May 2009 ~ Early Tollywood

5.29.2009

Vishal's PISTA (2009) Movie Review by Greatandhra

Film: Pista

Banner: GK Film Corporation

Rating: 2/5

Cast: Vishal, Shriya, Kishore, Prakash Raj, Geetha, Tanikella Bharani, Shayaji Shinde, Ali, Krishna Bhagawan, Srinivas Reddy etc

Lyrics: Ananth Sriram

Dialogues: Shashank Vennelakanti

Action: Rocky Rajesh

Art: Velu-Prakash

Editing: VT Vijayan

Camera: Priyan

Producer: Vikram Krishna

Music: Mani Sharma

Story, Screenplay, Direction: Sabha Ayyappan

Released On: 29th May 2009

The much hyped ‘Pista’ that has been making rounds in big way in media circles has finally released today. Let us see how far the film stood up to expectations

Story:

Murali Krishna (Vishal), rough and tough young man from the village Ramachandrapuram comes to Vizag in search of his elder brother who runs away from home in childhood.

His wish is to make his mother happy by bringing back her elder son. In the process, he happens to develop a tug with two gangsters Guru (Kishore) and Surya Prakash (Prakash Raj).

The typical action drama continues till the last and if Murali Krishna found his brother has to be watched on screen. It is not something special to say that Indu (Shriya) is the lady love for Murali Krishna and there is nothing big to portray for her other than this.

Performances:

Vishal with his rugged look once again portrayed in mass action flick. All his histrionics, the choice of subject, the way he presented himself looked obsolete. His voice base and punch while delivering heavy dialogues are to be improved. Vishal needs to try something new to make a stride. For him the action film/mass flick happens to be just a few fights, songs and heavy packed climax. He has to come out from that shell and try for newness.

Shriya has shown enough of oomph and that worked well on screen.

Prakash Raj is at his best as a gangster. He justified his role. Kishore as another gangster is also ok. Ali’s comedy is good but Krishna Bhagawan failed to spill laughs with his weak track. Tanikella Bharani, the senior artiste with good élan, has diminished himself as a side kick for villain. He wouldn’t have zeroed in on that not-so-prominent role.

Action episodes are also outdated. Music is just average. The film is lacking freshness and the director is solely responsible for that. The production values are good but the subject matter is weak.

Analysis:

It appears to be a dubbed version with first look, watching Vishal on screen, but since it’s bilingual, the nativity is not missed in many frames. All the songs except ‘Pattuko Pattuko…’ were shot with Telugu lyrics and majority of scenes were also canned in Telugu that brought a perfect lip sync of artistes. The padding artistes also brought nativity feel for audiences.

First half of the film runs with time pass scenes and there will be no big movement in story line. The real story begins only with interval twist and second half. The conclusion is as expected and hence the last 15 minutes will not be that exciting for audiences.

The plight of this film depends on the patronage of mass audiences and the posters with glamorous Shriya may help to some extent. The film may run only with artificial boost up and heavy publicity but not with material in it.

[+/-]

Macnhu Manoj's PRAYANAM Movie Review by B.S

Film: PRAYANAM

Rating: 2/5

Banner: Aryaki Arts

Cast: Manchu Manoj, Harika, Brahmanandam, Janardhan, Daniel etc

Music: Mahesh Shankar

Cinematography: Sarvesh Murari
Director: Chandrasekhar Yeleti

Producer: Sita Yeleti

Release Date: May 29, 2009

Story:

A different story with dull pace, the tale begins on the backdrop of the Kuala Lumpur airport where Dhruv (manoj) arrives with his friends Kailash (janardhan) and Raman. He is on his way to Singapore from Malaysia on holidays but then his life takes a turn when he bumps across Harika (harika), one of the passengers in the airport who is on her way to India to meet her prospective husband. While Dhruv is more of a carefree guy who doesn't plan much, Harika is quite the opposite. However, cupid strikes Dhruv in one shot and he decides that Harika is the one for him. From then on, he begins to put his efforts on getting to know Harika, making friends with her and finally confessing his love for her. The problem for him is time since Harika's flight leaves in about two hours and he may not be able to see her for the rest of his life. What does he do and whether he is successful or not forms the rest of the story.

Presentation:

The director has come up with a wafer thin storyline and he had to rely on the presentation which was neat and the narration which was not having gravity. The dialogues were okay, the script was written without any hitches but the plot was too weak. Screenplay had a key role to play in this but then there were many drag moments. Music was alright and one song made sense. Cinematography was justified and editing was needed at some key places to avoid boredom. Costumes were top notch and other departments need no mention here. Manchu Manoj had to shoulder the entire film and though he looks good, he needs to work on his expressions and the soft side of emotions are not being seen in him, he looked a bit impish in few scenes here. Harika was sweet and her eyes had the magic though she was not that pretty. Manoj's friends and Harika's friend were the relief providers with their acts and dialogues. Brahmanandam's role was weak and he did not have much to do. Daniel came and went.

Conclusion:

The film must be appreciated for the different approach it took but then what is more important is the message about love at first sight and that moment has to touch the audience correctly. While that did not happen the first half was busy with the hero following the heroine and the second half is about whether he is successful or not. The pace of the movie is quite slow and there were many drag moments. Overall, the film will appeal to the youth audience a bit but then it has fallen flat due to the lack of many funny moments and the weak romantic sequences.

source: Bharat Student

5.28.2009

[+/-]

Maha Manishi ki Maa Nivalulu, N.T.Rama Rao's 87th Birthday

5.25.2009

[+/-]

Top Songs Of The Season

Surprisingly almost every movie releasing this summer are having good songs. This is a good sign. Devi sri prasad is back with Mallanna , You might get a feeling that .. I listened to this song somewhere. But on the top the album is good with 4 songs sung by Vikram himself."Allegro" and "Excuse me Mr.Mallanna" are very good. Innovative director Chandrasekhar yeleti's Prayanam has 3 songs composed by Mahesh Shankar (Vennela Fame). All the 3 songs are nice especially "Nuvvu Entha". Sumanth's BONI produced by Ramana gogula is also among the race. Ramana gogula composed the music. "Boni" happens to be Ramana gogula's mark song. "Modati choope nalona" is good. Another movie among the release is RIDE starring Tanish(Nacchavule fame), Swetha Basu (KBL Fame), Nani (Ashta chemma fame), Aksha(Yuvatha fame). The music was composed by popular singer Hemachandra (Zee saregamapa Little champs Anchor, Karunya's cousin). The songs are youthful and are OK. Next is the Vamsi's Gopi Gopika Godavari . Music was composed by Chakri. Typical Vamsi's songs. 3 songs are good. Last but not the least Siddharth's Oy! Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the music.

So coming to Top 15 songs of this season

MALLANNA (6.5/10)

Though the songs resemble some other songs asusual in Devisri Prasad movies. Mallanna has some new feel in songs like Allegro,Mambo Maamiya and Excuse me Mr.Mallanna. Ivanne Dupe is a dud. Meow Meow is ok with Mail Mail (Bunny) and Langa Voni (Varsham) beats. Theme is Ok. On the whole the album is a good one which scores 6.5/10

RIDE (5.5/10)

Hemachandra did a decent job eventhough this is his first movie. There is nothing new in the songs. But the visuals can be good for the music. The album is Ok with 2 good songs Rangula Lokam and Ride.

Prayanam (7/10)

3 songs with an off beat, classical and a fast number. Mahesh Shankar did good job.On the top Nuvvu entha is too good. Meghama is the off beat and is very cool. YVW is not upto mark and resembles heavily Vennela songs.

Boni (6.5/10)

Ramana gogula I think is a consistent performer and simple in his music. Perfect commercial album. Boni Boni is a typical Ramana gogula 's number. Nammaleni and Modati choope are good. On the whole the album is good.

Gopi Gopika Godavari (6.5/10)

Typical Vamsi again. Chakri again tried to imitate Ilayaraja. Songs are good. Nuvvakkadundi nennikkadunte is too good. Go Go rye rye is good.

Oy (7.5/10)

Last but not the least. Siddharth and Shamili in the lead role . Yuvan composed the music. Oy Oy has beats lifted from Black eyed peas "Dont Phunk with my heart" ,but the tune is good. The songs sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Yuvan are the main assets of the album. Kay Kay s song takes time to go into brain. Seheree is good.

On the whole , OY outperforms pther movies.

The following are the Top 15 songs (Not in order)

ALLEGRO - Mallanna
Excuse me Mr.Mallanna - Mallanna
Mambo mamiya - Mallanna
Oy Oy - Oy
Anukoledenadu - Oy
Povadhe Prema - Oy
Seheri - Oy
Rangula Lokam - Ride
Nuvvu entha - Prayanam
Boni Boni - Boni
Modati choope naalona - Boni
nammaleni kalaye nijamayena - Boni
Go Go rye rye - Gopi Gopika Godavari
Nuvvu akkadundi nenikkadunte - Gopi Gopika Godavari

Listen To These 15 songs