After the successful releases of King & Arundati, MAGADHEERA is all set to entertain us on the perfect picture quality format: BLU-RAY. Along with it’s 2-disc collector’s edition DVD, Magadheera was released today in the new Blu-Ray format also.

Rajamouli, Ram Charan & Allu Aravind

Though the existence of Blu-Ray players in Andhra is negligible, it’s nice to see that the makers of MAGADHEERA has come up with this new format. Will be reviewing the MAGADHEERA BLU-RAY disc soon! Sri Balaji Videos is the manufacturer. Screen shots of the DVD print follows:

DVD is priced @ 149 rs, 2-disc DVD @ 199 rs, VCD @ 75 rs & BLU-RAY @ 549 rs! Magadheera Blu-Ray disc is not yet released into the market. The news from Planet M music store is that: MAGADHEERA BLU-RAY DISC will be available only from 15th March in the retail shops!

Climax scene from PREMA movie

This is the final (CLIMAX) screen of a time-less love story: PREMA starring Venkatesh & Revati. Music was by Ilayaraja and directed by Suresh Krishna (Baasha & Master fame)…! I thought I would share it and cherish the memories…

SAMANTHA made her debut with the new Telugu Cinema: YE MAAYA CHESAVE movie opposite Naga Chaitanya. She is getting rave reviews for her performance and looks alike. You can watch YMC just for her natural performance… Way to go Samantha…!

Also read SAMANTHA’s latest INTERVIEW:

Raana in Sekhar Kammula's LEADER

LEADER is the latest offering from ace director: Sekhar Kammula and the famous production house: AVM Productions. Daggubati RAANA makes his debut as hero with this Leader film. Audio has been an instant hit with some great/sensible numbers!

STORY: Arjun Prasad (Raana) becomes CM with the support of MLA s after his father (Suman) dies in a bomb-blast. He wants to transform the politics and give a clean adminstration to the state. Eliminating corruption tops his agenda and he makes some intelligent moves in the process of achieving his goals. How he wins the hearts of common people and come back to power after sacrificing his CM post forms rest of the plot.

PERFORMANCES: RAANA is just awesome! His physic suited the role to the core and his dialogue delivery added to the attire. Though he looked uncomfortable in few romantic episodes, he is here to stay and has a long way to go. He looks great with beard (especially during the climax episode)…! RICHA and PRIYA are good enough for the female lead roles. HARSHAVARDAN, KOTA & SUHASINI steal the show with their super cool performances after a long time. GOLLAPUDI glitters in a 2 minute role. AHUTI, RAO RAMESH & SUBBARAJU are competant in their given characters!

TECHNICAL: SEKHAR KAMMULA has taken a different path this time with this socio-political drama. Screen-play is pretty good with some appreciable episodes here and there. But, it’s confusing at times with no clear script in hand. Dialogues were great (especially: okka ammaayiki nyaayam cheyaleni CM – unte entha, oodithe entha..??) Editing is jerky and disturbs the free flow of the film. Cinematography by Vijay C Kumar is sub-standard with lots of blurred-frames all over the film. He has failed completely in capturing the basic beauty of Assembly exteriors. Music by MJ Meyer is also not that effective as the new/bit versions lack the depth. But he makes up with his great Re-Recording and mixing work!

HIGHLIGHTS: Raana’s great performance as an aspiring Leader, the concept of bringing out the black money and using it for public, some great one-liner dialogues stand out in this better-than-ordinary film.

PITFALLS: Poor photography work, confusing and dragging 2nd half, mixing love thread with the social cause, over obsessed media, lazy screen-play, etc spoil the show. Udaya Bhanu’s item number was of cheap taste!

FINAL ANALYSIS: Leader takes it’s own time to get started and goes well with some interesting episodes before interval. Post-interval, the film gets diluted with some un-necessary sub-plots and confuses the audience. Though the director tried his best to bring back the lost interest with some decent ending, it was already late by then.

LEADER is definitely a brave/bold attempt from the maverick director; but, it goes hay wire at times with many deviations in between. Can be watched once for it’s simple – yet – powerful message of an idealistic politician and some natural performances!

“Maa Telugu Thalliki…” lines were muted in the climax song and this surely spoils the party! How can a TELUGU THALLI song be muted in a TELUGU film after all..???

Nagarjuna in & as KEDI

INTRO: It’s been a while since Akkineni Nagarjuna’s film hit the screens and everyone has lots of hopes on this high budget movie. There were many changes in the title (Rummy – to – Mosagaadu, Mosagaadu – to- Kedi) and finally, the film was released today on the eve of Maha Sivaraathri..! Kiran makes debut as director with this Telugu Movie KEDI.

STORY: Rummy(Nag) & Janaki are 2 close friends in their childhood. They get departed as our Janaki wants to see Rummy as a responsible person and in a dignified manner in the society and also says that she will marry him only then. In the process, Rummy becomes a high profile gambler and he meets Sandhya (Mamata Mohandas) and her son. Revealing the past of Sandhya along with Janaki’s identity forms rest of the plot !

TECHNICAL: Story itself has nothing new/interesting to offer. It definitely has shades of other films like: Slumdog, Bujjigadu, Santosham, etc. Debutant director: KIRAN has failed in coming up with a tight script and though he tried to compensate with some intelligent screen-play, he was already lost! Cinematography by Sarvesh Murari is top notch with some cool DI work involved. The tint he used for few episodes was appreciable. Sandeep Chowta’s music is not that great with hardly any song impressing us except the title song! But, his Re-Recording has brought some new flavor to Kedi. Production values and art work are commendable. Editing work was pretty ordinary and should have been crispier.

PERFORMANCES: It’s Nagarjuna all the way and he looks charming in this film (though he looks aged at times). As usual, he sucks at dancing. But, his cool act as a professional gambler can be compared with some of his past finest performances. He looks dashing and stylish through out the film. Mamata Mohandas is just OK with her routine expressions of being gloomy and doesn’t add anything to the film’s prospects. She’s beautiful in sarees and she definitely needs to work on her body language!

Brahmanandam, Shiyaji Shinde, Ankur, Nadia, etc were not effective enough. ANUSHKA’s special appearance in the title song will go wasted and Mehek’s item song received some good applause in the theater.

HIGHLIGHTS: Nagarjuna’s screen presence, Cinematography, 2 songs (Jaaniye Jaane Jaanaa, Title song), Re-Recording and some clever screen-play work added with subtle expressions…!

PITFALLS: Dull script, boring action episodes, lack of entertainment & not-so-catchy songs will surely work against the KEDI Movie…!

FINAL ANALYSIS: Director’s lack of experience was clearly visible and the film never gets into an interesting phase. Though ever-charming Nagarjuna tried hard to save the script/film with his cool performance and presence, it’s obvious that the much required energy (josh) was missing through out. Even the Janaki & Rummy’s re-union episode was so boring and climax was much dragged! The chemistry between the lead pair was never there to woo the audience. But, the subtle moments with some simple humor are some positive elements that will bring some good response but not the much required Box-Office-Hit..!

Note: Go with no expectations and still, you will not like the KEDI MOVIE. But,  go for some different visuals, intelligent screen-play and lighter comedy episodes…! KEDI film falls way below the expectations and it might end as an average film at A-Class centers at best!

There’s nothing in KEDI to talk high about: except the Costumes of Nag and some cool photography work…!

Lately, I’ve been reading many articles on Times Of India, Rediff, etc about a Telugu actor becoming a Superstar in Malayalam film industry. He’s none other than our Bunny (Allu Arjun) and his latest film: Aarya 2 (below average in Telugu) is running successfully all over Kerala. Even his previous films like: Aarya, Happy, Desamuduru & Parugu have performed well with their dubbed versions! Will this open gates for other Telugu heroes in the Malayalam film industry that’s being ruled by Mammootty & Mohanlal from decades??

Read: Times Of India Article & Rediff Article

And, I’m so happy with the news of a Telugu Star making it BIG in other languages (haven’t heard of it ever before). Until now, we’ve been seeing other language actors (Rajinikanth, Kamalhasan, Vikram, Soorya) becoming superstars in Telugu. Telugu heroes: Chiranjeevi (Kannada & Hindi), Nagarjuna (Tamil & Hindi), Venkatesh (Hindi), etc have tried it before and failed to attract them! And I hope that this new found craze for MALLU ARJUN movies will open doors for new sources of business for Telugu Films!

Note: Personally, I hate Allu Arjun’s looks, dialogue diction and his over-action. But just with his dances, different-roles and pumping energy, he has managed to become popular and a STAR in Telugu Film Industry! I’m still curious to know the reason behind his new stardom in Malayalam Film Industry!

Ram Gopal Varma is coming up with a sequel to his critically acclaimed hit film: PHOONK. This PHOONK II will be released in all the 3 languages of Telugu (as AAVAHAM), Tamil (as BOMMAAYI-2) and Hindi (as PHOONK-2). This sequel is being directed by Milind Gadakkar and RGV produces it! RAMU has been trying to scare us with his horror films (Raat, Bhoot, Phoonk) from many years and has been successful only in parts. We’ll need to see if does that this time at least!

Phoonk II has RGV’s new found talent: Sudeep as it’s hero and other cast includes: Amrita, Ehsaan, Rishab, Maneesh, etc!

Looks like Telugu Superstar: Mahesh Babu is more interested to act in Ad Films/Promos rather than acting in a full length feature film. He seems busy with his Thumbs Up ads one after the other, but it has been ages since his movie got released. Whatever be the reason (personal problems, delay in schedules, etc), MAHESH has to pace up his work and make sure that his next movie (in the direction of Trivikram) will get released even before the audience (at least the normal viewers) forget him…!

The above posted pictures are of his shoot for the promos of new Thumbs Up ad and was shot for few days in Malaysia…!

On the other hand, it’s heard that Ram Charan Teja has been selected as the National brand ambassador (not just for AP and Telugu Media) for PEPSI along with Dhoni and he will be soon featuring in Pepsi promos that will be aired on National Media. It’ll be great if this turns out to be true!