Balakrishna's MITRUDU Movie Review by Bharatstudent

Rating : 2.5/5
Banner : Vaishnavi Cinema
Cast : Balakrishna, Priyamani, Ranganath, Pradeep Rawath, Chandramohan, Deepak, Krishna Bhagawan, Balaiah, Brahmanandam, Hema, Chalapathi Rao Others and Others
Music : Mani Sharma
Cinematography : Balamurugan
Producer: Sivalenka Krishna Prasad
Director: Mahadev
Released Date: May 01, 2009

Story:
An emotional tale, the story begins in the backdrop of Malaysia where Indu (Priyamani) is studying and she is on the lookout for a man who has a particular horoscope since she has a 'dosham' in it. Apparently, the man who marries her would die in one month and Indu wants to marry Madhu (Deepak) after that. She finds her solution in the form of Aditya (Balakrishna) who is waiting for death to come to him. She tries, woos and finally manages to win his heart and both of them get married. However, in India, her father Sai Krishna (Ranganath) does not approve of this and ill treats Aditya. He also develops enmity with the minister Muni Swamy (Pradeep) who decides to ruin him. In between all this, Indu starts developing feelings for Aditya but then he has a tragic past that is discovered later. What happens after that? This must be watched in the theatres.


Presentation:
The director has come up with a normal storyline but then the presentation was neat whereas the narrative could have been better. The dialogues were average, the script was written with few flaws and the screenplay was apt. The music department was impressive and three songs can be taken home while cinematography was also neat. Editing did its job with standard and costumes were trendy. The locations were well chosen and other departments need no mention here. Balakrishna has come up in a rather different image makeover and instead of being his fiery self, he was rather self contained and passive. Priyamani was hot as usual but looked more attractive in Sarees and traditional outfits. Pradeep Rawat was evil as usual, Chandramohan was a surprise, Brahmanandam managed few laughs, Ranganath was graceful, Balaiah looked elegant, Krishna Bhagawan made his presence felt, Deepak was handsome and he did justice to his role. The others did their bit as per the standard.



Conclusion:
The film is more of an emotional treat and though the first half was quite mild, things begin to change during the second half and there is a momentum. However, the climax was quite normal and there was nothing special to cause an impact. The makers could have utilized the first half in a better way to create some excitement and also Balayya's character could have been etched in a much stronger way which did not happen. The film will appeal to the masses and the family audience to an extent.

Verdict : Sentimental treat, can be watched once

source : bharatstudent.com

Prabhas' BILLA (2009) Review by Greatandhra.com

Film: Billa
Rating: 3/5
Cast: Prabhas, Namita, Anushka, Hansika, Subba Raju, Supreet, Kelly Dorge, Aravind, Rahaman, Ali etc
Camera: Soundara Rajan
Music: Mani Sharma
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Fights: Stun Shiva
Art: AS Prakash
Producers: Narendra, Prabodh
Screenplay-Dialogue-Direction: Meher Ramesh
Released On: 3rd April 2009

The much awaited big banner film ‘Billa’ has released today. Many assumed that it would be an oasis in the desert of flops. Let us hope how far the assumptions turned true.

Story:

Billa ( Prabhas) a gangster in Malaysia becomes the most wanted for Interpol, Indian and Malaysian police. They collectively search for him but he keeps on escaping. Lisa (Namitha) is the girl friend of Billa and Maya (Anushka) is another dame who joins Billa’s team to put an end for him with a secret vengeance.

Finally ACP Krishna Murthy (Krishnam Raju) takes up Billa’s case and chases him. Finally he catches him and kills. But later with the help of an informer (Ali) Krishna Murthy learns that there is a look alike of Billa in Vizag. He conspires to use that look alike in the place of Billa and smoke out all gangsters connected to Billa.

The look alike of Billa is none other than Ranga (Prabhas) who is a pickpocketer and petty thief. The story takes the turn when Krishan Murthy meets Ranga and gives him the offer to act as Billa.

Finally how far Krishna Murthy gets success in his operation? That has to be watched on screen.

Performances:

Prabhas is at his best in look, body language and performance. He followed a humorous style in delivering dialogues for Ranga’s character. That has pumped in some refreshing air in the heads of audiences. And as Billa he is the best suit. His physique is perfectly impressive and inspiring.

Anushka is serious and hot. Her much publicized bikini act got desired response in theaters. Namitha also did enough of skin show but that looked odd. Hansika is there for a while for a song and even she too was used for glamour dose.

Supreet acted as side kick to Prabhas. Subba Raju is smart enough to pair up with Hansika. Aravind (Arundhathi fame) appeared as side kick for Kelly Dorge and slowly he promises to be good choice for bad guy on screen. Rahaman is ok as Interpol officer.

Krishnam Raju tried his level best but there is problem in his bearing. He appeared to have tried very hard to move like a police officer. But there is nothing to pint out about his performance. His seniority has reflected.

Coming to technical details, Art, Cinematography and Costumes played key roles in this film. They deserve very good mention. The biggest minus point in the film is lack of punch in dialogues. Direction is average. Production values are very good.

Analysis:

The film is lacking desired punch. It hasn’t met the standards especially in the matter of dialogues when compared to Hindi and Tamil versions. Hindi film ‘Don’ is identified with the most famous dialogue ‘Don Ko pakadnaa mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai’. There is no such punch in any dialogue in Telugu. It is only Prabhas’s Ranga character that brought enthusiasm for audiences. Although the Billa character was designed in very impressive way with respect to look and feel, the soul is missing on a whole. Heroines are for good visual feast for young audiences with bikinis and short dresses. But people started laughing looking at the costumes of Namitha. She turned a laughing stock by wearing such dresses with odd look, being obese. It is time for her to cut down weight. Otherwise, she becomes a comedian than a ‘hot’ actress.

First 30 minutes of the film brings boredom as more importance is given for style and sound than the story part and narration. The part should have filled with good dialogues to avoid boredom. And the film gets some tempo when Ranga character enters the screen. Although that appeared promising for a while, the graph has fallen down in second half. The climax is also not that enthusiastic. It’s a movie made with rich production values and stylish presentation.

The film has no big muscle to hold box office tight for weeks together. But the season may help the movie. As there are no films those are ruling box office and as there are no big films in line to rub shoulders, Billa may fall on the safe zone.

MANORAMA (2009) Review by Bharatstudent.com

Movie: Manorama
Rating : 1/5
Banner : ZEE Motion Pictures
Cast : Charmi, Nishan, Sridhar Rao, Pradeep, Lahari, Sunayana, Srivastav, Ali, MS, Narsing Yadav and Others
Cinematography : Jagan
Music : Koti
Producer: Zee Group
Director: V Eswar Reddy
Released Date: March 27, 2009

Story:
A tale without meaning, the story begins with Gitanjali a k a Gilli (Charmi) who comes to Hyderabad to spend few days with her friends (Lahari and Sridhar). She lives near Manorama café and there comes a stranger (Nishan) with a bag. His motive is to blow a bomb in the café, meanwhile Gilli is bored and wants to kill time. With her lip reading skills, she figures out from a distance that a boy is threatening to commit suicide on phone to his girlfriend. Gilli becomes the angel, also notices the number with her abilities and calls up that girl. She comes to Manorama to inform the lover boy but instead the bomber sees her and falls for her. Few twists of events happen and the bomb also fails to explode on time. Meanwhile, both the stranger and Gilli get to know each other and in no time, they fall in love with each other though they don't admit it. what happens from there forms the rest of the story.

Presentation:
The director has attempted to mix love and humanity in a matured proportion but instead it has become a mess. The narrative lacked the punch and the presentation was just average. The script was weak, the screenplay was mediocre. Music was good at places and one song is touching, cinematography did not have anything special to do. Editing was neat. Costumes and art department were apt. Charmee was her regular self and she seems to have put on some weight, Nishan was handsome and has shown potential but he needs to work more on his expressions. M S, Ali were standard. The others added their bit but nothing significant to talk about.


Conclusion:

The film takes off on a different mode in the start and ends up at a completely different note. The plot is known in just ten minutes and the pace is extremely slow as the maker was trying to fill the two and a half hour slot. While the first half goes about with the building up of the plot, a twist happens just before the interval. However, there is no momentum or exciting moments and instead the climax gets into a very depressing mode. The film could have been a lot better if there was a tight screenplay and a meaningful connection to the storyline and the characters. This is hard to succeed at the box office.