|
| Author |
Message |
    
Godfather
Bewarse ke Bewarse!
Username: Godfather
Post Number: 29848
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 217.157.60.18
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - 3:47 am: |    |
He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves  |
Apple
Pilla Bewarse
Username: Apple
Post Number: 351
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 134.130.240.2
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 8:33 pm: | |
manam ikkada bz |
Gochi
Bewarse ke Bewarse!
Username: Gochi
Post Number: 12576
Registered: 07-2004
Posted From: 67.163.184.142
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 8:09 pm: | |
 annayya JC pinishinglo bz..thammudu Bangaram sootinglo bz
Telugu DB lo naaku nacchani oke oka padam signatures.. |
Chonga
Vooriki Bewarse
Username: Chonga
Post Number: 2747
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 59.92.35.120
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 8:03 pm: | |
mari tammudu ?? |
Gochi
Bewarse ke Bewarse!
Username: Gochi
Post Number: 12575
Registered: 07-2004
Posted From: 67.163.184.142
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 8:02 pm: | |
Telugu DB lo naaku nacchani oke oka padam signatures.. |
Thodakottu
Bewarse ke Bewarse!
Username: Thodakottu
Post Number: 10443
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 71.57.26.137
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 7:59 pm: | |
>>>intaki annagaru ekkada??
Swargamloooo
naa mail id thodakottu@yahoo.com Naa YM id thodakottu |
Chonga
Vooriki Bewarse
Username: Chonga
Post Number: 2746
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 59.92.35.120
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 7:56 pm: | |
>> That is worrying simply because he should not end up as another post 90's Chiranjeevi who sacrificed his talent at the altar of commercial success.
maa hero safe game aadaali....mee vaadu experiments chesi eto velli povaali....
intaki annagaru ekkada?? |
Chonga
Vooriki Bewarse
Username: Chonga
Post Number: 2745
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 59.92.35.120
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 7:49 pm: | |
mastu raasindu........ATHADU gurinchi
Commercial cinema can be divided into three kinds - movies that wind to a clean conclusion per your expectations (Okkadu, Murari), movies that you wished would end any second now ('Takkari Donga' and the only reason you don't run away from the theatre is because of the concern for a friend dozing off on your shoulder) and the third kind are the movies that you wished would never end (Athadu). Coming in the combination of two individuals who have tried to stick to their craft in the face of 'the in thing of the season', Athadu marks a triumph in terms of technique, story telling and some cool acting. I would first and for the most part focus on the mover behind the screen, the director.
Trivikram Srinivas is known more as a dialogue writer that has had audience spellbound through his wit and some convoluted logic. Most of the times, the logic is half-baked but makes for some good comic sound bytes. In the fast changing society of call center youth and soppy-serial-watching-house-wives, anything that can capture your attention for more than three seconds pays and that has become Trivikram's secret of success. His first attempt 'Nuvve Nuvve' sticks to this classic template where characters talk nice rhyming language and look at everything through analogies just like a professor tries to teach difficult topics to his students. The banter goes on and on, between 'two old males sipping whisky' to 'two young lovers' to 'a father and son' to 'a father and daughter'. I personally do enjoy the words while they last but the fact that none of Trivikram's characters ever speak like the people you see everyday probably was the reason for the movie's not-so-great performance all around. OK, now if I have the attention of all the folk who think Trivikram is the best thing to happen to Tollywood after Charles Chaplin happened to Hollywood, that last statement was in a lighter vein to get you riled. Some food for thought though, if you will.
Such a director taking a drastic turn to deliver a very slick actioner was - to me - a welcome change. Any director that tries to explore outside his comfort zone and delivers stupendously should be commended heart-fully. The first half an hour of the movie especially the title song was nothing less than spectacular to my style-parched eyes. To start with, there were several cool ideas that TS incorporates through out the movie. Not willing to make this any more verbose, I will try to stick to the age old idea of bullet points to make my point ( you can see Trivikram's influence on my English language and I thought it was P.G. Wodehouse all along, silly me ). I will first list down some of the key points that are original AND have contributed to the movie's feel
* When Mahesh meets Nazar for the first time, the director chose a smart way to make Mahesh bend down. With Nazar's neck hurt and being unable to view Mahesh above his nose ( the camera lingers for a while here) Mahesh has to bend down to offer his complete visage to Nazar. That bending down before elders marks respect in our culture is also subtly put into the scene. Nice.
* The whole scene of Siva Reddy's stage hungama right from showing the preparations to the assassination to the eventual melee are wonderfully handled by Trivikram. Handling crowd scenes while still making sense of what the viewer sees is an art in itself and the director and editor need to be given full credit for that scene.
* The background music though heavily inspired from the cowboy Westerns was superb to set up the mood of the movie. The sepia tone coupled with some pure guitar strumming was very very cool in the beginning of the movie but I thought the BGM started getting weaker as the movie inched towards the climax. Full marks to both TS and Mani Sarma for the work though.
Now for some of the ideas that I think are a result of a lot of DVD borrowing. These may not be explicit sources of inspiration but I think at a subconscious level, these ring very close.
* The idea of trying to show the time and place of important events in the movie. Actually not much is being conveyed using these other than giving a perspective to the viewer but still, it adds a certain element of interest to the proceedings. Influence counter #1: Significantly seen in Roja.
* The protagonist's background and origin are never mentioned or talked about. This is a classic tool often used to create a mystique around the character. Instantly, we get curious about the character. Counter#2: Very well used in Satya by RGV which itself was inspired from Godfather-I. Don Corleone's background is not discussed and the movie starts with a bang telling us he is the DON. That Godfather-II undoes this mystique is another matter altogether and again a probable reason why GF-I stands tall in all the movies
* The rewind idea where Mahesh stabs a thug in the old city. Now, this was cool if there ever was a cool idea. What this does is establish the killer as an efficient and super fast machine. Only when the reel rewinds do we see how fast and clean the whole operation was done. Counter#3: no idea but yes the way Mahesh drags his knife across the thug's body is clearly taken from the way Robert De Niro kills the Don in Sicily from Godfather-II
* Many of the fight scenes like the polam fight and the bujji fight are very well picturized and help in elevating Mahesh's character. It would have been that much more fulfilling if John Woo and the Wachowski brothers were not paid an honorable mention in the climax. Only adds to the roster of influences that Trivikram had for this movie. Yes, I am ignoring the US Marshals inspired jump here because it is all too well known by now.
Besides the above points, the movie prods along with occasional comedy but the undercurrent tension in the plot is maintained through out by Trivikram. Now, this is where the most striking and the most ironic influence comes out. Most striking because the plot of a political assassination gone wrong ( including the attempted sniper shot), the hero being trapped by a shady entity, a CBI officer ( FBI in the original, ofcourse ) rationally unraveling the incident pointing out that it was a setup all along, a side kick of the law officer hand-in-gloves with the villain - all of these are conveniently borrowed from a Hollywood movie but smartly changed to suit the Telugu audiences as is Trivikram's wont. I also say the most ironic influence because the said English movie, a Jon Voight starrer is named 'Most Wanted' - the tag line for Athadu( I wonder if this is official though). Ofcourse, as an end product Athadu is better than the original simply because the original has some of the worst lines and ridiculous scenes ever written in cinema while Athadu more than makes up for it. Conjuring such a hotch potch movie from varied sources while still maintaining the desired flow is a tribute to Trivikram's talent and Mahesh Babu's presence.
Click to learn more...
Before I end, a final word about Mahesh Babu. Though not the best in comedy and definitely in need of some improvement in the dialogue delivery department ( how I wish he stops that 'looking-into-vacuum' thing before he delivers his key lines - has become too predictable) , Mahesh is easily the most talented in the present crop of young actors with an elastic face that can convey complex emotions. He doesn't really get to go full blast in this movie except for maintaining a studied seriousness through out depicting the internal struggle his character goes through as he finds love from unexpected quarters. But his good looks coupled with the sartorial elegance ( chuckle ) and some awesome camera work lend considerably to the coolness factor. I still think his 30 minute pre-interval explosive performance in 'Nijam' is his best. What I am concerned with is his purported statement that he is going to keep off experiments in his search for commercial success. That is worrying simply because he should not end up as another post 90's Chiranjeevi who sacrificed his talent at the altar of commercial success. In these changing times where audiences all over are hopefully growing tolerant to newer ideas, Mahesh has the freedom to try movies that should satisfy the actor in him and give us viewers some nice moments of inspired acting. I think once in two years, he should try movies with directors like Vishal Bharadwaj, Sudheer Mishra and Bala ( tamil) - directors who spend considerable time in building their main characters and imbue them with varied shades of emotion. All the best to him.
Comments welcome to chalamu@gmail.com |
|
|
|
