Black Swan is a must watch film

The proof of director Darren Aronofsky's skill and mastery of the moving picture format was visible right from his debut film Pi.

As far as global audiences were concerned though, the man has toiled in relative obscurity since his debut in 1999. Until now. Until Black Swan, and the news that Aronofsky will follow it up by directing the next Wolverine movie.

Black Swan is about how hard-working ballerina Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman ) loses her grip on reality in the pursuit of an idea -- the abandon of the Black Swan character in the ballet Swan Lake.

Driven to distraction by Thomas (Vincent Cassel) the director of the ballet, the departing ballerina Beth (Winona Ryder ), who used to be the star, a free-spirited rival Lily (Mila Kunis ) and even her own mother Erica (Barbara Hershey), Nina's desperate search for approval and perfection metamorphoses into a descent into madness.
                            
Even though Natalie Portman won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in this movie, Black Swan is really a triumph for the director because he was able to convert a film about a ballerina's insecurities into something that mainstream audiences considered worthy of repeat viewing.


Black Swan is not a conventional horror movie. Sure there is blood and psychosis, things go bump in the dark and the leading lady suffers disturbing visions and unsettling experiences. But at its heart, this is a low budget art movie -- a drama even -- with its multiple rivalries (mother-daughter, ballerina-ballerina, Nina's internal turmoil) and unresolved issues.

But definitions don't matter -- or perhaps they are only really relevant when a product remains unsold. Black Swan and its leading lady have both been sold as successful cinema and as an Oscar-worthy leading lady respectivelly. All that remains is for more people to watch this movie and see for themselves what the big fuss was about.
                          
That being said, this is not Aronofsky's finest work (that would be his second film Requiem for a Dream). Or even among his top three. But this is his most populist work. So I suppose there is a lesson in there somewhere for the filmmakers who want to be commercially successful 'artists'.

Watch Black Swan for its technical brilliance, for the manner in which the director has managed to parallel the happenings in the ballet being performed with the changes in the main character's life, and for the way it has been shot and art directed. Not because Natalie Portman won the most famous mainstream acting honour for wearing a pained expression for the bulk of this movie.

Aha Naa Pellanta Review: Laughs Guaranteed

                          
Director : Veerabhadram
Music Director : Raghu Kunche
Producer : Ramabrahmam Sunkara
Starring : Allari Naresh, Ritu Barmecha, Srihari, Ahuti Prasad, Nagineedu, Bramanandam and others...

There are certain similarities between Allari Naresh and Srihari. Both have established unique style of making audiences laugh out loud in almost impossible to smile situations and both wouldn’t mind doing character roles when necessary. In Aha Naa Pellanta, both compete to outdo each other, both as actors and characters. With both of them together, the movie promises a laugh riot and almost manages to keep it.


 What’s it about : Subrahmanyam (Allari Naresh) is an intelligent, hardworking software engineer. He lives with his uncle (Ahuti Prasad), keeps the poster of Bill Gates in his room, spends most of his time with his girlfriend Madhu (Anita Hasnandani), and Busy Balraj (Brahmanandam). After getting drunk heavily one night, he wakes up with a girl – Sanjana ( Ritu Barmecha). Neither he nor does the girl remember how they got together, but both start to believe they did ‘it’. It isn’t before too long that the girl’s ‘goon’ brothers (Srihari, Subbaraju, Samrat), warn him of dire consequences if he doesn’t get married to their ‘innocent’ sister. No matter how hard he tries to escape the marriage, it seems he can’t evade the brothers’ eyes. Just when he has given up all hope and agrees to the forced marriage, he stumbles upon a secret that turns the tables on the brothers. Inspite of having the upper hand over the brothers, poor Subbu still finds himself in a drama of love and backbiting created by them. In order to know who wins in the end, you got to watch Aha Naa Pellantaon screen.
                      

What is Good : Aha Naa Pellanta is a shameless comedy. It has innumerable scenes which generate different kinds of laughs – from the cheeky guffaws to complete ‘fall off seat’ loud laughs. Even though some could say that Srihari’s Telangana dialect has become too ‘normal’ he manages to utter some extremely funny words – just the words are enough to gives chuckles. Together with Brahmanandam, Srihari shoulders the responsibility of the movie, with some situations that can be seen only in Telugu Cinema. Of course it is unnecessary to say that Brahmanandam, when he has a good character, is just a synonym for comedy! Allari Naresh has a peculiar expression which by default looks confused and he makes use of it completely. Ritu Barmecha makes a nice entry into films, though she is required only to play the love interest of Naresh. Also cameo appearances from the likes of Venu Madhav, M.S. Narayana , Jaya Prakash Reddy, Vennela Kishore etc… add to the hilarious moments of the film. Anitha lokks glamorous in her limited role.


What is bad: Aha Naa Pellanta is heavily reminiscent of Hindi movie Welcome and has few scenes inspired from such comedies in Hindi. Problem is while the recent Hindi comedy movies have flimsy storylines, the progress of the story is effortless thanks to some well written and well acted scenes. Unfortunately, we have only well acted scenes (not all) here. For a comedy movie, Aha Naa Pellanta tries too hard to generate a love story between the lead couple. The good thing about Aha Naa Pellanta though is that at the end of the movie, you won’t mind it, because it gives your cheek bones enough exercise.
                              
Technical Departments : Because it is a comedy, Aha Naa Pellanta is heavily dependent on dialogues, which are for most parts, written well. However, some dialogues had to be muted, and few others were not as emotional as they could have been. Editing glitches were quite visible, and the overall texture of the movie was quite average. The sets, (sometimes supported by VFX), weren’t too impressive either. However, it had one or two songs that could be of some interest to the masses, though the film could have done without atleast one. First time director Veerabhadra, instead of relying on the script, banked on highly experienced actors who do not shy away from their responsibility. Koti background could have been better.

Final Point : Aha Naa Pellanta could just be the movie for those who are looking for some good entertainment. It is easily a good Allari Naresh film in the recent times and also has bonus in the form of Srihari and Brahmanandam.

Mangala Review

Mangala Review

Director : Tulasi Ram
Music Director : Vishwa
Producer : Tulasi Ram
Starring : Charmi, Subhash, Pradeep Rawat, Chitram Seenu and others...

It’s been quite sometime since we have seen a horror film in Telugu cinema. Mangala starring Charmi is one such film which has elements of horror and black magic. The film desperately tries to be a taut thriller and has its fine moments of spine chilling horror which catch you off-guard. But is that enough? Directed by Osho Tulasiram, the film brings together Charmi and Tulasiram once again after their earlier hit film, Mantra. The duo’s latest film, Mangala is about an actress who becomes a victim of a dreaded black magic spell and she has to save herself before the spell brings her closer to death.
                                                 

 What’s the story : Charmi stars as Ammulu, who’s made quite a name for herself as an actress. One day, a crazy fan of hers tries to meet her and in the process she misunderstands that he tried to molest her and she slaps him. Disheartened by this incident, he commits suicide. His father (Pradeep Rawat) tries his best to convince Ammulu to come and save his son who’s refusing to take medicine unless he meets his favourite actress and eventually he dies. Pradeep Rawat plans to take revenge for his son’s death by evoking a deadly spell of Black Magic which would mean a certain death for whom it’s being used. Charmi is the victim this time and the rest of the story is about how she tries to deal with the situation and whether she manages to save herself or not.

What is Good : Charmi is the heart and soul of the film. She breathes life into her character and portrays fear to perfection. Her transformation from an innocent actress to a ‘possessed’ girl is proof enough of her acting talent. She shrieks her lungs out, freaks out her director who tries to outsmart her and literally lives her role throughout the film. The guy who played her confidant as Subbu delivers an honest performance. The sound effects in the beginning of the film and the background score raise the bar for this film which unravels as a well crafted thriller till the end of first half. Uttej, Saptagiri are good as the producer and assistant director of a film which goes haywire due to a crazy director’s antics.
                                    

What is bad: After some spine chilling moments in the first half, the film desperately tries to live up to the expectations when the actual ‘solving-the-problem’ act begins. The final act of the film is a major let down. Is it a little too much to ask for a larger-than-life drama and action to solve an issue as big as what Charmi has to face in the film? After almost ten reels of living through the horror, there’s hardly any good versus evil fight which would make you vouch for the heroine. Mangala is one of those films where the climax just spoils everything which the film has tried to achieve in the end. Moreover, the film unnecessarily tries to up the glam factor by inserting two raunchy numbers with an excuse that Charmi is an actress in the film! The much hyped Aghora factor in the film which is all the more prominent in the posters is a let down in the end.

Technical Departments : The film scores high in terms of the background score and the sound effects. Music by Viswa is alright and the bum gyrations which Charmi seemed to have mastered for this film are nothing but a so-called ‘commercial element’ meant to attract the male species. Keeping aside the debate whether it’s good or bad, it does serve the purpose! Most of the film has a sepia tone and the cinematography is decent. Osho Tulasiram who wrote the story and screenplay apart from directing the film loses track somewhere in the middle of the film. While the story is well set up and it moves at a break neck speed till the end of first half, it begins to lag with endless drama while trying to reach the final act. But then, the film is a good attempt with a small crew and limited budget.
                              
Bottomline : Mangala promises a lot more than what it accomplishes and that’s its biggest fault. However, the silver lining on this black (magical) cloud is an incredible performance from Charmi and she holds the fort for most part of the film. And when a film of this magnitude ends up with an anti-climax, one begins to wonder why it had to be so alluring in the beginning! Perhaps no one would ever know who’s to blame; it would be a wise decision to blame the God for playing the spoilsport. Who said ‘Evil’ is bad? In a film like this, perhaps that would have been the saving grace. Amen.

Rating : 3/5