Ram Lela is a well crafted and well casted film

As expected from a Sanjay leela bhansali film Ram leela is a visual treat as he mounts each frame deliciously  with vivid colors and grandeur but what’s different and what scores in comparison with his previous films is that he creates two feisty characters Ram and Leela and backs them with equally sharp dialogues and swift peace until the interval, post interval the film goes down hill but thanks to the terrific performances from the leads and other ensemble cast I never lost interest in the film.

Ram leela is an indianized version of Romeo Juliet set In a fictional village in rural Gujarat where Violence is a way of life between to waring factions of Rajadi and Sanera and expectedly Ram and Leela belong to these warring families but what works most in the film is the sizzling chemistry between deepika and ranveer Singh right from the first scene they are together and the films most enjoyable moments are between them, unfortunately as then story progresses to the point where the two lovers are separated by there respected families, movie slips and many scenes don’t make much sense and too many songs and fights don’t help either.

Over all Ram Leela can be a good one time watch for its performances, ace camera work from Ravichandran and of course in the end it’s a  Sanjay bhansali film as he is credited as writer,music composer, editor and Director   ,it’s a signature bhansali film.

YJHD – A mushy love story with some fun moments

As I walked out of the theater after watching YJHD, I was in a dilemma if i had fun or was i bored, the answer is i felt both, with  a title like “yeh jawani hein diwani” coupled with the fact that its a karan johar production i would have expected a run of the mill rom coms, what raised the bar for me was, it was coming from the director of wake up sid has ranbir kapoor and also it showcased a life infusing promo with the song “Batameez dil” but unfortunately it fails to live upto those expectations and falls closer to the run of the mill kind of films.

The film is about bunny(Ranbir kapoor) and his 2 best friends played by Kalki and Aditya roy kapoor who are these cool fun loving college students who decide to go on a trecking trip in Manali and in this trip bunny meets naina (deepika padukone) his childhood school friend who is a studios, shy topper who struggles with in herself to break free from her boring life, while bunny thinks of marriage as having dal chawal for the rest of life and never wants to settle down in life, takes up a job as a travel  journalist, naina on the other hand is a doctor and quite a contrast to bunny as expected. Its the coming of age story of these 4 friends filled with rich locales, dazzling set pieces and dance numbers.

Although there are lot of fun moments which we enjoy watching these four friends with first rate performances from all of them, what lets down the film is an incoherent screenplay ,some cliched scenes and too many songs, although the music is good by itself, but the songs act like a speed breaker in the movie except the foot tapping well choreographed “Batameez dil”.

clearly YJHD is a not a must watch but you will not repent even if you do.

Badshah –   An overstretched formula

Any regular consumer of Telugu cinema, knows exactly what to expect from a Sreenu Vaitla film irrespective of who the star of the film is, his films right from Dhee, Ready, Dubai seenu to Dookudu all have followed the same formula of a harebrained story with a heavy dose of comedy, so there was no surprise to see the same formula repeat even in Badshah unfortunately i felt this time this was stretched bit too far.

So you have the routine hero introduction fight followed by few comedy scenes followed by some more fights  and comedy again around which a harebrained story is woven which is so stupid that iam incapable of articulating it. As in every Sreenu vaitla film in this film too the hero (Jr NTR) plays a gag on Bramhanandam and this time too scenes involving this is enjoyable part of the film.

The film starts off on a positive note with a very enjoyable first 40 mins or so where the comedy really clicks between Jr NTR, Kajal and Vennela Kishore but then the film is pulled down when director decides to devote some time to action sequences which involves a typical telugu hero bashing villains left right and center and some punch dialogues are poured  in, which don’t hold any gravity what’s so ever, but much to one’s relief the director again returns to his trademark comedy sequences involving Bramhanandam, post interval where there are some Laugh out Loud moments, but then the film gets dragged into some very silly twists and turns which look stupid even after coming prepared to suspend one’s intelligence, worsened by the overdose of fights and speed breaking songs.

On the whole even after having some very enjoyable portions of comedy, I came out of the hall feeling bored and clearly this film is an over stretch of a time tested formula, time has come for Sreenu Vaitla to  try something new.

Mirchi is yet another run of the mill stuff that telugu movies these days are made of. you have a hero who can bash up hundreds of men, he has a back story in which there are two warring families and yes you  guessed it right our hero brings them together. Its all been there seen that stuff.

Jai played by Prabhas plays this super cool dude who lives life for the day kind of philosophy meets Richa in Italy and from here this harebrained story moves to her home in  a small village in Andhra Pradesh, where Jai tries to change these blood ridden retarded goons to civilized people. The film gets really tiring here on as the Hench men of the two rival families try to kill each other and a doze of high decibel fight sequences packed in, only relief coming from the most reliable Bramhanandam and music by devi sri prasad.

Prabhas is not fully convincing in his role and seems to lack ideas to portray the part.  Among the other cast; only Anushka and Bramhanandam stand out who deliver some laugh out loud moments. On the whole Mirchi is regressive cinema and has nothing new to offer , avoid it, is my recommendation.

-vidyuth.

SVSC – Simple, beautiful but not soulful.

SVSC is  one of those kind of films where after u come out of the film u feel frustrated not because u saw a bad film but because u feel how good the film could have been but isn’t in spite of everything going for it. Star cast, dialogues, performances but it lacks a strong point to drive home.

As everyone knows the film is about two brothers peddodu (venkatesh) nd chinnodu (Mahesh) who cant live without each other; While peddodu is a straightforward non diplomatic guy who quits his job just because his boss tells him to be practical in life where as chinnodu is a charming and street smart guy and girls fall for him with a blink of an eye. These two brothers belong to a middleclass family from coastal Andhra and their father played by Prakash Raj plays a clichéd character of the one who did not earn them a fortune to rely upon but taught them values about being kind to other people.

Second time director srikanth addala intends to tell the story of the ups and downs in the relation ship of these  two brothers but there is not really any major conflict to speak of due to which there lacks any drama taking the story no where. Although the first half of the film sails through smoothly with some predictable but well executed scenes between the two brothers and their family members and thanks to a effortless performance by Mahesh with a east Godavari lingo who manages to generate quite a few laughs with every other dialogue. Credit should be given for venkatesh for strictly sticking to his character and playing his part well its clearly Mahesh who steals the show. Speaking of other actors, both the female leads are just dolls and there is not much to speak about them.

Although the makers should be lauded for making an honest attempt for going ahead and making a clean family film without getting tempted to add the so called commercial props like comedy track’s, introduction fights or item numbers, they lack a strong story to back this nice looking feel good film hence ends up being a drag especially the second half after having a smooth first half.

On the whole SVSC is not a bad film but its disappointing that it could have been a much better film, it’s a one time watch.

– vidyuth.