Life, An Accident and Death

చావు పుట్టుకలు తలరాతలు ఏ రాత ఎంతో ఎవరికెరుక,
గీతగీసిన బ్రమ్హయ్యకీ తెలియదు ఆ గీత బారెంతో,
జంగమయ్యకు తెలుసు ఎన్ని రోజులో ఎన్ని మెతుకులో,
జారిపడ్డ నుదుటి బొట్టు ఏ తోబుట్టుకు కన్నీరిచ్చేనో,
తెగిపడ్డ తాళికెరుక మెడకు చుట్టుకున్న మోజెంతో,
నేల తాకిన కన్నీటికెరుక చెదిరిన కల కథ ఎంతో,


చావు పుట్టుకలు కావు చేరాతలు, మార్చి రాసి మాయచేయుటకు,
ఏ దూరమో ఏ తీరమో ఏన్నడూ కలవని ఓ ఎండమావో,
ఈరోజిలా నిన్నింతగా నమిలి నలిపే నీ నుదుటి రాత,
విధివంచన వ్యధపెంచిన వేళ,వెక్కి ఎడ్చిన భాధ తీరునా?
అంతా అంతమే, జీవితాంతమే, అని తెలిసి అలిసిన మనసా,


మిగిలేది బూడిదని భూమిలో చేరునని భోరున ఏడవమన్న, ఆ రాత,
చావు పుట్టుకలు తలరాత, ఏ రాత ఎంతో కొలవకు, కొలిచి కుమలకు....

 -- మీ సాయి కార్తీక్

Thorns of Secularism

It was in the 1976 when the authoritarian female, daughter of the author of socialist dream for the country introduced the sacred words ‘Secularism’ and ‘Socialism’ in the constitution. In the coming years the ‘isms’ and the dynastic surname will hijack the true spirit of a civilization and the truthful cause for nationalism.

The great old religion, which has shown the way for the rest of the mankind for thousands of years, now lies in a poignant state; it desperately needs the help of the same mankind which it served sincerely—unfortunately the same mankind is now corrupted in every possible way.

The great grand old religion was passed on to the most untrustworthy creatures on this planet called ‘Humans’, the humans of the 21^st century have broken the sacred fabric of trust with the religion and have gone ahead with the infected philosophy which is being polluted with the help of outsiders. It was politely asked to take on suicidal endeavors under the delusion of ‘Brotherhood’. By the way, the word ‘Brotherhood’ is the joke of the century—of course, when seen in contrast. This great religion which is the pure offspring of Mother Nature has accepted Atheism, Nihilism and Agnosticism has also shown tolerance and carried the seeds of ‘Secularism and harmony’ for greater good of the mankind. The seed of Secularism has grown into a rose plant, everyone was overwhelmed by the so called beauty of the rose flower but the thorns which came with the flower were ignored, which would eventually guide them to the path of disaster.

Does this great religion still hold the right to be called as ‘Great’? Was its own mistake to trust a heinous race like humans? Or the followers of this religion are to be blamed for getting deceived by its counterparts in the name of Secularism? Or is it the wicked conspiracy successfully pulled off by the pseudo intellectual, who have always advocated that every religion is equal and have cleverly hampered the common man from practicing his common sense. ‘Is every religion equal?’ Or shall I put this sacrilegious question in a more rational perspective – ‘How can every religion be equal?’

I fail to fathom the helplessness of the victimized, what’s stopping them from unleashing their revolting skills against this intolerable fraud? Are they intimidated by the liberal claques, who are the witches taking breathe on this auspicious land? Is the majority awestruck with the stinking mediocrity, or got trapped in the labyrinth of hospitality? Did the human race start to unlearn something? or Pondering over the untimely interruption which conflicts with peanut benefits? Did we lose the guts to question this immoral decadence?

Can GOD (If he exists) save the immortal land from this evil? Can the people get rid of this eternal nightmare by themselves without waiting for divine intervention? 

Mahesh KHALEJA: Logics of Faith

Trivikram Srinivas is perhaps the only director after jandhyala in Telugu Film Industry whose dialogues are often discussed and interpreted to enjoy the wittiness. Trivikram who has a impressive background in Nuclear Physics comes with a semi-supernal film 'Mahesh KHALEJA' and it gives an end to Mahesh Babu's 3 year hiatus on Silver Screen.

Trivikram uses GOD as a backdrop and tries to convert the intangible comprehension of the meaning of GOD by mutilating it in a structural format. This huge budget film which was under ustulation by time has been at the receiving end of mixed views. The trademark dialogues of Trivikram are very much visible in the film, he refers 'Barista' as గుమాస్తా and makes a sarcastic dig at the coffee served. Looks like Trivikram is also a bit uncomfortable with the so called independent modern women, the protagonist asks whether the heroine has forgotten to wear a pant when she appears in a miniskirt to meet him and he also points out that these days the urban youth are tattooing their bodies without the difference of gender.

The focal point in the script is about the village named Paali where the people are dying with an unidentified disease, the people of the village are in fear and they look for benediction.  Due to unusual circumstances the hero has to go to Rajasthan, faces some adventures and eventually he comes to the village Paali with the heroine. The villagers see him as GOD who has come to save them from the current Cataclysm. The villagers are convinced that he is the GOD but our hero refuses to believe so, symbolism's like flowers falling from a tree, water flowing on the ground etc...he is not convinced with explanations given by the villagers and categorizes them as mad people but the protagonist is sent into a Imbroglio when he gets back the life of a dead girl. All the above mentioned instances and scenes may or may not be on the brighter side of the film but trivikram gives us a very convincing moment when the hero realizes that he is GOD, some might have been disappointed with the same but i don't find any better way to show the realization of god in a human being and i don't think there are any directors in Telugu Film Industry who has a better way to capture it on the screen.

Its a fact that the Telugu Film Industry is facing the threat of bankruptcy of artists who have the intellectuality and who can cogitate over our indigenous  culture,  literature and epics.  Trivikram Srinivas gives a brilliant explanation on his  theologoumenon of GOD in 'Mahesh KHALEJA' with apropos to Lord Rama of Ramayana and Lord Krishna of Bhagvadgita. Watch the video embedded here to comprehend the concept of GOD which he infused in the film. His explanaton starts at 6 min 15 sec.



I am happy to find the typical punches and humor which we expect from a trivikram film. Indirectly Mahesh Babu refers to his fans and says 'Expectations tattukolekapotunnau' and ...

" Kota: ఫొను చెయొఛ్చు కదా ?
Mahesh Babu:  అక్కడ సిగ్నల్ లేదు ?
Kota:  ఉత్తరం రయోచ్చు కదా? ఏ పెన్ లొ ఇంక్ లేదా? "

and the best one.....

" అధ్భుతం జరిగేటప్పుడు ఎవరు గుర్థించలేరు,  అధ్భుతం జరిగిన తరువాత ఎవరు గుర్తించాలసిన అవసరము లెదు... "

I have many issues with 'Mahesh KHALEJA' and there are gray areas in the film, there are few scenes in the film which weren't cogent enough for me. Mahesh Babu is good and his expressions are tangential with his Godavari slang. The first fight of the film looks insipid, heroine refuses to give her Armani Scarf but how come a taxi driver wears such stylish clothes? if Anushka was acting with an other hero who is not as thin as Mahesh Babu then i wouldn't have any complaints on her body which carries some extra calories but trivikram tries to cover it by referring to calf of her legs and the biggest disappointment for me is that the climacteric of the film is ruined, if G.K (played by Prakash Raj) is equal to billion dollars, 10 Corporate companies, 100 M.P and ministers then why would he go and kill a single man instead of choosing other simple ways? . For me 'Mahesh KHALEJA' falls short of what i expect from a Trivikram film.

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Shadows and Fog

It’s an irony that we have to watch the performances of artists like Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, John Cusack, Madonna and Woody Allen himself in the dark night accompanied by Shadows and fog. Woody Allen’s ‘Shadows and Fog’ is a delicious and unique version of homage to German Expressionism.

Kleinman (Played by Woody Allen) is awakened by a group of people who forcibly ask his help for catching the serial killer. Kleinman walks aimlessly around the streets, not knowing what to do. Irmy (Mia Farrow) and Paul (John Malkovich) are performers of a circus troop. Irmy is sword shallower and Paul is a clown. Imry leaves Paul after an altercation, as he is found in a compromising position with Marie (Madonna).

The funniest thing about Woody Allen works is his Farrago of women and sex. Apparently Irmy takes shelter in a brothel for a night as it is feared that the serial killer is roaming around the streets. Jodie Forster is one of the prostitutes in the brothel and here Woody comes up with an interesting conversation of Love and marriage among the prostitutes.

--Marriage. Let me tell you gals something about marriage.
You gotta work at marriage, like anything else.
--A good marriage takes a lot of work.
--When it starts feeling like work, it's over.
--It's all luck. We're all so dependent on luck.

 Jack (John Cusack) is a University student who visits the brothel with his friends. He sees Irmy and is attracted to her and makes an offer to sleep with her.

Jack: I'll give you anything you want.
Irmy: No, I'm just spending the night here.
Jack: Well, that's all I plan to do.

Jack: I'll give you $20.
Irmy: I'm afraid not.

Jack: $50.
Irmy: Sorry.

Jack: $100, $200..
Jack: I'll give you $500 to spend an hour with me.
Irmy: That is an exorbitant sum.
Jack: You're worth it.
Irmy: How do you know? I might be very disappointing.

Jack: 600. Cash.
Irmy: What's wrong with you? Can't you hear?

Jack: You're the most desirable woman I've ever met. I wanna make love to you. $700. You're really the most sensual woman I've ever seen. It's a quick $700.
Irmy: Let me see the $700. Can we use the back room?

 The conversation reminds me of ‘George Bernard Shaw’. There is a very gossamer relation between the two but for me it gives the vague hint of dichotomy on how Woody looks at female characters in his films.

George Bernard Shaw: Madam, would you sleep with me for a million pounds?
Woman: My goodness, Well, I'd certainly think about it.
Shaw: Would you sleep with me for a pound?.
Woman: Certainly not! What kind of woman do you think I am?!
Shaw: Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

Irmy is caught in a police raid for not having a license and staying in a brothel. She meets Kleinman at the police station, later they both walk on streets. Kleinman asks her

“So when you have the sword down your throat,... what happens if you get hiccups?”

Even Kleinman visits the brothel to save himself from a violent mob who misunderstands him to be serial killer and here we see Woody Allen following the footsteps of the great Ingmar Bergman. Kleinman talks about Existentialism with Jack in the brothel. He talks about it with a dubious smirk and neurotic expression.

Jack: What are your views on divine matters?
Kleinman: Excuse me. Me?

Jack: I'm asking if you believe in God.
Kleinman: It's incredible. That's the third time tonight some body asked me that exact question.
--------
Kleinman: You doubt his existence and you can't make the leap of faith necessary.
I can't make the leap of faith to believe in my own existence.

(The beautiful conversation on Existentialism is deliberately trimmed.)

"Probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera"-- Woody Allen on Ingmar Bergman. Eventually Kleinman joins as an assistant to the magician Almstead of the circus troop. The serial killer is caught by Kleinman and the magician but he manages to escape.

The story ends without any information about the serial killer, he is free. Who knows may be the ‘serial killer’ character is just a MacGuffin which he picked from Alfred Hitchcock or just a tool to provide German Expressionism in the film. Woody Allen brilliantly uses the elements like noir, humour, intimacy, suspense, existentialism, MacGuffin, Voyeurism, Clairvoyance etc… in a single dark night with shadows and fog.

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Wild Strawberries: Politics of Existentialism

As Hamm enquires about time in Beckett’s Endgame, Clov retorts that it is "the same as usual". In Endgame, Beckett deliberately constructs a very specific temporal framework, which nullifies the basic notion of time. If in Beckett’s play the ends and the beginnings are often dissolved into one another to create a sense of timelessness then in Wild Strawberries clocks without hands become a persistent symbol to suggest the same. While being interviewed by Jörn Donner, Bergman once recalled an encounter with death. During a minor operation, which he had, he was given a very high dose of anesthesia and as a consequence he remained senseless for eight long hours. Bergman recollected how during those eight hours, he was outside the realm of time. He experienced a total freedom from the tyranny of time which only death can ensure. But such freedom shall come along with the fear of the unknown that lays ahead and hence the desire for life over death. In Wild Strawberries Bergman shall indulge in a negotiation between life and death, the Eros and the Thanatos to arrive at self-knowledge. Right at the onset the protagonist meets his own corpse in a dream of apocalyptic dimensions. The film shall progress, as Isak Borg shall gradually come in terms with his own reality during the span of a day.

Isak Borg is a physician in his seventies, who’s has always secured a shelter within a cocoon, largely created by the figments of his own imagination. Borg has always maintained a distance from the harsh truth and has managed creating a fictive reality around him. The film however almost assumes the pattern of a dramatic monologue to expose him through a constant projection of the mismatch between his words and his deeds. In an epilogue to the film Isak claims his indifference towards human relationships, as people tend to become judgmental. As the film proceeds, however, we find that the old doctor is oversensitive when it comes to what others think of him. The character of Isak Borg was modeled after Bergman himself. The director was himself a compulsive liar as a child. Often being compelled to conform to the bourgeois structure against his wish, young Bergman would find his escape route in blatant lies. He too, like Isak shall weave a fiction around himself and would eventually get lost in it. Film making for Bergman has mostly been a process of "cleaning his upbringing" to confront his own lost self. This explains how film for Bergman becomes an anti-establishment political weapon to counter the bourgeoisie. The celluloid medium thus becomes for him a tool to defy the societal stereotypes.

For Bergman the artist the question that looms large is "who am I?" and all his creations might be seen as an endeavour to seek an answer to this. He acknowledges the presence of "an enormous amount of chaos" in him. He is also into a simultaneous recognition of the inefficiency of our social existence to accommodate this "chaos". He is aware of the duality residing in him but knows that this existence shall demand of him to play the role of a one-dimensional being. As Bergman points out how this uninspired living curbs down the possibilities for human potential, we are jerked out of our complacency towards a drudgery, which we had mistaken for life. We are compelled to ponder over what lies hidden beneath the apparent serenity as imposed by culture upon us. Marianne Borg shall provide as a perfect example to illustrate this case. Marianne is a fine young woman, whose sophistication perfectly conceals the pain of an individual nearing her spiritual exhaustion. Bergman’s characters are masked actors performing at the meaningless pantomime. While commenting upon the frequent use of close ups by Bergman, Peter Cowie, a Bergman scholar points out that the faces have become masks here and the close ups are intended to show how the different emotion find expression upon these masks.

It will not be an exaggeration perhaps to suggest that the growth of Existentialism as Philosophy is intrinsically linked with the intimidating socio-political realities of the mid twentieth century. The horrors of the world wars had shaken human belief. Existentialism exposes the inadequacy of this survival to provide human faculty with any scope for its betterment. For Bergman Existentialism becomes a potent form of protest against the contraption that this system has become.

Isak, when we first see him in the movie is into a habitual certainty of seeing himself as nothing but the old pedant he has made himself into. He is almost into a deliberate ignorance of what he is beneath this surface. The film thus attempts at revealing his subconscious through his dreams. As the old scholar revisits his youth through his dreams, Bergman adopts the technique of flashbacks into the past. In his dreams Isak visits their vacationing villa at the east coast of Sweden- a space where everything has been preserved as if untouched by time. Things have remained the same while Isak himself has grown old, showing signs of decay.

Initially in his dreams Isak assumes the role of a voyeur. He sees episodes that had taken place in his absence. And often the world of the dream and that of reality are fused into each other. The handless clock that had occurred to him in his dream becomes a real object when Isak’s mother shows him one such pocket watch that once belonged to the father and now shall be given to his eldest nephew.

As Isak’s mother complaints that she has always felt cold around her stomach we are left to ponder if the womb that had given birth to Isak is a dead womb or not. Our speculations are further endorsed by Marianne who sees the old lady as the epitome of the coldness that death is. We realize at once that being born from a dead womb, Isak strives to derive his succor from what others think about him. Isak must do this to sustain his ego, thus even in his dreams he listens to what is being said about him by Sara while the speaker remain unaware of his presence.

Sara was Isak’s first love. For Isak, Sara is the embodiment of ideal beauty. She could have provided him with the religion of love, but Isak’s desires were thwarted as Sara married his brother and not him. Bergman, however, makes Isak meet a new age Sara. The young girl in fact claims it to be a better idea for her admirers to talk about her than to quarrel over the existence of God. Bergman thus subtly presents here his view on religiosity- while institutionalized religion often becomes a weapon used by the bourgeoisie to manipulate the mass, spirituality, as contrary to the popular believe, lies in love.

It is Sara, who shall make Isak meet himself through her mirror. At the patch where wild strawberries once grew, Isak experiences his second birth. It’s a painful recognition of himself that Isak goes through but then every birth is through the portals of pain. Sigfrid’s baby becomes almost becomes a visual metaphor for the newly born Isak and Sara as the new mother comforts her child with the promises of a new beginning.

Isak has made a long journey to arrive at his anagnorisis. It is the journey of Jesus, son of man too the awareness of being Christ, the Son of God. Bergman subtly suggests this through his efficient use of montage. After catching a glimpse of Sara’s happy domesticity, as Isak stand dejected outside a door; he receives a Christ like injury as his palm starts bleeding, as he is hurt at a nail.

Isak Borg is exalted to the heights of a true absurd hero as he discerns the "extraordinary logic" permeating the apparently incoherent events of the day. He has finally arrived at recognition of himself. Those whom he has met during the day have made Isak confront fragments of him in them and he has been able to gather the pieces and arrange them together to arrive at a holistic understanding of himself. Free from the imposed identity that he had mistaken for himself, the old physician decides to share his experience with others. The film ends with Isak revisiting his childhood in yet another dream. But unlike the other disturbing nightmares that he has already experienced, in this last dream Isak finds back his parents. He is at last reconciled to his roots

But can there be any reconciliation within the frameworks of existentialism in which Bergman posits Isak Borg? Is it at all possible to reach an awareness about the self? Is their really any meaning for which we aspire? The questions remain unresolved. Bergman admits to his friend Donnar that with passing time he is becoming all the more unknown to himself. The distance between the person and the persona has become greater with time. Is then Bergman’s project of searching the self as undertaken in his films a failure? Perhaps not. Through his work Bergman has arrived at the supreme knowledge that there cannot be any specific identity. Neither is it possible nor desired. A specific identity shall limit the artist. It is through the acknowledgement of the different personas that dwell within that an artist strives at an estimation of the self.

By,
Priyanka Mukherjee

Battleship Potemkin : Revolution in Cinema

The lion was in a slumber. The lion woke up to revolt. The lion rose to roar in glory of the rebellion, which held the promise of a free tomorrow - Eisenstein’s adept use of montage could kindle life into cold marble- three shots of a marble figure from three different angles, juxtaposed, became the metaphor for the Mutiny at Odessa. For years to come this scene shall provide, film critics, from all over the world, with an example of the best use of intellectual montage ever on celluloid. And for the common cine- enthusiast, this shall be one of the most memorable junctures in the History of World Cinema - Surely one of its defining moments. Eisenstein dared to free the medium from its fetters and to propose a new language for it. Collision of shots, shall from now on make celluloid all the more eloquent. Cinema would never be the same again.

3 years down

Its been 3 years … I still remember the day, around 2000 candidates appeared for the first round to get selected into this IT company which was held in my college itself, somehow cleared the first round, and somehow cleared the Technical Round where the interviewer was asking random questions from UNIX, Operating Systems, C, JAVA, Database etc.. , I really don’t know what I was answering …the subject mentioned were part of my Computer Engineering Curriculum but as you know… who gives a damn about studies when you are swimming in the pool of engineering life?.. After the technical round I was allowed to enter the HR round… Krishna Rao Pasupuleti with all the wisdom which he gained by his engineering days FAKES almost every reply to the questions asked by HR. I came out of the room which was like an oven for me as the Q and A with the HR were deciding my career; it was around 10:30 pm ….Yet to have my dinner, dragged myself into the cafeteria, had some food and was roaming in my college campus, security guards warned me not to roam in the campus as even snakes talk a walk at that time. I went to the Ganesh Temple which was recently built and I was thinking “What IF I screw this one too? ..It would be a HATTRICK..3 in a row” …. Slept on the marble floor of the temple till 2:30 am and something woke me up… results are announced at 3:00 am. I am selected to work with this IT giant.

--------Fast forward---------

My Engineering is completed. The joyful days are over.

Here comes the uninvited guest Recession, some call it as the worst financial crisis after the great depression. Thanks to the U.S.A and its clients, the Indian IT Industry receives a Mohammed Ali punch. We were totally bewildered … I didn't tell you that we are yet to hear about an another IT company which is going to make news …yes …the SATYAM Scam. Suddenly the Software Industry which is full of shine to outsiders now seems to be a black hole to many. Guys like me who have no other choice other than to join the company and earn bucks to fill the stomachs are in –(Cloud 9). Everyday I was asking the same question ‘What is my future? Why the hell did I choose Computer Engineering?’…

A confession (not exactly a confession..) tasted C2H5OH and Nicotine for the first time.


-----Days get passed--------

By the way…i still have the same passion, love, craze for movies which I had in my engineering days...in fact my love for movies multiplied, i was literally watching 3 movies every day...let's call them as Morning, Matinee and Second Shows. Now ORKUT is my Ex-lover, Dating FACEBOOK & flirting with TWITTER. After flirting with TWITTER I felt that it was not for me and left it. Movies, Movies and Movies are my world, now almost officially movies are my life. Middle class life is not an easy one, now I have to search for a job till I get a call from my company. Attended 15 interviews to find a job in BPO filed, there were 2 things common in all the 15 interviews which I attended, 1) I was rejected in all the interviews. 2) I was rejected in Voice/Accent round . The BPO trials were a learning experience for me…It didn’t make me improve my English language but it made me feel that I would never try to improve my English…come what may.

Being a movie-buff I read a lot about news related to films. Never liked the Telugu Cinema websites for various reasons…I accidentally find a place where all the film lovers meet … it www.passionforcinema.com.. It took me 4 articles to be an author at PFC, came to know about OZ, his real name is Pankaj (was very much impressed by his blog, which is not active now), and WB, real name is Ranga (Used to call me from Australia just to talk with me on Telugu films) and had a lot of fun at PFC-Club. To be frank I was a very bad writer and it is very much reflected in articles which I wrote. Journey with PFC was good and there was break to this journey to some reasons which I don’t want to disclose here. In the mean time I used to meet Satish Kasetty garu, talking with him increased my knowledge on films, his views on films were a bit different from mine, met some Assistant Directors, Editors, writers who live in Krishna Nagar, these guys are very hard working people, Shiva is one of them, he took me into Annapoorna Studios, it was my first time. I hope Shiva gets a break as a director very soon…. Ram Gopal Varma and Aamir Khan were actively blogging. Aamir was talking about some dog and Ram Gopal Varma says that we all are dogs.

26/11 happened. Ram Gopal Varma is seen in Taj and Vilas Rao is fired by Madamji, etc.. etc… we never learned from our mistakes. Indian Journalists and Media were practicing true spirit of journalism as always. The largest democracy in the world goes to polls and I am witnessing the whole tamasha on TV. Chiranjeevi enters politics, Chandra Babu brings Jr.NTR and Balayya for the TDP campaigns, YSR brings Supers Star Krishna and Krishna tries to bring Mahesh Babu. Mahesh Babu says ‘I don’t know the difference between MP and a MLA’. YSR is back to power, I was preparing myself to my state to be renamed to ‘Rajiv Pradesh’ the media said Singh is King (really?). Rahul Gandhi is close to 40 but media still says that he is young, Sachin is 36 and the media says that he is old.

-----Days get passed--------

I am back on twitter, deleted the only tweet and posted my first tweet ‘Back to Twitter’, the special journey has started, now Twitter is my new crush, met a lot of interesting people .. Celebrities on twitter were growing like mushrooms, met a lot of hyderabadis and attended the Tweetup meets which were held on the weekends. Good things for me is that I found few movie-buffs like me, even though i met many people through i would like to mention Vemana and Hemanth as we used to meet regularly and they were film lovers like me, I liked their passion for films, Hemanth occasionally used to talk about the last days which he is spending in SATYAM, Vemana is tech geek and movie-buff like me, he doesnt like Woody Allen though… Now Vemana, Hemanth and I planned to do something which was related to movies….nothing concrete was happening due to some reasons… I am asked by my company to report at Chennai for training.

End of Part 1.

One Shot that defines INCEPTION

Lets say 'What is Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION to you?' . Nolan's INCEPTION is not a path breaking nor a trend setting film. For me its just a film which increases my love towards films. Many film lovers like me started comparing the complexity of 'Inception' with 'Mulholland Drive','2001 A Space Odyssey', '8 1/2' etc.. i would disagree to view INCEPTION on those lines... its a film with a different meaning and different substance. For me one shot in the film defines the whole film and it is ....

CLICK on the image to enlarge

Few thoughts on VEDAM

Looks like many filmgoers have taken a CRASH course in ‘Identifying Plagiarism’. Krish’s VEDAM starring Allu Arjun, Manchu Manoj and Anushka gets a concoction release and publicity. Even before the release of VEDAM we have heard film experts (so called) saying that it’s a copy of a Hollywood film, Krish’s first film ‘GAMYAM’ was bashed for the same reason that it was a copy of ‘Motorcycle Diaries’. It’s quite clear that people who said that ‘Gamyam’ is a copy of ‘Motorcycle Diaries’ haven’t seen Dennis Hopper’s ‘Easy Rider’. Coming back to VEDAM, all those folks who say that VEDAM is a copy of CRASH should know the difference between Plagiarism and Inspiration.

Seeing the hype created for VEDAM before its release I was under some kind of intangible impression that this movie is gonna be a disaster(Critically and Commercially) at the Box-Office, the mutual praise by actors and directors made me feel that VEDAM will be TELUGU TASHAN. After the following poster of VEDAM was released I developed some kind of interest towards the film

Just before the release we have seen Allu Arjun , Krish talking about Vedam, lot of online publicity, the twitter publicity, TV Channels publicity, other contemporary directors praising the work of Krish …Oh God….what not… I could sense the change which telugu cinema has slowly embraced. The change may be due to inevitable compulsions or it’s a positive metamorphosis.

/*Possible Spoiler Alert*/

VEDAM is a hyperlink film of 5 stories. Cable Raju(Allu Arjun) who traps a rich girl by pretending to be a rich guy. Vivek(Manchu Manoj) wants to give a live rock show but his mother wants him to join the army, Saroja(Anushka) is a Amalapuram prostitute who runs away from a brothel house to setup her own brothel company in Hyderabad. Rehman(Manoj Bajpai) is a honest Hyderabadi Muslim who is seen as an extremist and Ramulu(Nagayya) is a old man under the curse of poverty and in search of money to free his grandson from the landlord.
Director Krish has a lot of understanding on human emotions, he relies on human emotions, and he possesses the rare talent of capturing the vulnerable human emotions on screen. Krish successfully presents the gamut of human emotions and psychological itch lingering with it.

I guess Krish is a studious follower of Syd Field, the screenplay is styled with respect to the audience thinking, and he has a firm grip on the raw characters like we have seen in the character ‘Gaali Seenu’ in ‘Gamyam’ and here now in ‘Vedam’ as ‘Cable Raju’. Cinematography by Gnana Sekhar is an asset to Krish, the Jubilee hills slum is shown as slum and nothing more. How often do we see a telugu actor holding a guitar in the way it needs to be? Manch Manoj was very good as a wannabe rock star. I liked the scene in which Vivek has a brawl with moral police guys and the way he attacks the vehicle with a stone was brilliantly shot and the scene where Cable Raju tries to run away with the money but Nagayya catches his leg.

Anushka plays the role of Saroja, a prostitute. The legacy of K.Ragahavendra Rao is carried forward, we see some navel shots and low tied sarees, and we should remember that Anushka is not Kate Winslet and Krish is not Bernardo Bertolucci and thus the skin show ends there, guys who are expecting more than the usual stuff would be disappointed. As always the prostitute is accompanied by a eunuch named ‘Karpooram’ and we are shown a cameo by Bhramanandam who counters ‘Karpooram’ by saying ‘Agarbatti emi kaadu….?’ and a very mediocre joke on ‘Karpooram’. Cliché is the apt word to describe the story of Rehman played by ‘Manoj Bajpai’. The role of Rehman lacks freshness and the talented Manoj Bajpai is underused. Like most of the hyperlink films even VEDAM has one climax, it’s like watching the good old movies where we are informed that here is the climax…. the climax is not forced upon the audience but instead it traces the unexpected and peculiar ending when compared with the normal telugu films.
Observe the scene when ‘Cable Raju’ is about to handover the money to buy the passes….the image of Cable Raju is reflected multiple times in the mirror, this reminded me of Orson Welles ‘Citizen Kane’, you are free to assume whether this shot was a copy or inspiration or coincidence. Even ‘Wim Wenders’ has copy or inspiration or coincidence.

What did Telugu Cinema Achieve/Change?
Frankly very little is achieved and some things are changed by the release of VEDAM. There is much to be achieved and changed by the path set by Vedam. Here are some changes which might happen…
•New directors can dare to come up with innovative scripts leaving back the prescribed formulae based stories.
•Telugu Cinema can hope for Multi-Starrer films provided good scripts are available.
•Films with noble intentions can still be produced with innovation added to it.
•Hopefully we can see less of cars crashing against each other unnecessarily and Tata Sumo’s blowing into air etc…
•May be now directors will think twice to showcase the Superman stunts of our heroes and I guess they will give some respect to Newton’s “Laws of Gravity”
•Films with different genres, different narration etc… might pop up.
•Publicity tactics may undergo dramatic changes including the posters.
•Filmmakers may not feel shy to show taboo roles.

People who still insist that ‘Vedam’ is a copy of ‘Crash’ should digest the fact that ‘Sholay’ is also a copy , 'Inglorious Bastards' is directed by ‘Sergio Leone’ not by Quentin Tarantino.

Why is the tag “Guest Appearance” attached to ‘Manchu Manoj’ during credits????

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

VETURI gaaru

My friend Sai Karthik's tribute to Veturi 

For those who have difficulty with the Telugu font can read the article in English font followed by this..

"పొయినోళ్ళు అందరు మంచోళ్ళు, ఉన్నోళ్ళు పొయినోళ్ళ తీపిగురుతులు" ఒకానొక సంధర్భం లొ వేటూరి అన్న మాట, ఎందుకో గుర్తు వచ్చింది. ఆయన గురుంచి చెప్పడానికి నా వయసు, భాషా ప్రావీన్యం, అనుభవం ఏ మూలకు అక్కరకు వస్తాయో తెలియదు కాని, నా మనసులో మాత్రం, భావాలు బయట పడాలని అత్రుతతో ఉన్నాయి.

నేను, ఒక చిన్న సామాన్య భావ కవిని. నాకు స్ఫూర్తి, ఆరాధ్య మూర్తి వేటూరి అని చెప్పడానికి సంకోచించను. ఫ్రతి మనిషికి కొన్ని ఆలోచనలు ఉంటాయి, అవి పద రూపం దాల్చదానికి చెసే ప్రయత్నం కవిత, దాని వానిజ్య రూపం పాట. వేటూరి గరు, ఏ సంధర్భాని నైనా, వర్నించ గల సమర్ధులు. అందుకే సినీ సామ్రాజ్యం లో, మకుటం లెని మహారజు గా వెలుగొందాడు ఆయన.

ఓక పాత్రికేయుడి గా, మొదలైన ఆయన ప్రస్థానం, ప్రజల గుండెల్లొ గూడు కట్టుకునే వరకు సాగింది.ఆయన పాటకి, ప్రజలు బ్రమ్హ రథం పట్టారు. తెలుగు చిత్ర సీమ లో నాయకులు దేవుళ్ళు గా భాసిల్లుతున్న రోజుల్లో కుడా, ఓ పాటల రచయిత, ఇంత ఆదరాభిమానాలు పొందటం, బహుసా, "మనసు కవి " ఆత్రేయ గారి తరువాత, వేటూరి గారేనేమో.

ఓకానొక సంధర్బాన ఆత్రెయ గారు,"ఎడా పెడా రాసేస్తున్నావట, చాలా వేగంగా కూడా రాస్తున్నావట" అని అన్నారు," మీ అంత గొప్ప గా రాయలెనప్పుడు వేగంగా అన్నా రాయాలి కదా గురువుగారు" అని అన్నారట.ఆదే సమయస్ఫుర్తి, ఆయన పాటల్లూ కూడా కనిపిస్తుంది.

ఓక పాటా, రెండు పాటలా, మొత్తం పదివేల పాటలకు ప్రాణం పోయడం, ఏ కవిపుంగవునికీ సాధ్యం ఐంది. ఒక్కో సన్నివేశం, ఒక్కో ధోరని గా ఉండే తెలుగు పాటలు రాయడానికి వివిధ కవులు ఉన్న ఈ కాలం లొ అలా అన్ని సంధర్భాలకు పాటలు రాయగల వేటూరి ఒక్కరే ఉండడం మనకి గర్వ కారణం. శ్రుంగార రసం, రౌద్రం, కరున, భక్తి ఒకాటా అన్ని రసాల మేలవింపు ఆయన కలం నుంచి జాలు వారయి. రాసిన అన్ని పాటల్లూ దాదాపు, ప్రజల గుండెల్లూ నిలిచి పొయెవి రాసారు.

"సీతారామయ్య మనవరాలు" చిత్రం తరువాత, నా పాటల్లో నేనే తెలుగు వెతుక్కో వలసి వచ్చింది అని వేటూరి భాదపడ్డారు. "ధనార్జన మొదలైనా తరువత పాటకు విలువ పడిపోయింది" అని వేదన చెందారు.ఆయన పాత తరనికి కొత్త తరానికి, వారధి అన్నా, మూడు తరాల ప్రతినిధి అని అన్నా, రెండు నిజాలే. ఎన్.టి.ఆర్ నుంది ఎన్.టి.ఆర్ వరకు, క్రిష్న నుండి మహేష్ బాబు వరకు, ఎ.ఎన్.ఆర్ నుంచి సుమంత్ వరకు, చిరంజీవి నుంచి అల్లు అర్జున్ వరకు ఆయన పాతలకు అందరూ నర్తించిన వరె.

అచ్చ తేట తెలుగు కి, తేనెలద్ది చెవుళ్ళో మధురామ్రుతాలు నింపి, ఆయన మాత్రం సుదూర తీరాల కి సాగిపోయారు.  బహుసా, తెలుగు తల్లి తన వడికి చేర్చు కోని జోల పాటా రాయించుకుంటోందేమో. ఆయన ప్రతిభ సామాన్యమైనదా, ఎవరినైనా మెప్పించగలరు. 

గుడి లో దేవుడు ఎక్కడ ఉన్నా గుళ్ళో ఉన్నట్టే, గుండె గుడి లో వేటూరి అంతే.

పైన పొందు పరిచిన అభిప్రాయాలు కేవలం నావే, ఎవరినైనా నొప్పించి ఉంటే క్షమార్హుడుని.ధన్యవాదాలు
----మీ కార్తీక్.

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For those who can't read Telugu font here is the article in English font

"poyinOLLu andaru manchOLLu, unnOLLu poyinOLLa teepigurutulu" okaanoka sandharbham lo vETUri anna maaTa, endukO gurtu vachchindi. Ayana gurunchi cheppaDaaniki naa vayasu, bhaashaa praavInyam, anubhavam E mUlaku akkaraku vastaayO teliyadu kaani, naa manasulO maatram, bhaavaalu bayaTa paDaalani atrutatO unnaayi.

nEnu, oka chinna saamaanya bhaava kavini. naaku sphoorti, aaraadhya mUrti vETUri ani cheppaDaaniki sankOchinchanu. Prati manishiki konni aalOchanalu unTaayi, avi pada roopam daalchadaaniki chesE prayatnam kavita, daani vaanijya roopam paaTa. vETUri garu, E sandharbhaani nainaa, varnincha gala samardhulu. andukE sinI saamraajyam lO, makuTam leni mahaaraju gaa velugondaaDu aayana.

Oka paatrikEyuDi gaa, modalaina aayana prasthaanam, prajala gunDello gUDu kaTTukunE varaku saagindi.Ayana paaTaki, prajalu bramha ratham paTTaaru. telugu chitra seema lO naayakulu dEvuLLu gaa bhaasillutunna rOjullO kuDaa, O paaTala rachayita, inta Adaraabhimaanaalu pondaTam, bahusaa, "manasu kavi " AtrEya gaari taruvaata, vETUri gaarEnEmO.

Okaanoka sandharbaana Atreya gaaru,"eDaa peDaa raasEstunnaavaTa, chaalaa vEgangaa kUDaa raastunnaavaTa" ani annaaru," mee anta goppa gaa raayalenappuDu vEgangaa annaa raayaali kadaa guruvugaaru" ani annaaraTa.AdE samayasphurti, aayana paaTalloo kUDaa kanipistundi.

Oka paaTaa, renDu paaTalaa, mottam padivEla paaTalaku praaNam pOyaDam, E kavipungavunikee saadhyam aindi. okkO sannivESam, okkO dhOrani gaa unDE telugu paaTalu raayaDaaniki vividha kavulu unna I kaalam lo alaa anni sandharbhaaalaku paaTalu raayagala vETUri okkarE unDaDam manaki garva kaaraNam. Srungaara rasam, roudram, karuna, bhakti okaaTaaa anni rasaala mElavimpu aayana kalam nunchi jaalu vaarayi. raasina anni paaTalloo daadaapu, prajala gunDelloo nilichi poyevi raasaaru.

"seetaaraamayya manavaraalu" chitram taruvaata, naa paaTallO nEnE telugu vetukkO valasi vachchindi ani vETUri bhaadapaDDaaru. "dhanaarjana modalainaa taruvata paaTaku viluva paDipOyindi" ani vEdana chendaaru.Ayana paata taraniki kotta taraaniki, vaaradhi annaa, mooDu taraala pratinidhi ani annaa, renDu nijaalE. en.Ti.aar nundi en.Ti.aar varaku, krishna nunDi mahEsh baabu varaku, e.en.aar nunchi sumant varaku, chiranjeevi nunchi allu arjun varaku aayana paatalaku andarU nartinchina vare.

achcha tETa telugu ki, tEneladdi chevuLLO madhuraamrutaalu nimpi, aayana maatram sudUra teeraala ki saagipOyaaru.  bahusaa, telugu talli tana vaDiki chErchu kOni jOla paaTaa raayinchukunTOndEmO. Ayana pratibha saamaanyamainadaa, evarinainaa meppinchagalaru.

guDi lO dEvuDu ekkaDa unnaa guLLO unnaTTE, gunDe guDi lO vETUri antE.

A Legend called VETURI

"Veturi is the Gulzar of Telugu Cinema.” The previous comment was from my friend who had just listened to the songs of K. Viswanath’s ‘Saagara Sangamam’. The comment had thrown me into opprobrium, I completely objected to his comparison because Veturi is not Gulzar… Veturi is Veturi. Gulzar fits into a different zone of lyricists and comparing Veturi to Gulzar is a sin…

In 1989 Mani Ratnam directed his only Telugu film “Geethanjali” which is one of the best love stories I have ever seen, Mani Ratnam who is not well versed in Telugu had to translate the lyrics written by Veturi Sundararama Murthy in Tamil and from that day Veturi has been Mani Ratnam’s favorite lyricist. Apart from the numerous awards that ‘Geethanjali’ received it is a path breaking film for Telugu Cinema (at least for me…). Probably this is the only Indian film where we find a 2 minute smooch, how did this song pass the censor board without a cut?…The song is beautifully directed and apart from that it’s the lyrics of veturi which did the magic.

om namaha nayana shruthulaku
om namaha hrudaya layalaku om
om namaha adhara jathulaku
om namaha madhura smruthulaku om

The above lines are a perfect example for his classical insight; he mixes the sacred mantra ‘Aum Namah Shivaya’ with the romantic feelings ‘nayana shruthulaku’ which means ‘Speech of the eyes, ‘hrudaya layalaku’ which means ‘Heart Beats’, ‘adhara jathulaku’ which means ‘ Pair of Lips’ and ‘madhura smruthulaku’ which means ‘beautiful thoughts’

And by the way if you don’t know what is om namaha then here is the Wikipedia definition “Namaḥ Śivaya has such power, the mere intonation of these syllables reaps its own reward in salvaging the soul from bondage of the treacherous instinctive mind and the steel bands of a perfected externalized intellect. Namaḥ Śivāya quells the instinct, cuts through the steel bands and turns this intellect within and on itself, to face itself and see its ignorance. Sages declare that mantra is life, that mantra is action, that mantra is love and that the repetition of mantra, japa, bursts forth wisdom from within.”

You can find the rest the lyrics on internet and get them translated to know the beauty of the entire song.

Veturi used simple words and converted them into beautiful expressions to show lust and love between characters. The song ‘Mounamelanoyi’ from ‘Saagara Sangamam’ where he uses…

palike pedavi vonikindi enduko
(Why the lip which talks is shivering?)

vonike pedavi venakaala emito
(What’s behind those shivering lips?)

…………..

ivi edadugulaa valapu madugulaa
(Are these the sacred seven steps or the intimacy of Love?)

kanne eedu vulukulu kantipaapa kaburulu
(..the disturbances and conversations in the young unmarried girl.. )

……………………………

Veturi Sundararama Murthy always repeated that ‘Thakita Thadimi’ & ‘Nadha Vinodham’ from ‘Saagara Sangamam’ as his favorite songs.Those were the days when ‘National Awards’ had respect, I hear many people saying that anyone who have seen the film ‘Maathrudevobhava’ will have tears in their eyes,so is the case with his national award winning song ‘Raalipoye puvva neeku ragaalenduke’

Raalipoye puvva neeku raagalendukey
totamaali nee todu leduley
vaalipoye podda neeku varnalendukey
lokamennado cheekataayele..
neekidi telavaarani reyamma..
kaliki maa chilaka paadaku ninnati nee raagaam

Apart from his romantic style of lyrics he induced passion and rebel in the lyrics. The song ‘Jagada Jagada Jagadam’ from Geethanjali ignites passions .He uses the words very intelligently in the fast paced songs.

…………………………………..
Marala… marala… jananam
Raaneeraa marala… marala maranam
Mingestaam bhughala bhagala garalam
Maa pilupe damarukham
Maa oopiri nippula uppena
Maa oohalu kattula vanthena
Maa debbaku dhikkulu pikkatillipoye…
Ram… pam pam… pam…”

‘Induvadana’ in Challenge

induvadana, kundaradana, mandagamana, madhuravachana, sogasulalana

No one can beat him in the mystique lyrics, he uses various references for single word, and sometimes the lyrics look enigmatic creating a lot of intrigue into the listener.

“Ramachakani Sita” Godavari

I am unable to figure out the exact meaning of the lyrics ….this is what I could understand.I added '?' where i felt ambiguity.

neela gaganaa ghanavichalanaa dharaNijaa Sree ramaNa
(Blue Sky….?????????? ……. The one who rules the earth? ..Lord Rama)

madhura vadanaa naLina nayanaa manavi vinaraa raamaa
(Body as sweet as honey…Eyes as Lotus? … listen to my request my dear Lord Rama)

raama chakkani seetaki aracheta gorinta
(The beautiful Seeta is for Rama.. Gorintaku on Sita’s Palm)

inta chakkani chukkaki inkevaru mogudanta
(For this beautiful star (referring Sita), who is Sita’s Husband..)

raama chakkani seetaki

udata veepuna velu vidichina pudami alludu raamudE
(The one who left his finger prints on squirrel’s back. Son-in-law of Janaka??)

edama chetanu Sivuni villunu ettinaa raamude
(Lifted Lord Shiva’s bow with his left hand is Lord Rama)

ettagalaDaa seeta jadanu taali katte velalo
(Can he lift Sita’s jada (plait) while tying the mangalasutram (taali)…)

raama chakkani seetaki

………………………………………………..
………………………………………………

This evergreen song ‘Maate Mantramu’ from Seethakoka Chiluka

Maate mantramu manase bandhamu..
Ee mamathe ee samathe mangala vaadyamu..
Idhi kalyaanam kamaneeyam jeevitham..
Neeve naalo spandhinchina..
Ee priya layalo sruthi kalise praanamidhe..
Nene neevuga puvvu thaaviga..
Samyogaala sangeethaalu virise velalo..

After K.Vishwanath probably its Sekhar Kammula who has shown the best of Veturi.One of his last songs in the film ‘Leader’

“Yae Sakuni adani judam brathukemo chadarangam, edi adani ravnakashtam, chitilone simantam”

 I was never interested in Telugu Literature, because I have seen it as an extra subject in my school and always made fun of the language but everything changed when I started to listen to the songs of Veturi, I started my own small research on telugu literature and started reading books on telugu literature. In one sentence Veturi Sundararama Murthy made me realize that “Desha bhashalandu telugu lessa”.May his soul rest in peace.

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

The Poster

Roughly its been around 5 years, i was waiting for the bus at the Narayanaguda Bus Stop.Five years back almost every evening (except Sunday) i used to wait to catch a bus and somehow try to enter into the overcrowded buses.After a long gap i am waiting at the Narayaguda Bus Stop,it was nostalgic even though i never enjoyed my Intermediate Life.

I am waiting at the bus stop,taking few to and fro steps,then i turn back and find a film poster of "Adavi Manushulu Andala Kanyalu" literal English translation gives (Forest people and beautiful women). I looked at the poster,turned away and was waiting for the bus...

It was 8:30 pm of the Friday evening and everyone is eagerly waiting to get back to their houses.I suddenly noticed a thing,every guy who is passing me was looking at the poster. Now my brain which doesn't have any useful work to do comes with a brilliant idea,i decided to count the number of people who look at the poster out of 10 people who pass me.I stood near the poster and took a pic (The one which you have seen ...). Out of the first 10 people 8 of them look at the poster, remaining two were a 70 year old man and a 10+ kid.Second round of counting leads to this result,10 out of 10 people look at the poster and in the third round of counting 9 people look at the poster.

You might be wondering what the heck? shouldn't people look at the poster? .... Its obvious that everyone's eyes will get attracted to this poster for whatever reasons.. Actually i was observing people who are looking at it with a different angle and the reactions of some people ...

• Three construction workers stare at this poster for 10 minutes and decided to go the second show and they weren't shy to look at the poster and were making some comments which i would skip here...
• A 25+ yrs guy comes and looks at the poster and turns away, he looks at me and then he turns to his right to wait for the bus.. after 2 minutes he turns back and looks at the poster,he turns away and is waiting for the bus... again he turns back .... this continued for 4 times.
• A man who is around 45 comes to the bus stop and looks at the poster, he is angry, he talks to himself, i can sense his frustration.
• Another man who is around 45 looks at the poster and abruptly says to me "This is how youth are spoiled, why do they stick such posters in public places?"
• A group of intermediate guys came to the bus stop and looked at it, each of them was trying to look at the poster without the knowledge of the other, this continued for 5 minutes.
• A family came to bus the bus stop,the husband looked at the poster and then turned his eyes away from it,even his wife accidentally looked at the poster and his kid who was around 10 years was looking at the poster and was trying to tear the poster,his father call his son and demands "Don't move,stay here". Now the kid asks his mother "What is the name written on the poster?" .. his mother asks him to shut up his mouth ...
• A boy and a girl who are around 25yrs came to the stop, the guy looks at the poster and after a second he turns his eyes away, the guy wants to look at the poster but he is not free as he is thinking of his girl friend (presumably), he somehow looks at the poster for 3 times with great difficulty without the knowledge of his girl friend.
• Two guys who look like local young gunda's came to the bus stop and started talking about the film poster.One guy compared it with the previous films which he has seen and spelled some obnoxious statements, the second guy takes it as a prestige issue and talks much more about the other films and the discussion between them leads to the heroines of Tollywood.
• There is a footpath tailor near the bus stop, he talks about the people who look at the posters attached on the bus stop walls with his friend, he curses everyone who stops and looks at the poster, "Saley sab log yeha kade rehte hain..aur postera ko dekthe hain..."

The whole 40 minutes was some sought of psychoanalysis and character reading , on how people of different ages think of a particular thing.Actually it was some fun and good information for me.By the way i did miss many buses for my silly research.

--Everyone who read this post will be dying to ask "Why did you look at the poster? etc.. etc.."

--I accidentally looked at the poster, i felt that the woman in the poster was 'Angelina Jolie', so i looked at the poster for the second time and confirmed myself that it wasn't Angelina Jolie, again looked at the poster to find the name of the film and at last found the name "Adavi Manushulu Andala Kanyalu"

AVATAR : The Unseen Visuals !

Click on the image to enlarge it

Just for HUMOR,dont take it seriously :)

Ye Maaya Chesave : Feel the Magic

“Kottadanam” is a misinterpreted word in the Telugu Film Industry. Industry refers it in terms of Graphics, VFX, Budget, Foreign Locations etc. We have to bear the crap which consists of Item songs, so called powerful dialogues, superman stunts in the name of “Kottadanam” Integrity is the rare tool and weapon which a film director can possess. Adjusted screenplays, compromised viewpoints, stereotype dialogues are some of the default things which a director should be ready to sacrifice. Few years’ back a film called ‘Anand’ was released which was fresh, honest and true to its characters, after a gap of 5 years we find the film “Ye Maya Chesave” which is true to its characters and honest with its treatment.

After the wonderful display of titles the film starts with the guitar note and a church scene where the Voice Over of the protagonist says “Prapamchamlo ento mandi ammyilu unna.. nenu Jessi ne enduku preminchanu?” and gives us some information about Jessie “beautiful, classy, educated, sexy etc.. ”. The film is narrated with the hero’s point of view, we are provided with the basic bio-data of the hero Karthik (played by Naga Chaitanya).Karthik completed his Mechanical engineering and wants to be a filmmaker, he has posters of Robert De Niro (Raging Bull), Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Pulp Fiction in his room. Karthik’s character is clear cut, even though he is a Hindu Naidu he wants to marry Jessie who is a Malayali Christian and 2 years elder to him.

Jessie is a Malayali Chrsitian and does not watch films as it is considered to be a sin. The character of Jessie looks enigmatic but that’s how girls are at least when it comes to the issue of LOVE, she loves Karhik, she is intimate with him, she does not touch him when she is sits on his bike, allows him to kiss, she punishes herself, she says “I enjoy the pain” and she is a ‘gutsy women’.

Its tough to make a film which has a romantic angle and most of the script is filled with perceptions, convictions, and conversations of the two lead actors. Gowtham Menon comes with a script which is pure without any compromises.The screenplay is clever, authentic, and sometimes tests the patience of the viewer. The heart of “Ye Maya Chesave” is its intelligent dialogues, sporadic conversations and the uninterrupted fluid direction. Gautham Menon is one of the few directors who make the best use of camera with the tracking and Zoom Shots. Observe the scene in which Jessie expresses her love to Karthik in the corridor, the camera zooms in slowly and then Gowtham Menon establishes the magical chemistry between Karthik and Jessie, the camera slowly zooms out and in the mean time our clairvoyance is tested for a few seconds. The next scene breaks into the song “Vintunnava” which is shot with the glossiness of the wedding lights and the extravagant full moon. This is one of the best scenes I have seen in the recent times.

Gautham Menon uses extreme close-up shots which create a profound impact on the screen, they make us comprehend and contemplate the characters. Presumably a Steadicam is used to shoot the scene where Jessie decides to break up with Karthik, the shaky work, abruptly moving camera and the conversation makes it a very wonderful scene. The best fusion of Cinematography and editing can be found in the fight scene, its one of the best composed scenes added with the digital sounds. The streets, the house, the terrace give the microscopic feel.

The ‘F’ word is making its way into Telugu films. The ‘F’ word is overlapped with the “beep” sound. Karthik uses the ‘F’ word with freedom “What the F*****g logic is this Jessie” etc. Umarji Anuradha deserves a mention for the dialogues; they act as fuel to the film. Karhik talks about ages … 22-24, 70-72, 50-52 and he expresses his innermost feelings to Jessie “I wanna make love to you Jessie” … how often do you hear this in Telugu films?. “It was like a one way ticket to heart break city. She showed me the middle finger and walked out of my life” and many more beautiful conversations and altercations.

I somehow feel honored that engineering graduate writes such wonderful lyrics. Anantha Sriram brings the perfume of freshness into the film with his lyrics.

"Swaasey Swaramai

Saradaley Panche

Sarigamavai

Ventaney Raa Velugai Raa

Nijamayye Kalavai Raa

Nadipinche Adugai Raa

Nanucheri Naatho Raa

Vayase Ninney Valachi

Vasanthamuna Kokilai

Thiyyanga Koosi

Ee Sisiram Lona

Mooga Boyi Nanney

Chusthundey Jalesi

Emo Emoolundo Chigurinchey Kshaname   "

And in “Vintunnava”

Palukulu nee pere taluchukunna..

Pedavula anchullo anuchukunna..

mounamutho nee madhinii bandhincha.. manninchu priyaa..

tarime varama.. tadime swarama..

idhigo ee janma needani antunna.. vintunnava.. vintunnava...vintunnava..

tarime varama.. tadime swarama..

idhigo ee janma needani antunna.. vintunnava.. vintunnava...vintunnava..vintunnava...vintunnava..

The long relationship between Gautham Menon and Harris Jayraj gets a break. It’s A.R.Rahman who composed the music for “Ye Maya Chesave”. ‘Aaromale’ is one of the best songs of A.R.Rahman (Am I exaggerating?) .Rahman shifts his tune beautifully for every scene. Rahman jumps into classical raga when the scene cuts into a Temple from a church. The tune of ‘Aaromale’ is repeatedly used in the background score, mixes the vernacular rap with the English rap beautifully.

The debutant Samantha makes an unforgettable impression on the audience, it would not be exaggerating if I say that it’s the best debut I have ever seen. I don’t know whether she is HOT or not, she is sexy or not, but I can definitely say that she has a voluptuous charm which will make the audience spellbound. She looks gorgeous in sarees, Churidars and we can’t ignore her acting skills.

It’s not easy to make a film like “Ye Maya Chesave”. A lot of effort and dedication is visible in the script. Scripts like these deserve Good production values. Feel the magic of “Ye Maya Chesave” and by the way - Jessie wore 15 beautiful sarees in 'Ye Maya Chesave'.

If you have time ... go through the lyrics of 'Aaromale'

mamalai erivarum thennal
pudhumanavaalam thennal
pallimedayil thottudhalodi
kurishilthottu varumpol
varavelpinu malayalakara
manasammadham soriyum
Aromale aaromale
aaromale aaromale
aaromale ey ey
aaromaley

The gentle wind that come over the mountains
gentle wind decks up the groom
coming after touching the cross
land of Malayalam grants consent for welcoming
Oh beloved beloved

suvasthi suvasthi sumugoortham
sumangalibava manavaatti (2)
shyaraathirithan aramanayil
maari nilgayo tharagamey
pulari manjile kadhiroliyaai
agale nilgayo penmanamey
saainjyu nilgumo sillayil nee
silasil ambiyo poonguyile
mansi rathile manaroliye
thedy enthino poomthennal

Blessings the bride who arrives to personal room of king
May you be blessed with a long wedded life
are you standing away like a star?
like a ray of shine in a dawn dew
waiting to be purified
did u buzz cuckoo to lean on the branch?
the breeze searching for something
in the ear then lamb of mind

suvasthi suvasthi sumugoortham
sumangalibava manavaatti

aaromale aaromale
aaromale aaromale

kadalinu karaiyodiniyumpaadaan
sneham undo
mezhugu thirigalaai urukum
iniyum pranaiyum
manasil undo

does the sea have to sing love to the shore?
is it love which is melting as candles

aaromaley
Aaromale Aaromale
Aaromale Aaromale

sumangalibava manavaatti (2)
shyaraathirithan aramanayil
maarinilgayo tharagamey
pularimanjile kadhiroliyaai
agale nilgayo penmanamey
saainjyunilgumo sillayil nee
silasilambiyo poonguyile
mansirathile manaroliye
theduyethillo poonthennal

suvasthi suvasthi sumugoortham
sumangalibava manavaatti (2)

SALEEM - Eternal Bullshit of the Brainless Mind

SALEEM will go into my list of films which should be watched before you die.

Its a big budget film of 23 crores as claimed by Mohan Babu and you can easily see where this huge amount of money is spent when you watch the film.I am not gonna give a plot summary or any spoilers here as there are many chances that it might bring down the amount of horrible effect on you.After a film like OKKA MOGADU one expects Y.V.S to come with a decent film but he surprises us with SALEEM.



We have Ileana as the heroine and Vishnu Manchu as hero.SALEEM is basically a semi-porn film or should is say semi-soft porn film? whatever .. this film gets a U/A certificate from our prestigious Censor board which is still a mystery to me... SALEEM gets a U/A but Magadheera gets a A certificate,looks like i got diverted from the film.. sorry... continuing with the film we see Ileana in torn stockings,translucent navel cover-ups,loose tops,etc... if you are a guy then you are bound to be mesmerized by the costumes.Now moving away from the costumes let us come to Ileana sizes (sorry its not my idea,i am good boy,idea belongs to YVS), YVS teaches the audience the art of measurements for example 'jana bethedu' etc.. and the vocabulory of measurements are conveyed to us by child artist Bharat,what a wonderful idea by YVS.

After the sizes of Ileana i have to talk about what is shown in the film... again sorry,i am a good boy,i am just writing what is there in the film.We see a lot of cleavage,thighs,back,waist and last but not the least the bellybutton,the bellybutton trademark is inherited by YVS from his guru K.Raghavendra Rao,we see bellybuttons in almost every film of YVS,the bellybutton of heroines is common but in this film he uses the ZOOM option available in his camera,he zooms for an average of 1 minute in almost every song and in some scenes.



I have told the best part of SALEEM now let us shift our focus to our hero Vishnu.Vishnu looks much better than his previous films and has decreased his weight....(23 crores a majaaka!). Our hero has some secret background which YVS doesn't wanna show in the first half but he shows us the extraordinary capabilities of our hero.Some of the extraordinary capabilities are mentioned here... Vishnu runs faster than a fired bullet to save his future father-in-law,he re-writes all the laws related to Newtons laws of gravity,he can seize all the airports of Bangkok (is he the Prime Minister of Thailand?) ... there is fight sequence in the film when he meets Mukesh Rishi's people .. who the hell composed this fight sequence?? i think even this fight sequence is idea from the expertise mind of YVS.. and why the hell will anyone take the tigers nail hanging in the neck of an ugly and untidy man?? (evari pichi vallaki anandam).

SALEEM is incomplete without its dialogues,here are some of the dialogues (may not exactly be the same..)

Ileana: Dash ..

Vishnu: Bongu Le...
i was wondering what does 'dash' mean? i know a meaning a 'bongu' .. are there any other meanings of 'Bongu' ?

Vishnu : vere vallu gun tisinaka alochistaru,adi valla MINDSET ,nenu tiyyaka munde alochista,adi na ASSET... wah wah!! what a rhyming.

Vishnu: Vallaki Gun pattukovatam telusu,naku gun to adukovatam telusu ..

Vishnu: Gun chooste love lo padipota..

Mohan Babu: Andaru Gun mata vintaru,gun veedi mata vintundi


Vishnu: Tsunami chusi miru paripotaru.... nenu dani mida adukunta... nenu TSUNAMI (don't worry he didn't change his name,its just a metaphor)

Vishnu: miru BULLET .. nenu ATOM BOMB


and repeated dialogues like...

Vishnu: isariki ila kaniddamule.

Vishnu: dummu repesta..

Mohan Babu: Boom Boom Bhulak .. (does anyone know what it means?)


YVS infuses some amount of patriotism in the film,he says that europeon culture is shit and Indian culture is wonderful,huh..what an irony!The climax is very very very unpredictable, FLASHBACK! hey...there is no flashback,the climax reminds me of 1980's and 1990's flicks where all the family members,villains,hero,heroine meet in a some defunct factory.Mohan Babu tells us some good stuff in the end about true love etc.. "All Izz Well"

Conclusion:

There is a dialogue where Vishnu says to Ileana "ni kovvu anta akkada unnatu undi,anduke burra sarigga pani cheyyatalledu" BANG ON , if she is intelligent she would have never accepted such a script filled with shit.

If you are thinking of watching the film just for Ileana then i would recommend you go to a internet cafe and spend 10Rs which is much worth than this film and because apart from those scenes SALEEM is filled with unbearable stuff.

Please dont carry instruments like knife,blade etc... because there are people waiting for you back home.SUICIDE is a sin.

CACHE - Nothing is HIDDEN

Most of the film viewers try to find the 3 M's in a film ,Does a movie need to have a Motive? Message ? Meaning ?. Michael Haneke's 'Cache' is a film which defines the 3 M's without any definition.Accidentally four years ago i watched Michael Haneke's 'The Piano Teacher' which made a profound impact on me for its disturbing narration without violence and the shadow of darkness lingering in the film. 'Cache' is a similar kind of disturbing film which is infused with terrific images.



Georges Laurent(Daniel Auteuil) and Anne(Juliette Binoche) are married couple with a son Pierrot. The film starts with a long static shot with some credits on it, this static shot is actually the video sent by an anonymous man?, the first video shows that Georges house is under surveillance, when Laurent and Anne watch the first video tape Laurent says 'How come i didn't see him' referring to himself in the video. Later they receive some comic drawings which look intimidating,even Pierrot receives it and asks his father 'Why did you send it to school?'

In the next videotape Laurent's childhood home is filmed and he visits his old home where his mother stays who is battling with old age illness,there some important conversations take place.The next videotape leads to a man named Majid who is connected to him in his childhood and Laurent accuses him of sending the tapes which he denies.The way events unfold after this is tragic,horrific and disturbing without letting us know the truth behind the mystery.


I cannot write the whole plot and synopsis here because it will be a spoiler and might decrease the thrill and intensity when you watch the film.The undercurrent of the film is the unseen horror and the disturbing theme which holds on us till the end of the film.Even though the mystery is unexplained the point Michael Haneke makes in the film is clear cut.Haneke shows the hidden and makes a point of what can happen and what is to happen when something is hidden and how things get unnoticed even though they carry much importance and meaning.

Haneke shows what is hidden and hides what we are interested in seeing but everything can be seen if one really wants to see it. Laurent hides some facts with Anne,Pierrot hides something from Anne, Anne expresses her motherly love to Pierrot,Laurent hides his emotion before his wife and others when he cant find Pierrot but ultimately cries in the kitchen,Haneke makes his point in Cache but to understand his point we need to remove our hidden eyes .

Like David Lynch's 'Mullholland Drive' Cache plants innumerable questions in our mind , though we might never comprehend them 100% but the beauty of these films is that they create a silent impact which increases our intrigue towards finding the truth and searching for 3 M's .

-- Did you see Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi in the film?



Do not proceed from here if you haven't seen the film.

1. The film starts with the first videotape and some titles appearing on it,if you are attentive and are blessed with normal vision you can see the title CACHE embedded in it.

2. The conversation between Laurent and Anne while watching the first video referring to himself he says 'How come i didn't see him' .

3. The first video hints that the camera is not hidden and might be an act of voyeurism.

4. Watch the scene in which Laurent meets Majid is there an act of indirect voyeurism?.

5. The videotapes are infused with some images of a boy,which suggest something to us.

6. Listen to watch Majid's Son says when he confronts him in his office.

7. The last and the long static shot where Pierrot meets Majid's son.

and many more..

The above hidden elements and many other hidden elements throw questions instead of answers,the questions are the clues to find the hidden answer (s) ?

Jules and Jim(1962)

The Unusual TRAGEDY

I read the book 'HITCHCOCK' 3 years back as i am a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock.'HITCHCOCK was written by Francois Truffaut,at that time i did not watch Truffaut 's films but the book has made me watch his films as his insight towards films and his critical analysis impressed me a lot and there it started my journey towards films of Francois Truffaut.

My first Francois Truffaut's film was '400 Blows' which i am not gonna discuss here but i am gonna throw my thoughts on his two wonderful films 'Jules and Jim' in this post and 'Two English Girls' in the next post and also the similarities between these two films.

Jules and Jim are two friends who fight for different sides of the World War 1 and they meet a girl called Catherine,who likes both and both Jules and Jim love Catherine. Jules loves Catherine and they get married and have a daughter,Jim visits Jules and Catherine and he develops a relationship with Catherine.... this sounds like a normal story but the real pleasure of watching this film comes after Catherine develops a relationship with Jim.

We cant even predict the next scene,we don't know weather she will go with Jim or Jules,with whom she will share the bed,will she marry Jim?,will she leave Jules and her daughter?,will Jim leave Catherine?,will Jules leave Catherine and Jim for the sake of friendship and for his love towards Catherine?, or will the three stay together?

Every scene is like a simple and a silent twist without any huge impact on the screenplay and the story,these three live together for a period of time and Jim tells us that villagers called them as lunatics.Jules is loved by Catherine but she is unhappy with the marriage and tries to have an affair with Jim with the knowledge of Jules,Jules loves Catherine but he is not sure what to do as his love and friendship collide, even though its an unhappy marriage with Jules,Catherine loves Jules.Its funny that we see Catherine spinning her relations with Jim and Jules which are from a confused heart.Jules is in the favor of Catherine having an affair with Jim as Jim is his best friend and wants to see Catherine happy.

The confused plot is the amalgam of wonderful emotion between the three characters who cant live without each other and finally there can be only one perfect ending to such a story,its the TRAGEDY . The tragedy in the film makes it a perfect ending,the tragedy needs to be triggered by one of the characters and the there will be an innocent victim too.The true and complete pleasure of watching 'Jules and Jim' can be felt when we understand the characters and the relationship between Jules,Jim and Catherine.