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Payal Rajput's Rakshana Review, Rating

Movie: Rakshana

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'Nunakuzhi' Movie Review: Baiju Santhosh salvages this predictable comedy thriller

We have seen comedy thrillers where multiple story threads, through a series of errors, merge to create a whole. Ramji Rao Speaking is one of the most iconic examples of that in Malayalam cinema. So, it is quite fitting that Jeethu Joseph’s latest offering opens with a title track that sounds like a homage to the song ‘Kalikkalam Ithu Kalikkalam’ from Siddique-Lal’s outstanding debut in 1989. Nunakuzhi is a film that tries to stitch together several narrative threads into a chaotic yet entertaining package but leaves a lot to be desired.

The story unfolds in four interwoven threads, each introducing a new set of characters and complications. From the outset, the film promises a madcap ride where logic is thrown out the window in favour of mindless entertainment. The first thread introduces us to Eby Zacharia (Basil Joseph), the lazy, silver-spooned managing director of Poozhikunnel Group. His predicament begins when his laptop, filled with private videos, is confiscated by a senior income tax official (Siddique).

The ensuing chase for the laptop spirals out of control, eventually leading Eby into a random house (Grace Antony), setting off a series of misadventures. Basil, as Eby, is both amusing and frustrating in his portrayal of an entitled man caught in a compromising situation, frustrating because his performances are becoming predictable.

The second thread takes us into the messy divorce proceedings of Rashmitha (Grace Antony) and Renji (Aju Varghese), where reality is stretched to farcical limits. Grace’s portrayal of Rashmitha as a woman on the edge is commendable, though the character’s over-the-top reactions can feel jarring at times.

The third thread, however, is where the film begins to lose its way. It follows Siddique’s character as he unwittingly switches Eby’s laptop with that of his wannabe filmmaker nephew (Althaf Salim). The subplot involving his attempts to secure the dates of a star, Sundernath (a forgettable Manoj K Jayan), adds little to the narrative and only serves to stretch the film beyond its welcome. Althaf’s performance is particularly underwhelming, with his portrayal of the jilted lover-turned-aspiring filmmaker feeling both cliched and lifeless.

The final thread ties the film together with the entry of Baiju Santhosh as a senior cop tasked with unravelling the chaotic mess created by the other characters. Baiju is undoubtedly the film’s saving grace, delivering a performance that is both charming and sharp. His comic timing and the way he handles the absurdity around him bring much-needed energy to the film. One of the significant drawbacks of Nunakuzhi is that not all the jokes land, especially in the first hour.

Thankfully, Nunakuzhi is mostly fast-paced, with a runtime of just over two hours, and packed with so much happening that it rarely feels sluggish or stuck at one point or in a loop.

However, the lack of surprises, especially compared to Jeethu Joseph and KR Krishna Kumar’s previous collaborations like 12th Man and Kooman, is apparent. The film’s trajectory becomes predictable after a point. Ultimately, Nunakuzhi could have been smarter and funnier, had it taken the time to refine its screenplay and trim the unnecessary parts.

Movie: Nunakuzhi

Director: Jeethu Joseph

Cast: Basil Joseph, Grace Antony, Nikhila Vimal, Baiju Santhosh, Siddique, Manoj K Jayan, Azees Nedumangad, Althaf Salim

Rating : 2.5/5

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Yashoda Review

Yashoda Movie : What's Behind

Samantha's Yashoda has been the cynosure of all eyes ever since its announcement. The film directed by Hari and Harish is releasing today on November 11, 2022. The film's OTT partner is Amazon Prime and it has bagged the rights for a whopping amount of Rs 45crs. The OTT streaming will be underway after Yashoda's theatrical run. The film's teasers and trailers got tremendous responses and Samantha indulging in high-octane stunts became the talking point. To top of it, Samantha revealed that she is suffering from a rare disease myositis, and sympathy increased in her. Let us find out whether Sympathy for Samantha powered Yashoda at the box office or not.

Yashoda Movie Story Review

Yashoda story is all about surrogacy and the dark secrets behind it. Yashoda (Samantha) a poor girl in order to help her sister pursue her studies and get her married, decides to become a surrogate mother. She is taken to Eva Hospital facility and as days progress she finds something fishy going on. Where this leads to, whether Samatha delivers a baby, what is its connection to the mysterious murders happening in the city, and how they are related to EVA Hospital top brass Madhubala (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar), Dr. Gautam (Unni Mukundan), Union Minister Giridhar (Rao Ramesh), police officer Rishi (Shatru) and military officer Vasudev (Shatru) from the crux of Yashoda.

Yashoda Movie : Artists, Technicians Review

Yashoda's story is all about surrogacy and they tried to surprise viewers with a medical thriller. The story and plot chosen by Hari and Harish are novel and completely different from the ones we have seen in medical thrillers. The narration starts off in an interesting and exciting way with mysterious murders and Samantha is then introduced as a girl who opts for surrogacy due to financial constraints. The parallel narration generates interest to a point but the hospital scenes where Samantha interacts with others dip down the proceedings. But the director duo scored points by including the emotional angle into it. Artificiality increased during the hospital scenes unlike the investigation scenes involving Murali Sharma, Sampath Raj, and Shatru. But curiosity levels increase once Samantha finds out interesting and shocking things in the hospital during the pre-interval and interval scenes. This set the stage for the gripping second half with Samantha taking charge. This excites viewers and Samantha's role is elevated to the core thrilling her fans. But when the stage is set for the next level takeoff, the flashback featuring Varalakshmi Sarathkumar and Unni Mukundan, and Rao Ramesh dips the proceedings. There are many scenes in the film in the second half when viewers think that the film come to end but it drags on and on till the routine climax brings down the curtains to Yashoda. Hari and Harish's screenplay is fine to some point but at times it went for a toss. The same is with the script and the story. Samantha during the last few years has been reinventing herself by doing different performance-oriented roles. Samantha with Yashoda showed her acting prowess once again. She showed variations in her expressions and emotions. At the start, she played the role of an innocent girl out to help her sister and then shows her curiosity to find out the mysterious happenings in the hospital. Samantha indulged in breathtaking stunts and also emoted well showing her feelings as a pregnant woman. For all her performance, the character arc in the film all Samantha's hard work failed to elevate it to the next level. The dialogues of Pulagam Chinnarayana and Bhagyalakshmi are impactful and thought-provoking. They highlighted the emotions quite well. Varalakshmi Sarathkumar played the role typical to her appearance and of late she is getting similar kinds of roles. But her flashback episode turned out to be artificial. Unni Mukundan performed the supporting role well as the doctor. His role comes with a surprise. But Unni Mukundan's role could have been elevated more. Rao Ramesh once again entertained with his dialogue delivery and antics and expressions. Shatru, Sampath Raj, and others performed according to their roles. Mani Sharma's music is just ok. None of the songs get registered. His background music is in sync with the story and took viewers along with them. The cinematography of Sukumar is good and gave a rich feel to the scenes. The editing of Marthand K Venkatesh is ok but could have been far better as there are a few drags in the film.

Yashoda Movie : Advantages

• Interesting premise
• Samantha's performance

Yashoda Movie : Disadvantages

• Lack of twists and turns
• Routine elements

Yashoda Movie : Rating Analysis

Samantha's Yashoda with Hari and Harish generated immense interest among movie lovers with interesting teasers and trailers. Hari and Harish tried to show Samantha in a completely different role and expose the surrogacy scandals showing Samantha as the surrogate mother. This is quite interesting and with the interesting concept and plot, they proceeded ahead. They started the proceedings in an interesting way but in between, they failed to maintain the tempo as the screenplay went uneven. It went from racy to patchy and artificial and routine elements marred their creativity. Had Hari and Harish included a few more interesting twists and turns to thrill the viewers, Yashoda could have made an even better impact. Yashoda for the brilliant start and interesting interval bang in the end turned routine with the climax. Altogether Yashoda is an interesting medical thriller that failed to show more power. Considering all these aspects, Cinejosh goes with a 2.5 rating for Yashoda.

Cinejosh - A One Vision Technologies initiative, was founded in 2009 as a website for news, reviews and much more content for OTT, TV, Cinema for the Telugu population and later emerged as a one-stop destination with 24/7 updates.

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Rangasthalam - movie review.

Film: Rangasthalam Cast : Ram Charan, Samantha Akkineni, Anasuya Bharadwaj, Aadhi Pinisetty, Prakash Raj, Jagapati Babu, Amit Sharma, Naresh, Rohini, Bramhaji, Gauthami,Rajesh Diwakar, Pooja Hegde (item song) and others Music: Devi Sri Prasad Cinematography: R. Rathnavelu Editing: Navin Nooli Production design: Ramakrishna, Mounika Action stunts : Ram - Laxman Production company: Mythri Movie Makers Producers : Naveen Yerneni, Y. Ravi Shankar, Mohan Cherukuri Story, screenplay and Direction: Sukumar Release date: March 30, 2018 CBFC Rating: UA Running time: 179 minutes

What’s it about!   Circa 1980. Place: Rangasthalam village. There were no cell-phones, no internet, and no modern amenities. Everyone did manual jobs. Chitti Babu (Ram Charan), the village’s favorite young lad, is the most-hardworking person. Despite his hearing deficiency, he does everything – watering the fields with pump sets, etc. - with so much ease. He develops love towards the village beauty Rama Lakshmi (Samantha). The village has a president Phanidra Bhupati (Jagapathi Babu) who has been ruling it for many decades unopposed. The farmer’s co-operative society run by the president’s henchmen make sure that the farmers are never loan-free. Turbulence happens in his life when his Dubai-returned brother Kumar Babu (Aadhi) fields in village president elections. The clam, serene village turns into killing field. Chitti Babu now is out to take the vengeance.   Analysis :   ‘Rangasthalam’ is name of the village but it also means ‘stage’. As the title song lyrics goes (Kanapadani Cheyyedo Aadisthunnaa Aata Bommalam Antaa..), the villagers are mere actors in this stage play that is scripted/directed by some visible forces and some invisible forces. This theme is brought-out well by director Sukumar in this period-drama. On the surface, it may seem just a revenge drama set in 1980’s but it is actually talks about how politicians use people as pawns to achieve their goals.   The film depicts the simple rural life of 1980’s in the agency area (Rampachodavaram and Devipatnam region in East Godavari district). It begins as a youngster revolting against the oppressive and feudalistic president but there are some surprise elements as it progresses towards the penultimate.   Story begins with local MLA (played by Prakash Raj) getting injured in an accident and Chitti Babu saving him and then reveals the backstory of Chitti Babu and his village story. At the interval, we come back to the first scene and post-interval the drama goes back to the episode of Chitti Babu’s brother Kumar Babu vs village president. This back and forth screenplay is cleverly used to tell the simple story of village politics and revenge drama by writer-director Sukumar.   Sukumar has made the hero having hearing deficiency. He has used this aspect of protagonist to generate fun in the first half and in the later half, this is for emotional and dramatic effect. The major twist in the story has perfect link this angle.   Director Sukumar presents the villains through the village politics but sometimes appearances can be deceptive. How to find the real villain who wears mask of gentleman? This is the main plot of this revenge drama.   Films with the rural setup, the 80’s period and the cult elements were made in Tamil in the recent past. Known as ‘Madhurai movies”, films like “Subramanyapuram” generated huge following. However, Sukumar’s “Rangasthalam” is not “Subramanyapuram”. His is lighter version.   While the first half of the movie deals with Charan and Samantha’s romance, the fun part, the second half turns very serious. Sukumar has succeeded in transporting us to the agency area of the 80’s but some scenes have more of Tamil-flavour. And also the second-half turns slow. However, the film has some terrific scenes that elevate heroism:  the way Charan says the name of the village president is one such example. Then there is also another subtle one: hero vowing to crush the snake that tries to bite him (he later crushes village president whose name happens to be Phanindra Bhupati. Phani means snake).

The film completely belongs to Ram Charan. His performance is the pillar of the movie. In his decade-long career, Ram Charan never got the chance to showcase pure acting skills until now. It is here in this film that the actor in him has come out. He has completely surrendered to the role of Chitti Babu. This is toughest role for him (playing deaf and slipping into rural character). He has got the expressions, body language and the dialect right. It is evident that he has put his heart into this role. His performance shines through.   Samantha as Rama Lakshmi is endearing. In the village belle role, she has shined. She is said to have played this role without much makeup. She is perfect. The dubbing-artiste who has lent voice has done excellent job, her Godavari dialect is pitch-perfect.   Anasuya as Rangamma has meatier role and she has played it with flair. Hers is not seductress character but of a meaningful one. Jagapathi Babu as president of the village is also excellent (he has very few dialouges). Prakash Raj gives his best. Pooja Hegde in an item song is huge a disappointment, the song comes at wrong time. Aadhi Pinishetty as Kumar Babu is perfect.

Devi Sri Prasad always reserves best for Sukumar. "Yentha Sakkagunnave" and "Rangamma Mangamma" have worked out well in the film. His music is huge plus to the film. His background score is more effective. Rathavelu’s camera has cranked the Godavari delta area beautifully and he made the set of the village look real with his evocative camera work.   Ramakrishna and Mounika, the production designers, have done commendable job. Their village set is so real. The film’s story happens in a village somewhere in Devipatnam of tribal agency but the village is not real, it was created in Hyderabad by these two art directors. Dialogue writing is neat and in sync with the theme. Editing is neat but the 179-minute runtime definitely needs trimming.   Sukumar had written the script for his debut movie ‘Arya’. Later he has started depending on others writing. After such a long gap, he has written story, screenplay and dialogues. Though the story is flimsy, his screenplay and narration is engaging. Known as urban director, he has attempted rustic theme with élan.   Bottom-line: Ram Charan with his absolutely riveting performance steals the show in ‘Rangasthalam’. The simple theme of revenge and village politics of 1980’s is told in a engaging way by creating the mood and atmosphere. The village politics and the crude president......all these are 80’s themes. Sukumar has not brought out anything new as far as the plot is concerned. But he has brought out best performances and created temperament. Despite lengthy runtime and slow-pace, it holds the attention till the end.

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‘The Union’ Review: Old Friends Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry Reunite in a Middling Spy Movie

Playing ex-flames who team up to save the world, the two leads have chemistry, but the movie lacks the personality to make their low-key screwball dynamic worth the hassle.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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Life peaked in high school for Mike McKenna ( Mark Wahlberg ), whereas then-sweetheart Roxanne Hall ( Halle Berry ) managed to escape dead-end New Jersey and travel the world. While he joined the local construction workers union, she joined the Union , a clandestine spy group about whom Roxanne blandly claims, “Half the intelligence community don’t know we exist, and the other half regret finding out.”

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Mike’s been drinking at the same bar ever since Roxanne dumped him, hoping she’d walk back into his life. “Is it as you imagined?” Roxanne asks when she does. “I dunno,” he says. “In my head, you were always wearing a bikini.” Just more evidence that the movie was made for 13-year-old boys, even if Wahlberg thinks he’s making this film for the blue-collar guys back home. What else could he mean when his characters says, “It’s nice seeing yourself reflected on-screen”? He’s not drinking martinis in a bespoke tuxedo, but this hardly feels like the representation that Hollywood’s been missing.

Wahlberg plays Mike as if he doesn’t want to do spy stuff, but the movie never gives him a convincing reason to come around. Maybe he would’ve joined the Union if Roxanne had been kidnapped, or if someone he knew (like Lorraine Bracco, wasted as his mom) were in danger, but as written, the character agrees because the actor playing him likes the idea. I suspect Wahlberg is also responsible for enlisting director Julian Farino (who has nearly two dozen “Entourage” episodes to his name). Comedy he can handle, but action doesn’t come naturally to the helmer, and it shows in set-pieces recycled from 007 and “Mission: Impossible” movies.

Once Mike agrees to join, the film compresses a two-week training program (already cut down from six months) into a trailer-length montage, during which he meets other Union members: top boss Tom Brennan (J.K. Simmons), combat pro Frank Preiffer (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), psych evaluator Athena Kim (Alice Lee) and an underused IT guy who calls himself “the Foreman” (Jackie Earle Haley). At times, “The Union” seems to suggest that all of these agents were once honest, hardworking stiffs like Mike — in which case, the organization’s name kinda makes sense — but if that were true, then Roxanne doesn’t fit the profile.

Or maybe she does. The trouble with “The Union” is that neither the film nor its characters have much in the way of personality, to the point it’s not even clear how they feel about one another. To reveal the villain would spoil a mild surprise, though it feels reasonable to complain about the cheap trick of insisting said baddie was once married to Roxanne. When all three characters are together, the movie intends to spark jealousy between Mike and his rival, but mostly it just freezes whatever chemistry had been heating up between the ex-high school sweethearts, as Mike finds himself friend-zoned.

In concept, there’s something inherently appealing about Berry and Wahlberg as action stars. Both have shone in the genre before: It’s hard to top Berry’s intensity in B-movie “Kidnap,” while Wahlberg does best in “Patriots Day” director Peter Berg’s real-hero portraits. In “The Union,” it’s easy to tell they’re being doubled by stunt people half the time, and when they’re not, neither actor looks very convincing — which is to say, instead of entertaining the notion that a Jersey boy can be a spy, it shatters the previously accepted idea that Wahlberg should play one.

Reviewed at Egyptian Theater, Los Angeles, Aug. 12, 2024. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 107 MIN.

• Production: A Netflix release and presentation of a Municipal Pictures production. Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Jeff G. Waxman. Executive producer: Jennifer Madeloff.
• Crew: Director: Julian Farino. Screenplay: Joe Barton, David Guggenheim. Camera: Alan Stewart. Editor: Pia Di Ciaula. Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams.
• With: Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, J.K. Simmons.

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Nabidul Shaikh 126 days ago

Awesome ��

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Prince 340 days ago

very best movie and which boy want to make injiniur so that boy se this movie and gain basics

seeram rajesh kumar 723 days ago

Maharshi is motivational movie this video dedicates to aspirants

raghu6300386775 raghu 1031 days ago

Only style no substance in this film.its a mixture of all super hit movies.

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Release date : August 07, 2015

123telugu.com Rating : 3.75/5

Director : Koratala Siva

Producer : Y.Naveen, Y.Ravi Shankar

Music Director : Devi Sri Prasad

Starring : Mahesh Babu, Shruti Haasan

Whenever there is a Mahesh Babu film on the cards, the entire industry sits up and takes notice. Srimanthudu is Mahesh’s biggest release till date and has opened all over today. Also starring Shruthi Haasan, this film is directed by Koratala Shiva. Let’s see how it is.

Harsha(Mahesh Babu) is the son of a multi-millionaire named Ravikanth(Jagapathi Babu). He is quite simple in life and shares different ideologies to his father. One fine day, he meets Charusheela (Shruthi Haasan) and gradually falls in love with her.

Twist in the tale arises when Charusheela rejects Harsha’s proposal and reveals him a shocking truth about his native place and its problems. An upset Harsha, now sets on a personal mission to his village and encounters Sasi(Sampath) and his gang who are troubling the villagers big time.

Rest of the story is as to how Harsha’s personal mission becomes a revolution and helps the villagers grow and prosper in the future.

Plus Points:-

Let’s start by talking about Srimanthudu’s emotional content. The film is quite heavy on moral values and giving back to the society. Credit should go to Koratla Shiva for sticking to the content and sending out a strong message through hero’s character. Mahesh is majestic in his role and gives his career best performance. His role is tailor made and Mahesh carries the entire film on his shoulders. He looks dashing as a college student and the way he brings out varied emotions during the second half is a class apart.

Shruthi Haasan gets a meaty role and is quite decent in the film. Her pairing with Mahesh looks fresh and brings novelty to the film. Jagapathi Babu is a royal in his role and gives the added edge to the film. The way his character is etched out and all his confrontation scenes with Mahesh are superb.

First half of the film is quite vibrant and has some very classy moments. Second half has emotional undercurrent and Koratala Shiva manages to bring out superb performances from all his artists. Rajendra Prasad is quite pleasing in his character. Production values of the film are quite good and showcase the film in a rich light.

Minus Points:-

One of the drawbacks of the film is the pace as the proceedings take their own time. There are certain village scenes which could have been edited to make the film crisp. Even though the story is quite novel, it is also slightly predictable in nature.

Sukanya is wasted in her role and does not get any screen space. Ali and Vennela Kishore are under utilized and could have been elevated more to generate some entertainment. Climax of the film is hurried up as the proceedings are wrapped up in a simpler way.

Technical Aspects:-

Screenplay is apt but some scenes during the second half could have been removed to make the proceedings racy.Camerawork by Madhie is top class as all the visuals look quite pleasing. The way he has showcased the village atmosphere during the second half is pretty good. Fights by Anal Arsu need special mention as they look quite new and have been choreographed very stylishly.

DSP’s music is pretty good and grows on you once you watch his songs on screen. But it is Devi’s background score which elevates the film to another level. Dialogues are novel and will connect with the common man quite easily.

Coming to the director Koratala Shiva, he has done an awesome job and showcased Mahesh like never before. The way he brings out a settled performance and presents Mahesh in an emotional avatar is quite endearing. Shiva narrates the film without any unnecessary commercial aspects and injects some meaningful family moments which will surely go well with everyone.

On the whole, Srimanthudu is a stunning emotional family drama which will hit the right chords with one and all. Mahesh Babu’s career best performance and a novel concept are huge assets. Barring the slightly predictable nature of the film, Mahesh’s fans can rejoice as their superstar makes a come back with a vengeance and thoroughly entertains from the word go. Finally, a simple, clean and meaningful family entertainer which is set to rule the box office in the coming weeks. A Must Watch.

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

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Alain Delon, Smoldering French Film Star, Dies at 88

The César-winning actor was an international favorite in the 1960s and ’70s, often sought after by the era’s great auteurs.

Alain Delon in California in 1964 during the filming of the movie “Once a Thief.” Credit... Wayne Miller/Magnum Photos

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By Anita Gates

• Aug. 18, 2024

Alain Delon, the intense and intensely handsome French actor who, working with some of Europe’s most revered 20th-century directors, played cold Corsican gangsters as convincingly as hot Italian lovers, died on Sunday. He was 88.

He died at his home in Douchy-Montcorbon, France, according to a statement his family gave to the French news service Agence France-Presse.

Hours later, President Emmanuel Macron honored him in a post on social media, saying, “Wistful, popular, secretive, he was more than a star: a French monument.”

During his heyday, the 1960s and ’70s, Mr. Delon was a first-tier international star, highly paid and often sought after by the era’s great auteurs.

When he burst on the scene in the gangster genre, as a sad-eyed, saintly young sibling in “Rocco and His Brothers” (1960), Luchino Visconti was in the director’s chair. Two years later, when Mr. Delon played a sexy stock trader, it was in Michelangelo Antonioni ’s “L’Eclisse” (“Eclipse”).

And “Le Samouraï” (1967), released in the United States as “The Godson,” and the jewelry-heist flick “Le Cercle Rouge” (1970), in which Mr. Delon was a sinister, mustachioed ex-con, were both directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, patron saint of the French New Wave.

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