Nandi Awards for 2009-2010 Winners List Released

Best movies : 1. Sonta Ooru
2 . Banam
3. Kalavaramaye Madilo

Best family film : Koncham Istam Koncham Kastam

Best popular film : Magadheera

Best childrens film : Nazarana

Best Actor: Dasari Narayana Rao (Mestri)

Best Actress: Tirtha (Sonta Ooru)

Best supporting Actor: Ram Jagan Mahatma)

Best supporting Actress: Ramya krishna(Koncham Istam Koncham Kastam)

Best villain: Nandamuri Tarakaratna (Amaravati)

Best male artist: Sai Krishna (Drona)

Best female child artist: Gayatri

Best screenplay: Deepak Rai

Best dialogues: LB Sriram (Sonta Ooru)

Best story: Sekhar Kammula (Leader)

Best music director: Keeravani (Vengamamba)

Best director: Rajamouli (Magadheera)

Best stunts: Ram Laxman (Ride)

Best lyrics: Suddala Ashok (Mestri)

Best singer: SP Balu (Mestri)

Best female singer: Chitra (Kalavaramaye Madilo)

Best costumes: Rama Rajamouli ( Magadheera)

Best male comedian: Kishore Vakkala

Best female comedian: Hema (Koncham Istam Koncham Kastam)

Best female dubbing artiste: Sowmya

Best male dubbing artiste: Ravi Shankar (Anjaneyulu)

Best Art: Ravi (Magadheera)

Special jury awards: Ram Charan (Magadheera)
Srikanth (Mahatma)
Genelia (Katha) and Raghu Kunche (for Enduke
Ramanamma song in Bumper Offer)

Rajasekhar's Maa Annayya Bangaram Movie Review by Greatandhra

Film: Maa Annayya Bangaram

Rating: 2/5

Banner: Visakha Talkies

Cast: Rajasekhar, Kamalini Mukherjee, Jayaprakash Reddy, Rohit, Aditya Om, Yashwanth, Raj Kalyan, Ping Pong, Master Bharath, Sayaji Shinde, Jhansi, Uttej, Brahmanandam and others

Music: S A Rajkumar

Story: Bhupathi Raja

Editing: Gautham Raju

Camera: D Prasad Babu

Screenplay, Direction: Jonnalagadda Srinivas

Producer: Natti kumar

Release date: 31/07/2010

Angry man Rajasekhar who has been working hard for a hit is now arriving with yet another family entertainer and this time, he has the sensuous Kamalini Mukherjee by his side.


Story

Sivaji (Rajasekhar) is a mechanic who works hard and comes up in life. He lives only for his brothers (Rohit, Aditya Om, Yashwanth, Raj Kalyan, Ping Pong, Master Bharath) and wants to see them successful as he challenges his uncle (Sayaji).

In this process, he also refuses to get married. Even the brothers are equally attached to Sivaji. However, persuasion from brothers and uncle Parameswara Rao (Jayaprakash Reddy) makes Sivaji agree for marriage.

The story takes a turn with the arrival of Manjula (Kamalini), both Sivaji and Manjula like each other the first time they meet. However, the problem is Manju’s elder sister (Jhansi) has a tough time with her married life living in a joint family so she is adamant that Manjula should go to a nuclear family. Parameswara Rao lies that Sivaji has only one brother and the marriage takes place. However, the truth gets revealed soon and this brings problems. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.


Performances

Rajasekhar was stiff as a stick and except for his usual plastic smiles and strained eyes, there was nothing extra or different that one could notice.

Kamalini looks starved and she has lost all that voluptuous charm and cute sex appeal. It is better she gets back to her original shape instead of dieting, her hairstyling was poor. Performance wise, she was up to the mark.

Jayaprakash Reddy was the saving grace for the film. His comedy timing and exceptional dialogue delivery manages to get few smiles and he shows good energy levels.

Jhansi gives an impressive act, though her role was brief, she is good with her expressions and body language. She has a natural oomph which is hard to resist.

The support cast (Rohit, Aditya Om, Yashwanth, Master Bharath, Raj Kalyan) had a subdued presence and they contributed in their own way. Brahmi came and went, Sayaji was not used to the fullest, the others didn’t have much to offer.


Analysis

The idea of speaking about the importance of joint families and the human relations is a noble thought but then it has to be conceived in the right manner to connect with the audience. While the storyline was good and was written decently, it is the narration and presentation that flipped. Movies like ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ ‘Aadavari Maatalaku Ardhaalu Verule’ and few others have built that bond strongly so the audience is used to that intensity and depth which was missing in this movie. The affections between brothers are the key but there was an overdose of sentiment which sometimes defied logic and normalcy. In a way, instead of showing the good side of a joint family, the film ends up scaring the wits out of the audience looking at the attachments.

Drawbacks:

Here is a glimpse of few limitations

* All brothers want Rajasekhar by their side when they sleep, so he spends sometime with his wife on first night and comes back to his brothers to sleep along with them…
* Almost all of them are 20 plus but they wait for the brother to get them biryani
* All brothers wish to sleep along with their brother with their legs resting on him
* While at one end, Rajasekhar wants them to become IAS, IPS, Doctor, he ends up sobbing like a child and so does the brothers when the situation of their going away for few days comes.
* Kamalini gives birth to the baby but refuses to see the child’s face or feed with milk till the brothers return..!!

While the overdose is on the extreme side, the film has few sad points which might appeal to the joint family audience and will bring tears to the B, C center ladies. At the box office, given the huge number of theaters, the business of the movie may fall on wrong side.

Bottom Line: Strict ‘no’ for modern audiences

Bheemili Kabaddi Jattu (2010) Movie Review by Bharatstudent

Film: BHEEMILI KABADDI JATTU

Rating: 2.75/5

Banner: Mega Supergood Films

Cast: Nani, Saranya Mohan, Kishore, Keerthi, Dhanraj, Vinay, Santosh, Kautilya, Aarti Puri and others

Music: Selva Ganesh

Camera: Chitti Babu

Director: Tatineni Satya

Producers: N V Prasad, Paras Jain

Release Date: July 09, 2010


Story:

A remake tale, the story is set on the backdrop of Bheemili and here lives Suribabu (nani) who is passionate about the game of Kabaddi. He along with his group of friends play Kabaddi everyday but they fail to win competitions. An opportunity comes in the form of state level championships at Rajahmundry and though Suri is never given the chance, he wants to go there. With the help of the coach Prakash (kishore) they manage an entry. Whether the team wins the trophy, why Suri wants to come to Rajahmundry, all this forms the rest of the story.


Presentation:

The director has come up with an interesting storyline and though the presentation was good, the narrative was weak. The dialogues were okay, the script was average and the screenplay was apt. background score was good but only one song is effective. Cinematography was decent. Editing could have been sharp. Costumes didn't have much to do while art department was natural. Nani did his bit as required and suits the role of a village boy, Saranya Mohan looks sweet and makes her presence felt, Kishore was perfect, Keerthi was alright, Dhanraj was decent, Vinay was okay, Santosh was convincing, the others added value to the film.


Conclusion:

The film is a remake of the Tamil movie 'Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu' which was a big hit in Kollywood. However, such movies need strong screenplay. While the first half is all about the game and the romance sequences, the real story begins only during the second half. However, the film fails to connect to the audience at any given point due to directorial flaws. The technical values were good and the director could have avoided repeated sequences. Overall, the film might appeal at the B and C centers given the backdrop but it will take a lot of publicity for scoring a success.

Manchu Manoj's Jhummandi Naadam (2010) Movie Review by Greatandhra

Film: Jhumandi Naadam

Rating: 2.5/5

Banner: Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures

Cast: Mohan Babu, Manchu Manoj, Tapsee, Tanikella, Sudha, Ishwarya, Suman, Pragathi, Ahuti Prasad, Brahmi, MS, Ali, Raghu Babu etc

Story: Bhupathi Raja

Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh

Music: M M Keeravani

Camera: S Gopal Reddy

Screenplay, direction: K Raghavendra Rao

Producer: Manchu Lakshmi Prasanna

Release date: 01/07/2010

The elegant celebrity Manchu Lakshmi is making her foray as a producer and that too with a musical of sorts. And it is the directorial treat from the great K Raghavendra Rao after a very long time.


Story

Balu (Manoj) is an aspiring singer and he wants to become as great as S P Balasubramanyam, he comes from Bhadrachalam to fulfill an oath he had taken. Opposite his home lives the retired principal Captain Rao (Mohan Babu) who has a disliking towards the younger generation and their thoughts. As usual, they have their cat and mouse games to outwit each other. The story takes a turn with the arrival of Shravya (Tapsee), Rao’s close friend’s (Suman) daughter. She wants to make a documentary on the traditional Telugu folklore songs and seeks a music guide. Events lead her to Balu and in no time, love ignites. Meanwhile, Balu and his music group is keen on making their mark at a music contest but then Rao holds the key to their entry. He takes a promise from Balu. What is that promise? Does Balu keep up the promise? Does he fulfill his ambition of becoming a singer? What happens to his love story? All this forms the rest of the story.


Performances:

Manchu Manoj was energetic and gave his hard work and efforts. His imitation of Mohan Babu during few scenes was entertaining. He just has to add more fire to his expressions while enacting the serious scenes. Overall, a good performance.

Tapsee is luscious and has given a complete visual feast. She is not beautiful but is sexy. So, she will fit better as a glam doll. On the performance front, she is alright but having a long innings would be a challenge.

Mohan Babu is a show stealer. Though there is not much in his character, it is his screen presence, exceptional dialogue delivery and the entertaining voice modulation that scores at many places. He was impressive.

Brahmi was usual, M S was good, Ali was alright, Suman was okay, Sudha was loud, Tanikella was effective, Pragathi was composed, Aishwarya was apt, Ahuti Prasad was hardly there, Raghu Babu was not used to his potential.


Analysis:

The selection of theme looks good at the onset with a young boy picking tunes and notes of music from his surroundings but with each passing scene, the film begins to lose grip. There are few conflicting points which give a big blow to the film.

* Tapsee comes in as an NRI girl passionate about Telugu tradition but more than half the time, she is shown in skin tight shorts.
* The marriage song of Manoj’s friend was the right opportunity to show the Telugu tradition but instead, it turns out to be a navel and cleavage show of the heroine and ironically, the bride herself. That was crude.
* There is no brewing of romance in the right depth between the lead pair but then it becomes a critical point of decision for the hero before the interval.


KRR specializes in giving visual appeal and that’s what he has done here. For a change, instead of using the ‘Jaamakaayalu’ and ‘Batthai Pallu’, he brought in ‘Kobbari Chippalu’ and ‘Gummadi Kaayalu’- and a green mango on the navel instead of mosambi!!!. However, KRR has not been able to give a depth to the content so it looked like a modified version of the 80s cinema.

The film was meant to be a musical and almost all the songs engage the audience with great visual treat, tunes and rendering. Cinematography was rich. Presentation was nice but narrative was not upto the mark. Editing was okay. Costumes and art department made their presence felt. The film will appeal to the hardcore front benchers given the nasty camera angles and the double entendres. So, it would have worked if the makers focused on making it a mass masala entertainer. Overall, it is not a musical as the title suggests nor is it a family entertainer.

Anushka As PANCHAKSHARI (2010) Movie Review by Greatandhra

Film: Panchakshari

Rating: 2/5

Banner: Sri Sai Ratna Creations

Cast: Anushka, Pradeep Rawat, Samrat, Brahmanandam, Ali, Nasser, Raghubabu, Ravi, Sudharani, M S, Jeeva, Chandramohan, Subbaraya Sharma, Telangana Sakuntala and others

Music: Chinna

Dialogues: Thota Prasad

Cinematography: Vasu

Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh

Story: Madhu Vipparthi

Screenplay, direction: Samudra

Producer: Bommadevara Ramachandra Rao

Release date: 11/06/2010

The hot star Anushka who has swept the audience off their feet with ‘Arundhati’ has now arrived with another strong role.

The movie starts with 1985 backdrop where a girl is born at temple on a stormy night for a couple (Chandramohan and Rajitha). The temple priest who witnesses this, names the girl as Panchakshari. He also says that the girl gets goddess in her once in a year and for rest of 364 days she will be like normal girl.


Panchakshari (Anushka) is regarded as godwoman in the village and the pious devotees regularly do poojas in the temple and they also carry on a grand bonalu festival once in every year and sees goddess coming inside Panchakshari. They ask her some questions and clear their doubts and woes.

There is a cruel villain (Pradeep Rawat) in Janagam wants to pilfer the treasure underneath the temple, as reported by a secret Archeologist. Panchakshari and the devoted people in village become hurdles for him. So he wants to eliminate Panchakshari. Did he get succeeded in that?

On the other hand Honey (Anushka) is a fashion designer in city and has big dreams. She has a loving family and they want her to get married.

Sequence of events lead Honey to the Village and she makes few shocking discoveries. Who is Honey? What does Honey do to get out the problems? All this forms the rest of the story.


Performances:

Anushka has done her bit well and she has fitted herself aptly in the form of a city girl and also as a dedicated devotee. However, her character was not etched with intensity which led to hiccups.

Pradeep Rawat as usual flexed his muscles and used the dubbed baritone voice to look heavy. As such, his character could not deliver that evil shade though his screen presence was good.


Samrat was alright, the ‘Magadheera’ track of Brahmi failed to impress, Ali was alright, Nasser was natural, the artist doing Pradeep Rawat’s wife fitted the role well, Chandramohan was usual, Subbaraya Sharma was standard, Telangana Sakuntala, Raghu Babu, Sudha Rani were routine. Others were there to fill the screen.

Analysis:

The film runs on an age old track and we have seen that from the times of K R Vijaya so the content part was very weak.

The narrative was poor and the poor writing skills were seen. Few important scenes lacked conviction and what was meant to be an emotional scene ended up becoming a comedy scene for the audience. There are many inconsistencies in the script and not one track fails to take off for a continuous time to engage the audience. It is like bits and pieces put together. One can clearly see traces of ‘Ammoru’ ‘Arundhati’ etc but there is no comparison between them and this same old story.

Samudra has got a very silly way of having comedy and the same silliness is seen even in some crucial scenes. He sure has to update himself with the taste of the audience and the ability to involve them in the film.

Anushka’s introduction song must have been canned in the backdrop of some mall instead of temple. Wearing western outfits and shaking her ‘back’ in front of camera is disgusting and proves to be a wrong blend.

Anushka failed to show ‘roudram’ in her eyes in climax shot. She kept the tongue out like a patient before a doctor but not as Mahakali.

Screenplay is not intact and failed to pull audiences interest

Chandramohan revealing his connection with Nazar sounded like a comedy. People are laughing at this amateur scene in theater.

‘Magadheera’ comedy of Brahmanandam is not presented well.

Ali’s comedy started with great expectations but ended up weak.


Aghora’s character couldn’t pump in fear factor but boosted up sense of humor among audiences those were seen cracking jokes looking at that character

The villain factor is poor and the protagonist Panchakshari’s character is not presented with elevation. The initial scene says that Panchakshari is going to be powerful divine girl. But that’s not shown in required tempo afterwards.

Songs are good, cinematography is excellent and the art direction is also impressive. On a whole, this movie is ruled out for A centers and it’s a doubt if B, C center audience patronage this as their taste is also changing from decade to decade. This movie recalls the goddess movies of 80s and early 90s.

Bottom Line: Panchakshari- Punch Less

Gopichand's GOLIMAAR (2010) Telugu Movie Review by Greatandhra

Film: Golimaar

Rating: 2.5/5

Banner: Sri Sai Ganesh Productions

Cast: Gopichand, Priyamani, Kelly Dorjee, Nasser, Roja, Ali, Mukhtar Khan, MS Narayana, Shawar Ali, Jeeva etc

Music: Chakri

Cinematographer: Shyam K Naidu

Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh

Story, dialogues, screenplay, direction: Puri Jagannadh

Producer: Bellamkonda Suresh

Release date: 27/05/2010

Puri Jagannadh has arrived with yet another venture and this time, he has taken the line of encounter specialists.

Story:

Gangaram (Gopi) fulfills his childhood ambition of becoming a police officer and in no time, DIG Bharath (Nasser) promotes him to an encounter specialist. He tells Gangaram to wipe away the gangs of Khaleel (Kelly Dorjee) and Saleem (Shavar Khan). Gangaram begins his clean up task and in this process; he also gets to meet Pavitra (Priyamani). However, there is a twist which awaits him and what happens from there forms the rest of the story.

Performance:

Gopichand has done his bit as required and he is only saving grace in the movie. He looks rather mild this time. But then, he has done a decent job.

Priyamani is not good and she looked with over dosed layers of make up that made her unattractive.

Kelly Dorjee has sharp looks but as usual, the characterization of the villain is not that strong. Being a powerful don, he ends up behaving like a small time ring leader in a slum.

Nasser was natural, Roja was disgusting, Ali was not required, Mukhtar Khan was just around, M S Narayana was average, Jeeva, Shawar Khan and others filled the screen space.

Here are a few vital points that the director should understand:

Comedy should be dosed well for this genre of films
Care should be taken at the placement of songs
How may times the story of Dayanayak will be recycled? People have watched Ab Tak Chappan and Sidhdham
Heroine should be glamorous and lovable but not irritable

Analysis:

The film is said to have been inspired by the life of Daya Naik, the famous encounter specialist. However, one can see traces of top cops like Walter Devaram (Tamil nadu), Pradeep Sharma (Mumbai), Aftab Ahmed Khan etc. But then, this is a serious domain that deals with hardcore criminals and life threatening situations.

And Puri ended up treating it like a filmy affair. Movies like ‘Ab Tak Chappan’ always stand as benchmarks for such genre of movies. The intensity was missing here, dialogues were regular and were good at very few places, the script was not engaging. Above all, Puri is known for his master stroke and unfortunately, there is no flash of brilliance seen in the film that makes you think that yes, it is indeed a film by him. He tried to bring in some twists but they weren’t presented with required depth.

The technical values were okay and there is absolutely no comedy track. This is not to compare the film with ‘Pokiri’ but for a man who has given us a marvel like that, ‘Golimaar’ is definitely not a flick of his caliber.

Nagarajuna In & As KEDI (2010) Movie Review By Greatandhra

Film: Kedi

Rating: 2.5/5

Cast: Nagarjuna, Mamta Mohandas, Sayaji Shinde, Harshavardhan, Brahmanandam, Ankur, Anushka, Mehak, Linda, Poula, Pavala Syamala, Jayavani etc

Art: Srikanth Ramisetty

Action: Selva

Editing: Shravan

Cinematography: Sarvesh Murari

Music: Sandeep Chowta

Producer: D Shiva Prasada Reddy

Screenplay, Dialogue and Direction: Kiran

Released On: 12th Feb 2010

This is the much awaited film of big star in 2010. Expectations are pinned on this film after Adurs and Namo Venkatesa those did an ‘ok’ job at box office. Let us get into the details to know how it faired.


Story:

Ramesh, whose nickname is Rummy, gets into love with his friend Janaki in childhood itself. They spend good time together but Janaki advises him to grow powerful in society by earning big money. She also tells that she would marry him only then.

Rummy (Nagarjuna) becomes a gambler and starts earning. He betrays the men those become rich by false means through his gambling. ACP Sekhar (Sayaji Shinde) plans to catch Rummy but his attempts fail every time.

Rummy attracts Chandra (Ankur) who runs a pub and gambling in it. He settles a smuggling deal with Rummy and accomplishes that. In the meanwhile, in Goa, Rummy wins the heart of Linda (Nadia) as he saves her sister Sara (Poula) from a cruel man called Victor. Linda proposes to Rummy but he negates it.


On the other hand, Sandhya (Mamta Mohandas) helps Rummy in his missions. Who is Sandhya and what happened to Janaki? That is the suspense thread in the film that gets revealed in the climax.

Performances:

Nagarjuna excelled as usual and there is no point to criticize him anywhere. He is looking younger year by year and that stands to be his USP.

Mamata Mohandas is just ok. She could have shined better being a glamorous quotient on silver screen. Costumes and make up could be better.

Brahmanandam brought many hopes whenhe entered but more was expected from him. Harshavardhan did good job.


Others are ok. Ankur in bad guy character did his best.

Cinematography is good. Editing is crisp and direction is commendable. Lyricist Chinni Charan wrote all the songs in the film and all are in tune with the contemporary taste of audience. But the music could have elevated the beauty of songs.

Highlights:

Harshavardhan
Cinematography
'Mayagadu raa ee Mayamashinda...' haunts venafter walking out from theatres.
'Mu mu muddante chedaa.. brought applauses in theatres

Disappointments:

Music
Too many twists confused the narration
Anushka appearance in introduction song is not in tune with expectations


Analysis:

This is the movie that has been in news ever since the announcement of its title. The stills with youthful get up of Nagarjuna pulled the attention of many and the first proposed title ‘Rummy’ also caught the attention. Later, it was announced that the title changed to ‘Mosagadu’ that sounded rugged and old. Finally another obsolete title ‘Kedi’ was zeroed in. Many felt ‘Rummy’ could be the ideal title for this film as the hero’s nick name is Rummy (Ramesh) and it is also a card game that denotes gambling, the main crux of the movie.


The director's lack of experiance is seen when he used the two energetic songs in the beginning itself. He might have used them in before the climax.

First half and second half go in similar tone with entertainment. The films like ‘Super’, where Nag played a role with negative tinge will be recalled while watching this.

Audiences sit with expectations when Anushka appears on screen with a special song imagining something in the standards of ‘bommali..bommali..’. But the expectations aren’t reached.

New director Kiran tried to give a full dose entertaining treat and he has failed to accomplish. It's confusing for masses. The love angle and emotions aren’t presented in a subtle way to attract class audience.

Bottom Line: Not Exciting