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swethanarigani
Reviews
1 - Nenokkadine (2014)
An Intelligent thriller
Gautam (Mahesh Babu) is a rock star. He is alone and his parents are killed when he was a kid. He wants to take revenge on the killers of his parents. But, he has a psychological problem. The rest of the story is all about how he overcomes the psychological problem, how he finds out who his parents' killers are and how he gets to know more about his parents..
My respect for Mahesh Babu has increased multi fold after watching this movie. His decision to accept a thriller, that's too with psychological issues is a daring one. This film and his character in this movie will remain as one of his best accomplishments in his career. There is lot of underplaying in his characterization and it's multi-layered. He is simply superb. On the commercial front, his work in interval episode and the shadow step he has done in 'You Are My Love' are of top- notch. The final conversation with the main villain and his dialogue to the kid at graveyard is excellent.
Mahesh Babu's son Gowtam made his debut as childhood Mahesh. He is another superstar in making. Ease in acting and lovable looks! Kriti Sanon is pretty good and suited the height of Mahesh Babu. Kelly Dorji, Pradeep Rawat and Nassar played important roles. Posani Krishna Murali's role is the only character in this film where the director tried providing regular entertainment. Naveen Polisetty did a vital role. Sophie Choudry has done the item song in this movie.
The story of the film looks very simple. But the screenplay is highly complex. There are various layers like revenge, a psychological disorder, eagerness to know about roots and corporate greed. There are a few amazing screenplay tricks in the movie. Director Sukumar added 20% more commercial appeal to what needed for a psychological thriller, but stayed with the theme of the film most of the times. The length of the film should have been taken care of and the screenplay should have been crisp and racy. There are certain issues with the film - heroine interaction in Goa episodes appear repetitive and there is no scope for songs in this kind of thriller. Sukumar has followed Hollywood style and orientation by narrating the film in a classy way. We do expect the death of villain as the final frame of a typical Telugu movie. But there is a lot to the story after the villain's death. I loved the way he connected the titles episode of the film to the climax and how parents faces are revealed. There is lot of detailing in the film and some people might need a second viewing to understand the nuances and innuendos in the movie.
Cinematography by Ratnavelu is the best. Songs scored by Devi Sri Prasad are not as exciting, but the background music is terrific. Dialogues are very good. There are few entertaining ones like Locations are wonderful. This film is extensively shot in picturesque locations of Hyderabad, Goa, Thailand, London and Belfast. Action sequences by Peter Hein are well-conceived though you can see inspirations for a couple of sequences (1st action episode and car blast in tunnel (Italian Job - black & white)). Editing should have been better. The runtime should be crisp. The producers of Dookudu should be appreciated for their guts in selecting this genre and spending such a huge budget on this subject.
First things first. 1 Nenokkadine is not an universal film like Dookudu. It belongs to psychological thriller genre. Thriller and psychological are two rare genres that are least attempted in Telugu film industry. It's also a multi-layered movie. Plus points of film are Mahesh Babu, screenplay, cinematography, production values and technical values. On the flip side, the sluggish narration and excessive runtime hampers the tempo. When three big names - Mahesh Babu, Sukumar and 14 Reels are involved in making such a high- budgeted film, there are bound to be a lot of expectations. 1 Nenokkadine is not a commercial potboiler. Film lovers who have exposure to Hollywood films and world cinema will appreciate this movie. 1 Nenokkadine is a film that makes Mahesh, Sukumar, producers and entire unit proud. We need to wait and see how a common movie lover who is used to formulaic films lap it up.
Srimanthudu (2015)
Mahesh strikes back.
Harsha(Mahesh Babu) is the son of a multi-millionaire named Ravikanth(Jagapathi Babu). He is quite simple in life and shares different ideologies to his father. One fine day, he meets Charusheela (Shruthi Haasan) and gradually falls in love with her. Twist in the tale arises when Charusheela rejects Harsha's proposal and reveals him a shocking truth about his native place and its problems. An upset Harsha, now sets on a personal mission to his village and encounters Sasi(Sampath) and his gang who are troubling the villagers big time. Rest of the story is as to how Harsha's personal mission becomes a revolution and helps the villagers grow and prosper in the future.
Let's start by talking about Srimanthudu's emotional content. The film is quite heavy on moral values and giving back to the society. Credit should go to Koratla Shiva for sticking to the content and sending out a strong message through hero's character. Mahesh is majestic in his role and gives his career best performance. His role is tailor made and Mahesh carries the entire film on his shoulders. He looks dashing as a college student and the way he brings out varied emotions during the second half is a class apart. Shruthi Haasan gets a meaty role and is quite decent in the film. Her pairing with Mahesh looks fresh and brings novelty to the film. Jagapathi Babu is a royal in his role and gives the added edge to the film. The way his character is etched out and all his confrontation scenes with Mahesh are superb. First half of the film is quite vibrant and has some very classy moments. Second half has emotional undercurrent and Koratala Shiva manages to bring out superb performances from all his artists. Rajendra Prasad is quite pleasing in his character. Production values of the film are quite good and showcase the film in a rich light.