srinivas Reddy, Thagubothu Ramesh (cameo), Hamsa Nandini (cameo), Sivanarayana (cameo)
Music: MM Keeravani
Dialogues: Janardhan Maharshi
Cinematography: KK Senthil Kumar
Art: S Ravinder
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Visual FX: Makuta FX
Story - screenplay - direction: SS Rajamouli
Presented by: D Suresh Babu
Producers: Sai Korapati
Release date: 6 July 2012
Interesting Facts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eega
Writing/Direction: Writing by Vijayendra Prasad is masterpiece. Eega is a perfectly written movie and perfectly executed. The line itself if you tell anybody they will tell you this is the dumbest thing they have ever heard. But when you see it, it’s next level. Most of all, movie is extremely entertaining.
Sudeep’s characterization is peak Rajamouli is making you hate the villain, but because the characterization s so good, Sudeep is able to give that masterpiece performance. Literally from first scene with hamsa Nandini, you get to know what type of person he is and his character in a nutshell. A ruthless womanizer businessman. Then he sets his sights on Bindu and every time they meet you can feel that ibbandi through the screen and that he might do something to her. then kills Nani and it turns his life upside down.
The emotions are too good in the movie. Basically the emotional connect is Rajampuli special and he is literally the only director in the world who can make you root for and feel emotional about a housefly.
The psychological aspect and toll the Eega has on Sudeep we as an audience feel that through the frustration of his character after the Eega starts making his life a living hell. It’s basically showing that actions have consequences as the tantra told him.
There’s also foreshadowing actually. When Nani finds the barrel, I mean on the rewatch you notice but right there Rajamouli tells you how the movie is going to end. In most of his films foreshadowing is evident and Eega is the same.
There’s also a funny scene during Eega Eega montage where Sudeep is looking up how to kill a fly and then Samantha is looking up how to kill a human. Rajamouli is also in the movie. If you pause at 39:35, he is the guy throwing the cigarette in Eega introduction scene.
The overarching theme of the movie is revenge just like any other Rajamouli movie: the soul of a murdered man is reincarnated as a fly and seeks revenge against his killer. And then Love after death. Nani dies sacrificing himself by Killing Sudeep to save Bindhu and is reborn again after this.
There are many elevation scenes such as:
- Fly intro scene
- Interval scene
- Bindu realizing fly is Nani
- Entire Eega Eega song
- Fly imitating star heroes
- Chandeileie breaking and glass coming towards Sudeep and Eega reflection shot
- Climax scene where Sudeep sees a huge burning Fly silhouette before he dies
Direction by Rajamouli is perfect. A lot of people say it’s Rakamouli’s best work. I personally feel it’s Baahubali 2 but Eega is also worthy. He made the movie from the Sega’s POV so effortless and entertaining so that it’s an amazing cinematic experience. The effort for everything in the movie is visible and of course he extracted an iconic performance from Sudeep. Each and every scene is brilliantly directed and as mentioned before the sheer fact that he made you emotional over a housefly means he can literally do anything and everything. The fact that the fly doesnt talk either and the entire thing is built on fun and entertainment and suspense makes it even more impressive and incredible. Eega is proof as to why he’s the master story teller.
Satyam Review + Interesting Facts
Credits
Banner: Annapurna Studios
Cast: Sumanth, Genelia, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Tanikella Bharani, Sridhar, Rajesh, Malladi Raghava, Nirmala Reddy, Varsha, Prakash, Naveen, Chakri, Apoorva, Kondavala Lakshmana Rao, Jenny, Gowtam Raju
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Sameer Reddy - Raja
Fights: Vijay
Choreography: Lawrence, Shankar, Ashok Raj, Vidya
Art: JK Murthy
Editing: Nandamuri Hari
Dialogues: Sateesh - Ravi
Costumes: Sekhar
Presents: Smt Akkineni Annapurna
Producer: Akkineni Nagarjuna
Story - screenplay - direction: Surya Kiran
Release date: 19th December 2003
Context: Watched it on VHS way back and became a fan of Sumanth after this. Actually I think in USA I was biggest fan of Sumanth Anna. Binged all his movies until all hope was lost later on. Remember the climax fight in train more than anything and then I’m in Love song. That’s it. Rewatched it during 2020 and loved it. It’s my favorite movie of Sumanth more than Godavari because Satyam is all around commercial movie compared to Godavari and has great pacing. Godavari has more romance, great writing, more feel and realistic but slower pace with Shekar Kammula mark. But this has action, comedy, sentiment, family drama, fantastic writing, and just overall way better entertainment value. Watched it again for the podcast and loved it.
Interesting Facts: Director Surya Kiran was trying as an actor but then on the request of Thiruputhisamy who directed Azad and Ganesh he passed away, he wanted to become a director. He toured a lot of studios and then became went to Annapurna to Meet Nagarjuna. He met him then said give me a date to narrate to Supriya. Nagarjuna was shooting Bava Nachadu at the time in Chennai a fight scene with Kanal kannan. He met Nag and he said come back to Hyderabad. HE came back and narrated stories and Nag didnt like any of them. Finally he told him Satyam story and he introduced him to Sumanth. First he told him Dhana 51 but Nag said no Satyam is a script which can make an upcoming hero a star do that only and the movie started.
Sumanth Interview: https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/interview-sumanth.html
Audio of Sumanth's re-launch film 'Satyam' was released by Akkineni Nageswara Rao at a function organized in Annapurna studios on 3rd December 2003. This film sports Genelia D'Souza as heroine. Chakri scored music. Akkineni Nagarjuna produces this film on Annapurna banner.
The film ran successfully for 50-days in 163 centers, and also completed its 100-day run in over 26 centers.
Writing/Direction: Writing is Masterpiece to be honest, This is how you a write. Film and a perfectly written film. There are 0 flaws.
The conflict is very simple: he wants to win his father’s love and trust back and be accepted back into the family and also win over his love Ankita.
There’s also a triangular love story that we see that’s often common in films like this. Good intentioned hero, pretty heroine, and a bad intentioned other guy who seems like a villain. Because Satyam is so likable, obviously Prakash seems like the bad guy and by the end you realize he’s a loser who doesnt have anything to offer.
The relationship between Shankar and Satyam is beautiful and one of the most of the most unconventional on screen friendships we have ever seen between a father and the guy that likes his daughter. It doesn’t take the general trope and goes against the stereotype of dad disliking the guy. It;s so mature and well done. It also helps that Kota and Sumanth bring so much to those characters.
The overarching theme in this movie is apardham. Satyam is misunderstood by the two most important people in his life: his father and his love. And its really sad to see because Satyam really has a heart of gold. At times I was like am I watching my own life story unfold because I like to think im a very nice guy but girls always misunderstand me and lite teesko.
Credits
Banner: Suresh Productions
Cast: Venkatesh, Soundarya, Bhanupriya, Jayaprakash Reddy, Brahmanandham, Ali, AVS, Tanikella Bharani, LB Sriram, Ramaprabha, Ahuthi Prasad, Hema, Atul Kulkarni, Surya, MS Narayana, Ravibabu, Satya Prakash, Raja Ravindra, Banerjee, Jhansi, Narsingh Yadav, Kolla Ashok Kumar, Nirmala, Meena Kumari,
Music: Vandemataram Srinivas
Cinematography: K Ravindra Babu
Editing: K Madhav& Marthand K Venkatesh
Art Direction: Ashok Kumar
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Lawrence, DKS Babu, Suchitra, and Harish Pai
Fights: Vijay (6)
Screenplay - Dialogues: Parachuri brothers
Producer: Suresh Babu
Original Story - Direction: N Shankar
Release Date: October 7th, 2000
Interesting Facts:
- After the success of Sri Ramulayya, Suresh babu called N Shankar to direct Raja but he said he’s already committed to directing Mohan Babu. Then he gave him an offer and said to prepare a movie with a good social message with a powerful story that suits Venkatesh. After finishing Yamajathuku, Shankar was actually sitting with Ushakiran Movies, Ramoji Rao production house, and then remembered Venkatesh asked for a story and narrated the line to Venkatesh. Once he heard the dual roles, Venkatesh gave green signal.
- He took 4 months to work on the story and took some problems happening in society at the time as inspiration and blended it into a commercial entertainer. Venaktesh and Suresh babu both gave green signal. This was coming after all time classic Kalisundam Raa so expectations were very high since it became industry hit. After Ganesh this was the first out and out mass movie Venkatesh was doing
- They registered the title Rudrama Naidu in Film Chamber then casting started and Bhanupriya and the classic combination Soundarya were selected as the heroines
- Jayapraksh Reddy, Atul Kulkarni, Brahmanandham, LB Sriram huge star cast and almost close to 60 people were cast
- April 22nd, 2000 they announced the movie N Shankar Venkatesh movie combo and then May 15th, 2000 first schedule started in Europe: London, France and Italy. Filmed 3 songs here and 30% of the movie was completed.
- Ramanaidu Studios, Annapurna Studios, Saradhi Studios majority was filmed, then rest was filmed in Ananthapuram and Rajahmundry. They also filmed the iconic scene at Yaganti in Kurnool. It is a Shiva temple.
- Since Venkatesh had raa title sentiment, they changed the title to Jayam Manadera from Rudrama Naidu
- Total budget 5 crores and movie has huge hype so any news became a hot topic. September 15th, 200 audio was released and became a huge hit. In one week, it sold 4 lakh cassettes which was an all time record
- October 7th, 2000 movie released and 1st half full comedy, Venkatesh Soundarya scenes and entertainment, then 2nd half flashback with sister sentiment scenes and Venkatesh death scene people loved
- B C Centers loved it and then A centers due to vebky stardom and following also said ok to the movie.
- Vandemataram Srinivas BGM and Songs was biggest asset to the movie and elevated the movie to the next level.
- Considered one of Venky’s best performances as Mahadeva Naidu for sure, Soundaraya and Bhanupriya were added assets. Atul Kulkanri and Jhansi both got breakthrough with this movie
- Box office performance, first week more than 3 crores share - all time record, Nizam 1 crore 23 lakhs share first week share all time record, Kushi would later go on to break the record, 4 week share was 7 crores, it was on track to pass Kalisundam Raa and become industry hit and biggest hit in Venky career, but from day 50 collections and centers started to drop
- Ran for 50 days in 103 centers, first movie to run for 50 days in more than 100 centers, 100 days in 33 centers and collected 12.5 crores share ended up as super hit at the box office. 5 out of the top 10 grossers at that point in TFi history were all Venkatesh movies.
Credits
Banner: Yellow Flowers
Cast: Ravi Teja, Richa Gangopadhyay, Deeksha Seth, Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Ajay, Sunil, Rao Ramesh, Supreet, Giri, Ali, Chandra Mohan, Sudha, Raja Ravindra, Naga Babu, Brahmaji, Sanjay Swaroop and Swati (SA)
Music: Thaman
Cinematography: C Ram Prasad
Editing: Gowtam Raju
Art Direction: Brahma Kadali (he also worked for Gabbar Singh)
Lyrics: Anantha Sriram, Bhaskarbatla, Sirivennela, Chandrabose, Sathihi, and Harish Shankar
Fights: Ram - Lakshman
Screenplay: Ramesh Reddy, Vikram Sirikonda, Deepak Raj
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Harish Shankar
Producer: Ramesh Puppala
Release date: 13 January 2011
Agenda
1) First watch and Impressions
2) How our liking grew towards it
3) technical aspects and music
4) Writing and Direction
4) Favorite Scenes and Dialogues
6) Final Thoughts
Credits
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Soundarya, Ravi Teja, Venkat, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Sharat Babu, Chandi, Sishwa, Bhupinder Singh, Uttej, MS Narayana, Surya, Hema, Raja Ravindran, Simran (Special Appearance)
Photography: Chota K Naidu
Choreography: Laurance, Brinda and Tara
Music: Mani Sharma
Editing: A. Sreekar Prasad
Art Direction: N/A
2nd Unit Director: Boyapati Sreenu
Dialogues: Satyanand
Story: Bhupati Raja
Screenplay & Direction: Muthyala Subbaiah
Producer: Dr Venkateswara Rao
Release Date: Jan 7th, 2000
Interesting Facts:
- After a series of flops for 4-5 years, Chiru gave comeback with Hitler movie and it was directed by Muthyala Subbaiah and he was very grateful to him
- Allu Aravind met writer Bhupathi Raja who also wrote story for Master, Pelli Cheskundam, Auto Driver, Iddaru Mitrulu was tasked with writing story for Chiru again and said can you write a story in Chiru’s style and comfort zone. Within 10 days, he wrote the story and met Chiru in Iddari Mitrulu shoot at Annapurna Studios and narrated the story.
- Bhoopathi Raja and Satyanand both worked on the story and narrated the changes to Chiru. Chiru liked it and said ready the final version of the script. But the movie had no director confirmed. Chiru manasulo Muthayalla Subbaiah vunnaru director gaa because he wanted to work with him after hitler movie succeeded and finally its happened.
- Chiru told Allu Aravind and he went to give Muthayala Subbaiah the advance but he was already doing 3 movies at once (okkesaari 3 cinealu chesthunaru) and he was very busy. But since you don’t no say to Chiru, in July 1999 announcement came in Muthyalla Subbhai direction Chiru movie on Geetha Arts. Then along with Bhoopathi Raja and Satyanand, Subbaiah readied the bound script
- Casting started. First choice was Soundarya. She immediately said yes and Appatlo number 1 hero and heroine. The makers told her she needs to look glamorous and she said glamour is ok but there shouldn’t be any vulgarity in it condition pettaru.
- August 22nd Chiru birthday 1999 shooting started. Mani Sharma was the music director and he had already composed two songs Himaseemalo and Gus Gus Le, so they went to Switzerland to film them. For the ballon part in Himaseemalo, they used a helicopter to take the aerial shots in the song in the Alps.
- December 1999 filming finished but in the editing in a fight scene yedho Theda kotudunthi anipinchindi, Subbaaih tpld Chiru that we should reshoot it. Chiru didnt have driver so he put on helmet and came to studio himself on motorcycle and came to Shabdayala Studios. Everybody was shocked to see Chiru and come by himself and they immediately sent him inside to avoid a mob rush.
- Audio released and it was a huge hit. Chiru stills and content were good and raised expectations.
- On January 7th 2000, first Telugu movie to release in the new millennium and it released in 205 theaters.Chiru fans loved the movie and it had everything, First half was excellent and then Gummam itu scene was a highlight, Kota scenes highlight, Soundarya scenes even bigger highlight, just due to a lot of sentiment scenes in 2nd half, it missed out on industry hit status.
- Soundarya glamour and Aata Kavala song Youth ni kirrieki ssthayyi
- Having all the emotions and satisfying all sections of audience, it was a super hit. Actually the song Sayyare Song wasnt in the movie when it released, after 10 days they filmed the song and added it. Director scored a hit with sister sentiment in Hitler and now with brother sentiment in Annayya
- Box office performance, 1st week share 4 crores and 2 week share was 6 crores share, sanchalanam srustinchindi.
- Ran for 50 days in 92 centers which was all time record at that time for 50 days centers, 100 days centers in 60 centers. Ran for 175 days in Guntur jilla
- In new millennium first movie to run for 100 and 175 days. For 100 days function, Chandra Babu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan were the chief guests
Credits
Banner: UV Creations
Cast: Anushka Shetty, Naveen Polishetty, Murali Sharma, Jayasudha, Abhinav Gomatam, Sonia Deepti, Tulasi, Harshavardhan, Bhadram etc
Songs: Radhan
BGM: Gopi Sunder
Cinematography: Nirav Shah
Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
VFX Superviser: Raghav Tammareddy
Production design: Rajeevan
Lyrics: Anantha Sriram & Ramajagoyya Shastri
Story - Screenplay - dialogues - direction: Mahesh Babu Pachigolla
Producers: V. Vamsi Krishna Reddy & Pramod Uppalapati
Release date: September 7th, 2023
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/maheshbabup.html
Writing/Direction: Honestly speaking, this is a perfect movie that reminds you of the good old Telugu movies we grew up watching. The writing is so good such that there is entertainment in each and every scene and there is not a single boring moment in the entire film. Writing is masterpiece for me. This is how you write and make a film anipinchindi.
Story analysis wise, its very simple. A woman due to the abandonment issues and trauma suffered a child wants some companionship after her mother dies and wants to get impregnated.
This storyline has been shown in many movies like Naruda Donaruda, Ante Sundaraniki, basically there have been movies stories like this and the problem has always been with the treatment of the movie. It’s either cringe max or full on double meaning comedy and it lacks emotional connectivity and entertainment.
This is where this movie succeeds. It has 0 cringe, full clean entertainment and by casting two incredible actors, the movie just flies by.
Naveen and Anushkha chemistry is very good and the conflicts and characterizations are perfect. To be honest romantic comedies work on two things: chemistry between the leads and entertainment. This movie has both in full doses.
Sidhhu character is so relatable because he’s basically an introvert and ammayi gives him hand when she helped him withe everything in pursuing his dreams and giving him confidence. Who wouldn’t fall for somebody. It’s natural and its relatable because I have been through that and trust me it does happen.
Entertainment part right from when Naveen entry scene, hospital scenes,. Abhinav gomatam scenes, finding out about new donor scenes. Especially when hospital scene he’s asked for a semen sample and he thinks it’s a large bottle, he says nenu manishina gurram na.
Emotional part is also superb. Jayasudha scenes, ending scenes, Anuksha confession scene, most of all there’s a scene between Naveen and Murali Sharma. It was heart touching because the father who always berates his son accepts that he wants to be a stand up comedian and is trying and then understands his son wants Anvitha. He tells him one thing naaku Nuvvu kavali Annav kaani, neeku nenu vunnanu ani cheppava? Velli thanu nammakani gelavadam kosam fight cheyyi.
Most heart touching dialogue is Okka Chinna request, repu neeku papa babu puttina taravatha vaadu nannu yevado ani adigithe yevariki yeliyani oka sperm donor Kakunda, value Ammani preminchina manishi ani cheppu.
And each and every character is very good.
Direction by mahesh Babu P is perfect. To make a movie without a single boring moment and entertain people for 2.5 hours in 2023 is an impossible task and like that director told, I have also become his fan. Outstanding direction and writing.
Climax felt a little dragged but I already loved the movie then Shankar Mahadevan song came and then it was icing on the cake. Goosebumps final song and been on repeat ever since.
It’s a feel good movie and just so well made. Full credit to the director and entire team for making such an entertaining movie.
When I walked out I felt very emotional because it made me believe that Telugu cinema is still alive and capable of making great movies. My big problem is why can;’t we do it week in week out? Why is it only only once in a while and every other week we sit and wonder why every movie is so badly made and where to go from here.
Bro, Baby, and Jawan Thoughts first!
Credits
Banner: Anjana Productions
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Trisha, Prakash Raj, Sunil, Pradeep Rawat, Kushboo, Riaz Khan, Mukesh Rushi, Brahmaji, Harsha, Suman, Brahmanandam, LB Sriram, Ravi Prakash, Ravali, Narsing Yadav, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao and Anushka (item song)
Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: Chota K Naidu
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Art Direction: Anand Sai
Fights: Kanal Kannan
Lyrics: Suddala Ashok Teja, Peddada Murthy, Kandikonda & Ananth Sreeram
Written and directed by: A Muruga Doss
Nirmana Saradhyam: B Madhu
Producer: K Nagababu
Release Date: 20th September 2006
Interesting Facts
- Most interesting fact was original music director was Harris Jayaraj and he started composing but soon after they felt he wouldn’t be able to give music in Telugu nativity and he was replaced with Mani Sharma, the top music director at the time in Telugu cinema. The song Naalone Pongenu Narmada in Surya S/O Krishnan was actually composed for Stalin movie but was not used.
- December 15th, 2006 movie was officially launched in Film Nagar and then January 18th, 2006 shooting officially started
- Annapurna, Ramanaidu, Padamalaya, Saradhi Studios, Military Camp in Delhi, and then two songs Siggutho Chi Chi and Go Goa Goa were filmed in Austria. Anuksha was confirmed as item song and it was big news back then. 2nd star hero movie after Super. And director Gopichand Malineli worked as assistant director for this movie, he’s actually in the movie 31:48 seconds disabled girl montage asking for help he comes
- In climax, Stalin was actually supposed to die but Parachuri brothers made the change in Tagore and he lives and they did the same for Stalin climax. To address the rumors that Murugadoos walked out of the project midway and Vinayak directed the rest, the clarity if Murugadoos wasn’t available for climax fight shoot so VV Vinayak directed that episode. Similarly in Khaidhi no 150, VV Vinayak wasn’t available so Chiranjeevi directed one scene.
- August 22nd, 2006 Lalitha Kala Vedika in Public Gardens, Hyderabad audio was launched. Pawan Kalyan was the chief guest and Chirutha movie and Ram Charan first public appearance was announced.
- Movie released on September 20th, 2006 amidst much fanfare with 550 theaters and 320 prints.
- One of the most hyped movies in Telugu cinema at the time since Chiru had 2 average films (Jai Chiraanjeeva and Andarivaadu) in the last 2 years and just 2 hits (Tagore and Shankar Dada MBBS) in 5 years after Indra in 2002 and they were waiting for another blockbuster since he was number 1 at the time.
- Even in USA, fans did hungama and movie had huge hype some dude Komati Jayaram bought the first ticket for $1116 dollars which is about 50,000 INR conversion.
- Movie released but due to comparison with Tagore and high expectations, it finished as above average at the box office. Some scenes were really good but apparently not a great response to the songs which is shocking, and Trisha role was a big minus.
- Sold for 30 crores and collected 15.5 crores share opening week which was an all time record and then at Prasad’s Multiplex it collected 9 Lakhs gross in one day state record,
- 50 days in 207 centers, 100 days in 34 centers it ran and collected 26 crores share overall becoming above average. First movie to collect more than 3 crores in Karnataka and first movie to collect 1 crores share in Guntur back then
- If the movie got hit talk, then it would have even another industry hit. And also 4 of the top 5 highest grossers at the time release belonged to Chiranjeevi: Indra, Tagore, Shankar Dada MMBS, and Stalin.
Credits
Banner: Anjana Productions
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Meera Jasmine, Natanya Singh (SA), Asish Vidyardhi, Rajan P Dev, Sayaji Shinde, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Ali, Sunil, Venu Madhav, LB Sreeram, Raghu Babu, Tirupati Prakash, Vizag Prasad, Tanikella Bharani, Ponnambalam, Kavitha, Bhuvaneswari & Jyothy
Story - dialogues: Satyanand
Music: Mani Sharma
Lyrics: Seetarama Sastry, Chandrabose & Masterji
Camera: Chota K Naidu
Stunts: Stun Siva, Amin Ghani & Vijay
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Brinda, Harish Pai
Editing: Yusuf Khan
Art: Anand Sai
Presented by: K Venkat Rao
Screenplay - Action Choreography - Songs Visualization: Pawan Kalyan
Script Consultant: Abbas Tyrewala
Direction: Veera Shankar
Executive Producer: Manyam Ramesh
Producer: K Nagababu
Theatrical release date: 10th September 2004
Context: Saw it on VHS and didn’t remember much, remember the songs they were so good especially Chitti Nadumune choosthunna. OVer the years just remember the movie name but the movie itself. This was another movie I watched during the lockdown and it seemed pointless and I could get a sense of Pawan Kalyan’s attempt at the screenplay but it just felt incomplete. That being said, PK has written screenplay for a film 3 times: Johnny, Gudumba and SGS. Among those 3 obviously Gudumba is the best of the lot. Movie was very funny and entertaining on rewatch but had some flaw
Interesting Facts
- Director Veera Shankar had interest to adapt the novel Venal Aadapilla and wrote a treatment for it. He was worked as assistant to Jodi Ramakrishna Garu and KS Rama Rao have him an offer.
- Then KS Rama Rao talked to Srikanth and they made the film Hello I Love you which as based on Vennello Aadapilla. It was a flop at the box office but got Veera Shankar a good name in the industry.
- Then Pawan Kalyan watched the movie and really liked it and gave him an offer to do a movie with him. Veera Shankar narrated a story around Tholi Prema Thammudu time but Pawan requested some changes which Veera Shankar didnt make and he kept quiet and got busy and made Vijayaramaju with Srihari
- He met Pawan Kalyan again after that movie released and Pawan Kalyan didnt even listen to the story said you are doing a movie for Anjana Productions.
- They actual were supposed to work on a film called Tiger Sitaramudu there are even posters of it. 1st half takes place in a forest, 2nd half takes place in foreign. Pawan liked it a lot and an official statement was put in the papers. At the time a movie called Kauravudu was released with Naga Babu and became a disaster adhukovadaniki ee cinema nirthamatha gaa pettadu pawan.
- Then February 2004, filming started for Gudumba Shankar. Annapurna Studios, Padmalaya, Ramanaidu Studios, Ramoji Film City, Vikarabad and other parts of Hyderabad filming happened. Filming happened very smoothly and jovially.
- Audio was released in July or August and became a huge hit. When fans heard the title gudumba Shankar, they expected a mass entertainer with baasha type flashback and huge expectations and expectations were at peak as it was releasing after Johnny and it was thought to be the comeback movie.
- September 10th, 2004 movie released in 400 centers among huge fanfare as with any Pawan Kalyan movie back in the day and fans were disappointed.
- Box office details are made with 6 crores excluding Pawan’s salary, sold for 16 crores pre release business, distributors who lost with Johnny were given Gudumba at low prices in some places to get some profits.
- 1st movie to cross more than 1 crore share on opening day in Nizam, first week share 8 crores share one of the highest opening at that time. 5 weeks later Shankar Dada MMBS released and replaced gudumba Shankar in many screens. It ran for 50 days in 82 centers direct and added and unfortunately didnt complete 100 days in any centers.
- Overall it collected 13.5 crores share and remained average. It was low for a PK movie collections because Kushi had collected around 22 crores around that time.
Credits
Banner: Anjana Productions
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Meera Jasmine, Natanya Singh (SA), Asish Vidyardhi, Rajan P Dev, Sayaji Shinde, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Ali, Sunil, Venu Madhav, LB Sreeram, Raghu Babu, Tirupati Prakash, Vizag Prasad, Tanikella Bharani, Ponnambalam, Kavitha, Bhuvaneswari & Jyothy
Story - dialogues: Satyanand
Music: Mani Sharma
Lyrics: Seetarama Sastry, Chandrabose & Masterji
Camera: Chota K Naidu
Stunts: Stun Siva, Amin Ghani & Vijay
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Brinda, Harish Pai
Editing: Yusuf Khan
Art: Anand Sai
Presented by: K Venkat Rao
Screenplay - Action Choreography - Songs Visualization: Pawan Kalyan
Script Consultant: Abbas Tyrewala
Direction: Veera Shankar
Executive Producer: Manyam Ramesh
Producer: K Nagababu
Theatrical release date: 10th September 2004
Context: Saw it on VHS and didn’t remember much, remember the songs they were so good especially Chitti Nadumune choosthunna. OVer the years just remember the movie name but the movie itself. This was another movie I watched during the lockdown and it seemed pointless and I could get a sense of Pawan Kalyan’s attempt at the screenplay but it just felt incomplete. That being said, PK has written screenplay for a film 3 times: Johnny, Gudumba and SGS. Among those 3 obviously Gudumba is the best of the lot. Movie was very funny and entertaining on rewatch but had some flaw
Interesting Facts
- Director Veera Shankar had interest to adapt the novel Venal Aadapilla and wrote a treatment for it. He was worked as assistant to Jodi Ramakrishna Garu and KS Rama Rao have him an offer.
- Then KS Rama Rao talked to Srikanth and they made the film Hello I Love you which as based on Vennello Aadapilla. It was a flop at the box office but got Veera Shankar a good name in the industry.
- Then Pawan Kalyan watched the movie and really liked it and gave him an offer to do a movie with him. Veera Shankar narrated a story around Tholi Prema Thammudu time but Pawan requested some changes which Veera Shankar didnt make and he kept quiet and got busy and made Vijayaramaju with Srihari
- He met Pawan Kalyan again after that movie released and Pawan Kalyan didnt even listen to the story said you are doing a movie for Anjana Productions.
- They actual were supposed to work on a film called Tiger Sitaramudu there are even posters of it. 1st half takes place in a forest, 2nd half takes place in foreign. Pawan liked it a lot and an official statement was put in the papers. At the time a movie called Kauravudu was released with Naga Babu and became a disaster adhukovadaniki ee cinema nirthamatha gaa pettadu pawan.
- Then February 2004, filming started for Gudumba Shankar. Annapurna Studios, Padmalaya, Ramanaidu Studios, Ramoji Film City, Vikarabad and other parts of Hyderabad filming happened. Filming happened very smoothly and jovially.
- Audio was released in July or August and became a huge hit. When fans heard the title gudumba Shankar, they expected a mass entertainer with baasha type flashback and huge expectations and expectations were at peak as it was releasing after Johnny and it was thought to be the comeback movie.
- September 10th, 2004 movie released in 400 centers among huge fanfare as with any Pawan Kalyan movie back in the day and fans were disappointed.
- Box office details are made with 6 crores excluding Pawan’s salary, sold for 16 crores pre release business, distributors who lost with Johnny were given Gudumba at low prices in some places to get some profits.
- 1st movie to cross more than 1 crore share on opening day in Nizam, first week share 8 crores share one of the highest opening at that time. 5 weeks later Shankar Dada MMBS released and replaced gudumba Shankar in many screens. It ran for 50 days in 82 centers direct and added and unfortunately didnt complete 100 days in any centers.
- Overall it collected 13.5 crores share and remained average. It was low for a PK movie collections because Kushi had collected around 22 crores around that time.
Credits
Banner: Universal Media
Cast: Allu Arjun, Hansika Motwani, Pradeep Rawat, Subbaraju, Ali, Raghubabu, Ajay, Jeeva, GV, Raja Ravindra, Satyam Rajesh, Srinivasa Reddy, Chandramohan, Gowtam Raju, Ahuti Prasad, Telangana Sakuntala, Hema, Rama Prabha, Kovai Sarala, Sony Raj and Rambha (item song)
Music: Chakri
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Pradeep, Nobel, Dinesh, and Ashok Raj
Lyrics: Bhaskarbatla and Kandikonda
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Action: Vijayan
Art: Chinna
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Story – dialogues – screenplay – direction: Puri Jagan
Producer: DVV Danayya
Release Date: 12 January 2007
Context: Watched it on VHS back in the day and liked it. Was really entertaining, Remember watching Nine Nine video promo on Idlebrain.com. Became a fan I guess of Allu Arjun back then due to the acting, body and mainly dance. Ali track was hilarious and album is classic. Decided to watch it by random but I do like the movie. On the rewatch it was average I felt. It’s timepass. But it never bored you and was entertaining which is the main criteria for these movies currently. But very mixed feelings overall. That being said, hero characterization and romantic trick made me very uncomfortable and lot to say about it so let’s proceed.
Interesting Facts:
- Coming off industry hit Pokiri which rewrote records of 75 years of Telugu cinema.
- Sumanth was the first choice for the movie and Puri narrated it to him but he said no as he felt he wouldn’t suit the characterization. He made the right choice as you cannot imagine but Allu Arjun in the role
- After the release of Happy (2006), Allu Arjun was reported to be keen to act in the Telugu remake of Sivakasi (2005) starring Vijay and Asin.[5] He later accepted to act in a film directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by DVV Danayya under the banner Universal Media.[6] The title was confirmed as Desamuduru.[7] Puri Jagannadh worked on the film's script at Bangkok and returned to Hyderabad on 16 June 2006.[8] The film had its official launch at the office of Puri Jagannadh's production company Vaishno Academy on 19 June 2006. Hero Allu Arjun could not make it to the launch as he is in abroad at present.
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For his role, Allu Arjun sported a long hairdo and built six pack abs. He was the first South Indian hero to sport a 6 pack for a role and 3rd actor after Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. Makers decided to cast Hansika Motwani who had a role as Child Artist in Koi Mil Gaya was selected as the female lead which marked her debut in Telugu cinema as an lead actress at a very young age of 16. Rambha was selected for an item number in the film, despite initial reports stated that Charmee Kaur would dance in the song
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Filming began on 14 July 2006 at Hyderabad where the film's first schedule was shot. The next schedule began in Himachal Pradesh.[16] Few action sequences were shot at Manali in early September 2006.[17] Weeks later, few scenes between the lead pair were shot in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. This schedule was planned to be wrapped up on 5 December 2006.[18] However the schedule was completed on 10 October 2006.[19] Some crucial action sequences were shot at Aluminium Factory in Gachibowli in early December 2006.[20]
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December 25th, 2006 audio was launched and became a huge hit, The song Ninne Ninni especially shook all of Andhra and was played for a very long time.
- Amidst huge expectations, the movie released on January 12th 2007 along with Yogi and released with 500 screens in total: 424 in Andhra Pradesh, 32 in Karnataka, 8 in Orissa, 2 in Chennai, 3 in Mumbai and 31 overseas
- Movie became a blockbuster at the box office and collected 22.5 crores share becoming the highest grossing movie in Allu Arjun’s career at the time
- Ran for 50 days in 243 centers, 100 days in 129 centers, and 175 days in 10 centers.
Jailer Thoughts First!
Credits
Banner: Vaishno Academy
Cast: Nagarjuna, Asin, Rakshita, Sangeeta, Prakash Raj, Benarjee, Brahmajee, Ali, MS Narayana, Ganesh, Bosu Babu, Vinod Bala & AVS
Music: Chakri
Dialogues: Kona Venkat
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Lyrics: Bhaskartabhatla Ravi Kumar, kandikonda, Viswa and Chakri
Art: Chinna
Stunts: Vijay
Presenters: Bhagawan & Danayya
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Puri Jagannadh
Release date: 23rd October 2003
Context: Watched it on VHS way back and don’t remember anything except the fact that Asin becomes a mute person. During the lockdown, made a Hariharan playlist and obviously my favorite song is Mona Mona Mona and his and Chakri’s combination was amazing, so many classics. Decided to give a rewatch randomly and not planned to watch all Puri Jagan movies in row but that’s how it happened. It was strictly average. 1st half really good, 2nd half dead sleep but overall timeless. Def doesnt feel like a typical Puri jagan movie this was the starting stage.
Interesting Facts:
For Nagarjuna coming off a sensational year with two classics Santosham and Manmaadhudu after 10 months movie was coming so take one year
For Puri after Idiot and Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammai
Filmed the movie in Cochin actually in the fish markets and harbor for real. Also filmed it lib Bangkok because it’s the same island in the songs Malliswari title song, Adigi Adagaleka from Devasadu and 1 Nenokkadine scene
Story is inspired from the movie Message in a Bottle which is actually a novel.
9848022338 number: A legal suit was filed by an individual who owns the phone number alleging that the makers of the film did not attain his permission to use the phone number in the film. He alleged that he received calls from people in the hopes of speaking to Nagarjuna, and that it had caused him "immense agony"
Audio function of Shivamani 98480 22338 was held at VCC (Viceroy Convention Center) on the evening of 8th October 2003. Its been a lucky place for Puri Jagan as audio functions of his last two films Idiot and ANOTA were celebrated at the same venue.
Nagarjuna is busy with the shooting of Kamashi banner film at Vizag now. Hence he sent His wife Amala and son Akhil to the function. They were accompanied by Chalasani Ramesh, bother-in-law and manager of Nagarjuna. The other guests who graced the occasion include Honerable Minister Ayyanna Patrudu and Mass star NTR. The heroines Asin and Rakshita are also missing as they are busy with their shoots.
Akhil released the audio of Shivamani and gave the first copy to NTR.
October 23rd, 2003 Sivamani movie released to much fanfare and the talk was average to above average. 2nd half was probably a big minus but circumstances and luck was in favor for the film and it became a hit at the box office collecting 12.5 crores share
It ran for 50 days in 106 centers and 100 days in 24 centers and Nagarjuna created another record with this movie.
Sangam Sharat Theater ran for 106 days
He is the first hero and only hero to have 3 consecutive 50 lakh grossers in Vizag and 6/7 films during that time collected more than 50L in Vizag. They are:
Santosham - 54,35,548
Manmadhudu - 61,65,392
Sivamani - 55,32,254
Nenunnanu - 54,19,088
Mass - 50,21,199
Super - 25,91,212
SriRamaDasu - 72,64,808
Bhola Shankar Reaction first 12 mins
Idiot starts at 12:15
Credits
Banner: Vaishno Academy
Cast: Ravi Teja, Rakshita, Kota, Prakash Raj, Sangeetha, Ali, Jeeva, Giri Babu, Jr. Relangi, Bose, Narsing Yadav, Satya Narayana, Srinivasa Reddy
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Lyrics: Kandikonda, Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar & Peddada Murthy
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Art: Chinna
Fights: Ram - Lakshman
Story - Screenplay - Direction - Dialogues - Production: Puri Jagannadh
Release date: 22nd August 2002
Context: Saw it on VHS way back, pretty sure it was my first intro to Raviteja, I didn’t know who this guy was but over the years became a fan because of all the entertaining action comedies he made over the years. Only reason I remember it because of Choopultho Gucci Gucci song and then Rakshita was the heroine and then disappeared. Decided to rewatch for the podcast and the movie was actually really good. Very entertaining and obviously iconic.
Interesting Facts:
- Main is that it is the remake of the Kannada movie Appu which starred Puneeth rajkumar and launched him to stardom and also starred Rakshita as the heroine.
- After Badri, Pawan Kalyan promised to do another film with Puri right after. Puri narrated him 4 stories and Idiot was one of them. Pawan didn’t give the green signal. Narrated it to Mahesh Babu, he said no, Tarun said no, and he was looking for a mass story to give Raviteja a break.
- Then he made Bachi with Jagapathi Babu and had no offers in TFI so he went to Bangalore and got acquainted with raklumar family and directed the Kannada remake of Thammudu with Shivarajkumar titled Yuvaraja. It was successful
- Then he met Puneeth Rajkumar and launched him as hero with the movie Appu it became a super hit. But before it released, they had already started Idiot movie in Telugu. Puri and Raviteja had already worked together on Itlu Sravani Subramaniam,
- Budget was 2 crores when filming started. Political Chintakayala Ayyana Patrudu was a partner in the project and Puri produced the movie on Vishnu Academy banner.
- March 24th, 2002 filming started. Entire talkie portion was filmed in Hyderabad. They filmed two songs in Bangkok and from here started Puri Jagan’s fixation with Bangkok.
- Back in Vijaywada Puri had a friend named Sreenu and he used to talk about himself and boast himself. Puri took him as inspiration for hero character and wrote it and then tagline was Seenu gaadi prima Katha. But since Raviyeja liked the name Chanti as it was his character’s name in Sindhooram, Puri changed it to O chant gaadi prema Katha.
- Released on Chiranjeevi birthday August 22nd, 2002.
- The film opened up to Super-Duper Hit Talk. Ravi Teja's characterization was loved by all. Fans loved how Ravi Teja's character was carefree doing what comes to his mind, without hesitating about someone's opinion... The portrayal of the hero character seemed very new.
- Puri set a new definition for heroism in his own style, saying that the hero should have a strong mentality, behave straight forward, be different in the way of thinking, and not be cynical.
- Ravi Teja's body language was another highlight for the film.
- The budget invested on the film was 2.20 crores and it grossed 16 crores.
- Released with 45 prints, the film reached 100 prints after 4 weeks.
- It played for 100 days at 36 centers.
- The dialogue "‘Commissionerlu osthatu untaru, potu untaru, Chantigadu local, "Ye commissioner kuthurlaki mogudlu rara", and "Roju ee timelo ikkadikochi site kodtanani telusu kada, vachi nilabadalani telida?" are a highlight. The music album of the film is also a big hit.
- Songs like 'Chupulto Guchiguchi Champake' were a big hit at that time. 'Idiot’ set a trend, especially the hero's role.
- Many similar scripts have been made. This is a concept that still does not bore.
- Raviteja age when this movie released was 34. He got his big break that long and waited almost 12 years. His first movie was Karthavyam back in 1990. It launched him to fame
Raja Movie Review
Banner: Super Good Films
Cast: Venkatesh, Soundarya, Sudhakar, Chandramohan, AVS, Brahmanandham, Abbas, Y Vijaya, Sana, Tanikella Bharani
Music: SA Rajkumar
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Art Direction: Chinna
Dialogues: Rajendra Kumar
Story: Vikraman
Remake of: Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen starring Karthik and Roja
Screenplay - Direction: Muppalaneni Shiva
Release Date: March 18th, 1999
Interesting Facts
- When he doing Subhalekalu with Srikanth they were filming a song, director Muppaleneni Shiva got a phone call from Suresh productions. He took Srikanth’s car and got there. Suresh babu said Venkatesh likes this movie Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen and watch it tomorrow and gave him the Tamil script ready to go. Siva had tried to make a movie with Venkaetsh for a long time and even tried making Preminchukundam Raa and had readied the story with Deenaraj but he was busy during that time and it went to Jayanth. He felt really bad about it.
- Suresh Production then arranged the movie for Siva to direct and Venkatesh to star with original movie producer RB Choudary on board. Then he watched the movie and got scared because the entire first half he’s stuck in a room, and then Soundarya carried the 2nd half. But sensibilities are different between Telugu and Tamil audiences.
- Then they started to work on the script and set the music director SA Rajkumar who composed 2 new original songs such as Kavvinchake O Prema and then dialogue writer Ranjednra Kumar, and comedy lunches were written by Satish Vegesna director of Satanaman Bhavati.
- Director Siva said it was a great experience to work with Soundarya and all the actors. They made a set for the kitchen and the apartment set.
- director Siva wanted to shoot the songs nicely so they went to New Zealand and Australia to shoot 4 of the songs.
- The designed a gold frame for Eco Oka Raagam and brought it to New Zealand airport. People were throwing out around as they pleased and the producer said let’s remove it, director said no we have a lot of work with it. Don’t throw it around as you wish, it’s made of light wood. Then they put it in the shot and it’s now iconic on the beach.
- Edo Oka Raagam was filmed in New Zealand and it became a super hit due to the beauty of the New Zealand locations. They filmed part of Kavvinchake O Prema in the christ church in New Zealand.
- Then they went to Brisbane and Sydney and then shape choose mokku there.
- Director Siva said there is a great amount of sentiment in the movie and the situations that happen in the movie are key for the movie and it turned out to be gripping.
- Soundarya was actually filming Narasimha at the same time, Siva shot 40% of the movie without her, then whenever he got her dates, he filmed her scenes. His guru is Kondandi Rama Reddy who taught him how to do make a film without some resources, heroine to be specific. Helped a lot to make this movie.
- Box office wise, it made 14 crores share at the box office and was a blockbuster. was 2nd highest grossing telugu movie of all time after Samarasimha Reddy. Ran for 100 days in 71 centers, and then 175 days in 4 centers.
- Made more money in Nizam than Samarasimha Reddy and then was the highest grossing movie ever in Nizam ever at the time of it’s release.
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Cast: Ravi Teja, Meera Jasmine, Prakash Raj, Pradeep Rawat, Deepak, Padmanabham, Murali Mohan, Brahmaji, Sunil, Jeeva, Vizag Prasad, Raghunadha Reddy, Gundu Hanmantha Rao, Subbaraju, Sriharsha, Raja Ravindra, Vizag Seenu, Ajay, Sudha, Revathy, Jhansi & Telangana Sakuntala
Dialogues: Koratala Siva
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Lyrics: Sirivennela, Kulashekar Bhaskarbatla, and Viswa
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Art: AS Prakash
Stunts: Ram Lakshman & Kanal Kannan
Cinematography: Arthur A Wilson
Visual Effects: Yugandhar - Junaid
Co producers: Sirish - Lakshman
Story - screenplay - direction: Boyapati Seenu
Producer: Dil Raju
Theatrical release date: 12th May 2005
Interesting Facts and Context: Saw it in VHS sometime after the movie released, usually took a while and liked it. Action packed with good emotion. Rewatched it for the podcast and it is a classic. It’s so good. Emotion, action, and suspense are all so good. Main thing is later Boyapati movies have a lot of cringe, since this is the first movie, there is none. It’s amazing direction and story telling. Songs are also amazing. Loved the movie.
Interesting Facts:
I belong to Peda Kakani which is in the outskirts of Guntur. I did my graduation in JKC College in Guntur and post-graduation in Nagarjuna University. We have a photo studio and it was our business. I was interested in photography. I have also worked as a part-time reporter for Eenadu newspaper. I was planning to start a small scale industry in Guntur’s Auto Nagar. That is when my cousin Posani Krishna Murali suggested me to join films. I came to Hyderabad with him and he made me join in the direction department of Muthyala Subbaiah in 1997. I worked with him for films like Oka Chinna Maata, Gokulamlo Seetha, Pelli Chesukundam, Pavitra Prema, Annayya and Manasunna Maaraju.
Then I have prepared the story of Bhadra. After the release of Gangotri, I approached Allu Arvind to narrate Bhadra story by keeping Bunny as hero. I know Allu Arvind well because I have worked for Annayya. He liked the story, but told me that Bunny was doing Arya film. He made Bunny to listen to the story. Bunny liked it and he directly took me to Dil Raju. He made me narrate Bhadra story to Dil Raju and made Dil Raju give advance to me right away. We had initially considered Prabhas as hero. But Prabhas’s dates were locked for Chakram film for 8 months.
Then he narrated it to Raviteja and he accepted. Actually Raviteja had just signed Khatarnak in Amma Rajashekar direction but chose to work on Bhadra instead.
First choice for role of Raja was actor Raja himself, but they selected Deepak instead. November 14th, 2004 muhurtham at Annapurna Studios. Ramanaidu Garu and VV Vinayak Garu were the chief guests
Filming was done in Annapurna, Padmalaya, Ramanaidu, and RFC majority of the filming happened. 5 month and 80 working days
Budget was 5.5 crores. May 2nd audio launch Prabhas and Allu Arjun were the chief guests.
May 12th, 2005 it released with 100 prints.
First day it had superhit talk and people loved all the commercial elements the faction backdrop and the emotional love story.
Dil Raju 3rd consecutive blockbuster, Raviteja DSP combo Patrick after Venky and Khadgam,
Ran for 50 days in 2 centers in Guntur, collected more than Simhadri, Tagore, and Mass in final run apparently
Ran for 50 days in 90 centers and 100 days in 42 centers and collected 23 crores at the box office and became a blockbuster.
Mem Famous, Samajavaragamana and Project K Thoughts first!
Credits
Banner: Suresh Productions
Cast: Venkatesh, Anjala Zhaveri, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Srihari, Chandramohan, Ahuthi Prasad, Parachuri Venkateswara Rao, Gokina Rama Rao, Raghunatha Reddy, Kolla Ashok Kumar, Banerjee, Jeeva, Babu Mohan, Venu Madhav, Brahmannandham, Gundu Hanumantha Rao, Uttej, Annapurna, Sudda, Ramaprabha, Rajitha,
Music: Mahesh Mahadevan & Mani Sharma
Dialogues - Screenplay: Parachute Dialogues
Story: Deenraj
Editing: KA Marthand & Marthand K Venkatesh
Art Direction: A. Chanti
Fights: Kanal Kannan
Direction: Jayanth C Paranji
Producer: Suresh Babu
Release Date: May 9th, 1997
Interesting Facts
- Jayant worked as assistant director for Suresh Productions for 3 movies. He was also looking to become a full time director. And he was doing documentaries and ad films in the mean time. He was working on a mass movie called Adavi Manishi starring Venkatesh in the lead role and Parachute Bros were working on the story but it wasnt working out
- Then Deenraj came with this story titled Premichukundam Raa and actually Jayant was not the first director for the movie. That director didn’t like it so he left. Then they took the story to Jayanth. The original story was actually Venkatesh helping Chandramohan and Sudha’s kid they were actually older, intermediate student and he was the one who falls in love with Angela Zhaveri and then Venkatesh helping their love succeed. Jayanth said no why don’t we give Venkatesh himself the love story. Parachuri Brothers, Suresh Babu, Venkatesh, team, 3-4 months rewrite with Rayalaseema backdrop and movie got set.
- Original setting the faction backdrop was in lighter vein in Deenraj’s original story
- Jayanth took care of Venky’s styling in the movie with checkered shirts and everything.
- Jayanth saw Angela’s photo in Filmfare magazine and then did a 3 day screen test in Hyderabad and it was a unanimous decision that she was the right choice. 99% of the movie she wears a white dress to show the purity in the character.
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Mahesh Madhavan was the original music composer and Mani Sharma worked for him as a keyboard player. Unfortunately Mahesh Mahadevan got cancer during the shoot and was in the hospital and since Jayanth already had good rapport with Mani, he asked to finish the rest of the album. First song he composed for the movie was Meghale Thakindi. Out of respect for Mahesh, Mani Sharma asked that his name not be in the credits.
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They started filming and the first scene they shot was the love letter little hearts biscuit scene. It ended at 4:30 PM in the afternoon and everyone was shocked
- They filmed in Kurnool and Kadiri and it was a huge challenge due to the climate extremely hot sun, equipment handling, and crowd control. It was a tough thing to manage but they accomplished it.
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They filmed the songs in Switzerland and Amsterdam, ooty and Kashmir.
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Movie release day they watched it in a mass movie theater and there was no response for the interval. 2nd half had a great response and climax got claps.
- Movie was declared a hit and Jayanth got tears and called his wife. Nobody in the industry believed in him but he delivered a classic with his first movie
- Breakthrough for Anjala Zhaveri, Jayaprakash Reddy, Srihari, and Mani Sharma. Venkatesh career took a turning point and started the path towards becoming the ultimate family hero of Telugu cinema
- Box office it collected 12 crores share overall, blockbuster at the box office. In Vizag, ran for full shows for 120+ days, RTC X Roads 70 lakhs gross, created an all time record at the time for running for 50 days in more than 100 centers, first movie to run in 6 centers for more than 100 days in Andhra Pradesh.
Banner: Sri Kamakshi Enterprises
Cast: Nagarjuna, Anushka, Priyamani, Charmme, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Pradeep rawat, Dev Gill, Brahmanandam, Dharmavarapu, Supreet, Tanikella Bharani, Raghubabu, Sri Lalitha, Sana, V Nirmala
Music: Thaman
Cinematography: Sarvesh Murari
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Fights: Vijay
Art: Prakash
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Veeru Potla
Producer: D Siva Prasad Reddy
Release date: 24 December 2010
Interesting Facts and Context: trailer has no dialogues, its just music. Watched it in theaters on Christmas 2010 and it was houseful. Great experience. Back then it’s all about fights and this movie has 8 fights all of them are superb and it was very entertaining. Also listened to the album a lot and love it. Its a classic in my opinion, love all the songs except Ey Pillo Apple Oh. Rewatched it in 2020 and didnt give the same feeling. Felt just average and then rewatched it for the podcast again and gave same feeling but you’re never bored at any point which was great.
- Nagajruna did Kedi which released Feb 12th and then Bindaas released a week before and destroyed it at the box office. Kedi producer D Siva Prasad Reddy as well Kamakshi banner and then Nagarjuna saw Bindaas and liked Veeru Potla’s style and taking so he called him and said I want to do a movie with you and prepare a story for me.
- Love stories, families, friendship, devotional genres Nag had done in the recent times and Veeru Potla said I won’t write something like that it will be different. He wrote a revenge drama with Rayalaseema backdrop with two heroines with 2010 nativity. He readied the script in a month and narrated it to Nag. He instantly okayed it. Movie title Ragada
- Anushkha and Priayamani were selected as the heroines and then Thaman who was just new in the industry was selected as the music director.
- Filming was completed in just 4 months and then they also filmed in Jordan at Petra which is one of the famous wonders of the world.
- November 29th, 2010 they launched the audio at Shilpa Kala Veda and audio became a super hit such that they did a triple platinum disc launch a day before the release on December 23rd, 2010
- Movie released on December 24th amidst much fanfare and the response was average from the audience. Despite all the commercial elements being there, it never really amounted to anything great was their feeling apparently and after watching the movie it makes sense.
- That being said it collected 19 crores share at the box office and completed 50 days in 89 centers and ten 100 days in 1 center in Vijaywada Venkateswara Palace theater
- If you observe, it’s the last all around commercial movie from Nagarjuna in his career. Manam was class, Soggade Chinni Nayana was more supernatural family drama, Oopiri was full class, and since then all duds. hopefully he can make something like this again.
Credits
Banner: United Pictures
Cast: Bala Krishna, Nayana Tara, Sneha Ullal, Namitha, KR Vijaya, Saikumar (Malayalam), Hemanth, Shravan, GV, Kinnera, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Rehman, Ali, Krishna Bhagawan, Venu Madhav, LB Sriram
Music: Chakri
Background music: Chinna
Cinematography: Arthur Wilson
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Fights: Ram - Laxman
Art: AS Prakash
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Boyapati Seenu
Producer: Paruchuri Kiriti
Release date: 30 April 2010
Interesting Facts and Context: Watched it on Youtube back in 2011 and liked it for the fights but it was a blur. Balayya’s first hit in 9 years and Boyapati hat trick. Highest grossing movie of 2010 and comeback for Balayya. Rewatched it and its not good. Very boring movie with over action and no logic.
After two years, I got a call from Bala Krishna and I was in Vijayawada. I met him after 2 days and asked him to give me some time to prepare story. I took 15 days to come up with the story line. We had taken uttermost care about the elder get-up. I didn’t want any make up for that get-up except for a bit on Vaseline on lips. We shot the younger Bala Krishna role related scenes first. Then shot the elder character. Later on we shot songs so that Bala Krishna gets a glowing look on his face after removal of elder-getup beard. Simha was made with a budget of 18 crores and you all know how big that hit was.
Collected 32 crores share and was a blockbuster at the box office, Balayya became the only the 3rd hero to cross 30 crore share at the box office after Mahesh Babu in Pokiri and Ram Charan in Magadheera and was also the first hero of 4 Pillars to cross 30 crores share collections.
4th highest grossing movie of all time after release. Magadheera, Pokiri, Arundhati and Simha.
50 days direct in 217 centers, 338 centers for 2nd shows and added screen all time record, 100 days in 92 centers, 175 days in 3 centers.
Writing/Direction: Classic example of a movie that you can only watch once. One more thing is the standard of regular telugu movie fans and Balayya fans seem to completely different they clearly seem to lap up anything Balayya does because even Veera Simha Reddy was a hit due to the Sankranthi with that bad of a story and screenplay. Now people will say im a hater and say I dont understand commercial movies. You’re missing the point. The point is that movie could have been amazing. Instead its so badly written and cringeworthy.
Simha the writing is decent untul the pre interval. Aditya Menon blows up a gas station and Balayya casually takes a car and rescuers Sneha Ullal and then comes back home and another fight. Interval. I always found the movie funny that he’s a doctor but kills people in his free time.
Highlight is Balayya hits Saikumar in the head and then he comes out of a coma after 28 years. Such ridiculous logic.
The movie was entertaining until it just became very boring. The following points make no sense
- Balayya is supposedly a lecturer in the college but acts more like a security guard as he’s everywhere. He’s never seen attending class or teaching anybody. So what exactly does he do in the college lmao
- Balayya is a doctor in the village but he kills people in his spare time and runs a hospital lmao
- So his brother in law’s daughter is the girl he likes which would make that his maradalu and he wasn’t a baby, he was a little kid when they died and somehow he doesnt remember anything. So you’re telling me after he died, they never kept in touch with that side of the family and he just never knew?
Then the comedy is so cringeworthy, the dialogues dont hit the same, over the top sentiment, routine villainy, and back to back so many fights.
Clearly inspired from Magadheera flashback last fight and then climax fight of same location years apart, using same weapon to kill the hero. Flashback last fight he probably kills 200 people lmao and then dies.
Flashback lasts 1 hour 3 mins.
Banner: Lakshmi Narasimha Productions
Cast: Allu Arjun, Shaam, Shruti Haasan, Saloni, Prakash Raj, Ravi Kishan, Posani Krishna Murali, Brahmanandam, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Mukesh Rushi, Sayaji Shinde, Ali, Jayaprakash Reddy, MS Narayana, Raghubabu, Tanikella Bharani, Srinivasa Reddy, Raghu Karumanchi, Duvvasi Mohan, Pavithra Lokesh, Pragathi etc
Story: Vakkantham Vamsi
Music: S.S. Thaman
Lyrics: Chandrabose, Varikuppala Yadagiri, Rehaman, Vishwa
Dialogues: Deepak Raj - Vikram Siri
Editor: Gowtam Raju
Cinematography: Manoj Paramahamsa
Action: Ram-Lakshman
Art: Narayana Reddy
Screenplay - Director: Surender Reddy
Producers: Nallamalupu Srinivas (Bujji) & Dr. Venkateswara Rao
Release date: 11 April, 2014
Writing/Direction: Look at this movie 3 ways
- this movie would be over in real life in about 1 day. The line of the movie is a common man locks head with a politician and makes his life go upside down. In real life, the politician would ruin your life in a day
- The most nonsensical film ever which is what I felt when I watched it
- The last all around commercial entertainer of present Telugu cinema with a well written story and commercial elements aplenty in the right doses. Number 3 is the correct way to watch it I feel.
Story has 2 main points: relationship between Lucky and Ram and then bringing Shiva Reddy down.
To set this up, the writing points are Ram’s friend is the officer who dies and to fullfill his friends dream, he takes it upon himself to bring him down. So the overarching main story here is his friends dream and clearing his name.
Generally in writing you have something where it says your opening image should be your closing image. Best example is Aravinda Sametha. The movie starts and ends at the temple and dried up tree. It’s a general rule but you dont’ have to to follow it.
So there Rajiv Kanakala shoots his friend and then kills Ravi Kishan so it starts and ends with his character which is interesting.
Then you would think why did they have MS Narayana character: his son gets hurt and then Posani vehicle they take to the hospital and this is a set up for the make a wish foundation because that’s when Lucky meets him and gets him promoted.
In the process, Lucky finds out that Shiva Reddy tried to kill his brother and then locks horns with him putting him in direct contact and then he Shiva Reddy promises he will destroy his life in a day which he does. Then Lucky does the same by faking cancer and using make a wish to destroy his operations and Trump card here is Kill Bill Pandey who provides unlimited entertainemnt. Actually more than anything in the movie you are waiting for Brahmanandams entrance and when it comes it gave goosebumps lmao. Non stop entertainment but I do find it to a bit overrated. Its good but people hyped it like it’s the best character ever.
Everything in between: romantic track, Ali scenes, Saloni track, Prakash Raj, is done in the name of entertainment and it works big time. Makes rishi character is also there for action purpose and mass warning scene is goosebumps.
Everything is very well written and connected. Even though its a commercial movie, the writing is excellent and thats why it became a blockbuster at the box office.
Direction by Surender Reddy is fantastic. You never feel bored at any point and the elevation scenes, comedy scenes, everything worked out perfectly. After Kick, this is easily his best movie.
Here is our take on Panjaa movie if we had written the script! Enjoy!
Credits
Banner: Sanghamitra Arts & Arka Mediaworks
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Anjali Lavania, Sara Jane Dias, Jackie Shroff, Atul Kulkarni, Sesh Adivi, Subbaraju, Tanikella Bharani, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Ali, Brahmanandam, Jhansi etc
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography: PS Vinod
Lyrics: Ramajagoyya Sastry (Panjaa title song, Veyyi Raa Cheyyi Vey Raa, Paparayudu_, Chandrabose
Art Direction: Rajeevan
Dialogues: Abburi Ravi
Action: Shyam Kaushal
Editing: Srikar Prasad
Styling: Anu Vardhan
Story - screenplay - direction: Vishnu Vardhan (Telugu debut)
Producers: Neelima Tirumalasetti, Nagesh Muntha, Shobhu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni
Opening sequence: Open the movie in Kolkata, father dying. Who and why they killed him, show that he was involved in violence and it sort of runs in the family and it took their lives.
They come to Kolkata and you can keep the same sequence but it’s very uncomfortable to watch on screen. Mother and sister die and Jai is heartbroken.
Then show Jai as someone wandering, completely lost, sits in rain, has no food. In a nearby area, a man named Bhagwan stays and having recently lost his wife, sees Jai on the street. He was once an empathetic man who cared for others before he got his power.
Then he asks Jai what happened and Jai says these men raped and killed my mom. Bhagawan finds them and gives the gun to Jai and he kills them.
Bhagawan asks Jai if his heart is satisfied. He says he doesn’t know. But much like Athadu, he doesn’t know anything else. And becomes a killer to ease the pain of his traumatic childhood. In Bhagwan’s house, he raises some plants and they calm his mind. By doing this we can empathize with his character and root for him.
In Bhagawan’s house, he meets Munna who has always had psychological issues from the beginning but he and Jai get along somewhat. Bhagwan slowly rises to power by performing other jobs and becomes a huge kingpin in that Kolkata.
Open on present day. Kolkata gang wars are established and like opening of Pokiri, somebody is doing investigation into gang wars there and find out that it’s a war between Bhagawan and Kulkarni. Kulkarni has been a huge rival to Bhagwan over the last 25 years and is determined to kill him. Yelagaina aa Bhagwan gaadini champali. He launches an ambush on Bhagawan. Goons rush the house and see that it’s empty. Two goonns standing outside are there and the car explodes! PK intro just like the original movie.
Back to back fights and then Jai comes home and he is exhausted. The psychological effects of being a killer and these gang wars have taken a toll on him. Since he was young, he used to raise plants to get away from the stress so he hangs out in the greenhouse and meets the girl. Because they have the same interest and they keep hanging out and they fall in love.
Delve more into Jai and Bhagawan’s relationship and how their dynamic works. As well as Jai and Munna. Munna is known to be psychotic and he is jealous to Jai because showed him same love and affection that he showed to him. Jai takes a special attraction towards Anjali because what he saw when he was young had a special bond with his mother and sister.
Bhagwan felt that his son and adopted son were always equal and didn’t listen to Jai’s warnings about Munna because he is his son.
Feeling betrayed, Bhagwan decides to kill Jai and like a cat and mouse game from Awara movie. One fight after the other with road trip type of screenplay with heroism. Eliminate all the comedy part with Brahmi and just stick to racy screenplay with action.
Last he eliminates everyone and kills Bhagwan in a big hand to hand fight, master vs henchman and kills him with a knife piercing his neck, symbolizing that a claw has pierced the tigers neck and killed him, giving justification to the title Panjaa.
The end.
Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/mQjZn8TD8wU Andariki Namaskaram! Hard to believe but within just 13 months we have completed 100 episodes!
Thank you so much for all the support over the past year and today we have the ULTIMATE episode for you!
Vihari, Sai and Pranav (in his 6th appearance) join us to ROAST our favorite Telugu movie of all time Brahmotsavam starring Mahesh Babu!
Due to Vihari's frustration, some curse words were used so please use headphones. Enjoy!
Agenda 1) Context and pre release hype 2) First viewing experience and talk 3) What we liked 4) What we disliked (majority will be this) 5) Aftermath
Why I started it: For entertainment, connectivity, and so I can connect with audience in future
I enjoy it: it’s fun to dissect these old movies and talk about them and present it to the audience in my perspective, hopefully it gives the listeners a new perspective.
Lastly: hopefully I can continue entertaining folks with interesting topics and everything.
Why I'm not supporting Adipurush thoughts: 0:00 - 13:00
2023 Tollywood Half Year Review
Hero of the year: N/A
Best Film - Balagam
Best Actor - Nani for Dasara
Best Actress: Samyuktha Menon for Virupaksha
Best Supporting Actor: Deekshith Shetty for Dasara
Best Supporting Actress: Rhino for Writer Padmabushan
Best Music Director: Ajay - Atal for Adipurush
Best Director: venu Yedlandi for Balagam
Album of the year: N/A
Best Singer: N/A - Karthik for Adiupurush
Best Female Singer - N/A
Worst Movie - Veera Simha Reddy
Worst Director - Gopichand Malineli for Veera Simha Reddy
Movies I didn't watch this year: Kalyanam Kamaneeyam, Hunt, Michael, Butta Bomma, Amigos, Organic Mama Hybrid Alludu, CSI Sanatan, Phalana Abbayi Phalana Ammayi, Das Ka Dhamki, Ravansura, Meter, Shaakuntalam, 10 ruppes, Hello Meera, Two Souls, Agent, Raa Raa Penimiti, Vidyarthi, Ramabanam, Ugram, Arangetram, Bhuvana Vijayam, Katha Venuka Katha, Anni Manchi Sakunamule, Samajavaragamana, Malli Pelli, Ahimsa, Chakravuyham, Nenu Student Sir, Pareshan, Unstoppable, Takkar, Vinamanam, Adipurush,
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Art Films
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Preeti Jhangiani, Aditi Gowitrikar, Bhupinder Singh, Achyuth, Brahmanandham, Ali, Chandra Mohan, Mallikarjuna Rao, Tanikella Bharani, Venu Madhav, Surya, Kitty
Music: Ramana Gogula
Cinematography: Madhu Ambat
Dialogues: Chintapalli Ramana
Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh
Choreography: Harish Pai
Art Direction: Anand Sai
Art Department Assistant: Chinna
Thrills: A. Vijay
Producer: Burugapalli Sivaramakrishna
Story, Screenplay, Direction: P.A. Arun Prasad
Context: My all time favorite movie of Pawn Kalyan and Ramana Gogula mass. This was one of the most influential movies of my childhood because I was in India at the time and remember the craze and pop culture and styling impact the movie had. Must have listened to Vayyari Bhamma song a million times that was my favorite. It was a sensation and shook all of Andhra. This was the first time I got to know of Pawan Kalyan’s craze. Even now it feels so fresh because of the songs, writing, emotion, and Pawan Kalyan livewire performance. Classic movie.
Credits
Banner: Sri Saideva Productions
Cast: Venkatesh, Trisha, Sreeram, Kota, K Viswanath, Colors Swathy, Sunil, Jeeva, Prasad Babu, Suman Setty, Anant, GV, Melkote, Rajeswari, Vinaya Prasad, Mumaith Khan & Meghanaa Naidu.
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Editing: Anthony, Kola Bhaskar
Art Direction: Narayana Reddy
Dialogues: Ramesh Gopi
Cinematography: Balamurugan
Story - screenplay - Direction: (Sri Raghava) Selva Raghavan
Producer: NV Prasad & Sanam Naga Ashok Kumar
Release Date: 27 April 2007
Context and Interesting Facts: Saw it on DVD way back nd liked it, songs are now classic and them rewatched for the podcast. It was a feel good movie with amazing performances, classic music, and Venkatesh incredible performance along with superb emotions and relatable content. a terrible ending in my opinion. Why? Well that’s why ya’ll are listening to this podcast right lmao. SO I will explain
Interesting Facts:
- He wrote a story and the longline was about a guy who’s jobless for 10 years, relies on his dad, (aadaru padi oka vyetkhi) for everything, then he meets a girl and it changes his life and changes him was the concept. It’s based on a true story from Selvaraghavan;’s friends life.
- Naga Venkata Ashoka Kumar and NV Prasad wanted to make a movie with Selvaraghavan in their banner and already produced Vasantham. He said im busy we will make this movie later
- Then he came to Hyderabad to narrate the story to Venkatesh but he was already so busy and committed to movies with Gautham Menon and Raghavendra Rao and said we will do this movie later for sure after they are
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Then Selvaraghavan got busy with 7G Brindavan Colony but Venkatesh came as chief guest for that movie opening and almost after 2 years, Venkatesh called Selvaraghavn and after Lakshmi movie, he had not signed any movie
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Feb 3rd, 2006 muhurtham of this movie in Rama Naidu studious and Chiranjeevi was the chief guest, filming was supposed to end of that month. But then Sonia Agarwal marriage happened and she said she doesnt want to do movies anymore. Then a new hunt for the heroine began, tried a lot of people and then selected Jyothika, July 20th, 2006 regular shooting began and they thought of releasing the movie for Sankranthi 2007.
- But at that same time, Jyothika’s marriage to Suriya was fixed and set so she returned the advance she got from the producers and dropped out of the film. Another 1 month gap in filming. Then Trisha was selected as the heroine and then Venky signed Tulasi with Boyaoati. Originally Trisha sister character was supposed to be done by a new girl but then she was replaced by Colors program fame Swathi. She was in her degree final year.
- From September 2006, filming finally began with no problems. Rama Naidu studios, Ramoji Film City, a little in New Zealand, Nanakramguda big house set they constructed but I think it’s the same one from Athadu but could be wrong. Village scenes were done in Rajahmundry and then office scenes were shot in a company building in Bangalore,
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When filming Tulasi interval fight, Venkatesh got a shoulder injury so filming was stopped for another 1 month. Only after he recovered they resumed filming, and filmed wrapped in end of March 2006. March 28th, 2006 audio was launched and it became a super hit. April 27th, 2007 the movie was released in 267 centers being a class movie.
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Box office run 200 days in 50 centers, 100 days in 21 centers, ran for 100 days in 2 theaters in Vijaywada, Apsara theater collections 56 lakhs gross for a class movie was huge. Vijaywada city gross was 1 crores 20 lakhs, and was the highest grossing Telugu movie in Vijaywada for the year 2007
- Vizaj Jyothi theater 50 lakhs gross, Gajuvaka 33 lakhs gross, Guntur Saraswathi 47 lakhs, Rajahmundry Shyamala theater 40 lakhs,
- Final collections was 20 crores share and was in the top 6 highest grossing movies of the year. Another super hit in Venkatesh’s career.
Credits
Banner: Geetha Arts
Cast: Allu Arjun, Rakul Preet Singh, Aadi Pinishetty, Srikanth, Catherine Tresa, Brahmanandam, Anjali, Jayaprakash Reddy and others.
Dialogues: M Rathnam
Music: S S Thaman
Cinematography: Rishi Punjabi
Production Design: Rajeevan, Sahi Suresh
Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Stunts: Ram Lakshman, Ravi Varma
Producers: Allu Aravind
Story, Screenplay and Direction by: Boyapati Sreenu
Release Date: 22 April 2016
Interesting Facts and Context:
Watched it in theaters and liked it. It was a mass entertainer that was action packed. Remember it got bad reviews bt had a feeing that it would be a hit at the box office.
After Son of Satyamurhty, Allu Arjun and Geetha arts announced a movie with Boyapati and fresh off the success, mass commercial movie lovers got very excited at this prospect. From Allu Arjun’s perspective it was a brilliant movie because after July, he started slowly gaining respect as an actor and entertainer through every film. Now he needed that mass push to get solid mass following across Telugu states and what better move then with Boyapati.
Aadhi Pinisetty was announced as the villain and got very excited for those that don’t now aadi himself is a telugu guy being the son of Ravi Raja Pinisetty and then first combo of Thaman and Boyapati and reunited with Allu Arjun after Race Gurram.
Feb 18th 2016 teaser was launched and April 10th 2016 trailer was launched and Im pretty sureit was the first telugu movie to have a pre release event. Done inVizag. Also released blockbuster song and it went viral.
It’s the first telugu movie to be shot in Bolivia, Salar De Uyini salt flat, took them 50 hours and 4 flights to get there, low oxygen so can’t really talk and salt is so sharp that if it gets stuck on your hand, it will cut it and have to go slowly when driving 10 KM but takes 3 hours because salt will slash the tire, and can’t walk barefoot. It’s also extremely hot or extremely cold.
Box office, 2nd highest grosser of 2016 after Janatha Garage, sold for 53 crores and made 71-73 crores share and was a super hit. At the time highest grosser in Allu Arjun career until AVPL.
Writing and Direction: villain is all about brand and background, while hero hates hearing about background. Both of them say this in their intro scenes. Boyapati speciality in his movies is that villain is always very powerful and gives tough competition to a hero.
And it’s typical Boyapati movie in the sense that there’s a hero who meets a heroine who’s in a problem and saves her from the villains. Difference here is that it’s two people. MLA Catherine gets involved on the rape case and then Janu from Vairam Dhanush.
In the middle there’s cringe comedy, villain doing bad things, and romantic tracks but beauty of Boyapati movies are that despite how ridiculous it might seem or over the top they might be, they work and they are entertaining. At the end of the day isn’t all what we all want? And this movie did that perfectly putting all things aside and that’s why it was a super hit.
Technical Aspects
Music and BGM by Thaman is outstanding. One of the lifelines of the movie and a staple of every Allu Arjun movie. My favorite song is probably blockbuster. Such a catchy song with all the drums and instrumentation.
Rishi Punjabi cinematography is excellent. Movie is a vials delight each and every frame look colorful and color palette, framing, and shots are all superb. Especially opening shot of the sun setting on the water, aadi in the sauna, and then Allu Arjun eyes with Aadhi in DGP party. SO good.
Art Direction by Rajeevan and Sahi Suresh is fantastic. Sets and everything look grand and decoration is flawless.
Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is perfect.
Dialogues by M Rathnam are good especially for brand scene.
Fights by Ram Lakshman are good. Action sequences are in typical Boyapati style and keep the narrative pacy and fun.
Costume Design is perfect
Guntur Kaaram thoughts first!
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Cast: Prabhas, Ileana, Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Rahul Dev, Tanikella Bharani, Venu Madhav, Venu, Posani Krishna Murali, Kalyani, Sukanya, Raghubabu, Chalapati Rao, Brahmaji, Sridhar & Shriya (item song)
Dialogues: Koratala Siva & BVS Ravi
Action: Peter Heins
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography: Ram Prasad
Art: Anand Sai
Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh
Story - screenplay - direction: Vamsi Paidipally
Co-producers: Shireesh & Laxman
Producer: Dil Raju
Release Date: 27 April 2007
Context and First Impressions: Saw it in theaters in 2007 in North Bergen NJ. My dad and I were the only people in the theater that day, got some samosas and then 5 more people came later on. Came with a lot of hype and didn’t listen to the songs and only after watching the movie loved them and got to know it;s Harris Jayaraj. Didn’t understand Ileana hype back then but then rewatched the movie when I was older and its so obvious lmoa. Remember it being action packed but disappointing in the end. Flashback was disturbing and actually the downfall of the movie. Rewatched it in 2020 and same feeling. First half thop, 2nd half pace completely dips and becomes a drag.
Interesting Facts:
- March 25th, 2006 movie was launched - NTR, Venkatesh, and VV Vinayak were the chief guests.
- Original cinematographer was Shyam K Naidu but he was replaced by C Ram Prasad later on who
- Dil Raju revealed that both Bommarillu and Munna were shot at the same time. Meaning both films were under production at the same time. Bommarillu started filming in January 2006 and then Munna in April 2006. Originally they thought of Dussera 2006 release for Munna but Bommarillu released first and became a huge blockbuster and classic movie for the banner
- Prabhas okayed the story in a single sitting and already expectations were sky high because Dil Raju delivered 3 back to back blockbusters in Arya, Bhadra, and Bommarilu
- Kadhulu Kadhulu song was talk of industry because they filmed it for 9 nights
- Vamshi Paidipally was apparently really aggressive during the making of Munna and Dil Raju felt the story was weak from pre climax to climax and had a meeting with Koratala Siva and BVS Ravi who were the co writers for the movie. Vamshi Paidpallu was adamant that it will work and Dil Raju said ok lets trust him and go for it
- We wanted to come out of love and family stories and do a proper commercial film. Sirish and Lakshman (my executive producers) did not like the story. But the success of Bhadra film gave me confidence to go ahead. We worked out the negatives of Bhadra while shooting and came up with a decent film. Likewise I though that I could workout during the shooting stage of Munna. The film started with a negative talk and it got decent money because of summer release. I am not satisfied with Munna as a maker.
- Dil Raju put a special preview show for his friends and team and there was a lot of mixed talk for 2nd half. Watched the movie FDFS and understood it;s a not a hit. Went to Prabhas and said this and he was shocked. But he was right. Despite this, the movie ran for 100 days in 9 centers and ended up as average at the box office which is the right result.
Guntur Kaaram thoughts first!
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Cast: Prabhas, Ileana, Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Rahul Dev, Tanikella Bharani, Venu Madhav, Venu, Posani Krishna Murali, Kalyani, Sukanya, Raghubabu, Chalapati Rao, Brahmaji, Sridhar & Shriya (item song)
Dialogues: Koratala Siva & BVS Ravi
Action: Peter Heins
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography: Ram Prasad
Art: Anand Sai
Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh
Story - screenplay - direction: Vamsi Paidipally
Co-producers: Shireesh & Laxman
Producer: Dil Raju
Release Date: 27 April 2007
Context and First Impressions: Saw it in theaters in 2007 in North Bergen NJ. My dad and I were the only people in the theater that day, got some samosas and then 5 more people came later on. Came with a lot of hype and didn’t listen to the songs and only after watching the movie loved them and got to know it;s Harris Jayaraj. Didn’t understand Ileana hype back then but then rewatched the movie when I was older and its so obvious lmoa. Remember it being action packed but disappointing in the end. Flashback was disturbing and actually the downfall of the movie. Rewatched it in 2020 and same feeling. First half thop, 2nd half pace completely dips and becomes a drag.
Interesting Facts:
- March 25th, 2006 movie was launched - NTR, Venkatesh, and VV Vinayak were the chief guests.
- Original cinematographer was Shyam K Naidu but he was replaced by C Ram Prasad later on who
- Dil Raju revealed that both Bommarillu and Munna were shot at the same time. Meaning both films were under production at the same time. Bommarillu started filming in January 2006 and then Munna in April 2006. Originally they thought of Dussera 2006 release for Munna but Bommarillu released first and became a huge blockbuster and classic movie for the banner
- Prabhas okayed the story in a single sitting and already expectations were sky high because Dil Raju delivered 3 back to back blockbusters in Arya, Bhadra, and Bommarilu
- Kadhulu Kadhulu song was talk of industry because they filmed it for 9 nights
- Vamshi Paidipally was apparently really aggressive during the making of Munna and Dil Raju felt the story was weak from pre climax to climax and had a meeting with Koratala Siva and BVS Ravi who were the co writers for the movie. Vamshi Paidpallu was adamant that it will work and Dil Raju said ok lets trust him and go for it
- We wanted to come out of love and family stories and do a proper commercial film. Sirish and Lakshman (my executive producers) did not like the story. But the success of Bhadra film gave me confidence to go ahead. We worked out the negatives of Bhadra while shooting and came up with a decent film. Likewise I though that I could workout during the shooting stage of Munna. The film started with a negative talk and it got decent money because of summer release. I am not satisfied with Munna as a maker.
- Dil Raju put a special preview show for his friends and team and there was a lot of mixed talk for 2nd half. Watched the movie FDFS and understood it;s a not a hit. Went to Prabhas and said this and he was shocked. But he was right. Despite this, the movie ran for 100 days in 9 centers and ended up as average at the box office which is the right result.
Youtube Link:
Credits
Banner: Sri Krishna Productions Pvt Limited
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Shriya, Keerthi Reddy, Prakash Raj, Raja, Smt. Sarita, Murali Mohan, Kalabhavan Mani, Rajan P Dev, Nassar, Kalabhavan Mani, Veerendra Chouhan, Smt. Kamala Krishna Murthy, Jyothy, Ganesh,
Music: Mani Sharma
Dialogues: Paruchuri brothers
Director of photography: Sekhar V Joseph
Editing: Sreekar Prasad
Lyrics: Veturi
Art: 'Padmasri' Thota Tharani
Stunts: Vijayan
Choreography: Raju Sundaram & Lawrence
Co-director: Jasti Hemambar
Presenter: Krishna
Producer: G Ramesh Babu
Story - Screenplay - Director: Guna Sekhar
Theatrical release date: 18th August 2004
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/movie/showcase/arjun.html
Writing/Direction: a doting brother has to save his town sister from her evil Madurai based in laws is the logline. Done is a racy and entertaining manner with Mahesh Babu carrying the movie. The overarching theme of the movie is bonding and sister sentiment.
The reason is due to the crucial scene of Murali Mohan’s sister dying. Mahesh Babu feels his dad made a huge mistake in her regard disregarding her because life was moving too fast. He graduates but doesnt get a job due to making sure his sister is always safe and he is always there for her. The villains are schemy but not enough to make things gripping. Like there is a difference in direction where the movie is so good like Okkadu, Athadu, Pokiri etc that you are like this film has something in it that it will make you go wow. Arjun lacks that wow factor
Additionally, this movie came after Okkadu and Nijam but putting that aside, it’s 2nd combo of Mahesh and Gunashekar after Okkadu. Okkadu was the highest grossing Sakranthi film of all time until it was passed by Krishna in 2008 and it’s a pathbreaking movie. SO naturally expectations would be at an all time high and Arjun can’t match the finesse and direction of Okkadu. Okkadu is gripping the entire film whereas Arjun is gripping in parts. That being said the pacing is superb and you never feel bored despite the 165 minute runtime which is exactly what you want in a film. The last 45 mins is excellent and gives unlimited goosebumps despite the over the top climax full of wires.
Mahesh Babu though is like super man. He is everywhere all the time. And the Madurai backdrop seems out of place but the set is so magical it just pulls you in so no matter how weird it seems, the set itself makes you stunned. More on that later.
Overall, the story is good and propped on a grand scale. Chemistry between Mahesh Babu and Keerhti Reddy is superb and carries the movie. At the end of the day, it’s an entertaining film. Just due to Okkadu, of course it will always seem inferior but as a stand alone film, Arjun holds up very well.
Technical Aspects:
Music and BGM by Mani Sharma is OUSTANDING. The BGM especially in last 45 mins is amazing and songs specifically 4 of them are really good. Lyrics by Veturi are a masterpiece. Will say a few now.
Speak about Okka Maata, Madhura Madhura, Dum Dumare. So good omg.
Cinematography by Shekar V Joseph is excellent. Framing and lighting especially during Dum Dumare songs is next level.
The real MVP of the movie is one of my all time favorite Art Directo Thota Tharani sir. 1st combo of Mahesh and Thota, Athadu and Brahmotsavam are the next ones. The set is a MASTERPIECE. It looks so real that they are actually there. Madurai street set is also amazing. The entire look, feel and vibe makes you actually think they are in Madurai and it’s quite tough to believe that it’s a set. Madura Madura is a visual feast during the day, and Dum Dumare is during the night both are just so good. Temple is almost like a character in the film it’s just so good. Wish I could have seen it in person but it will always be immortalized on screen.
Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YVD_bRZmtc&ab_channel=TollywoodKaburlu
Credits
Banner: Sumanth Arts
Cast: Prabhas, Trisha, Gopichand, Prakash Raj, Sudha, Chandra Mohan, Shafi, Sunil, Rajesh, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Venu Madhav, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Gundu Hanumantha Rao, AVS, Vamshi Paidipally,
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Cinematography: S Gopal Reddy
Art: Ashok Kumar
Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry
Stunts: Peter Hynes
DTS Mixing: Madhu Sudhan Reddy
Editing: KV Krishna Reddy
Story: Veeru Potla
Direction: Sobhan
Screenplay - Producer: MS Raju
Release date: 14th January 2004
Context: watched it on VHS in some Mfers house in Cleveland Ohio of all places, just remember the trains sequence very well and songs specifically Langa Voni then rewatched it in middle school and it was good, then pandemic time rediscovered the songs and realized it’s value. Easily one of DSP’s top 5 albums pack, BGM is next level and overall it’s just an outright classic. Pacing, music, story, entertainment, everything is so just well done. One of the best movies of Prabhas.
Interesting Facts:
- Prabhas father Suryanarayana Raju called MS Raju after Okkadu and said please give my son a good film and story and MS Raju promised I’ll get him a hit movie and make him a star
- MS Raju asked Veeru Potla who used to work for his banner for a story. Veeru Potla narrated a scene similar to Ramayanam and asked what is a Ravana like villains captured a Seetha type character how will the hero fight back and save her is the concept
- MS Raju liked it and asked to develop it into a full story and director Sobhan who just directed Mahesh Babu bobby was also involved in script discussions.
- Seeing his talent, MS Raju asked Sobhan to direct the movie. Coming the villain who can give competition to Prabhas, it was Gopichand and he got selected
- Hindi movie Tezaab is Ione of the nspiration of Varsham story and Prakash raj played father character in Telugu from that film, based on that
- First they wanted to select Gangotri heroine Aditi Agarwal but at that time MS Raju was I Chennai and saw a poster of Trisha in Saamy and selected her
- Movie was set and launched on March 14th, 2003 same date when Okkadu was launched
- Filmed in Tirupathi, Araku valley, Old City, and Warangal 100 Pillar Temple and Warangal was chosen as the backdrop to give a fresh and never seen before feel on screen. By then too many faction movies and Godavari districts village stories were being explored but not Warangal
- 140 working days and budget was 5.5 crores
- VN Aditya already registered the title Varsham for a Nagarjuna film but MS Raju kindly asked for the title and VN Aditya gave it to him
- January 14th, 2004 it released for Sankranthi with 100 prints with Anti and Lakshmi Narasimha, everybody thought the movie would, flop but Varsham made more money than both of those movies and became a blockbuster at the box office
- Prabhas got a breakthrough and became a star after this movie
- 18 crores share at the box office and was in top 3 highest grossing movies that year and made 7.5 share in Nizam which only 4 movies had done before and gave Prabhas a solid market in Nizam
- 50 days in 125 centers, 100 days in 68 centers, and ran for 175 days withs silver jubilee celebrations with Chiranjeevi as chief guest
- Other interesting facts are Suma Kanakala plays Prabhas’s vadina, Ajay and Satyam Rajesh are part of Prabhas friend group, and if you remember the bus scene in 2nd half one of the passengers is Vamshi Paidipally he worked as an assistant director for this movie
Credits
Banner: Vyjayanthi Movies
Cast: Ram Charan Teja, Neha Sharma, Asish Vidyardhi, Prakash Raj, Ali, Dharmavarapu, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana, Surya, Sayaji Shinde, Tanikella Bharani, Uttej, Pragathi, Daniel Balaji
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Music: Mani Sharma
Art: Chinna
Editing: MR Varma
Fights: Vijayan
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Puri Jagan
Producer: C Aswini Dutt
Release date: 28 September 2007
Context and thoughts: Saw it on VHS, remember hearing about it and seeing Charan’s headshot on idle brain and was like he looks like a dongodu. Remember seeing a poster for it in Edison I think I was in NJ when it released. When I saw it I loved it and became a fan of Charan after watching Yamaho Yama, it was very entertaining and typical Puri Jagan movie and listened the songs a lot before release. Childhood one of the greatest albums. Mani Sharma mass. Holds up well due to pacing and overall entertainment.
Interesting Facts:
- Talk in industry at the time was that Shankar was gonna direct Charan in his debut
- VV Vinayak, Sreenu Vaitla, VN Aditya, K Vijay Bhaskar, Jayant C Paranji,
- Called Rajamouli and despite his interest, he felt the expectations were too high and didn’t know what Charan’s strengths and weaknesses were
- That same time, Pokiri released and Puri Jagannadh became a superstar director. Chiru watched it and wanted Puri Jagan to make the movie. VV Vinayak was almost certain.
- Eenadu paper released a statement saying Charand but in Puri Jagan direction in production of Aswini Dutt
- August 22nd, 2006 Stalin audio function Chiru introduced Mega fans to Charan and confirmed his debut.
- Puri jagan narrated a line which Chiru liked and then developed it into full script in Bangkok. Harish Shankar worked as a script consultant for the movie and gave a lot of inputs.
- Movie launched in December 2006 with Pooja ceremony, Kangana Ranaut as heroine but didnt have dates so finally Neha Sharma was cast marking both her and Charan’s film debuts. And Mani Sharma was the music director coming off Pokiri
- Filming started in February 2007 in Bangkok where most of the movie was shot in addition to Annapurna, Padmalaya, and Ramanaidu studios for other portions.
- August 22nd, 2007 audio was launched. Audio rights were sold to Aditya Music for 1 crore which was an all time record at that time. And the audio became a super hit, one of the classic albums ever in TFI.
- All mega fans united to celebrate Charan’s debut. Raghava Lawrence composed Yamaho Yama and it’s next level.
- Released in 720 centers, and collected 4 crores share opening day all time record for a debut movie until Akhil the power of Jua, ran for 50 days in 178 centers, 100 days in 38 centers, and collected 25 crores share all time record for debut movie until it was beaten by Uppena in 2021 with a collection of 50 crores share.
Writing/Direction: This is actually a love story masked as a revenge story. Only in the 2nd half do you get to know why Daniel Balaji is in the movie but first things first, hthe movie is so entertaining even after 16 years. Puri Jagan understands pacing like no other director does I feel. One;y Rajamouli, Trivikram, Vijay Bhaskar, and VV Vinayak come close to him.
It’s a basically a highlight reel for ram Charan to show that he can act, he can dance, he can fight, he can romance the heroine, everything. And Puri Jagan hysteria was running at the time due to Pokiri and Desamuduru becoming career defining movies for Mahesh Babu and Allu Arjun.
Music by Mani Sharma is MASTERPIECE. BGM for the intro is unlimited goosebumps and everybody remembers it today. The songs are my childhood and middle school on repeat. Each and every song is classic. Yamaho yama greatest debut hero intro song and then this is the greatest debutante album ever made in present gen and oprobably all time. Favorite songs are Yamaho Yama and Enduko Pichi Pichi and then of course Chamka Chamka, Geetha Madhuri first song.
Credits
Banner: Geetha Arts
Cast: Ram Charan Teja, Kajal Agarwal, Srihari, Sunil, Brahmanandam, Sarath Babu, Rao Ramesh, Surya, Mumaith Khan, Sameer, Sekhar, Kim Sharma, Saloni & Hema
Music: MM Keeravani
Sound supervision: Kalyani Malik
Cinematography: KK Senthil Kumar
Dialogues: M Ratnam
Art: Ravinder
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Fights: Peter Hynes & Ram Lakshman
Styling: Rama Rajamouli
Co-producer: Bhogavally Prasad
Story: Vijayendra Prasad
Screenplay, & Direction: SS Rajamouli
Producer: Allu Arvind
Release date: July 30th, 2009
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/movie/postmortem/magadheera.html
Context and opening thoughts: watched it in theater like everybody else, if you didn’t watch it in theaters then rip lmao, have no words to say, biggest telugu movie of all time. It was really hyped due to having the 100 soldier fight which was talk of industry then and also the most expensive movie ever at the time. Became industry hit and further cemented Rajamouli’s status as the top most director in Telugu, then Gunashekar, Meher Ramesh, Prakash Kovelamudi, and VV Vinayak tried to copy him and failed miserably.
Ram Charan became star after and it capitulated Kajal to the A list and she was in every big movie since then and acted with all the top heroes. Despite industry hit status, the collections of the film are controversial to this day as folks add the figures as they please. It got so bad that at one point Allu Aravind and Rajamouli had a talk that it ran for this Many days in x number of centers which was fake and due to fans pressure Allu Aravind did it but it was fake publicity.
Writing/Direction: What can I say? It’s a Rajamouli mark movie with emotions but the grandeur is up 10x in this movie. The core point is about a soldier’s duty to his kingdom so he can’t sacrifice his love for the process that he loves. Overarching theme here is revenge like in many Rajamouli movies. Eventually both taken and they aren’t allowed to be together so they are reborn 400 years later. Opening itself is unlimited goosebumps with the credits rolling and the 100 soldier fight playing out in the background. They die and then immediately they are reborn. Harsha and Kajal the love track happens. It’s sweet but has it aged well idk.
The movie jai ani lesthadi from Panchadaram Bomma song and interval is unlimited goosebumps Rajamouli special. Flashback is the core of the movie and 100 soldier fight is unlimited goosebumps the best scene in the movie. Emotions, taking, BGM, action sequences, Srihari’s acting is perfect.
Basically the movie is over at the this point there’s not much story left other than taking revenge so the last 20 mins feel all over the place especially fort escape sequence and then cut to climax.
Rajamouli specialty in giving highs and goosebumps which no other director can ever match.
Technicalities:
Music and BGM by Keeravani masterclass. Songs are classic obviously everyone’s favorite is Panchadara Momma funny enough the guy who sang it was never seen again.
Cinematography by KK Senthil Kumar is amazing. Lighting, framing, and most of all grandeur in each and every frame is visible
Art Direction by Ravinder is masterpiece. Each and every set is flawless.
Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is perfect. Never bored a single moment.
Dialogues by Rathnam are excellent.
Fights by Peter Heins and Ram Lakshman are amazing. Of course 100 person fight is the best among the lot. Goosebumps stuff.
Costume Design by Rama Rajamouli is perfect. Everybody looks so gorgeous on screen.
Production Values by Geetha arts are extraordinary. Highest budgeted movie ever at the time and it shows.
Overall: Classic movie, industry hit, and holds up very well. Everything in the movie is perfect except the meandering last 20 mins. A special film especially theater experience. Raised the standards of Telugu cinema and Rajamouli proved he’s number 1 once again with this film. That is all.
Credits
Banner: PVP Cinema
Cast: Nagarjuna, Karthi, Tamanna, Shriya, Anushka, Jayasudha, Prakash Raj, Ali, Tanikella Bharani, Gabriella Demetriades, Late Kalpana, Nora Fatehi etc
Cinematography: PS Vinod
Editor: Madhu
Music: Gopi Sundar
Dialogues: Abburi Ravi
Production Design: Sunil Babu
Art: Vaishnavi Reddy
Adapted Story: Vamshi Paidipally, Solomon, Hari
Choreography: Raju Sundaram & Brinda
Lyrics: Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry & Ramajogayya Sastry
Producers: Param V. Potluri & Kavin Anne
Screenplay & direction: Vamsi Paidipally
Release date: March 25th, 2016
Context and thoughts: Hattrick for all 3 people, red hot off Sankranthi 2016 and first big movie to release that summer. Teaser gave full positive vibes and then trailer was superb. Karthi and Vamshi came to MEK to promote the film. Movie came out and had blockbuster talk as a feel good movie. Watched it on OTT and it was amazing. Such a great film. Rewatch it was ok. Oopiri is a film that is a one time watch to feel those emotions and experience for the first time. I’m not sure you can feel it again. Karthi performance carries the movie and is the most entertaining part.
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/movie/postmortem/oopiri.html
Acting: Karthi telugu debut and he delivered a knockout performance. The highlight of the movie.
Nagarjuna acting in a wheelchair is excellent. Entirely depends on expression. Same charm, charisma, and screen presence even in a wheelchair.
Tamannah has never looked prettier and does he role very well as the attractive secretary. Prakash Raj is dignified as Nag’s friend and the paint thread is the best.
Kalpana Garu is superb. Ali is hilarious and Jayasudha Garu is excellent as usual. The girl who plays Karthi’s sister is also MB’s sister in Srimanthudu.
Tanikella Bharani has a negative role which turns good later on.
Gabriella Demetriades, Anushkha and Adivi Sesh have cameos.
Writing/Direction: Official adaption of The Untouchables. Done perfectly and adapted to telugu sensibilities brilliantly. The thread of Karthi and Tamannah actually in original they don’t get together but to add masala and romance as commercial element its a great payoff. Paint thread is brilliant. And writing is fantastic throughout. Due to the nature of the content, it’s not mass masala, its more a drama but Karthi character is specifically created to entertain all sections of the audience.
Favorite scenes: Tammanah asks Karthi to do him a favor, Nagarjuna surprise birthday party, entire paint thread, Tanikella Bharani mass warning scene in most class way, Karthi reconciling with Jayasudha, Nagarjuna letting Karthi go, and Nag meeting anusha. All heart touching, hilarious, and beautiful moments.
One such movie where the title justifies the content lmao. It’s actually about life. Has ups and downs but at the end of the day, we are living it.
Technicalities: Music and BGM by Gopi Sundar is excellent. All of the songs are written by Sirivennela and Ramajaoggaya Sastry, one of the greatest combos in Telugu cinema. All of them are superb. My favorite songs are Baby Aagodu, Oka Life, Eppudu. Ayyo Ayyo is a stunner with Karthi and Tamannah chemistry.
Cinematography by PS Vinod is masterclass. One of my favorite DOP and he lit up Paris and Hyderabad in all their glory. The framing, visual brilliance, lighting, everything is perfect. Vinod mass.
Production Design by Sunil Babu is fantastic. The movie maintains the class difference perfectly. All of Nagarjuna’s scenes are shown as ultra rich, while all of Karthi’s scenes reflect his struggling nature. Whatever setting the scene demanded, it was there.
Overall: Oopiri is a beautiful and refreshing take on life. Karthi, Nagarjuna, and Tamannah are aptly supported by the excellently adapted script and emotions. But as said before it might one of those films you can only watch in it’s entirety once. But the comedy scenes and entertainment generated by Karthi is life long I felt.
Andariki Namaskaram! Today we have Pranav joining us once again to discuss one of our favorite movies, Namo Venkatesa starring Victory Venkatesh and Brahmanandham directed by Sreenu Vytla! Enjoy!
Credits
Banner: 14 Reels Entertainment
Cast: Venkatesh, Trisha, Brahmanandam, Akash, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Mukesh Rishi, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Kasi Viswanath, Subbba Raju, Master Bharat, Akash, Ali, Siva Reddy, Surya, Prithvi, Raghu Babu, Jenny, Srinivasa Reddy, Surekha Vani, Telangana Sakunthala etc
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Story: Gopi Mohan
Dialogus: Chintapally Ramana
Art: AS Prakash
Lyrics: Ramajogaiah Sastri
Fights: Vijay
Editing: MR Varma
Screenplay - direction: Seenu Vytla
Presents: D Suresh Babu
Producer: Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta & Anil Sunkara
Release date: 14 January 2010
Discussion Points
- First Impressions
- How your liking towards it grew
- Music and Technical Aspects
- What we liked - Favorite scenes and dialogues
- What We didn't like
- Final thoughts
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra
Cast: Prabhas, Sriya Saran, Bhanu Priya, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Pradeep Rawat, Venu Madhav, Narendra Jha, Shafi, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Jeeva, Sekhar, Ajay, Arti Agarwal, Surya, Mumaith Khan.
Music: MM Keeravani
Story: Vijayendra Prasad
Dialogues: M Rathnam
Lyrics: Veturi, Chandra Bose, Shivashakti Dutta
Art: R Ravinder
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Cinematography: K K Senthil Kumar
Action: Peter Hynes
Screenplay - direction: SS Rajamouli
Producer: B V S N Prasad
Theatrical release date: 29th September 2005
Context and thoughts: First watched it on VHS, remember it being very violent but remembered interval scene when I was a kid. First mass movie of Prabhas and came after two flops Chakram and Adavi Ramudu. On rewatch, movie is still good but it has it’s own issues which I’ll discuss later. But most of all putting aside the issues, its still entertaining with a good pace. One of Prabhas best performances and emotions wise Rajamouli mark movie.
Interesting Facts: https://www.idlebrain.com/movie/postmortem/chatrapati.html
Writing/Direction: Logline is a guy who lost his mother wants to reunite with her. Difference is he becomes a big don and she doesn;t know what he looks like in present day. How they find each other forms the rest of the story. Out and Out Rajamouli movie because he’s the master of action plus emotions. The writing is excellent for the most part throughout but it’s almost like watching two films on one ticket. Beginning it starts off with Ras Bihari exploiting the slaves for his business and the theme and cinematic take of oppressor vs oppressed comes into play. Prabhas is like a volcano waiting to erupt and finally does when Katraj hurts the little boy Seenu I think.
That entire 20 mins sequence is among the greatest sequences un Telugu cinema history and I feel that the interval bang is the best ever in Telugu cinema history because it was the first interval to give that level of high and the first to be that memorable. Rajamouli speciality is interval bangs and some folks say Baahubali 1 and 2 or RRR but Chatrapathi was the first do it.
Even now if you watch it, the taking, dialogues, and BGM give unlimited goosebumps. The first half is so good and literally perfect that if the movie ends, you’re more than satisfied. But Sivaju reuntiting with his mother is still left to cover.
And the entire 2nd half feels like a Drag because of the ultimate high that the interval bang gave, what ever comes after isn’t able to match the standards set by that. It’s overly melodramatic and more than anything you kind of wait for it to end. Love track is also odd. At first Shirya thinks Prabhas is asking her for money to sleep with her and she’s a prostitute which is not in good taste and then Venu Madhav comedy is there where he says he want to rape Shirya. Also the shark fight in the beginning is terribly done with the graphics. These are all the minus points of the movie.
But the moment in the climax when Prabhas meets him mom after she shoots him and says the dialogue brings water to your eyes.
Overall, Chatrapathi is a perfect movie for one half and the other one doesnt live unto the same level but at the end of the day it;s still entertaining at the end of the day and a Rajamouli mark film.
Technicalities:
Music is decent and BGM by Keeravani is excellent. Gives goosebumps throughout and evokes the right emotions. Chatrapathi is one of the weaker albums in Rajamouli’s career but A Vachi B Pai Vale and Gundu Soodi are the best songs. Pretty sure Aarthi Agarwal has an item song. 2nd combo of Prabhas and Aarti after Adavi Ramudu.
Cinematography by KK Senthil Kumar is amazing. He spoke about the lighting and everything and in the interval scene, the taking and visuals are peaks omg. Wouldn’t say its a visual feast but the movie is definitely grand and set the precedent for his cinematographic style and vision.
Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is fine.
Credits
Banner: Ram Prasad Arts
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Sonali Bendre, Lakshmi, Kaikala Satyanarayana, Sukumari, Gollapudi Maruthi Rao, Ravi Babu, Raghu Babu, Lakshmipati, Annapurna, Sudha, Sivaji Raja, Hema, MS Narayana, Prakash Raj (cameo), Naga Babu (cameo), Achyuth (cameo), Divi Srinivasa Deekshitulu
Music: Mani Sharma
Dialogues: Sobhan
Cinematography: C Ram Prasad
Art Director: SL Prabhakar Naag
Editing, Story, Screenplay & Direction: krishna Vamsi
Producer: Nandigam Gopi, Ramalingeswara Rao, N Devi Prasad
Theatrical Release Date: 17th February 2001
Interesting Facts:
- Esha Deol was the first choice for the heroine but asked for too much money, then casting director went to Sonali Bendre who agreed upon narration marking her Telugu debut
- Started filming in May 2000 with a budget of 5 crores. Working title was Krishna Mukunda Murari
- Shot in Hyderabad, Ramanaidu Studios, Rajamundry, Ramachandrapuram,
- Brought an elephant from Kerala and it took a week to get there
- While filming Dum Dum Dum song, Mahesh Babu got a fever and then completed the song working 10 hours a day
- Budget went past 5 crores and it took 150 working days to complete the film
- Wanted to come for Sankranthi but already 3 big movies
- Released February 16th, 2001 in limited theaters and had flop talk for first week and then it started to pick up
- 100 days in 34 centers, 175 days in 2 centers, collected more than 10 crores share at the box office and became a blockbuster resulting in double profit
- Gave a breakthrough for Mahesh Babu, Sonali Bendre, Ravi Babu, Raghu Babu, and first movie of Peter Heins in Tollywood.
- Second Digitally edited film in TFI, first was Mrugaraju
Acting: Except Mahesh Babu, everybody in the movie overacts to the core. Sonali Bendre peaks of irritation.
Writing/Direction: Story is very unique and interesting. Can look at it two different ways. At the time of it’s release, it was fantastic and very interesting. Even know the redeeming factor is the story.
Writing is good only for Murari character and the curse. With age everything else has aged terribly. Slow pace, cringe worthy love track, patience testing family sentiment scenes and overreaction by everybody. It’s a family film which is my favorite genre but idk Murari doesnt hit it for me.
Also all Krishna Vamsi movies have huge joint families and understanding the relations is more confusing than Brahmotsavam, Ponniyin Selvan, and Tuck Jagadish for real. Basically its a film for 2001 that seemed amazing then. But if you watch it know, you probably wont like.
People call Murari a classic. It might be for fans or if you’re biased, but its not like other classic family movies like Kalisundam Raa, Brindavanam, Ready, Nuvvu Naaku Nachav, Malliswari, Manmadhudu. Lacks the repeat value, pacing, and emotions of said films.
Technicalities:
Literally the saving grace on the rewatch was one and only king of Telugu music Mani Sharma. BGM is outstanding especially the flute BGM and cant’; say enough about the songs. Freaking classic album man. Such a nostalgic treat and masterpiece. One of Mani Sharma’s top 5 best albums for Mahesh Babu easily. Songs gave goosebumps due to how popular they have become over the years and lasted the test of time.
Cinematography by Ram Prasad is a visual delight. Loaded in beautiful colors and unfortunately due to age, HD remaster of the movie doesnt exist.
Art Direction by SL Prabhakar Naag is amazing. The sets and village atmosphere recreated for the entire film are outstanding. Art director worked overtime and its a treat to see on screen. Actually believe they’re in an actual village.
Overall: some films when you watch it during that time, it seems good. If you watch the same thing now, you won’t get the same feeling. Murari is one such movie. Songs, story, Mahesh Babu, visuals and production design are super but it lacks the repeat value of other Mahesh Babu movies due to slow pace, cringe worthy romantic track, and overaction family scenes
Credits Banner: Dharmapatha Creations & Big Ben CinemasCast: Vijay Devarakonda , Ritu Varma, Nandu, Priya Darsi, Abhay, Anish Kuruvilla. Guru raj, Kedar Sankar, Padmaja. etcCinematography: Nagesh BanellEditor: Raviteja GirijalaMusic: Vivek Sagar & TapeloopLyrics: Shri, Rahul Ramakrishna, Shreshta, Ranjani Sivakumar & Nikhil BharadwajProduction Design: Latha Tharun DhaassyamProducers: Raj Kandukuri & Yash RangineniStory, Screenplay, Dialogue & Direction: Tharun BhasckerRelease date: 29 July, 2016Interesting Facts: How about two contrasting personalities meet for Pelli Choopulu. What happens if things go horribly wrong? That was the basic idea. I wanted to include food in the film. I wanted to name this film as ‘Anukokunda’, but somebody else had registered it. Hence we found Pelli Choopulu to be the apt title.It’s a conflict between heart and mind we go through every day in our lives. Chitra can never emote and you can’t think what’s going through her mind. Prasanth is all heart. He feels something, he says it loud.This is a good script and directed extremely well by Tharun. This is a drastically different characterization from what I done earlier. Once I joined Tharuns team, I don’t know how time passed off.After approaching Suresh Babu garu, Raj Kandukuri garu and Yash Rangineni garu, the project took off because we had everything on paper including managing the artists call sheets and budget control measures. They just believed in our younger lot. Later, the production was wrapped in meager 35 days.We used sync sound to reduce the cost. Vivek Sagar later mixed many themes and sound tracks to enhance the realistic treatment. One month back we were ready with the first copy and confident that people will love our work.Our team has done Pelli Choopulu with heart and soul. Everyone in our group was between 25 to 27 years at age. We believed in script and kept trust on each other. Producers gave us complete creative freedom. Our belief has today proved to be right because patrons are entertaining thoroughly in theaters.I wrote story in 45 days. I was working with Lakshmi Manchu at first. She loved the script. We worked on it together. She had a lot of personal commitments. She asked me to go and spread my wings first. I approached Vijay Devarakonda and then I met Raj Kandukuri. Things started falling in place once I met Raj Kandukuri. 15 minutes into narration and he said that he would do the film. He followed it up regular. We started pre-production after 15 days.Music director Vivek Sagar is from Chikkadpally. He is a part of our band. He has also worked with AR Rahman in the past. He calls himself as musician, not as music director. He is a chilled out chap. Raj Kandukuri was skeptical about music as Vivek Sagar was not using many instruments. Vivek Sagar told us that silence is also music and let's experiment. Vivek used minimalism and instrumentation as per the requirement of scene. He scored songs and background music as per the requirement of script, but not to boast his portfolio.I have been traveling with the cinematographer Nagesh Banell for the past seven years. Latha has done art direction and costumes design. A lot of thought process has gone into while selecting locations and props.It won’t be right to say that I wrote all the dialogues. We had workshops. I wanted the dialogues to be colloquial. I want them to understand the diction and be honest about it. A dialogue like ‘naa chaavu nenu chasta. Neekunduku’ has no effect if you tell the dialogue to anybody outside. But that dialogue is the best dialogue of the film because of the scene. It also represents the frustration of just graduated youth. That question irritates the unemployed youth. That’s the constant pressure youth face. I have a good bunch of friends who keep my life interesting. Most of the conversations written to Priyadarsi are from my personal experience with friends. I draw inspiration for these characters from my friends.
Credits
Banner: SLV Cinemas Banner
Cast: Nani, Dheekshith Shetty, Keerthy Suresh, Shine Tom Chacko, Samuthirakani, Sai Kumar, Jhansi, Shamna Kasim, Zarina Wahab
Dialogues:Thota Srinivas
Music: Santhosh Narayanan
Cinematography: Sathyan Sooryan ISC
Stunts: Real Satish
Prodiction Design: Avinash Kolla
Editor: Naveen Nooli
Choreographer: Prem Rakshith
Story - Screenplay - direction: Srikanth Odela
Producer: Sudhakar Cherukuri
Interesting Facts: https://www.ragalahari.com/celebrity-interview/2068/interview-of-art-director-avinash-kolla-about-dasara
https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/srikanthodela.html
https://www.telugu360.com/nanis-dasara-sets-get-authentic-touch-from-directors-own-life/
Mukunda - Varun Tej amazing screen presence and Rao Ramesh performance thop, but slow pace, worst romantic track, and zero entertainment. Warning bells for Brahmotsavam from Addala Saab. Only songs by Mickey were good with Sirivennela single card.
Thikka - SDT next big thing time lo vaccine cinema, it became a rod and then he would go onto deliver 6 straight flops derailing his career. Thaman’s music only good thing.
Loafer - Should be indebted to Puri Jagan for introducing Disha Patani to film industry.
Ghani: They call him Ghani, Kani viru yeru Ghani. Routine revenge boxing drama with slow pace, no entertainment and bad writing. Thaman music also waste. Allu Bobby debut movie and disaster.
Srirasthu Subhamasthu: Don’t know anyone who watched it, but directed by Parasuram and stars Allu Sirish and Lavanya Tripathi. Basically Bommarillu picha lite with rich vs poor. Cringe max movie.
Rey: Loud movie, SDT debut
Winner: Asalu why would a grandfather want to separate his grandson from his father? Illogical. Rakul objectifying peaks but Singam Sujatha is the real MVP. Classic.
Nakshatram: Krishna Vamsi rod max pure overreaction paithyam film. Everybody is shouting and still don’t know how who Alexander is.
Jawaan: Hero becomes ISCRO officer and then his best friend becomes a terrorist, 2nd movie of BVS Ravi as director, rod. Just poorly directed and written. KV Guhan and Thaman music only plus.
Intelligent: Akula Shiva and VV Vinyaak pichi peaks movie. Biggest disaster in SDT career, Audience roasted the movie after.
Prathi roju Pandage: Cringe max movie. Shatamanam Bhavati 2. Rao Ramesh had a phase when he was carrying movies. Just Peru ke SDT, the actual hero is Rao Ramesh. Such a stupid movie.
NOTA: Has it's moments but too slow and boring and it's based on TN Politics not Telugu politics so hard to connect.
Dear Comrade: Teaser raised expectations and was sure it was going to be the movie to take Vijay D to the next level. Friend went to premiere and said it’s rod.
World Famous lover: I spread your legs Yamini. Rod max movie.
Rama Rama Krishna: Has 0 entertainment despite Arjun presence etc. Routine story and taking, Dil Raju producer. Useless.
Endukante Premanta: Except songs, its a Hollywood movie freemake and makes no sense. Another rod from Karunakaran.
Ongole Gita: Bommarillu Bhaskhar paithyam, why the fuck does Prakash Raj always take his clothes off?
Shivam: torture movie, hero and villain see heroine from moving train and both try to woo her.
Hyper: Janatha Garage GHMC scene into entire movie its Hyper. Directed by Rabhasa fame Santosh Srinivas, it was a rod.
Vunnadi Okkate Zindagi: Unrealistic portrayal of friendships. 2nd half Rod max. Lavanya Tripathi character torture. What Amma is 100% truth song. DSP songs are good.
Prince 2022: proved Anudeep KV is a fraud. Stupidest movie yet some people on twitter call it a masterpiece. They’re stupid. Cringe max movie.
RX100: Worst production values, why is that guy called Daddy, then they light about 2 motorcycles on fire and none of them explode, other than last 20 mins twist, boring movie.
Mogudu: Interval scene thop, Tapseee slaps Gipichand then has audacity to do Thappad. Hypocrisy.
Anangana O Dheerudu: First and last movie of Disney in Telugu, watched 15 minutes and turned it. Prakash Kovelamudi might be worst director in history of Telugu cinema.
Jaya Janaki Nayaka: Bellamkonda single expression acting, Rakul crying entire movie, JB kills his own daughter, baby shower ki item song, and them hero kills about 100 people all loaded with guns at Hamasaladeevi while he has a sickle.
Seetimaar: men vs women Kabbadi scene but apparently on a WhatsApp video, we see an entire flashback about how a girl got kidnapped, she gets her throat slit and then next scene she’s alive in the hospital and then she comes back to the final. Rod max.
Nishabdam: Prime bought so many rods during pandemic and this was another one. Felt so bad for Anuksha.
Asura: Rod.
Chanti: don’t remember squat except climax fight in the mud but the movie sucked. Not a Raviteja film at all. Siobhan director, Charmi heroine, and Atul Kulkarni villain
Dongula Mutha: Created huge back then because This film is the first of its kind in Indian cinema as it was shot with just 7 crew members and in a record of 5 days. Prior to filming, Varma announced that this film has no budget and that the cast and crew will not be taking remunerations until the film hits theaters.
Puri Jagannadh is co-director while director Harish Shankar (Mirapakaya fame) is associate director.[2] Music is composed by Sathyam while the background score has been rendered by Amar Mohile (of Sarkar Raj fame).
Veera: rod ka baap, Baasha template with Raviteja, basically he lives with his sister and bava in a village and villain are trying to kill him, Taps overreaction and exposing and then Kajal is Raviteja wife in flashback and she dies pretty sure. Sridevi of Eeswar fame is Raviteja sister but its so badly directed by Ramesh Varma and so outdated routine, and cringe. Rod max movie.
Nippu: Saw it in theaters nothing better to do, Sreeram gets sentenced to jail for killing his wife in UAE and Raviteja tries to help his friend. Gunashekar mark rod with YVS mark paithyam all over it. Thaman music Nena oh Nenaa and Oh Pilla are decent, Deeksha Seth is also a waste. Useless.
Sarocharu: Stupidest movie. Listened to the songs a lot before release Jaga Jagadeka Veera is underrated song. Raviteja meets Kamal and explains to her his previous love story divorce with Richa then it turns out to be actually his friend and his wife story. Then why the f*** did you even say the story this entire time dude?????? Parasuram mark rod. DSP music only saving grace.
Kick 2: Destined to fail because Ileana is not in the movie and not a direct sequel to Kick, worst story, and it was postponed a 100 times. Supposed to come in May, then got delayed to late August. Ravitejas son goes looking for Kick and then goes to some remote village being terrorized by Ravi Kishan with North Indians there and Rahul is somehow a village girl. Insult to the first movie.
Raja the Great: Raviteja took a break after Bengal tiger and didnt do a film for almost 2 years then signed a film with Anil Ravipudi. With a lot of hype, it released in October 2017 and I felt its a rod. Ravipudi mark cringe comedy with Gunna Gunna Mamidi bit being peaks of cringe. Made me start questioning where Telugu comedy is headed then I accepted it’s dead. Blind guy is basically superman and then his mom gets kidnapped and hearing the bells on a train he rescues her on a moving train. Zero logic, and cringe movie. Only darkness fight was funny.
Touch Chesi Choodu: outdated movie, some old City action movie but you can tell its badly directed. Directed by Vikram Sirikonda, KIKK Mirapakay, Race Gurram screenwriter, story by Vakkantham Vamsi, came in off-season Feb 2018. Music by JAM8 apprentice band of Pritam, Manasa song is classic
Amar Akbar Anthony: biggest robbery and insult to NYPD, first of all after Aagadu, Bruce Lee and Mister, Sreenu Vaitla kept saying he’s changed. He went to J Lo’s old house in NY and then Ileana comeback after 6 years in Devudu Chesina Manushulu. Entire movie filmed in NYC and routine revenge drama. Raviteja plays 3 roles with Aparichitudu split personality disorder then Ileana also has the same disease. Sunil is there and a host of comedians but its torture. Only Satya as KA Paul was funny with a KA Paul spoof and WATA thing.
Khiladi: 2nd combo of Raviteja and Ramesh Varma after Veera, Raviteja actually stayed away from promotions and could see his disappointment with director and output throughout. Movie is so stupid and has a twist every 2 seconds.
Dhamaka: It’s not Raviteja range movie and its cringe max. Put aside the reviews Movie is very boring without any excitement or entertainment Doesn’t deserve to be a hit. Disappointing stuff.
Palanti Brahmanaidu: After back to back industry hits, both Balayya and B Gopal ki pichi lesindi, famous for the train scene, Jai Chennakesava thoda kotti train moves backwards, choopistha nah Khaleja snaps finger and chairs starts moving towards him, and then highlight is there is a kodi punju named Chittimallu, a giant man comes to fight me and Balayya bets that that Chittimallu can beat him, they arm the chicken with a knife on it’s foot and the chicken slays the giant lmfao.
Allari Pidugu: Jayant C Paranji direction, Katrina Kaif 2nd and last Telugu movie, MRV Prasad producer, Balayya dual role, story I don’t know all I remember is the user friendly bomb scene when Balayya spits a bullet and it hits the off button and the bomb turns off.
Songs are so good: Dikki Dikki, Chinuku Laaga, Mallellona Illaira are good. Remix of Nede eenade as well. Mani Sharma only person who did his job.
Vijayendra Varma: too much to say lmao
Veerabhadra: dont even remember the movie there’s just a very funny hospital scene when a guy throws a basketball at Balayya and he headbutts the ball back and the guy falls down lmao. Rod movie. Mani Sharma music only plus. Janam Kosam and Jujubee Lellelo.
Maharadhi: Balayya and Sneer overaction oversentiment movie. Funny climax fight. Villain brings a water engine and destroys the village, huge stream comes out and Balayya is doing flips around and floating in the air. Don’t even remember the story. Apparently jayaprada is in the movie and then Balayya samudram pakkana cheppala aame vaadu and Sneha is his love interest. Directed by P Vasu and it was a flop.
Okka Magadu: Story, screenplay, dialogues, direction, and producer YVS Chowdary, greatest movie ever made: first Balayyas grandma is Simran, first heroine cringe af role, then Balayya 2nd role has a cane which actually has a samurai sword. Both Balayya and Simran make up is scary and they claim they brought in Hollywood make up artist for the movie. Basically Balayya is killing people left and right and folks are looking for him, then villains daughter Anuskha falls in love with younger Balayya for no reason.
Highlight scenes:
4 of them
Mitrudu: Balayya intro he walks int he middle of the highway and all the CGI cars and serving out of the way, then Piryamani dares Balayya to do something and then he leans off of a helipad drinking something and then loses his balance and then he has a plastic wristband which saves him and grips onto something Rod movie.
Parama Veera Chakra: Dasari Narayana Rao 150th film, came for Sankranthi 2011and was an ultra disaster. So bad you cant even find a copy of it for the longest time until recently. Audiences call it Parama Veera Chattha.
Adhinayukudu: postponed a 100 times and Balayya has a triple role. It came and went.
Srimanarayana: Came in 2012, rod movie, don’t trouble the trouble, if you trouble the trouble, trouble will trouble, I’m not the trouble, I’m the truth!
Lion: memory loss, funny mustache and getup remake of Bourne Identity again.
Dictator: Works in a supermarket but he’s actually a huge international don. Songs are good.
Paisa Vassal: remake of Pokiri, Balayya overaction and weird dialogue delivery, I am black, you are black, we are all black. Villains name is Bob Marley and movie sucks. Bad screenplay and bad story with bad direction. Puri mark rod.
Jai Simha: Sankranthi winner 2018 ante okka sari oohinchuko. Ammakutti paata, jacket step, chair step, floor step
Ruler: Nandamuri Tony Stark, intro with helicopter, and then police wig, how can we forget. Rod max movie. Padathaadu song created racha due to the dance and look.
Didn’t watch: Bhalevadivi Base, Seema Simham, Pandurangadu, Uu Kodathara? Ulikki Padathara?, NTR Part 1 and 2,
Nagarjuna
Bhai - Hyderabad lo rendu famous raa, okati Irani chai, rendodhi Bhai! Watched it in theaters even after reading the reviews. It was 50% full. Kottinchukunnam. Worst movie and screenplay. Heroine Richa comes and smiles and then song every time. Nag look in the dreads and hat is worst and it’s remake of Pokkiri Raja Malayalam movie starring Mammooty, prithviraj and Shreya. Director Veerabhadram dimpina rod and then Nag apologized after this and said he felt people lost respect for him after Bhai.
Kedi - saw it on DVD, basically Nag and Mamta Mohandas get separated at a young age and find each other again. Just like title song Kedigadu raa due to Sindhi Chauhan
Damarukham - saw it on YouTube 2012, one of the highest budgeted movies during that time. Execution is so bad. Nag dies and come back to life and P Ravi Shankar is some asura or rakshasa that kidnaps Anuksha. Got reminded of Anji movie. Songs by DSP are the only good part: Reppalapai, Nesthana, Dheemthana, Shiva Shiva Shankara are so good.
Greek Veerudu - aa Tony Stark look and Oh Naadu Washington lo madam ache graphics yenthandi? Such a stupid film. Hard to believe after Santosham, Nag and Dasarash delivered this crap. Thaman music is the only good thing. Nag does one belt step that has become pure troll material. Shoutout to the choreographer.
Officer - Pure RGV paithyam, camera angle from a plant and then below the feet and jeans etc, biggest disaster ever in Nags career. Collected 1 crore share collections. Cops were never this scary was the tagline, audience said never seen a movie this scary, scarred for life.
Devadasu - Sriram Aditya should be ashamed of himself for making a film with two of the most popular actors and wasting their talents in a movie with 0 writing or story. Their bromance is good. But the climax and whole action part of Nag’s don is so badly done. Romance looks awkward for both leads and considering the combo and Vyjyanthi, it’s a huge disappointment. Songs by Mani Sharma were saving grace and it was nice to see him back in a big production after a long gap. Dutt loves Mani Sharma.
Manmadhudu 2 - giving it the same title was biggest mistake as audience automatically has the same expectations. Nag said its a clean film but he’s sleeping with girls half his age, lesbian kiss, and pure cringe comedy and direction from start to finish. Rahul Ravindran went into depression after this film. Disaster. Should be ashamed of themselves.
Wild Dog - turned it off after 30 minutes writing was so cringeworthy, directed by Ashishor Solomon co writer of Maharshi and Varisu.
The Ghost - turned if off after 5 mins
Nani
Majnu - somebody in what apps chat said feel good movie, will slap him with a slipper, such a pointless movie, stalks the heroine the entire movie, Rajamouli, Vennela Kishore, and songs by Gopi Sundar were the only positives.
Krishnarjuna Yuddham - Nani Arjun role as rockstar is career worst role whereas Krishna was funniest role. If director Merlapaka Gandhi had just made a solo movie with Krishna character, it would have been a blockbuster. Ended up as a poor remake of Taken, And they even make Nani say Liam Neeson’s iconic dialogue in Telugu as well. Hiphop Thamiza did their job, Album was fire.
V - 25th movie ante yento expect chesam but Indraganti delivered a rod with such a boring, routine, and outdated revenge drama. Nani was promoted as the villain and psycho killer but he’s actually a good guy. Then they have a dinner date at the end. Nani liked having orange candies more than anything in the movie. Even Amit Trivet’s well composed album went to waste. Rod considering expectations around it. And First big movie during pandemic to hit OTT.
Venkatesh
Shadow - Just why Venkatesh garu?
Nagavalli - Bad remake overall, venkatesh king character comedy
Babu Bangaram - biggest robbery
Venky Mama - The movie was a hit so you can just imagine Venkatesh’s superstardom in Telugu cinema.
Narappa - bad
Naaga - came before Simhadri. turned it off after 15 minutes. Such a loud and violent movie. Viyadagar and Deva composed the music
Andhrawala - came after Simhadri and released with tremendous hype, first Telugu movie to have 10 lakhs people come to the audio launch, Rakshita weirdest character, NTR 2nd get up is so bad and simple routine revenge drama didnt work at all. I just remember it being bad. Niamey Niamey shook the industry if im not wrong. Raghava Lawrence was the choreographer. And Mumbai slum set was done in Hyderabad at a studio by Art director Chinna. Another song Kokkoka Misaa, nah dil lo ivvani visa, oorinchake samosa, naa favorite onion dosa.
Samba - rod movie. Producer of the movie is Kodak Nani. Unintentionally funny. Out and out mass entertainer and too violent. So many heads get chopped off in this. Violence is not a problem but when it’s senseless it becomes a lot to process. NTR has this weird dialogue delivery and he like shouts at the person and is hyper in all the emotional scenes. NTR comes to Prakash Raj house and sits down in a chair. Prakash Raj raises one eyebrow and then NTR raises both eye browses. This is supposedly to be a mass warning or mass counter lmao. Climax kicks head like a soccer ball and then kid stops a bomb by peeing on it. Then Prakash Raj kills Vijayakumar and pricks the dead body with the sharp point of the knife. Due to the hype and combo, it ended up as an above average at the box office but was not a hit.
Naa Alludu - funniest movie. Intro NTR stands on a car and throws a rod and Shreya and Genelia go flying, then it shifts to a house set with NTR, Ramya Krishna, and Sriya Genelia. Some weird things happen and outdated story about atha alludu. Yem Peru Murugan is the best song
Narasimhudu - Another rod movie, NTR is apparently a mute and makes all these funny faces biting his teeth around Ashish Vidyarthi and kills everybody. Only songs are good. Mani Sharma mass. All of the songs are so good, my favorite are Rajamandrike and Muddula Gopala,
Ashok - another overly violent mass masala movie, Sonu Sood and his mom do some weird things and its just too long and outdated, Gola Gola song is all I remember NTR dance steps are so good.
Shakthi - already reviewed it but Meher Anna already described it in the audio launch. Missile launch ki mana ice value enthandi. Ileana, sets, and mani Sharma music were the highlights. Pharaohs in 1983 apparently when the pyramids were built in 300BC. Story actually has potential with Shakthi peethams but it just turns into simple revenge drama. NTR get up in 2nd half as Rudra is worst.
Oosaravelli - Came during Dookudu, Pilla Zamindar time, trailer created huge impact and generated huge openings, current wire dialogue and songs were good, but movie is rod. Rewatched it for the pod. Nothing in the movie. Badly written, cringe comedy aplenty, no entertainment and worst editing. Tamannah meets NTR on the highway and during their convo, NTR in a car and Tamannah in an ambulance keeps spinning. Villain Rakesh and Payal Ghosh worst lip sync. 2nd half most over the top flashback with Tamannah and her family, Anjaneyam episode is full headache. Vidyut Jammwal got his ass kicked by NTR in back to back movies and then Prakash Raj such a useless villain, BGM is also terrible.
Ramayya Vasthavayya: movie originally had some other story but due it being too similar to Mirchi, Dil Raju asked for a rewrite and they made this crap. Too violent, routine, and boring. Comedy scenes are so bad and entire flashback is peaks of routine. NTR acting is nothing new and Harish Shankar downfall started with this movie. Songs by Thaman were good.
Rabhasa: Came at a time when audience was done with Sreenu Vaitla’s comedy template of making villains barks by entering a house and then this movie comes and NTR had no outstanding blockbusters since Brindavanam. Such cringe and routine comedy, same old family problem bullshit. Brahmanandam worst comedy.
Raghavendra: Prabhas is just mad the entire movie, Anandaraj is the villain saw it on YouTube back in 2011, it was not very good at all. all I know is the song Calcutta Pan Vesina.
Adavi Ramudu: good songs, bad story and outdated movie. Start of B Gopal’s downfall unfortunately.
Yogi: overly violent, apparently Nayanthara falls for Prabhas after seeing that he killed somebody in the news, Bandla Ganesh cameo is funny about real estate kidnapping. Climax scene is peaks of over sentiment and athi. Also stupid that his mom hears so much about Yogi yet can’t find him or there isn’t one photo of him to know that he is there. Both Chatrapathi and Yogi have the same storyline, boy looking for his mom and becomes a big don but difference is poles apart. Venu Madhav comedy scenes are the best in the movie and Sunil Chandramukhi Aparichitudu spoof is the best lmaooo. Ramana Gogula songs are the only highlight. Orori Yogi is all time classic and then Dolu Bhaja is great soothing hero intro song.
Rebel: already reviewed it, but Lawrence paihtyam peaks. Krishnam Raju Garu RIP, proved to be bad luck for Prabhas at the box office even though he delivered so many hits back in the day. No story, no comedy, no entertainment, only bad writing and forced scenes. Stephen Robert is heard the entire movie and symbolism is best in climax. Wears the same white suit his father died in to kill the villain. And does so. Tamannah overaction peaks in this movie. And then pre climax song Re re re re, Lawrence music direction. In Keka song, shoes themselves dance.
Saaho: not sure how Sujeeth got another chance and I fucking hate UV Creations so much. After Baahubali, most hyped film ever, perfect teaser and trailer and delivered a rod. Black box, another Agnythavaasi remake of Largo Winch, and zero logic. Illogical points aplenty.
Akhil: black people speak telugu, he does an operation on a rabbit and tells heroine he went to Harvard and she falls for him, cringe comedy with Brahmi, and then he fights a jaguar in the jungle. Rod max movie. Veligonda Srinivas should be ashamed of himself and Vinayak probably had to pay rent. Anoop Rubens and Thaman did their job with songs.
Hello: two 5 year old kids boy and girl hang out every single day like they are bf and gf, get separated, and then in interval his phone gets stolen, truck breaks down and amidst a million black phones he finds his. Why is Ajay in the movie? What does he even do. Then Akhil himself sings a song which was awful, and the. You’re telling me that nobody used the same fucking 20 rupees note for 20 years or whatever the fuck it was for that long? Illogical tot he core. Seenu or Pirya dont have jobs either so wtf do they do all day. I watched MCA and Hello the same day Christmas 2017. MCA got bad reviews and Hello got good reviews. But after watching both movies it was clear why MCA was a blockbuster and why Hello was a disaster. Anoop Rubens music was good and have break to Armaan Malik with title song.
Mr Majnu: artificial illogical stuff, to get stop getting expelled he sleeps with the school dean, is a playboy, and finally finds Niddhi Agerwal, it was good for about 15 minutes and could have delved on difficulties about modern day relationships well. But it never gets there and becomes preachy and boring. Illogical and stupid to the core. Thaman music tried his best but not enough. And then hero and heroine are both stupid. Nobody would want a GF like Nikki, She has negative IQ.
Most Eligible Bachelor:t was Pooja Hegde mass. But her character is so stupid. Her jeans have hahaha written on them. Best standup comedian ever. Jokes were unforgettable. JK they were so fucking stupid. Aa romance endo, cinema yendo, and then proposal golf. The girl is Neha Shetty from DJ Tillu. So stupid. Then the same girl invites her to the wedding and movie is so preachy
Josh - Shiva movie as it is teedam sir with chay
Ra Randoi Veduka Choodam - Sir as it is Ninne Pelladatha teedam with Chay
Johnny: PK directorial debut, couldn’t even finish it, but as usual Ramana Gogula did his job, when I was a kid Naaraku Naraazu Annayya was a rage. Ee Reyi Theeyanadi is also a classic.
Bangaram: Directed by Tamil fame Dharani and I like Tamil directors but they always stamp their paithyam all over Telugu films. An underage girl gets married or some shit, and then villain only says one thing aa mate Nuvvu yenduku seputhunnav, aa mate Nuvvu seppakoodadu, then in interval he screams and and the earth shatters, gets on a buffalo and rides it and interval card. Superstar composer Vidyasagar much like Mani Sharma was for Mahesh Babu, made Vijay’s musical career, the only person who did his job properly. Jai Shambho and Egire Chilakamma are still bangers.
Puli: SJ Suryah paithyam, hero intro is so trolly worthy, Manoj Bajpai is always shouting for no reason and looks like a joker with white mustache and goatee, one love BGM entire movie, so badly written and directed, karthavayaniki meere devudulu, shouting for no reason, and then they’re in Hyd one scene and then next scene Malaysia. No sync at all. Climax is highlight when Pawan kalayn is getting zapped and screams amma. His mom screams and then PK tears becoming an earthquake and too fan at the same time. Huge wind blows and everybody goes flying.
Sardaar Gabbar Singh: Pk fans said maa Anna nadichosthe chaalu, well he walked and delivered an utter flop. Literally does everything and sways on wooden horses in middle of the street, dances for no reason with his red scarf, and the comedy with Brahmi is so bad. DSP is the only person who did his job: Tauba Taub, Nee Cheppkallu, and O Pilla Subhanallah are good. Otherwise another mark rod with story and screenplay by PK. Sangeet scene is an insult to Antyakshari scene from the first movie. Also Sampath Nandi was the director at first and was attached for 2 years until he got replaced by Bobby. Rest is history.
Katamarayudu: Already dubbed Veeram into telugu as Veeruduokkade and it didn’t run, PK made the same movie again wit Shruthi Hassan and Siva Balaji, AJay, Kamal Kamaraju, and Venu Madhav said he was giving a comeback with the movie but I guess they deleted his scenes. First scene he stomps and a jeep goes flying into the air, cringe comedy, PK look is so bad, and comedy is awful. Just a very outdated movie,
Agnythaavasi: Really don’t want to slander Trivikram, but it had the potential for e great film with the storyline but Trivikram did everything but that. Said we will see nata viswaroopam. It backfired so badly, Heroines were worst and the tactics Pawan Kalyan uses to romance both of them are so bad. Hard to believe the movie turned out that bad. That too a 25th movie. Nice production values were the only good thing. A good album went to waste and theyre so bad on screen. No comedy, no story, basically no entertainment. I was supposed to watch it but thankfully escaped.
Vakeel Saab: I’m not woke at all and I was hyped to see PK back after 3 years gap. But the movie was so badly directed by Venu Sriram. Not a single scene had any proper impact or anything. All I liked was PK, the fights and the BGM specifically the train one but the court scenes seemed like a parody to me and it was more like a fish market more than anything. Got a headache.
DJ:Allu Arjun stated its harder to make DJ than it is to make titanic because telugu cinema makes multi genre films. Silly plot, Subbaraju worst comedy, and zero logic, Oh bhasya he says it everytime and comedy is somewhat funny but movie makes no sense. Allu Arjun fans claim he did a better job than NTR in Adhurs. NTR in Adhurs is an iconic performance. Allu Arjun is a great actor but he didn’t suit this role at all. Felt forced and not natural like NTR. Pooja Hegde and songs were the only good part.
Naa Peru Surya - hero has problems, then he goes to his dad for therapy, he’s still angry, has sex with GF, he’s still mad, Why is Boman Irani even in the movie?
Andariki Namaskaram! Welcome to a new series for the next few weeks.
To clear out all the trash, we've decided to recap all the rod movies so we can focus on actually reviewing good stuff for the future.
The movies we will be talking today are as follows:
Vamsi - saw it on Youtube in 2011 I think, notable for being directed by G Gopal and Krishna comes in the movie out of nowhere in the last 30 mins. Two models are in NZ and some weird stuff is going on. Well at least MB met his wife and they have been happily married ever since. Music by Mani Sharma is the only notable thing. ABC Daatindo, Koyilamma, and Oho Soniya are notable.
Bobby - Saw it on YouTube in 2011, Romeo and Juliet the greatest love story ever apparently of course by Shakespeare, MB in Romeo, Aarti Agarwal is Juliet, and Meyer Ramesh acting debut he is Mercution, Romeo best friend. I remember the opening scene where both of them die in a bomb blast. Gave away the ending in the bomb blast. Director is Varsham movie director Sobhan. Music by Mani Sharma is obviously the only good thing about it. Ee Jenda, Adugadugugu, and Vaa Vaa are the best songs.
Naani - saw it in 2005 on VHS, ripoff of Tom Hanks Big, kid is the kid, MB is tom hanks, and Raghuvaran is the professor. Weird movie and no plot, no story, no direction. Haven’t rewatched. Dont know whether I should be grateful or dislike SJ Suriya because he gave us Kushi but cheated MB and PK fans with naani and Puli. In tamil he was the hero with Simran and that became a hit while this left a bad mark on Telugu audience.Waste of Ameesha Patel as well. AR Rahman music lasted the test of time and myf favorite is Vastha Nee Venuka. Lot of folks love Pedavale Palakina Maata and then of course Naani Vayase 24. Also a deleted item song with Ramya Krishna and MB called Markendeya, Veturi wrote the lyrics and its; available on YouTube
Athidhi - first movie of Mahesh Babu I watched in theaters. Overly long unkempt hair on MB sucked. And now whenever I hear Kaiser, all I can think of is Murali Sharma. Ashish Vidyarthi went to the barber shop and said Anna I want to look like Bob Marley, barber said done. Worst comedy getup. Songs by Mani Sharma are the only plus, Favorite is Khiladi Khoona and Valla Valla. Will say climax acting by MB is better than most heroes entire careers.
Spyder - biggest robbery of MB career, Muruganolan dimpina rod, sure the villain’s characterization was more powerful but a poor rip off of the Dark Knight, ladies scene, that too he spies on other people’s conversations sitting in the basement of a building, boulder scene, villain sadism scene, ladies scene, Haali Haali song before is my favorite song in Telugu cinema ever, then hero stalks heroine, she has a porn addiction and she’s so stupid, there’s 0 chemistry, and then he gets a rod pierced through him, they call somebody to come and take it, and most of all the fights are all in Boom Boom song with such cringeworthy dance steps. Worst screenplay, and direction, idk how people like this movie. That too the robotic Spyder in the teaser is not in the movie. There’s no relation between title and movie. Rod. First premiere show I’ve been to and what a one to go for.
Orange - seen the movie 4 times, I still don’t understand, my friend claims Nagababu is the hero of the movie lmao. Whatever Bhaskar was trying to say didn’t translate on screen at all. Songs, songs, and songs. Greatest album of 2010-2019 decade easily. Everybody loves the songs. Genelia character worst. It was a bold move by Charan to take up a subject like that too after Magadheera. But it got lost in translation literally. Well at least they showed Australia nicely. Def better than Mr. Perfect.
Zanjeer/Toofan - saw it in theaters rip, I don’t remember much except being hyped for Mumbai Ke Hero song and it was Ram Charan Bollywood debut and he got roasted by Bollywood critics, media, and audience for single expression acting.
Govindudu Andarivadele - Kajal mass, rest rip.
Credits
Banner: Arka Mediaworks
Cast: Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu, Anushka, Nagayya, Manoj Bajpai, Deeksha Seth, Lekha Washington, Siya Gowtam, Satyam Rajesh, Brahmanandam, Saranya, Ravi Prakash, Pruthvi, Posani Krishna Murali, Krish (guest) etc
Music: MM Keeravani
Cinematography: VS Gnana Sekhar
Editing: Shravan Katikaneni
Fights: Ram - Lakshman
Art Direction: Rajiv Nayyar
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Radha Krishna (Krish)
Producer: Prasad Devineni & Shobu Yarlagadda Release date: June 4th 2010
Saw it on DVD in 2012 and was like wow what a movie. Aged very well as the themes explored and narrative is unique and will always last the test of time. Realized it was a movie about humanity and loved it because it was unlike anything I had ever seen at that point. Such a different and engrossing Telugu movie at that point of time.
Interesting Facts Link: https://www.idlebrain.com/movie/postmortem/vedam.html
Writing/Direction: Everything is brilliant except climax, seems to be inspired from 26/11 attacks and feels out of place. Could have concluded the movie differently instead of a dark climax but I guess it was done intentionally.
All the 5 characters are introduced and most of all screenplay/script is pacy and entertaining. Hyperlink type cinema or anthology movie linking all the stories into one narrative or multiple parallel stories into one. Krish did an excellent job.
So many threads in the movie and each and every character gets their own arc and they are concluded
Cable Raju feels helpless but finally stops living a lie and accepts his fate and dies a hero
Vivek wants to treat humans as humans and just be the way he is. He also dies a hero because its in his family blood
Qureshi using non violence saves Ravi Prakash’s life despite all the prejudice and discrimination shown towards him. Because humanity is above all religion, hate, etc.
Ramulu is in a helpless situation and gets his money stolen but eventually gets it back and his grandson is able to go to school and help the family. Wherever the movie started, it also ends in the same place
Saroja just wants to be freed from the prostituon ring and live a free life. She finally runs away and is finally a free bird.
Entire movie is like a social commentary on humanity. That’s why I love it.
Heart touching scenes:
Allu Arjun giving the money back to Ramulu
Anuskha begging the doctor to sell her body
Climax scene
When Raviprakash apologizes to Qureshi
Cable Raju death scene
Last shot of Seenu and Ramulu Patel letting them go
Direction is excellent for the most part. The best film of Krish I feel. So different, against the grain, and ahead of it’s time. Everything about the movie especially story, performances, and theme about humanity are all so well done.
Explored themes of money through Allu Arjun, religion and caste through Manoj Bajpai and Ravi Prakash, and humanity through all of the characters actions resulting in a heart touching and emotional climax.
Prostitutes are looked down upon in society but Anuskha’s character arguably speaks the most facts in the entire film. Especially about Posani.
Banner: Shri Shailendra cinemas
Cast: Nani, Hari priya, indu Madhavi, Rao Ramesh, Nagineedu, Srini Avasarala, MS Narayana, Sameer, Dhanraj, Jai Venu, Thagubothu Ramesh, Raghu Karumanchi, Ranadhir, Vennela Kishore, Dr. Siva Prasad, Subhashini, Satya,
Music: Selva Ganesh Cinematography: Sai Sriram
Dialogues: Chandra Sekhar Art: Mani Varma Editing: Praveen Pudi Story - screenplay - direction: Ashok G Producer: DS Rao
Release date: October 14th, 2011
Interesting Facts
Watched it in 2014 on Youtube, I was like how did I miss this amazing movie for so long. And over the years it has become one of my favorite movies. When I’m bored I watch the comedy scenes from time to time.
Nani said director Ashok came to meet me and narrated a different story to me at the time. I like his narration style, felt he will be a good director, I couldn’t do that story because I felt that situation and time, that story was not right for me and I shouldn’t it. But if I said I won’t do it, he will feel bad. So I asked him if he has anything else. He met me after 1 week and told me Pilla Zamindar. I said yes right away. Sometimes we crave for scripts that have everything we are looking for. And Sometimes we get lucky. My gut feeling was this is going to hit the bullseye.
Generally when making a film you feel that there could be some improvements. For Pilla Zamindar, the movie came out better than I had expected.
Selvaganesh music director, also worked for Bheemili Kabbadi Jattu, Sai Sriram was the cinematographer who later on worked for F3 worked recently.
Bindhu Madhavi and Kannada heroine were selected as female leads. Filming started in October 2010 and was planned for April 2011 but was postponed due to the 2011 Tollywood industry strike. Filming was completed in August 2011 and it released in October 2011. I remember I was in India during that time and there were a lot of bandhs back then.
Filmed majority in Hyderabad and Guntur the college portions. September 19, 2011 the audio was launched. Chief guest was SS Rajamouli while, Tarun, Uday Kiran, Varun Sandhesh and Nikhil.
Made 6 crores share at the box office and was a hit.
Comedy scenes list:
Rao Ramesh first meeting and talks
Store scene
Bathroom waiting scene
Cleaning the bathrooms and clothes
Ninna Monna tu kidar gaya re, MS Narayana, Meeru oka pani cheyandi, Telugulo mataladaku pothe meeru kodutharu, hindi lo mataladaku pothe meerà kodutharu, ninna monna meerà teeskunna vellandi, kidar gaya re ani meeeru teesukunni vellandi, mammalni ila vodileyandi sir
Veedutho yenti Chattha discussion
Ghost story with Sathya
Sindhu exam writing scene, Shakespeare Hamlet gurunchi telusa, helmet telusu, ommelette telusu, RK Narayan raa intiki pakka nun gurunchi telusu, Paradise lost, paradise biryani telusu
Buffalo scene
Interval scene when the debris falls on his hands - choodandi sir see dabba nah chuthulu ni jeevitham ni naasanam chesindi
Vennela Kishore scenes in 2nd half
Heart touching scenes:
Kannababu parents scene
Dhanraj father death scene
Entire Thalabadi song
Climax twist
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Cast: Prabhas, Kajal Agarwal, Tapsee, Prakash Raj, K Viswanath, Murali Mohan, Nassar, Sayaji Shinde, Brahmanandam, Raghubabu, Master Bharat, Sameer, Kasi Viswanath, Raja Ravindra, Kaushal Prasad, Krishnudu, Subbaraya Sharma, Pragati, Tulasi, Rajitha, Sagar, Satyadev Kancharana
Music: Devi Sri Prasad Cinematography: Vijay K Chakravarthy
Art: Ravinder Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh Fights: Peter Heins Screenplay: Hari Dialogues: Abburi Ravi Story - Direction: K Dasaradh Producer: Dil Raju Release date: 22 April 2011
Interesting Facts Links:
https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/dilraju-mrperfect.html
Prabhas and Dil Raju Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB91VMM9fdk&ab_channel=PrabhasGirlsFC
The basic story idea was born out of the discussions I had with Sirivennela during the lyrics discussion for Parugu movie. I opined that Dasarath could do justice to this kind of script and called him. I asked him to work on this story idea. I liked the way Dasarath contributed to the story and wanted to make a film of 7 to 8 crores budget with a small hero. I explained the story idea casually to Prabhas when I met him. He asked me about the director and I told him that it was dasarath. Prabhas was not excited about the director. I asked Prabhas if would like to get a narration. He was in Malaysia to shoot for Billa (it was in the year 2008). I sent Dasarath across. Prabhas got excited about the first half and expressed doubts regarding a few aspects in the second half. We had worked on those aspects. Prabhas had returned to India in February of 2009, listened to the second half and okayed it.
Lot of my well-wishers and distributors questioned my judgment when I hired Dasarath to direct this film. I introduced several directors to film industry like Sukumar, Boyapati Seenu, Bommarillu Bhaskar, Vamsi Paidipally, Vasu Varma and Srikanth Addala. I liked the approach of Dasarath and wanted him to direct the movie. He has done complete justice to the script.
However, I had taken the best of technicians who worked for me in the past. Devi Sri Prasad composes music for my banner after a gap of 4 years (after Bommarillu). Abburi Ravi pens dialogues after Bommarillu in our banner. Vijay Chakravarthy who worked for my films like Bommarillu and Parugu has done cinematography. Peter Heins is composing fights.
Nobody had expectations on Mr. Perfect till the music was launched. The visuals and trailers have fetched lot of good will and craze in the market. The music composed by Devi Sri Prasad became an instant hit. People and distributors started taking notice of the film and there is very good buzz in the market for Mr. Perfect now.
Actually what happened was they filmed the entire movie from March 2010 to March 2011. But Prabhas watched the final copy and felt the output wasn’t like what Dasardh narrated. He told Dil Raju and he and Prabhas sat in the editing room and on Prabhas’s suggestion, they shot the entire 2nd half again within one month with limited resources and cast dates finalized. That’s probably why the 2nd half feels so weird and cheap production values due to limited time.
90% of it was shot in outdoor locations like Australia, Malaysia, Pollachi, Kerala, Ahobilam etc.
29 crores share and was a super hit at the box office made on a budget of 16 crores. 2nd highest grosser of 2011 after Dookudu
Banner: Sumanth Arts
Cast: Siddartha, Trisha, Srihari, Veda, Santoshini, Nandita, Prakash Raj, Sunil, Tanikella Bharani, Giri Babu, Parachuri Venkateswara Rao, Geeta, Jayaprakash Reddy, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Chandra Mohan, Narsingayadav, Narra Venkateswara Rao, Abhishek, Raghubabu, Sana, Pavala Syamala, Master Nandu, Gundu Hanmantha Rao
Story: Veeru Potla
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry
Cinematography: Venu Gopal
Editing: KV Krishna Reddy
Fights: Vijayan
Choreography: Prabhu Deva & Vishnu Deva
Producer - Screenplay: MS Raju
Direction: Prabhudeva
Release date: 14th January 2005
Interesting Facts:
In 2004, while filming the song Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana in Varsham movie, MS Raju was watching the song and Prabhudeva was the choreographer. He felt that there is storytelling in the song itself. Gave Prabhudeva a chance to direct. 8 years dream to become a director. Next movie director is you.
Action thriller subject at first Prabhudeva narrated, then MS Raju said lets try do a love story or family movie because Okkadu and Varsham were action films. MS Raju’s writer Veeru Potla said a line. Both MS Raju and Prahbudeva liked. MS Raju said please develop it and in Pragathi Resorts within 70 days, Veeru Potla finished the story.
Parachuri brothers wrote the dialogues and MS Raju handled screenplay, Trisha was cast as she was in the mind of the makers, auditions with everybody but didnt like anybody, Uday Kiran was also considered but Prabhudeva suggested Siddarth’s name, did a look test and he was selected. For brother character, Veeru Potla suggested Srihari, Srihari heard the narration and accepted it.
DSP and Malayalam cinematographer Venugopal, May 14th, 2004 opening muhurtham same day & date when Okkadu and Varsham were launched. Budget was 2.5 crores and planned for Dussera 2004.
Filmed in Araku Valley and surroundings, Annapurna Studios, and then Ramanaidu Studios. Filmed in 100 working days and budget went to 4 crores.
Titled was Oh Prema Nuvvostanante Nenuoddantana, but MS Raju suggested the change to NVNV, released with 90 prints, clashed with Naa Allude. That was a disaster. Decent openings, then word of mouth picked up and it became a blockbuster.
Struck a chord with people for the beautiful love story and sister sentiment. Sirivennela read the script 10 times before writing the songs. Gave a break to Srihari as a character artist and Siddarth got his breakthrough in Telugu cinema.
Released with 90 prints and increased to 160 prints later on, 50 days in 80 centers, 100 days in 35 centers, 24 cross gross and 16 crores share, blockbuster at the box office. Sankranthi winner 2005.
Remade in 9 languages highest ever for any film in Indian film history and won 9 Filmfare Awards, the highest ever for any South Indian Film
FIRST TELUGU MOVIE TO WIN AN OSCAR LET'S F GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
CREDITS
Cast: Ram Charan, Jr, NTR, Ajay Devgan (Special Appearance), Alia Bhatt, Samuthrikani, Olivia Morris, Alison Doody, Ray Stevenson, Shriya Saran (Special Appearance), Chatrapathi Shekar, Rajeev Kanakala
Line Producer: MM Srivalli
Second Unit Director: SS Karthikeya
Story by: K.V. Vijayendra Prasad
Dialogues by: Sai Madhav Burra
Screenplay - Direction by: SS Rajamouli
Music: M.M. Keeravani
Cinematography: KK Senthil Kumar
Editing: A. Sreekar Prasad
Costume Designer: Rama Rajamouli
Production Design: Sabu Cyril
Producer: DVV Danayya
Banner: DVV Entertainments
Release Date: March 25, 2022
Interesting Facts
November 18th, 2017 Rajamouli posted a picture on twitter the famous photo of him Tarak and Charan on the couch.
November 19th, 2018 filming officially starts in Hyderabad.
March 14th, 2019 press meet is held announcing the release date of July 30th, 2020
Daisy Edgar Jones who is now a new star in Hollywood was the original choice, for Jenny, she was in Normal People with Paul mescal and When the Crawdads Sing, then it went to Olivia Morris.
Then suddenly pandemic hit and the first promotional video was dropped during March 27th, 2020 when everything was officially shut down with Bheem for Ram video.
October 22nd, 2020 for Komaram Bheem’s birthday they released Bheem’s teaser
Note: Half the visuals in both the teasers didnt make the final cut, Ramaraju teaser the entire forest bit with the torch and arrows, meditation, Bheem version the spear throwing, tidal wave, holding the flag, holding the sankelu,
Release date went from July 30th, 2020 to Jan 14th, 2021, then October 13, 2021 then Jan 7th, 2022 then finally March 25th, 2022 it saw the light of day.
Was supposed to be quickest Rajamouli film but took 320 working days.
Interval scene was filmed for 65 nights, costed 75 lakhs per day adding up to 48 crores in total.
Final budget was 550 crores or about 75 mil USD, most expensive Indian film of all time due to delays, interest, and working days.
Success in USA: released on Netflix in May 2022, On 1 June 2022, RRR was screened in over 100 theaters across the United States for a one night event called "#encoRRRe" The film was re-released by Variance Films and Potentate Films, in association with its original distributors — Sarigama Cinemas and Rafter Creations.
Sold out reception and the rest is history. Audience owned it and word of mouth spread and somehow we are now global. A lifelong dream growing up is now a reality thanks to the western audience.
Surreal to see Ram Charan, Rajamouli, and NTR in the same space as so many Hollywood legends. And two of the most iconic directors of all time especially the two most successful commercial movie directors in Spielberg and James Cameron appreciating the movie. You feel like it’s a dream.
Credits
Banner: RR Movie Makers
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kajal Agarwal, Prakash Raj, Sayaji Shinde, Dharmavarupu. Nassar, Raza Murad, Brahmaji, Master Akash, Bharat Reddy, Bandla Ganesh
Music: Thaman Cinematography: Sam K Naidu
Art Direction: Chinna
Editing: SR Shekar
Action: Vijay
Lyrics: Bhaskarbhatla
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Puri Jagan Producer: Dr. Venkat Release date: January 13th, 2012
Saw it in theaters for Sankranthi, it was Housefull, interestingly the one Mahesh Babu movie to not make $1 mil in USA probably due to the content it only made $831,895.00, I remember those were the days because Dookudu had just come out and became a blockbuster and Mahesh babu fans were already hype because Businessman was filming and confirmed for Sankranthi 2012, just 3 months after.
Teaser came out, Ila round up chesi confuse cheyyadu, confusion lu ekkuva kottesthanu, hype was at the max. Then trailer came out and increased expectation. I personally loved the movie but it has a few flaws which I’ll explain later.
Interesting Facts
- RGV signed Suriya for the movie titled The Businessman after Raktha Charithra directed by Puri Jagan but due to dates clash with 7th sense which was filming at the same time
- Puri then took the same story to Mahesh Babu and Mahesh didn’t even listen to the narration, he said yes on the spot. Then he read the script and in Jan 2011, the movie as announced
- Shruthi Hassan was the first choice for female lead and they did a look test but didn’t like it so they went ahead with Kajal Aggarwal
- Due to MB characterization, Puri Jagan didn’t want to cast Brahmi or Ali in the movie
- Movie was filmed in 74 working days. Filming started on September 2nd, 2011 and ended on December 10th, 2011. It is the fastest shot star hero Telugu movie in the last decade and record for a Mahesh babu movie
- Filming was done in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Spain, Goa, and Bangkok
- Back then there was huge controversy because it got A certificate with numerous visual blurs that most movies get a pass on. Censor Board was overly harsh with it
- Thaman was selected without Dookudu even being released only Nee Dookudu and Guruvaram were recorded at the time. He was sitting with Mahesh Babu in Sea Princess Hotel Mumbai, World Cup semifinal India vs Australia in 2011, during the match break called him and said you’re doing Businessman as well. Remains first and only collaboration between Thaman and Puri Jagan. Thaman worked for all of 19 days for Businessman, songs and BGM.
- First Telugu movie to release in 1000 screens.
- Collected 42 crores share and was a hit at the box office.
Credits
Banner: SSC Arts
Cast: Sumanth, Kamalinee Mukherjee, Neetu Chandra, Kamal Kamaraju, Tanikella Bharani and others
Music: KM Radha Krishnan
Cinematography: Vijay C Kumar
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Lyrics: Veturi
Choreography: Swarna
Action: Ram Lakshman
Graphics: Firefly Studio
Executive Producer & Cheif Co-director: Anish Kuruvilla
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Sekhar Kammula
Producer: GVG Raju
Release Date: May 16th, 2006
Writing/Direction: Writing is great, feel good factor, progressive in the sense of not caving into Indian societal standards, and chemistry between the leads is great. Beautiful, natural conversations and its really how you fall in love by spending extensive amount of time with someone. More than that, you’re in the same place and getting to know each other and being vulnerable with each other, attraction is bound to happen.
They also support each other in a healthy relationship. There’s also toxic relationships present here in the form of Raji and Ravi. Ravi is controlling, gaslights her, and doesn’t respect her wishes. Raji is most fickle character.
But the movie has an undeniable charm and feel good factor to it which makes it watchable.
Pacing is very good up until the treasure hunt part and then it dips severely. Dog comedy is cringe, liked it when I was young but the VFX is so bad.
Direction is excellent except the last 30 minutes which extended the runtime and dragged I felt. Other than that, one of Shekar Kammula’s best works.
Symbolism is there in the sense that the boat has a Sita and Ram statues always decorated sort of implying Ram and Sita love story on the boat and then the parrot scene symbolizes that Ram ran away or is going to just like that man’s parrot which leads to Sita’s heartbreak as well as the man’s heartbreak.
Technicalities
Music by KM Radhakrishanan is CLASSIC. All the songs are fire and favorites are Uppongele Godavari and Manasa Gelupu Neede raa.
Veturi’s lyrics of Upppongele Godavari and Manasa Gelupu are OUTSTANDING
Cinematography by Vijay C Kumar is excellent. Beautifully captured the Godavari river and Papikondalu.
Art Direction by Kishore Chowski is excellent. The design of the boat and the ambience is a feast for the eyes as well as the decorations for the songs.
Credits
Banner: Sri Sravanthi Movies
Cast: Ram, Genelia, Brahmanandam, Sunil, Jayaprakash Reddy, Supreet, Shafi, Bharat, Kota, Nassar, Chandra Mohan, Tanikella Bharani, Srinivasa Reddy, Ravi Varma, MS Narayana, Sudha, Vidya, Surekha, Apoorva, Tamanna (SA) & Navadeep (SA),
Music: Devi Sri Prasad Dialogues: Kona Venkat Cinematography: Prasad Murella Stunts: Peter Hynes Editing: M R Varma Art: AS Prakash Choreography: Sankar, Suchitra Chandrabose & Prem Rakshit Story: Gopi Mohan Screenplay - direction: Seenu Vytla Producer: Sravanthi Ravi Kishore Release date: 19 June 2008
Interesting Facts
- Movie made on a budget of 8 crores and it made 18 crores share collections becoming a blockbuster at the box office.
- We worked over nine months for Ready. It is essentially a love story with the backdrop of college, urban and rural family, road journey and forest. The story takes place in a span of 3 months. This film flashes through action, entertainment and romance and has the stamina to impress the universal audience.
- Dhee and Dubai Seenu films are more like action entertainers. I wanted to do a love story like Anandam with a DDLJ kind of good family values. I loved the subject when writer Gopi Mohan narrated me the first half of the film. I told him that most of my films were suffering with not-so-good second half syndrome. I told that him that we would not start the project unless the second half is properly worked on. Then he brought a new perspective to the second half and it was exciting. Kona Venkat and Gopi Mohan suggested that I should do this script with a big hero. Dubai Seenu was such a combination proposal king of a film which was done in a hurry. I wanted an apt actor for this subject instead of a big hero. And I had Ram in my mind. I suggested his name to them. At that same time, Sravanthi Ravi Kishore offered to produce a film with me. I told Sravanthi Ravi Kishore that our kind of filmmaking would come with a contrast and that I wanted the film to be done in my way and with my team. He gladly accepted. He also gave us complete freedom. I could convert the script into a celluloid bonanza.
- The runtime came out to be 2 hours and 45 minutes. We shot the film for 115 working days. Incidentally, Ready is the film that took most number of working days of all my films. It is due to the huge casting involving various character artists and comedians.
- Genelia’s energy is endless. Actually, YVS Chowdary wanted to bring Genelia as my heroine in Devadas. Even for Jagadam, we tried. On both occasions, we didn’t get her. Coming to ready, we didn’t think of any other alternative. We were completely focused on Genelia, only Genelia. She is the most professional actress I have ever seen, both as an actor and part of the production. Her interest in flawless modulation is amazing. Unlike other heroines who just do it away with lip sink, she takes extra care for perfection - Ram
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Cast: Siddarth, Genelia, Prakash Raj, Kota, Jayasudha, Sunil, Satya Krishnan, Sudeepa, Dharmavarapu, Surekha Vani, Chitram Seenu, Vijay, Ravi Varma, Neha, Brahmanadham, Tanikella Bharani
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Dialogues: Abburi Ravi
Lyrics: Sirivennela, Chandrabose, Bhaskarabhatla, Kula Sekhar, Anant Sreeram
Cinematography: Vijay K Chakravarthy
Art Direction: AS Prakash
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Story - screenplay - direction: Bhaskar
Producer: Dil Raju
Release Date: 9th August 2006
Interesting Facts
- This story point was conceived by me when I was in film institute. It started with the thread of a small communication gap between father and son. Then the idea of making girl stay in boy’s place for seven days. And the rolling titles. After that I did not give a serious thought about developing this story idea into a script. But Sukumar had always been reminding me to develop this story idea. I told him that some flavor was missing. Later on I decided on the characterization of heroine. The heroine’s characterization excited me a lot. Vasu (co-director of VV Vinayak) helped me a lot with this script as Sukumar is busy with another film. Myself and Vasu developed the first version of the script and narrated it to Dil Raju. It excited him
- Allu Arjun was the first choice for the movie but it didn’t work out
- Genelia was cast after seeing the rushes of Happy movie
- Climax was shot in a single take in 45 minutes and the team set the mood for the day for making sure there was pin drop silence on set and they started filming at 3:30 PM that day. Bhaskar said his hands were shaking and tears came from his eyes when seeing the monitor. Didn’t even say cut and just walked out of the room in emotion
- Sathi oka Manchi panodu character was created by Abburi Ravi actually
- Filmed in 108 working days
- Bhaskar decided on the gown for Genelia’s wardrobe. When it comes to Siddharth we concentrated mostly on striped and checked shirts. We gave him checked shirts when he was in a dilemma and striped shirts when he was confident.
- Filmed on Arri 435 with Hawk Lenses
- Budget was 6 crores, it made 25 crores share and was a blockbuster. Made 3.5 crores ($525,000) at the USA box office and was the highest all time grosser at the time beating Pokiri which made 2.5 crores ($375,000)
Credits
Banner: Vyjayanthi Movies
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, Arti Agrawal, Prakash Raj, Allu Rama Lingaiah, Mukesh Rishi, Punit Issar, Sunil, S.P. Balasubrahmnayam (cameo), Brahmanandam, Tanikella Bharani, M.S. Narayana, A.V.S., Sivaji, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Ahuthi Prasad, Vinaya Prasad, Raza Murad, Raja Ravindra
Music: Mani Sharma
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Art: Ashok Kumar
Cinematography: VSR Swamy
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Lyrics: Veturi, Kula Sekhar, Bhuvana Chandra & Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry
Fights: Vikram Dharma
Story: Chinni Krishna
Screenplay - Direction: B Gopal
Producer: Aswini Dutt
Release date: 24th July 2002
Interesting Facts
- Since Gharana Mogudu in 1992, no industry hits for Chiru. He had been going a phase of family entertainers like Bavagaru Bagunarra, Choodalani Vundi, Sneham Kosam, Iddari Mithurulu Annayya, Mrugaraju, Sri Manjunatha, Daddy,
- Fans wanted an out and out mass commercial movie so Chiru called up Aswini Dutt to ready a story, take your time no rush,
- Aswini Dutt told story writer Chinni Krishna if he has anything for Chiru, Chinni Krishna said he has something in Kasi backdrop with factionism for Chiru, will be new to him, narrated it for 1 hour
- Chiru had doubts because didn’t know if it would suit him as Balayya has already scored two industry hits with same faction backdrop but said ok
- Originally they thought of having Jayant C Parajanji but felt B Gopal was a better choice and he and Chiru met. They collaborated for Mechanic Alludu before and it didnt work out. So he said I will give you blockbuster this time
- Parachuri Brothers, Chinni Krishna, B Gopal, and Aswini Dutt spent 2 months in Kasi in a hotel and finished the script in 2 months
- Thought of Simran but back to back flops, they went with Aarti Agarwal, Sonali bendre was cast by Aswini Dutt, Venkat, Srikanth were considered before Sivaji was finalized
- Recorded 11 songs and kept best 6. Mani Sharma was unavailable to record Ayyo Ayyo due to yearly Switzerland trip so RP Patnaik was brought in to compose it
- October 2001 filming started: Kasi, RFC, yemmiganur and Adoni they filmed songs along with Switzerland/Europe for Dayyi Day Dhamma and Ayyo Ayyo
- Budget was 7 crores excluding Chiru salary and he took 25% of the profit sharing
- First movie to collect more than 25 crores share in TFI history and collected 28 crores share and first movie to collect 40 crores gross, all time industry hit until Pokiri
- 50 days in 156 centers, 100 days in 120 centers, 125 days in 53 centers, 175 days in 32 centers, 235 days in Adoni,
Credits
Banner: Suresh Productions
Cast: Victory Venkatesh, Simran, K Viswanath, Ranganath, Sriihari, Rallapalli, C.R. Vijayakumari, Annapurna, Ramaprabha, Brahmanandham, Ali, AVS, Ahuthi Prasad, MS Narayana, Achyuth, Raja Ravindra, Gautam Raju, Gundu Hanumanta Rao, Sudha, Vinaya Prasad, Sana, Master Teja Sajja
Story: Deenraj & Udayasankar
Script: Parachuri Brothers
Fights: Kanal Kannan
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Lawrence, Ganesh, Harish
Art Director: Ashok Kumar
Graphics: Deccan Dreams Animations (Suresh Productions PVT. LTD)
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh, Madhav. K
Cinematography: K. Ravindhra Babu
Music: S.A. Rajkumar
Producer: Suresh Babu
Screenplay & Direction: Udayasankar
Release Date: January 14th, 2000
Interesting Facts
- Made on a budget of 3.8 -4 crores and made 18 crores share and first movie to gross 25 crores gross both of which were all time records in Telugu cinema history
- Completed 100 days in 76 centers and 175 days in 14 centers both all time records, Ran for 100 days in 12 centers in Nizam, 200 days in 4 centers,
- Movie sold 2.5 crore tickets another all time record
- Venkatesh had 6 back to back hits until the streak was stopped with Seenu in 1999,
- Udayashankar travelled with Suresh Babu with 2 months, he made 1 movie in Tamil. Narrated the story to Suresh babu who liked it and asked him to developed it into a full script and he wrote the full script in 1 month
- Co written by Dheenaraj and dialogue version of the script was provided by Prarachuri Brothers
- Thought of Anjala Zhaveri and did a photoshoot but they didnt like it. Heroine Simran who had just done Samarasimha Reddy did a test shoot and was selected and her career took off after this and become a top heroine in Telugu cinema.
- Filming started in August 1999 and continuing raa sentiment for Venky, it was titled Kalisundam Raa
- Majorly filmed in Ramanaidu Studios the house sets, Rajahmundry and Pollachi and it was completed in 70 days
- Brought 25 elephants from Kerala for one scene.
- Filmed the songs Pacific Lo and Nuvve Nuvve Antu Naa Pranam in Switzerland
- Audio released in December 1999 and was a huge hit
Underrated list:
Viswa
Penchal Das
Kandikonda
Kulashekar
Peddada Murthy
Jonnavitula Ramalingeshwara Rao
Vanamali
Am Rathnam
Vennelakanti
Sahithi
Sira Sri
Krishna Chaitanya
Devi Sri Prasad
Rakendu Mouli
Rahul Ramakrishna
Varikapulla Yadagiri
ES Murthy
Kittu Vissagradaga
Kalyan Chakravarthy
Sanapati Bharadwaj Putrudu
MM Keeravani
Rehman
Credits
Banner: Chai Bisket Films, Lahari Films
Runtime: 123 minutes
Cast: Suhas, Tina Shilparaj, Ashish Vidyarthi, Rohini Molleti, Goparaju Ramana, Sri Gouri Priya
Music: Shekar Chandra and Kalyan Nayak
Cinematography: Venkat R Shakamuri
Editor: Kodati Pavan Kalyan, Siddhartha Thatholu
Production design: Yellayya S
Costumes: Rajini
Lyrics: Bhaskarabhatla
Story - direction: Shanmukha Prashanth
Producers: Anurag Reddy, Sharath Chandra and Chandru Manohar
Release date: 3 February, 2023
Interesting Facts:
- Team learned marketing strategy from Adivi Sesh for paid premieres, they put at least 28-30 premiere shows across the Telugu states for word of mouth talk
- Director Shamukha worked as an AD for Color Photo and writer for Family Drama and knew Suhas through that, and narrated the story to him, 20 mins narration to Anurag Reddy producer and he greenlit it, then a zoom call with Sharath Chandra and Chandru
- The climax was written first and the entire script was written around it.
- Story was written keeping Suhas’s strengths in mind, body language etc,
- Movie was filmed in Vijayawada
- Made on a budget of 3 crores and already made 10 crores gross, biggest low budget success in recent times.
Performances: Suhas, Rohini, Adhish Vidyarthi, and guy who plays his friend were excellent,
Writing/Direction: excellent but movie slows down completely during the 2nd half and only picks up during the last 20 mins. Climax is ultimate. Couldn’t stop crying and it’s a great message to society and everything else. Love Rohini Garu so much in movies like Chi La Sow, Rangasthalam, Sita Ramam, Virumaandi, and Ala Modalaindi.
Overall: heart touching, emotional, relatable, and funny, go and watch it, Beautiful family entertainer and these are the types of movies we need to support and watch if we want to grow as an industry.
Credits
Banner: Chai Bisket Films, Lahari Films
Runtime: 123 minutes
Cast: Suhas, Tina Shilparaj, Ashish Vidyarthi, Rohini Molleti, Goparaju Ramana, Sri Gouri Priya
Music: Shekar Chandra and Kalyan Nayak
Cinematography: Venkat R Shakamuri
Editor: Kodati Pavan Kalyan, Siddhartha Thatholu
Production design: Yellayya S
Costumes: Rajini
Lyrics: Bhaskarabhatla
Story - direction: Shanmukha Prashanth
Producers: Anurag Reddy, Sharath Chandra and Chandru Manohar
Release date: 3 February, 2023
Interesting Facts:
- Team learned marketing strategy from Adivi Sesh for paid premieres, they put at least 28-30 premiere shows across the Telugu states for word of mouth talk
- Director Shamukha worked as an AD for Color Photo and writer for Family Drama and knew Suhas through that, and narrated the story to him, 20 mins narration to Anurag Reddy producer and he greenlit it, then a zoom call with Sharath Chandra and Chandru
- The climax was written first and the entire script was written around it.
- Story was written keeping Suhas’s strengths in mind, body language etc,
- Movie was filmed in Vijayawada
Performances: Suhas, Rohini, Ashish Vidyarthi, and guy who plays his friend were excellent.
Writing/Direction: excellent but movie slows down completely during the 2nd half and only picks up during the last 20 mins. Climax is ultimate. Couldn’t stop crying and it’s a great message to society and everything else. Love Rohini Garu so much in movies like Chi La Sow, Rangasthalam, Sita Ramam, Virumaandi, and Ala Modalaindi and Ante Sundaraniki.
Overall: heart touching, emotional, relatable, and funny, GO AND WATCH IT! Beautiful family entertainer and these are the types of movies we need to support and watch if we want to grow as an industry. My hearty congratulations and thanks to the entire team for making such a beautiful film.
Credits
Banners: Mythri Movie Makers, GMB Entertainments
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Shruti Haasan, Jagapati Babu, Poorna (special appearance), Rajendra Prasad, Rahul Ravindran, Sampath Raj, Mukesh Rushi, Harish Uttaman, Vennela Kishore, Ali, Subbaraju, Kadambari, Edida Sreeram, Shravan, Sivaji Raja, Sitara, Tulasi, Sukanya, Sana etc.
Cinematography: Madhie
Editor: Kotagiri Venkateshwara Rao
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Lyrics: Ramajogayya Sastry
Action: Anal Arasu
Choreography: Raja Sundaram, Gayathri Raghuram & Prasanna
Art: AS Prakash
Story, dialogues, screenplay & Direction: Koratala Siva
Producers: Naveen Yerneni, Y. Ravi Shankar & Mohan (CVM)
Release date: 07 August, 2015
Interesting Facts
- Koratala Siva met Mahesh babu after Mirchi and narrated a story. He liked it and originally UTV productions were the movie producers and they announced the movie in October 2013. In march 2014 they backed out citing creative differences with Koratala Siva and then Mythri Movie Makers stepped in marking their debut in Telugu cinema
- Mahesh Babu agreed to co produce the movie and take profit share instead of remuneration.
- Gracy Singh, Nadhiya, and Sudha were offered Mahesh Babus mother but they declined and it went ti Sukanya
- Mahesh Babu’s palace in the movie was actually filmed in Malaysia
- Song Rama Rama was originally supposed to be shot outdoor location but due to seasonal weather being a factor, they shifted to indoors
- Shruthi Hassan’s dorm is filmed at RFC
- Art director AS Prakash created two Manduva house sets opposite each other in Ramoji film City and created a special lighting scheme with Madhie
- Ramajogayya Sastry single card movie with the exception of Charuseela
- Originally supposed to release July 17th, 2015 but after personal request from Show Yarlagadda and Rajamouli they released on august 7th
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Movie coined the term Non BB industry hit and was the first film to do so, since then Rangasthalam, AVPL
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Why It Worked: Movie sticks to the story and doesn’t deviate from that. Typical village savior movie but most of the tropes like separate comedy track, hacking goons, making villain bakras and uniting a families and waiting for the Devudu to come save them aren’t there. The movie keeps going as per story requirement. Negatives are the emotions aren’t as strong. Not sure if its the writing or the villainy, but you’re not as emotionally invested. Pacing and writing is superb.
Music: Mani Sharma all day, then DSP and Thaman, SA Rajkumar, Harris Jayaraj, Vivek Sagar
Cinematography: KV Guhan: Athadu, Jalsa, parts of Khaleja, Dookudu, Baadshah, SVSC, Aagadu, Naani, and Mister.
PS Vinod: debut with Panjaa, Manam, Oopiri, Dhruva, Soggade Chinni Nayana, Hello, Aravinda Sametha, AVPL, Vakeel Saab, Sita Ramam and waiting for SSMB28
KK Senthil Kumar: All Rajamouli movies except Simhadri, Student No1, Vikramarkudu and Maryada Ramanna, also did Golconda high School and Arundhati, only 17 movies,
Shyam K Naidu: 15 movies with Puri Jagan
Rathnavelu: Arya, Jagadam, 1 Nenokkadine, Rangasthalam, Brahmotsavam, Sarileru, Sye Raa, and Robo.
Art Directors/ Production Designers:
AS Prakash: Arya, Agnythaavasi, Aagadu, Bommarillu, Dubai Seenu, Kantri, Ready, Kotha Bangaru Lokam, King, Namo Venkatesa, Simha, Don Seenu, Ragada, 100% Love, Dookudu, Bodyguard, SVSC, Mirchi, Baadshah, Balupu, Masala, Aagadu, Mukunda, Srimanthudu, A Aa, Janatha Garage, Nenu Local, Jai Lava Kusa, Agnythaavasi, Aravinda Sametha, F2, Sarileru Neekevvaru, Ala Vaikunthapurramlo, Waltair Veerayya, Veera Simha Reddy, SSMB28
Thota Tharani: Arjun, Athadu, Mass, Leader, Life is Beautiful, Brahmotsavam, Khaidhi No 150, Sivaji the Boss,
Ashok Koralath: Indra, Kalisundam Raa, Okkadu, Darling, Arundhati, Takkari Donga, Jayam Mandera, Santosham, Bunny, Varsham, Shankar Dada MBBS,
Anand Sai: Brindavanam, Badrinath Temple set in Allu Arjun's Badrinath, Thammudu, Simhadri, Vaasu, Sye, Ashish Vidyarthi's house in Gudumba Shankar, Balu, the Warangal Fort recreated in Mahesh Babu's Sainikidu, Munna, the iconic contemporary mansion of Sanjay Sahu in Jalsa, Parugu, Khaleja, Adhurs, Shakthi, Dhammu, and Yevadu.
Raveendar: Magadheera, Nagineedu's house in Maryada Ramanna that Son of Satyamurthy? Bhagamathie Bungalow set which was built in just 29 days Vikramarkudu, Chatrapathi, Okkadunnadu, Rakhi, Pourudu, Goldconda High School, Mr Perfect, Oosaravelli, Sri Rama Rajyam, Oh My Friend, Rajanna, Eega, Attarintiki Daredi in Ramoji Film City, Oohalu Gusagusalade, Nannaku Prematho, Soggade Chinni Nayana, Gentleman, Duvvada Jagganadham, Mahanubhavudu, and Sammohanam, Radhe Shyam
Avinash Kolla: Krishagadi veera Prema Ghada, Major, Shyam Singha Roy, Jersey, looking forward to Dasara
Chinna: Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammayi, Shivamani, andhrawala, Super, Lakshmi, Pokiri, Yogi, Desamuduru, Chirutha, Bujjigaadu, Neninthe, Anjaneyulu, Ek Niranjan, Golimaar, Nenu Naa Rakshasi, Kandireega, Businessman, Devudu Chesina Manushulu, Cameraman Ganga Tho Rambabu, Ninnu Kori
Editors: A Sreekar Prasad is favorite: Annammaya, Nuvve Kavali, Nuvvu Naaku Nachav, Manmadhudu, Okkadu, Arjun, Malliswari, Gowri, Athadu, Jalsa, Khaleja, Panjaa, RRR
Navin Nooli: Rangasthalam, Ala Vaikunthapurramlo, first big movie was Govindudu Andari Vadele, Nannaku Prematho, Dhruva, Aravinda Sametha, Jersey, Gang Leader, Krack, Acharya, Bheemla Nayak, SSMB28
Marthand K Venkatesh: Pokiri and Kalisundam Raa, Preminchukundam Raa, Bavagaru Bagunarra, Ganesh, Tholi Prema, Thammudu, Raja, Seenu, Kalisundam Raa, Badri, Ninne Premistha, Aazad, Jayam Manaderaa, Daddy, Takkari Donga, Bobby, Idiot, Raghavendra, Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammayi, Vasantham, Shivamani, Arya, Andharawala, Venky, Nenunnanu, Pokiri, Shankar Dada MMBS, Bhadra, Super, Godavari, Thulasi, Desamuduru, Bommarillu, Munna, Happy Days, Parugu, Kantri, Bujjigadu, Brindavanam, Ragada, Orange, Mr Perfect, SVSC, Yevadu, and Geetha Govindam
Fight Masters: Vijayan: Okkadu, Arjun, Pokiri, Takkari Donga,
Anbariv: KGF and Vikram
Ram Lakshman: Krack fights
Vijay: Dookudu, Aagadu, Ragada, Kick, Businessman, Shivamani, Mass, Bheemla Nayak
Producers: Aswini Dutt, MS Raju, Dil Raju, S Radhakrishna, Shobu Yarlagadda, Sravanthi Ravi Kishore
Andariki Namaskaram! Today we are back with another movie discussion this time for Nagarjuna and Sreenu Vaitla's comedy entertainer King.
Today we have Pranav joining us once again to take a trip down memory lane and share our experiences for the movie. Hope you all enjoy and can relate!
Banner: Kamakshi Kala Movies
Cast: Nagarjuna, Trisha, Mamata Mohandas, Srihari, Deepak, Geetha, Brahmanandam, Sunil, MS Narayana, Krishna Bhagawan, Jayaparakash Reddy, Ajay, Surya, Chandra Mohan, Sayaji Shinde, Venu Madhav, Master Bharath, Fish Venkat, Duvvasi Mohan, Gowtham Raju, Sudha, AVS, Dharmavarupu, Supreeth, Srinivas Reddy, Jeev, Prudhviraj, Gundu Sudarshan, Banerjee, Sravan, Narsing Yadav, Chitram Seenu, Giridhar, Ranam Venu, Rama Chandar, Devadas Kanakala, Rajitha, Lakshmi Narasimha aka Tarzan, and Ramajogayya Sastry
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Lyrics: Ramajogayya Sastry
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Editing: MR Varma
Art: AS Prakash
Fights: Ram - Lakshman
Story: Gopi Mohan & Kona Venkat Dialogues: BVS Ravi Screenplay - direction: Seenu Vytla
Producer: D Sivaprasad Reddy Release date: 25 December 2008
Agenda:
1) First Impressions
2) How your liking towards it grew
3) Songs and Music
4) Writing and Direction
5) Deeper Meaning and Things you Noticed on rewatch
6) Why it will always be relevant
Topics:
- Uniqueness about Telugu cinema - commercial cinema blended with masala and emotions, can’t find it anywhere else
- Success of RRR in the West - reasons we think why
- Double Edged Sword - because no good commercial directors left
Early 2000-2010’s commercial movie directors: Muthyala Subbaiah, SS Rajamouli, Trivikram, Puri jagannadh, Boyapati Sreenu, Sukumar, VV Vinayak, Gopichand Malineli, Krishna Vamsi, Vamshi Padipally, Koratala Siva, VN Aditya, Dasaradh, Gunashekar, Veera Shankar, Veera Potla, Parasuram, Surender Reddy, Sreenu Vaita, Anil Ravipudi, Karunakaran, Sreekanth Addala,
2015: Muthyala Subbaiah, Puri jagannadh, VV Vinayak, Krishna Vamsi, Vamshi Padipally, Koratala Siva, VN Aditya, Dasaradh, Gunashekar, Veera Shankar, Veera Potla, Parasuram, Surender Reddy, Sreenu Vaita, Karunakaran, and Sreekanth addala everybody went to the shed and became outdated. They no longer have the same grip or creativity to make it big
Present Day: Rajamouli, Trivikram, Sukumar, the big 3, then Koratala Siva, Boyapati, Anil Ravipudi
So I feel bad that when the time Telugu cinema is peaking and getting global recognition for the first time, the amount of commercial movie directors that can appeal to Western audiences are basically nil. They know Rajamouli and these new age directors none of them are commercial movie directors at all and majority of them disappear after just one film
New age directors: Middle Class Melodies director Vinant Anantoju, Venkatesh Maha, Sankalp Reddy, Sudheer varma, Tharun Bhascker, Madha movie director, Chandoo Mondeti, Nag Ashwin (project K), Hanu Raghavapaudi (Sita Ramam), Ravikanth Perupu, Venky Atluri, Venu Udugula, Sailesh Kolanu, Praveen Sattaru, Ravi Kiran Kolla, Venky Kudumula, Vivek Athreya,
Promising: Srinivas Avasarala, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Nag Ashwin, Hanu Raghavapudi, Ravi Kiran Kolla, migitha andaru they have to prove themselves
Future: Is Rajamouli just a one off wonder or will the West now actively be interested in the new discovery that is Telugu cinema? MB29 will anyhow have humongous worldwide hype, but will ProjectK, NTR30 and RC15 get the same reception now that Tarak and Charan are known faces in the west? That remains the million dollars question.
Credits:
Banner: 14 Reels Entertainment
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kriti Sanon, Gautham krishna, Nassar, Anu Hasan, Sayaji Shinde, Pradeep Rawat, Kelly Dorji, Vikram Singh, Posani krisha murali, Srinivasa reddy, Anand, Sophie Choudry.etc
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Camera: R. Rathnavelu
Fights: Peter Hain
Lyrics: Chandrabose
Choreography: Prem Rakshith
Story: Jakka Hari Prasad
Story sahakaram: Arjun YK, Thota Sreenu
Screenplay: Jeremy Zimmerman
Direction: Sukumar
Producers: Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta, Anil Sunkara
Release date: 10 January 2014
- Marketing - Movie was promoted as non genre film. Teaser showed Mahesh Babu with a bloody beer bottle turning himself in at a station and then rockstar shots and then Kelly Dorji opening fight. Trailer showed lots of chases and other things. Didn’t what to expect and audiences expected an action entertainer when in reality its a psychological thriller.
- Screenplay - overstuffed. Psychological aspect is key to the film and the golden rice. What Sukumar should have done is introduce that the hero has a disorder and keeps seeing his parents and include a clue about the golden rice earlier with some other device or tied it back to a thing of world hunger or some social issue that would be relevant. But instead the heroine track, unnecessary chase sequences, and long runtime and item song spoiled the movie. For a movie of this genre 2 hrs 15 is ideal. You can still include the elements of a superstar Mahesh movie but the choice of a rockstar causes disconnect. A film actor or some other celeb would have been a better choice so audiences could connect with it.
- Direction: When the script itself is not good, not much the director can do. Sukumar made the movie overly complex within the first 15 mins. It’s not that the audience doesn’t know how to watch movies, it’s that it takes a lot of sense and confusion to understand what’s going on within that time to continue to be invested. As a director any time there’s a disconnect with your audience, its hard for them to get re engaged to the story. I know I did when I first watched it.
- Release Date: Not a film for Sankranthi for sure. The marketing and everything was hype because it’s a Mahesh Babu’s movie. But a psychological thriller wont work the same way as a family entertainer like SVSC. Folks want to enjoy the escapism not watch something overly serious even if it has a star like Mahesh Babu. Also the over budget it was most the most expensive Telugu movie ever made at the time with 70 crores and was a disaster.
Credits
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Ravi Teja, Shruti Haasan, Catherine Tresa, Urvashi Rautela (special appearance) Rajendra Prasad, Prakash Raj, Bobby Simha, Baby Shreshta, Nassar, Sathyaraj, Vennela Kishore, Subbaraju, Srinivasa Reddy, Saptagiri, Shakalaka Shankar, Pradeep Rawat, Rajendran, Jayaprakash etc
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Arthur A Wilson
Editor: Niranjan Devaramane
Production Design: AS Prakash
Action: Ram Laxman
Costumes: Sushmita Konidela
Screenplay: Kona Venkat, K Chakravarthy Reddy
Additional Writing: Hari Mohana Krishna, Vineeth Potluri
Story - dialogues - direction: Bobby Kolli
Producers: Naveen Yerneni & Y Ravi Shankar
Story: A fisherman from jarlarpeta Waltair Veerayya is hired by RAW Agents or the police Rajendra Prasad and Vennela Kishore to catch Bobby Simha. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
Writing/Direction: Chiranjeevi characterization and entertainment work good, but 2nd half is not upto the mark. Sequences and bonding between Raviteja and Chiranjeevi should have been showcased better. 2nd half is pretty slow and feels like a drag due to the scenes not being written with much focus and impact. First half is really breezy and Chiru carries with his comic timing and performance. Shruthi Hassan role was cool but then it just ends and there’s a lot of logic missing. Like why would a common CI hire a fisherman to get the job done when there are so many other people out there. Lot of supporting cast wasted and typical routine revenge story. Also for somebody like Waltair Veerayya, there’s no strong villain to challenge him or make him a force to reckon with. Climax is also over the top and silly. Jumps from a cliff onto a helicopter and then beheads a guy in court.
Technicalities:
Music: Songs are not good. Worst album of DSP in recent times. BGM is surprisingly good, flute BGM was the best.
Cinematography: Amazing
Production Design: Decent
Fights: Bad
Costumes: Good
Dialogues: Entertaining
Editing: could chop off 5 mins in climax, all useless stuff
Overall: decent timepass entertainer, some entertainment and Chiru comic timing keep you entertained. More entertaining than Veera Simha Reddy so folks are enjoying it.
Credits
Banner: Mythri Movie Makers
Cast: Nandamuri Balakrishna, Shruti Haasan, Duniya Vijay, Honey Rose, Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar, Laal, Ajay Ghosh, Murali Sharma, Chandrika Ravi, and others
Dialogues: Sai Madhav Burra
Music: Thaman S
Cinematographer: Rishi Punjabi
Editing: Navin Nooli
Production Designer: A.S. Prakash
Fights: Ram-Laxman, Venkat
Producers: Naveen Yerneni and Ravi Shankar Yalamanchili
Story, Screenplay & Direction: Gopichand Malineni
Release Date: Jan 12, 2023
Interesting Facts
- Filming began in Sircilla in Feb 2022, Factory fight and Marriage fight were filmed first and ended in December 2022 with Mass Mogudu song
- First Telugu movie to have factionism in Turkey
- Telugu debut of actor Duniya Vijay
- First collaboration between Rishi Punjabi and Gopichand Malineli
- First movie of Balayya and Gopichand
- Shruthi Hassan first collaboration with Balayya
- 5th straight collaboration between Gopichand and Thaman: other than Don Seenu, given music for all his movies
Story: Veera Simha Reddy is a faction leader in Pulicherla revered by his people. When he is killed his step sister and brother in law, his son Jai Simha Reddy who lives in Istanbul steps in to finish the revenge.
Writing and Direction: Pathetic writing and even worse direction. Gopichand Malineli should be ashamed of himself. No logic in the movie at all and filled with cringeworthy scenes from start to finish. Clearly inspired to make a Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu, and Chennakesava Reddy and failed miserably.
- Why are they in Istanbul
- Why do Telugu’s speak telugu to white people in Istanbul, he can’t understand
- Shruthi Hassan pure cringe and headache
- Factionism in Turkey and no explanation of how villains get to Istanbul so quickly
- How does one kick a Jeep and it goes back
- Pratap Reddy funniest villain - 30 years and 6 L’s movie has 8 fights and gets exhausting
- No emotions or relatability between Balayya and Varalaxmi
- Rape scene and Chatrapathi Shekar gets cucked and hacked
- Honey rose is 31 and Balayya’s mom somehow
- Gets out of the shower and item song happens
- Gopichand Malineli son is peaks of ovaeraction
- Routine story and really long and boring movie, no highs. Dialogues are also useless.
- Too many curse words, munda and Kodaka every other word.
Technicalities:
Music: Worst. Way too LOUD
Production Design: Amazing
Cinematography: Amazing
Editing: Bad
Dialogues: Useless
Fights: Useless
Costumes: Veera Simha Reddy clothes are nice, black shirt and lungi
Overall: Balayya fans and general audience won’t like it. Not a good film and honestly just stupid. Saying this as a die hard Telugu movie fan.
Credits
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra
Cast: Prabhas, Kajal Agarwal, Shraddha Das, Prabhu, Ahuti Prasad, Kota, Srinivasa Reddy, Raja Sridhar, MS Narayana, Mukesh Rishi, Chandra Mohan, Sivannarayana, Tulasi, Prabhas Sreenu, Vamsi Krishna.
Music: GV Prakash
Cinematography: I.Andrews
Dialogues: Darling Swamy
Fights: Peter Heins
Art Direction: Ashok Koralath
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Story - screenplay - direction: Karunakaran
Producer: Bhogavally Prasad Release date: 23 April 2010
Interesting Facts:
- Kanunarakan narration to Prabhas: After doing mass films like Ek Niranjana, Pilla, Bujjigaadu, fans told prabhas to do a love story, so he called Karunarakran and he narrated a line the interval block, calls felt its very new and fresh, he said give me 3 months, came back after 4 months and narrated the whole script. Prabhas and his friends heard it and they were excited and the movie started
- Heroine casting process: We first thought of a fresh face because its a love story, they did a test shoot with a new girl, they didnt like it, then it went to Kajal and the rest is history and hamayya Manchi decision ey teesukunnam raa babu haha
- Styling decision for Prabhas: Prabhas wanted a new styling sense for Darling since all of the characters he plays styling should be different so they opted for all loose fits in this movie, just try something new, take a risk in his own words,. Hip hop style mixed with entertainment
- House set in Araku Valley: That house set is not original it is completely made with plaster of Paris which is used to make vinayaka statues during vinayaka chavithi. That set was completely destroyed due to rain in 2010 only.
Credits
Banner: Sumanth Arts
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Bhumika Chawla, Prakash Raj, Rajan P Dev, Achyut, Geeta, Mukesh Rushi, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Sakuntala, Gowtham Raju, Ajax
Music: Mani Sharma
Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Art: Ashok Kumar/Koralath
Cinematography: Sekhar V Joseph
Editing: A. Sreekar Prasad
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Guna Sekhar
Fights: Vijayan
Producer: MS Raju
Release date: 15th January 2003
Agenda
1) First Impressions
2) How your liking towards it grew
3) Songs and Music
4) Writing and Direction
5) Themes and Deeper Meanings
6) Why it will always be a classic
Interesting Facts
- Biggest fact here is that it was after Pokiri. Industry hit curse is a known fact in Telugu film industry. No Telugu movie has ever escaped from it. People think its Pushpa but due to the high rates and low ticket prices, it was actually a loss venture in Telugu states.
- The core team of Okkadu and Arjun were replaced for the movie with the exception of Sreekar Prasad, Sekhar V Joesph was replaced y Tamil cameraman Balasubramaniem, Mani Sharma for Harris Jayaraj, and Thota Tharani for Anand Sai,
- The music was released simultaneously in 10 venues from five countries – India, USA, Australia, Singapore and Dubai on the morning of 21 October 2006. The producer of the film, Ashwini Dutt, arranged the use of a satellite transmission to relay the live audio release across the globe
- Only Telugu film of legendary and highly respected actor Irfan Khan ji, we miss you sir
- Before he became an actor, he started his own production company, Spirit Media. In the film industry, Rana was a bit of an exception. Belonging to the Daggubati family, he started as a special effects coordinator. Rana Daggubati won the State Nandi Award for Best Special Effects in 2006 for the Telugu film Sainikudu, as a Visual Effects Producer.
Why did it fail
- Story - it’s about mixing politics with student violence battling corruption within the state government. Siddartha knows that Pappu Yaddav is corrupt so he nominates his friend to run against him, typical bullshit of a political candidate who can’t crush a fucking student who’s bothering him. He hires his henchman Prakash Raj to take him down but it doesn’t happen. Then to further disturb Pappu Yadav, he kidnaps Trisha and Stockholm syndrome occurs. But the question is why?
- Screenplay - terrible. Movie starts off well. It has the potential to be a commercial entertainer but none of the threads work. The threads about student politics, violence. Social commentary about political crimes for campaign purposes, love story, revenge, nothing gels properly. And mainly the movie has no excitement, its all boredom unlike Okkadu and Arjun when there is constant suspense and excitement to know ok, how will this end
- Direction - Gunashkear direction works for the opening sequence and Siddhartha’s first meeting with pappy Yadav and then everything falls apart. No grip on the screenplay, story is clearly haywire, and BGM was terrible Harris Jayaraj copied Pirates main BGM. Technical departments which were flawless in Arjun and Okkadu are not present in Sainikudu at all. There’s a Warangal Fort set they built used for a huge fight but for some reason it feels artificial and the actions sequences on the bridge and in climax are so bad.
- Hype - Pokiri rewrote 75 years of Telugu movie industry records and made 40 crores share and 75 crores gross. That’s still more than most movies today. It’s an unreal blockbuster so naturally people’s expectations are that it will be as good or better than Pokiri. Even the slightest disappointment would result in a disaster which is exactly what happened. Movie was boring and very disappointing. Mahesh Babu’s superstardom even couldn’t save the movie from sinking. Also it being 3rd movie in Mahesh babu Gunashekar combo. Both movies have great fanbases and even though Arjun was above average movie with some loss, Gunashekar was still able to make the film interesting despite thin storyline.
Final Thoughts - Harris Jayaraj the real MVP, the only reason why the movie is still relevant is due to the all time classic album. Every song is fire. My favorite is Orugalluke Pilla and Maayera. Andhra ni motham shake chesina paata.
Last time we recapped the worst. This time we're gonna recap the best! Enjoy!
Best
- RRR
- Sita Ramam
- Bheemla Nayak
- Ashoka Vanamlo
- Oke Oka Jeevitham
Average:
- Major
- Ante Sundaraniki
- Bimbisara
- Dj Tillu
Songs
- Naatu Naatu
- EE Veduka
- Kalaavathi
- Bhale Bhale Banjara
- Thandanaa
- Nene Aa Nene
- Toofan
- Maaripoye
- Adavi Gusagusalu
- Urike Urike
2023 Preview
SSMB28
Salaar
Hari Hara Veera Mallu
Pushpa 2
Dasara
NTR30
NTR31
Bhola Shankar
Rod Movies
Bangarajju
Acharya
Radhe Shyam
Liger
F3
Sarkaru Vaari Paata
Virata Parvam
Krishna Vrinda Vihari
Swathi Muthyam
Karthikeya 2
Khiladi
Ghani
Mishan Impossible
Ori Devuda
The Ghost
Worst Songs of the year
Saana Kastham
Boss Party
Jai Balayya Theme
Suguna Sundari
Sridevi Chiranjeevi
Whistle Song
Bullet Song
Ohh Aha Aha
Who am I - Prince
Coka 2.0
Aakdi Pakdi
Aafat
Blast baby
Thaar Maar Thakkar Maar
Telugu movies I DIDNT WATCH this year: Hero, Super Machi, Wanted Pandugod, Good Luck Sakhi, Sebastian PC254, Aadavallu Meeku Joharlu, Stand Up Rahul, Bhale Thandana, Godse, Sammathame, Pakka Commercial, The Warrior, Thank You, Ramarao on Duty, Happy Birthday, Nenu Meeku Kavalsina Vaadini, Saakini Daakini, Ginna, Macherla Nijayakoavargam, Ori Devuda, Urvashivo Rakshasivo, Alluri, Itlu Marudumilli Prajaneekam, and Yashoda
In just 7 months we have reached 50 episodes and never expected such speed. Today we have a BANGER of an episode for you with one of the greatest Telugu movies of all time Athadu directed by Trivikram Srinivas starring Mahesh Babu.
We have Akhil and Pranav joining us to talk about one of our favorite movies.
Agenda:
1) First watch impressions and thoughts
2) How your liking towards it grew
3) Songs and Music
4) Writing and Direction
5) Deeper meaning and things you noticed on the rewatches
6) Why it will always be a classic
Interesting Facts
1) During F2, Anil ravipudi met Mahesh babu and narrated the storyline and he liked it a lot and they said ok. "I was inspired by the real life happenings in the life of a soldier while traveling in a train. The soldier was alone in the train and returning home and we interacted on various topics.
Though he was interacting with me, his entire concentration was on his duty and I understood that though soldiers go to their houses, they will be thinking of their duty. At the same time I realized that soldiers too have similar kind of emotions like everyone of us
2) Jagapathi babu was the original choice for villain but he was replace by Prakash Raj, jagapathi babu gave video clarification konni situations vallla, konni konni jaruguthu vuntayi industry lo, thappavu avvi, part of parcel and life saga teeskovali, aa situation valla aa cinema lo nenu lenu. He rejected two films for Sarileru as well.
3) Sai Pallavi was the original choice for the heroine but she rejected it and went to Rashmika. Sai Pallavi knew before hand that if she did this, the audience would garner more hatred towards her for sure, and as an audience we can’t imagine her in that role as her role in MCA was so irritating.
4) Konda Reddy Buruju set in Ramoji Film City costed 4 crores around 500K USD and then a house set in Aziz Nagar was built for the movie and can see it almost telugu movie now: Lakshya, Bangarajju, Krack, Gaali Sampath, Tuck Jagadish, Seetimaar,
5) First schedule on July 5th and ended on November 8th, so exactly 6 months almost, quickest big film other than Aravinda Sametha which was 5 months April 2018 to September.
6) Marked Vijayashanti’s comeback to Telugu cinema and first time acting with mahesh babu after Koduku Diddina Kapuram so nice to see the legend back.
Story: Combo of Okkadu and Athadu which sounds amazing but it’s very simple and routine. Ajay Mahesh babu goes to Ajay Satyadevs village to relay a message to his family that he has died in battle. Then he realizes that in the village Satyadev’s family is under threat from MLA Nagendra who is a corrupt and evil leader in Kurnool. Then he makes it his mission to make Nagendra realize his mistake and reform him. This is the story in a nutshell
Acting: Mahesh Babu one man show, Vijayashanti is great, Bandla Ganesh funny
Writing/Direction: very amateur level but the mass blocks in the movie and Mahesh Babu make it watchable. Train comedy is worst. and there is no train from Kashmir to Kurnool. Direction is good, you never feel bored, story is routine, Mahesh babu one man show. But overall it’s entertaining movie. Heroine role and family is worst.
Technicalities
Music: Worst
Production design: world class.
Fights: Interval fight is good
Editing: Train scene
Dialogues: Meow Moew Pilli, Milk Boy tho Pelli, Ilanti never before ever after
Yevadu yevadu ni vodilali raa, pave ganta nundi,
What is good: Mahesh Babu, pacing, fights, cinematography and songs
What is bad: depiction of the soldiers and what exactly happens, you actually forget that he’s a soldier other than the beginning, Vijayashanti house, and then climax, but there’s no justification.
Basically the writing isn’t good. Rape comedy and rape jokes. MB and the producers should know better. Comedy isn’t fresh, it’s very forced.
Other than some moments with Prakash Raj and Sangeetha, nothing works.
Weak hero villain conflict. Best example of this is like Singam, hero and villain one upping each other. Here it’s just convos and Prakash Raj is some minister who can’t do anything to a simple soldier. Like in Race Gurram when Ravi Kishan cant do shit to Allu Arjun despite being the CM lmao. Climax makes no sense, to reform criminals, you send them to the army to learn responsibility. If anything should have throw him in jail or just killed him tbh.
Andariki Namaskaram! Here's our review of NTR and Vamshi Paidipally's family entertainer classic Brindavanam.
Kontha mandi idhi serial anukuntaru, but for me it's one of the best class + mass entertainers ever in Telugu cinema.
Village type family entertainer is my favorite genre, so naturally I loved this movie.
Here's our review of Boyapati and NTR's Dhammu. You know the rest....
Dammu..Dham Dhamta Dhammu
Dammu..Dham Dhamta Dhammu
Dammu..Dham Dhamta Dhammu
Dammuu..
Dammu..Dham Dhamta Dhammu
Dammu..Dham Dhamta Dhammu
Dammu..Dham Dhamta Dhammu
Dammuu..
- Dr Krishna Bhagwan MMBS FRCS in Souryam
- Patt Nayak in Dubai Seenu
- Brahmam from Khammam in Ragada
- Animuthyam from Power
- Crazy Mohan from Balupu
- Prabhas Sreenu in Kantri
- Kathi Seenu from Mr Perfect
- Seenu Sidhappa Seenu from Gabbar Singh
- Liquor Seenu from Aagadu
- Sampangi from Aagadu
- Shukla Bhai from Nayak
- Banthi from Nuvvu Naaku Nachav
- Rajini Hasan from Kantri
- Janaki from Ready
- Sunil from Dubai Seenu
- Srinivas Reddy in King
- Srinivas Reddy I’m Ready
- Srinivas Reddy in Namo Venkatesa
- Srinivas Reddy in Dookudu
- Sivanarayana in Darling
- Srinivas Reddy in F2
- Mallepushpam Rama Rao from Bhale Manchi Roju
- Revenge Nageswara Rao from bash shah
- Database Danayya from Aagadu
- Bujji from Athadu
- Al Pacino from Mirapakaya
- Rao Ramesh in SVSC
- Rao Ramesh in Brahmotsavam
- MS Narayana in Athadu
- Fire Star Solomon Raju
- Teacher in Sontham
- Venu Madhav in Yogi
- Bandla Ganesh in Pokiri
- Bandla Ganesh in Malliswari
- Chittu Naidu from Ready
- Master Bharat in Namo Venkatesa
- Shankar Anna from Mirapakaya
- Giri and Praveen from Mirapakaya
- Karate kayanı in Mirapakaya
- Telganana Shankuntala in Sontham
- Telangana Shakuntala in Lakshmi movie
- Telagana Shakuntala in Namo Venkatesa
- Obul Reddy from Okkadu
- Jani Bhai from Ek Niranjan
- Bhavani from Kandireega
- Relangi Mavayya from SVSC
- Goodu Raju from SVSC
- Getup Sreenu in Liger
- Singam Sujatha from Winner
- Boiling Star Babloo in Loukyam
- Bokka Venkat Rao from Dookudu
- Kalakeya Leader from Baahubali
- Naidu from Athadu
- Ghora from Magadheera
- Prakash Raj in Jalsa
- Nippu Nagaraj from Venky
- Nalla Balu in Sye
- Tiger Satti in Lakshmi
- Chitti from Brindavanam
- Spoon Mohan from Munna
- LB Sriram in HanuMan Junction
- Ara Gundu from Aha Naa Pellanta
- Suri Babu Lavangam from Manmadhudu
- Brahmi gaadu software engineer from Pokiri
- Mavayya from Athadu
- Pranav the head constable from Jalsa
- Duvva from Vikramarkudu
- Bobby from Krishna
- Ready from McDowell Murthy
- Padma’s ha Simha from Baadshah
- Halwa Raj from Kick
- Gachibowli Diwakar from KIKK
- Kill Bill Pandey race gurram
- Badham Bhaskar from AD
- Delhi Suri from Aagadu
- Jayasurya from king
- Chari Garu from Dhee
- Paris Prasad from Namo Venkatesa
- Padamasri from Dookudu
- Balu from Malliswari
- Nachimi from Chirutha
- Artist from Super movie
- Idly Viswanathan from Neninthe
- Jalsa Kishore from Mr Perfect
- Bhattu from Adhurs
- Gajala in Venky
- Bokka from Venky
- Happy Reddy from Ready
- Cool Babu from Dookudu
- Dharmavarupu in Namo Venkatesa
Andariki Namaskaram! Today we have a new concept in today's episode. In American culture we have something called what's your Mount Rushmore of something which means what are the 4 Best things of a particular topic so we decided to apply it to Telugu Movies of our favorite stars.
Mahesh Babu
Pokiri, Athadu, Okkadu, Khaleja
Special mentions - Murari, 1 Nenokkadine, Dookudu, Businessman, SVSC
NTR-
Simhadri, Adhurs, RRR, Brindavanam
Special mentions - Aadi, Aravinda Sametha
Ram Charan -
Chirutha, Magadheera, Rangasthalam, RRR
Special Mentions - Racha, Yevadu, Naayak, Vineya Vidheya Rama,
Pawan Kalyan -
Tholi Prema, Thammudu, Kushi, Badri
Special Mentions - Jalsa, Gabbar Singh, Panjaa,
Allu Arjun -
Arya, Desamuduru, Vedam, Race Gurram
Special Mentions - Bunny, Sarrainodu, Julayi, Pushpa
Prabhas -
Varsham, Bujjigaadu, Baahubali, Mirchi
Special Mentions - Mr. perfect, Darling,
Venkatesh
Preminchukundam Raa, Kalisundam Raa, Nuvvu Naaku Nachav, Malliswari
Special Mentions - Jayam Manderaa, vasantham, Raja, Aadavari matalaku Ardhare Verule, Namo Venkatesa, Chanti, Kshana Kshanam, Swarna Kamalam, Bobbili raja, Deviputrudu, pavitra bandam,
Nagarjuna
Shiva, Geetanjali, Manmadhudu, oopiri
Special mentions - Annamayya, Govinda Govinda, Mass, Santosham, Nenuannnu, Gagagnam,
Chiru -
Khaidhi, Gang Leader, Indra, Shankar Dada MBBS
Special mentions - Chantiabbayi, Annayya, Swayam Krushi, rudraveena, Aapathbandhavudu, Jagadeka Veerudu, Tagore,
Raviteja -
Idiot, Vikramarkudu, Kick, Neninthe
Special mention: amma nanna, Krishna, Don Seenu, Mirapakaya, Itlu Sravani, Khadgam
Balayya -
Samarasimha Reddy, Aditya 369, Bhairava Dweepam, Simha
Special Mention - , Sri Rama Rajyam legend, Akhanda,
Nani -
Pilla Zamindar, Jersey, Bhale Bhale Magadivoy, Eega
Special Mention - Astha Chamma, Yevade Subramanyam, Gentleman, Nenu Local, Ninnu Kori, Shyam Singha Roy,
Ram Pothineni -
Devadasu, Ready, Kandireega, Nenu Sailaja
Vijay Deverakonda -
Yevade Subramanyam, Pellichoopulu, Arjun Reddy, Geetha Govindam
Here's our rant about the greatest Telugu movie ever made! Starring Mahesh Babu and directed by Vamshi Paidipally, the last movie I ever watched in my college career. Fitting end with a fitting movie. Learned a lot.
Andariki Namaskaram! Today we are back with a script breakdown of the movie Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava. I hated it on first watch, but on the rewatch and insistence from my friend Akhil, my view point changed so much.
Logline: In a faction torn land, Veera Raghava Reddy embarks on a journey to find himself and a solution for his village.
We broke the movie down into 3 parts: The aftermath of the war, love track, and solution for peace.
Aftermath of the war: 5 Rupee Factionism between Nallagaudi and Kommadi, Opening Fight, aftermath of Nagababu death, Yeda Poyinado song, women affected, NTR leaving the house
Love Track: First meeting, college scene, Anaganaganga song, Pomodoro scene, Metro scene, Bedroom scene, Reddy Ikkada Soodu song
Solution for Peace: Rao Ramesh scene, Neelambari scenes, Peace Meeting Scene, Naveen Chandra murder scene, Climax fight, Ending.
Enjoy!
Memu jeevitham lo yentha kaali gaa vunnam ante Mister cinema rewatch chesam. Mana saahasam goppathanam gurunchi cheppu kovadam mana praithnam ee episode lo. Enjoy as always!
Andariki Namaskaram! Today we have a new format about movie discussion to share our experiences and we'll be talking about Mirchi starring Prabhas and directed by Koratala Siva.
We have Akhil joining us to discuss first thoughts, rewatch thoughts, music, writing/direction, favorite scenes, conspiracy theories and final thoughts. Enjoy!
Andariki Namaskaram! As promised, here's our review of Bruce Lee The Fighter starring Ram Charan, Rakul Preet Singh, and Chiranjeevi directed by Sreenu Vaitla. Enjoy!
Andariki Namaskaram! Forgive us, we were going through a rough life phase and had to take a break. Energy maintain cheyadaniki it's been tough. But we are back. Enjoy!
Andariki Namaskaram! Forgive us, we were going through a rough life phase and had to take a break. Energy maintain cheyadaniki it's been tough. But we are back. Enjoy!
Birthday Wishes to the biggest star in India, Superstar Prabhas garu.
In today's episode, Teja reviews his favorite movie of Prabhas, Bujjigaadu Made in Chennai directed by Puri Jagannadh. Find out why we love this film in today's throwback review.
Spotify Link for all Telugu songs discussed: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7tmlnjA6S9ZdQt9w9DfkKa?si=NvTS7dygSLyC9l7YsCZaCw&nd=1
My Journey with Telugu Music - Part 5: Present
2020: Sarileru, Ala Vakunta, Bheesma, Master, then 6 months break.
Had an opportunity to write a film and compose 6 songs and its my dream project. Then just had so many free time and had sportify and made so many playlists, Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan, Karthik, Shreya Ghoshal, and so much time to listen to so many old albums and see what I liked it.
Mani Sharma mass - what I loved about his songs and movies,
KM Radha Krishna, Chakri, SA Rajkumar,
Rewatched and watched a lot of old movies like Gang leader, Rowdy Alludu, Alludu majaka, Alluri Seetha Ramaju, Rudraveena, Aha Naa Pellanta, Mayabazar, Gundamma Katha, Athadu, Pokiri, Nuvvu Naaku Nachav, Naa Autograph, Shambo Shiva Shambo, Prayanam, Vaasu, Okkadu, Arjun,
Then lyricists - Veturi, Sirivennela, Ramjogayya Sastry, Chandrabose, Bhaskarbatla, Jonnavittula, Sahithi, Vanamali, Bhuvanachandra, Krishna Chaitanya, Srrimani, Krishakanth.
Nowadays its about the composition and lyrics for me. If neither are good then its not a good song, thats why I didnt like Pushpa songs. Tunes were not fresh and the lyrics were not good especially Daako Daako Mekka. And taking more of an interest in what the Telugu words mean.
In this episode, we cover our favorite songs and albums from 2nd half of 2015 to end of 2019.
In this episode, we cover our favorite albums from 8th - 12th grade when we were in high school from 2010-2015. Enjoy the intro and hope you have a good trip down memory lane.
Childhood most listened albums: Raja, Samarasimha Naidu, Anayya - Aata Kaaval,Daddy movie - Lucky Lucky, Gummadi Gummadi, Naa Pramana, Vaana Vaana, Vaana Valappa, Sayyare Sayya, Vaasu - Paataku Pranam, Sporty Boys, all songs classic one of the best labums in Venky career.Santosham - Nagarjuna Devudu Degivachina, Nee tolisari gaa all time classic, Nenunnanu - Neekosam very emotional song and goosebumps. Azad movie - Hey Hey Nayaka and Chemma Chekka best song in the movie wholesome vibes, Ninne Premista - Oka Devatha Velisindi and Premalekha Rasukunna, Jayam Manadera - Don't Miss, Merisetti Jabili Nuvve, Hindustan Lo,
Nuvve Nuvve - Compuerlu, Im very sorry, Nidarapottuna Rathiri ni - Sirivennela, Idiot- Choopulthp Guchi Guchi, Saytam mvie - I'm in love song, Dhana 51 - Arisvirsina Mogga, Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammayi - Lunchokovsatave, Neeve Neeve, Chennai Chandrama, Andhrawala - Naire Naire, Ajni movie - Chik Pul Pori, Gulabi Ghamma, all the songs are superb, Mannava Mannava, Ammo Nee Abba Goppade, Malliswari - first song and then Nee Navvula Vennelani
Super movie - Masthana, Gichi Gichi, Akkad Bakkad, Mudduleti, Sandeep chowtha mass
Andhrudu movie - kokilamma, Gundello Yemundo, Pranamlo Pranamga,
Seenu - Aatakundo Time, Yuvaraju - Ramachilaka, Badri, Kalisundam Raa, Nuvvu Vastavani, Preminchkundam Raa, Tagore, Jai Chiranjeeva, Stalin, Indra, Kushi, Gudumba Shankar - Chittu Nadumune, Pokiri, Athidhi, Shankar Dada MBBS, Mass, Varsham, Aadi - Chiki Chiki Bum, Ranam - Cheli Jabili, Gharshana - Cheliya Cheliya,
Then Aparichitudu - Konda Kaki song shook andhra for an entire year. Anywhere I went in India, that song would play on the radio to autos to restuarants. Rage is a small word for that song. All time classic, then Naaku Neeku Nokia and then Remo
Sainikudu - Title song, but Orugalluke Pilla andhra ni shake chesina paata. Maayera is also so good. Harris Jayaraj mass. Bommarillu - All songs, especially Appudo Ippudo and then veelu aithe naulugu maatalu, kudithe cup coffee?
Annavaram - Lucia funniest song, Vikramardukdu - Jintha Jintha, Dumare Dam, Jum Jum maya, Dooramga
Last album before entered Middle School was Desamuduru yemmana fire album all songs are fire. Credit to Chakri - Gilliga, Ninne, Satte, Attaontode, Mansule, Gola Petti,
Middle school - Chirutha - Yamaho Yama, Love U Raa, Yenduko Pichi Pichi Ga, Chamka Chamka Re, all songs superb Mani Sharma mass for Charan, yeppudaina Charan lo career best album either Chirutha/Orange, then saw Athadu - all songs all time classic can do an episode just on that my favorite song is Avunu Nijam always get goosebumps plus tears when i comes on the playlist.
6th grade was turning point for me - Bujjigaadu, then vacation happened where I got VCD's from India and rewatched Okkadu and fell in love, all time favorite song is Hare Rama, then got accustomed to Suriya with Ghajini, Aaru, and Deva movies, then came Veedokkade, Middle school days were discovering Tamil dubbed movies. Yogi movie - Orori Yogi, Krishna movie - Dil Mange More, Tu Mera Jil Jil, Nee Soku Madda, Kantri movie all songs fire one of the underrated album of Mani Sharma, Parugu pure fire, Ready movie, Souryam movie songs are good, Magadheera - classic and then Kick movie debut of Thaman bhayya, Anjayneyulu - Dil Se Bholo anjanyelu and Anjali, Baanam all songs fire, Ek Niranjan - title song is the only reason it's still relevant Ranjith mass.
Andariki Namaskaram! Been wanting to this for a long time and here it is. In this episode we take a trip down memory lane covering the most influential albums of my childhood and formative years. If I missed an album don't worry we will cover it in the coming 2 episodes.
Albums we covered are but not limited to: Choodalani Vundi, Kalisundam Raa, Nuvvu Vastavani, Oke Okkadu, Samarasimha Reddy, Thammudu, Badri, Nuvvu Naaku Nachav, Indra, Jayam, Gajuvaaka Pilla song, Johnny, Arya, Khadgam, Manmadhudu, Varsham Shankar Dada MMBS, Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana, Mass, Naa Alludu, Bunny, Bhadra, Andarivaadu, Pournami, Rakhi, Jagadam, Aata, Tulasi, Jalsa, Ready, King, Arya 2, Adhurs, Namo Venkatesa, Simhadri and Yamadonga.
Parents balavantham chesi nannu ee cinema ki teesu kellaru. Enjoyed about 30 mins of it. Find out why in today's review.
Asalu ee cinema yenduko theesaro naaku telidu. Waste of everybody's time and resources. Cast, crew + audience included.
Deeni kante obvious episode inkoti vundadu but rod cinema memories gurthucheyali ante adho teliyaleni oka feeling kaligisthadi. Enjoy the episode
One of the greatest movies ever made in the history of cinema. Enjoy the behind the scenes facts of how this masterpiece was made and our review.
Does Brahmastra live up to the hype of being Bollywood's biggest film of all time? Find out in this weeks review.
Andaru Sita Ramam oka classic love story antunarru? Is it worthy of that title? Find out in today's episode.
In today's nostalgia review, we will be talking about the 1st film in the combo of Pawan Kalyan and Trivikram Srinivas, Jalsa. Released 14 years ago on April 2nd 2008, the film stars Ileana D'Cruz and Parvati Melton as the female leads, Mukesh Rishi as the main villain Damodar Reddy, and Brahmanandham, Sunil, Dharmavarupu, Prakash Raj, and Tanikella Bharani in other roles. In addition to Trivikram's direction, the music was done by Devi Sri Prasad, cinematography by KV Guhan and Rasool Ellore, with Art Direction by Anand Sai and Editing by A Sreekar Prasad. Let's find out what made it so memorable in today's review.
Andariki Namaskaram! In today's episode we have Pranav rejoining us to roast and talk about Raghava Lawrence's filmography in Telugu exclusively and why his paithyam is not suited for Telugu cinema. We compensate by praising some of the iconic songs that he's choreographed in modern Telugu cinema. Lawrence summed up in a nutshell is yevadu pani vaadu cheyali. Anthe. Enjoy!
Andariki Namaskaram! In today's episode, we discuss the history of Female Characters in Telugu cinema starting from the 50-60's with Savitri garu, Jamuna garu, and Bhanumathi garu, to the 80's and 90's with Vijayashanti garu, Soundarya garu, Jayasudha garu, Jayapradha garu, Nagma garu, Rambha garu, Ramya Krishna garu, and Sharada garu, and then present day heroines like Pooja Hegde, Rashmika and Sai Pallavi and go on a rant on why today's female characters are annoying af and what we can do to change that.
Here are the biggest Tollywood news updates for the week of 8/19/2022:
1) Prabhas Salaar to release on September 28th, 2023, same crew as KGF and Prithviraj and Sriya Reddy of Pogaru and Suzhal fame are noted additions
2) SSMB28 update - April 28th, 2023 release date, Anbariv stunt masters KGF and Vikram fame will be working as fight masters is the buzz, PS Vinod confirmed as cinematographer, filming starts as soon as Bandh is over
3) Industry meeting - Producers Guild Update
3) Nagarjuna The Ghost promo released
4) Balayya news- Anil Ravipudi movie 80 crores budget it seems and then NBK107 coming for Sankranthi is the talk but not confirmed
5) Ram Charan 16 with Gowtham Tinnaruri to start in December, Anirudh composing the tunes
6) August successes all it took was something new and interesting to get back on track
7) Jhanvi Kapoor first choice for liger and Jana Gana Mana but due to dates issue didn't work out
8) Shyam Singha Roy Oscars and RRR Buzz
9) Project K pushed to January 2024 anta due to CG works and as per Prabhas's request as he would have two big movies releasing in a gap of 3 weeks
10) Bollywood Disasters - Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan - Boycott Bollywood: Brahmastra last chance
Snow Anna and Rajamouli kalisi cinema chesthe how it will be? Adhe ee episode saramsham. Just kidding. They're as follows:
Prabhas - Sreenu Vaitla
Mahesh Babu - Puri Jagannadh for Jana Gana Mana
Prabhas - Trivikram
Chiranjeevi - Puri Jagan
Venkatesh - Puri Jagan
Pawan Kalyan - Rajamouli
Mahesh Babu - Chandrashekar Yeleti
Ram Charan - Trivikram
Raviteja - Rajamouli again
Nani - Puri Jagannadh
Nani - Chandrashekar Yeleti
Top Gun type movie with Gopichand and Prabhas - Joseph Kosinski bhayya malli digi ravvali
Mahesh Babu - VV Vinayak
Mahesh Babu - Boyapati
Mahesh Babu - Sandeep reddy Vanga
Srikanth Addala - Balakrishna
Srikanth Addala - Vishnu
Rajamouli - Manchu Vishnu
Krish - Mahesh Babu
Sekhar Kammula - Prabhas
Boyapati - Prabhas
Sukumar - Prabhas
Andariki Namaskaram! In our first OFFICIAL podcast collaboration, we have Bogus Noog from ThyGap Telugu joining us today.
We talked about the difference in viewing experience of OTT vs Theaters and touched upon the business of cinema in present state as well as the ongoing strike in TFI.
Unfortunately didn't have time to talk about screenwriting even though it's mentioned but we will definitely touch upon it in a future episode.
Chala controversies vunnayi Tollywood lo but we tried to pick the most interesting and most known controversies: Topics include Sr. NTR garu vs Krishna garu in making Alluri Seetha Rama Raju, Balayya- Bellamkonda Suresh incident, Narasimhudu producer Hussain Sagar incident and scandal, Arjun piracy incident, Allu Arjun's Cheppanu Brother, 2017 Prostitutions and Drugs Case in USA, Bandla Ganesh and Sachin Joshi, DJ Movie Industry Hit, Sri Reddy Me Too in 2018, Sarileru vs Ala Vaikuntapurammulo Collections, Mahesh Babu and John Abraham Bollywood vs South comments, and Naresh Pavitra Lokesh news.
Venky and Sreenu Vaitla movie ante poonakallu ravali gaani theda kottakudadhu. Sreenu Vaitla garu oka interview lo chepparu Namo Venkatesa is an experimental film ani. I agree but the creative decisions and content against it's favor. Anyhow I love this film and always will but just oka weird feeling isthadi choostunantha sepu. Daani gurunche manam mataladam. I know episode konchem short gaa vundi but hope you enjoy as always!
Andariki Namaskaram. Eeroju inko lengthy episode chesam but hope you all enjoy it. Trends anedi prapancham and film industry ki chala common. PK garu cheppinattu: Nenu trend follow avanu, nenu trend set chestha.
Ok point ki vodham, we talked about Telugu movie trends and templates over the years. Movies covered are Aditya 369, Preminchukundam Raa, Samarasimha Reddy, Indra, Kalisundam Raa, Okkadu, Gudumba Shankar, Sreenu Vaitla bakra comedy, Spoof comedy trends, and most recently the Pan India movie trends.
Enjoy!
Sorry for being out of action last week but I had to speak up about this. If you love Tollywood, hope you agree with all the points I brought up because cinema brathakali and Telugu cinema lo inka manchi cinemalu teeyali and ravali. But the way they're headed it might only get worse from here. Induke memu collections antha follow avtham. Flop ayithe malli teeyaru, kaani hit ayithe teestune vuntaru. But mainly content is the king. Audience has updated themselves but makers have not. It's high time things need to change.
Andariki Namaskaram, consistency break chesanu ani please forgive me.
Started a new job unfortunately so just trying to manage time to best of ability. Watched a few movies in recent years and decided to review them all and give my thoughts on them. Enjoy.
These are spoiler filled reviews so if you haven't already watched them, watch them first and come back :)
Andariki Namaskaram! Continuing with our final guest episode for the time being, today we have the king Pranav Gara on the show today.
In this episode we talked about our favorite director Meher Ramesh and how his brand of movies gave birth to Meherism, thoughts on Kantri, Billa, Shakthi, and Shadow and concluded by talking about our expectations for Bhola Shankar and where we see the future of Telugu cinema headed.
Maro okkasari ee podcast English lo cheyadam jarigindi. Please forgive us. But meeru pagalu padi navvutaru ani mathram guarantee ivvagalanu. Enjoy!
Andariki Namakaram! Continuing with our guest series, today we have Divyesh Mohankumar to talk about Tamil cinema.
We talked about how we got started with Tamil cinema, favorite movies, and how we see mainstream commercial cinema in Telugu and Tamil cinema headed for the future.
Mana sukham kosam ee podcast lo English cheyadam jarigindi. Maro okkasari shreminchandi.
Andariki Namaskaram! Today we finally have our first ever guest Smarani Komanduri on Tollywood Kaburlu. She's a freelance writer based in Michigan and after reading one of her articles about a fellow Telugu podcast Thygap, I reached out and felt she would be a perfect guest to talk about our similar experiences.
We talked about how we get started with Telugu cinema living in America, whether films are an accurate representation of a culture or society, favorite Telugu movies, and our opinions and thoughts on Pan India movies along with the sensational comments of John Abraham and Mahesh Babu about regional and Bollywood cinema.
Host and athidhi convenience kosam ee episode English lo cheyadam jarigindi so manninchandi.
In this episode I discuss my 10 favorite Telugu movies of all time. The list was not big enough so I had to include a +1 so it came out to 11. Any guesses what they could potentially be? Listen to today's episode to find out.
Khaleja anedi oka cult classic. Kaani release time lo cinema disaster ayyindi. One of the biggest mysteries of TFI for the audience and you hear it all the time is asalu Khaleja yenduku flop ayyindo naaku ippatiki varuku ardham kaadhu. The reasons might be not be so clear but if you analyze deep enough, they are right there sprinkled with some interesting facts. All reasons are based on our observations from constant rewatches. Enjoy!
Swagatham, ee episode lo manam discussion cheyya bhoye topics are that we will NOT be watching anymore Telugu movies IN THEATERS for rest of the year due to interest and fatigue from all the star hero movies from the first half of 2022 (maybe HIT2 and NBK107) and give our picks for half year awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Music Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Music Director, Song of the Year, Best Singer Male and Female, Worst Movie, Worst Director, and Best Debut Male and Female.
Less Fun, 90% frustration sums this movie up. Reminder I don't hate commercial movies nowadays it's just this is not it and our standards need to be better.
Andariki Namasakaram. Nenu Woke naa koduku kaadhu. Jai commercial cinema. Entertain chesinda ledha? Adhi mukhyam Bigilu.
Review of the latest big Telugu movie Sarkaru Vaari Paata starring Superstar Mahesh Babu. Is it worth the hype?
Andaraniki Namaskaram. This is the first and hopefully not last episode of a new Telugu movie podcast called Tollywood Kaburlu hosted by me, Teja.
I'm a Telugu American who resides in USA and is extremely passionate about movies and Tollywood.
How did I get here? Hope you enjoy listening to find out.
Danyavaadalu,
Teja