Khakhee - DD review

Language:  Telugu
Genre:  Action

Karthi is one of the few tamil heroes,  who has the stamina of pulling crowds to theatres.  Khakhee is doing great business in telugu - no surprises here. After the disastrous "cheliyaa",  karthi has put onus on debutant Vinod.  Let's see how far he has succeeded?

Khakhee is about a tough cop,  DSP Dheeraj's(Karthi)  struggle to nab famous robbery killings in 1995. Vinod has tried to show the story as real as possible.  He has done his homework well and it is evident in every frame.  Out of 160 minutes, there are numerous edge of seat moments. Without a single clue, how police solves the long pending dacoity is well shown and also the history of the dacoits is shown with a proper research. Rakul is good as female lead.

Karthi is elegant as a police officer. Rakul's innocent character suits her. Abhimanyu singh, as head of the gang is scary. Except for first song, others can be avoided. But bg score is impressive.

+++++++++++++++
Interval episode.
Bus chase.
Action sequence in desert.
Realistic screenplay.

------------------------------
Karthi-Rakul's romance is little boring.

If you like dark themed cop thriller,  go grab your tickets.

My rating:  3.25/5

Last words:  Out and out cop thriller. 

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Justice League - DD review

Justice league - DD review
Language:  English
Genre:  action,  superhero

After Marvel's Avengers,  now it is DC's turn to save the world from foreign invasion. Bruce wayne aka Batman tries to unite all the super heroes to fight against Steppenwolf and his parademons. Steppenwolf seeks to unite the mother boxes,  which is the source of super power that can terraform any planet.  As usual,  all the super heroes foils his plan.  Story is nothing new.

Excellent CGI effects and few scenes ties you to the seat.  Story lacks its depth and if you are critical about storyline,  it  may not impress you.  If you are a DC fan and if you love action scenes, it might impress you. 

The scene in which superman is brought to life is really weird.  Introduction scene of wonder woman is not related to the story.  Story line is highly flawed.

My rating: 3/5

Last words:  Just OK league. 

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Garuda vega:  DD review
Genre:  Action
Language:  Telugu

A well made hollywood like Tollywood edge of the seat thriller.  It's out and out Praveen Sattaru's film.  How a NIA officer busts the country's biggest scam forms the crux of the story.  Movie is highly technical with high production values. First half of the movie is a blockbuster with an unexpected and a brilliant interval bang.  Second half lacks pace with a simple climax.

After ankusam,  aahuthi,  Rajasekhar has got a very good role.  He lived up to expectations as an brave and intelligent officer and a trouble some husband.  Pooja is ok. Some scenes between pooja and rajasekhar are boring.  Other notable performers are adith and naazar.

+++++
Interval bang
Technical values
Screenplay
Action sequences
-----------
Importance of garuda vega is not convincingly explained
Climax is flat

My rating: 3.25/5

Tollwood film with international standards

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Thor Ragnarok - DD review

Language:  English
Genre:  Action, Superhero

For Marvel fans,  this is really a colorful treat. Amazing action scenes,  powerful performances and humorous conversations and much more is Thor Ragnarok.

According to Ragnarok prophecy,  Asgard is burned to ashes by a demon,  Surtur. Thor defeats Surtur,  returns back,  thinking he has prevented Apocalypse.  But Asgard has got a real villain in the name of Hela,  goddess of death,  first born of Odin.  Hela defeats Thor and Loki,  sending them to the garbage planet,  sakaar.  Hela raises army of the dead and Fenris,  the big wolf,  by killing everyone who comes in her way.  On Sakaar,  thor has to fight hulk in the battle of gladiators,  run by grandmaster.  Thor, Hulk,  Valkyrie and Loki has to escape Sakaar to save Asgard,  in mission revengers.  Are they successful?

Hela,  played by kate blanchett is so far the most powerful villain of the Marvel. Hela is vigorous,  powerful and has got all the skills for a ferocious Villain.  Kate blanchett simply nailed it.  10/10 for Hela.  The script writers infused a high dose of comedy in almost every scene,  which made the script full on entertaining.  The screenplay is highly entertaining and thrilling with edge of thriller scenes.  9/10 for script writers/directors. BG score is refreshing,  resembling 80's songs and visual effects are top notch. Action scenes are unbelievable.  9/10 for visual experiences.  The scenes between Thor and Hulk,  Thor and Valkyrie,  Thor and Loki are of the highest quality.  9/10. I like the Grandmaster character.  His body language and psychotic attitude is fun to watch.  A brief appearance of Dr.  Strange enthralls you.

My rating:  4.5/5

Finishing touch:  This is the best movie of Thor series and one of the best from Marvel. This Thor is thoroughly entertaining. 

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Dasara Winner??

Dasara movie festival started with the release of "Jai lava kusa". Trailer has garnered lots of hopes. Thanks to NTR, who has done triple role for the first time in his life. As expected, NTR has given his life time performance, especially through "Jai" character. Director Bobby has missed a golden chance of making it a blockbuster, with his pretty ordinary story and screenplay. His inexperience is clearly visible in handling the script. DSP's tunes and NTR's action completely saved the movie. May be routine movie lovers and NTR fans might like it. For other, its out and out ordinary movie.

Within a week gap, SPYder released. Trailer didn't give any hopes for superstar fans. Cheap visuals in the trailer let down the expectations of fans. Yet there is only one hope, Murugadoss. Good story line, engaging narration, BG score and powerful villain role are the main positives of Spyder while songs, tamil nativity, no heroism and cheap visuals are the drawbacks. Tamil audience might like it but surely not Telugu audience. Intelligent screenplay for a normal hero would have been accepted by Telugu audience. You have a top hero of Tollywood, yet Villain gains upper hand in every scene is a Big no for Telugu audience. Only a section of audience will like it. For others, its a dud.

Late in the game , Mahanubhavudu. Trailer made us believe there is "Bhale bhale Magadivoy" like super hit movie coming up. But it's not "Like" its exactly replica of "Bhale Bhale Magadivoy". Memory loss replaced by OCD. First half is dead slow. Second half with Maruti's typical humour saved the movie. Thaman's music and second half comedy literally saved it. Otherwise it's a huge failure. 

To me, there is no clear winner of Dasara.

While first timers are making huge success in the industry with "Arjun reddy" and "Ninnu Kori", old guns are still finding their form. Established directors should do their homeworks properly, because there is a threat from the next generation.

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Arjun reddy - DD review

Language: Telugu
Genre: Love

Arjun reddy is a modern devdas, who is lost in love. Does he finds his way back!? This is the base story. Simple, ain't it? No, Arjun reddy is more than this. It's a path breaking, radical movie. It's a revolution in Telugu cinema history. Not because it has countless smooches, explicit language, bold scenes but because of the unconventional content and progressive hero characterization.

Arjun reddy is a medico, topper in the pre-medical exam and also the topper of medical college. Biggest problem is his anger management issue. He is feared by many in the college. He falls in love with a tulu girl(Preeti). After few twists and turns, he becomes a drunkard and drug addict, after his girl is forcefully  married to another guy, because of caste problem. A renowned surgeon Arjun reddy falls to a level of  a impoverished who can't afford his drink. Does he gets back his life? Does he move on?

Vijay as Arjun reddy is impeccable. The characterization of Arjun reddy is of high standards. His attitude carries throughout the movie in all scenes. His emotions are intense -be it cuddling his girl or fighting with her. Shalini as Preeti is good as innocent first year student who falls in love with hero and tries to control hero's anger. Kamal kamaraju, kanchana are family members who understands Arjun. One important character who always understands Arjun and stands for him is his friend Rakesh. He has got tremendous screenspace and a good role. Radhan's music is good. Sandeep Vanga has chosen a matured content and delivered it raw and real. Except for the cinematic climax, every frame is real.

Positives:

Vijay devarakonda
Sandeep reddy Vanga (director)
Concept
Hero characterization
Favorite line: "Suffering is personal. Let him suffer"

Negatives:

Length
Adult content might keep away certain sections of audience.

My rating: 3.5/5

Last words: Biopic of Arjun reddy.

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Anando Brahma - DD review

Language: Telugu
Genre: Horror comedy

Horror comedy is a golden goose in tollywood. Even a below average movies minted profits for producers. Success rate of this genre is high. But it is not easy to generate fun with ghosts. First timer, Mahi has taken a very novel thought and showed  in a crispier way. As the name suggests, audience will experience "anandam brahmanandam".

Story: NRI Rajeev kanakala visits India, after he hears news of the death of his parents. He tries to sell his ancestral house, haunted by ghosts. He gives a contract to Srinivas reddy to prove there are no ghosts, so that he can get a better deal. The experiences of Srinivas reddy and his friends and the story of ghosts forms the rest.

First half of the story is bland while the second half is hilarious to the core. Resemblances of Hollywood movie "the others" is clearly seen in first 15 minutes. This movie starts where "the others" ends. First half is just introduction of Srinivas reddy, Shakalaka Shankar, Vennela Kishore and thagubothu Ramesh and Tapsee. Interval Bahubali dialogue is funny. Director is very intelligent enough to link the characters of 4 lead comedians to the story. Vennela kishore's deaf and night blindness, Srinivas Reddy's reverse emotional therapy, Shakalaka Shankar's movie craze and drunk Ramesh. These weaknesses generates continuous comedy for 40 mins.
Tapsee has better roles than this. This may not be her best.

No wonder it got into profit path in 3 days. Reason being Novel concept and a miniscule budget.

++++++++++++++++++++
Shakalaka shankar's ramdev baba, k a Paul and Pawan Kalyan dialogues.
Vennela Kishore padavinodam.
Concept

-------------------------------------
No so interesting introduction of characters

My rating: 3/5

Tagline: Their weaknesses are their strengths.

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Clash of August 11

Different genres, Different screenplays and different target audience and huge expectations......pretty much sums up about the movies released this weekend. "Jaya janaki nayaka" is a mass entertainer, "Lie" claimed to be an intelligent Thriller and "Nene Raju Nene Mantri" is a political drama. My take on these 3 flicks:

Jaya janaki nayaka is out and out Boyapati mark mass masala movie. Electrifying action sequences, convincing emotional scenes, huge supporting cast are positives while routine story, hero not able to utter high intensity dialogues are negatives. Music is average.

Interval fight and Hamsala deevi action episode is perfect treat for those who like masala movies. Sarathkumar and Jagapathy babu are 'added advantage' to the movie.

NTR would have been perfect for this movie. However Bellakonda Srinivas scored his first hit.

After a long break, Teja has done a decent job with Nene Raju Nene Mantri. Rana's one man show has definitely raised it's level a bit. Kajal has got a full length and matured role.

Music is average. Teja mark screenplay on current politics is bit overboard sometimes. Especially in climax, there is no need of mass gathering of all the people,after listening his story. Jogendra is not a Mahatma to influence the people. However, Rana's show has scored decent marks - a passable affair.

The title "Radha Jogendra" is apt for the movie. Tag line: Rise and fall of Jogendra for Radha.

Trailer has raised huge expectations and songs of Manisharma has increased expectations even more. Matured acting of Nitin, Arjun's acting skills, BG score of Manisharma, 3 songs are positives while lagging screenplay, unconvincing scenes, predictable twists are negatives. Hanu Raghavapudi has chosen complex storyline and couldn't do complete justice for the film. His inexperience is shown in many scenes. It's a below average movie.

There is no intelligence in intelligent Thriller.

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Game of thrones s07e04

******* SPOILER ALERT ******
Episode name: Spoils of the war
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy

This is by far the best of this season.
Jaime supervises the spoils of the war to get back to kings landing. Bronn talks about Castle to him and Jaime promises him a castle after the war is over. The conversation between them shows Bronn is still a cut throat and works for money as long as one pays him and Jaime is repenting for the things he has done for "love". Meanwhile Jaime asks Rickon (Sorry, Dickon) "How does it feel like being a first timer fighting a war?" He says it feels great but Bronn says your father is not here. Dickon says the truth that it is hard to fight against those who hunted and the men he was with, for a quite long time. Two things here - long friendship of Tyrell and Tarly and Dickon is not interested in fighting Tyrell but only following Randyll.

Little finger gives a dagger to Bran and lies about the owner of the dagger. But he doesn't know Bran knows everything. Bran's "Chaos is a ladder" surprises Little finger because those are the exact words came from his mouth while talking to Varys in kings landing. Bran is emotionless when Meera says she is going back to her family. Meera understands that he is no more a bran Stark but a three eyed Raven. Her dialogue "you died in the cave" means the same thing?

Arya reaches her home. Sansa is happy seeing Arya. Her dialogue "Jon's heart will stop after seeing you" indicates how strong the relation of Arya and Jon is. Arya asks Brienne to train her. Brienne takes her lightly but with the first move of Arya, she understands her capability. The fight was well shot. Clearly Arya outclasses Brienne. We can see a little smile on little finger's face. Probably he might be thinking he can use Arya against Sansa?

Jon snow shows the dragon glass in the mines of dragonstone and also makes her understand how the children of forest and first men fight against their common enemy - white walkers. Dany asks him to bend the knee again. Dany is not happy about loosing the war because of tyrion's plans. She suspects Tyrion. She asks Jon "What would you do in the present situation". May be Jon suggests her to attack the bounty of the war rather than kings landing.
Jon seems to have grown fondness of Dany. It is understood from the words of Ser Davos. Missandei reveals she followed Dany because she believes her and Dany is the chosen one by their army.

While Jaime, Dickon and Bronn are having a conversation, Bronn hears there is something coming towards them. Large horde of horses approaching with a typical Dothraki sounds. With the background score of horde approaching, my heart started pounding heavily. Such is the impact of the bg score. And the entrance of the dragon is a visual treat to watch. Jaime didn't expect this to be coming. Bronn asks Jaime to flee to King's landing but Jaime says he wants to stay with his men. Randyll tarly commands his men against Dothraki horde. But Dothraki along with the dragon is no match for tired Lannister army. Dothraki butchers Lannister army. Dragon roasts Lannister army turning them to ashes. Dany destroys the wagons carrying food and gold. Lannister army literally runs out of fear. Bronn escapes near death and fights his way to reach the scorpion to kill the dragon. He hits the dragon but to his dismay, it emerges more fiercely and burns the scorpion. Dany tries to remove the arrow from the Dragon, while Jaime rushes towards Dany to kill her and end the war. Dragon releases fire. Bronn saves him from burning alive. Bronn is really the hero of the war.

To me, this episode scores a perfect 10.

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Nakshatram - DD review

Nakshatram - DD review
Language: Telugu
Genre: Action

Krishna Vamsi's distrarous run continues. Total hype of the movie bursted like a bubble. This is the worst movie of Krishna Vamsi's career. This is the worst movie I have watched in recent times.

Story can be easily guessed from trailer. Ramarao (Sundeep Kishan) is an aspiring police officer. Tanish, a drug addict, spoils Ramarao's dream of becoming a police officer because of a small spat with him. He turns a self made police officer to stop anti social elements. In one encounter, he comes to know that a honest cop, Alexander (Sai dharam) is missing. With the help of Kiran reddy (Pragna), how Ramarao catches the killers of Alexander forms the rest.

Story is as old as Paleolithic age. Krishna Vamsi's should come out of his 90's mindset or take retirement. It is very difficult to compete with novel and young generation, with this mind set. You feel "is this the guy who wrote Khadgam, Rakhi, Ninne pelladutha", after watching this flick. Songs are unbearable. Bg score is noisy. Cheap lyrics added trauma to the audience. Cinematography is worst.

Sundeep Kishan is okay and his action in few scenes is good. Sai dharam is good as cop but this is not his best. I didn't understand his characterization. Director revealed his character as strict police officer but he is seen most of the time romancing his lady love. Pragna has got lengthy role than any other character in this film. Director showed as if she has done double role - a thief in the first half and a cop in the second half. Why she is shown as a thief is not explained in the entire movie. Only Vamsi might know the answer. She is shown with dresses as short as permitted, in the first half. Next comes Regina. She is only there to do skin show as much as possible. Her dubbing has added some kind of agony. Every song is picturised like an item song. And there is Shriya to do an item song which is on par with other songs. Tanish is "natural" as drug addict. But can't imagine him to be a lead Villain. Prakash raj and JD are okay. Tulasi is unbearable and her voice added salt on the wounds.

+++++++++++++++++

None

------------------------------
Direction
Story
Cinematography
Music
Lyrics
Screenplay and the list continues....

My rating: 1/5  (Iam being generous here)

Last words: Stars didn't shine for Vamsi. Audience will see Stars after watching this movie 😂

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Dunkirk - DD review

Dunkirk - DD review
Language: English
Genre: Worldwar

Before you go watch Dunkirk, better know the history of why Dunkirk is famous in world war 2. Because Nolan is interested in showing only how the evacuation happened.

In May 1940, British and French forces were pushed back to the beaches of a small French town named Dunkirk. Allied forces were holding the beach where 400,000 soldiers were stranded on the beach waiting for help. British forces literally can see their home along English channel, waiting for destroyers to come and rescue. Meanwhile German planes were bombing beaches, evacuation ships to destroy the stranded soldiers. Due to shallow water, British government launches operation Dynamo,where it decides to send civilians to rescue their country's sailors and rescues soldiers. This incident is famous for the reason the Civilians rescued Army men. Generally it happens the other way.

In the first ten minutes of the movie, 6 soldiers of allied forces are shot by German forces, while British soldiers guarding the beach. I sensed that something great Iam going to witness in the next 98 minutes. Much to my excitement, Nolan has shown everything - spitfires bombing destroyers, torpedoes destroying the ships, spitfires, hurricanes in the air, not from the regular camera angle. I have watched so many world war movies but this one redefined standards - Nolan's standards. Visuals are breathtaking. Aerial view of the English channel, Dunkirk beach, spitfires fighting the German planes,oil spills on the water. British planes fighting the German planes are so realistic as we feel we are in the fighter plane fighting the German planes. Nolan has once again teamed up with Hoyetema and his photography has never let him down. Background music of Hans Zimmer makes you feel the real war. That haunting clock ticking background, that bullet shots are amazing. Movie ends with Churchill's speech and the whole plot is based on that speech.

Don't expect any story telling or heroic moments from the film. We will just feel what had happened in Dunkirk.

My rating: 4.5/5

Last words: Nolan has created a masterpiece. Don't miss it.

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Shamantakmani - DD review

Shamantakmani - DD review
Language: Telugu
Genre: Thriller

First half is ok. Second half is ok with an exciting climax.
Second thriller in a row by Sriram Aditya, after "Bhale manchiroju". I felt Tarantino's type of twisty screenplay and dark comedy in Sriram's screenplay.

Shamantakmani is a vintage Rolls-Royce car and the story revolves around the car, which is worth 5 crores. Inspector Ranjith (Nara rohith) starts investigating the case. Each clue leads to each hero. The prime suspects are Uma Mahesh (Rajendra Prasad), Shiva(Sundeep Kishan), Karthik(Aadhi). They all have their stories to go to a pub of a star hotel, Provotel, where the car is stolen. Who is the robber and why did he steal the car forms the story.

Any thriller, if associated with a good comedy and few thrilling moments will definitely become a blockbuster. Shamantakmani is a flat ride. Neither you get bored nor you get thrilled. Climax is the saving grace for the movie. The twists at the end are hard to predict. Last 10 minutes of the movie is exciting. Dialogues, if given to some seasoned writers, would have generated few laughs. It's a challenge for a director to direct a multistarrers because of the question screenspace each hero has to share. Sriram has succeeded in providing equal screenspace to all heroes. Their characters are etched well to the story. Heroines Chandini chowdary, Sony, Ananya share very less screenspace though. One common point I noticed in Sriram's movies is heroines always ditch/leave heroes 😂.

+++++++++++++++++++
Climax
Screen presence of all heroes

----------------------------------
Not much comedy.
No thrilling moments except climax.

My rating: 3/5

Last words: Welcoming attempt. It would be good if more directors attempt multi-starrers.

Okay to watch once.

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Spider-Man Homecoming - DD's review

Spider-Man Homecoming - DD's review
Language: English
Genre: Action, super hero

Best part of this movie is villain is not created from any nuclear accident or any other accident. He is self made to become rich. Next liked aspect is story starts from the avengers climax.

Story: Toomes (Michael Keaton) and his team is asked to cleanup the alien leftovers from the climax avengers battle. However avengers corporation takes over this task.  Having lost his work, Toomes decides to use alien battery to make advanced weapons and sell it to black market. Meanwhile Peter Parker aka spiderman is a student in midtown school, while working as intern with Tony Stark (Robert Downey jr.). Unlike in other Spider-Man movies, this guy is sharp and tries to prove himself as a super hero. Tony Stark provides him a Spider-Man suit with a trainee mode and tracks him with a tracker. Parker confonts Toomes's team in the ATM robbery and also arms deal. In one such encounter, Stark takes back his suit for Parker's irresponsible behavior. Parker gets back his old suit and confronts Toomes aka Vulture. Who is Vulture and Did Spiderman wins back his suit??

Analysis: Peter Parker is young and agile. The childishness added to the character brought humour. The guy, who acted as a friend generated few laughs. Subtle humour and crisp conversations will engage us throughout. Unlike in other movies where a looser in life becomes a villain after engaging in an accident, our villain is self made and ambitious to become rich through illegal activities. Presence of Tony Stark in few scenes might have appeased Stark fans. Fresh casting brought a refreshing look to the Spider-Man series.

Few good scenes:
Action sequences in a ferry.
Lift trap scene.
ATM turmoil.

++++++++++++++++++
Story
Dialogues
Stark presence
---------------------------------
Flat climax

My rating: 3.75/5

Last words: This Spiderman is new and promising.

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Ninnu Kori - DD's review

Ninnu Kori - DD's review

Language: Telugu

Genre: Love, Drama

Tollywood fans know him as Natural star. Some say he is a producer's hero and minimum guarantee hero. Name is Nani and he has scored yet another hit with "Ninnu Kori". Director Shiva Nirvana delivers a message to the youth - "Love is not the end of life and there is a life after love".

Although the subject is not so new, he made it look fresh.

Story: Pallavi (Nivetha) is happily married to Arun (Aadhi) and lives in US. She comes to know that her ex-lover, Uma (Nani) got into depression, after her exit from his life. Story goes back to Vizag where Uma is pursuing his Phd and Nivetha is a Btech student. They love each other and when Uma goes to Delhi to submit his Phd thesis, Pallavi's father (Murali sharma) gets his daughter married to Arun.. In the present time, Pallavi gets to know that Uma has not moved on in his life, thinking she is leading an unhappy marital life. Pallavi invites Uma for 10 days to his house to show him that she is having happy life with Arun. Uma challenges Pallavi that he will get her back. Who wins the challenge forms rest?

Performances:

Nani's acting is fresh and refreshing in every movie. His performance is top notch in this movie. Be it a subtle comedy or emotion, he scored a perfect ten. He is a natural star, for a reason. No one deserves this title better than him. His acting in the climax definitely brings you tears and surprisingly claps and cheers came from the front rows. First time I saw audience clapping for a hero in an emotional scene. Nivetha thomas is another natural actress in making. Aadhi is another hero who has the ability to do any kind of role. He is soft, sensitive and a great lover of his wife, in this movie -a completely contrast to all characters, he has done till date. Karthik's photography is rich. Most of the songs are BG songs and "Adiga Adiga" stands out of all songs. Shiva has taken a regular thought and convinced the audience with his style of screenplay with ease. Can't believe he is doing his first movie. Dialogues are decent and real. Good job lad. Long way to go....Murali sharma's character is matured and has more reality in it. Prudhvi's comedy is good.

+++++++++++++++++++

• Nani, Nivetha, Aadhi, Murali Sharma, Prudhvi
• Screenplay
• Emotional scenes in the climax between Murali Sharma and Nani.
• Subtle comedy

----------------------------------

• Can be crispier

Had it been a little shorter version, it would have become a sweet and crisp movie.

My rating: 3.25/5

My Last words: Love is not the end. Let's welcome life after love.

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Duvvada Jagannadham (DJ) - DD review

Duvvada Jagannadham (DJ)
Genre: Action, Romance
Language: Telugu

Right from the poster release, audience thought it is going to be another "Adhurs". After trailer release, people compared it with Arjun's Gentleman. Let's see what exactly is DJ.

Story: Duvvada Jagannadha Sastry owns Annapurna caterings-pure vegetarian from Vijayawada agraharam (Brahmin Hamlet). His another avatar DJ cleans up the society by killing all top most criminals, with the help of FIR writer(Murali Sharma). Sastry meets Puja (Pooja hegde) in his cousins (Vennela Kishore) marriage. He falls in love with her and reveals her love with her. Puja rejects his love as she belongs to affluent family - Home ministers (posani) daughter.  In the meanwhile, his uncle Chandramohan commits suicide as he is cheated by agro industries led by royyala Naidu (Rao Ramesh). How DJ faces Royyala Naidu and how he wins love of puja forms rest of the story.

Analysis: Age old story and dialogues made DJ routine fare. Weak script and routine direction made DJ, an ordinary product. All arjun as DJ did a great job but as Sastry, he looked very ordinary. NTR has set a high benchmark with Adhurs and Allu Arjun is not impressive because of recurring dialogues (Sabhya samajaniki em message isthav etc). Allu Arjun is a great dancer and 'Seeti maar' is a perfect example of his dance stamina. Saving grace of this movie is Pooja's glamour. She looked ravishing. She danced really well. She "performed" as if this is her last movie 😀. Some sleezy dialogues may not appeal to family audience but may fare well with B,C centers. Few dialogues of Rao Ramesh are good. Subbaraju character is funny. Songs are really bad except "gudilo badilo".

Surprisingly DJ has already collected 50 crores in first 3 days and inching towards 100 crores. DJ may not appeal to multiplexes audience but may fare at B,C centers.

My rating: 2.5/5

Strictly avoid it. You can watch it during Dasara in TV's.

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Ami Tumi - DD's review

Ami Tumi - DD's review:
Language: Telugu
Genre: Comedy

Indraganti Mohan Krishna is specialist in trying variety of things. Right from his first film, he tried different genres and got success for few films. He has his unique style of writing screenplay.You don't see either blockbusters from his writings or duds. Most of them are made with low budget and makes decent revenues for producers.. Ami Tumi is a film based on comedy of errors.

Story: Janardhan (Tanikella Bharani) is a business man from Hyderabad. He wishes to marry his daughter Deepika(Eesha Rebba) to a Visakhapatnam based business man's son "Sri Chilipi" (Vennela Kishore). Deepika aka Deepa is already in love with Ananth (Adavi Sesh). Janardhan's son Vijay (Avasarala Sreenivas) leaves house to convince his lover Maaya (Aditi) and marry her. Deepu leaves her house in the guise of her maid, Kumari (Syamala) and introduces herself to Sri Chilipi as Maaya and asks his help to marry Ananth. Mean while Sri Chilipi visits Janardhan's house, mistakes Kumari as Deepu and gets shocked by her aged personality. Comedy of errors begins. Maaya has some problems with her step mother and runs away from her house. How Ananth gets married to Deepu , Vijay to Maaya forms the rest......

Analysis: First 10 minutes of the movie is damn boring and actors overact to most extent. Once Vennela Kishore enters, movie becomes interesting with his funny dialogues and wits. Vennela Kishore is the real hero of the movie. He did his life time performance. Without Vennela Kishore, this film would have been a big dud. Tanikella Bharani is good in Parts. Eesha is real good actress. She deserves more films in Tollywood. Adavi Sesh has relatively small role for a hero. Avasarala just played a Cameo. Syamala is good sometimes and unbearable in few scenes. Maaya's parents are horrible and irritating whenever they appear on the screen. I don't understand why they have to overact in every frame. Director did good job in limiting songs to two. "Ayya baboyandi" is a good number but better can be expected from Mani Sharma.

++++++++++++++
Vennela Kishore

---------------------
Predictable story-line and screenplay.
Overaction of few actors.

My rating: 2.75/5

Last words: Vennela Kishore is the bahubali of this movie.

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Mummy (2017) - DD review

The Mummy (2017) - DD review

Language: English
Genre: Action, Myth

Mummy (1999) is funnier, exciting while this mummy is darker and disgusting. This is the first dark universe film from Universal. This flick lacks a novel plot, engaging screenplay and I don't see the necessity of Tom Cruise for Mummy franchise.

STORY: Egyptian princess, Ahmenat is denied the line of succession because of birth of a son to the second wife of his father. Irked by this, Ahmenat kills his father and a new born and sells her soul to God set, who gives her a dagger with a red stone, which can bring her physical form. Knowing this, her father's priests buries her alive and mummifies her.

In present-day, Nick morton(Tom Cruise) is a soldier of Fortune. He plunders ancient crypts and sells it to highest bidder. In one airstrike in Iraq, he and his friend, Vail accidentally discovers mummy of Ahmenat. Vail is possessed by the mummy and was shot by Nick. Nick is haunted by the mummy. Ahmenat's plan is to kill Nick with a dagger and get her physical form. Meanwhile Henry Jekyll(Russel Crowe), head of secret society to hunt supernatural forces, tries to use Nick to end Ahmenat. Rest is how Nick puts an end to Ahmenat?

CASTING/PERFORMANCES: Tom Cruise is more younger and fitter. His action is normal. I felt like watching Mission impossible: mission of mummy. The characterization of Brendan Fraser in Mummy (1999) is far more entertaining. Sofia beutella is better and scary in Kingsman. She is disgusting in this movie. Mummy army is zombified. They look disgusting than scary.

+++++++++++++
Tom Cruise to some extent.
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Age hold story.
Boring story telling.
Not so exciting action sequences.

My rating: 2/5 (only for Tom Cruise)

Final touch: Avoid it.

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Wonder Woman - DD's review

Wonder woman: DD's review

Language: English
Genre: Comic, action

One character which won the hearts of audience in the much hyped, biggest flop movie "Batman vs Superman" is Wonder Woman. And also trailer of wonder woman which released few months ago raised expectations. Wonder woman didn't let down the expectations of audience.

Diana, Amazon princess of Themyscira. raised among the women warriors of Amazon, who think their primary responsibility is to save the world from Ares, god of war. Her mother, Hippolyta doesn't like her to be a warrior but she is secretly trained by her aunt, Antiope, general of Amazon warriors. Things change when a British spy, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), chased by German army, crash lands in the ocean of all woman world, Themyscira. Diana comes to know world is inflicted with war, where millions of innocent lives are taken away. Diana aka wonder woman leaves with Steve to find Ares, kill him and save the world. How does she find Ares? Who is Ares?  These questions are answered on the big screen.

Gal Gadot (wonder woman) is ravishingly beautiful. The innocence of the character added more beauty. Her expressions and action sequences are really good. Chris pine acted well as companion to Wonder woman. They share good chemistry on screen. Villains are not powerful as in other super hero movies but the screenplay of the movie never lets you feel it. Humorous conversations added fun quotient throughout the movie...BG score is awesome.

++++++++++++

• Conversations between Wonder woman and Steve Trevor.
• Beach fight between Amazon army and German army.
• Wonder woman taking down Germany army to save a village.
• Sacrifice of Steve Trevor

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• Quick paced animations lacked clarity in few scenes.

If you haven't watched already, get your tickets.

My rating: 4/5

Last words: Best DC movie till date.

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Guardians of the Galaxy - vol 2 : DD's review

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GENRE: SCI-FI, ACTION

After the success of volume 1, Marvel came up with volume-2. This part is less intriguing, more funnier than part-1.
Getting into the story, guardians fight space monster to save the batteries of sovereign race, headed by Ayesha. In return, they get Nebula, Gamora's (Zoe Saldana) sister. While leaving, Rocket(Bradley Cooper's voice) steals few batteries. Sovereign fleet is after them for batteries, destroying their ship and they crash land on a nearby planet. Unknown man saves them from sovereign fleet and he introduces himself as Ego(Kurt Russel), biological father of Quill(Chris Pratt). Ego is assisted by Mantis. Ego aims to destroy all the worlds with his celestial power. With the help of Mantis, Guardians destroy Ego.

Coming to the performances, Groot is sooooo cute and adorable. I am stunned to hear Vin Diesel provided voice to baby Groot. His voice variation as baby Groot and adult Groot is astonishing . Chris Pratt is little hefty and gained few pounds compared to the last part. I found his characterization better in part-1. David Bautista as Drax is funnier and added the comic flavour to the story. His conversation with Mantis is enjoyable. Rocket, as usual is funny and you will see loads of stunts. Gamora and Nebula's duel ends up in sister sentiment. Kurt Russel as Ego looks powerful. Sylvester Stallone did a cameo. Looks like he has important role to play in coming sequels. Yondo dies but not his kinematic arrow.

Music in this part is no match with the previous part.

+++++++++++
First action sequence with space monster, where Groot dances while other guardians fight, is awesome.
Rocket fighting ravagers.

Yondo killing all the mutinous ravagers with his arrow, is freaking stylish.

Groot's innocence in the climax scene, where he is asked to plant a bomb.

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Ego planet looks artificial.
Climax is not interesting. Pac man during the serious fight, looks silly.

My rating: 3.5/5

Last words: Watch it for GROOT.

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Guru - DD review

Language: Telugu
Genre: Action, Sports

It's been long time tollywood has witnessed film based on sports. Last movie I remember was "Aswini", a biopic based on the life story of Aswini nachappa. Any well made biopic of any sportsperson is well received by audience. Dangal, Bhag milka Bhag received tremendous response from audience. "Saala khadoos" is tailor made from stories  of many athletes. Guru is remade to Telugu from Hindi movie "Saala khadoos".

This movie is a life story of a coolie from vizag (Rameswari) who wins women boxing world championship. It tells how her coach Aadi (Venkatesh) struggles to overcome politics in sport and overpowers the evil of the sport to make her a world champion forms the Crux of the story. Junior coach's struggle in finding women boxers, ill funded sports acamedies, senior coaches taking advantage of the athletes, what not, everything is well told by Sudha kongara (director). Best part of the movie is the conversations between hero and heroine. Their egoistic attitude and dialogues keeps you engaged throughout. Emotions are well portrayed and audience leaves the theatres with heavy hearts.

Venkatesh is best as national coach. No other actor of the tollywood can fit in this role. His appearance and adamant behaviour on screen shows you a different Venky. Star of the movie is Ritika. She is simply fantastic. No words to express. She is the best. Mumtaz sorcar, Bengali actress acted as Ritikas sister. Nasser as junior coach. Hindi villain Zakir Hussain acted as national selector. "Jingidi jingidi" and "ey sakkanoda" are shot well. Others are just time lapse songs.

+++++++++++
Ramulu expressing love to Aadi
Climax
Ramulu intentionally loosing a match

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Few may not connect to the nativity feel

My rating:3.25/5

Final touch: Sure watch over weekend. Venky and Ritika rocks.

PS: I did watch "Saala khadoos". Still I liked it.

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Katamarayudu - DD review

Language: Telugu
Genre: Action, Factionism

First half is decent with comedy. Second half did lag often. After a debacle, Pawan Kalyan came up with a remake of Ajith starrer, Veeram. Aakula Shiva has made lots of changes to look different than the original film. Except for the main theme, the story is customized to the core for Pawan Kalyan fans.

Katamarayudu (PK) lives with four brothers and he doesn't like women. He believes his wife may bring strain in his relation with his brothers. However his brothers plans to make pk fall in love with a girl, avanthi(Shruthi). Eventually pk falls for avanthi. He comes to know she is in some trouble. How katamarayudu saves avanthi forms the rest of the story?

Pawan Kalyan is at his best. Especially in the introduction scene, you will get goosebumps. You will see comedy angle in pk in this movie. There is a scene with Shruthi, which evoked laughter.
Shruthi: meeku yoga telusa
PK: alanti cheap brands nenu thaganandi.
Shruthi is glamorous in parts. In few scenes, she looked good. Dolly has done enough justice to the script in elevating the mass angle in PK. Biggest let down is BG score and songs. Except for Mira Mira meesam and  jivvu jivvu, others are  worth not mentioning. Adding to the old script, music played the role of salt on wounds. Had it been a interesting second half and good music, fans would have seen a blockbuster.
Ajay has got a good role among all the four brothers. Rao Ramesh has added another interesting role to his career. Ali and prudhvi's comedy evoked few laughs.

+++++++

Introduction scene
Comedy scene of Shruthi and Pawan
Pawan proposing Shruthi

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Ancient story
B grade songs
Lack of novelty in scenes

But then, this movie is a sure shot movie for masses. It is no surprise if it becomes one of the top grossers.

My rating: 2.75/5

Final touch: new pk in old story

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16 every detail counts - DD review

16 every detail counts - DD review

Language: Telugu
Genre: Crime, Thriller

"There are no heroes and villains in this world, only characters" , a famous dialogue from a Telugu movie suits the story of this movie. 16 characters and story timeline of 16 hours justifies the title.

An aspiring police officer meets a retired inspector Deepak (Rahman) about an unsolved case. Inspector explains how he investigated the case. An accident by 3 youth eventually turns out to be a murder mystery. Director took the route of non-linearity in telling the story. If you connect the dots of sequence of events, you will understand the chronology of the scenes.  Good thing is Director didn't leave audience to connect the dots. The story deals with how any case is solved using leads/mis-leads. Twist in the climax reveals why the aspiring police officer chose Deepak to get that case information.

Rahman looks handsome even at that old age. His attitude exactly suited the role. His dubbing is top notch. The actor acted as constable Gautam is impressive. Others are just characters and motives of characters. Hero of the movie is Director. I was surprised to hear that a 22 year old made this movie. His story telling and screenplay is #awesome. On the other side, no villains and heroes made me little disappointed. May be I expected a lot from the trailer.

My rating: 3/5

Last words: Experience a new way of story telling.

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Logan - DD review

Genre: action, sci-fi,super hero
Language: English

******* Spoiler alert *******

After a series of prequels and sequels, Marvel has come up with Logan - 10 th in the xmen series. Amidst huge expectations, Logan is released on this friday. Unlike other action packed movies of the series, this part is more dramatic and emotional.

Getting into the story, after all the years of turmoil, Logan aka wolverine lives peacefully in Mexico with prof Charles. Their life is disturbed by a group of mercenaries, who tries to nab a young mutant (Laura), who has similar skills as Logan. Mercenaries belong to Transigen, mexican company which produces biologically modified mutant soldiers. While the young mutants tries to escape to US mexican border, mercenaries tries to bring them back to the company. Logan helps the mutants to reach the border.

No one can be sooo perfect as Hugh jackman, as Logan. He looks weak, old and diseased, yet looks powerful. Probably this is the last time fans see Wolverine. Wolverine is down and no more. Tears rolled out of my eyes in the climax. Charles is down too. We are not going to see charles and wolverine, unless Marvel makes a prequel. Sadly, we have to bid farewell to the two most powerful characters of Xmen series. Star of this movie is Laura, young mutant. Her skills are introduced with a power packed action scene. Scenes between Laura and Logan are engaging. Wolverine vs Wolverine fight scene is nicely choreographed. On the flip side, violence is bit high in few scenes. Concept of biologically modified mutants is not new.

My rating: 3.5/5

Last words: Emotional farewell for Logan aka Wolverine.

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The Ghazi attack - DD's review

The Ghazi Attack - DD's review

Genre: War/Thriller

Release date: Feb 17, 2017

There was a buzz in the tinsel town before its release because of its promotion as the first sub-marine (under water) movie of India. Story is pretty clear to everyone. Some of us knew about Ghazi. Some might have researched after the teaser release. The first 10 minutes of the movie reveals the plot. So, director has to bank on exciting screenplay and he did it absolutely well.

Set on the backdrop of 1971 war, where east Pakistan (Bangladesh)  was liberated from Pakistan by India.In order to support rebels, Pakistan plans to send supplies via Bay of bengal, which is under the scanner of India's prestigious air craft carrier, INS Vikranth. Powerful submarine Ghazi is sent to attack Vikranth and to blow up Visakhapatnam. India's submarine S21, under the command of Captain Rann Vijay singh (Kay Kay Menon) and Arjun Verma (Rana.D) is sent to interrupt Ghazi. How S21 sinks Ghazi forms the rest of the story.

More than story, screenplay is the key of the movie. Director Sankalp's effort is clearly seen throughout the movie. His research is extraordinary. He tried to show very minute technical details around submarine. In few scenes, high technical details killed the intention of the scene. For eg: To interrupt Ghazi's SONAR, Indian submarine crew sings Vandemataram and Janaganamana in high pitch. Idea is great but if a person doesn't understand how SONAR works, he will be in a confused state why they suddenly started singing National anthem. Climax is little flat.

Casting is the star of the movie. Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Rana, Tapsee, Om puri, Nasser, Milind Gunaji and others. They are natural performers. Kay Kay Menon's performance is one of his best in his lifetime.Others did their job perfectly well. Visual effects are of high standards in most scenes. 

My rating: 3.25/5

Last words:  Great attempt!!

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