April Fool Movie Review – 2/5
Rating : 2/5
Star Cast : Jagapati Babu, Bhumika Chawla
Producer : GL Srinivas
Director : Krishnaswamy Shrikanth
Music : Bunty
Released on: 10-05-2014
Your Rating: [ratings]
April Fool Movie Review
Story :
Prakash (Jagapathi Babu), a sincere lawyer and one of the top reporter Swapna (Bhoomika) go against local goon Anna (Gulshan Grover) for a land grabbing issue. Accidentally even there is a rivalry between Kakki (Ranadhir) and Anna (Gulshan) due to diamonds issue. Taking this an opportunity Anna always irritates Kakki with his power. Being frustrated with his life Kakki blames God for everything happening in his life and sleeps off. When he wakes up the next morning, Kaki soon realizes the tedium of the same day over and over again, he gradually learns to treat people decently. He also falls for Satya (Shrusti). With each defeat means a little more information and gets him a little closer to understand selfishness in him. How will Prakash and Swapna fight against Anna? Will Kakki support the moment and help the Colony people forms the rest of the tale.
Star Performance:
The actors look disinterested, especially Jagapathy Babu who always delivered spirited performances, even in some of his worst films. He overacts in this one and limited to a small role. Bhumika Chawla has a small role and leaves a mark. Ranadhir is wasted, he doesn’t fit the bill. Shrusti irritates with her performance. Gulshan Grover tries hard, but carries just one expression throughout the film. Thagubothu Ramesh, Dhanraj, Seenu failed in proving the fun, the rest of the characters ham endlessly.
Technical Team :
There aren’t any. After a point you don’t even care, we expected a satirical comedy, but April Fool has inspirations from Groundhog Day. In an attempt to try something unconventional director Krishna Swamy Srikanth Iyengar seems to be totally inspired by Groundhog Day (1993). April Fool is devoid of any sense or logic. Like; Gulshan Grover never tries to check the diamonds in the car rather goes against Ranadhir every time – There is no particular point why Shruti falls in love straight away (After a kiss while chasing a goon who stole her 50 Lakhs Rupees) similarly there are many logics missing in the film.
Narration of the film is snail paced; one could easily predict the ending before interval. The dialogues are appropriate but pretty generic and this film doesn’t bind to the stereotypical norms of passion, which is a drawback. Music Director Bunty failed in providing situational and soothing songs to support the film’s narration. Even he failed to elevate the film with his Background Score. Cinematography by Tanikella Rajendraprasad is second rate. Movie is around 155 minutes and Editor should have easily cut short the film by 30-40 Minutes. Even transition of the scenes is not perfectly done. Production Values of Sudha Entertainments are mediocre.
Analysis :
Always felt April Fool could either spring a huge surprise or fall flat unfortunately, It’s the later. From the start to finish, absolutely nothing works for the film. You fail to understand what the director was thinking?.The first Half of the film provide us with interesting points here and there but fails to capitalize in the second half. April Fool turns out to be a film which possibly carried good potential of being an engaging watch. However with unnecessary scenes taking over the proceedings and becoming repetitive after a while, the end result isn’t really enthralling.
If you are not bothered by bad screenplay and acting, love Bhumika Chawla and have money to spend this weekend then go watch April Fool. But if your money is dear to you, stay at home and watch IPL instead.
What Is Good :
- Bhumika Chawla
What Is Bad :
- Screenplay
- Dragged Narration
- Forced Comedy
- Unnecessary scenes
- Editing and Performances.
Bottom Line: Don’t Fool Yourself, April is over !!
Pyar Mein Padipoyane Movie Review – 2/5
Rating : 2/5
Cast: Aadi , Shanvi , Vennela Kishore , Saptagiri and others
Directed by : Ravi Chavali
Produced by : K.K. Radha Mohan
Music by : Anup Rubens
Release Date : 2014-05-10
Your Ratings : [ratings]
Pyar Mein Padipoyane Movie Review
Aadi, Shanvi who were earlier seen in Lovely have paired again for yet another romantic entertainer Pyar Mein Padipoyane. Ravi Chavali directed this film.
What is it about?
Chandra (Aadi) is a music composer who wants to make his own album. He falls in love with chorus singer Yuktha (Shanvi) in first sight and takes her as the lead singer in his band. After some time Yuktha too falls in love with Chandra. But he couldn’t be normal with her as he knows he has done big mistake in his childhood that left a Yuktha in distress. He tries his best to hide the fact that he is the one who had hurt her.
Performances:
Aadi: Aadi played the role of a casual youth that doesn’t demand great acting skills. He kept it simple and did a decent job. He is not very impressive in comedy scenes. Needs to work on his expressions in emotional scenes. He has done a good job with dances.
Shanvi: Shanvi looked pretty and that’s it. She is a very bad actress and didn’t improve a bit even after doing couple of films.
Others: All the hero’s friends have lengthy roles, but none of them made an impact. Saptagiri steals thunder in his cameo appearance. Thagubothu Ramesh is okay and Vennela Kishore tried his best to make his character work. The actor who played the character of Shanvi’s silent lover was horrible.
Technicalities:
Direction: Ravi Chavali has done some mediocre films post Samanyudu. This may be slightly better than those films, but it will hardly entertain. Poor script and bad direction are the main drawbacks of this film. Ravi Chavali’s idea of romance is old fashioned and will not appeal to current generation.
Music: Being a film with a musical drop PMP demands a good soundtrack. Anup’s music is a huge disappointment. None of the songs make a lasting impression. Bakcground score is alright.
Others: Editing is not up to the mark. The film drags unnecessarily in some parts. Cinematography is fine. Production values are nice for a low budget film.
Thumbs Up:
- Nothing worth mentioning
Thumbs Down:
- Screenplay
- Heroine’s performance
- Direction
Analysis:
Pyar Mein Padipoyane is basically a romantic entertainer that is targeted at young audience. It starts on a dull note and gets boring right from the first scene. Romance between the lead pair is uninteresting. All the scenes are stale and seem outdated. Dialogues are pretty bad to make things worse.
There is an attempt to make us laugh, but those scenes hardly tickles due to bad writing. Shanvi bluntly reject Aadi when he says I love you to her and fall in love with the same person without any reason. There comes a twist in the tale which is childish on any level.
Sadly second half of the film is completely based on that twist and the film gets unbearable and yawn inducing at a moment. Anybody with minimum knowledge of Telugu films can predict what happens towards the end and the director didn’t try to make it any interesting. Pyar Mein Padipoyane goes from bad to worse making it a painful watch.
Only people who have stuck in eighties can relish this romance that never allows the viewers to connect with the lead characters emotions. Lovely was a far better film than this one and if you want to watch this pair on screen better rent a DVD of Lovely than sitting through this romantic torture.
Verdict: Painful Pyar!
Anaamika Movie Review – 3/5
Rating: 3/5
Cast: Nayanatara, Vaibhav, Naresh
Directed by : Shekher Kammula
Banner : ViaCom 18
Music by : M.M.Keeravani
Release Date: 1st May 2014
Your Rating: [ratings]
Anaamika Movie Review
Story:
A bomb blast in Hyderabad’s People Plaza kill hundreds of people which forces a change in state home minister. Over a course of time everyone forgets the incident and moves on. And in a separate event, Anamika (Nayantara) comes down to Hyderabad from America in search of her husband, Ajay (Harsha Vardhan Rane). SI Saradhi (Vaibhav) starts digging in to the case only to find the case leading to some unpredictable twists and mysterious deaths. All of sudden a twist take place which leads to a stunning turn in the story and a crucial evidence. What is it? and How it helped to solve the case forms the rest of the story.
Star Performance:
– Nayantara was at her usual best in the film, it is tailor made role for her. She did her best especially in Climax Scene.
– Vaibhav got a good role after a long time and he performed well.
– Pasupathi did well as a Sicncere Police officer.
– Naresh was okay as bad politician.
– Thagubothu Ramesh has got no scope to make you laugh. You can consider him as a Character Artist.
Technical Team:
– MM Keeravani’s background music is one of the major asset and has given life to the movie.
– Sekhar Kammula took the basic subject of Kahaani. He tried to narrate the story with his own context and twists and he was successful in adapting Kahaani as per Telugu nativity.
– Yandamuri Veerendranath Screenplay is good.
– Vijay C. Kumar Cinematography is good.
– Editing should have been crispier.
What is Good?
- Thrilling Scond Half
- Screenplay
- Climax
- Keeravani Background Music
- Nayanatara
What is Bad?
- Slow Narration in First half
- No Comedy Scenes for Regular Audience
Analysis:
Anamika is not a Scene to Scene remake of Kahaani. Sekhar Kammula’s gripping narration and Keeravani’s music are main strength’s. Though first half tests your patience, second half of Anaamika makes it worth a watch. Don’t miss this suspense thriller which is on par with its original. On the whole this movie may do good business in A Centers, we have to wait and see how this movie will perform in B, C Centers.
Verdict: Watch Anamika for its refreshing appeal. If you have watched Kahaani, invariable comparisons will result in disappointment with the adaptation.
Kotha Janta Movie Review – 2/5
Rating : 2/5
Cast : Allu Sirish,Regina Cassandra
Directed By : Maruthi
Music By : JB
Produced By : Bunny Vasu
Your Ratings : [ratings]
Kotha Janta Review
Story:
Sirish (Allu Sirish) and Suvarna (Regina) are two selfish individuals who work for a TV Channel. Though Sirish is surrounded by friends,he is a guy who is self centered and has aspirations to make big money. Though miser enough, Suvarna cares about the people around her. Ramesh (Rao Ramesh), the TV Channel head identifies the talents of these two and makes them into one team to work on making the channel more popular.
In the interim, Sirish gets another lucrative offer from a business man (Posani Krishna Murali) who plans to start another TV Channel but on the condition that he should come along as a team with Suvarna. When Suvarna doesn’t agree to come along with him, Sirish fakes his love towards Suvarna. What problems does Sirish get into because of his fake love and hoes does it affect their careers forms the remaining story.
Star performance:
Allu Sirish – There is absolutely no improvement in terms of expressions compared to his first film. Some important scenes lose its impact thanks to his lack of expressions. Once again the voice comes to the rescue and that is the most positive that can be said about him right now.
Regina Cassandra – She fitted perfectly for the role and her expressions were flawless. She excelled as a cheerful and lively TV anchor in the first half and did equally well in a role filled with emotions in second half. She is a genuine talent and can perform even better in more challenging roles.
Saptagiri – This guy is growing as a comedian with each film. He looks natural and completely at ease in his role in this film. He was used well to generate humor in the first half but was wasted in the second half.
Posani Krishna Murali – Aanother typical role for him, he partly entertains.
Rohini – She did a short character of Hero’s mother, her presence forms the main catalyst towards the end of the movie
Technical Team:
Director Maruthi – This time he tries a subject with clean fun and contains high drama quotient. This change has clearly shown an effect in his pacing which is weak here compared to his previous films. The film is hilarious during the comedy sequences but gets extremely tacky and slow during the emotional scenes or sequences related to the core story of the film.
Music Director JB – Music is one of the plus points of the film.”Osi Prema Rakshasi” was shot beautifully in the movie along with “Charminar Galli”. ”Gundello” is one of the best songs in the movie. It was great to see JB using the snippets of “Arere” as the background music in the second half. No Doubt he’ll join in top telugu music composer list very soon.
Cinematography – Cinematography by Richard Prasad is the highlight of the movie. The entire look, color and locations of the film are bright and lively, making the movie look pleasing to eyes.
Editing – Editing by Ashok Kuruba is good and
Dialogues – Dialogues were well written with no double meanings.
Production Values are good
What is Good?
- Saptagiri Comedy
- Regina Performance
- Cinematography
- Few Songs
What is Bad?
- Screenplay
- Allu Sirish Performance in emotional scenes
- Slow Narration in some Scenes
Analysis:
On the whole the movie is not bad and at the same time it is also not bad. But it is a simple time pass kind of film for some good comedy here and there. Watch it if you have nothing to do in your weekend!
Pratinidhi Movie Review – 3.25/5
Rating: 3.25/5
Cast: Nara Rohit , Sri Vishnu , Kota Sreenivasa Rao , Shubra Aiyyappa
Directed by : Prashanth Mandava
Produced by : J Samba Siva Rao
Banner :Sudha cinemas
Music by : Sai Karthik
Release Date : 2014-04-25
Your Rating: [ratings]
Pratinidhi Movie Review
Story:
Srinu ( Nara Rohith) is a man with a mission. Fed up with political corruption and other issues, he decides to kidnap the CM (Kota Srinivasarao) to make a statement. To achieve this, he uses Sreekar (Sree Vishnu),who is the son of a minister (Giribabu).
Srinu cleverly comes up with a plan and finally manages to kidnap the CM. The entire country is shocked and Commissioner Posani Krishna Murali handles the communication. Srinu makes some strange demands in order to free the CM.
He wants the Government to cancel 500 and 1000 rupee notes and print fresh currency devoid of current template. He also wants small change from transactions to be transferred to CM relief fund, for benefit of society.
People and media make Srinu a hero but the police uncover some secrets. Is the person really Srinu or is he a Ghost? What is Sreekar’s role in the kidnap?
Star Performance:
Casting of the film is fine with each of the actor giving their hearts out to refine their characters.
Nara Rohit is good in his role, but looked little fat in this film. His voice is improved a lot and he dominated in all departments. He should work a bit on his mannerisms.
Shubra Aiyappa is not a heroine material and she is limited in her role.
Kota Srinivasa Rao is apt for the role. He provided some punch lines in the second half.
Jaya Prakash Home Minister provided a lil fun with his dialect in the first half.
Vishnuvardhan (Prema Ishq Kaadal fame) is like a second hero in the film and done well despite of a dumb characterization.
Posani Krishna Murali has wonderful quality of getting his scenes work despite of his directors ability to extract the comedy angle.
Rest of the characters supported the lead cast in a decent way.
Techinical Team:
The story has similarities to Tagore in the first half but the story has different complexion in the second half.
Director Prashanth Mandava dealt the first half with concept and dragging love episodes. In the second half Prashanth Mandava maintained a decent grip over concept and threaded through scenes that are unnecessarily inserted to showcase the black money and fake currency issues. Direction of the film is average. You will find this film interesting not only for its decent concepts, but also for the dialogues.
Dialogues by Anand Ravi deserve a special appreciation for his quotes and lines on the society. “Swardaparululanu paripalinchali ante valakanna parama swardaparude kavali” is the best of the few lines.
Music by Sai Karthik is middling. Background music is apt and lifted few scenes with his music.
Editing in the film is sharp though the love scenes sounded a little lagging.
Production values of the film are poor. A poor quality of filming is visible in every scene.
What Is Good:
- Interesting Story.
- Nara Rohit Performance
- Dialogues
- Run Time
What Is Not Good:
- Editing cuts average
- Needless flashback
- Screenplay was little bit poor
Analysis:
In a political season after disastrous Pratighatna, Prabhanjanam, Tollywood is back to finer political movie with Pratinidhi. A movie talks about issues with facade of sense, Dialogue writer Anand Ravi and his actor Nara Rohit complement each other with some decent performances in their departments, creating a less common experience of a movie that really lives up to the hype surrounding.
On the whole, Prathinidhi is a good attempt by debut Director with nice concept.
Chandamama Kathalu Movie Review – 2/5
Rating: 2/5
Starring: Lakshmi Manchu, Chaitanya Krishna, Naresh, Aamani and others
Direction: Praveen Sattaru
Music: Mickey J. Meyer
Cinematography: Suresh Ragutu
Production: Chanakya Booneti
Your Rating: [ratings]
Chandamama Kathalu Movie Review
Story :
Chandamama Kathalu is about eight intertwined stories:
Saaradhi (Kishore) is a lone parent of school going girl. He is seen as a father who worries about his daughter’s health
Lisa Smith (Lakshmi Manchu) is seen as a frustrated model walking towards the twilight of her career. She is seen struggling to come up with the latest terms of her life due to career slowdown.
Aamani (Saritha) is a lady who just becomes a widow, then comes Naresh (Mohan) in to her live. They share a relationship 30 years ago and in the present, they slowly move towards a new beginning.
Krishnudu (Venkateswara Rao) is a obese whose ambition is to get married before his hair start greying.
Chaitanya Krishna (Raghu) is seen as a college going calm guy who eyes a politician’s daughter. There is an other side in him which is exactly the opposite.
Abhijeet (Ashraf) runs a kirana store runs in to Richa Panai (Haseena) who gives him a ‘kiss-at-first-sight’ experience.
Krishneswar Rao is an aspirational beggar who strives for a house costing 12 Lakhs and he has a savings of about 10 Lakhs!!!!!
Naga Shaurya (Raghu) has a tragic story as he had to marry a girl accidentally due to the girl’s grand mother.
Performances:
Director Praveen Sattaru in one of the promotional interviews talks about using Algebra to give equal screen space to all the characters in the film. But it is not convincing on the screen. Kishore is natural. Lakshmi Manchu looked more like her real life character and Naresh resembled more like Lakshmi Manchu when he tries to speak English. Aamani is elegant in her come back. Krishnudu plays a routine ;fatso being booed by every one’ character. Rest of the characters are pretty ordinary.
Technical Performances:
We have not seen many anthologies in Telugu. Off course they are not easy to handle. Praveen Sattaru had attempted one such film but could not convincingly pull it off. The characters of the film and the eight different stories do not have proper coherence for the audience to connect. In short his intent is honest but execution is flawed.
Cinematography of Suresh is neat. Mickey J. Meyer’s songs are not effective but the rerecording is good. Editing for an anthology is very difficult and it is obvious in the work of Dharmendra Kakarla. Production Values are decent.
Final Verdict:
Chandamama Kathalu is a quite a boring film. The first half of the film is dreadfully slow paced and the second half gets pass marks. If you got to watch the film this weekend, find your own reasons as I can not!
Laddu Babu Movie Review – 2/5
Rating:2/5Movie: Laddu Babu
Cast: Allari Naresh , Bhumika , Poorna and others
Directed by : Ravi Babu
Produced by : Rajendra Tripuraneni
Banner :Maharadhi Films
Music by : Chakri
Release Date : 2014-04-18
Allari Naresh’s Laddu Babu caught the attention of Telugu film lovers as the actor has done the avatar of an obese guy in the film. Ravi Babu has made some brilliant films in the past and one couldn’t take this Laddu Babu lightly for obvious reasons. Did the Allari duo deliver another rib tickling comedy or not?
Story:
Laddu Babu (Allari Naresh) is an extremely obese guy whose father (Kota Srinivasa Rao) is a crook. Laddu Babu’s father tries to get his son hitched to girls with physical deformities so that he can sell the house and settle in Goa. Laddu Babu falls in love with beautiful Maya (Poorna). A small kid tries hard to make friendship with Laddu Babu and takes him to his house. This kid has a mother (Bhumika). What are the intentions of that kid? What happened to Laddu Babu’s love?
Performances:
Allari Naresh did his best to carry this hollow script on his shoulders. He has put in lot of time and efforts for the makeup and that is clearly evident. Despite his efforts Naresh couldn’t pull this film off as the director utterly failed in every department. Bhumika is good in her brief role. Poorna is passable. Kota Srinivasara Rao is decent as usual. Brahmanandam, Ali, Venu Madhav and others made cameo appearances in this film.
Technicalities:
Ravi Babu has a knack of switching genres with every film. He has made some enjoyable films in the past. Seeing Allari Naresh in obese avatar one would have expected Laddu Babu to be another fun fare from Ravi Babu. But Ravi Babu put all his efforts on getting Laddu Babu’s ‘look’ right and didn’t pay attention to the script. Laddu Babu is a poorly written and badly made film. It is easily one of those avoidable films from the director.
Music by Chakri is mediocre. Photography is bad. There is nothing worth mentioning except for the work of makeup artists. Laddu Babu is bad and unbearable with most of the technical departments messing it up big time.
Thumbs Up:
Allari Naresh’s efforts
Bhumika’s subtle performance
Thumbs Down:
Ravi Babu’s bad script and direction
Chakri’s music
Analysis:
Ravi Babu must have been very excited with the very idea of showing lean Allari Naresh as a fat guy. He should have made this film in a hurry and expected audience to queue up to see Allari Naresh as Laddu Babu. He forgot that any movie needs a good plot and engaging script to keep the audience glued till the end.
Let alone strong script, Ravi Babu didn’t even get the comedy right for this film. All those so called comedy scenes will appeal only to people with low levels of sense of humor. It is so cheap that the director stooped to the level of making fun of conjoint twins in the name of comedy.
Laddu Babu is a classic example for those who take comedy lightly. It is not that easy to make people laugh and one would look like a clown if they try hard at it. Laddu Babu will go down as one of the bad films of Ravi Babu as well as Allari Naresh. The actor has been running through lean phase in his career at the moment and his efforts have gone completely wasted in a silly and stupid film.
There is a scene where Ravi Babu used the services of all the noted comedians. Audience will only feel sad seeing those great actors in such idiotic scene. Ravi Babu had all the resources at his hand to make a fun film, but he made an unbearable comedy with a very talented and hard working lead actor. Laddu Babu is solely Ravi Babu’s failure as a filmmaker. Watch it at your own risk.
Verdict: Rotten Comedy Babu!
