Early Tollywood: RAJA SEKHAR

7.31.2010

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

2.13.2009

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Rajasekhar's Satyameva Jayathe (2009) Review

Film: Satyameva Jayathey

Rating: 1.5/5

Cast: Maha Star Dr Rajasekhar, Neetu Chandra, Sheril Pinto, Sivaji, Sai Kiran, Siva Reddy, Minister M Satyanarayana Rao, Ahuti Prasad, Sayaji Shinde, Ali, Milind Soman etc

Cinematography: Loki B Goud

Editing: Nandamuri Hari

Stunts: Horseman Raju
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues: Dr Rajasekhar

Producers: Sivani, Sivatmika

Direction: Jeevitha Rajasekhar

Released On: 13th Feb 2009

'Satyameva Jayathey', the direct lift from the Hindi film 'Khakee' released today. Let us see how far the film is treated to bring it to Telugu audiences.

Story:

Sathya (Dr Rajasekhar) is a sincere police officer and gets grand image as encounter specialist. Chief Minister (M Satyanarayana Rao) also supports Sathya for his encounters. In the process of doing his duty by attacking terrorists Sathya loses his wife. And he shoots the concerned corrupted officer who resulted in the death of his wife. Although the shoot-out of that officer is a crime, with the support of CM he comes back to join his duty again. He goes on a mission to catch hold of an alleged terrorist Dr Ansari with his team (Sivaji, Sai Kiran, Siva Reddy and Neetu Chandra). Rest of the story is nothing but 'Khakhee' which can be watched on screen.

Performances:

Dr Rajasekhar has portrayed his angry young police officer role which has been his trade mark. Sai Kumar gave dubbing for him but the sharpness sounded to have reduced. Neetu Chandra did lot of over action and the Telangana dialogues didn't suit her but appeared artificial. Sivaji has some role to play while Sheril Pinto is plump and not so attractive. Siva Reddy has something to enact while Sai Kiran has very trivial part.

Milind Soman portrayed the terrorist role with a little bushy beard. Ahuthi Prasad and Sayaji Shinde are routine.

Minister M Satyanarayana Rao has portrayed a lengthy role with his brand of dialogue delivery as sincere and clean CM. In fact, he quenched the desire to become Chief Minister that way at least on celluloid.

Background score is weak and direction also didn't meet contemporary requirement. Things could have been spruced well before delivering. Dialogues are also pale and inactive except the line, "Criminals wouldn't dare to touch even the doll in the hand of kids if government gives full power to police".

A scene was conceived purposefully to target Chiranjeevi and his love for Mother Teresa in a satirical way in the introduction scene of Dr Rajasekhar.

Analysis:

'Satyameva Jayathey' has turned the attention of media and public with various special attractions. This is the film made by Rajasekhar's family after joining in Congress. Minister M Satyanarayana Rao acted in this film in full length role but not as guest. It's also publicized that there are a few scenes those point out Chiranjeevi and other opposition parties. Apart from all this, actress Neetu Chandra had strife with Rajasekhar and Jeevitha which has hit the media in big way recently. All these factors raised some interest on this film among public.

Although Dr Rajasekhar has picked up Hindi film 'Khakhee' directly he claimed that it's the original story by adding some scenes with his self interest. On a whole the narration went insipid with weak background score and non-exciting moments. The film brought boredom for the audiences those haven't watched Khakhee as well. And for the audiences those watched 'Khakhee', it brings bigger ennui as they tend to draw comparisons between the two.

First half is filled with monotony and dull moments while the second half is packed with action that's directly taken from Khakhee. Khakhee sounds convincing with the old-police officer characterization of Amitabh Bachchan. But here in Satyameva Jayathey Dr Rajasekhar projected himself as young hero and continued with action episodes those he did in Magadu and Ahuthi decades ago. It's like gluing the color of spring for autumn.

The direction part is also just appealing for C-center audiences and they too may not watch it repeatedly. The vulgarity is also maintained in the film like any other C-grade film which isn't welcomed by a lady director. The scenes where Dr Rajasekhar beats on the 'back' of Apoorva and the dialogues of Neetu Chandra while explaining her affinity for Dr Rajasekhar sounded vulgar and unnecessary. Although they are targeted to impress masses, the angle of perversion is seen in them. To conclude, the film didn't meet the expectations.

source: greatandhra

1.09.2009

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Neetu Chandra's Sexy Poses on MAXIM Cover

8.28.2008

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Rajasekhar and Bhumika are the main lead in the remake of Malayalam Blockbuster HELLO

Hello, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal's biggest hit movie in 2007, directed by Rafi Mccartin, is all set to be remade in Telugu. It is learnt that after the success of Evadaithe Nakenti and Gorintaku, Telugu action hero Rajasekhar has signed up for the remake to be produced by Maganti Gopinath. Bhumika will be his pair in this flick that will be launched on September 05.

G.Ramprasad, who earlier directed films like Chirunavvutho, Kalyanaramudu will direct a film with Rajasekhar and Bhumika in the lead. Entire film will be wrapped up in four schedules that will be wrapped up by December. Ramana Gogula will compose music. Vijay Chander, chalapati Rao, Ahuti Prasad, Devaraj, Raghubabu, Benarjee, Dhandapani, Brahmanandam, Venu Madhav and others are in the cast. Arunkumar will handle camera. Kona venkat for dialogs, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao for editing and Raju for art are confirmed in crew.

Rajasekhar's Evadaithey Nakenti was also based on a Malayalam film Lion; Gorintaku was the remake of a Kannada movie Anna Thangi. His current film, Satyameva Jayathe, is a remake of the Hindi film Khakee. It seems that the action star is determined to do more remakes in future.

"We are doing the remake of the Malayalam film Hello since it’s a nice blend of strong theme and entertainment,” disclosed Jeevitha, wife of Rajasekhar. It has become a trend in Tollywood to remake hit movies from other regional languages and Jeevitha claimed that remakes are a wise option. "We consciously wanted a family entertainer after an anger-driven cop story," she added.

Story of Mohan Lal's hello:

Hello is a clean family entertainer, portraying the story of a lazy criminal lawyer, Sivaraman (Mohanlal), whose main weakness is spending more time drinking in bars rather than appearing in court. Handy (Jagathy) brings Sivaraman home on most days, bailing him out of difficult situations.

One day, he has a drunken fight with three rowdies who are wanted by the police: Vadakancherry Vakkan (Spadikam George), Pattambi Ravi (Kireekadan Jose), and Batherry Bapu (Bheeman Reghu). Interestingly, they become his bodyguards, ready to do anything for him.

Sivaraman has a long flashback, which reveals the circumstances that made him an alcoholic. In his early days, he loved a girl, Priya (Samvrutha). But Priya was brutally murdered on the very day of their elopement by his parents who strongly opposed Sivaraman's relationship with her. Sivaraman is now on his revenge against his family, by drinking, thus giving pain to his parents, who are now regretting the incident.

There comes a twist in the life of Shivaraman when he gets a phone call from Parvathy, a rich Marwadi heiress, who pleads with him to save her life as she is kidnapped by some criminals with the help of her family members who are trying toeliminate her to possess her wealth. What happens next forms the rest of the plot.

7.04.2008

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GORINTAKU REVIEW

Rating :2.25/5
Banner :Megaa Super Good Films
Cast :Dr Rajasekhar, Meera Jasmine, Arthi Agarwal, Chandra Mohan, Venu Madhav, Sivaji Raja, Hema, Surekha, Banerjee, Surya and others
Music: SA Raj Kumar
Producer: SV Prasad, Paras Jain
Director: Vankineni Ratna Pratap
Released Date: July 04, 2007

Story:
A recycled treat, the story is about the hero (Rajasekhar) and his darling sister Lakshmi (Meera Jasmine) who can die for each other and stand as the ideal pair for the brother-sister relationship. They grow up together under the able guidance of their guardian (Chandramohan) since their father Sarvarayudu and mother (Rajasekhar and Meera Jasmine) have an untimely death due to an accident which is already predicted in the horoscopes of the hero and his sister. Apparently, Sarvarayudu and his wife are like gods for the people of the village as their every need is taken care of by him and they are also known for their kind nature and power. It is after performing several poojas and rituals that they are blessed with the two children and now the two are the ideal ones for those around. Meanwhile, the hero falls in love with Nandini (Arthi) who happens to be a poor girl in the village while Lakshmi falls in love with the businessman Akash (Akash). As is his nature of being protective about his sister, the hero gets into the house of Akash as a servant to ensure if he is the right match for Lakshmi. After getting completely satisfied, the marriage takes place and eventually the hero also marries Nandini. It is one happy tale of love and affection until one day the distant aunt of Nandini, Suryakantham arrives. Right from day one, she hits out at the Sarvarayudu fame and uses all her evil cards to ensure that both the brother and sister get separated and suffer. This is due to the flashback when her husband (Jeeva) dies and Suryakantham mistakes it is due to Sarvarayudu. Does she get successful in all her attempts? Will it be the victory of brotherly love or evil? All this forms the rest of the story.

Presentation:
The director has come out with a worn out subject and though he must be aware of this, he did not do much to make it interesting. His presentation was poor and the narration of the entire plot goes in an extreme manner which leaves no space for excitement. Equally bad were the technical aspects with a below average camerawork, very poor editing, weak script and amateur screenplay. The music which is the soul for a film has turned out to be a damp squib and except a lot of color and costumes on screen, there is nothing worthwhile. Dr Rajasekhar who is seen in a very soft spoken role tried his best to convey the emotions and attachments but then his role has not been etched out strongly so his potential is limited. Meera Jasmine has used her skills to the brim and proved that she is indeed a talented actress. Arthi needs to work very hard on her figure as she has blown out of proportion and looked very repulsive on few scenes. Chandramohan, Sivaji Raja, Banerjee deliver their roles with ease and elegance and the others have done their bit to add value. Venu Madhav needs a mention here for his vibrant performance and comedy which was a relief.

Conclusion:
This is a remake of the Kannada hit 'Annan Thangi' and one is not sure what the real objective of the movie is but then right from the word go, the film is all about sentiment, emotions and overflowing attachments which look far too clichéd for a layman also. Equally bad is the second half which takes the peak of sentiments and the final nail on the head is hit with an absolutely ridiculous climax which surely causes surprise for the viewers. Only a miracle can save this film from sinking entirely at the box office and it is about time the makers have a look at the small screen before they think of such subjects as the viewers have seen them all.