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Reviews
1 - Nenokkadine (2014)
Games the mind can play
He is a rock star and a troubled one at that. Amidst performing to a roaring audience, he senses the presence of one of his parents' killers gunning for his life, chases him down, finishes him off and surrenders to the police. The world around him is stunned to discover the hitherto unknown facet of the rock star. Meanwhile, a video footage shot by a television reporter reveals the truth — the rock star was fighting an imaginary opponent. It appears that he suffers from a psychological condition termed Interpretation Disorder, which blurs his capability of differentiating reality and imagination.
Director Sukumar's 1 is not a film one can watch passively. Soon after the fantastically picturesque opening song 'Who are you?', he draws you into the thriller mode only to tell you it's not going to be a linear story. How often do we get to watch a Telugu film where the audience, along with the protagonist and supporting characters, is also required to think and distinguish between events unfolding in real and imaginary spaces? The television reporter Sameera (debutante Kriti Sanon) sniffs a TRP-friendly story and trails Gautam (a leaner, fitter Mahesh Babu) as he retreats to a luxury cocoon in Goa.
Rathnavelu's roving camera rarely comes to a halt, just like its protagonist, searching for answers across surreal, low-lit streets, exotic beaches, and the cold, Grey streets of London. Gautam, meanwhile, is at the risk of injuring himself and anyone around him as his mind refuses to stop playing tricks on him.
Habitual to watching films that begin with a great premise only to fall into the commercial trap of force-fit comic situations, it comes as a relief when Sukumar laces the psychological thriller with subtle wit that never takes the focus away from the plot. A few eye- popping sequences raise the bar for action in Telugu cinema, with well-choreographed stunts helped by good cinematography, editing, visual effects and background score. But once the dots begin to connect and a few plot points become easier to guess, the drama tends to drag and one wonders if the conflict between what's real and imaginary has been stretched too far. With a run time of a little less than three hours, the film can test a viewer's patience.
This isn't your regular mas ala cinema and may not be everyone's cup of tea. If you're willing to invest some patience and soak in the mood of a film that attempts to appeal to an audience that's used to watching global cinema, 1 will not disappoint. In this visually stunning film, Mahesh Babu delivers his career-best performance. His son Gautam makes a debut through a cameo and appears at ease in front of the camera. As a surprise there's Devi Sri Prasad's background score that's so different from his regular fare. He's been given the chance to push the envelope and boy, he does it so well.
Srimanthudu (2015)
A sensible film full of heart and humanity.
Harsha Vardhan (Mahesh Babu) is the son of a billionaire Ravi (Jagapathi Babu). Harsha Vardhan values people and relationships. He doesn't care about his rich status and the business of his father. He comes to know about a village called Devarakota where people suffer due to atrocities committed by Seshu (Sampath Raj). Rest of the story is all about what he does after adopting village and about his personal connection to it.
Koratala Siva has studied the personality and body language of Mahesh Babu well and presented him extremely well. Mahesh has given an outstanding performance in pr-climax emotional episode. It's not just his acting and expressions, his trembling dialogue delivery adds up to the emotion in that scene. He shows his class in marriage fight scene and is extremely young in romantic episodes.
Jagapati Babu is very natural as a billionaire and as a father who longs for the love of his son. Shruti Haasan is excellent as a woman of substance. Watch out for smoothness and expressions in her dances in this movie. Poorna has given a small cameo in Rama Rama song. Harish Uttaman is impressive as villain. Sampath Raj is good as the baddie. Rajendra Prasad excels as a good village Samaritan. Vennela Kishore is entertaining. Rahul Ravindran has done a key role with limited footage.
Story of the film is about knowing your roots and giving back to the society. It's a daring attempt to make a film with this kind of righteous and noble story line. Director Koratala Siva has carefully balanced the noble storyline and commercial image of Mahesh Babu give a rightly blended and engaging movie. Mahesh Babu has certain class associated with him and the director has used Mahesh Babu's class to write a beautiful character. I had a basic doubt about how a guy who doesn't earn anything on his own gives it back to the society. But, the director has given nice justification to it in the movie. The way Siva established Mahesh as a simple guy with simple thinking amidst the rich family is excellent. He has made sure that the nobility of the character is intact throughout the movie. The screenplay of the film is well written and interest in the film is sustained throughout. The way hero meets three baddies (related to each other) at different points of time shows how cleverly screenplay is written. Though the film has class orientation, director has made sure that there are exciting fights (especially marriage class flight, interval fight and mango farm fight). With Srimanthudu, Siva Koratala squashes the second film jinx and proves that he is here to stay with a bright future ahead.
Music scored by Devi Sri Prasad is superb. All songs are good and background music is impressive. The director has used message oriented songs like Jaagore and Pora Srimanthuda to progress the story and elevate emotion. I have also loved Rama Rama, Jatha Kalise and Dimma Tirige songs. Cinematography by Madhie is a big highlight and complements the narration. Dialogues written by Koratala Siva are excellent and adds impact to the scenes. Lyrics by Rama Jogaiah Sastry deserves an applause except for Dimma Thirige song. Action choreography by Anal Arasu is outstanding. Marriage class flight, interval fight and mango farm fight offer a lot of freshness among fights we see in big star commercial films. However, pr-climax fight appear stretched. Art direction by AS Prakash is of fine quality. Editing of the film is good. New set of producers (Naveen Yerneni, Ravi Shankar Yalamanchili and Mohan Cherukuri) should be appreciated for taking such a gutsy decision to make a story-driven film with a superstar like Mahesh Babu