SIMHADRI 2003

Banner: VMC
Story: Vijayendra Prasad
Dialogues: Viswanath, Rathnam
Music: MM Keeravani
Songs: Veturi, Sirivennela, ChandraBose, Vennelakanti
Art: Anand Sai
Stunts: A Vijay
Cinematography: Ravindra Babu
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Co-director: Thota Rama Krishna
Prensented by: V Daraswamy Raju
Producer: V Vijay Kumar Varma
Screenplay - Direction: SS Raja Mouli
Release date: 9 July 2003

Cast:
NTR,
Bhumika Chawla,
Ankita,
Seeta,
Kota Srinivasa Rao,
Brahmanandam,
Nasar,
Mukesh Rushi,
Sarad Saxena,
Rahul Dev,
Rajan P Dev,
Chalapati Rao,
Bhanu Chandar,
Surya,
Hari,
Venu Madhav,
Rallapalli,
GV,
Kallu Chidambaram,
Dharmavarapu Subramanyam,
Subbaraya Sharma,
Pardhasaradhi,
Sangeeta,
Hema,
Ramya Sri,
Sravani,
Ragini,
Master Sandeep,
Master Mahendra

Story

An innocuous and good-hearted lad Simhadri(NTR) is handpicked by Ram Bhupal Varma(Nazar). The bond Ram Bhupal Varma and Simhadri share is like that of a father and son. Kasturi (Ankita) is the grand daughter (daughter's daughter) of Ram Bhupal Varma. Kasturi likes Simhadri a lot. Once in a week, Simhadri visits a mentally retorted girl called Indu (Bhumika). He entertains her and passes on the money to her caretakers (Rallapally and Ragini). After coming to know about Ankita's liking towards Simhadri, Ram Bhupal Varma decides to get them married. At this point of time, it is revealed that Simhadri is very close to a mentally retorted girl Indu. The alliance breaks off. Mean while a bunch of gangsters are in search of Simhadri. They found him at the banks of Godari River along with Indu. In that confrontation between gangsters and Simhadri, Indu gets injured. When she comes back to her senses, she becomes a normal girl. The first thing she does then was to stab Simhadri.

Simhadri is hospitalized. Then we see hoards of buses coming from Kerala to see Simhadri, whom they call as Singamalai. In the flashback it is revealed that Ram Bhupal Varma's elder daughter Seeta (Seeta) elopes with a guy (Bhanu Chandar). They settle in Kerala. Simhadri takes up the job of uniting family and visits Trivendrum. There he finds Indu as the grand daughter of Ram Bhupal Varma. He convinces the separated family and when the reunion is about to happen, Seeta is stabbed by a local goon Nair (Rahul Dev). A rowdy named Bhai Saab (Mukesh Rushi) controls the mafia of Kerala. Nair and Bhai Saab belong to the same mafia. Simhadri takes law into his hands and eradicates goons in Kerala. The local Kerala people starts calling him 'Singamalai'. When Simhadri along with Indu and her father is about to return to Vizag, an unexpected thing happens.

To know what that unexpected thing, you should watch it on silver screen.

Artists Performence

NTR: NTR has displayed the entire gamut of emotions in this film from innocence to dare devilry guile. This character offered him the chance to use all his histrionic capability to impress the crowds and he utilized every frame of it to make a deep impact on the hearts of the viewers. His effortless dancing capabilities saw newer heights in this film. He is terrific in action sequences and his body language and facial expressions make us believe the unbelievable action sequences. He effortlessly modulates his voice from dialogue to dialogue as per the requirement.

Bhumika Chawla: Bhumika Chawla is the perfect fir for the role of Indu. She impresses us with her innocent looks for the character of mad girl. However, she could not help becoming a Malayala Kutti (in that typical Malayali dress) in the second half of the film. You can see a brand new mass Bhumika in the 'Whistle' song of the film.

Ankita: Ankita could be crowned as the latest glam doll, who does not hesitate to shed her cloths at the drop of a hat. She wore bare minimal cloths for the voyeuristic pleasure of peeping toms. She did well in dances department too. However, she is almost missing in the entire second half except for a song and a couple of scenes.

Others: Nazar is the perfect fit for that role. Kota Srinivasa Rao provided some classic comedy as the 'Pingali' guy. The comedy episodes of Brahmanandam and Venu Madhav are entertaining. Ramya Krishna is hot in the special song. Rahul Dev looks debo'nair' in his 'Nair' get up. Mukesh Rushi has finally got an opportunity to show his muscles in the film in his Tarzan getup in the jail. He looks terrific. Sharad Saxena did the positive character of lieutenant of NTR in Kerala. Seeta and Bhanu Chandar did justice to their roles. Master Mahendra did well as a handicapped lad.

Technical Departments:

Story: Story of the film is pretty strong. However, the story in second half should have been knitted with more care. There are a couple of unconvincing points in this film.

1. The reason why Bhanu Chandar and Nazar hate each other so much is not convincing enough.
2. Sarat Saxena is shown as a helpless and sincere police officer. But he does not do a thing to even stop a goon from committing a rape or murder.

Screenplay - direction: Screenplay of the film in the first half is tight. The screenplay in the second half looks more like being knitted impromptu on the sets than sticking to a perfect bounded script. It's hard to believe that SS Raja Mouli -who is very much soft natured in real life - directed such a mass masala film with good conviction. Raja Mouli should be commended for incorporating all sections (comedy, fights, sentiment, masala, powerful dialogues etc) in an appropriate way without losing grip on narration. He would become a very good mass director in the future.

Music: Songs by Keeravani capture the mood of the targeted audience, though few numbers remind us of songs from Keeravani's earlier albums. Background music is also good.

Songs: Some of the dance bits by NTR for first and last songs (Cheema & Soda Buddi) are extraordinary. 2 melodious songs are very sensibly pictured on Bhumika and NTR. Guest song on NTR and Ramya Krishna is also excellent.

Dialogues: 'Gangotri' Viswanath and M Rathnam did a good job in dialogues department. They wrote all kinds of dialogues (sentiment, mass, masala, comedy). In the titles itself, they mentioned that all the dialogues of Kerala episode are written in Telugu so that audiences could understand (other wise chronic critics like me would have complained about nativity).

Camera: Photography by Ravindra Babu is impressive. The way sun set is captured for various scenes in the film is beautiful. Lots of special effects were also added to the film.

Stunts: Stunts by Vijay are worth applauding. Most of the fights composed for NTR have NTR killing the people with just one shot. There is lot of bloodshed in the fights of this film.

Other departments: Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is crisp. Art by Anand Sai is good.

Production: Producer Dora Swami Raju showed his experience of filmmaking in choosing an apt subject for NTR. The film is also shot in a rich scale.

Analysis:
First Half of the film is very much entertaining and would be liked by all sections of the audiences. The second half is little haphazard. The second half is stuffed by 1 hour of Kerala flashback episode. By the time flashback is over, people would be in a frame of mind that the climax is over. The last song and the following climax episode should have been picturised in an effective way. The second half does appeal to the masses a lot. Over all, its a good film that would give value for money you spent on ticket (only if you can excuse some skin showing scenes, double entendres and excessive bloodshed)