Nenunnanu(2004)

The pace of this film is agonizingly slow. I'm not sure of the running time, but it certainly feels as if it's as long as Gone With the Wind. I wish the director had trimmed 2 or 3 songs, some of the fights and comedy, and all of the inconsequential scenes. Repeat viewings are more enjoyable when you don't have to fast-forward past a bunch of crap that only bogs down an otherwise entertaining bit of sentimental fluff.

The plot: Venu(Nagarjuna), a port contractor and an orphan since childhood, takes in Anu(Shriya Saran), a clasical music singer after she is abandonned by both her family and Arun(Subbaraju), the guy she tried to elope with. Venu protects Anu from the goons JP, Arun's father, hired to kill her. Unexpressed love blossoms. Fights, fights, and more fights ensue. Near-tragedy strikes. Oh, and there's the added angle of Anu's best friend, Sruthi(Aarti Agarwal), who also loves Venu.

Favorite scenes:

• Venu using the flat side of a hot iron to make dosas for Anu. Seeing that reminded me of a scene from an HBO special about Riker's Island where a couple of female inmates demonstrated how they made grilled cheese sandwiches using a paper bag and a hot iron.


• Venu saying to Anu, "If death were the only solution to problems, do you know how many times I would've died by now?" shortly after her failed suicide attempt.


• Venu asking Anu not to leave when he sees her packing a bag and she tells him she's only gathering clothes that need to be washed.


• Anu throwing a suprise birthday celebration for Venu and giving him his birth certificate as a present.


• Venu kicking open the door at the exact moment Anu calls him on a cell phone, and bashing up the rowdies who were harrassing her.


• Venu beating up JP's men while Anu participates in a singing competition.


• Venu rushing to Anu's hospital bed and telling her, "You must live. You must live for me. I'll become an orphan again if you die."

Best songs(IMO, of course): "E Shwasalo" and "Nee Kosam"

Why I don't regret buying this, even though I had to put up with a lot of extraneous shit: I really enjoyed watching the three leads. Shriya looked like a dream in those saris, Aarti was cute, "gas cylinder" frame and all, and I've developed a soft spot for Nagarjuna.