JOURNEY: worth watch

SATYA
Long years back RAM GOPAL VARMA made satya. At one point in satya bhiku matre(played by Manoj Bajpai) gets killed.That scene comes in a time where the mood of the film is jubilant and voices of celebration in the movie touching your ear with a deep penetration. Then he gets killed.Sudden silence /Shock and even in the hall  the viewer took time to get adjusted to the sudden twist. Thats rgv when he is not marketing and making films.

NUVVUNENU
In nuvvu nenu the heroine waves at the plane unaware of the fact the person for whom she is waiting is in the plane. The scene  ends the first half and all the viewers anxiously waited for the second half.

Shock and surprise moments in the films are always absorbing provided they are packaged well. It makes you ponder over things which you always left in a hurry. The scene in satya made me very careful whenever a bad friend have shown advance with cloaks of goodness.

After a long time the movie Journey surprised me with its unique blend of tragedy and happiness. The moments of sharing, grief, happiness and sadness are all that sudden in life that we always live that moment with the mood genuine and natural. Nothing can be controlled by us and nothing can be done at will when we are driven by nature. Here the journey represents the force that controls and changes our destinations.

The journey  tells us we are not powerful to control life. Seconds can change the way we look at life.

Also the movie highlights in a continuous tone about the conditions of irregular travel habits of India and how we are accustomed to it. It also shows how restless and careless the drivers while travelling on repaired roads. It show cases the genuine helping nature of people who come to rescue victims. It presents to us how our travel conditions are jeopardized by unhealthy administration which works only after an tragedy.

The moments in the film are not new to screen. The love stories and and other characters tensions aare also not new. A road film is not uncommon in our days(we have seen gamyam, Zindagi naa milegi dobara, etc,.,)

What makes this film different from others  is its platform and the way it was presented. The fact what happens at the end of the movie is revealed in the first scene and both the flash back and present were well presented.

The female leads played their role with ease and finesse. They are destined to a great future. Sharwanand's  role is limited and he should now think of roles other than these kinds. All the other departments have done their work well

And this is not a movie where we are going to discuss honours. This is life. 

Long years ago a husband went to airport in Mumbai to book tickets. A bomb blast took place but he survived.He called his wife and informed his safety. After that he traveled to Stock Exchange on his work.Another blast took place there.This time he is unlucky.The wife still today does not believe he is dead. She is mentally disturbed. And lots of blasts still  happen in India

JOURNEY BRINGS BACK SUCH HORRENDOUS TALES TO MEMORY. ITS A WAKE UP CALL. WAKE UP. 

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rajanna

A young girl from a remote village in Telangana whose residents were slaves to the patwari system sets out to meet the first prime minister of the country to get his help to save her village from the clutches of   "Dorasani". This main plot seemed magical as lot can be worked out on the screen to showcase the post independent era of 50's. As the girl sets out to Delhi and waits on to meet the Prime minister she was again brought back to the village by the "Dorasani" and imprisoned. 

The Subplot opens up with a revolutionary freeing his followers from the British after a fight and they parting ways to meet again.This revolutionary (rajanna) comes across the atrocities in Telangana   and inspires the people there to revolt against the followers of nizam. As a result battle lines were drawn between the conservationists and revolutionary. The revolutionary succumbs after a valiant fight.

The main plot reopens with the revolutionary daughter singing a song and mesmerizing the first pm and a happy ending.

Rajanna suffered because of two strong story lines which were never connected. While the first one is all about a girls determined journey the second one is a revolutionary's determination to make people realize their energy levels and claim whats theirs. The director failed to realize both these strong story lines are not made for one movie. Sadly a brilliant story line dips after a thunderous start..And once the second half started i forgot the girl and fell in love with rajanna and his songs. And in the penultimate scenes the director suddenly brings the girl and the plot and like many Telugu films everything is hurried. 

I felt i am watching two movies at a time. 

Instead of showing rajanna as father of the girl,  the film would have worked if both the stories were run in tandem and rajanna accompanying the girl to achieve her goal.The director should have worked out the story in that way and lot could have been achieved with such chemistry. Both rajanna and the girl never meet and the much anticipated chemistry never exists.

Its a rare try in the mainstream cinema to bring out .the injustice and exploitation in telangana. sadly the film tries only in certain ways. Never the film projects pain in the most inflicting ways. The horrors of telangana were the most disturbing in the history of india. Here is  an opportunity but it was wasted on cinematic liberties.

Finally iam not saying this film is without merits. One scene will stay long in my memory where a mother with a baby in her lap singing songs to wake the baby and Nagarjuna affectionately wishes her only to find a horrifying tragedy  which shocks you to death.Or the other one where you expect the hero to beat the enemies but what happens is completely different. 

The songs are good. There were some touching moments. but as i said two different story lines and a great injustice done to the main plot. 

And the director should have remembered that rajanna dies literally in 1948 or so. 8 years or later mallama sets up to meet the prime minister Nehru. Its around 1956 then. So whats the take.? whether nizam went in such a horrifying state in 1956 or so(by then our state was unified and the horrors of nizams slowly subsiding).Lots of inaccuracies. Dear director when making a period movie lot should be studied and lot should be taken into account.

And sir you spoiled one of the best opportunities. 

In the movie nagarjuna makes every one reach their potential by his words and songs. Some one should have done the same while the making of the movie.     

PANJAA

                                                                 

long years back RGV made antham with nagarjuna. Iam in my degree second year and i loved the movie where others simply made it a outcast.Always its a pain to remember antham was a flop. One of the  best movies made by RGV. The paradox is with little change he made satya , it went on to become a  cult classic. Antham remains one of my favourites.

More or less similar Panjaa brings back the memories of antham .The shots photography gunfights and a calm but ruthless protagonist. Ironically the plot resembles antham in a lot of way. The same conflict between the mentor and the disciple is brought up here too. The only difference is a fear quotient among producers that it may not appeal and hence forced comedy and scenes in the second half.

the comparison ends here.Antham is lot better in screenplay and presentation.

Then what makes panjaa appealing? rather interesting.

The behaviour of a confused hero. Unlike mafia movie dramatics the hero simply falls for the girl and there after works out for his love. the girl never becomes point of conflict like antham and there the story differs. Jai of Panjaa is having his friends and normal unlike raghav of antham. Jai is very much loyal to his mentor where as raghava has no such attachment to any one concerned.

These points of loyalty and ones own life are the base for panjaa. And it begs to differ from regular stereotype.The movie steps into pace when the mentor asks his disciple to extend his loyalty to his son and the later is not ready. Situations force the two to turn against each other and the protagonist is torn between loyalty and himself.

Pawan kalyan should be commended for doing a director backed role. HE controls himself and comes out with an appreciable performance. Jackie shroff as the mentor deliver a powerhouse performance. and new comer adivi seshu as the mentor's son dominates the screen whenever he is on the screen.

Photography is top notch and music (both songs and background) is of high quality. Dialogues are pretty good. Telugu cinema now has writers who are writing heart felt and touching dialogues.This movie has such in good numbers.

లాభం కోసము చేస్తే వ్యాపారము పుణ్యము కోసము చేస్తే దానము ఏమి ఆశించకుండ చేస్తే సాయము

నేను చావుకి భయపడి వెళ్ళిపొవట్లేదు. చంపేస్తానన్న భయముతో వెళ్ళిపొతున్న

నేన్నిక్కడికి రావడానికి నువ్వు కారణము కాదు. నేను వెళ్ళిపొవడానికి నువ్వు కారణము కాదు.

Now its definite that the readers of this review will feel whats great in these lines. The thing is these dialogues are simply told in the films complex scenes. There is no preachy stuff. They elevated the scenes to the maximum effect. such simply written stuff is another merit of this film.

Now what makes panjaa weak. again the falsified star worship. In the entire second half  I was surprised to see the hero jumping frantically to a mad tune. The protagonist sudden mood switches from jubilant to moody are patches on the entire characterization. When the hero is  lost in a sea of strangers and trying to secure himself you find deviations in form of brahmanandam and co. We are type casting brahmanandam  and he is a victim of stars searching for hits. The entire second half instead of concentrating on the main plot puts itself on regular cliches. And as a result the penultimate scenes run in a hurry leading to a urgency in ending.

And it turns out to be a sour taste in the main course after a well served starter.

No doubt the director has done a good job. The way the protagonist fears himself looking in the mirror in the second half clearly explains the directors ability. The thread of hero looking into mirror in different situations may not be unique but  used here in a continuance. Most of the conversations are economical and hence visually a treat as much is to be conveyed through eyes. The eye conversation between Atul kulkarni and Pavan kalyan stands out. 

In the final scenes pawan says "దాదా! విషయము మనిద్దరి మధ్య." to jackie shroff. Yes the film is a conflict between a man who sheltered a mother less child and a child whose loyalty is only to the man who saved him.And sadly once the conflict is established and you are expecting a thriller, you come across  -a romance- a forced comedy-regular hero stunts etc., And when the thrill begins it ends so soon that you wonder what you saw---a good first half or a compromised second half or a regular stereotype. 

The Protagonist has a good habit.He sets out time for his work on a stop watch and completes his works on schedule. No deviations when in his work.He even cuts the call from his lady love when in work. The director should have implemented the same for the movie.