Change Your Image
tabeapawlitzki
Reviews
Ramayya Vastavayya (2013)
Way too violent
All the stars I gave are for the music and dance numbers. They were all way above average. Truly outstanding. I will be listening to the songs for a long time.
This movie did not know what it wanted to be. I felt like it went through every genre, tone and emotion. I started to lose track of the story after a while because it was so all over the place. The grief acting was melodramatic, and the revenge storyline much too violent and gory.
The treatment of the female characters was disappointing. One was stalked, the other fridged. Two wonderful women who could have held their own in a film, but they are sidelined for violence. Such a shame.
Sakthi (2011)
My advice: just watch the first half
I give the first half of this film full marks. Sadly, halfway through it becomes a completely different story.
In the beginning we spend time with NTR jr as an arrogant tour guide. He's hilarious. The heroine is feisty. Her friends are a blast. Sadly in the later half she is given nothing to do. The movie becomes a little too heavy on religious themes, the humour vanishes, and the friends kind of diappear as well. It's a shame because I think NTR jr is at his most charming when he is given comedic material. Yes, he nails drama too, but the script wasn't engaging enough to make part 2 interesting, even with the capable actors.
I gave up trying to make sense of the Egyptian antagonists. Probably best not to think about it too much. Much was done with cgi, but given how bad it looks I wonder why they didn't cut those parts, or try to go for more practical effects.
I had trouble following the tonal jumps. One moment we're clowning around with two lovely characters, the next these innocents get brutally murdered.
I wish this film could have remained within the confines of an excellent road trip film with exciting hang gliding action sequences.
To end on a positive note: the songs are amazing. The dancing is some of my favourite from any Indian film. (There's a cowboy type number that was so fun.)
Nannaku Prematho (2016)
Nonsensical overcomplicated narrative
This movie is like if someone took the character of Vizzini from the Princess Bride and tried to make a serious film about him.
Story is utter nonsense.
What I liked:
-NTR JR (duh). The man is so charming that he is always entertaining, no matter how deficient the movie is.
-The relationship between the brothers, and their bond with one another. Family issues between them were plausible, and were resolved in a satisfying way.
What I found hilarious: Protagonist is introduced to us by having him beat up some folks for littering, but for the rest of the film there is so much littering by the main characters.