Mr. Perfect Movie Review

Jeevi rating: 3.25/5
Punchline: partly good & partly predictable
Genre: Romance
Type: Straight
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations

Cast: Prabhas, Kajal Agarwal, Tapsee, Prakash Raj, K Viswanath, Murali Mohan, Nassar, Sayaji Shinde, Brahmanandam, Raghubabu, Master Bharat, Sameer, Kasi Viswanath, Raja Ravindra, Kaushal Prasad, Krishnudu, Subbaraya Sharma, Pragati, Tulasi, Rajitha etc etc

Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Vijay K Chakravarthy
Art: Ravinder
Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh
Fights: Peter Heins
Screenplay: Hari
Dialogues: Abburi Ravi
Story - Direction: K Dasaradh
Producer: Dil Raju
Release date: 22 April 2011
Theater watched: screen 2, Prasads, Hyderabad

Review

Story

Vicky (Prabhas) believes that one should be oneself in a relationship and one shouldn’t change one's orientation for the sake of the partner. Vicky and Priya (Kajal Agarwal) are childhood friends and they like each other. Their parents want to marry them off. But Vicky feels that Priya is a not choice for him as she is willing to sacrifice all her comforts for him. Meanwhile, Vicky meets Maggy who has the same taste and lifestyle orientation. Both of them fall in love. The rest of the story is all about how Vicky realises that adjustment is the essence of any blissful relationship.

Artists Performance

Prabhas: Prabhas has a summer-cut hairdo in this film. His haircut looks odd at the beginning, but Prabhas manages to convince it as a part of characterization as the movie progresses. He used nice branded stuff and he looks like a perfect model for them. Prabhas has done a role that is never done by him in the past and he is very good.

Others: Kajal Agarwal is excellent as a traditional girl wearing sarees and Indian dresses most of the time. Tapsee looks different in this movie and she seems to have dubbed her own voice. Prakash Raj plays the role of a venture capitalist with fixed notions. The comedy by Brahmanandam, Master Bharat and Raghu Babu looks forced. The comedy thread of Kasi Viswanath and Sameer clicks. K Viswanath and other actors cast in a typical way.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - direction: The story of the movie is about an independent guy realising that one should adjust in a relationship to live happily ever after. To create the conflict, the director has chosen two female characters - one lives for herself and the other one adjusts. Story line of the film is thin, but a sensible one. The story of Mr. Perfect looks like reverse-engineered from the story of Bommarillu with a characterization similar to Orange.There is no conflict point in the movie till the interval. The second half goes on a predictable lines. Karan Johar makes this kind of triangles with lot of sentiment thrown in towards climax. Dasarath who has gone sideways with his recent movies seems to have found the right producer this time. Direction by Dasarath is decent. However, the screenplay should have been innovative as the progression of the story is predictable.

Other departments: Music by Devi Sri Prasad is very good. I liked all the songs in the film except for dole dole song and last song (sent one). Background music is also good. I liked the choreography in Akasam song. Cinematography by Vijay K Chakravarthy is excellent. Cinematography of the film is aided by nice post-production (color grading and graphics) and superb locations. The locations of the movie - village locations (from Kerala) and Australian locations (Sydney Opera House and Sea Cliff Bridge, NSW) are well-captured. Art direction is very good. Dialogues by Abburi Ravi are fine. There are a few entertaining dialogues like ‘devudu sadist kaadu’ and ‘working from home’. Though fights composed by Peter Hein are good, there is no necessity for them in the story line. They were forced into the film because of Prabhas’s action image. Editing is alright. Production values by Dil Raju are of top standard as the each and every frame of the movie looks rich.

Analysis: First half of the film is okay though the conflict point is revealed only in the interval block. Second half is predictable with a sentimental climax. The plus points of the movie are casting (Prabhas, Kajal & Tapsee), production values, cinematography and music. The negative points are screenplay and handling of emotions. Dil Raju who has given trend-setting and path-breaking films like Arya and Bommarillu in the past seems to have chosen to play safe in the recent times with films like Brindavanam and Mr. Perfect. On a whole, Mr Perfect film is partly good and partly predictable.

Trade talk: This movie has started off really well as today is a national holiday (Good Friday). Producer Dil Raju sold out only few areas. The buyer of Krishna has bought this movie for 90 lacs and this movie is expected to collect 90 lac share in the first week and is poised to collect a total share of 1.5 cr in Krishna. Mr. Perfect has all the ingradients to attract youth and familes and is poised to cash the summer advantage in.

Darling Movie Review

PrabhasDieHardFan  Rating: 3.75/5
Punchline: patchy entertainment
Genre: Romance/Family Drama
Type: Straight
Banner: Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra

Cast: Prabhas, Kajal Agarwal, Shraddha Das, Prabhu, Ahuti Prasad, Kota, Srinivasa Reddy, Raja Sridhar, MS Narayana, Mukesh Rushi, Chandra Mohan, Sivannarayana, Tulasi etc.

Music: GV Prakash
Cinematography: Andrews
Dialogues: Swamy
Editing: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Story - screenplay - direction: Karunakaran
Producer: Bhogavally Prasad
Release date: 23 April 2010
Theater watched: First Day First Show



Story

Prabhas (Prabhas) has a childhood sweetheart named Nandini (Kajal Agarwal) and they are separated during their childhood. Nandini migrates to Swiss along with her father. Meanwhile Prabhas rejects love proposals from other girls as his heart belongs to Nandini. Prabhas gets a chance to meet Nandini for the first time after the separation during the reunion of their respective parents who have studied together. The rest of the story is all about how Prabhas wins the love of Nandini.

Artists Performance

Prabhas: Prabhas is growing as an entertaining actor with each new movie. His comedy timing is impressive in this movie. His costumes and styling deserves a mention. Since there is no strength in the story line of the movie, the director had to put lot of burden on Prabhas, who delivers with elegance and flair.

Others: Kajal Agarwal’s characterization in the first half of the movie is quite dumb and is passive in the second half. Shradda Das, who plays the character of a girl chasing the hero relentlessly, does a good job. Mukesh Rushi’s work is more like a special appearance as a villain. Prabhu is adequate as hero’s father. Ahuti Prasad doesn’t look natural in his role. MS Narayana, Sivannarayana and Srinivasa Reddy are ok. The kid who played the role of heroine’s kid brother is pretty good.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - direction: Story of the movie is clichéd one. The difference between the director’s earlier movies and this one is the screenplay twist is given during the interval. Directing a screenplay based movie like this one is a tricky task. The entire Swiss episode holds the key to this screenplay. The actual story takes place only in the second half. Hence it becomes extremely important to make sure that the Swiss episode is well written. Unfortunately, the Swiss episode is dull resulting in the entire first half appear disengaged. Since the entire story takes place in the second half, the latter part appears more interesting than the first half. The concept of second half where the hero has to impress the heroine and her father despite of having another guy vying for his girl is a time-tested one as we had seen such situations in countless movies. Karunakaran, who is known for poetic thoughts, sensible humor and nice montages, leaves his strengths aside to make a movie that revolves around the characterization of hero. Hence the entire movie turned out to be a series of comedy episodes written around the hero.

Other departments: Dialogues written by Swamy are good in parts. Music by GV Prakash is average. The background score should have been better. Cinematography by Andrew is very good. He explored Swiss locales well. Action episodes by Peter Heins (mostly inspired by Korean Movies) are good though look forced in the movie. Editing is adequate. Visual effects in songs (3rd song and the snow effect in Hyderabad) are commendable.

Analysis: First half of the film is interesting. Second half gets better. The movie is good towards the last half-an-hour. Karunakaran didn’t stick to his strengths and tried to make an entertainment oriented film with a hero-centric approach. The plus points of the movie are Prabhas and a few comedy episodes in the second half. On the flip side, the Swiss episode and lack of regard for story mars the movie. We go to Karunakaran movies to watch his kind of work, not the kind of work the routine commercial directors dish out! We have to wait and see how Darling fares at box office this summer.

Ek Niranjan Movie Review

Rating: 3/5
Genre: Action/Family Drama
Type: Straight
Banner: Adityaram Movies

Cast: Prabhas, Kangana Raunat, Sonu Sood, Makrand Deshpande, Mukul Dev, Brahmanandam, Ali, Venu Madhav, Brahmaji, Tanikella Bharani, Satya Prakash, Chalapati Rao, Posani Krishna Murali, Sangeeta etc.

Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Editing: MR Varma
Art: Chinna
Fights: Stun Siva
Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Puri jagan
Producer: Aditya Ram
Release date: 29 October 2009

Story

ek niranjan Chotu (Prabhas) is born to poor parents. A beggars mafia guy steals Chotu to make him a beggar. Chotu grows up as an informer to the cops. And he calls himself as 'bounty hunter'. His duty is to catch the criminals on behalf of police and earn some money from the cops for doing their duty. He falls in love with a guitar music teacher Sameera (Kangana Raunat) and her brother happens to be a mafia guy whom Chotu is entrusted to nab. Johnny (Sonu Sood) is a mafia kingpin in the city. The rest of the story is all about what happens when Johnny encounters Chotu and when Chotu has multiple responsibility of apprehending and saving the same guy.

Artists Performance

ek niranjan Prabhas's characterization in this movie is an extention of his character in Puri Jagan's Bujjigadu - made in Chennai. Prabhas is adorable with his mass language with godavari dialect. He is charming with his carefree demeanor. Kangana Raunat who looked fabulous in Hindi flicks like Gangster and Fashion seemed out of place in this Telugu film. She is just average. Sonu Sood walks away with honors, thanks to terrific characterization by Puri Jagan. He played the role of a sadistic villain and entertains us with funny dialogues. Brahmaji did another terrific character in this movie after his cameo in Athadu film. The pair of Sonu Sood and Brahmaji is hilarious. Brahmanandam's comedy in not upto the mark. Ali is wasted as a magician in 'Jack Sparrow' get-up. Venu Madhav and Sunil characters are partly entertaining. Posani Krishna Murali provides humor as a cunning politician. Mukul Dev and Tanikella Bharani are adequate. The kid who did the mimicry is good. Makrand Deshpande suited the role well and he adds value to the movie. Half of his dialogues are in written in Hindi for his convenience.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - directon: Story of the movie is about a son in search of his parents. The characterization of Prabhas is extended from their last movie Bujjigadu and you can see some shades of Pokiri in this movie too. Direction by Puri Jagan is good. But the screenplay should have been better in the second half. The characterizations of villain and hero are good. And there is nice confrontation scenes between them. Puri Jagan who has shown promise in the first half of the movie couldn't carry the same element of interest in the second half. The last twenty minutes of the movie is a downer. I liked the point at which he closed the movie instead of showing some routine and dramatic reunion in the end.

Other departments: Music by Mani Sharma is very good. All songs are canned well on the screen. The title song Ek Niranjan is excellent. Evaru Lerani song is very good. There is a tribute to Michael Jackson in the last song of the movie. This song is nicely edited with some rare footage of MJ. Dialogues by Puri Jagan deserves a special appreciation. The dialogues penned for Prabhas and Sonu Sood are excellent. The dialogues before 'evaru lerani' song (heroine proposal scene) are really good. Puri Jagan has made it a habit to make heroine call hero 'naa kodaka' in his recent movies. Cinematography by Shyam K Naidu is nice. Editing by Varma is adequate. Fights are good. The climax fight should have been impact-making.

Analysis: First half of the movie is entertaining. Second half is also adequate but for the last twenty minutes. The graph of the movie goes down from the time the story shifts to Bangkok. The plus points are Prabhas, dialogues and music. On the flip side the second half should have been better and the violence should have been toned down. On a whole, Ek Niranjan is a not a bad film. We have to wait and see how the masses receive it.

Indiaglitz Review - {Billa}

It was with great hype that the film ‘Billa’ was expected and this is the first of the biggies for this summer. This was being deemed as the Telugu version of a James Bond flick when it comes to style and presentation. How does a thief become a don and try to save the world is the essence. Let us see how that happens.

Story

Set in Malaysia, ACP Krishnamurthy (Krishnamraju) is keen on catching the one and only Billa (Prabhas), the international criminal. Billa keeps escaping each time the cops try to catch him and he is flanked by his gang of girlfriend Lisa (Namitha), henchmen Ranjith (Supreeth) and Vijay (Subbaraju). In their gang joins Maya (Anushka) who is the sister of Vijay and she comes to kill Billa since he has killed Vijay during an incident. Meanwhile, Krishnamurthy finally manages to corner Billa and in the shootout, Billa dies in his hands. In order to know the major deal that Billa has with Rashid Khan (Kelly), Krishnamurthy looks for an idea and he finds Ranga. Ranga (Prabhas) is a petty thief who lives at Vizag and makes his earnings to take care of the two kids. He dreams of having big cars and men following him, he resembles Billa exactly. Krishnamurthy manages to convince Ranga to take up the place of Billa and takes him to Malaysia. Their plan is partly successful but in between, Krishnamurthy gets killed and this lands Ranga in trouble. How does he manage to come out of all that forms the rest of the story.

Performances

Prabhas has come up with a very impressive performance and his act as Ranga was more impressive than Billa. However, he suited the role of a stylish don. Anushka gave every penny’s worth with her bikini act and the glamour show. Namitha competed equally with Anushka and showed her voluptuous sex appeal. Supreeth looked evil enough, Rehman was stylish but he could have been more intense with his performance, Krishnamraju was not upto the mark and perhaps he is a miscast to this role. Ali came and went without any comedy, Jayasudha was barely visible. Hansika was sweet in the song.

Technical aspects

The film was made more relying on the presentation than the narrative aspect. Dialogues were dull, the script was written without much masala, screenplay could not elevate the movie. Music was just average and there were only two songs that were worth taking home, cinematography was good in parts. Editing was sharp but sometimes it kind of created too short a sequence taking away the feel. Art department came with good settings while the stunt scenes were also impressive, costumes were perfect to each character.

Director’s portrayal

Meher Ramesh has come up with a storyline that is familiar but then it appeared that he was unable to handle the slick approach. Though his earlier venture ‘Kantri’ had those impact points, it was missing in Billa. The film could have taken off on a high voltage opening and instead it came across as a rather disconnected and stale start and Ramesh has to take the responsibility for it. However, few instances showed his brilliance but then he could have been a lot better given the budget and the infrastructure he was given. It came across as a rather amateurish presence in few places.

Critic’s view

The film could have been a super hit if only the script was handled very well and the dialogues were written with more passion and fire. The first fifteen minutes of the movie was hardly anything and it takes a while for the actual momentum to pick up. To be honest, the real story begins only in the second half and the plot gets life after the arrival of Ranga. Even the bikini act and action sequence of Anushka was not that sensuous but her beautiful presence kind of made up for it. The film was made with a high budget and the money could have been used in a very efficient manner to create a proper blockbuster. But that is not happening with ‘Billa’ and it will be an above average visual treat at the box office.

Verdict

It is stylish, visually rich. Not much in content and depth though.

Cast: Prabhas, Anushka, Namitha, Rehman, Krishnamraju, Supreeth, Kelly
Dorjee, Hansika Motwani, Subbaraju, Ali, Jayasudha etc

CREDITS:
Banner: Gopikrishna Movies pvt ltd
Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: Soundararajan
Director: Meher Ramesh
Producer: Narendra, Prabodh

Release date: 03/04/2009

Jeevai Review - {Billa}

Rating: 3/5
Genre: Action
Banner: Gopi Krishna Banner
Movies Cast: Prabhas, Krishnam Raju, Anushka, Namitha, Hansika Motwani, Jayasudha, Supreet, Kelly Dorji, Rehman & Ali Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: Soundar Rajan
Stunts: Stun Siva
Story: Javed Akhtar
Screenplay - dialogues - direction: Meher Ramesh
Producer: D Narendra & Prabodh
Release date: 3 April 2009

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Billa Movie Review
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Story

Billa (Prabhas) is a don operating from Malaysia. Krishna Murthy (Krishnam Raju) is a cop who is on the trail of Billa. Billa dies in an encounter with cops. Krishna Murthy keeps it as a secret and brings Billa’s lookalike Ranga – a petty thief onto the scene. The rest of the story is all about how Ranga completes the job for Krishna Murthy.

Artists Performance

Prabhas: Prabhas is extremely stylish with well toned and highly muscular body in the role of the don. The blazers suited him really well. His second role as Ranga entertains us with the dialogue delivery he popularized with Bujjigadu film. His steps in Bommari Bommali song are good.

Others: Anushka is good with slim figure and she is extremely glamorous in revealing dresses. She has no significant role to play in this film. Hansika Motwani did a special role and she is good. Namitha entered in to Telugu film industry again with Billa. She is sexy and dubbed her own voice in Telugu. Krishnam Raju is adequate as the cop. Supreet is stylish. Kelly Dorji’s role is an extension of the one he donned in Nagarjuna’s Don. Rehman is competent in a vital role. Ali did a short, yet significant role. Jayasudha did a small, but nice role.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - direction: Billa’s story is based on Don film penned by Javed Akhtar. Screenplay of the film is adequate in the first half and is little disappointing in the second half. Director concentrated more on the styling in the first half. Direction of the film is adequate. Though it is a 30 year old story, the director should have done modifications to it to make it more logical and convincing. The twists towards climax lack logic. The kids thread should have been extended into second half. It has tremendous potential with nice sentimental value. The following scenes are good in the film –

1. The scene of Billa escaping by using Hansika.
2. The chase on Malaysian roads. It’s fun to see Malaysian police cars flying around instead of usual Sumo cars in a Telugu cinema.
3. The introduction and training episodes of Ranga character are hilarious.

Other departments: Music and background score by Mani Sharma is average. Bommali song is the best in picturization aspect. Cinematography by Soundar Rajan is pretty good. Dialogues are adequate. The serious dialogues written for Prabhas in the first half (Can Can and other English dialogues) are not effective enough. Fights done by Stun Siva are efficient and stylish (especially superb chase sequence). Editing is alright. Production values by Gopi Krishna Movies are excellent. The entire movie is mounted on a grand scale.

Analysis: First half of the film is alright. Second half is little disappointing and is prolonged. The plus points of the film are Prabhas’s makeover and styling as Billa and good production values. On the flip side, the second half should have been effectively handled. Prabhas has terrific comedy timing in him (Bujjigadu film and pre-interval episode in Billa). Hope somebody would make the best use of it the future. We have to wait and see how audiences take Billa.