Maaveeran – A Review

At a time when every other tamil movie that’s released seems to be based in a village with a rustic hero and an oily faced heroine, the Maaveeran movie trailer was refreshing, especially because of charming Kajal Agarwal. This is what made me watch the film and I sure wasn’t disappointed. A remake of the telugu super-hit, super-budget film Maghadheera, Maaveeran is an honest attempt to recreate the success in tamil.

The Cast

Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan Teja makes his debut in tamil with this grand movie. Others in the cast are Kajal Agarwal, Sri Hari, Sarath Babu, Dev Gill and Sunil. The film has been directed by SS Rajamouli and produced by Allu Aravind.

The Plot

Ram Charan plays Harsha, the happy-go-lucky bike racer who makes money from bets. He’s happy with life until a chance contact with Indhu (Kajal Agarwal) makes him fall for her. A few love games follow this encounter after which both of them start loving each other. They discover that this love is not just accidental; it has a history that spans over 400 years.

As usual, this is the stage where the villain enters the scene and pushes off with the heroine. As the hero follows them to Rajasthan, the history of the first romance unfolds and takes you back in time. Ram Charan was then Kala Bhairav, the chief protector of the Udhayghad Kingdom while Kajal was the princess. Their love faces opposition from Kajal’s relative who wishes to marry her. Sher Khan, played by Srihari launches an attack against Udhayghad. A struggle follows where all four characters lose their lives while trying to get their goals achieved.

The story line links the past to the present and concludes all the incomplete business of the past in the present.

The Verdict

Excellent performance by Ram Charan Teja, both as the valiant Kala Bhairav as well as the carefree Harsha. This is the kind of role every actor dreams of and he has carried it out perfectly. Kajal is stunning and her costumes are great though they make you wonder where she got designer attire 400 years back. Another character that deserves mention is Srihari in his convincing role.

Dialogues by K.Bhagyaraj make you forget the fact that this is a remake. The grandeur of the sets and neat screenplay are other positives for this movie.

However, if you experience déjà vu when you see Maaveeran, it’s not because you had a previous birth; it’s most likely because you’ve seen Arundhathi and Dasavatharam that have a similar story line.

Watch Maaveeran for its entertainment value without analyzing the logic factor and you’ll not be disappointed.

While watching Dabangg and Wanted, did you ever thought, won’t it be grade if we could merge Salman’s character to make one super entertainer? Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for because Ready tries to make that ultimate “Salman” by mixing and grinding all of his hit characters into one (he’s even named Prem!) and the result is disastrous.

With wafer thin storyline and zero entertainment value, Ready tries to rely solely on Salman’s popularity and fails miserably. No actor can or should be forced to carry such a movie on his shoulders. For the film’s team’s credit, they never tried to market it as anything but a brainless entertainer, but there’s always a limit to everything.

Ready tries to be so many movies in one time and ends being a complete Khichdi. The dialogues are childish and the camera keeps zooming in on Salman’s face for no apparent reason throughout the movie. Poor Asin, who plays Salman’s love interest in the film, is made to stand in the corner and act stupid in the entire film. She is not given any good lines or good outfits to wear. It’s quite clear that the director was obsessed with his lead actor and with his idea of making a “leave your brain at home” movie.

Well, if like me, you forgot to leave your brain in your top drawer, you will not be able to ignore that the director didn’t have any script to start with. It revolves around 2 underworld families that are trying to get a girl’s inheritance. Salman vows to persuade these families to stop fighting, so that he can marry the girl.

The film tries very hard to make you laugh, but fails miserably. It is strictly for Salman Khan fans. Otherwise please avoid!

Blog of India Rating : 1.5 stars

Upcoming 58th Filmafare Awards and Nomination for Kannada Films
Kannada movies have always been among the top popular ones in the country and some of them have been really outstanding. In recognition of the contribution of Kannada films to the industry, Filmfare awards for Kannada movies exclusively were launched sometimes back.

58th South Indian Filmfare Awards festival will be held on the 2nd day of July 2011 at the Hyderabad International Convention centers. Names of nominees in various categories have already been declared and they are now getting ready for the final showdown at the destined venue for the coveted award.

Nominations for the best in Kannada movies for the year 2010, slotted for the awards in 2011 are as follows.

Best Film – Aitha Rakshaka, Jackie, Kanasembo Kudureyaner, Naanu Nanna Kansu, and Super.

Best Director – Girish Kasaravalli for Kanasembo Kudureyaneri; Prakash Rai for Naanu Nanna Kansu, Shashank for Krishnan Love Story, Suri for Jackie, and Upendra for Super.

Best Actor (Male) – Dignath for Pancharangi, Puneeth Rajkumar for Jackie, Shivarajkumar for Thamassu, Sudeep for Just Maath Maathalli, and Upendra for Super.

Best Actor (Female) – Aindritha Rai for Veera Parampare, Nayantara for Super, Nidhi Subbaiah for Pancharangi, Rdhika Pandith for Krishanan Love Storey, and Ramya for Just Maath Maathali.

Best Supporting Actor (Male) – Achyuth Kumar for Naanu Nanna Kanasu, Ambareesh for Veera Parmapare, Avinash for Aptha Rakhaka, Biradar for Kanasembo Kudureyaneri, and Rangayanaraghu for Modala Sala.

Best Supporting Actor (Female) – Harshika Poonacha for Jackie, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy for Aptha Rakshaka, Ramya Barna for Pancharangi, Tara for Modala Sala, and Umashri for Krishnan Love Story.

Best Music Director – Guru Kiran for Apitha Rakshaka, Joshwa Sridhar for Gaana Bajana, Mano Murthy for Pancharangi, V Harikrishna for Jackie, and V Sridhar for Krishnan Love Story.

Best Lyricist – Jayanth Kaikini for Krishnan Love Storey, Kaviraj for Apitha Rakhaka, K Kalyan for Jugari, V Manohar for Super, and Yograj Bhat for Jackie.

Best Play Back Singer (Male) – Kailash Kher for Jackie, S.P.Balasubramanyam for Apitha Rakshaka, Sonu Nigam for Krishanan Love Story, Tippu for Jackie, and Upendra for Super.

Best Play Back Singer (Female) – Neha for Thamassu, Shreya Ghosal for Just Maath Maathali and for Jackie, and Sunitha Goparaju for Modala Sala and Cheluveye Ninne Nodalu.

Whether he wins or not, Upendra has created history of sort by getting nominated in categories as best actor (male), best director, and best playback singer (male). In the best play back singer (female) category both Shreya Ghosal and Sunitha Goparaju have been nominated for two movies each thereby bringing down the number of contestants to three only in that category.

Upcoming South Indian Film of Superstar Rajanikanth- The “Rana”
Zinx

Few will question the immense popularity of South Indian superstar
Rajanikanth. In a recent interview, one of the greatest superstars that
Indian silver screen has ever produced and whose own fan following runs
into millions; Amitav Bachan said that he is a fan of Rajanikanta. What
better compliments could one expect?

When “Rana” directed by K S Ravi Kumar was announced it was supposed to
go to the floors in April this year. Unfortunate illness of Rajanikanth delayed
the schedule but now that the actor is back it seems the movie is all set to
roll up.

Interesting feature of the movie is that originally it was decided that there
would be three ladies in the movie. Accordingly Deepika Padukone, Asin,
and south star Anushka Shetty were finalized to play the main female leads
in the movie. But now it is reported that there would be four more. K S
Ravikumar is now busy finding out the four more female stars for the movie.

At the same time, Ravikumar also expresses his concern about something
wrong spiritually as the movie is running into rough weather time and again.
First it was illness of Rajanikantha and then there were some other problems
cropping one after another.

Yet when the film starts rolling, millions of spectators will be looking forward
to this new Rajani starrer. A very versatile actor who is a super hero in Tamil
and super villain in Telegu films; Rajani is a legend matched only by the
likes of Kamal Hassan in South and Amitav Bachan in Hindi movies.

Any upcoming movie of Rajanikantha always brings up expectations in the
public and the legendary actor has a devoted fan followings that has saved
many mediocre movies from becoming flops at the box office in the past.

“Rana” may not be a different story either.