Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Barren Bollywood, "Gudumba Shankar" & powerful images……..
After the release of “Lakshya”, I have been waiting for a movie from Bollywood that deserves to be seen in a theater and my search is still continuing….The outlook for the future does not look to be promising either. Even though my browsing has taken a hit of late, I can’t think of any movie that I am looking forward to, except for “Naach”. This Ramgopal Varma movie is the only one that might make me go the distance, but its expected to be released only in November. Where have all the talented people gone?
However, things are much rosier in Tollywood. After “Arjun”, the next big movie that is slated to release this weekend is “Gudumba Shankar”. Starring Pawan Kalyan, one of the three heirs to the legacy of Chiranjeevi ( the other two being NTR jr and Maheshbabu a.k.a. Mahesh), this movie is widely expected by the telugu audiences. Coming after the huge debacle of his earlier movie “Johnny”, Pawan will be keen to prove a point and I have a gut feel that he will get it right this time. I plan to catch the movie this weekend.
Talking about “Arjun,” two images from that movie that speaks volumes of the director Gunashekhar’s talent still linger in my memory. Right in the beginning of the movie, when the two main characters Mahesh and Keerti Reddy are having a small fight between themselves, their mom intervenes to separate them. Till that time, the audience does have an inkling that they are siblings but don’t know that they are twins. Gunashekhar drives this point brilliantly with a single shot that captures a childhood photo that is hung on the wall and has these three people talking beneath it. So even before their mom starts off a dialogue explicitly mentioning that they are twins, the audience has already been nudged to think on the same lines! Awesome use of a photograph to drive home a point!
The second image is even more powerful. Towards the end of the movie, there is a night time fight sequence on the temple road between Mahesh and Kalabhavan Mani’s men. In one particular shot, Mani falls down on the ground after getting a vicious kick from Mahesh and looks back to see him approaching. At that precise time, a car zooms in between them. The headlights of the car magnify the shadow of the approaching Mahesh and the villain a.k.a Mani quivers in fear looking at the shadow that looms large over him.
Boy! This was an image that spoke a million words. Nothing else can possibly signify the fear of the villain who is getting thrashed by the protagonist than this scene. Nothing else can portray the extent of the domination of the hero over the villain. I am simply not able to forget this awesome image. Indeed, he is one among the very few directors that the telugu film industry can be proud of. Leaving these apart, the movie was strictly OK fare, except for Mahesh’s riveting performance that includes his awesome voice modulation. You can read the detailed review of the movie here.
After the release of “Lakshya”, I have been waiting for a movie from Bollywood that deserves to be seen in a theater and my search is still continuing….The outlook for the future does not look to be promising either. Even though my browsing has taken a hit of late, I can’t think of any movie that I am looking forward to, except for “Naach”. This Ramgopal Varma movie is the only one that might make me go the distance, but its expected to be released only in November. Where have all the talented people gone?
However, things are much rosier in Tollywood. After “Arjun”, the next big movie that is slated to release this weekend is “Gudumba Shankar”. Starring Pawan Kalyan, one of the three heirs to the legacy of Chiranjeevi ( the other two being NTR jr and Maheshbabu a.k.a. Mahesh), this movie is widely expected by the telugu audiences. Coming after the huge debacle of his earlier movie “Johnny”, Pawan will be keen to prove a point and I have a gut feel that he will get it right this time. I plan to catch the movie this weekend.
Talking about “Arjun,” two images from that movie that speaks volumes of the director Gunashekhar’s talent still linger in my memory. Right in the beginning of the movie, when the two main characters Mahesh and Keerti Reddy are having a small fight between themselves, their mom intervenes to separate them. Till that time, the audience does have an inkling that they are siblings but don’t know that they are twins. Gunashekhar drives this point brilliantly with a single shot that captures a childhood photo that is hung on the wall and has these three people talking beneath it. So even before their mom starts off a dialogue explicitly mentioning that they are twins, the audience has already been nudged to think on the same lines! Awesome use of a photograph to drive home a point!
The second image is even more powerful. Towards the end of the movie, there is a night time fight sequence on the temple road between Mahesh and Kalabhavan Mani’s men. In one particular shot, Mani falls down on the ground after getting a vicious kick from Mahesh and looks back to see him approaching. At that precise time, a car zooms in between them. The headlights of the car magnify the shadow of the approaching Mahesh and the villain a.k.a Mani quivers in fear looking at the shadow that looms large over him.
Boy! This was an image that spoke a million words. Nothing else can possibly signify the fear of the villain who is getting thrashed by the protagonist than this scene. Nothing else can portray the extent of the domination of the hero over the villain. I am simply not able to forget this awesome image. Indeed, he is one among the very few directors that the telugu film industry can be proud of. Leaving these apart, the movie was strictly OK fare, except for Mahesh’s riveting performance that includes his awesome voice modulation. You can read the detailed review of the movie here.
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