Ram Charan Teja - A worthy successor

When Chiru made his debut in 1978, he was already a seasoned actor, what with his film institute training and the valuable experience he gained on the stage. And of course, he wasn't launched with the fanfare his son Ram Charan Teja was with his very first movie. The expectations riding on this movie were high, with every Telugu movie fan keen to find out whether Charan would "score." That kind of a pressure can crack up anybody, but it's to Charan's credit that he makes a good impression in his debut movie without disappointing the Telugu audiences.

As far as looks go, one cannot help noticing his resemblance to his uncle Pawan Kalyan. Especially the eyes. Considerable effort seems to have gone in building some muscle and it's rumored that Chiru himself supervised his dance training. Of course, Charan had to be good at dancing. The Mega fans would expect no less. Added advantages are his body language and his voice. He carries himself okay in the few emotional scenes too. Chiru is a master at this kind of acting and comparisons will be inevitable. The senior is in a different league altogether.

Chiru chose a safe vehicle for his son, entrusting the responsibility to director Poori Jagannath, who in turn came up with a solid masala film. There are all the elements, the matinee crowds in Andhra Pradesh look for: fights, dances, comedy and pace. The first fight that happens in the jail is especially good and the first dance really rocks. Charan acquits himself well in the comedy scenes too, though he has a long way to go before he can reach his father's level. He can certainly improve his diction. With some effort and enough luck, we probably will see these raw edges getting smoothed in his future undertakings.

I watched the movie as usual among Chiru's hardcore fans in Fremont, California, who made sure the decibel level in the theater was high enough to make us all believe we might very well be watching the movie in India. I missed quite a few dialogues, but that's the price you pay for watching the movie on the first day of its release.

First movies, especially of the star-sons, are treated kindly by the Telugu audiences. The good will Chiru has among the Telugu movie-goers will certainly translate into a sizable success for this movie. This movie will be a hit, no doubt. What would be interesting is what happens next: how he would do in his subsequent movies.

What kind of movies would he choose? Will he try to establish a "mass" image like his dad or will he experiment more by mixing and matching his stuff? I for one, would love to see him work with directors like Sekhar Kammula, Chandrasekhar Eleti and Neelakantha.

The influence Chiranjeevi has on Telugu Film Industry is for everybody to see. His shadow looms large over Tollywood. Ram Charan Teja indeed has some big boots to fill. He is certainly a good actor. Will he also become a great one? Only the future will tell...

‘Chirutha’ Review : It’s A Good Ram Charan’s Show!

Film: Chirutha
Cast: Ram Charan, Neha Sharma, Tanikella, Ashish Vidyarthi, Prakash Raj, MS Naayana, Daniel Balaji, Brahmanandam, Dharmavarapu, Ali, Venu Madhav etc
Editing: MR Varma
Cinematography: Sham K Naidu
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Nobel
Art: Chinna
Music: Mani Sharma
Production: Ashwini Dutt
Story, Screenplay, Dialogue, Direction: Puri Jagannath
Release Date: 28th Sep 2007

The D-day has come and the wait stops here. Ram Charan’s debut released and here are the details.

Story:
Charan’s (Ram Charan) father (Surya) gets killed by a gangster Mattu Bhai (Aashish Vidyarthi) in his childhood. His mother also gets severely injured in the same attack. He happens to go behind bars putting the crime on his head for saving his mother with an expensive surgery. He stays in jail for 12 years and then comes out. He learns that his mother was died when he was in jail. He moves to Thailand with the advice of his uncle. There he joins in a travel agency in Bangkok. He happens to escort a rich girl (Neha), the daughter of a rich man Kartikeya (Prakash Raj). He falls in her love by looks but very soon notices that she is arrogant, proud and adamant. He dilutes all her negatives and fills love in her followed by some action episodes. The climax is very well understood. It’s about how he puts an end to Mattu Bhai and quenches his revenge- and how he wins the rich man’s daughter.

Performances:
Ram Charan’s entry scene was composed very well with high dose of heaviness. There is big punch in introduction fight as well. The fight in Thai temples also scores well in his performance. But on a whole he appeared more like Pawan Kalyan in many scenes. Dances are good with some resemblances to his Mega Dad.

Neha is only for glamour quotient and to run the show, but she didn’t do anything marvelous. She is like any other imported stuff.

Prakash Raj and Aashish Vidyarthi are the character and villain characters respectively and they have justified their roles.

The comedy by Ali, Dharmavarapu and MS Narayana is entertaining.

Big score goes to cinematography, graphics, music and sound department. Puri Jaganath didn’t show his punch this time.

Analysis:
At the outset, the eagerness of the audience is to know about Ram Charan Teja’s performance. Well, there is no Teja in his name. It’s just mentioned ‘Ram Charan’. He did it. He proved that he has that in himself. His dances, his looks, his voice, his fights and over all performance are good. It never appeared that it is the first film of Ram Charan. He has definitely got brightest future.

Ram Charan Has:
o Good Base Voice
o Body language of Pawan Kalyan to 20% , Chiranjeevi up to 20%,Puri Jagannath style 30% and 30% of his original
o Dances are good with some Chiranjeevi’s grace. Its an Major Advantage
o Macho look is unique and interesting
o Bearing and boldness and more than sufficient

It’s the film that stood on the shoulders of Ram Charan completely, Yes, the reference of Chiranjeevi or Konidela is not all used in the film. But the biggest blemish is story line and screenplay. How Puri could come out with that outdated formula introducing the son of a big hero? There is no twist, no turn and no suspense element. Everything is very much in the anticipation limits of common audiences. The second half is adopted from ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’…the island, the love…the same! First half has some good elements with the introduction scene of Ram Charan. The punch in sound, the perfection in digital effects and the expertise in other technical aspects of the film are felt well.

The entertaining aspects in the film are Ali’s comedy and Dharmavarapu’s rib tickling dialogues. MS Narayana also spilled enough laughs while Brahmanandam is not used properly, Venu Madhav has o big role to play. Music is mass appealing and the songs

1. Ososi Rakasi..
2. …Gundello Goli Maro score the top of all songs.

On a whole the film is for the fans and general audience may not relish much as the story point scores less. Puri would have taken better care in story and narration aspect to fill in that gap. The production values are really excellent.

‘Happy Days’ Review: A journey through college days

Film: Happy Days
Cast: Varun, Nikhil, Rahul, Vamshi, Tamanna, Gayatri Rao, Sonia, Monali, Kamalini etc
Dance: Swarna, Noble, Prem Rakshit
Camera: C Vijaya Kumar
Lyrics: Vanamali, Veturi, Venkatesh Patwari
Music: Mickie J Mayor
Direction-Production-Screenplay-Dialogue: Sekhar Kammula
Release Date: 28th September 2007 (USA)
2nd October (India)

It’s like watching a college campus video. It’s the pleasant story of boys and girls studying in a college. Sekhar Kammula once again touches the receptive channels of the audiences pleasantly.

Story:
Four boys Chandu (Varun) , Rajesh (Nikhil), Tyson (Rahul) and Shankar (Vamshi Krishna) and four girls Madhu, Appu, Sravanthi and Sangeetha are the new admissions in an engineering college, CBIT to specify. The entire story is how the relations develop among these bys and girls in the four years of their studies. The love, hatred, happy days and sorrow moments and all fall on the silver screen till the grand finale. That’s only for watching but cannot be read.

Main male leads: This film boasts of perfect casting. You see characters, not the actors. All the new comers performed in an extremely natural way. And by the time movie ends, we end up understanding the characteristics and traits of each and every one. As per the footage and likeability of the character is concerned Varun Sandesh takes the top ranking. He is extremely lovable and his striking resemblance to hero Siddhardh is an added advantage. He understood the character very well. The next is Raahul. Lots of credit should be given to Sekhar Kammula for penning such a beautiful character and Raahul suited it to the tee. Nikhil is pretty good as the tapori. He got considerable importance towards the latter half of the second half. Vamsi Krishna is a pretty good actor, but did not get enough scope to perform. The two guys who had donned the role of seniors are good.

Performances:
The performances of all young boys and girls are impressive. The main heroine Tamanna is fresh and fair. Her body language resembles Sada to some extent. Gayatri Rao also did a fair job as Appu. Sonia, who played Sravanthi is hot and ‘intersting’. Monali Choudary who played Sangeetha is sufficient.

Coming to guys, Rahul did a lot and his diction is typical. Nikhil and Chandu are appropriate to their roles. Vamshi did his best.

Kamalini Mukherjee appears in the role of a glamorous English teacher and that’s just for a pleasant break.

The entire credit in giving characterizations for all these artistes goes to Sekhar Kammula. He is the man behind carving this long story of four pairs. Screenplay matters very big in such films and the responsibility falls immense in making audiences sit to the seats till the end.

Two songs Arare… and Paadametu Paduthunnaaa… are very interesting. Lyrics by Veturi, Vanamali and Venkatesh Patwari are good. Micki J Mayor’s music has a separate mark for itself.

The film is good on a whole but it pleases only the audiences who are aware of campus education. It is not a right dish for typical mass audiences anyway. It appeals for multiplex audiences, educated crowds and above all for US-Andhrites.

Main female leads: Tamanna is the main heroine of the film. She is very good and she oozed natural expressions in all her scenes. Gayatri Rao is also very natural and likable. However, it is Sonia who steals the show with her extremely natural and at times subtle expressions. Monali Chowdary is good as the bad girl. Kamalinee Mukherjee did the role of an extremely glamorous lecturer and she dubbed her own voice. She is cool.

Analysis:
Don’t miss the film for the amount of nostalgia it has. One can go back to his lovely college days. And for students it’s a lively celluloid story where they can see themselves on screen. All the feelings from college humor to romance to sentiment…everything can be seen in the flow of 2 and half pleasant hours. The film proved to be an entertainer by the stuff in it. But if you expect some non stop humor and rib tickling scenes, that’s not there. It’s a neat film made in Kammula’s style. The artistes are new but they have excelled in their roles. The film is worth watch by all sets of audience.

Fist half of the film goes with introduction of characters. Second half appears to be little dragged but that’s what happens when four love stories are to be concluded. The scenes sometimes are routine in second half and seldom has the tempo graph suffered ups and downs.