Aasai(1995)

Prakash Raj owned this movie. Even cutie-pie Ajith was no match for PR's scene thievery. I didn't like how his devious, sister-in-law lusting self went out like a punk in the end, but considering what he did to that poor dog, I suppose it's fitting.


Jailhouse Confessions: When You Just Can't Keep
Your Wife's Murder To Yourself(AKA "Dumbass!")

Nuvve Nuvve(2002)

I'm just freeing this from draft mode. I've got some notes scribbled down that I'll organize later, but for now:

This kinda feels like Bommarillu, only with the genders reversed.

Shriya's got the magic, too--well, at least in this movie. In Enakku 20 Unakku 18, neither she nor Trisha could sell me on Tarun, but here, I could deal with him somewhat. (Aside: I don't hate Tarun, I just think he has a very lackluster screen presence.)

I think I might have to become a Prakash Raj fan, just because he's so damn ubiquitous.

Nuvvu Naaku Nachav(2001)

Why does Prakash Raj look like FILF material in this movie? How can I derive any satisfaction from my "hai, it's Prakash Raj, again" sightings if I'm torn between wanting to do him and wishing that he were my daddy? I'm ashamed to admit that I found it difficult to concentrate on the rest of the film because I was too busy drooling over him. Damn you and your unexpected hotness, Prakash Raj!

The movie itself was okay. I had zero expectations, so I wasn't disappointed, just a bit underwhelmed. It was slow to start, and dragged in places, and I thought Venkatesh appeared more like Aarti's older brother than her love interest. But he was likeable, and I think he has a charming screen presence. Aarti--the sole reason I bought this flick--looked good, especially in the "Vunna Maata Cheppalevu", "Okkasari Cheppaleva", and "Naa Chupe Ninu" songs.

Just for a change of pace, I would like to see a movie where the soon-to-be-wed heroine doesn't develop feelings for the wastrel-with-a-heart-of-gold hero. Instead, his attraction remains one-sided and at the end, he's left to wallow in the pain of his unrequited love while she marries the intended groom. That type of ending might not go over too well with some audiences, but for me, it would be totally relatable, if a tad depressing. I have a feeling that such a film exists**, but I've yet to stumble upon it.


**Mungaru Male comes close, but again, I'm thinking more along the lines of, "He's in love. She's indifferent. Cordial, but distant. He realizes he'll never the scale the wall she's put up, so he suffers silently", blah blah blah.

I Love You Raa(2002)

Telugu dub of I Love You Da. I love the "I Love You Raa", "Autograph", and "Oh Priya" songs so much, I wish I had the Tamil DVD just for the better picture quality. I wonder if any of those songs are on the Simran Hits DVD? I'm not a fan of songs-only DVDs, but for Simran, I'd make an exception.

The movie itself is not as awesomely bad as I hoped. Granted, I know zilch about cricket(and sports in general, as I don't watch them), but I thought even a non-fan like me would be entertained by a film about match-fixing. Instead, all I can think is "feels disjointed", "ends abruptly", "too clichéd and over-the-top for even me", "little boy committing suicide--WTF?" On the plus side, I enjoyed watching Simran, Raghuvaran, and--gasp!--Prakash Raj(he looks nice clean-shaven, I must say). And, it was only $2.99, so it wasn't a total waste of cash.

Aside: I Googled and yes, "I Love You Da" is on the Simran Hits DVD, along with "MTV Paarthu Putta".

Bobby(2002)

One-armed Prakash Raj is love. I like to rag on him for being in every third movie I own or have watched, but seeing him in Bobby, with only one arm, I felt for him. Rationally, I know that his other arm was strapped behind his back and not really missing, but still, it was touching, and kind of funny as it reminded me of the "one-armed solider" dance this kid in my high school German class did. Anyway...

Mahesh Babu and Aarti Agarwal are Romeo and Juliet-type lovers whose fathers(played by Raghuvaran and Prakash Raj, respectively) are bitter enemies. Unfortunately, they don't remain enemies. And just as unfortunate, not everyone dies in the end. I hate seemingly tragic love stories that end on a happy note(not unless I'm misunderstanding and Mahesh and Aarti's marriage just before the closing credits was really a "dream-before-dying" scenario, but I don't think so). I firmly believe that star-crossed lovers should not survive, simply because I'm fatalistic like that. (Or would "morbid" would be a better word?)

Mahesh did a good job in the acting department, although I wish his character would've gotten laid already so that he would shut up about "committing the sin". Aarti looked lovely and appeared to have good chemistry with Mahesh. One of my favorite scenes is the one where she tips him 100 rupees for (accidentally) rolling out a red carpet for her, and the back and forth banter between them that follows. I also liked the scene where she and Mahesh are sitting on top of a bus, in the rain, smoking, and she suddenly puts out her cigarette, saying that she no longer feels the urge to smoke out of boredom now that she has him, and they lean in for a kiss that leads to the "Vaa Vaa" song.

This movie appeals to the fifteen year-old in me who believes in the made-for-TV version of love and romance. It has a little Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet(the fish tank scene), a little Showgirls(the french fry scene), a little Spice Girls' "Wannabe" video(during the "Pullani Pullattu" song when Aarti Agarwal is dancing on the stairs with four other girls), and a song("Lokam") whose beat is ripped off from Jennifer Lopez's "Love Don't Cost A Thing". The picturisation of said song makes me feel as if I'm on drugs, which isn't a bad thing. It was certainly different, kinda cool, and kinda "Where have I seen this before?" I'm sure it was "inspired by" another artist's music video, but I can't think of who. Moving along...

My only quibbles are that the movie tends to drag in places, and the comedy bits with Brahmanandam and Sunil, while brief compared to the amount of screen time they normally get, could've, should've been left out. But otherwise, the $5.99 I paid for this DVD was well spent. I had zero expectations and wound up pleasantly suprised, which is always a good thing.

Arjun(2004)

If I were to have a greedy, murderous mother-in-law, I'd want it to be Sarita's character in this movie. Watching her look all crazy-eyed and ready to kill you over 10 paise was the best part of this flick. I bet if Mahesh Babu had fought her instead of Prakash Raj at the end, she would've won.

Speaking of Prakash Raj, I actually liked him in this movie. Normally, whenever I see him playing yet another villian I'm like, "Whatever." But here, I was kinda rooting for him and Sarita because they made such a good evil pair.

Shriya Saran didn't have much to do except look wide-eyed and open-mouthed, and appear in four of the six songs. Very pretty, though. Purple is a good color on her.

The sister sentiment was sweet. The scene where Arjun(Mahesh) is running down the road with Meenakshi(Keerthi Reddy) in his arms while she's going into labor made me go, "Awwww...I wish I had a brother like that!"

I also wish there had been fewer fight and action scenes to go along with the absence of a separate comedy track. With regards to the former, the cheesy graphics brought to mind a quote from Beavis and Butthead: "These special effects aren't very special!"

The picture quality isn't the greatest, either. Most of the time, I felt as though I were watching an oft-viewed rental tape. But for $4.99, I guess I can't be too suprised.

In spite of those quibbles, I liked the movie. It's not great, but it's watchable. And, unlike Heartbeats, it didn't make me go "WTF?" at the end. (More on Heartbeats in a future post, hopefully.)