Early Tollywood: ASIN

1.30.2009

Music Director: Chakri

Jagamanta Kutumbam Lyrics

jagamanta kuTumbam naadi yEkaaki jeevitam naadi
jagamanta kuTumbam naadi yEkaaki jeevitam naadi
samsaara saagaram naade sanyaasam soonyam naavE
jagamanta kuTumbam naadi yEkaaki jeevitam naadi

kavinai kavitanai bhaaryanai bhartanai
kavinai kavitanai bhaaryanai bhartanai
mallela daarilO manchu eDaarilO
mallela daarilO manchu eDaarilO
panneeTi jayageetaalo kanneeTi jalapaataala
naatO nEnu anugamistu naatO nEne ramistuu
vanTarinai anavaratam kanTunnaanu nirantaram
kalalni kadhalni maaTalni paaTalni
rangulnee rangavallulanee kaavya kanyalni aaDa pillalani

jagamanta kuTumbam naadi yEkaaki jeevitam naadi

minTiki kanTini nEnai
kanTanu manTanu nEnai
minTiki kanTini nEnai
kanTanu manTanu nEnai

manTala maaTuna vennela nEnai
vennela kuutala manTanu nEnai
ravinai SaSinai divamai nisinai
naatO nEnu sahagamistuu naatO nEnE ramistoo
vanTarinai pratinimisham kanTunnaanu nirantaram
kiraNaalni kiraNaala hariNaalni
hariNaala charaNaalni charaNaala
chalanaana kanaraani gamyaala kaalaanni indra jaalaanni

jagamanta kuTumbam naadi yEkaaki jeevitam naadi
jagamanta kuTumbam naadi yEkaaki jeevitam naadi

gaali pallakeelOna tarali naa paaTa paapa oorEgi veDale
gontu vaakilini moosi marali tanu moogabOyi naa gunDe migile
naa hrudayamE naa lOgili
naa hrudayamE naa paaTaki talli
naa hrudayamE naaku aali
naa hrudayamulO idi siniivaali

jagamanta kuTumbam naadi yEkaaki jeevitam naadi
jagamanta kuTumbam naadi yEkaaki jeevitam naadi....

Oke Oka Mata Lyrics

Oke oka maata madilona daagundi mounamgaa
Oke oka maata pedavopalenanta teeyamgaa
Naa peru nee premani
Naa daari nee valapani
Naa choopu nee navvani
Naa oopire nuvvani
Neeku cheppaalani

Oke oka maata...

Nenu ani lenu ani chebite em chestaavu
Nammanani navvukoni chaalle pommantaavu
Nee manasuloni aasagaa nilichedi nenani
Nee tanuvuloni sparsagaa tagiledi nenani
Nee kanti maimarupulo nanu polchukontaanani
Tala aanchi nee gundepai naa peru vintaanani
Neeku cheppaalani

Oke oka maata...

Nee adugai nadavadame payanamannadi paadam
Ninu vidichi batakadame maranamannadi praanam
Nuvu raakamundu jeevitam gurutaina ledani
Ninu kalusukunna aa kshanam nanu vodiliponani
Prati ghadiya O janmagaa ne gaduputunnaanani
Ee mahima needenani neekaina telusaa ani
neeku cheppaalani

Oke oka maata...

1.28.2009

[+/-]

AMMA NANNA O TAMILA AMMAYI (2003) Lyrics

11.22.2008

[+/-]

Asin In Walt Disney Pictures

7.09.2008

[+/-]

100 CRORES IN 3 WEEKS - DASAVATHAARAM COLLECTIONS

6.24.2008

[+/-]

ASIN ON VOGUE'S "10"TH EDITION

6.21.2008

[+/-]

DELETED SCENES AND INTERVIEWS IN DVDS

6.13.2008

[+/-]

DASAVATHAARM REVIEW - 3

Cast: Kamal Hassan, Napolean, Chandran Bharathi, M.S. Baskar, Asin, Mallika Sherawat, Jayapradha etc

Rating: 3.25/5

Banner: OSCAR Films Pvt Ltd

Music: Himesh Reshamiya, Devi Sri Prasad

Action: Thiyagarajan, Kanal Kannan
Make-Up: Michael Westmore and Mosher

Cinematography: Ravi Varman

Director: KS Ravi Kumar

Producer: Oscar V Ravichandran

Released Date: June 13, 2008
Story:

A one stop shop, the movie begins on a flashback mode when all of us are taken to the twelfth century when there were only two sects - Vaishnavites and Shaivaites fighting against each other and the dominance of the Vishnu devotees is challenged when the local king of Chidambaram Kulathunga Chozhan (Napoleon) puts his iron foot down and is on a spree to put an end to the presence of Lord Vishnu and replace it with Lord Shiva. However, his power is challenged when Rangaraja Nambi (Kamal) opposes the decree and despite his friendship with the king, he is tied to the idol and is drowned in the sea along with the idol of the Perumal. All this is watched by his wife (Asin) whose pleas fall on deaf ears and even she gives up her life. The story takes turns and reaches the present modern day and goes all the way to America where the protagonist Govind (Kamal) happens to be a scientist and is a key part to the crucial bio synthetic vial that is being devised. Due to a freak accident, the vial's danger is realized by Govind and much to his horror, he knows that this is being sold by his superior Dr Sethu to some unwanted elements. Govind takes it upon himself to ensure that the vial is kept away from wrong hands and he is chased by the professional killer Fletcher (Kamal) hired by the company. The vial reaches to India through coincidence and Govind reaches in search of that, he is being followed by Fletcher who comes to India with the assistance of Jasmine (Mallika Sherawat). Govind meets the Tamil cop Nadar (Kamal) and through a tale of events, he becomes the wanted criminal. In his search for the vial, he goes to Chidambaram and comes across Lakshmi (Asin) along with her granny (Kamal) who hails from an orthodox Brahmin family and there he discovers that the vial is inside the idol of Lord Perumal. He is being followed by Fletcher even to Chidambaram and finally in his efforts to retrieve the vial, Lakshmi is with him and both of them come across many characters like the famous Punjabi singer Avtar Singh (Kamal) and his wife Ranjeetha (Jaya Prada), the tall man Khalifullah (Kamal) and his family, the social leader Punyakoti (Kamal) who is against the land mafia, meanwhile there is also the president of America (Kamal) who is taking keen interest on this case. Then there is the Japanese martial arts sensei who comes to India to avenge the death of his sister since she happens to be a friend of Govind and gets killed by Fletcher in a skirmish to save the vial. What happens in the end? Does Govind get to the vial? Can he save the world from an end? All this forms the rest of the story.
Presentation:

The director has come up with a simple story line but then a lot has gone into the narration and the presentation of the plot. He has been well supported by good visuals, some crisp editing and a fairly good background score. The script looked like a cocktail thanks to the number of characters that had to be justified but then the arrangement of them and connecting the dots was well placed. The screenplay could have been a lot better during the initial stages of the film. Fight choreography and stunts were sub standard considering the budget and grandeur of the film. Asin looked perfect as the Brahmin girl and her innocence and simple mindedness was worth her performance, Mallika Sherawat added enough spice with her looks and song though her role was limited, Napoleon looked grand like the king, the others did their job with the required standards. The heart and soul of the movie was as expected Kamal Hassan in his ten different roles. He has put his everything to do justice to each and every character he did and has enacted the roles very well. The appearance of the ten roles was distinct and it was only the sheer talent and power of Kamal that could have carried out so many roles with elegance. He has yet again proved that he is a man beyond comparison when it comes to creativity and acting. The tsunami scene was taken really well and it looked like the Indian cinema met the Hollywood standards in some aspects while watching the clips.

Conclusion:

The film which has been received with great hype and grandeur initially is a bit confusing with so many characters filling the screen with disturbing visuals and random scenes happening. Though the initial twenty minutes was unsettling, the film gradually falls in line and the audience start putting 2 and 2 together. The second half got a bit slow at some instants but then it picked up and the penultimate minutes of the film were worth a watch. The makers were trying to justify each and every character of Kamal which kind of made things difficult and more focus was given on the appearance and make up of the protagonist which kind of weakened the story line. One really wonders having spent so much money on the venture, why they could not spend few extra bucks to come up with some breathtaking fight sequences and stunts. The film has to be appreciated for the Herculean efforts that were put in the making and it could have been a sure shot blockbuster had they focused on small issues like the action sequences and other technical aspects.

Kamal portrayed 10 different roles in the film Dashavatharam as:

Rangaraj Nambi, the Vaishnav Brahmin.
Govind, the US Scientist
Fletcher, American Terrorist
Balaram Nadar, the Security Officer
A Japanese Fighter
Kamakshi, the Old Woman
Avatar Singh, the Sikh Singer
Punyakoti, the Dalit leader
Bush, the American President and
Khareemulla, the Tall Man

SP Balasubrahmanyam has given voice for some of the above roles.

6.12.2008

[+/-]

DASAVATHAARAM - A SUPER HUMAN EFFORT

What a super human effort! That will be the first reaction of any normal film buff who watches Kamal Haasan's. Tamil magnum opus, Dasavathaaram. The film is certain to thrill and entertain the audience for all of its 165 minutes, making them feel that they are watching something unusual and spectacular on screen.

Story and Performance:

The film starts off with an incident that occurs in the 12th century when Shaivite intolerance against Vaishnavites was at its peak. An ardent Vishnu devotee loses his life to save the idol of Lord Ranganatha. Kamal plays his first role of Vishnu devotee Rangarajan in this episode which is marked by excellent technical work and the actor's extraordinary performance.

From here, the film goes to a time when the whole world is on the brink of a biological warfare waged by terrorists. Actively opposing them is the American president who urges the rest of the world to combat this evil.

Meanwhile, a computer chip containing a vicious biological material goes missing from a laboratory in the United States. An in-house scientist Govinda (again played by Kamal Hassan [Images]) who is aware of the dangers of the material launches a hunt for the missing material, which takes him to India.

In the course of the hunt for the missing chip, Kamal takes on eight more characters and travels to many continents.

The film is a scientific thriller par excellence and it is certain that Kamal has excelled in his eleventh role of the story and script writer. It is difficult to imagine that any normal script writer can think of weaving such a fantastic subject that mixes intelligence with commercial ingredients. It requires an extraordinary intelligent mind to write the sequences some of which are food for thought to the intellectuals as well as ordinary people. Perhaps this is the best script of Kamal Hassan till date. Throughout the film, the writer, an atheist questions the existence of God.

Now comes the challenging part -- picking Kamal's best role out of his ten. Will it be Annachi or Padikkadha Medhai, who fights against the Sand Mafia? Or will it be the investigative officer Naidu? Better yet, will it be the 100-year old woman Krishnaveni, who still yearns the return of her son? But what about the Punjabi pop singer Avatar Singh or for that matter the former CIA agent, Fletcher? Will it be President George Bush or the lanky Afghan merchant? You get the point. So excellent is the make-up and voice modulation that picking any one character is difficult.

Though Kamal had performed many roles that were similar to the roles of 12th century priest, Rangarajan and scientist Govinda, you still see some novelty in Dasavathaaram.

It is very difficult to single out the best sequence of the film, yet the tsunami episode is perhaps the outstanding presentation mainly because of the top class visuals backed by a superb background effort.

It is not necessary to say how great an actor Kamal Haasan is but one thing has to be said; no other actor would have dared to take on these varied roles. And hats off to him.

As for the heroine, Asin, she has improved since her debut. In a way, Dasavathaaram is an extension of her excellent performance in Ghajini. All the other artists have also performed very well.

K.S. Ravi Kumar should also be complimented for his handling of such a complicated but challenging subject. This may well go down in the history of Indian cinema as a unique experiment in the commercial circuit. He has taken the best out of his artists and technicians.

Only Himesh Reshammiya fails him. Except for Ulaganayagane and the Bhangra song, the rest are nothing to write home about. However, background music by Devi Sriprasad is excellent.

So is the camera work by Ravi Varman. The special effects and stunt choreography are of international standards.

All in all, Dasavathaaram as an extraordinary effort.

[+/-]

DASAVATHAARAM REVIEW

Starring:
Kamal Haasan
Asin
Mallika Sherawat
Jayapradha
Nagesh
Nepolean
Santhana Bharathi
P Vasu
R Sundarrajan
Erode Sounder and others
Direction: K S Ravikumar
Music: Himesh Reshammiya
Production: V Ravichandran

It has been a long wait for Kamal’s fans after Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu and the legend has not disappointed them. He has established emphatically that the wait is certainly a worthwhile one and has proved time and again that cinema is his lifeline.

The seventy crore magnum opus challenges Hollywood films and has even set up a benchmark for their films. Special kudos to producer Oscar Ravichandran for ably supporting the actor and the director in their pursuit of rendering a world class Tamil cinema - especially in the technical department.

The grandiose scenes spellbinds the viewer and the crew has worked hard to sustain this feeling through out the film. The film opens with the camera zooming on Chennai from the ocean and gently stops at Chozha era when Saivites and Vaishnavites locked horns with each other.

Kamal’s performance, Ravi Varman’s cinematography, Devi Sri Prasad’s re-recording and Thanikachalan’s editing teleport the viewer to a different era which would take a long time for them to unravel, particularly the scene where the Saivite King orders the statue of Lord Ranganatha to be thrown into the sea and threatens the ardent Vaishnavite Kamal to utter Om Namashivaya just once. And when Kamal begins OM, the suspense is killing not only for the king but also the audience. Though the film begins with Chozha period, it subsequently moves to modern times, bringing with it adventure, high flying chases. etc

Kamal’s hard work and perseverance is palpable in every frame
and in the different getups that he has essayed. An angry Vaishnava young man from Chozha period, US President George Bush, mentally unstable old woman, a Japanese Karate master, Punjabi ghazal singer, a dalit man fighting for justice, an American terrorist out to kill people, an eight feet innocent Muslim, an astute scientist, a Telugu secret service man speaking Tamil in a weird fashion- a variety indeed!.

Out of the ten Kamals, the dalit Boovaraghan stands out with his distinct style in dialogue delivery, eye movements and body language. Grandma Kamal is a reminder of Avvai Shanmugi while the secret service agent tries to tickle the funny bone in us, while in all the other Kamals, makeup alone can be talked about.

Asin as an Agraharam girl is a revelation and is almost on par with Kamal in performance. Mallika Sherawat has understood why she has been hired and accordingly does her part.

In the music department, the Tamil flavor is retained only in the Mukunda number while in the others, Himesh Reshammiah’s difficulty in unwrapping himself from Hindi clutches is discernible. K S Ravikumar’s directorial acumen is revealed in Ulaganayagane number where he has picturized Kamal’s make-up secrets.

Dasavatharam’s main forte is technical expertise, which the technicians have utilized without the viewer being aware of it. Top of the line technical excellence is perceptible in Tsunami scenes, car chasing shots, Chozha period sequences and the scene where all the Kamals come together. On the flipside, if the focus given to technical brilliance had been given to a stronger storyline and character portrayal, the film would have earned a perfect TEN.

All in all a colossal visual opulence at its peak for the first time in Indian cinema.

ALSO READ DASAVATHAARAM - A SUPER HUMAN EFFORT

6.08.2008

[+/-]

BACK WITH BANG

5.28.2008

[+/-]

DASAVATAARAM SPECIAL

4.14.2008

[+/-]

AMMA NANNA O TAMILA AMMAYI 2003

Banner: Vaishno Academy
Photography: Shyam K Naidu
Art: Chanti
Stunts: Ram Lakshman
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Presented by: KLN Raju
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction - producer: Puri Jagannath
Theatrical release date: 19th April 2003

Cast:
Ravi Teja,
Asin,
Jaya Sudha,
Prakash Raj,
Ali,
Gowtam Raju,
MS Narayana,
Jr. relangi,
Dharmavarapu Subramanyam,
Aiswarya,
Jogi Naidu,
Kadambari Kiran,
Prudhvi Raj

Story

Chandu is a kickboxing student and aspires to become the champion. He has a caring mother (Jayasudha) and no father. His father leaves them long back to achieve his goal, as he felt that his family is becoming hindrance to his career growth. Chandu loses his mother in due time. His mother asks him to go to Vizag and stay with his father Raghuveer (Prakash Raj) for the rest of his life.

Chandu travels to Vizag and finds that Raghuveer married another lady called Shalini (Aishwarya) and they have a daughter as well. Raghuveer is a kickboxing coach. He invites Chandu with both hands. But his wife and daughter are not comfortable with Chandu. The rest of the story is about how Chandu wins the love of all family members and also the kickboxing finale.

Artists:

Ravi Teja: Characterization of hero in this film is a logical extension of Puri's earlier film Idiot. Ravi Teja did well. His strength lies in his dialogue delivery and reckless body language.

Jaya Sudha: Jaya Sudha did a very good character of mother of hero. She lived each and every moment of her presence on the screen with perfect lighter vein histrionics.

Prakash Raj: Prakash Raj played a character of a irresponsible husband who leaves his wife for his personal career goal. His characterization in this film is confusing and aimless.

Asin: She does not have any role to play in this film. Most of the film revolves around hero and his relationship with his mother (first half) and father (second half). She looks beautiful and tender and does act well. But she is not used in the right way in this film.

Others: Ali did another comedy cameo where he does 'role-play' with Alphonsa. Dharmavarapu Subramanyam acted as father of heroine. The guy who played the role of villain is impressive.

Technical Departments:

Story - Screenplay - Direction: Puri Jagannath has taken a story that has lots of sentiment. But he did not do justice to the screenplay. There is no continuity in the narration. However, the sentiment scenes in this film are heart touching.

Dialogues: Puri Jagannath is known for his aggressive dialogues. That aggression sounds convincing and romantic if the conversation is made aggressive between hero and heroine. In stead, the hero speaks in the same vein with his father and mother, which looks embarrassing. On the top of it, the heroine would be conversing in Tamil, which Telugu audience have no clue about.

Music: Music and songs of the film is good. The best song of the film is 'Neeve Neeve' picturised on Jaya Sudha and Ravi Teja. The song that got best applause was the mass song 'Chumma Chumma'. However, the timing and picturization of the last song 'Jhum Jhumare' is a let down. In this scene Prakash Raj is coaching Ravi Teja for kickboxing. In this backdrop 'Jhum Jhumare' song comes which has montage shots of Prakash Raj training Ravi Teja and Alphonsa dancing with Ali. If we look at the past songs like Traveling Soldier (Tammudu) and Okate Jananam (Bhadrachalam) are pictured to get the audience prepared for the climax in a serious mode. But in this song the director mixed a serious issue with a funny thing like Alphonsa-Ali comedy track and diluted the very much-needed spirits for the climax.

Others: Photography by Shyam K Naidu is good. Fight sequences by Ram-Lakshman are impressive.

Analysis:
First half of the film is average as it gives the foundation to the characters. In the second half, the characterization of Prakash Raj is so confusing that he is not justified in leaving his wife Jaya Sudha and at the same time getting married to another girl Aiswarya. With that unconvincing point as the backdrop, the narration appears quite unbelievable. If we have the 'Idiot' film as the parameter, this film is a let down. If you see this film without any expectations, it's an average flick. On the second thought, this movie should have been titled as 'amma nanna o koduku' because there is no justice to the role of 'Tamil Ammai' and the love track between the lead pair in this film.