Just Yellow's KATHA (2009) Movie Review by Bharatstudent

Film: KATHA

Rating: 2/5

Banner: Just Yellow Media pvt ltd

Cast: Arun Adit, Genelia, Prakashraj, Shafi, Raghubabu, Tulasi, Jayalalitha, Ravikiran Babu, Praneeth, Srilatha, C M Kalyan and others

Music: S K Balachandran

Cinematography: I Andrew

Director: Srinivas Raaga

Producer: Gunnam Gangaraju

Release date: 12/12/2009


Story:

A good tale written bad, the story is set on the backdrop of Araku and here comes Chitra (Genelia) to take up a job as a teacher in the school. Here, she chances upon Krishna (arun), an aspiring director who comes along with his group to make a film. Krishna falls for Chitra at first sight and is shocked to learn from the local Circle Inspector (Prakashraj) about Chitra's mental illness history. Meanwhile, she claims to have seen a murder in the area and many find it hard to believe given her background. Whether the murder really took place? Is Chitra still not sound? Is she spinning a story of her own? all this forms the rest of the story.


Presentation:

The director has come up with an interesting idea but then he failed to conceive it perfectly on the screen. The presentation was alright but the narrative lacked the punch. The dialogues were normal, the script had flaws, the screenplay was inconsistent. Background score was a major disturbance and lacked the sense to give the right tune according to the mood of the scene. Just one song was okay. Cinematography did justice and captured the locales neatly. Editing was below average. Costumes were decent and the art department was alright. Genelia infused life into her character but then it could not go far since her character was not etched out properly. Arun Adit is okay for a newcomer but he will have to prove his mettle in few more movies to be named as a proper hero. Prakashraj was riveting as usual and he was the saving grace. Raghu Babu was hilarious, Shafi was not used to his fullest caliber, Tulasi was standard, Jayalalitha was regular. Praneeth, Srilatha, Ravikiran Babu and others did their bit as required.


Conclusion:

The film happens to be a romantic thriller but then it lacked the shock points to really create that impact on the viewers. While the first half goes on mildly and it is not until the first twenty minutes that the real story takes off. Second half should have been crucial but it gets spoiled due to the lack of continuity in the scenes and abrupt editing, there are few scenes that tend to get attention. Overall, the film looks aloof from the audience and has got a very slow pace which doesn't work for a thriller. The technical aspects were okay but it is the narrative and lack of depth in the plot that failed to appeal. Nothing for the masses, absolutely little comedy and no thrills lead to the film fizzling out at the box office mostly.


Bharatstudent verdict: Not an impressive tale.

Y V S Chowdary's SALEEM (2009) Movie Review by Greatandhra

Film: Saleem

Rating: 1.25/5

Banner: Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures

Cast: Vishnu, Ileana, Mohan Babu, Kaveri Jha, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Tanikella Bharani, Hema, MS Narayana, Ali, Raghubabu, Venkat etc

Music: Sandeep Chowta

Art: Anand Sai

Fights: Vijay, Kanal Kannan

Camera: Ram Prasad

Production: Padmasri Mohan Babu

Story, Screenplay Direction: YVS Choudary

Release Date: 12th Dec 2009

Manchu Vishnu’s ‘Saleem’ released today after a long wait. Ileana, the heroine in demand paired up with him. Mohan Babu also played a key role in the film and that attracted the audiences, obviously. Walk into the details to know more…


Story:

The movie starts with Satyawati (Ileana) and her story in a village backdrop. She is the daughter of Singamanaidu (Napolean), a respectable villager. She comes to the village for a brief vacation and lives amidst all lovable relatives recalling the movies Murari, Athadu, Ninne Pelladatha etc etc (sorry for taking the comparison. This film has no glory close to an iota of those master pieces)!! Like in many other films the hero (Vishnu with character name Munna) arrives in that village and stays along with the family in the disguise of orphan. The story runs with insipid dialogues, stupid screenplay and energy less narration till the interval. And the interval bang has got a twist that rotates the heads of audiences to 360 degrees. I cannot reveal that here as that is the only ‘suspense factor’ in it. And the post interval period is another hard nut to bite. Mohan Babu plays the mafia don OJO (an acronym for Ogirala Joginatham) and he has a duet with Kaveri Jha. The twist in the interval narrates rest of the story line with all confusion and cacophony. Who is Saleem is another part of the story that unwraps in second half. What happened for about 150 minutes will be in question mark at the conclusion of the movie.


Performance:

Mohan Babu wouldn’t have played this role OJO at all. He has shown a teacher as source of eroticism. The artiste of his age shouldn’t have encouraged the director to demean a female teacher that way. It’s a head-down for entire female teacher community. I feel the teachers in Mohan Babu’s school ‘Sree Vidya Niketan’ would keep their heads down if they identify themselves in Kaveri Jha’s character and their master Mohan Babu in the role he played.

Vishnu has picked up considerably. He is really looking smart with lean look. His face is also showing some glow and young charisma. Dances are also impressive. But he needs to do exercise in voice modulation. He should take a few leaves from his father’s experience for next film.


Ileana is restricted to enticing male crowds through songs. YVS Choudary seems to have crossed the caliber of K Raghavendra Rao in igniting screen to flame with female glamour. But Ileana’s over action while delivering some dialogues is horrible. Kaveri Jha is also used for the glamour factor. But her role is disgusting.

Ali looked promising when he entered the screen as choreographer Gafar Khan. But his rotten country comedy makes decent crowds inconvenient.

Technically the movie is good. The sound effects, action part and cinematography are dealt up to perfection. Music is below average. And the main spirit of the movie is missed by director with erratic screenplay and punch less dialogues.


Underlines:

* Poolu Gusagusaladenani, the old from 1973 ‘Sreevaru Mavaru’ is remixed here and canned on Mohan Babu and Kaveri Jha
* Ramya Sree, the actress known for playing vamp, servant maid and college lecturer in different films appeared in a serious deglamorised role in it!


Sign-Out Lines: This is the nastiest movie that I have ever seen. Rotten comedy, over exposing heroines, non-piercing dialogues, and senseless screenplay- everything is worth forgetting. I’ve been a filmophile but happened to review this film for the first time. It swallowed my patience completely but I’ve got no other way than reviewing this since I promised the admin.

To sign out on lighter note, Saleem boils the heads of audiences like ‘Haleem’!

Decree: Watch it at your own risk