Ulavacharu Biryani Review – 2.5/5
Rating: 2.5/5
Cast: Prakash Raj , Sneha , Tejass ,Samyuktha and others
Directed by : Prakash Raj
Produced by : Prakash Raj
Music by : Ilaiyaraja
Release Date : 2014-06-06
Your Rating: [ratings]
Ulavacharu Biryani Movie Review
Actor turned director Prakash Raj’s latest offering Ulavacharu Biryani is a remake of Malayalam film Salt and Pepper. Prakash Raj promised a feel good romantic entertainer with this film. Did he keep his promise?
Story:
Kalidas (Prakash Raj) is a middle aged bachelor who is archeologist by profession. He gets introduced to Gowri (Sneha), a dubbing artist through a wrong number. Gowri is also a spinster in mid thirties. They fall in love but couldn’t dare to face each other due to fear of rejection. Kalidas sends his nephew Naveen (Tejass) and Gowri sends her young friend Meghana (Samyuktha) when they plan a meeting. Naveen and Meghana fall in love and what happens to Kalidas and Gowri’s romance?
Performance:
Prakash Raj is at his usual best as the middle aged bachelor. He is simply superb in the scenes where he converses with Sneha on phone. He is supremely believable during the climax scenes where he lit up the screen with his superb performance. Sneha is good in the role of Gowri. She occasionally breaks down due to her situation and she draws sympathy for her character by her superb portrayal. Tejass and Meghna are alright in their respective roles. Brahmaji and MS Narayana provides the much needed relief with funny dialogue.
Technicalities:
Direction: Prakash Raj has shown glimpses of good director in Dhoni itself. Here he has done his best work as a director, but still has to get it right to make his films work with the ticket paying public. His direction is extremely good in dealing with matured romance. But he failed with the romantic track involving young pair. There are some unnecessary tracks in the film that are left unsolved. He could have done much better especially in the second hour.
Music: Ilaiyaraja’s songs are alright and they are shot well. Backrground score stands out in few scenes.
Others: Cinematography is pleasant and one of the major assets of the movie. Editing is not up to the mark. Production values are good.
Thumbs Up:
- Prakash Raj performance
- Prakash Raj – Sneha romantic track
Thumbs Down:
- Second half
- Tejass- Samyuktha track
- Climax
Analysis:
Ulavacharu Biryani starts off with a song sequence where various food items are shown. This sequence is mouth watering and shows the director’s love for food. The story takes some time to unfold and after the first confrontation of Sneha and Prakash Raj on phone, it gets interesting. There are some very good moments that will impress the lovers of romance genre.
That cake sequence in the first half is not so impressive. It not only breaks the flow of the film but also bores you to the core. Film reaches the interval point with a nice twist. Second half is the key for this film to work and Prakash Raj failed to get it right. Viewers gets disconnected with the characters in second half and the director never makes an attempt to get things back on track.
The story moves to the climax abruptly and the meeting of Prakash Raj and Sneha fails to impress. This is the key moment in the film and due to bad screenplay in the second hour it didn’t turn out as expected. This Ulavacharu Biryani can only be relished if you are starving for past few weeks. Otherwise it wouldn’t taste good as Prakash Raj didn’t get the ingredients right. You may wait for the Home Edition.
Verdict: Spiceless Biryani!
Green Signal Movie Review – 1.5/5
Movie : Green Signal
Rating : 1.5/5
Cast: Revanth , Maanas , Rakshita , Shilpi Sharma and others
Directed by : Vijay Maddhala
Produced by : Rudrapati Ramana Rao
Banner :Maruthi Talkies
Music by : JB
Release Date : 2014-05-30
Your Rating : [ratings]
Green Signal Movie Review
One more youthful film targeted at College students is here. Green Signal is a poor copy of Hindi hit Pyar Ka Punchnama.
What is it about?
The story is about four friends who were happy until they fall in love. Everyone’s life goes for a toss once they fall for some or the other girl. This film is about their experiences and the lessons learnt in love.
Performance:
Revanth is alright with looks and Maanas impresses with his simple yet effective portrayal. He is a talent to watch out for. Rakshita is alright as one of the female leads. Shilpa Sharma tries to make a mark with excessive skin show. Dimple is okay. There is nothing much to write about other actors who are mostly mediocre at the best.
Technicalities:
Direction: Director lifted the basic idea of the film from Hindi hit Pyar Ka Punchnama. But this film clearly lacked the Punch that the original had. Director messed it up big time after the initial few minutes. The director couldn’t make some interesting scenes work with his pathetic direction skills. He has resorted to double meaning comedy to keep things flowing, but that turned out to be a utter disaster.
Music: JB’s music hardly impresses. None of the songs have repeat value and few of them suddenly pops up making viewers search for the nearest exits. Background score is too loud and out of sync.
Others: Dialogues are good in parts. Cinematography is fine in some sequences. Editing is a letdown. Production values are alright for the film made on a low scale.
Thumbs Up:
Introductory scenes
Maanas performance
Thumbs Down:
screenplay
Poor Direction
Gay comedy track
Analysis:
Green Signal could have been a decent fare had the director stuck to the basics. He had the material sourced from an impressive Bollywood flick Pyar Ka Punchnama. Despite having that at hands, he made a mess of it by trying to deal it in his own style. There are certain moments that may appeal to the audience that are not aware of Pyar Ka Punchnama.
Those moments are rare and far apart that it will be a huge test to bear the rest of the movie. The movie turns utterly predictable and the extra efforts put in to generate comedy backfired big time. Few scenes will make you cringe and move uncomfortably in your seats. Last half an hour turns out to be a horrible affair that will nullify all other positive aspects of the movie.
Green Signal is a classic example of bad filmmaking. The screenplay of this film will make anybody guess what is coming up next and make them feel like a better filmmaker. Green Signal will go down as one of the bad remakes that have never respected the original. We don’t recommend this film for anyone. You may watch it at your own peril.
Caution: Never Cross this Green Signal, it’s highly Dangerous!
Vikrama Simha Movie Review – 2.5/5
Movie : Vikrama Simha
Rating :2.5/5
Cast: Rajinikanth, Deepika Padukone, R Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Shobana, Jackie Shroff, Nassar, Rukmini Vijayakumar etc
Story, Screenplay: KS Ravikumar
Direction: Soundarya R Ashwin
Dialogues: Sri Ramakrishna
Music: AR Rahman
Camera: Rajiv Menon
Editing: Anthony
Date: 23-05-2014
Your Rating : [ratings]
Vikrama Simha Movie Review – 2.5/5
Movie Story :
Rana (Rajinikanth) is Senadhipathi at Kalinga Puram Kingdom ruled by King (Jackie Shroff). Rana is very much close to prince (Aadhi). Kalinga puram declares war on neighbor territory of Kota Pattanam ruled by Ugra Simha (Nasser). Sarath Kumar is Ugra Simha’s son. Here comes the twist, Rana calls off the battle as he comes to Kalinga Puram to rescue slave soldiers from Kota Pattanam.
Ugra Simha shocks watching Rana as he seems replica of Vikrama Simha (Rajinikanth). Ugra Simha daughter Princess Vandana (Deepika Padukone) falls flat for Rana while Sarath Kumar is in love with Rana’s sister Yamuna (Rukmini). However Rana promises them to get acceptance for the marriage from Ugra Simha.
Rana saves Ugra Simha from an accident and the king in return accepts for Sarath Kumar and Yamuna marriage. Another twist in the tale is the person attacking Ugra Simha is none other than Rana himself. He is put in jail. Here Rana narrates the reason for his attack on king.
Vikrama Simha was a Veera Sainyadhipathi for Kota Pattanam. Jealous of his rising fame in the kingdom, Ugra Simha traps and kills Vikrama Simha. How Rana takes revenge on Ugra Simha? How he faces attack of Kalinga Puram? Will Rana ever meet his missing brother Sena (Rajinikanth)? What happens to Rana and Vandana love?
Movie Advantages :
1. Visual Effects
2. AR Rahman songs, background score
3. Story
4. Rajinikanth
5. Rich production values in limited budget
Movie Drawbacks :
1. Animation work
2. Non lip sync
3. Character’s modelling
4. Simple end
5. Lagging screenplay
6. Logics missing
Analysis :
First of all director Soundarya Ashwin should be appreciated for introducing the technology- ‘3D motion capture’ to Indian Cinema. In fact, these kinds of films are made of huge budgets and it takes long time to complete production and post production works. All the sequences are to be shot in specially equipped setup in indoor studio and the background is created through computer generated graphics.
Rajinikanth has done well but the poor post production work damaged the real emotions. Rajinikanth is god to masses because of styling, which is actually missing in the film. How can we define artists performance when the animation work is deprived. Deepika character looked odd and others 3D models were also pretty ordinary. Except for Rajinikanth and Nasser, everyone got short roles. Sarath Kumar character ends all of a sudden and Aadhi didn’t get much to perform.
Vikrama Simha line story is good; however the screenplay is pathetic with boring narration. Soundarya’s direction is okay.
AR Rahman song compositions are good and background score is major asset. Anthony’s editing is decent. Rajiv Menon’s cinematography is worth a special mention.
Because of the less budget (120 crores), limited animation artists and short time period (2 years), it resulted a poor output. Animation work was not upto the mark. You don’t get the right feeling of watching animated characters of Indian leading actors. Character modeling, rigging and execution of motion captured animation to the 3D models has come out a big blunder. They didn’t follow any of animation rules such as – follow through, squash and stretch, secondary action, exaggeration etc for any sequence in the movie.
Though animation work is pretty ordinary, VFX is top notch.
Note: VFX is entirety different from animation. VFX (Visual Effects) means the graphical work what you watch on screen. And 2D or 3D character designing, rigging, character motion, comes under animation.
Movie Punchline (Movie Talk): Rajinikanth Missing
Manam Movie Review – 4/5
Movie : Manam
Rating : 4/5
Cast: Akkineni Nageswara Rao , Nagarjuna ,Naga Chaitanya , Samantha , Shriya and others
Directed by : Vikram Kumar
Produced by : Akkineni Family
Banner :Annapurna Studios
Music by : Anup Rubens
Release Date : 2014-05-23
Yours Rating : [ratings]
Manam Movie Review
Much awaited movie of the season, last film of the TFI Legend Akkinneni Nageswara Rao, Manam is out in theaters now. This movie has many specialties about it apart from being ANR’s last film. All the Akkineni heroes including soon to be launched Akhil are in this movie directed by Ishq fame Vikram Kumar.
What is it about?
Nageswara Rao alias Bittu (Nagarjuna) parents (Naga Chaitanya, Samantha) dies in a car crash. After becoming successful as businessman, Nageswara Rao bumps into Nagarjuna (Naga Chaitanya) and comes to know that his father is born again. He goes in search of his mother and Priya (Samantha) befriends Nageswara Rao. Now Nageswara Rao is on a mission to unite his parents in their rebirth. Meanwhile Chaitanya (ANR) is shocked to see his dead parents Nageswara Rao and Anjali (Shriya) alive. Then comes the story of Nageswara Rao and Anjali’s past life.
Performances:
ANR: Akkineni Nageswara Rao has very less screen time compared to others. He has some lively moments with his son and grandson. Scenes between ANR and Chaitanya are a treat to watch.
Nagarjuna: Nagarjuna is the central character of the film and has lion share of the running time. He has done fabulous job as Nageswara Rao and Sitha Ram. He gave a comic touch to Nageswara Rao character and his performance as Sitha Ram will bring back the memories of vintage romantic Nag.
Chaitanya: Chaitanya surprises with a matured performance. He is at ease in portraying the role of Nagarjuna. This is by far the best performance of his.
Samantha: Samantha steals the show yet again in a bubbly character. Her scenes with Nagarjuna are the best part in this film.
Shriya: Shriya is lucky to bag this film at the fag end of her career. She did a pretty decent job and looked gorgeous in the doctor character.
Others: Brahmanandam, Ali, Posani, MS made cameo appearances in the film. Saptagiri excelled in the role of Chaitanya’s friend.
Technicalities:
Direction: Vikram Kumar took a very complex point and executed it so well that the premise appears so simple. There are many scenes where we admire the work of the director. He should be lauded for coming up with something that is so different from run of the mill films. Vikram Kumar is here to stay and surely will rule Telugu film industry in the coming days.
Music: Music by Anup Rubens is simply superb. All the songs are very good. Background score is the major asset of the movie.
Others: PS Vinod’s cinematography stands out. Harshavardhan dialogues are simple and sweet. Editing is neatly done. Producers deserves a pat on the back for backing this idea and making such a lavish film solely believing in the capabilities of the director.
Thumbs Up:
ANR-Nagarjuna-Chaitanya combination
Story idea
Screenplay
Music
Akhil’s special appearance
Thumbs Down:
Hurried pre climax sequences
Slow pace at times
Analysis: Manam is entirely different film from the movies our Telugu audience gets to see. It is hard to imagine such a plot and visualize it to the perfection. Director Vikram Kumar surely made one of the best movies of this era. Manam has some magical moments throughout the film that will make you cheer the characters and their emotions.
Romance is too cute and the chemistry between all the lead characters is impeccable. Director Vikram Kumar made sure that all the actors get into the skin of the characters and gave some genius touches to them so that viewers will be entertained throughout the movie. This is actually an emotional film, but the director dealt it in lighter vein and never missed the fun.
Once you get connected to the characters and their emotions it is a roller coaster ride. Manam leaves you wanting for more and that is the sign of a true classic. Down the line this film will surely remembered as one of the best films of Modern Telugu cinema. Akkineni fans will have a blast and all others will definitely watch it more than once. Go watch it.
Verdict: Manam – A Rare Gem!
