Jaganmohini (2009) Movie Review by Bharatstudent

Film: JAGANMOHINI

Rating: 1.5/5

Banner: Murali Cine Arts

Cast: Namitha, Raja, Vadivelu, Nila, Kota, Riyaz Khan, Jyothilakshmi, Bala Singh, Alex etc
Music: Ilayaraja

Cinematography: N K Vishwanathan

Director: N.K. Vishwanathan

Producer: Murali

Release Date: October 17, 2008


Story:

Set on the stage of mythology, the story begins with the announcement of engagement between prince Jagan Prathap (raja) with princess Jayanthi (meera chopra/nila) and when the entire kingdom is ready to rejoice, terror strikes in the form of a water cyclone that destroys the major part of the kingdom. That happens to be the water devil Jaganmohini (Namitha) which comes to seek revenge. However, the sorcerer (kota) manages to hold it through his spell and controls it. The flashback shows that Mohini (namitha) is from a fisherman's family and her island is visited by the prince sometime back and both fall in love. Just when everything looks set, the prince's father, the King, doesn't want a girl from a fisherman's family and so he sends his troops and kills Mohini. Now, she is out seeking revenge and also to have the prince for herself. What happens from there forms the rest of the story.


Presentation:

The director has come up with the remake theme but by no means is the narrative or the presentation good. The dialogues are sloppy, the script was pathetic and the screenplay was horrible. Even background score and songs were total crass and the only saving grace is the cinematography which was good at few places. Editing was amateur, costumes were alright but art department was not good. Raja looks dull as usual and he looks like a small boy in front of Namitha, she is all over the screen and it must be said that she is looking totally out of shape though she has oozed a lot of glamour and skin show. Meera Chopra was the saving grace with her beauty, Kota was standard, Riyaz Khan was regular, Alex was normal, Jyothilakshmi was brief, Bala Singh was plain, the others didn't have much to offer.


Conclusion:

The film happens to be the remake of the 1978 super hit movie which had Jayamalini in the title role and despite the hype created by the makers, the film was a major disaster. The content or style of presentation was poor and the graphics were utterly inferior. While the first half revolves around the revenge saga, the second half goes about with the love tale and how evil is warded off. Overall, the film has failed to appeal to the audience in any department. Though hardcore Namitha fans might like it a bit, her overbearing frame might just be too much to handle. This will sink big time at the box office.

Sontha Ooru Movie Review : Great Andhra

Film: Sontha Ooru
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Art Film
Banner: Sravya Productions
Cast: Raja, Theertha, L B Sriram, Swathi, Tanikella, M S, Jeeva, Vijaychander, Jayaprakash Reddy and others
Music: Saketh Sairam
Cinematography: Sabu James
Dialogues: Gandham Nagaraju
Editing: Sri Guha
Director: P Sunil Kumar Reddy
Producers: Y Ravindra Babu, Kishori Basireddy
Release date: 21/03/2009

Given the commercialization and globalization, the essence of countryside and agricultural lands has been going through a phase of extinction. In that context, the film has been made to take through a nostalgic journey. How true has it stood to the sentiment, let us see.

Story

A small village has many characters in the form of Bujji (Raja) who is in love with Malli (Teertha), the prostitute and both of them are quite close to Rudrudu (L B Sriram) who takes care of the dead bodies in the graveyard and arranges for their funeral.

They all have a village head Devudu babu (Tanikella) who has the goodwill and respect of all the villagers. Then there is Naidu (Jeeva) who always becomes the victim of crow droppings. Reddy (Vijaychander) is the honest and hardworking farmer.

Everything goes well but their lives take a turn when the government comes with the proposal of setting up a special business zone there so they want the villagers to sell their lands and leave. This news is brought by the MRO (M S).

Whether the village folks accept it or not forms the rest of the story.

Performance

The film belongs to L B Sriram as he came up with an award winning performance; it was the strength of his dialogues that gave him the added impact. Raja was regular, Teertha is a buxom babe and oozed out her sex appeal and oomph to the fullest extent, Tanikella was elegant, M S was normal, Jeeva was just okay, Vijaychander and Jayaprakash Reddy came and went. The others did not have much in it.

The director has attempted to come up with a thoughtful message about the current urbanization of the villages but then there seems to be few hitches. While the presentation is somewhat okay, the narration lacked the depth and the script was written without much gravity. Screenplay was okay, music and camerawork was average, editing could have been better, dialogues are excellent. Locations and costumes fitted the scenario and not much for the art department in this.

On a whole it is an artistic attempt with no big commercial elements.

Analysis

Right from the beginning, the film had the smell of an art movie in it and given the romantic angle and the philosophic angle of death, it looked like a mixture of life with a very spiritual view.

However, the film has fallen flat in conveying a message to the audience. The issue was about the acquisition of villages and agricultural lands. So it would have made a lot of sense to come up with a revolution or an awakening among the village folks to come together and preserve the lands. Instead, what follows is a string of deaths and in the end it turns out to be a complete tragic tale without a message to audiences nor enough substance in it to feel an impact.

The film could have been a lot better if the focus was towards a positive solution towards the situation. However, the real life and soul of the film was L B Sriram who has come out with an exceptional performance. His strength lied in the dialogues and the way he has given the reality of life in a philosophical way. This will be one of his all time best performances in his career. If the idea of the makers was to show how important it is to protect the agriculture and the village system then why was the issue not attended during the climax?

The story moves towards the characters in the movie and the stale endings they have. All efforts look waste and depressing after so much that has been shown, the pace of the movie also was slow and it must be said that there is hardly any story for the first twenty minutes or so. The film is more of an art genre material and there is not much for the mass audience except the exposing of Theertha and a weak item song. Even the class will not have the patience to sit through the movie only to get depressed in the end.

Although the first half is interesting, second half killed the tempo. The length of the movie would have restricted to 1.30 hr or below 2 hrs.

SONTHA VOORU Review by Idlebrain.com

Rating: 2.5/5
Punchline: Of Death, sex & SEZ
Genre: Drama
Type: Straight
Banner: Sravya Films
Cast: Raja, Tirtha, LB Sreeram, Tanikella Bharani, JP, Jeeva, Rallapalli, Swati etc
Music: Saketh Sairam
Cinematography: Sabu James
Editing: Sri Gruha
Story - dialogues : LB Sriram, Nagaraju Gandham & Sunil Kumar Reddy
Screenplay - direction: Sunil Kumar Reddy
Producer: Y Ravindra Babu & Kishori Basireddy
Release date: 21 March 2009

Review

Story

sontha vooru Rudraswamy (LB Sriram) is an undertaker (kaati kapari) in a small village. Devudu (Tanikella Bharani) is an educated elder who is regarded as a leader of the village. When the Government approaches him to convince the villagers to sell their lands and properties as it is coming up with SEZ, Devudu convinces everybody to sell. The rest of the story is all about what happens when Rudraswamy realizes that Devudu has erred. There is also a plot of a limping poor boy (Raja) falling in love with the only prostitute (Tirtha) of the village.


Artists Performance

sontha vooruLB Sriram does the best role of in his career – Rudraswamy in an extremely convincing manner. Deeper philosophical dialogues aid him to make his character click. Tirtha comes up with a top-notch performance as a prostitute. Raja is very good as a limping innocent man. However, his diction and dialogue delivery didn’t match the characterization. Tanikella Bhrani is excellent in the scene where he explains the fruits of development to village men (before interval). Swati is good as the daughter of LB Sriram. Jeeva, JP and others are adequate.

Technical departments

sontha vooruStory - screenplay - direction: Story of the film is good. But screenplay is inadequate. Direction is adequate in parts. Though some of the scenes are well-handled, there is no holistic perspective to direction. The movie has some interesting scenes and some clichéd and boring episodes.

sontha vooruOther departments: Dialogues in this film are excellent. Some of the dialogues are deeply philosophical. There is one interesting dialogue coming up every 10 minutes in this film. The team of dialogue writers (Nagaraju Gandham, LB Sreeram & Sunil Kumar Reddy) should get a lot of credit. Songs of the film seem to be inspired from the melodies of 70’s. Background music
is mediocre at the best. Cinematography is neat


sontha vooru Analysis:

First half of the film is uninteresting because entire first half is devoted in establishing the three important characters. The real story involving SEZ starts only in the interval. The final parts of the film are convincingly done. The plus points of Sontha Vooru are writing (story and dialogues) and performances (LB Sriram & Tirtha). The negative points are slow narration and inadequate screenplay. There are a few raw scenes and raw dialogues (involving prostitute) in the film. This film is an out and out art film with not even a single commercial element. Though it would bomb at box office a big time, Sontha Vooru has ample elements to get a few awards.

MISTER MEDHAVI (2007) Lyrics

Music Director: Chakri

Kala Kaaduga Lyrics

kala kaaduga nijame kada ninu chusthunna..
santhoshamai keratanigaa padi lesthunna.. -|2|

nenenaa idhi nenenaa lechaana padipoyaana
nakidi varamo kalavaramo teliyaka niluchunna
mari tholi tholi ga alajadi
tho tadabadi pothunna

love u raaa i love u raaa
love u raaa i love u raaa

kala kaaduga -|1|

innallu nalona nee premane daacha
ee roju ninu chusi nenentho murisaa
anukoledheee...
ninu cheranaee..
eenati tho naa mansulo bharam teerenule..
swatanthrame vachhesi naa madipi vaalenu le..

kala kaaduga -|1|

naa manase arpinchi ninu premisth00 unna
ni valape vupiriga ne jeevisthunna
edhemainaaa..
ninu cherenaaa...
yeda savvade nee perune cheli pelichenule..
anuvanunaa ni snehame ika nilichenu le.. ehehee..

kala kaaduga -|2|

ANAND(2004) Lyrics

Music Director: Radhakrishnan Km

Lyrics: Veturi Sundararamamurthy

Charumati I Love You Lyrics

chaarumati I Love you
chandra mukhi I Love you
chaarumati I Love you
chandra mukhi I Love you
roopavati I Love you
nEnu neekE yekalavyu
a e i o u I Love you
Love you
Love you

yedanE neevu nidurE lEpi yedurayinaavu toli prEmallE
kunukE raani ulukai teepi kalavai naavu yeda neeDallE
aDigaa ninnu varamistaavaa
viDigaa nannu vadilEstaavaa
Yes or No Yes or No

Flower ai vacchi colorE icchi vikasinchaavu toli voohallO
chelimai vacchi chEligaa nacchi vusigolpaavu nadi jhaamullO
kshaNamE nEnu yuga moutaavaa
sakhivai naaku saga moutaavaa
Yes or No Yes or No

Nuvvena Lyrics

nuvvEnaa naa nuvvEnaaa
nuvvEnaa naaku nuvvEnaa
sooryuDallE sooDi gucchi suprabhatamEnaa
maaTalaadE choopulanni mouna raagamEnaa
chEruvaina dooramaina aanandamEnaa
chEruvaina dooramaina aanandamEnaa..aa
aanandamEnaa aanandamEnaa
nuvvEnaa naa nuvvEnaa
nuvvEnaa naaku nuvvEnaa

mEghamalle saagi vacchi
daahamEdO penchutaavu
neeru gunDelOna daachi
merisi maayamoutaavu
kalalEnaa kanneerEnaa
tEneTeega laaga kuTTi
teepi manTa rEputaavu
puvvu laanTi gunDelOna
daaramalle daagutaavu
nEnEnaa nee roopEnaa
chEruvaina dooramaina aanandamEnaa
chEruvaina dooramaina aanandamEnaa
aanandamEnaa aanandamEnaa

kOyilalle vacchi yEdO kotta paaTa nerputaavu
komma gontulOna gunDe koTTu kunTe navvutaavu
E raagam idi E taaLam
masaka yennelalle neevu
isuka tinne chErutaavu
gasa gasaala kougilinta
gusa gusallE maarutavu
prEmanTE nee prEmEnaa
chEruvaina dooramaina aanandamEnaa
chEruvaina dooramaina aanandamEnaa
aanandamenaa aanandamEnaa

Vachhe Vachhe Lyrics

vacchE vacchE nalla mabbullaaraa
gicchE gicchE pilla gaalullaaraaa
vacchE vacchE nalla mabbullaaraa
gicchE gicchE pilla gaalullaaraaa
kaLLalOna pOngutunna baadhalEnnO maakunnai
gundElOna daachukunna gaadhalennO maakunnai
teerustaara baadha teerustaaraa
gaali vaana laali paDEstaara

pilla paapala vaana
bulli paDavala vaana
chaduvu baadhalE teerchi selavulicchina vaana
gaali vaana kabaDDi
vEDi vEDi pakODi
eeDu jODu di di Dhi
tODunDaali O lEDi
indra dhanassulO taLuku mane yenni rangulO
inTi sogasulE taDisinavi neeTi kongulO
Sraavana maasaala jala tarangam
jeevana raagaala kidi O mrudangam

kOri vacchinaa ee vaana
gOru vecchanayi naalOna
muggula siggu musirEstE
muddu laaTidE muripaalaa
merisE merisE andaalu
taDisE taDisE paruvaalu
gaali vaanalaa pandiLLu
kougilintalaa peLLiLLu
nemali eekalO uliki paDE yevari kannullO
chinuku chaaTunaa chiTikElatO yeduru choopulO
nallani mEghaala merupulandam
teerani daahaalaa valapu pandem

Yamunatheeram Lyrics

yamuna teeram sandhya raagam
yamuna teeram sandhya raagam
nijamainaayi kalalu
neela renDu kanulalO
niluvaganE tEnellO poodaari yennellO gOdaari merupulatO

praaptamanukO ee kshaNamE bratuku laaga
panDenanukO ee bratukE manasu teeraa
Sidhilanga vidhinaina chEsEdE pREma
hRudayamla tananaina marichEdii pREma
maruvakumaa anandam aanandam aanandamaayETi manasu kadhaa
maruvakumaa anandam aanandam aanandamaayETi manasu kadhaa

okka chirunavvE pilupu vidhiki saitam
chinna niTToorpE gelupu manaku saitam
SisiramlO chali manTai ragilEdi pREma
chigurinche rutuvallE viraboosE pREma
maruvakumaa anandam aanandam aanandamaayETi madhura kadhaa
maruvakumaa anandam aanandam aanandamaayETi madhura kadhaa

Yedaloganam Lyrics

yedalO gaanam pedavE mounam
selavannaayi kalalu selayEraina kanulalO
merisEnilaa Sree ranga kaavEri saaranga varNaalalO alajaDilO

kaTTu kadhalaa ee mamatE kalavarintaa
kaalamokkaTe kalalakaina pulakarintaa
Sila kooDa chigurinche vidhi raamayaNam
vidhikaina vidhi maarche kadha prEmaayaNam
maruvakumaa vEsangi yenDallO poosETi mallelO manasu kadhaa
maruvakumaa vEsangi yenDallO poosETi mallelO manasu kadhaa

Srii gowrii chigurinche siggulennO
Srii gowrii chigurinche siggulennO
poochE sogasulO yegasina voosulu
moogE manusulO avi moogavai
taDi taDi vayyaraalennO
priya priya anna vELalOna SRii gowrii

Richa Pallod, Manjari Phadnis and Raja In Bay Movies Productions

Bay Movies is currently producing an untitled flick referred to only as Production No. 1. Raja, Manjari Phadnis and Richa Pallod are starring in this flick which is being directed by Suman Pathuri and produced by Kalyan Palla.

Suman, who was a co-director for Vennela, has studied film-making at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco, U. S. A. Kalyan Palla has gained lots of experience in the technology field working in the U. S. A. He has also made a name for himself as a distributor and exhibitor of Telugu movies. He recently distributed the critically acclaimed Gamyam in USA.

Production No. 1, also boasts of a solid technical and creative team with the story and screenplay being given by Raj & D. K., who gave us the biggest international award-winning NRI hit, Flavours. Mahesh Shankar, who had also worked on Vennela"s soundtrack, is composing the music for the Raja-Manjari Phadnis starrer.

Nagaraju Gandham of Gamyam fame has penned the dialogues and cinematography is by Ranga, a graduate of Pune Film Institute; he was Santosh Sivan's understudy. Regular shooting schedules are set to kick off on December 2nd, 2008 and will most likely release sometime in May 2009.

Movie Launch Gallery:

Andhamaina Abaddham Review : By GreatAndhra.com

Film: Andamaina Abadhdham
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Mega Hindustan Movies
Cast: Raja, Kamna Jethmalani, Nagababu, Nizhalgal Ravi, MS, Ali, Naresh, Sudharani, Surekha Vani and others
Music: M M Srilekha
Camera: Ram Pinisetty
Director: Raviraja Pinisetty
Producers: P P Reddy, Kesavaraju, J Ramanamurthy
Release date: 05/12/2008

Story
A routine romance with a twist, the story begins with the love birds Pradeep (Raja) and Vaishnavi(Kamna) in Bangkok and their romance is noticed by Naidu (Naresh) and he happens to be the close friend of Raghuram(Nagababu), Vaishnavi's father in India.

Immediately he informs him of this and since Raghuram has not seen Pradeep's picture, Pradeep sends a different picture of his friend Shyam (Ali) and from there on, he works out a plan in such a way that his family meets up with Raghuram's family through coincidence and later, his father (Nizhalgal Ravi) meets Raghuram and soon both families get together.

Even the engagement of Pradeep is fixed with Vaishnavi under dramatic situations. However, the truth is revealed about Pradeep's plan. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.

Performance
Raja is one man who seems to be following the path of Uday Kiran given his mild performance. He needs to put in more energy in his body language and dialogue delivery.

His performance is becoming a bit repetitive. Kamna has got enough voluptuous beauty and nativity to keep the Telugu audience pleased and there was nothing wrong with her performance. Nagababu has lived upto his role effectively and his dialogue delivery has been top notch. Nizhalgal Ravi looks classy in his performance and he has a strong potential in Tollywood. Naresh has delivered a good performance, he is effective. M S and Ali have provided some share of comedies.

The others did their bit to add value to the movie. The special song having Rachana Mourya has been a visual feast and she certainly has the smoothness and tenderness that might give Mumaith Khan a run for her money.

Analysis
The film had a regular romantic tale and though the plot has been visited few times, it was essential that the script must be maintained tightly and that was missing atleast during the first half. The dialogues were just about okay and there was nothing punchy or special about it.

Music has come out with some impressive tunes but then most of them happen to be lifts from western and Hindi beats. Luckily, they were not haphazard and did not break the rhythm of the film. Though the film did not have any shock moments or some really touching scenes, it carried on with a decent pace. The film did not take off on that convincing note but later on it picked up some momentum and by the time the second half came in, the maturity of the director came in.

This could be a good tale for those interested in family dramas and television serials cut short into a film. Technically, there are no flaws but at the same time nothing special to talk about, commercially the film will need a lot of word of mouth to take it to the audience else it will sink in no time.

NAMITHA AND RAJA STARRER JAGANMOHINI PHOTO GALLERY

These are the days of sequels and remakes. In this age of graphics, animation and visual special effects, a well known production company is planning to remake some of the yester years films of Vitalacharya, the master of mythology.
The film Jaganmohini directed by Vitalacharya with Jayamalini playing the title role was a super duper hit. This film is now being re-made with Namitha and Raja. According to reports, some changes have been made in the story to make certain episodes more relevant to the present day audience. The film is being made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages.
It is also reported that the shooting of the film has been launched without any fanfare and it is in progress in and around Hyderabad.

RAJA

Raja (born November 9, 1978) is a well known Telugu film actor.

Background

Raja was born in Vizag to an British mother and a Brahmin father. In 1983, his mother died of uterine cancer and in 1989, his father died of cardiac arrest. Raja studied in St. Andrews High School, Saidabad (New SBH Colony) and finished his SSC in 1993. He had only one elder sister who is now married

Career

Raja made his debut in the film O chinadana alongside Gajala and Srikanth. He started his career with a few flop films. Though his initial movies were not successful, he won many accolades for his performance. He was well known for his performance in the film Anand, which became a big hit in the year 2004. Even before Anand released, he played a small role in Mahesh Babu's Arjun, which made him noticeable. Immediately after Anand he acted in another hit film Aa Naluguru in which he played the son of comedy king of Telugu Cinema, Rajendra Prasad. Raja delivered another big hit Vennela in 2005 which was mostly filmed in USA by debutant NRIs. Since then, he has been getting offers for many films.

His latest film, Nee Sukhame Ne Korutunna with Sneha, will be releasing soon.

Filmography

Mr. Medhavi (2008)

Kanna (2008) (Tamil)

Toss (2007)

Shankar Dada Zindabad (2007)

Veduka (2007)

Maya Bazaar (2006)

Bangaram (2006) (cameo)

Style (2006)

Kokila (2006)

Vennela (2005)

Mogudu Pellam O Dongodu (2005)

Oka Oorilo (2005)

Aa Naluguru (2004)

Anand (2004)

Arjun (2004)

Appudappudu (2003)

Vijayam (2003)

O Chinnadana (2002)