Round-up for July 2010

Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total 7/31/10):  5
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of 7/31/10): 35

It's been fun to go back to things I watched a few months ago, but it's sort of sad how so many things I don't remember about these movies.

Mass (Telugu, 2004)

Date watched: 7/1/2010

Role Type: Prakash Bad*

The story: Orphan Mass (Nagarjuna) lives in an apartment block in Vizag. His neighbor Priya (Charmee) falls in love with him, but it is revealed that he was previously engaged to Anjali (Jyothika), the daughter of Vizag's leading mafia don Satya (Raghuvaran). 

Movie Rating: 3/5  I think this may have been my first Nagarjuna movie, and I found him pretty appealing.  I like Charmee and Jyothika, and I liked each of them as the comedic neighbor and the tough, but romantic gangster's daughter. If I recall, there were some fun dances in this one.

Prakash Raj Rating: 3/5 This was a very small part--Prakash Raj shows up towards the end as the lawyer who the bad guys call in to get advice on how to legally defeat Mass. I think it's just one scene, but he does a great job as the smart but evil legal mind. (Interesting that this sort of role shows up a lot in Hollywood gangster movies/tv shows, but not so much in the SI version of the genre.)

Minsara Kunavu (Tamil, 1997)

Date watched: 7//5/10

Role Type: Prakash Pal*

The story: Priya (Kajol) aspires to be a nun. Thomas (Arvind Swamy), falls in love with her, and seeks help from his barber friend, Deva (Prabhu Deva) to woo her. Along the way, Priya and Deva begin to fall in love. Who/what will Priya pick? Thomas, Deva, or a religious vocation?

Movie Rating: 3.75/5  The was Rajiv Menon's first film; his second (and only other) film was Kandukondai Kandukondain). Both films share a love and generosity for their characters. It was so nice that Priya's narrative arc had an interesting and real emotional conflict beyond "which guy do I love?" The romance between Deva and Priya was just really sweet, and played out in some nice songs that referenced An American in Paris (Prabhu Deva dancing in Gene Kelly's part FTW!!) Nasser has a delightful part as Deva's musician friend.

Prakash Raj Rating: 3/5 Priya's parents aren't too happy about her plans to become a nun, so they try to arrange a marriage for her. The first suitor is a distracted, NRI businessman played by Prakash Raj. It's just one scene, but he's very funny as he takes phone calls about his business, and tries to court Priya by advising her on how to bust the unions in her father's company. *This is a tiny cameo, but we'll put this in "Prakash Pal" category.  When I get around to fleshing out the "Prakash Lover" character type (as has been suggested), I may reclassify it.



Wanted (Hindi, 2009)

Date watched: 7/12/10

Role Type: Prakash Bad

The story: Hindi remake of Pokiri. Radhe (Salman Khan) is a street tough who ends up working for and then against mafia don, Gani Bhai (Prakash Raj.) There's also a romance with Jhanvi (Ayesha Takia) and a big twist at the end (unless you've seen Pokiri or Pokkiri.)

Thinking evil thoughts.

Movie Rating: 3.5/5  I'd seen the Telugu and Tamil versions before this one, so I didn't have huge expectations. It was mostly faithful in the plot and characterizations, but I did like that Prabhu Deva was able to indulge his penchant for crazy song picturizations and fanciful "dream" sequences, and adding a bit more "big-city" glitz to the bad guys worked well in the Mumbai setting. (Overall, the Telugu version is my favorite--I liked Mahesh's taciturnity and the grittier Hyderabad street scenes.)

Prakash Raj Rating: 4/5 One thing that has improved over the course of the remakes is that each one gives more and more screen time to Prakash Raj's Ali Bhai/Ghani Bhai character.  I don't think he shows up until at least a third of the way through Pokiri, but in Wanted he is introduced fairly quickly, watching a ladies boxing match, and ordering the death of an informant. This film adds more for the character to do in all of the scenes: he's even more decadent in the night club item number, and more threatening in the scenes where he kidnaps the CP's daughter.  By far, the best spot where they expanded his role is in the scenes where Gani Bhai is in police custody.  Prakash Raj does some great physical comedy in this: reacting to the policemen, attempting to phone his henchman, trying to outsmart the police with his Buddha-like calm. His glee at seeing an opportunity to escape, his triumph when he is out of his cell, and his despondency when he realizes he won't be able to escape are telegraphed really well in his face, body language, and voice.

"I am freeeeeeee!!"

"I guess not."

"Fine, I might as well go back inside..."

Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi (Telugu, 2003)

Date watched: 7/16/10

Role Type: Prakash Dad

The story: Chandu (Ravi Teja) is an aspiring kickboxer.  He goes to live with his estranged father, Raghuveer (Prakash Raj) who is a famed kickboxing coach. How Chandu achieves his kickboxing dreams, romances Asin (can't remember the character's name), and reconciles with his father forms the rest of the movie.

Movie Rating: 3/5  I expected a Ravi Teja movie about kickboxing to be sort of cheesy, which it was, but it was also an interesting portrayal of the parent-child relationships.  The early scenes with the teacher/professor mom (Jayasudha) supporting her son's interests, and his love for her, were really sweet. The father-son relationship in the second half was also pretty interesting. Chandu was very prickly to his father, and the father was pretty upfront about having abandoned his first family to pursue his ambitions.  There was some comedy around Asin being Tamil--I wish I understood Telugu and Tamil, so I could get these jokes (which seem to show up a lot.)

Prakash Raj Rating: 3/5 Overall, another solid "stern father who transforms by the end of the movie" role. The flashback scenes with Jayasudha had a nice tension (I like their pairing as film parents a lot.)  He also gets some nice "Mr. Miyagi"-like training scenes in the song "Zum Zum Mare."

"Yes, hitting you with a stick is an approximation of what it will feel like when Subbaraju kicks you.
No, I'm not just doing it because I want to hit you with a stick."

Aathi (Tamil, 2006)

Fun-loving dad and uncle.

Date watched: 7/21/10

Role Type: Prakash Dad/Prakash Cop

The story: Anjali (Trisha) and Aadhi (Vijay) meet at college, cross paths in their quests for justice/revenge, and fall in love.

Justice loving IPS officer.

Movie Rating: 4/5  This was one of the (somewhat rare) SI films, where I got really caught up in the suspense and all of the plot twists and turns. The movie starts out with Trisha stabbing a guy in the gut, and I was immediately hooked. The other plot twists worked well for me, and I liked the performances from Vijay, Trisha, and especially Nasser (as Anjali's uncle) and Manivannan (as Aadhi's adoptive father.) Sai Kumar and all of his henchmen were scary and intimidating. The flashback scenes were done well; all of the happy scenes with the joint family gave me a bigger sense of loss when the tragic events started to unfold.

Prakash Raj Rating: 4/5 Prakash Raj plays an upright police officer and doting father/uncle in the flashback. I didn't realize he was in this, so it was a delightful surprise when his character was introduced. He did a great job of making the character likeable in the home scenes, and you were rooting for him in all of the scenes with the bad guys, so it was especially sad when his character met his end.

Round-up for August 2010

Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total (8/31/10):  4
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of 8/31/10): 39

Premaku Velayara (Telugu, 1999)

Date watched: 8/3/10

Role Type: Prakash Bad

The story: Madhavi (Soundarya) is the daughter of business tycoon Venkata Narayana (Prakash Raj).  She runs into Manohar (J. D. Chakravarthy), her father's (maternal?) nephew, who is scheming to get rich by marrying the uncle's daughter. Madhavi feels that she can reform Manohar, and get him to give up the prospect of easy wealth by marrying Madhavi in her disguise as a not-rich, regular girl.

Movie Rating: 4/5  Soundarya is so appealing, and I loved that she was really active in pursuing Manohar, and setting it up so that he fell in love with her. (Nice version of the classic Telugu-stalking-romance!) JD Chakravarthy was good as the guy who is reformed in the end, and Ravi Teja was adorable as his comedic side-kick friend.

Prakash Raj Rating: 3/5 This felt like the prototype of the  "urbane father" character that Prakash Raj had perfected by NVND and Jalsa.  All of his scenes with Madhavi/Soundarya were really winning, especially when they argued over Manohar's true character.

ETA: Thank you so much Githa (http://wordsfromalotus.blogspot.com/), for reminding me of a key part of this character.  He says the line "It's Confirmed!!" multiple times in the movie. Very adorable and quotable, and here's an example:

Gangotri (Telugu, 2003) 

Date watched: 8/6/10

Role Type: Prakash Dad

The story: Neelakanta Naidu (Prakash Raj) is the father of the heroine, Gangotri (Aditi Agarwal), and also a big factionist leader. His main henchman, Simha, has a son Simhadri (Allu Arjun), who is the childhood companion of Gangotri.  When the teenagers start up a romance, Neelakanta and Simha have a falling out, Simha is killed, and various other obstacles are presented to Simhadri and Gangotri.

Movie Rating: 3/5  This film had a pretty straightforward plot, and many of the adult characters were pretty well fleshed out, especially the womenfolk.  The teenaged characters were definitely young, and it was interesting to see a rural school setting.

Prakash Raj Rating: 3/5 This was an iteration of the affectionate, but violent father character that shows up pretty frequently (Brindaavanam).  It was a pretty large part, and it was enjoyable to watch Prakash Raj convey the character's love and protectiveness for his daughter, his anger at the perceived betrayal by Simha, and the final realization that his overprotective ways may have actually killed his daughter. My standout scene is when he's trying to get in his daughter's good side again (after sending her boyfriend away) and he's trying to cajole her with food, and she's being a sulky teenager, with lots of eyerolls and "talk to the hand" gestures.

 On a shallow note, there were A LOT of close-ups of Prakash Raj in this film, and he looked great.

Raja Kumarudu (Telugu, 1999)

Date watched: 8/19/10

Role Type: Prakash Dad

The story: Raj Kumar (Mahesh Babu, looking very young) is an actor/model working on a commercial shoot, who locks horns and falls in love with a spunky girl at a nearby camp (Preity Zinta, also looking young.) He hangs out with his happy-go-lucky-uncle, Dhanunjay (Prakash Raj.) At the interval, Dhanunjay reveals the tragic death of Raj Kumar's parents, and of his promise to get Raj Kumar married to his niece.

Movie Rating: 2/5  I watched this without subtitles, and I missed a lot. It seemed fun, but the dramatic, violent flashback was a bit jarring and messed with the playful mood of the rest of the film.

Prakash Raj Rating: 2.75/5 Again, I might appreciate this more if I'd understood more. Most of the comedic scenes with Dhanunjay (esp. with the other comedy characters) were fun, and the relationship with Raj Kumar was telegraphed pretty well.

Prakash Raj holding baby Mahesh, then swordfighting w/grown-up Mahesh.

Kantri (Telugu, 2008)

He's holding his gun sideways-so gangsta!

Date watched: 8/30/10

Role Type: Prakash Bad

The story: Poothu Raju/PR (Prakash Raj) kills a fellow villager, abandons his own wife and son, and gains fortune as a gangster in Hong Kong and India. Kranti (Jr. NTR) arrives on the scene, joins PR's gang, and reveals that he is PR's son. The plot twists and turns as Kranti makes things complicated and unpleasant for PR.

Movie Rating: 4/5  This is a pretty enjoyable Southie twist on some fun mystery/noirish puzzles. It was fun watching all of the layers unfold.

Prakash Raj Rating: 4/5 This role actually had an interesting narrative arc through the whole movie, as PR leaves his family, makes it big, believes he is reunited with his son, and is laid-up in the hospital with a mysterious disease. I couldn't get a great screen grab, but my favorite snippet of a scene is when PR escapes from the hospital wearing his hospital gown, and does a great run past the rival gangsters and their truck.

Oh yes, and he busts a move with Tarak in the song Raamare:

Round-up for September 2010

Continuing to play catch-up, here are the films I watched in September, 2010.


Monthly Prakash Raj Movie Total (9/30/10):   7
Overall Prakash Raj Movie Total (as of 9/30/10): 46

Atithi (Kannada, 2002)

The puppy almost makes you forget he's planning to bomb the dam.

Date watched: 9/1/10

Role Type: Prakash Bad

The story: An unnamed terrorist (Prakash Raj) is injured, and forces a local doctor (Dattatreya) to hide him and treat him. The terrorist's relationships with the doctor and the neighbor's young daughter, and how it impacts his future decisions form the core of the story. The title translates as "The Guest."

Movie Rating: 5/5  I really loved this movie. It was more typically "western", with no songs, and it clocked in at about 90 minutes. It had a nice mixture of suspense, dialogue and psychological development, and the performances were really fantastic. Overall, it was really well-written and structures, and sort of reminded me of a play. I'm looking forward to watching the other films by the director/writer P. Sheshadri.

Prakash Raj Rating: 5/5 This was an interesting, complex character. Prakash Raj did a great job of conveying all of the different motivations and emotions, from irritation at his subordinates, to the cold-blooded focus needed for the work, and to his growing respect for the doctor and affection for the girl. I'm always a sucker for understated films and roles, and this was a great one.  There weren't any big, showy moments for the character, but every scene was filled with a lot of interesting expression and dialogue delivery

Giri (Tamil, 2004)

This kid grows up to be Prakash Raj (see below.)

Role Type: Prakash Pal/Prakash Cop
Date watched: 9/4/10

The story: Two families are locked in factionalist battle in a rural village. Raj is the youngest son of one of these families, and is good friends with Giri, the son of the family's loyal bodyguard/retainer. The rival faction kills Raj's older brothers and Giri's father. Giri helps Raj to escape by floating down the river. Years later Giri (Arjun) is still battling rowdies. In a flashback, an honest cop (Prakash Raj) comes to town with the goal of ending the war between the factionalist families, and it is revealed that he is little Raj, all grown up.  There's more fighting, tragedy, two heroines, and awesome boat races between the rival families that bookend the movie.
Movie Rating: 3/5  This was a pretty good action-y type movie. I liked the twists and turns, but the structure of the flashbacks was a little clunky. The early scene with the two kids were well done. Arjun was solidly good in this, and had little sparks of  "something (which came across much more in Kotha Bangaru Lokam.) The big climactic action scene during the boat race was a pretty creative, fun action sequence.
Prakash Raj Rating: 4/5 Although this was a pretty short part, it was an interesting one, and Prakash Raj did good work with it. Adult, policeman Raj has returned to his home village incognito, trying to bring peace to the families. There are several scenes where his own father refers to Raj's "death", and you see the sense of loss on Raj's face. You also get a sense of Raj's frustration in how entrenched both families are in this battle, and the unwillingness of his police superiors to do anything about it.  In my favorite scene, Raj is watching from the distance while Giri and the heroine fight/flirt (she's in a canoe, he jumps in the water to catch a duck for her, also she's from the rival family.) In Raj's response there's a sweet mix of melancholy for the life and friendships that he's lost, his happiness at seeing Giri, and his newly hatched plan to bring the families together.

Kadhal Azhivathillai (Tamil, 2002)

Date watched: 9/4/10

Role Type: Prakash Dad

The story:  Poor(er) boy meets rich(er) girl at college, they fall in love, her father objects, things happen.

Movie Rating: 2/5  This movie was Simbu's big launch, and like many launch films, it was all over the place with the wacky foreign locales and weird sets in the songs, fight scenes in which scrawny Simbu beats up 10 goondas, and the requisite cameo from Simbu's famous comedic actor father. There were a couple of funny scenes, including one where Simbu and his friends go to visit the heroine's house disguised as Krishna, Hanuman, et al. There were also some scenes where Simbu gets beaten up while he's in custody, and his father (Prakash Raj) is abusively mean to his mother, which were a little uncomfortable to watch

Prakash Raj Rating: 0.5/5  I'm going to give this one a .5 because Prakash Raj's voice is dubbed, which is a huge travesty.  That said, he does a great job as the sarcastic, mean father. In the scene when he turns his wife's parents away from staying in their house, he has some great dramatic body language that almost made up for the weird, high-pitched voice coming out of his mouth.

"I'm using my hands, because they have taken away my voice."

Stalin (Telugu, 2006)

"It wasn't actually suicide. I had them killed, because I'm eeevvvilll."

Date watched: 9/11/10

Role Type: Prakash Bad

The story: Stalin (Chiranjeevi) is a retired Army officer who helps disabled college students, gets caught up in battle with the local evil Home Minister, Muddu Krishnayya (Prakash Raj), and starts a "pay-it-forward" grassroots movement.

Movie Rating: 3/5  I'm rating this almost entirely on the portrayal of the relationship of Stalin and his sister (Khusboo), and the drama around his sister and mother reconciling, which I loved. The "romance" with Trisha was pretty perfunctory, as if you could tell that the film-makers felt weird about pairing Chiru up with the younger actress. I also got a sense that this film (especially the ending) was a set-up for Chiranjeevi's political aspirations.

Prakash Raj Rating: 3.5/5 As the corrupt politician who threatens Stalin and his family, Prakash Raj gets to really ham it up and wear a crazy wig and make-up. In my favorite scene, he's picking up newspapers and pointing out stories about various murders and "accidents" and explains that these were all people that crossed him.

Subhash Chandra Bose (Telugu, 2005)

Date watched: 9/18/10

Role Type: Prakash Bad

The story: Subash Chandra Bose alias Chandram (Venkatesh) fights for Independence from the British and romances Shriya, and is friends with another local farmer, Bandodu (Prakash Raj.) Chandram is reincarnated as TV news staffer Ashok who romances Genelia, and again encounters an aged Bandodu.

Movie Rating: 2/5  This movie wasn't exactly good, but it was entertaining, cheesetastic fun.The present-day scenes were fine, but the historical stuff was a hot mess of anachronistic costumes, vehicles, sunglasses, hats, etc. It was clear that they were drawing on Lagaan and Ashok for a lot of the motifs, songs and characters (e.g. Russian accented daughter of the British commander has a crush on Venky.) Most of the acting was pretty over-the-top, which was fine for the bad guys--they are always a lot broader.  But when the main characters started making patriotic speeches referencing Gandhi while facing down a British-Indian colonial officer who was wearing a classic redcoat and Oakley sunglasses, I started giggling, which isn't what I think they were going for.  Still, Venkatesh's winning personality carried things along even when he had a really bad mullet in the flashback. 

Prakash Raj Rating: 3/5 It was a pretty hammy role, and it was fun to see him as both the rural yokel of the Independence era, and the successful politician in the present. They was lots of dramatic lurking, plotting, and speechifying in the present and the past.  Plus he got to wear crazy costumes and make-up, engage in a swordfight with Venky, and die an explosive death at the hands of a vengeful, elderly voter.

Check out the giant banners with Prakash!!

Samba (Telugu, 2004)

Date watched: 9/18/10

Role Type: Prakash Bad

The story: According to wikipedia, "The movie deals with how important education is to kids." Tha,t and some very bloody showdowns between Samba (Jr NTR) and the man who was responsible for the death of his family (Prakash Raj.)

Movie Rating: 4.5/5  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The story was solid, and I thought it was structured well, as different elements were revealed in the flashbacks and the present. The dances and action scenes were particularly great.

Prakash Raj Rating: 4/5 In Telugu action movies, it's important that the big bad guy really comes across as a true match and threat for the hero. In this role and performance, Prakash Raj really matched Tarak in intensity and ferocity.  Sometimes the bad guy is more of the delegating type, and you don't necessarily see him doing the dirty work, but not in this film. There's a great moment (a favorite of jjake over at Tollywood is My Bollywood) when Prakash Raj's character sits over his dying enemy and pokes him the heart, just to torture him.

Samba also has the two best eyebrow performances in all of Telugu cinema.

Jagadam (Telugu, 2007)

Sweater vest=sincerity

Date watched: 9/22/10

Role Type: Prakash Cop

The story: Since childhood, Seenu (Ram) has been fascinated by violence. Much to his parents' dismay, he joins the inner circle of the local gangster, then becomes his rival. Along the way, a police inspector (Prakash Raj) tries to convince him to leave the life of street violence.

Movie Rating: 4.5/5  A great movie. Ram was really convincing as the young guy who is drawn to the "fun" of violence, but doesn't really have a deeper understanding of what that entails. I appreciated that it offered a bit of a critical look at actual appeal of violence. Raghu Babu's performace as Seenu's despairing father was a highlight of this film for me. Usually Raghu Babu plays broad comedic roles, and this was so subtle and different that I didn't realize it was him until a third of the way through the movie.
Prakash Raj Rating: 4/5 Prakash Raj's role was small, but important. The police inspector is a sort of proxy for the viewer. When he arrives in the story, you are so relieved that someone calm is there to try and talk sense into Seenu. You also share the character's frustration when Seenu rebuffs his efforts. To cap it all off, Prakash Raj's character does a voiceover after the climactic scene. Such a nice voice--he should do audio books!