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shippersark · 5 years

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Super Deluxe Review : In an Ensemble of Quirky Characters Vijay Sethupathi Reigns Supreme

The film can be seen as a spiritual successor to 'Aaranya Kaandam'.

The opening credits of Super Deluxe are reminiscent of Kumararaja’s earlier work Aaranya Kaandam, and are played over Senthamizh Paadum from Vaira Nenjam, if I remember correctly. The opening scene, too, reminds one of how Subbu was introduced in Aaranya Kaandam. There, the woman was treated like a piece of meat. Here, the woman feels pleasure. You hear the squeaky sounds of the bed. The camera slowly pans to establish every minute details of the room. All this happens over ‘I’m A Disco Dancer’ song, and the title card appears in a Kumararaja-esque style. Cast: Samantha Akkineni, Fahadh Faasil, Vijay Sethupathi, Ramya Krishnan, Mysskin and Gayathrie Director: Thiagarajan Kumararaja Storyline: Six actors. Four writers. Two cinematographers. One unusual film. In more than one way, Super Deluxe can be seen as a spiritual successor to Aaranya Kaandam. If the latter was about male impotency, Super Deluxe embraces the idea of sexual fantasies; Kumararaja delves deeper into the darker side of human mind, without being least judgemental about his characters. If Aaranya Kaandam tried answering what dharma is, Kumararaja takes it a notch higher in Super Deluxe and questions the concept of morality, and how humans derive their own boundaries, in a more exploitative way. It makes a comment about chaos theory and how meaningless life is. The film, in many ways, is the result of a confluence of four different world views (written by Kumararaja, Mysskin, Nalan Kumarasamy and Neelan K Sekar). And it’s amusing how Kumararaja connects interrelated themes and subjects within the confines of his milieu. He seems to rejoice the genre-hopping; the film begins as a black comedy and ends like a dramedy on life, sex and spirituality. And that's the least spoiler-free review one could write about a film that is overly layered. At its heart, Super Deluxe is about four stories that are interwoven together, making it hard to guess who wrote what. Mugil (Fahadh Faasil) and Vaembu (Samantha Akkineni in a remarkable performance) are in a marriage of convenience. Something terrible yet insanely-funny incident happens to them and that triggers a series of unwarranted events. Their conflicting-yet-affectionate nature makes you wonder as to what would have happened to Chappai and Subbu (from Aaranya Kaandam) had they lived together. Elsewhere, a motley group of sex-deprived teenagers visit a CD shop to satisfy their quest for bittu padam. For some strange reasons, I kept thinking about Chittu and his gang from Aaranya Kaandam, and what if it was their coming-of-age story, before they discovered the art of seducing older women? Kumararaja never really explored the warring relationship between Kodukapuli and Kalaiyan, and brushed it off with a powerful “avaru en appa”. But he does in Super Deluxe, which comes in the form of Shilpa (Vijay Sethupathi) and Rasukutty. Shilpa is the most honest portrayal of a transgender in a long time. She’s humanised; we see why she’s rejected by society. We empathise with her when she says this about sexuality: Serupa maathi podra mathiri. We sense her helplessness when she’s assaulted at a police station. It helps that Vijay Sethupathi was chosen to play this complicated, dark character. He brings a certain vulnerability, especially when Shilpa meets Arputham (Mysskin). Which brings us to the shockingly-delightful story about Arputham and Leela (Ramya Krishnan in her boldest role yet). Super Deluxe draws humour from the most unlikeliest places. When Shilpa demonstrates how eunuchs earn money with a sharp clap, Rasukutty says, “Ae...super pa nee.” The film, in fact, makes a self-reverential joke about Aaranya Kaandam, when a gangster prods an important question: kadaisiya enna padam paatha? Remember the Kamal-Rajini banter? A deeply religious person turns blind eye to an important piece of information. His whole life has been a lie. And when he breaks open the sacred sculpture, he finds diamonds in it. It's a brilliant touch. Another filmmaker would have explained the why. Kumararaja doesn't. Watch Super Deluxe Video Reviews Here No other filmmaker has probably romanticised the Tamil cinema universe with pop culture references as much as Kumararaja. Consider the scene where a character croons Vanithamani from Vikram before watching porn, or the one where a character drapes saree over the Maasi maasam song (It isn’t a coincidence that a doctor is named after MS Viswanathan). If Subbu went through a Baasha-like transformation in Aaranya Kaandam, a character here (ironically named Manickam) undergoes a similar transformation. There are inside jokes too. Arputham invents his own bible called Anjathey Nambu. Rings a bell? And these bits aren't added just to make them look cool. In one of the earliest stretch, a character says, “Dai rascal! Enna maranthutiya?” For a moment, it felt as though Kumararaja was asking this question to us: it’s been eight years since he made a film. If Super Deluxe is what you get from a filmmaker who was in exile, then you don't mind waiting a few years from now till he comes up with his next eccentric film. Credits: The Hindu

Super Deluxe Movie Review: Thiagarajan Kumararaja crafts a path-breaking film that deserves more than one watch to understand the depth in each characterisations, says our review.

Movie Name:Super Deluxe Director:Thiagarajan Kumararaja To appreciate or rave about Thiagarajan Kumararaja has become a cliche, but Super Deluxe gives you no other option. It is just the second film for the director but a giant leap for Tamil cinema - in terms of storytelling, editing, and more importantly, ideas. While sharing his initial reaction to the story of Super Deluxe, Nalan Kumarasamy, one of the writers of the film, said, "We feel that we are all playing the same game but when I heard the narration, I realised he is playing a different game altogether." Super Deluxe is a different game indeed. The film is like an alien in Tamil cinema, but, ironically, it is the closest depiction of Tamil society we have seen. Kumararaja has himself said that it is hard to pin Super Deluxe down under one genre. It is easy to call it a black comedy, but there are a lot of things at play here. Without a doubt, the film is dark. It looks at perversion, sex, cuckolding, porn, sexuality, and god with a big lens, unlike any other Tamil film has done before. But even in a film about gloomy things about life, there is a heart in Super Deluxe, a big one. The tone the film takes in dealing with the subjects is refreshing and unprecedented. Take this scene for example: As Shilpa (Vijay Sethupathi) comes out of the room after being sexually assaulted, her little son asks her "Adichaangala (Did they beat you)? Shilpa, wiping her tears, says, "Yes". He then asks, "What did you do in response?" Shilpa subtly puts, "Kadichaen (I bit)." Given the situation, the audience is left wondering how to react to such a joke. The film is eccentricity at its best. The story of Super Deluxe has many stories running parallelly. Each has some sort of connection to another. Shilpa, a transperson, goes back to her wife and son after seven years. Vembu (Samantha) and Mugil (Fahadh Faasil) are trying to get rid of a body. Three teens are in pursuit of a 48-inch TV, which has to be replaced before the parents of one of the guys return home. Their journeys make up for one psychedelic trip called Super Deluxe. The most surprising aspect of the film is Thiagarajan Kumararaja's social commentary. It is omnipresent in the film. Every street and gully has a poster of a B-Grade film or the other. Every scene has some noise that runs in the background. It could be a song from television or a recorded advertisement of a street vendor or a melodramatic dialogue from a movie playing on TV, the world of Super Deluxe is a symphony of noises just like ours. And the kids in the film! When Tamil cinema uses children only as instruments of love and melodrama, a boy in Super Deluxe keeps shouting 'f**k' a million times. Kids are just a reflection of adults in Super Deluxe. Their halos are mercilessly taken away. The aesthetics of Super Deluxe make all the difference to the film. The locations the director has chosen to even stage a mundane scene is so unique. Also, unlike the director's first film Aaranya Kaandam, Super Deluxe is more colourful. Each frame keeps reminding you that the film is quirky. At times even an unremarkable gully looks like something peculiar through PS Vinod and Nirav Shah's camera. Music or noise is omnipresent in Super Deluxe, and without Yuvan's BGM, a scene like Shilpa's meeting with Arputham (Mysskin) wouldn't have worked at all. More than the performance of Vijay Sethupathi, Ramya Krishnan, Mysskin, Samantha and Fahadh Faasil (who are incredible), the teary face of Gayathrie and the bulging eyes of Bucks with all his perversions and the super intelligent Ashwanth Ashokkumar make Super Deluxe a league apart. Super Deluxe is a leap, a giant one. Thiagarajan Kumararaja crafts a path-breaking film that deserves more than one watch to understand the depth in each characterisations, says our review. 4.5 stars out of 5 for Super Deluxe. Credits: India Today

Language: Tamil Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha, Fahadh Faasil, Ramya Krishnan, Mysskin Director: Thiagarajan Kumararaja How does one talk about Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s second film, Super Deluxe? A logical place to begin is perhaps the director’s first film, Aaranya Kaandam. Super Deluxe is certainly something of a companion piece. The monologue-y trailers are similar, as are the multiple storylines revolving around ensemble casts and bound by an overarching philosophy. (Remember “Edhu thevaiyo adhu dharmam” from Aaranya Kaandam?) There’s even the sense of a cinematic universe being created, one that contains both films (and maybe future films from this director). The women in these films have similar-sounding (and male-sounding) names: Vaembu/Subbu. From a poster on a wall, we sense that Jackie Shroff’s character from Aaranya Kaandam appears to have existed a little before this film’s timeline. I could even imagine the father-fixated little boy (a superb Ashwanth Ashokkumar) in Super Deluxe growing up to be the Guru Somasundaram character’s son in Aaranya Kaandam. And remember the little plane that the Ravi Krishna character “swallowed” as part of a magic trick? We get big planes here, and they perform their own bits of magic. And yet, the films are different. Aaranya Kaandam was filled with adrenalin-pumping pleasures: the pulse quickened at the pulp rhythms, the slo-mo stretches. And the film was emotionally direct: you felt for the Guru Somasundaram character and his son, and you laughed at the story about the gangsters named Gajendran and Gajapathy. Super Deluxe is far more ambitious, and moment for moment, far less instantly gratifying. It’s a long, slow fuse that keeps you on edge about when it will explode, and when it does, it’s a big bang. Or, perhaps, the Big Bang. WTF, right? More on that, later. For now, I’ll just say I’ve never seen anything like this in Tamil cinema, with its mix of the sacred and the profane, the epic and the intimate, the earthly and the otherworldly, the pop-cultural and the philosophical. It’s a film you want to view as much with a microscope (zooming in on the details) as a telescope (zooming out to the bigger picture). The characters, then, are as much microbes as stars in the cosmic scheme of things – as puny as the ants and centipedes we see in frames, and as vast as… Well, let’s discuss that after you watch the movie, shall we? But here’s a partial list of the people you’ll meet. There’s Vaembu (Samantha Akkineni), who’s married to Mugil (Fahadh Faasil). Another story involves Jothi (a very affecting Gayathrie), whose husband is now a transwoman named Shilpa (Vijay Sethupathi). A third story is about a bunch of hormonal boys, and the parents of one of them: Leela (Ramya Krishnan) and Arputham (Mysskin). Leela is a former porn actress, and Arputham has turned into a religious nut. He’s formed his own cult after a near-death experience at sea, which explains the marine-blue walls in his “place of worship”. Themes and motifs keep sneaking in and out of the various story threads. So the blue on Arputham’s walls bleeds into the shirt that Mugil wears and onto the sari on Shilpa, just like the mole on Leela’s back finds a twin in the one above Shilpa’s lip. If you like getting off on details like these, Super Deluxe is like Penthouse and Playboy rolled into one. All of this would be little more than postmodern pranks if not for the film’s magnificent design. This is not the first film to tell the story of three couples, but where earlier directors treated these stories like intimate domestic drama, Super Deluxe makes them something almost infinite, spanning the breadth of human (and other) existence I’m sure alert readers will chip with more of these “patterns”, but here’s a sampling. A corrupt cop (Bagavathi Perumal) is compared to a public toilet – and a public toilet is where Shilpa gets into trouble. The tears in Vaembu’s eyes CUT TO a teenager’s tears in another story. Two of the episodes feature an absent father. A man (Mugil) is humiliated by his wife’s doing, just like a woman (Jothi) is humiliated by her husband’s. The exquisite line that Shilpa uses to explain herself (“just like we sometimes slide the wrong foot into the wrong slipper, I was put into the wrong body”) is echoed in a sound thrashing delivered by a gangster. His “weapon”? A pair of slippers. A television programme about aliens is linked, later, to posters of Aliens on a dirty wall. And on the same wall, we see the poster of a film whose subject is life and its mysteries. The same could be said about Super Deluxe. This is a lip-smacking combination of “high” and “low” art. You could write essays about how this director’s vision is deliberate (perhaps even dictatorial, even though the co-writers include Nalan Kumarasamy, Neelan K Sekar and Mysskin). Note the careful use of deeply saturated colour by cinematographers PS Vinod and Nirav Shah. And note the very specific props, like the kuthuvilakku that acknowledges Arputham’s former self, from when he was a Hindu. And yet, at the same time, you could write essays about this film’s use of “matter songs”, whether ‘Vanithamani’ from Vikram or ‘Paal Vannam’, the wedding-night number from Paasam. A moment where Shilpa disrobes is set against ‘Maasi maasam aalana ponnu’, and the semi-clad images (what we see on screen, and what we recall from that older song) are such contrasts that it’s like listening to a bhajan at a disco. Also, recall that this song is from Dharma Durai, which is also the title of a… Vijay Sethupathi movie. All of this would be little more than postmodern pranks if not for the film’s magnificent design. This is not the first film to tell the story of three couples, but where earlier directors treated these stories like intimate domestic drama, Super Deluxe makes them something almost infinite, spanning the breadth of human (and other) existence. (Those ants! That centipede!) Thiagarajan Kumararaja has said he was sparked by the looping story-structure of Jafar Panahi’s The Circle, but I was equally reminded of something like Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, which gave the epic treatment to a series of mundane incidents that do not usually get the epic treatment on screen. (There’s also an equivalent, here, of Magnolia’s “rain of frogs” moment; I almost fell out of my seat.) But the Magnolia moment was Biblical. Super Deluxe, on the other hand, is casually dismissive of a judgemental being sitting up there in the sky. Everything’s just… chaos, as “random” as the design that created life on our planet. Which is why the film’s working title, Aneedhi Kadhaigal, would have been just as good a fit. Super Deluxe suggests something plush and expansive, like the priciest room in the kitschiest hotel. And yes, there will be those who say that there’s perhaps a little too much room in this narrative, which clocks in at nearly three hours. Perhaps you couldtake away the track revolving around Arputham — Leela would have still driven that story and brought it to its glorious conclusion. But without Arputham, we wouldn’t have had that connect to the oceans, which is, after all, where life apparently began. And we wouldn’t have had the connect between Arputham and Shilpa, through a line about forgiveness. Which is why you feel nothing could have been left out, everything has its place in this design. This sprawl, this “messiness” is part of this movie’s DNA. But Aneedhi Kadhaigal, which translates to “amoral tales”, would have pointed to one of the most rewarding aspects of Super Deluxe. The wife who cheats on her husband, the porn actress who’s unapologetic about her work (and how cheeky to see this character played by an actress known for her “Amman” roles), the man who did ghastly things to children, the teenagers who cheat and steal — they all come close to being punished, but they all get away with happy endings. This is Thiagarajan Kumararaja basically saying “fuck you” to conventional Tamil-cinema morality, where “loose women” and “evil men” end up suffering for their sins. Leela’s spectacular retort to Arputham, near the end, questioning his “God”, is one of the most thrillingly nihilistic lines uttered in our cinema. It’s not a message. It’s not a moral. And yet, it strikes at the very core of one’s belief systems. There’s a lot of everything in Super Deluxe. There’s a lot of entertainment. There’s a ton of black humour. (The name of a man who needs money? Wait for it… Dhanasekar.) There are elements from sci-fi. There are elements from noir. (Think of the dubious statue in The Maltese Falcon). There’s a farting corpse that functions as some sort of marriage counsellor. There are also gorgeous grace notes, like the child who does not discriminate, yet is very clear about what he wants. In other words, there’s a lot to take in during a first viewing. While watching Super Deluxe, I felt what Pauline Kael described in her review of The Godfather: Part II: “the exploding effects keep accumulating. About midway, I began to feel that the film was expanding in my head like a soft bullet.” If you recall, The Godfather: Part II is more leisurely paced than Part I, less immediately affecting, but by the end, far more profound. That’s how I’d describe the relationship between Aaranya Kaandam and Super Deluxe. Part of the emotional aloofness we feel comes from the slightly disorienting way the narrative plays around with timelines, and the shot-taking that follows this grammar. We aren’t “eased” into scenes. There are very few establishing shots, and we are thrust into interiors from which we view the action. (A lot of scenes, therefore, end up being framed by doorways, or else cramped in the alleys between tightly grouped buildings.) We get the sense of being trapped with these characters, and only when they inch towards liberation do we feel their freedom. The visuals, too, open up. The set pieces are not flashy (like in Aaranya Kaandam), but slow-burn beauties, like the sensational stretch of chaos (Sathyaraj Natarajan is the editor) that ensues when a boy sets out to kill his mother. Both in the writing and the making, the director is leagues ahead of the form he displayed in Aaranya Kaandam. The more logical (as opposed to the experiential) part of the brain keeps raising questions. Is the best way to wreck a car to park it across railway tracks and pray that a speeding train isn’t too far away? Would a man who evidently cares about his wife and son just take off like that, and not even send the odd “don’t worry about me” message? What functions do Mugil’s anti-Establishment rants serve – are they confined to his personality, or are they, too, part of the Big Design? (Fahadh Faasil seethes marvellously.) But piece by mysterious piece, everything comes together, and the smallest details pay off in the most delightful ways – like how Mugil’s acting classes allow him to “perform” (though off stage, and with no audience). Super Deluxe is produced by the director himself, and it’s interesting to note what his company is called: Tyler Durden and Kino Fist. The former is the id character from Fight Club, the ugly-secret part that few of us expose in public. The latter is what Sergei Eisenstein called his technique of intellectual montage, using editing not just to let the story “flow” but to manufacture meaning through violent juxtaposition of images. I’m not saying all of this actually happens all through Super Deluxe — these are, after all, philosophies. But there is the sense of a filmmaker who has unleashed his id, and is refusing to play by the rules (of Tamil society, and of Tamil cinema). There is the sense (though much gentler and subtler than with Eisenstein) of provoking reactions not just through the telling of a story but by slapping its components together and making us live spectators to whatever is taking shape. This is an utterly unique film, a brave film. We see this bravery in the songlessness, in how Yuvan Shankar Raja calls attention to a situation about infidelity by reusing his father’s classic song about infidelity (Ennadi Meenatchi). A less-secure composer might have fought harder to impose himself on the score, which is marvellously minimalistic. We see this bravery in Samantha, who does some of her best acting in the scene set in a warehouse. She unleashes her own Tyler Durden, doing an up-yours to conventional wisdom about what heroines (especially married ones) should and shouldn’t do. And we see this bravery in the spectacular Vijay Sethupathi, who makes Shilpa come alive through the tiniest, most offhand gestures – say, the way he gracefully adjusts his sari pallu. I thought that, for a Tamil-film leading man, the transwoman aspect of this character was itself an indication of ballsiness. But there’s more. That scene in the police station, with that corrupt cop? Wow. Most of our stars simply want to play-act as heroes, with punch dialogues and “mass” moments. Here’s one who emerges heroic even with his “masculinity” completely erased. Credits: Film Companion Super Deluxe Story: A couple try to dispose a dead body; a little boy gets a surprise when he meets his estranged father; a son discovers his mother’s other side; a religious man starts having doubts over his God… What connects these four stories? Super Deluxe Review: Super Deluxe gives us four stories and the protagonists in each of these stories are tested in their beliefs in the strangest ways. For the married couple Vembu (Samantha) and Mukil (Fahadh Faasil), the situation in which they get into is a test of their marital relationship. It is a test of her love for her son for Shilpa (Vijay Sethupathi), a transgender who has come back to her family. For Arputham (Mysskin), who has survived the tsunami and found a new God, and Leela (Ramya Krishnan), a former porn star who is desperately trying to save her injured son, Soori, it is a test of their belief in God and humanity respectively. And there are also three lads who face a literal test of bravery. Giving out anything more about the plot of Super Deluxe will ruin the fun and joy of experiencing something singularly unique. There is a heartless and horny cop, a quirky don, a publicity crazy politician, a greedy doctor, unwanted neighbours, a loyal Man Friday, and more in this crazy world that Thiagarajan Kumararaja has come up with. The performances are first-rate all around. Vijay Sethupathi’s Shilpa is a new high for the actor, while Fahadh and Samantha are instantly likeable. Mysskin and Ramya Krishnan are solid while the gang of boys are great finds. Then, there is Ashwath, who wins our hearts, and a cast-against-type Bhagavathi Perumal, who makes us want to murder him. There is black comedy, double entendres, swear words, WTF moments, political and social commentary, romance, sentiment and even a musing on what it means to be life on Earth. There is ambition, genius, and also a beating heart. Credits: TOI

“Got porn, Madam?” That’s what the high school boy known variously as Milk Carton and Egg Muffin asks a DVD store clerk after some stammering feints in the Tamil movie “Super Deluxe.” And, yes, Madam has porn. But, surprise: When Egg Muffin and his pals start to watch it, one of them becomes enraged. That’s his mother onscreen. This sets off a chain of mostly comic events that are, by turns, ominous, bloody and cosmic. And that’s just one plot strand. In another, a married woman’s ex-boyfriend dies in her bed, setting off a chain of comic, ominous events. In a third, a little boy pines for his father to return, and the father does — but now transformed into a woman. (Another chain ensues.) The director Thiagarajan Kumararaja, who also had a hand in the script, takes his time setting all these shaggy, laconic story lines in motion. Part of the movie’s pleasure in its early going is figuring out whether and how they will all merge. Another pleasure is visual. Colors pop off Kumararaja’s palette (the cinematographers are P.S. Vinod and Nirav Shah), and there’s always something to look at in his Chennai. This isn’t gleaming, ascendant India; it’s the lived in one, crumbling around the edges, a little romanticized but recognizable in its narrow alleys and concrete stairwells and power outages. “Super Deluxe,” Kumararaja’s second feature, has been a while in coming after “Aaranya Kaandam” (2010), which was a critic’s darling. No wonder — Kumararaja’s work is stylish and wry, with an indie-cinephile sensibility. (It’s no accident that “Kill Bill” and “Gangs of Wasseypur” posters hang on the DVD store’s wall.) Part of that sensibility is a frankness about sex that’s still unusual in Indian movies, especially commercial ones. Though nothing explicit is shown, all the story lines in “Super Deluxe” have a little sexual motor, and there’s plenty of frank, off-color language, too. Kumararaja also elicits some wonderfully deadpan performances from his actors. The teenage boys have a believably nerdy-raffish rapport And Samantha Akkineni, as the cheating wife, builds a character of unexpected depths. “Super Deluxe,” though, runs three hours, and Kumararaja loses his way in the draggy, overlong second act. It includes not one, but two drawn-out scenes of threatened rape. (We know the ugly outcome of one, though it happens off camera.) That these scenes, with their leering Bollywood-ish villain, verge on the cartoonish doesn’t save them. They’re part of a tonal problem — what was mostly delicate and offbeat tips into something cruder and messier. They also serve as a reminder: Cinematic sexual liberation for (and by) men can be punishing for women. Credits: NY Times Read the full article

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manoharis · 8 years

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A Year in Review: Telugu Movies!

You can’t pay me to watch these (aka watch me roast them in 10 words or less)

Dictator - a Bala Krishna movie without animals in the title!

Krishnashtami - wyd Sunil.

Terror - the title aptly describes my feelings about this movie.

Guntur Talkies - lets just not. more like gun-to-ur head after watching this.

Attack - this wins for having a director and actor that Idc about!

Edo Raakam Ado Raakam - edho raakamaina torture.

Thikka - ee cinema choosaka vacchedi adhe

Jaguar - just when you’ve thought twood’s exhausted the possible feline comparisions

I really really dont care: Savitri, Raja Cheyyi Vesthe, Abbayitho Ammayi, Killing Veerappan, Express Raja, Naruda Donoruda, Hyper, Speedunodu, Garam, Nayaki

Nenu Sailaja -I had a lot of expectations for this movie because it was said to be “fresh” but there was really nothing new here. I loved Ram’s look, some of the comedy and most of the songs. Worth a watch but nothing ground-breaking.

Nannaku Prematho - A for effort? I just couldn’t connect to the film because I felt like the emotion was kind of artificial and didn’t really pull me in. I couldn’t get behind a lot of the “logic” in this film. Also there disruptive bgm in every scene which made it really hard to focus on the film.

Soggade Chinni Nayana - I feel like this movie was targeted towards middle aged aunties lol. I love Nagarjuna and Ramya Krishna but there were one too many scenes where I was hiding my face from embarrassment. On the plus side, all the sarees in the movie were gorgeous !

Lacchimdeviki O Lekkundi - messy because of all the back and forth plot twists. Horror comedy is literally my least favorite genre so I didn’t like this.

Seethamma Andalu Ramaya Sutralu - below average; I don’t have much to say about this. If I hadn’t watched it, this would belong in the ‘I really don’t care’ list.

Krishnagadi Veera Prema Gaadha - I think I was drowsy when watching this (not because of the movie) so I honestly don’t remember anything but the beginning portion which was really funny. I need to rewatch this.

Malupu - I always love a good thriller but it could’ve been better. Aadhi Pinnisetty’s voice tho !!

Kshanam - FAVE !!! This was so good! again always down for a good thriller. Super gripping and just the right pace. I loved how in this the love story was relevant to the script. It was very well written, acted, and taken as well in terms of technicalities. I can definitely see it getting awards next year.

Kalyana Vaibhogame - The first half was loud and messy which made me almost stop watching it. With a premise like this, the story is extremely predictable, as in you knew the lead pair would fall in love eventually, it was just a matter of when. I thought the second half was pretty cute though.

Shourya – I know this is biased of me but I can’t remember the last movie of the Manchu brothers that I’ve seen because the kind of movies they make are just so not my type. However, when this movie came out I did hear some positive talk for it on twitter. But then it wasn’t talked about at all after like a week? So I’m not exactly sure how successful it was. I may watch it eventually but I’m not dying to see it lol

Run- This was the remake of Neram by Sundeep Kishan (side note: I really like Sundeep, so I was annoyed that he was doing a remake). I didn’t hear much about this either after the first week so I don’t think it did that well. However, I do want to watch it because I’ve been trying to watch Neram since forever but I could never find it with subtitles so I guess this is my chance to watch it, but a lesser version ofc. Although one of the main reasons I wanted to watch was for Nivin and Nazriya so this doesn’t really do much more me lmao

Oopiri – I haven’t seen the original so I really liked this! S/o to Nagarjuna for realizing fairly quickly that its time for him to more age appropriate roles (take notes @ chiranjeevi). This is why the Akkineni’s are my fave! (my bias is showing so much in this post but do I really care). anyways, I loved the chemistry between Karthi and Nagarjuna cause lbr their bromance was the real love story in this. Shriya’s appearance made the childhood shipper in me super happy. Overall, an enjoyable film with some great performances.

Sardaar Gabbar Singh – The amount of hype this movie had, jfc. Tbh I don’t have anything major against Pawan Kalyan. He’s just not one of my favorites, and ngl I liked him in the early 2000s phase (i.e. before Gabbar Singh which is when his fans went to piccha peaks). His fan base is literally one of the worst. I just think they’re super extra and very disrespectful, esp at audio launches. So yes, I was happy that it flopped because one it put the pk fans in their place who were hyping this to no end. Also he wrote the story and screenplay for this and reading some reviews about that gave me life lmao. If you want to hear something good about this movie, Kajal looks stunning in all her princess-y clothes and a few of the songs are pretty good.

Sarrainodu – I actually haven’t seen this yet but I do want to. Here I go being biased again lol. If this starred anyone I didn’t care for, I would have no interest in this movie but because it’s the fave, Allu Arjun, I have to watch it. I like a lot of the video songs and the music actually grew on me when I was forced to listen to it A LOT in India over the summer. Also he looks hella good, I’m sold, bye.

Supreme – Ok this movie was huge in India over the summer. Everyone loved it and ngl I used the phrase “its amazing zing zing” about a thousand times among my cousins without even having seen it. I tried watching it once I got back and it was just too much loud comedy for me to handle and I never finished it.

Brahmotsavam – oh lord. TOO SOON. Jk, I’m over it. Easily the biggest disappointment of 2016 in terms of what was promised and what was delivered. I literally followed this movie since it was even rumored to be happening because Mahesh and Sreekanth Addala. Then Mickey J Meyer was brought on and then Samantha and I was just so hyped. I think the fact that I was dying to watch this in theaters and then I didn’t even want to watch it once it was online, says a lot. I was just really shocked that everyone, fans and non-fans alike panned it especially when it involved sooo many people. The second hand embarrassment is too real. But I did eventually watch it and what the actual hell. There was literally no story, no coherence, and way too many irrelevant characters. Mahesh has a pattern of delivering blockbusters after massive flops so here’s hoping the best for his next!

A…Aa: I have so many feelings about this movie. Trivikram is one of my most favorite directors/writers and has been for a long time. With Attarintiki Daredi, I was pretty disappointed that he went full on commercial and I thought he lost some of his touch. That changed a bit with Son of Satyamurthy (but I feel like a majority of the reason that I liked that movie is bc of Allu Arjun lol). But yeah anyway, A…Aa is still a very commercial movie, its not in any way niche. However, I think Trivikram finally struck the balance of substance and commerciality which made it an entertaining movie while also leaving you with something to think about. The story was actually very simple and something that’s definitely been done before, but the screenplay had Trivikram’s name all over it. It was apparent in every single dialogue. He also pulled out some spectacular performances that were subdued but well done. I remember Samantha saying in an interview that because this is Trivikram’s third movie with her, he knows when she’s reusing an expression which forced her to improve her performance. When the movie was announced, I was kind of disappointed that Nithiin was in it because he’s never been a favorite of mine but I fell in love with him after this. I think in a lot of his movies he tries to do the typical commercial hero act and its obvious that he borrows heavily from Pawan Kalyan’s style. But in this his characterization was very subdued and painted him as a common guy which made him a lot more likable. It was also easier to ship the lead pair because the star aura tends to overshadow the chemistry but here I was really able to see the characters instead of the actors behind them. I just wished the story was more unique but otherwise a really good movie!

Okka Ammayi Thappa - Sundeep really needs to promote his movies more because they always seem to go under the radar. I was actually really excited for this because Sundeep & Nithya as the lead pair. I’m pretty sure its one of those movies that takes place in the span of a single day which I love bc if you can stretch a day into a full film, its gotta be one hell of a day. Not sure if this was a hit or not but I definitely want to check it out once its online.

Gentleman – (Spoiler Free). This was pretty good! A nice balance of romance and suspense. The story was intriguing and the performances were well done. I didn’t like the comedy though. The situational humor was fine but I hated the comedy track and I felt like it made the movie so much slower than it needed to be.

Oka Manasu - I was so hyped for this cause I love Naga Shourya and Niharika but apparently this was very slow and boring. I hope this doesn’t discourage Niharika from doing more movies because tollywood really needs some actual telugu actresses. (Side Note: Allu Arjun’s speech at this movie’s audio launch !! He basically called out the PK fans in a long 10 mins lecture and it gave me lifeee)

Pelli Choopulu - FAVE!!! Truly a new age rom com. I watched this in a theater in India and I loved it! The story was fresh, engaging, and hilarious. I loved how the characters were very realistic and reflective of actual youth and not hero-like at all. Also s/o for the strong female characterization !! You go Chitra! I think it did an amazing job of combining comedy, romance, social issues, and emotion into a very believable and enjoyable film. And not to forget the music which is so so good. Also, I’m gonna quote this movie in my grave.

Manamantha - I looove movies that have multiple inter-related stories. The four characters and their respective stories were written well with each character tackling a unique situation. Overall, I liked it, but it definitely could have been better.

Srirasthu Subhamastu - I watched this in India and it was nice to see it on the big screen because the best part of this movie was the grandeur of production. Starring in a movie produced by your father clearly has its perks. I don’t really care about Allu Sirish but he’s still pretty new so to be fair he was pretty good in this. The story is very very routine and predictable but I remember liking the dialogues

Babu Bangaram - I don’t think this was a hit? But fiiinally, Venky in a movie that’s not a remake, which ofc didn’t last long cause his next is a remake smh.

Janatha Garage - This movie was apparently the biggest hit of 2016 in terms of box office and imo its not deserving. The trailer for this movie made it seem really good but it was a disappointment in the end. The thing with Koratala Siva’s movies is that he always has a good social message but then commercializes it way too much. I understand what he’s trying to do but I wish he’d cut down on the violence and focus on the actual issue. This couldve been a really amazing movie about environmentalism but it turned into something really routine. Im also annoyed that a stellar cast of NTR, Mohanlal, Samantha, and Nithya was wasted on such a mediocre movie.

Jo Achyutananda - This was pretty good. As per the director’s style, it was very simple with life-like characters. The story was very interesting but I thought it was pretty anti-climactic and definitely could have been taken to another level. S/o for Nani’s cameo towards the end which sadly was the only male eye candy (sorrynotsorry).

Majnu - Even though this is Nani’s movie and I usually have high expectations for his movies, I didn’t expect much from this. The movie didn’t offer anything spectacular. The plot started off pretty interesting but then went the routine rom- com path. It gets a fair share of laughs and the music is fabulous but otherwise underwhelming.

Abhinetri - I haven’t seen this yet and I don’t really care tbh but I’ll probably watch it eventually.

Mana Oori Ramayanam - This seems really interesting from the trailer. Definitely a niche film and I don’t think it did well commercially but I want to see it.

Premam - What do I say about this that won’t get me hate lmao. I haven’t seen this yet but it received pretty good reviews as well as commercial success. I don’t support remakes ofc but I know I’ll end up watching this eventually. I’m glad that Naga Chaitanya is back on track again ?

Saahasam Swasaga Saagipo - I really want to watch this because romance + thriller is my faaave. I don’t think this was that big of a hit but Im still excited to see it. The album is amazing and I assume the bgm will be as well. Also s/o for Naga Chaitanya’s look in this movie which is his best yet imo. Is it just me or has he become so much more attractive now that he’s unavaible lol.

Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada - I haven’t seen this yet, but heard that it was really good! Seems like another Karthikeya-type movie? Who would’ve guessed that Nikhil would be most successful actor from the Happy Days gang (besides tamanna ofc).

Jayammbu Nishchayambu Raa - same as above ^, haven’t seen, heard it was good.Other than that, I’m glad a small film got acclaim.

Dhruva - How much credit can you give to a remake ? I haven’t seen this or the original but I know I’ll probably like it.

Overall I think 2016 was a pretty good year for movies with many of the successes coming from small budget films which seems to be an increasing trend in Tollywood. The fact that Sardaar Gabbar Singh and Brahmotsavam were total box office disasters even though they starred arguably the two biggest stars in TFI shows that the majority of audiences crave content over star power which I’m all here for!

#tollywod #telugu cinema #text #kavya

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via Today Bharat The actor took to Twitter to make the announcement with a short video. Actor Samantha Akkineni, who last seen in Jaanu, the Telugu remake of the Tamil film 96, announced on Saturday that she’s all set to turn entrepreneur, turning her love for fashion into a business idea under the brand name Saaki. The business venture will be launched soon, she said. The actor took to Twitter to make the announcement with a short video. She wrote: “Saaki is finally here! Saaki has been a dream of mine and my baby for many months. It is a reflection of my love for fashion and my journey in life. Launching soon. Hope you like it (sic).” Saaki @saakiworld is finally here! Saaki has been a dream of mine and my baby for many months. It is a reflection of my love for fashion and my journey in life. #saakiforyou #launchingsoon Hope you like it pic.twitter.com/cJ31pAY5Zo — Samantha Akkineni (@Samanthaprabhu2) September 5, 2020 On the acting front, Samantha is gearing up for her digital platform debut. She will be starring in Season 2 of Amazon Prime Video’s The Family Man. Recently in an interaction with fans on Instagram, she revealed that she had completed the dubbing part for the web series and added, “This is the most excitement you will see on my face. I completed dubbing of the series. Oh my god! It is so kick-a**!” When an excited fan asked the actor about the last time she cried with happiness, she replied, “It’s funny that you ask. It was just 3 or 4 days ago when I saw the rushes of The Family Man and I just started crying.” Samantha is believed to have given her nod to star in a bilingual biopic on Bangalore Nagarathnamma, the popular Carnatic singer, social activist and scholar. According to a recent TOI report, veteran filmmaker Singeetham Srinivasa Rao is planning to make the biopic and had approached Samantha to play the titular role. An official announcement regarding the project is yet to be made. The project will go on the floors next year. Popular for helming several experimental films such as Aditya 369 and Pushpak, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao will return to direction with this project after 8 years. His last directorial venture was a film called Welcome Obama. Samantha meanwhile recently signed a Tamil horror flick with director Ashwin Saravanan. Acknowledging the project, she had tweeted: “It’s going to be much more than just a horror film.” To be produced by Sony Entertainment, the film will also star Prasanna and Prashanth in crucial roles. It’s going to be much more than just a horror film https://bit.ly/35c5nVX — Samantha Akkineni (@Samanthaprabhu2) February 26, 2020 The actor has the Tamil romantic comedy Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal, which also stars Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara, in the pipeline.

#IFTTT #Today Bharat

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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Samantha Akkineni Birthday Special! 8 Top-notch performances of the versatile actress | The Times of India

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Samantha Akkineni Birthday Special! 8 Top-notch performances of the versatile actress | The Times of India

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Samantha Akkineni Birthday Special! 8 Top-notch performances of the versatile actress | The Times of India

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01/9Happy Birthday Samantha: From Ye Maaya Chesave to Oh! Baby, 8 Top-notch performances of the versatile actress

Popular actress of South cinema, Samantha Akkineni is celebrating her 33rd birthday on April 28 (Tuesday). If the current situation would have been normal, she might have headed off to a foreign destination along with Naga Chaitanya and had a blast. However, with the outbreak of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown, the fashionista of Tollywood is spending her quarantine at home with her celebrity husband and pet doggo Hash. A couple of days ago, Tamannaah Bhatia unveiled the Common DP for Sam’s birthday and netizens are all set to make it big on social media.

Samantha has recently completed a decade in the Telugu film industry. After walking down the aisle with her long-time boyfriend, she altered her strategy by showing affinity towards content-driven flicks. From Mahanati, U Turn and Super Deluxe to Oh! Baby and Jaanu, she is pushing her boundaries as an actress by exploring different shades. On her birthday, check out the 8 top-notch performances of Samantha.

02/9Jessie in Ye Maaya Chesave (2010)

Samantha Akkineni made her celluloid debut opposite Naga Chaitanya in Ye Maya Chesave. Bankrolled by Mahesh Babu’s sister Manjula Ghattamaneni, the romantic-drama has recently completed a decade at the ticket counters. Besides delivering the first box-office hit to Chay, the Gautham Menon directorial showcased the Chennai beauty as the confused girl Jessie and with her kohl-rimmed eyes, beatific smile and sizzling chemistry with the protagonist; she managed to strike the right chord in her first stride itself.

03/9Sravani in Majili (2019)

‘Majili’ is the story of a failed cricketer Poorna (Naga Chaitanya) who goes through heartbreak and depression after his first love Anshu (Divyanka Kaushik) is forced to leave him. Sravani (Samantha) happens to be his neighbour and she has been in love with Poorna since high school days. She decides to marry him and despite his negligence towards her, she ‘unconditionally’ loves him and takes in all the mental agony caused by her husband with no complaint. However, things get interesting when Poorna decides to teach cricket to Anshu’s daughter Meera. Besides the crackling chemistry between Chay and Sam, the Shiva Nirvana directorial worked wonders at the BO due to the emotional connect in the storyline and Gopi Sunder’s soothing music.

04/9Swathi and Savitri (Baby) in Oh! Baby (2019)

Following impeccable performances in films like U Turn, Super Deluxe and Majili, Samantha proved her mettle once again as a complete actress with Oh! Baby. Though the family-drama is the official remake of South Korean film ‘Miss Granny’, director Nandini Reddy did a splendid job by bringing the nativity factor into the plot and extracting commendable performances from her star cast. Along with Sam, seasoned actors like Lakshmi, Rajendra Prasad and Rao Ramesh have nailed their roles to perfection and entertained the audience big time. The film showcased the story of a 70-year-old grandma who magically finds herself in the body of her 25-year-old self after clicking a picture in a mysterious studio.

05/9Bindu in Eega (2012)

Termed as a genius when it comes to technical aspects of filmmaking, Rajamouli bagged glowing praises as a distinctive creator when he turned a common housefly into a hero for Eega. Though everyone knew the wafer-thin storyline before the release itself, the fantasy-action film kept the audience hooked throughout its runtime with an engaging screenplay, stunning VFX and the convincing performances of Samantha and Sudeep. For starters, the fly was added to the frames using computer-graphics after the entire film was shot. Released as a Tamil-Telugu bilingual, Eega went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of the year with several accolades and awards. Rajamouli managed to acquire national recognition with the Hindi dubbed version titled Makkhi.

06/9Rama Lakshmi in Rangasthalam (2018)

Besides creating a sensation in the Telugu states, Sukumar’s Rangasthalam has recorded some incredible numbers in the overseas market too. Set against the hinterlands of Andhra Pradesh, the rustic revenge-drama had a compelling script, engaging screenplay, strong characterisations, foot-tapping songs, rich production values and terrific performances from the entire star cast. Samantha proved to be a revelation in her not-too-glamorous and yet captivating role of Rama Lakshmi.

07/9Nithya in Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu (2012)

Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu reunited Samantha and Gautham Menon after the memorable Ye Maya Chesave. Starring Natural Star Nani in the lead role, the musical romantic-drama fared well at the ticket counters and Sam went a step further from her famous portrayal of Jessie and brought out the intricacy of her character well. She looked gorgeous throughout the film in Nalini Sriram’s costumes and fitted the bill as a teenager during the high school portions too.

08/9Krishnaveni and Priya in Manam (2014)

Regarded as the fitting tribute to ANR by Nagarjuna & Co, Manam left the audience mesmerised with its heart touching story, brilliant performances and soulful music. Despite having a limited screen presence, Nageswara Rao excelled like no other in the role of Nagarjuna and showcased his ease in expressing varied emotions like that of a kid’s naughtiness, a brooding son, and a stern-yet-funny grandfather. Samantha looked picture-perfect in both her roles of Krishnaveni and Priya in the Vikram Kumar directorial.

09/9Prashanthi in Dookudu (2011)

Dookudu marked the maiden collaboration of Samantha and Mahesh Babu. Helmed by Srinu Vaitla, the action-comedy registered a phenomenal success at the box-office and pushed Sam into the big league of Tollywood. She played her part well in the leading lady’s role and fired up the frame with her hot dance moves in songs like Chulbuli Chulbuli and Dethadi Dethadi. Her navel show has also sent the masses into frenzy.

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#Majili #Naga Chaitanya #oh! baby #performances #Rangasthalam #Samantha #Samantha Akkineni #Tamannaah #Ye Maaya Chesave #Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu #FEATURED

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