I bet none of the current generation of Hindi film directors, who are besotted with the Hollywood style of film making, would have made such a film. It took Puri Jagannadh, a Telugu action film maker, to pay tribute to the legendary Amitabh Bachchan via Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap.

After watching Sallu bhai's Wanted ( a remake of Puri's Super hit Pokiri), I thought Puri made a big mistake of not remaking it himself in Hindi. Wanted is not even half of Puri's Pokiri. Prabhu Deva, who directed the Tamil version (Pokkiri with Vijay), made a mockery of the original in both the languages. 

Puri has redefined hero and heroism in Telugu cinema. His heroes are not good Samaritans. They are raw, powerful, witty, straightforward, irresponsible and happy-go-lucky.  Puri ensures that they are elevated to the maximum extent possible in every scene, be it Ravi Teja in Idiot or Mahesh in Pokiri or Prabhas in Bujjigadu. This has garnered him a huge loyal fan base. Irrespective of the film's fate, the hero's character gets etched in your memory for a long time.

Now if someone like him has Amitabh Bachchan as the protagonist, you (knowing what Amitabh can do) would settle for nothing less than a Pokiri. Puri has chosen the right script, though a wafer-thin plot, to showcase the baap of all in BHTB. The first half has nothing much except a couple of incoherent scenes, celebrating the Amitabh classics and building up the character for the actual dhamaka.

It's the second half that takes the cake. Amitabh goes berserk in the second half with his style, voice modulation, gun firing and dressing and shows everyone who the asli baap is. Every scene is worth watching again and again. This shows it's not enough if you have the right story, screenplay and dialogs unless you have the right actor who can take the scenes to new level. And Amitabh actually takes the movie to Himalayan heights with his impeccable histrionics.

I would not say this is a great film, but definitely a treat to all the Amitabh fans. This is not just a tribute but a nice way to say  'we love you' to the man who has entertained us relentlessly for the last four decades.

My favorite dialogs (please bear with my Hindi), all have Puri's stamp on them.

1. Mein marunga tho bullet se hi marunga, bp sugar se nahi.
2. Hum jaha khade hojathe hai, line wahi se shuru hoti hai
3. Soda mein coffee, tea acha nahi lagthi
4. Sar pe bullet marne se ek ched hojatha, agar us ched me aur ek bullet gaya tho samajhna woh Vijju ka hai. 
5. Heart attack sirf mard ko hoti hai kyu ki hamare paas dil hai.
6. Yeh umar bullet aur bomb ki nahi bhakti channel dekhne ki hai (Hema Malini to AB) and more.


PS:  With all the current generation heroes vying with each other to cater to the niche multiplex audience, the masses are starved of such films. Hence you have Ghajini, Wanted and Dabangg breaking the box-office records.

Indian Cricket Team will now be addressed as ‘The World Champions’ every time they play a One Day International. I, along with other 1.2 billion Indians, can proudly claim of witnessing the epic event. Lucky are the people who screamed and cheered the team from the stands of Mumbai’s Wankhade Stadium.


Why is this so special?

The final game was not won because of Sachin Tendulkar. But it was won for Sachin Tendulkar by his young colleagues, some of whom were in nappies when he started playing for India. The God of Cricket has a World Cup win to his credit, an achievement that had eluded him for 21 years. A number of people might say Sachin failed to perform when it mattered, but any sane person would understand what he brings to the team. Gambhir, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj did it with minimum fuss after Sachin and Sehwag, who we look up to during such big matches, got out cheaply. To chase 275 from 31-2, after the bowlers were hammered by the Sri Lankans, is a sign of a world-class team. Great innings from Dhoni and it reminded me of Steve Waugh’s innings against South Africa during the 1999 World Cup.

What does this mean?

A. The Indian team apart from becoming more famous has revived the interest in One Day Cricket, which has started to lose its sheen after the advent of T20 Cricket, especially the IPL.

B. It has dismantled Australia from the top and has given a new world champion.

C. It has given a billion people of a country, who are disgusted with numerous political scams, rising inflation and rampant corruption, a strong reason to jump in joy and indulge in unlimited celebrations.

D. Importantly, the win states that Indian cricket is in safe hands of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar can say good bye to One Day Cricket, peacefully (of course, I don’t want him to bid adieu any sooner).

Why India won? Apart from the players’ abilities, it’s the wishes, superstitions, prayers and hell lot of other forms of support that played a crucial role in this victory. For me, it all started when India were set to play the Australians in the Quarter Finals. Intensity grew with that victory and the match against Pakistan took temperatures to the maximum.

What I did? Bribed God — 108 rounds (Parikramas) around the local Hanuman temple if India wins against Pakistan. India won it and I finished the first installment on Saturday ahead of the finals against Sri Lanka. Same activity planned for the finals as well. But with 32-2 and target to achieve being 275, the number increased to 4 (4 installments of 108 rounds @ 1time per week). Now tell me with mahabhakts like me around why will India lose?

Now I can go and have my hair cut, give some attention to my family members, and of course, do some work during the office hours.

By the way, this is my 200th post. I have been waiting to post something special as part of celebrating that. What can be more special than this? Thank you Dhoni & Co.

I was feeling a bit tensed when counting began in Bihar, but it was short-lived as Nitish Kumar and company thrashed Lalu Prasad and others.

It was as good as a clean sweep. Nitish Kumar's victory was a powerful lesson to the caste-based politicians and a sign of things to happen in Bihar. Importantly, it sent a positive and a strong message to the rest of India that people of Bihar are in for some serious business. They didn't want to put brakes on the change that's started to happen half a decade ago when Nitish Kumar first came to power.

As for Congress, Rahul's magic failed to work. I don't believe that Rahul has the charisma to attract masses. He belongs to the class of Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan and would make a decent actor in Hindi cinema.

Nitish’s landslide victory is a deathblow to the political careers of Laloo Prasad and his disgraced wife Rabri Devi. I think they should take political sanyaas and start a baby care center or a dairy parlor and allow Bihar to prosper under Nitish.

This victory is a shot in the arm for BJP, which is struggling to find the right balance nationally. The party's strategy seems to be to take it one by one, first Gujarat and now second time in Bihar.

On the otherhand, Nitish should take a cue from Nara Chandra Babu Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh who was routed after his second term, and ensure that his quest for a developed Bihar doesn't get halted after the second term.

This review will be quite a contrast to the reviews on a majority of the websites.

First, the movie is strictly for intelligent audience and hence the film opened to a divide talk. The director (Trivikram) assumed his audience are matured enough to grasp his intent - divinity lies within everyone and whoever reaches out to the needy is God – and never bothered to explain it.

Second, it’s an out and out Mahesh film. The prince of Telugu cinema ignites the screen after three years and he looks fresh, energetic, rejuvenated and extremely stylish. He totally moves away from his Okkadu, Athadu and Pokiri image and comes up with a scintillating performance. Anushka looked gorgeous but paled in front of Mahesh’s charisma.

Coming to the movie, people are sure to get reminded of Magadheera for the relationship between the nature and the protagonist, but the comparison ends there. The movie starts brilliantly with superb visuals of a distressed village. Enter Mahesh, the whole look and feel of the movie turns trendy, and immediately begins the laugh riot that runs non-stop until the interval bang. The fight preceding interval, which is choreographed superbly with some breath-taking visuals, gives the necessary impetus and helps in building expectations about the rest of the movie. The songs in the first half are shot brilliantly, especially Piliche.

The second half is like an acid test for any director and Trivikram succeeds to a great extent. A couple of scenes make you stand up and applaud his cerebration. It requires guts and lot of self-belief to take up such a storyline where the protagonist is equated to God. Kudos to Trivikram for the attempt and this reminds me of another Mahesh movie which has lot of divine quotient, Murari - I am dying to write my thoughts on this movie, probably in two parts. Trivikram excells in the comedy and business aspects individually, but loses his way a bit while interspersing comedy in the second half due to which the mood of the film fluctuates frequently. If not for the commercial pressure involved, the second half would have been more serious and crisp.

Mani Sharma gives a stunning background score and proves why he is one of the top-rated background music composers in India. Fights are stylish with limited use of graphics and DI for the movie is superb. Trivikram’s dialogs are not in the same league as Athadu, Jalsa, and Nuvve Nuvve, nevertheless they are effective. A tighter second half could have appeased the first day fans.

My picks:

1.     Sunil and Mahesh meeting

2.     Mahesh’s meetings with Anushka and the ensuing scenes at the garage

3.     Shafi’s characterization

4.     Mahesh’s acting during the whole of God episode

5.     Climax where focus is more on Prakash Raj and the count remaining 534.

PS: It’s gratifying watching Mahesh shoulder the film. What Khushi was for Pawan Kalyan, Khaleja is for Mahesh.
The movie title is not apt.

Movie Review - (Rating -3.5/5)

To all people who are ignorant of the technical brilliance, strength and box-office stamina of South Indian movies, Rajini’s Robo is the answer.

All credit goes to Shankar for his imagination and near perfect execution. Robot is arguably India’s Avatar and Shankar India’s James Cameroon. With never seen before special effects (animatronics), which of course cannot be truly termed international, but certainly a giant leap as far as Indian cinema is concerned, Robot leaves you spellbound for most part of the 3-hour visual extravaganza.

The best part of the movie is it goes straight to the point. It is all about a robot and the director never deviates from it. Unlike his previous flick Sivaji, Shankar refrains from forced comedy and focuses more on showcasing Robot’s abilities and reflexes. As the robot too is Rajinikanth, it's more like good Rajini vs bad Rajini. This also lessened dependency on animatronics and gives you feel of Shankar's Jeans or other movies where the hero plays dual role. That's brilliance for you. But this brilliance slowly fades away toward the end as he overuses/misuses the technology, making it an average flick for the multiplex audience.

True to his superstar tag, Rajinikanth is the movie’s strength. Rajini is super cool as scientist and robot. Rajini’s action as corrupted robot is a treat to watch. Shah Rukh Khan and Kamal Hassan, who rejected the project, are sure to regret now. The only complaint is Rajini’s dances, which are really disappointing, especially in the song Kilimanjaro. But Aishwarya Rai seems to have reserved her best dance moves for Robot. She is gorgeous and her dance movements in I Robo and Kilimanjaro are amazing. She brings grace, grandeur and completeness to this high-budget movie.

A R Rahman’s music is of international standards in the first half, but becomes unbearable in the latter part of second half. It’s too loud and the background score during the action sequences seems disconnected.

The climax could have been made interesting rather than going berserk with hundreds of robots forming different physical structures. The director could have taken a cue from The Lost World Jurassic Park on how to derive maximum impact from an alien character in a movie. The scenes where the dinosaur creates havoc in the city were so carefully executed that the audience crave for more. But Shankar goes out of control and creates huge trouble for our senses. Despite the breathtaking visual effects, the climax is surely a punishment.

My top scenes:
1. Robot posing like goddess Durga during a tiff with local goons
2. Robot’s confrontation with his creator to win Aishwarya Rai
3. Corrupt robot recharging when electricity is switched off and the way it finds Rajinikanth (human) among hundred similar looking robots
4. The delivery scene before interval
5. Robot’s explanation of why God exists

Robot is not a must watch but I surely recommend just for Shankar's brilliant effort.

Movie Review – Rating (1.25/5)

I was correct! I guessed Pawan Kalyan’s Komaram Puli (Telangana activists just read Puli) would be a disastrous film after the audio release. A couple of songs hinted at the sequences preceding and it’s not tough for a movie buff like me to connect the dots. A.R. Rahman cannot be entirely blamed for the audio output because the situations demanded such songs. So, I transfer the entire blame on the director S.J. Suryaah. The first official trailer, courtesy the substandard helicopter graphics, the time taken to complete shooting the movie (more than 2 years), and the never ending debate surrounding its release date, further strengthened my opinion.

Coming to Komaram Puli, it’s high time the directors realized patriotic movies need not be loud, and the protagonist need not shout and lecture at every possible opportunity. Even silence speaks and creates deadly impact; movie makers like Ram Gopal Varma and Mani Ratnam have proved it not so long ago.

I could relate Tamil director S.J. Suryaah’s intentions behind the scenes, but at the same time the audience (or should I say the director) in me was visualizing another version. This was rampant during the songs and action sequences, focusing more on the editing and presentation aspects. While a couple of the scenes were brilliantly conceived, majority of them were brutal and tediously protracted. The director failed to understand the sensibilities of Telugu audience and stuck to his Tamil formula of overdose in almost every situation. He got carried away by the star power of Pawan Kalyan and wanted to do a film for the society. He wanted to give it a raw treatment like Krishnavamsi’s Rakhi but ended up churning out a typical Tamil masala film.

The movie starts on a brilliant note. I particularly liked the scene in which the woman comes to know of her pregnancy. But the movie slips away right from Pawan Kalyan’s introduction, which was more like a parody - poor graphics and cheap execution. Ridiculous of all is Pawan Kalyan, an IPS officer in Andhra Pradesh, saving the Indian prime minister in Malaysia, all alone. He then starts lecturing, which if properly trimmed could have created huge impact. Even his mother gives a lengthy speech towards the end.

The romance with heroine was overboard and severely mars the flow of the movie. The picturization and placement of songs were pathetic. Picturization of the much hyped "Power Star" song was no way close to Chiranjeevi's "Mega Star" song in Kodamasimham. Manoj Bajpaaye was loud, boring, and eccentric. Screenplay was haphazard and seemed puerile. The climax tests your patience. The whole auditorium burst into laughter when Pawan is electrocuted by villain just because he is fondly called Power Star. Shriya Saran did a miniscule role and her item song was pathetic. Puli team’s headquarters remind us of settings in Hollywood movies, while much hyped Binod Pradhan’s camerawork failed to make any impact. A.R. Rahman’s background score is just about right for the movie.