Baahubali – The Conclusion is
a game changer. Years from now, filmmakers who dream big but shy away
from taking that leap of faith will probably draw strength from the work
of this team. With part one, this team broke the barriers of what
otherwise gets boxed into a ‘regional film’ and took it to a pan-Indian
audience, ending with a cliff hanger and the raging question ‘why
Kattappa killed Baahubali?’
Hours after watching
Arjun Reddy,
it’s hard to shake off its effect. It’s like a hangover, albeit in a
good way. It’s been years since Telugu cinema witnessed something this
radical, maybe after Ram Gopal Varma’s
Shiva.
Romantic musicals are becoming a rare breed. Tougher to come by are on-screen romances that seem so real. Watching
Fidaa is
like taking a stroll on the countryside in a drizzle. It’s beautiful,
dreamy and yet not escapist. Nothing is overtly romanticised. At the
heart of this drama are powerful characters drawn to each other and find
that their own misgivings are standing in the way of taking their
relationship forward.
Half way through
PSV Garuda Vega, I felt like double checking if the high of watching a big budget, well-knit thriller, in Telugu is indeed true.
Dhruva that came last year was a remake of a Tamil film. Barring the shoestring-budgeted
Kshanam, we haven’t had any good thrillers in the recent past.
Director
Krish Jagarlamudi couldn’t have envisaged a firmer foundation than this
to establish Gautamiputra Satakarni’s part in the historical feature.
The filmmaker humanises historical characters to ring in contemporary
relevance in a dialogue-fest that’s crisply packaged for Balakrishna’s
100th film.
An
idyllic Atreyapuram, a grandfather who says farming isn’t a job but a
way of life, a large joint family, estranged sons and daughters
returning to their native town where Sankranti is around the corner, you
can only marvel at the timing of
Shatamanam Bhavati’s release
for the festive season. A rather saccharine and fragile conflict aside,
the film’s heart lies in its rural setting dosed with flavour. The
storyline is not of the material to tug our heart strings, yet the mood
the director Satish Vegesna and cinematographer Sameer create and how
they pepper it to appeal this generation makes it an ideal family watch.
Debut
director Sankalp Reddy’s film is pitched as India’s first war-at-sea,
underwater film. A large part of it unfolds within a submarine. That is
its USP and risk. If there isn’t a convincing story to tell within the
confines of those compact cabins, it could get really boring. The
hydraulic set looks authentic and the actors befit their parts. There’s
also some good storytelling, even if it follows a somewhat predictable
arc.
Some
premises are hard to believe and harder to execute; but this is a trait
that has ensured the exclusivity of a director like Vikram Kumar, be
it
13B, Manam,
24 or his latest outing
Hello.
His ability to intertwine intelligence and soul within the mainstream
format comes to the fore in the Akhil-Kalyani Priyadarshan starrer, a
tale of childhood bonhomie, longing and romance spanning over a 15-year
timeline.
Ninnu Kori is helped by Karthik Ghattamaneni’s cinematography and Gopi Sundar’s music;
Adiga Adiga by Sid Sriram and
Unnattundi Gundey are
melodious earworms. Aadhi’s is a restrained, mature performance. Of the
three, this is a character that could have been explored a little more.
A good one hour into
Mental Madhilo,
amid hearty chuckles and smiles, one wonders how writers Vivek Athreya
and Jonathan Cristillo fleshed out a thin storyline into a slice-of-life
story and eventually a coming-of-age romance. The everydayness of life
is told beautifully by sharply observing people.
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