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.

Vedam (2010) Movie Review

Movie : Vedam
Rating : 4/5 (For all those who judge movies by rating)
Director : Krissh Jagarlamudi
Producers : Shobu Yarlagadda and Devineni Prasad


Key Actors:


Allu Arjun as Cable Raju
Manchu Manoj as Vivek Chakravarthy
Anushka as Saroja
Manoj Bajpai as Raheemuddin Qureshi
Nagayya as Ramulu

Review:


I watched the movie in Casino theatre in Chennai. As Chennaites know that more than half of the tickets at Casino are sold in black, so I bought the 50 rs ticket for 150 and went to the 3 30 show.


Na Na Na ... I wont be letting out the story. Unfortunately there are some well known website who dare to write what they think are letting out everything. After watching movie they should transform.


Movie started. Vedam Title... with a little background.. then the introduction of characters without background music... absolutely fantastic. Really, Keeravani did an amazing job in giving music and background score to the movie and its placement.


As the movie has 5 main characters, screenplay plays a key role. Slightest mistake can bore audience. Krissh was fantastic in his perfection in screenplay. The way he portrayed every character in the first half leaves a big impression that and we will be in a trance that these guys are like this, this is their character. And as the intermission reaches the pace of the movie increases and leaves you guessing what happens next.


The soul of the movie is its second half. Every character transforms by the end of the movie. And each character has its own situations and the way the situations get connected are shown intelligently. The dialogues were excellent.

Manoj reaches realization first of all and the episode was shown brilliantly. Manoj did a good job being looked as a rock star and Lekha Washington is sexy but did not have much to perform. For Manoj Bajpai it was a cake walk. Ramulu played by Nagayya leaves a strong impression with his subtle expression and natural dialogue delivery and body language. Of course Anushka did well.


The one who steals the show is not Allu Arjun ...its Cable Raju. As Gaali Seenu in Gamyam, this character has so many shades. Deeksha seth who played against Allu looked cool and did not have much to do. The scene where Cable Raju's character transforms is the most touching scene in the movie. And the scene received the most intense claps in the theatre.


No character has been wasted in the movie. You have Sathyam Rajesh as Allu's friend, Ravi Prakash as Cop, Saranya, Siya as wife of Manoj Bajpai, the hijra character beside Anushka, Raghu Babu as Dappu Sudhani, Posani Krishna Murali as a cop, Brahmanandam in a small role and the guy who played the role Patel. Every character has some kind of impact on the movie.

I did not hear so many claps in theatre for a movie in recent times. There are so many things Krissh showed in this movie. I think after watching the movie theatre, wait for the DVD and watch it twice or thrice. I did the same for Gamyam and everytime I watch Gamyam I find a new point and likes the movie even more. So this is a movie which you can watch as many times as you want since its not a movie about screenplay or terrorism, its a movie about human beings and their transformation.


After Gamyam I was thinking very high of Krissh and at the same time I thought I should not come to a conclusion so fast with just one movie so I waited. After watching Vedam, I can definitely say Telugu industry got a FILM MAKER after Ram Gopal Varma and Krishna Vamsi. And my 150 rs for ticket was worth enough.


P.S: I have been criticizing our telugu websites from so many days and they again showed the same attitude today. When they watch good movies they dont know what to do and dont know how it performs at box office, so they just give 3/5 and ends with statements like movie is good , have to wait how it performs at box office. Please all you website owners who say that they dare to write should actually do that thing instead of giving such low ratings to movies like Gamyam, Prasthanam, Banam and now Vedam.

And for all those who are looking for Spoilers, here is one....


" Perugu Vada lo Perugu untundhi ...kani... Pulihora lo Puli undadhu kadha.... Nalugu peekithe nenu Nalugu Cheptanu.... " Allu's Dialogue to Krissh. So watch Krissh closely on screen.


If I wrote more than this I will belong to the league of our GOPPA Telugu movie websites. So if you want to know about the movie. Stop reading reviews before going to movie, Watch the movie first and then read the review it contemplates what you think.

Happy Birthday to Jr.NTR and Manchu Manoj

 

Jr. NTR and Manchu Manoj are celebrating their birthday today.Early Tollywood is wishing these two young heroes a very happy birthday. We wish all the best for their upcoming films Vedam, Jummandi Nadham and Shakti , Brundavanam.

CLICK HERE for Jr.NTR Profile.

Krish's VEDHAM Movie Launch Photos

Krish’s multistarrer Vedam was launched at Cinemax. This film features Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu and Anushka in the main leads. K Raghavendra Rao sounded the clapboard and K Raghavendra Rao switched on the camera. Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni produce this movie Arka Media Works banner.

Initially planned with new faces – Krish

Krish said, “Nobody believed me when I said i am doing a multistarrer in Telugu. I was preparing script for Venkatesh’s Krishnam Vande Jagadguram and there was some delay in sealing on it. I took permission from Venkatesh to do another film in the mean time. Initially i planned to make this movie with new faces. Allu Arjun has been showing interest for a while to work with me and when narrated the script, Allu Arjun came forward to do a role of slum star and it increased my levels of confidence and I could able to rope in other stars. Manoj Manchu is doing the role of a rock star. Mohan Babu also liked the story. Doing a multistarrer is not a reality in Telugu films and I would like to thank Allu Arjun and Manoj Manchu for accepting this project. There will be five important characters in this movie played by Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu, Anushka, Manoj Bajpai and a old person. Anushka is doing a bold role. The shoot will be complete by December 2009.”

Vedam is about five stories – Allu Arjun
Allu Arjun said, “People say that story is the hero for any movie. But for Vedam, director Krish is going to be the main hero. I selected a particular character after listening to the script. Manoj Manchu and Anuksha are also doing other important characters. I feel that you need two hands to clap. That is why we are putting our egos aside and doing this movie. There will be five interwoven stories in the movie and each story belongs to one of the 5 main characters. Bollywood Manoj Bajpai is doing another important character. An old man is doing the 5th character. The old character will steal the show. My uncle Chiranjeevi patted my back when i told him that i am doing a multistarrer. There is positive vibe among the team about this movie and i am confident about the success of this movie. And success of this movie will create a new trend of multistarrers.”

I was supposed to act in Gamyam – Manoj Manchu
Manoj said, “I was supposed to act in Gamyam and it didn’t happen. I told Krish that i wouldn’t mind doing a villain role as well if he casts me. Vedam is a commercial film with international quality. I want to prove myself as an actor and I am not doing this movie for stardom. Allu Arjun met me one day and asked me if I met Krish. When I said no, he asked me to immediately meet him. I am hugely impressed by the story. I am happy to work with Bunny.”

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