All the great actors come to life again

Before reading a detailed MAYA BAZAR movie review, go through some facts about this classic:

Original Film Release Date: March 27, 1957

New (Color) Film Release: Jan 30, 2010

Story, Screen-play, Lyrics & Dialogues: Pingali Nagendra Rao (KV Reddy & Aarudra partly)

Direction: KV Reddy

Producers: Nagi Reddy & Chakrapani

Photography: Marcus Bartley

Choreography: Gopinath & Pasumarti Krishnamurty

Editors: Bhaktavatsalam & Jambhulingam

Art: Gokhale & Kaladhar

Playback: Ghantasala, Susheela, Madhavapeddhi, Leela, Vasantha Kumari & Jikki

Music: Ghantasala (3 songs were composed by S Rajeswara Rao)

Cast: NTR, ANR, SVR, Savithri, Gummadi, Relangi, Allu, Ramana Reddy, Suryakantham, CSR, Nagabhushanam & Balakrishna (comedian)

Creative Director (for Re-Storation project): C. Jaganmohan

INTRO: I’ve watched the original black & white Mayabazar some 2 decades back (198o’s) and the way the film has left a strong mark on my memory can’t be expressed. Be it the special effects, grandeur, star cast, songs, settings or poems – everything from start to end are so memorable. The news of restoring the classic itself was so refreshing. But I was super skeptical about the outcome!

ANALYSIS: As the name of the film suggests – it’s really a magic all the way (in color). The colorization was an eye-feast and the sound effects were so good and neat. Though there was a dramatic improvisation in the instruments used and the orchestra, the songs came out so well. You’ve to be in the theater to believe the positive energy the film creates with its new look.

Resizing the film to fit our cinema scope screens is not a small feat and the restoration team (at Goldstone technologies) have to compromise a lot on the screen space. Still, the feel and beauty was never lost and Bartley’s cinematography is at it’s best.

HIGHLIGHTS: Savithri‘s terrific performance as Sashirekha is simply amazing. The way she enacts SVR’s body language is a feast to watch. SVR as Ghatotkacha will surely impress us. His dialogues, comedy timing and screen presence were commendable. ANR has given a controlled performance as Abhimanyu. Relangi as Laxmana Kumara is hillarious. Allu Ramalingayya, Vanga & Balakrishna’s comedy episodes were really sarcastic and funny. Last but not least: NTR as lord Krishna will surely imprint the God’s charm on us. The way he smiles and delivers expressions with eyes is superb and soothing. I miss him a lot! Few episodes were more than a treat to watch after colorization:

• Journey episode of Abhimanyu with his mother Subadhra
• Intro scene of Ghatotkacha
• Laahiri laahiro lo song in a boat on a full-moon night!
• ‘Jaya Satya Sankalpa’ poem in the climax

PITFALLS: Sound restoration is not consistent (might be problem with original sound track or the theater). And, due to the damaged negative, Goldstone was not able to include the full versions of few songs like: “Bhali Bhali devaa..”, “Dhayacheyandi….”, “Vinnaava yasodhamma..”, etc. And, they should have avoided including some DTS sounds for transition effects (from one scene to another scene).

NOTE: The characters of Hindu mythology comes into life with greatest actors playing them. Watching Mayabazar in Color is a more satisfying experience than watching any other recent movie on the day of it’s release! Technology used at it’s best and more films should be on their way (depends on us – TELUGU AUDIENCE – to accept it with both the hands)

*** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED & MUST WATCH ***

Kudos to the whole re-storation, colorization and sound-improvisation team at Goldstone Technologies for this brave and wonderful attempt. And lastly, BIG THANKS to Super Good Films’ team for bringing the COLOR MAYABAZAR into theaters!

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Mahatma POSTER

MAHATMA is the latest Telugu Film starring Srikanth (100th film) & Bhavana. MAHAATMA movie is directed by creative director (so called?) Krishna Vamsi.

STORY: Das (Srikanth), a small time goon in Hyderabad joins the gang of local MLA, Daada (Jayaprakash Reddy) to become a hero in the film industry. Dada starts using Das for his own evil purposes and in the process, Das realises the cunning nature of Dada and comes out by challenging Dada. Krishnaveni (Bhavana), a junior lawyer keeps bailing out Das in the trouble times and both fall in love with each other.

Das starts a political party named ‘Mahatma party’ with the help of his gang (consisting of Uttej, Paruchuri, etc). With an enlightening song narration, Das transforms to a Gandhian giving up liquor, non-veg, violence, etc and he gets good media coverage and fan base (with just 2 media coverages…??) in the process. How he follows Gandhi principles and become a winner forms rest of the plot.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Srikanth‘s intense performance (though he tried to imitate Chiru in drinking sequences).
• Jayaprakash‘s terrific performance as a cruel politician & Ram Jagan‘s unexpected portrayal of freedom fighters.
• Pre-interval episode and RamJagan’s death scene were very good.
• Starting titles’ song & “Indiramma inti peru…” song were pretty effective with wonderful lyrics by Sirivennela.
• Duvvasi Mohan’s 2 minute episode about the qualifications of a hero is hilarious.
• One drunkard yelling out the names of different party leaders like: ‘budda ntr’, balayya, chiru, JP, etc is pretty realistic.

PITFALLS:

• 1st things first: Director KrishnaVamsi has lost his touch long back (with Khadgam movie) and now, he tried to dish out a message oriented film in a commercial way and he succeeded only in bits and pieces.
• Over concentration of satires on present film industry and political scene dilutes the main purpose of film: showcasing the ideoligies of Mahatma Gandhi.
• The inconsistency of hero’s character over the principles of Gandhi is very sub-standard.
• A dream song with a group of dancers was mis-placed when the film is getting engaged.
• Mass-orientation should have restricted the director’s risk attitude.
• Film clearly lacks the entertainment quotient.

Final ANALYSIS: Though MAHATMA is not great, we can watch the film for it’s own merits. Vijay Anthony’s re-recording work was better than the songs scored for the film. The film gives us a feeling of watching some 1995 film and doesn’t completely get into the concept. It also reminds us some of SriHari’s movies, KodiRamakrishna movies that were purely targetted at B & C centers. To be frank, the film has got good response from general public many a times during it’s run, but the director has failed to maintain the grip until the final episodes.

MAHATMA will surely attract masses and will be a safe project (at least in B & C centres)…!

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Few years back, Telugu Film Industry used to make more money and more films than any other language in India. With over 150 films per year and 10% to 20% of hits, TFI used to be in the news….! But now, 100 films per year with 5% of hits…! What’s happening to the industry that’s been a home place for Mega Producers, Creative Directors, Superstars, etc…???

2009 is turning out to be a worst year for the TFI as it has generated only 2 Hits until now (May 12th) and 3 or 4 OK movies. Mid-Year Review with the Top 10 Movies of 2009 follows:

1. Arundhati (Public: 4/5 and Critics: 4/5)

2. Kick (Public: 3.5/5 and Critics: 3/5)

3. Billa (Public: 2.75/5 and Critics: 2.5/5)

4. Maska (Public: 2.75/5 and Critics: 2.5/5)

5. Aakasamantha (Public: 2.75/5 and Critics: 3/5)

6. Adhineta (Public: 2.75/5 and Critics: 2/5)

7. Siddham (Public: 2.5/5 and Critics: 3/5)

8. Koncham Ishtam KK (Public: 2.5/5 and Critics: 3/5)

9. Manorama (Public: 1.75/5 and Critics: 2.5/5)

10. Oka Oorilo (Public: 1.5/5 and Critics: 3/5)

Though we have Puli, Jr.NTR’s film, Aarya:2, Magadheera, Anjaneyulu, Oye, Aa Okkadu, Eenadu, etc to come in the 2nd half of 2009, the chances of  Tollywood recovering are very thin…!

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