Change Your Image
manasapujari
Reviews
1 - Nenokkadine (2014)
An epic thriller
Sukumar has a way of writing his hero's character. What was evident in Arya, Jagadam, Arya-2 and 100% Love is on display in 1- Nenokkadine, too. The big difference between his remarkably fresh films of yesterday and his latest commercial film of today is to be mentioned at the outset, lest the audience expect novelty, only to come out tad disappointed. 1 is perhaps Sukumar's first formula film that has the capability to tank without a trace if Mahesh Babu's character did not come with a difference. It's Sukumar's hero who is the saving grace, and the rest of the film (mostly, it seems all about chases and attacks - real or imaginary) is like a Xerox copy of Hollywood films.
Gautham (Mahesh Babu) is a self-tormented rock star. Haunted by a macabre past and living with an uncertain future, he is at a loss to differentiate reality from hallucination, truth from self-delusion. His roller coaster journey, full of bumps and confusions, begins to unravel as he is deliberately shadowed by an intrepid journalist (Kriti Sanon).
Sukumar's heroes, for all their inner turmoil, long for love. Gautham, in the process of discovering himself and his past, falls for the heroine and the revenge story gradually develops an emotional undercurrent of its own.
The agonized life of Gautham receives help from the Juno, who is sympathetic of her idol's psychological disorder. Like in all revenge stories, the lives of the two are intertwined.
Although a gripping storyline (given that it is a mix of psychological thriller elements and Hollywoodish plot), Sukumar's narration falls short of expectations. The length adds to our woes, so much so one feels like one's patience is being tested.
The stage is set for an exciting film when Gautham surrenders before the police, claiming that he has avenged the death of his parents by murdering three cold-blooded murderers. Reminding us of umpteen slick Hollywood action-psychological dramas, the story introduces the angle of a disorder from which the hero is suffering. The film comes into its own only during the interval bang. Kriti's drama keeps us guessing, but the scenes in Goa are not exciting. Barring flashes of brilliance here and there, there is nothing home to write about.
The best scene of the film, undoubtedly, is the interval bang. It's one scene where the dialogue is at witty its best, Mahesh is at his acting best and the screenplay is at its nimble best.
The second half's chases and fights are forgettable, as there is not much in terms of mind games or novelty. Peter Heines lets us down with is run-of-the-mill action choreography.
There is only one scene in which the tormented hero evolves to be one step ahead of his rivals and it's a treat to watch. The twist involving Nasser and Pradeep Rawat is another high point. Sadly, Sukumar seems to have given into the demands of formula by inserting Sophie Chowdhary's 'London Babu' song, which makes the pace slacken and the film look tad mundane.
Fittingly, Sukumar has delivered a lengthy film without a parallel comedy track. The few laughs which Mahesh evokes is entirely situational and it is to the credit of the script that Mahesh makes us smile even while undergoing trauma.
Amid regular chases and attacks, there is Posani Krishna Murali as a Sardarji.
Barring flashes of brilliance shown by Mahesh, there is not much in terms of the artistic content. Kriti is not a treat to watch, albeit she has got those exceptional looks to be a stylish actress. Sukumar should have worked on making Mahesh look markedly different Pr and post the death of his confusion.
Srimanthudu (2015)
Content with style
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.
Technical departments
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.