Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty

Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty

(translates as "a girl on live")

2012

3/5 stars

A naïve village girl, Manjula (Nithya Menon), is chosen for a reality show planned by Zareena (Shweta Menon) of Real TV.  The point of the show is to follow Manju from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, watching as she deals with real life situations.  Manju and Zareena share a flat during the shooting, and become close, with Zareena acting as a mentor to Manju as she navigates the consequences, good and bad, of the show.  Manju meets Suryan (Unni Mukundan) and romance seems to be in sight, but things take an unexpected turn, and Zareena must make drastic decisions about the show.

(Cast also includes Maniyanpilla Raju, Siddique, and Baburaj.) 

This Malayalam language flim started off extremely good.  It is immediately engaging, with a compelling plot, both humorous and touching, and realistic characters. Manju is extremely likable, and was played excellently by Nithya Menon.  The chemistry between her and Unni Mukundan was perfectly played, and the relationship between the two women equally good.  Nithya Menon, Unni Mukundan, and Shweta Menon were all natural and convincing; the secondary cast also gave strong performances.  The music, while not prominent, was generally lovely.  The movie looked good as well, nicely filmed and realistic.

Why, then, the three stars?

In the last thirty-seven minutes, Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty fell into a complicated mess culminating in a dissatisfying and underwhelming conclusion.  I felt cheated and terribly disappointed.  

I would still recommend Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty on the strength of Nithya Menon's performance and the plot of the first two and a quarter hours, but with viewer warned in advance about the inadequate ending.

Bodyguard (2012, Telugu)

Bodyguard

2012

4/5 stars 

When his daughter (Keerthi, played by Trisha) is threatened by his enemies, Varadarajula Naidu (Prakash Raj) assigns bodyguard Venkatadri (played by Venkatesh) to protect her at college. Chaffing under Venky's constant presence, Keerthi plans a scheme to distract him: she will begin calling him, pretending to be an infatuated college student, Bangaram. The plan works well, with Venky falling in love with the imaginary Bangaram, but it also has an unforeseen consequence for Keerthi.   

(Saloni Aswani, Venu Madhav, and Ali also feature in this film.)

Bodyguard (a remake of the 2010 Malayalam movie of the same name) is an enjoyable masala movie. While the music was sadly bland, the story is well-plotted and nicely filmed, containing a few surprises. Though Venkatesh is not fully convincing either as a character 20 years younger or as an action hero, he plays his part with such sweetness and charm that it's easy to care for Venky.  Prakash Raj (a firm favorite of mine) doesn't give as strong a performance as usual, but Saloni Aswani and Trisha both do well, and the supporting cast is solid.  On the whole, while I prefer the 2011 Hindi version (my review here), this is a film that is both fun and touching, and certainly worth watching.

Trsiha and Venkatesh

Ramayya Vasthavayya

Ramayya Vasthavayya
(translates as "Rama, you will come")

2013
4/5 stars

In this Telugu romantic/action/comedy thriller, Nandu (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) falls in love with Akarsha (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) and slowly woos her by making friends with her substitute grandmother, Baby Shalini (Rohini Hattangadi). When Akarsha's sister is to be married, he is invited to attend. Once at the wedding, he learns that her father, Musallapadu Nagabhushanam (Mukesh Rishi), is being threatened and offers to help defend him. The plot then takes an unexpected turn, and follows Nandu on a path to revenge.

(Cast also includes Ajay, Tanikella Bharani, Pragathi, Rao Ramesh, P. Ravi Shankar, Hamsa Nandini in an item number, and an extended cameo by Shruti Haasan.)

The plot seems predictable during the first half, but then springs a great twist.  The second half is also mostly predictable, but still engrossing.  The songs are great, and the incidental and atmospheric music were effective.  Jr. NTR, charismatic and full of vitality as usual, gives a generally believable performance, and shows off his excellent dancing to advantage. Samantha Ruth Prabhu was stiff at times and displayed limited emotion.  Shruti Hassan, though, was natural and convincing.  The supporting cast was strong.  I have seen reviews that comment on the violence as being excessive, but I can only suppose those viewers are unfamiliar with Indian Cinema.  Overall, Ramayya Vasthavayya kept me interested for the entire 159 minutes and, while not perfect, was definitely entertaining.

Rabhasa

Rabhasa
(translates as "chaos")
2014
4/5 stars
When Karthik (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) returns to India after finishing his degree in the US, his mother expresses her desire for him to fulfill a promise she made years ago, and marry Indu (Samantha Ruth Prabhu).  Because of a family split, Indu's father refuses the match, but Karthik is determined to carry out his mother's wish.  He goes to Indu's university with plans to win her, but (not having seen her since she was a child) he mistakenly woos Bhagyam (Pranitha Subhash) instead.  This is just the beginning of the obstacles that Krathik must overcome to accomplish his goal, most of which involve him in mortal danger as he seeks to help those around him.

The plot is quite complex, and effectively reveals pieces of the story slowly in flashback sequences; the various threads of the tale come together nicely as the film progresses.  Jr. NTR's excellent dancing, energy, charisma, and fine acting shine throughout.  His chemistry with the two actresses was good, and they both gave believable performances.  The music, while not outstanding, was good.  The action sequences were well-choreographed, but the CGI additions were not convincing.  Overall, it was an entertaining movie that held my attention throughout.

(On a side note, I would have liked to see a larger part for Praveen, who played a supporting role, as he is an excellent actor himself.)

Shakti

Shakti
2011
4/5 stars

 Aishwarya (Ileana D'Cruz) goes on a road trip with friends, without realizing that she is carrying a magical diamond. A small, throw-back sect of Egyptians is trying to get the diamond and an equally magical trident that goes with it to gain the power these possess.  Shakti (N. T. Rama Rao, Jr.), a tour guide hired by Aishwarya, becomes involved in the protection of both her and the two artifacts.

The plot verged on ridiculous sometimes, with the scenes involving the Egyptians being the weak link of the movie.  The rest of the story, though, had some nice surprises and was entertaining.  Jr. NTR, who radiates energy and charisma, is a good actor and excellent dancer.  D'Cruz was mostly convincing.  The leads had good chemistry together during the music sequences, but not as good during the plot.  The supporting cast was solid.  The fights were nicely choreographed, but the CGI was not always believable.  The songs were great, as were the accompanying choreography, staging, and costumes. Despite the occasional silliness, it was enjoyable and I expect to watch it again.

Brindavanam

Brindavanam
2010
5/5 stars

Indu (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) has a friend who is in a jam.  Bhumi (Kajal Aggarwal) wants to continue her studies in America, but her father, Bhanu (Prakash Raj). wants her to return to their village and marry a relative (whose name is never revealed, played by Ajay), who is, unbeknownst to Bhanu, evil and dangerous.  To avoid it, Bhumi lies to her father saying that she is in love with someone else.  When her father demands to meet him, Indu persuades her own boyfriend, Krish (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.), to play the part.  What should have been a simple, short-term deception involves Krish in a bi-village rivalry, danger to his life, and complications in love.

First off: I loved this action-drama-romance-comedy! The plot is complex in a positive way, rich and layered, and, despite it's length (nearly three hours), fully engrossing.  Jr NTR is a good actor, an excellent dancer, and is loaded with charisma. His chemistry with both actresses was convincing, as were their performances.   The veteran supporting cast was great, as well.  The fight scenes, though unbelievable, were well-choreographed and quite entertaining.  While the music was not spectacular, it was still good, and also well-choreographed.   Costumes, sets, and locations were all beautiful, and the film work was gorgeous.  I certainly found this movie completely enjoyable.

Krishnashtami

Krishnashtami

2016

3/5 stars

In this Telugu film, orphaned Krishna Varaprasad (played by Sunil) was sent to the U.S. as child by his uncle, who strenuously resisted letting Krishna return to India.  As Krishna ages, he wants nothing more than to go home and finally, unbeknownst to his uncle, does so.  His trip is extremely eventful, as he falls in love, finds his life in danger, and works to relieve a family of a decades-old hatred.

(Nikki Galrani and Dimple Chopade also star.)

The plot is a mix of action, drama, romance, and comedy, mostly predictable, but with a few nice twists.  The musical numbers were average.  The fight scenes were not realistic, but still amusing to watch.  Some of the comedy verged on the racy and didn't mesh well with the rest of the film.  The three leads gave good performances, though chemistry was lacking between Sunil and the two actresses.  The veteran supporting cast of familiar faces were generally solid.  Overall, Krishnashtami was entertaining, but not memorable - - a one time watch only.

(On a side note: It was fun to see a favorite villain, Ajay, in the role of a loving family man.)

Dimple Chopade; Sunil; Nikki Galrani