BRAHMANANDAM DRAMA COMPANY (BDC) REVIEW

Cast
Brahmanandham
Kamalinee Mukherji
Shivaji
Ravi Krishna
Raghu Babu
Ali
AVS
Dharamavarapu and others

Direction: Srikanth.I

Music: Sai Karthik

There are many directors, who could tickle the funny bones, with the movement of the story itself. They could script the screenplay and story in such a way that the scene itself brings smile on the face of audiences. They were able to reap good entertainment with heroes itself. Heroes like Venkatesh, Rajendra Prasad, Raviteja, Vishnu and the latest Ram, were able to give entertainment, despite showing heroism on the screen. There some other directors, who keep a comedy track, which has a link with the story and at times, without any link as well. But, keeping the entire comedians of Tollywood in his star cast, director I Srikanth failed to provide entertainment, though the subject was proved a hilarious comedy show in its original form (Bagham Bagh).

Plot
Anandam (Brahmanandam) has two heroes in his drama company Sivaji (Sivaji) and Ravi (Ravikrishna). An NRI contractor (AVS), who was fascinated with the beauty and dance of the heroine of the drama company (Sameeksha) books them to stage shows in Bangkok. Before they leave for the abroad trip, both the heroes misbehave with the heroine. This forces her to quit the job and leave the drama company just before they were about to board the flight. To make use of the abroad trip, the entire troupe boards the flight sans the heroine. They somehow manage the contractor that their heroine was busy with some modelling and will join them later. Then the heroes start search for a suitable face as heroine. In the process, Ravi was able to bring Arpitha (Kamalini Mukherjee), into their troupe. After giving performance in one show, she meets with an accident due to her mental disorder (suicide tendency). Later, she was taken away by one Mahendra (Raghu) who claimed to be her husband. Soon, the trio (Anandam, Sivaji and Ravi) gets implicated in abetment of suicide case. How they were able to come out of the case? What makes her to commit suicide? Did really Arpitha die? What made her to say that she is the wife of Mahendra? Why the gangsters were after the trio? Answers to all these questions form part of the climax.
Performance

It is Brahmanandam, who is a seasoned comedian, delivered good performance in the entire film. All the other artistes, who were also seasoned comedians could not evoke even a smile on the faces of the audiences, leave alone a big laugh. Moreover, good artistes like Sivaji and Sivajiraja too gave a very unimpressive performance. Ravikrishna kept a big blank face in the film. Neither he showed any feelings in his face nor had put up a good body language. Kamalini is the only saving grace in the film. However, she was also portrayed in a deglamorous character. However, she showed ease in a couple of dances which gave a little relief.
Technical Dept

Dialogues by Ramesh-Gopi are very unimpressive. Camera work by PS Babu is a big minus. Though a major part of the film was shot in Bangkok, he failed to grab the beautiful locales with his camera skills. Songs lack any foot-tapping dances and music by Sai Karthik is not at all melodious. Only a remix song, which has a mixture of first stanzas of popular songs evoked good response in the theatre. Screenplay and direction by I Srikanth are very disappointing. The director failed to run the film with a good tempo.

Conclusion

The audiences who go to the theatres with lots of expectations on the entertainment would face miserable disappointment in the absence of any scenes worth watching. The producers who took more than one and a half years to complete the film, were not in a position to release the film in the absence of any takers, possibly because of the unimpressive movement of the film. Somehow, they were rescued by some distributors who dared to release the film. It is very much doubtful whether any of the buyers would get back their money or not.On the whole there is nothing attractive in this film and the comedy element lacks the luster in it. This movie is surely not going to run for more than 2 weeks.

SANGAMAM REVIEW

Film: Sangamam

Rating: 3/5

Banner: Manoranjan Entertainments

Cast
Gadde Sindhura
Rohit Khurana
Murali Mohan
Suhasini
Brahmanandam
Sarah
Raghuram Reddy and others
Music: M M Keeravani

Camera: Jayaram & Sandeep Reddy

Director: Rasool Ellore

Producers: Ramana Pemmaraju, Kripakar Tadikonda

Released Date: July 11, 2008
Story

A well told tale, the story begins with in the backdrop of a village where Samskruti (Sindhura) is the darling daughter of the village head Raghava Rao and both of them share a very affectionate relationship so much so that she even calls him by his name. Samskruthi is an excellent dancer and a very good singer too while Raghava Rao is respected by all villagers and farmers. However, he hits the roof on hearing the name of America since his brother Jagadish (Murali Mohan) had left him many years ago along with his brother despite giving his word that he would stay and Raghava Rao feels betrayed. A chance accident happens to Samskruthi and when the routine tests take place, the doctors discover that she is suffering from Cardiac Myopia which can be treated only at the US. With great reluctance, Raghava Rao sends her to Dr Geetha (Suhasini) but his intentions are respected by Samskruthi and she decides to stay away from meeting her uncle. Meanwhile, Raghava Rao's close friend passes the message to Jagadish and they plan in such a way that Samskruthi meets Sneha (Sarah) her cousin and in this process she also comes across Abhiram (Rohit) who falls for her at the first sight. Life goes on smoothly and Abhiram one day confesses his feelings for Samskruthi. Meanwhile, she also gets to know about the real identity of her uncle and her cousin and discovers the real reason for the misunderstanding between her father and her uncle. Added to this is the impending surgery. What happens from there? Is Abhiram successful in his love? What happens to Raghava Rao and Jagdish? All this forms the rest of the story.
Presentation

The director has come out with a very clean subject and his thoughts were clear on the message. The presentation was excellent and though the narration lacked pace, it was going at a healthy speed. Full marks to the technical side - the music was spellbinding, camera was brilliant and Costumes were perfect. The script was simple and there were a few dialogues which caught the appreciation of the audience. The screenplay was impressive and though there few quick frames which were visually disturbing in the start, eventually everything settles down. Sindhura has proved that she is not just a glam doll oozing out her curves but also a very elegant actress, her expressions were apt and she has carried out her role with poise and grace. Rohit was energetic but he was looking weak, he needs to build flesh and cheeks on him to look healthy, his acting is nice and natural. Brahmanandam yet again has his own place with his typical comedy. Sarah was a real stunner, she must think of getting into more movies. Murali Mohan, Suhasini and the others did their roles with ease and it never looked like a very theatrical performance from any of them.

Conclusion

The film stands true to the title and starts off at a gentle pace, while the first half revolves around the lighter side of the story with romance, comedy and some interesting moments, the second half gets sentimental and though the intensity of the feelings is not over reactive it is good enough to taste and relish it. The film maker has also come out with few points like the importance of agriculture, respecting traditions, prejudices about America and other things. It is a film for the multiplex and the family audience who can sit back and enjoy the whole treat but mass audience will go nowhere near it. The highlight of the film is the deft handling of the emotional scenes and the reunion of the brothers is touching. If the film is promoted well, it will surely find the deserved recognition and has every chance of becoming a success.

ASTHA SINGHAL(CHANDRAHAS FAME) PHOTO GALLERY