A Good Telugu Movie? Is there such a thing?

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The other day, S wanted to know if there were any ‘good’ telugu movies online we could watch. I laughed and told him there’s no such thing as a ‘good telugu movie’ these days. My brother left a very funny status message today on FB “Breaking news to all movie goers parama veera chakra washed out in moosi river. Balayya babu ajnaatamlo ki velladanta.. Daasari daasanna ayyadu” 😀 hehee This is the state of almost all the telugu movies these days…especially the ones which have star kids and their kids in them.

In the year 2010, around 149 movies released in the telugu film industry out of which, I watched only 7 and out of them…I liked only 5 and they did not have anything to do with ‘big’ actors!!

  1. Maryada Ramanna
  2. Vedam
  3. Raktha Charitha 1
  4. Prasthanam
  5. Andari Bandhuvaya and
  6. Bhimli Kabadi Jettu

These days, I logon to a telugu movie website and just browse through it. There’s Ravi Teja pulling Richa Gangopadhyay lip while she smugly looks at him….. and Balakrishna wearing an army officer’s uniform pretending to lead a country to revolution….or there is Nagarjuna dancing around with girls half his age and there’s Mahesh Babu who is potrayed as ‘God’ who’s come to save a bunch of villagers. These are just a few movies that’ve come out this year…I can keep going on and on about the Ram Charans, Allu Arjuns, Jr NTRs and Pavan Kalyans and their ‘bheja fry’, utter non-sensical movies.

In spite of big budget movies like Komaram Puli, Orange, Khaleja, Ragada, Nagavalli and most recently Param Veera Chakra declared as being biggest flops of the year, our producers, directors and actors continue to churn out senseless movies…..where almost in all of them, the female lead can be equated to a skimpily dressed plastic doll. Anushka, who was brilliant in Arundathi and Vedam…..gave a string of flops like Panchakshari and Billa and now she is back playing a bimbo beside biggies like Nag and Venky. Female actors in the Telugu film industry are not given ample opportunity to prove their acting skills and what annoys me the most is how they are potrayed in most telugu movies.

The word ‘osey’ has become synonymous with addressing the female leads in Telugu movies. There’s this need to show the hero as the ‘man who saves the day for everyone’ and how does he do it….by disrespecting women around him…expect the mother of course. The heroine is the desperate one…the one ready to jump in the bed with the hero where as the hero is under control…though in real life…most of know this to be false. The heroine always needs a man to save her….if she is kidnapped, if she being raped…if there’s a bunch of guys teasing her on the road. She is incapable of protecting herself even in the simplest of situations. Most female characters are dumb and simply listen to the hero…..and a female character, if by the grace of God, is portrayed as being independent….she is a *bitch*……who eventually comes running back to the hero….because she realises it is the man in her life that matters…….and not her career! This is the recipe for most Telugu movies these days with a minor changes here and there of course.

How long will our narrow-minded, egotistical and self-righteous fraternity keep making such movies? Will this trend ever change?? Even though the number of people watching their movies is thinning out year by year, they still declare their movies as being the biggest hits of the year and organise bogus press meets….trying to fool us. But, are we fooled? I don’t think so!

Sreesanth, Karan Johar and Telangana

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Poor poor Sreesanth…always getting a dress down from his team-mates, from the crowds and the umpires. Are we being unfair here? Why do we love to hate him sometimes? After all, he only sledges and ocassionally crosses the line but who doesn’t? The Aussies do it, Proteas do it, some English players and Pakistanis too. So why is it that we do not support our own? Aren’t we tired of being the nice boys of cricket? We’ve always been the quiet ones. We take everything with a smile on our faces. Nothing wrong with showing some agression on the pitch. Sure, Sreesanth does annoy me sometimes. He comes across as being arrogant and childish. He is ready to give but not ready to take. For eg; when he said something to Bhajji and Bhajji retaliated with a tight slap, he cried and how!!! I mean, if you are ready to abuse people you should be ready to take it aswell. The most interesting part of this whole incident was Dhoni giving Sreesanth a piece of his mind in the dressing room later. Apparently, he did not appreciate Sreesanth abusing Smith’s mother and told him to control his errr tongue 😀 Poor li’l chap! I guess, silent aggression is the most productive…like Zaheer’s gaze, or a cheeky smile or a gesture but mouthing a few abusive words…I am not sure.

Karan, Karan Karan…where do I start??? I was watching SRK’s interview on Koffee with Karan this morning. Karan was curious to know how SRK manages to be happily married inspite of being in a film industry filled with gorgeous women. Apparently, Mr Johar does not believe in the institution of marriage since married people around him just do not seem to be happy. They are either divorced or are persistently faced with marital problems. Why doesn’t he just come out of the closet and accept the fact that he is Gay?? I know Indian society doesn’t provide enough support system for its gay population to come out and get married but that doesn’t mean you sit on your comfortable couch and pass judgements against the institution of marriage. I am not saying marriage is easy but if you really love someone, you over-come any number of obstacles. I know it sounds cheesy but it’s true. Mr Johar works in an industry where there is lot of money, lot of choice and less of trust. Most actors have to stay away from home due to their shooting schedules. There is a lot of scope for marital problems to arise but what matters is how you sort them out. These days, when women are more independent and make their own decisions and are not scared to walk out of an unhappy relationship, it does take a lot of effort from both the sides to have a healthy marriage but just because marriages around you (aka the posh localities of Mumbai) are crumbling, doesn’t mean the majority of the Indian public is suffering the same fate?

There were just two things I was sure of in my life and one of them was getting married to S. We have our good days and bad, ours lows and highs, but what I cherish most is the companionship we share. He is my strength when I am down and out, my sunshine on a gloomy day. I am most happiest when I am in his arms. No amount of money or jewellery can give me the same happiness. I could not have imagined my life any other way. Life is just more beautiful with him by my side.

Karan Johar reminds me of some of my friends, who in spite of having girlfriends for years and years together are simply scared to commit and instead of addressing their fears, they say marriage is a waste of time. I laugh at such poor souls.

So the Telangana verdict is out and surprise surprise…TRS is not happy because they wanted the report to agree with the ‘Telangana Vaadulu’. So what is their plan of action? More burning of public properties, more student killings (I will not call them suicides), and more masala for the NEWS channels. When will we learn to live together in peace? The Sri Krishna Committee report is out and there’s no going back. So just shut up and get on with your lives and let us get on with ours!

Peace!

Happy New Year!!!

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What a fantastic start to the New Year. I hope this continues. S and I were in London. I’ve always loved fire work displays and I cannot think of one better than the New Year’s eve fireworks from the London Eye. We were there some years ago but were not placed strategically so the view wasn’t too good. But this time round, we made it a point to get to one of the viewing areas by 7 and were rewarded by securing a place just in front of the Eye on Victoria Embankment. The wait was loooonggg and tiring but once the DJ started playing his tunes, the last two hours passed off quickly. We had slept little the previous night and the 5 hours wait did not help…but once the fireworks display began…it was like a dream. We were so close that I felt the lights and the fireworks were just for us. So bright, so colourful, so full of life!!! It was just amazing!!! One of the best experiences of my life. The display itself was for 10 minutes but DJ Nihal had some awesome tunes if one wanted to shake their booty a li’l 😉 What was more tiring than the 5 hour standing was going back home. All the tube stations around Westminster were closed so we had to walk to Victoria tube station which is about 1.5 miles and took us about 40 mins. There were thousands and thousands of people trying to get home and the queue at Victoria was atleast 1/4th of a mile. S and I were lucky enough to get a bus to Vauxhall station and once we got there, the journey back to the hotel was pretty smooth. It was 3.30 AM by the time we got back and after a quick chat with folks back home and went to bed.

So if any of you plan to be at the London Eye for next year’s new year celebrations, here are some pointers which could be helpful:

  1. Victoria Embankment is the best place to view the fireworks.
  2. Get there by atleast 8 but if you want the best viewing area for you and your family, get there by 6.30 or 7. You might think this is a bit too early but let me tell you this, S and I were there by 7 and it was already filling up. We were lucky to be standing where we did.
  3. Carry a couple of hand held fold-able chairs. There will be lot of standing and even if you want to sit on the footpath, it’s not really comfortable. Your bum starts to ache after a while 😀
  4. Get lots of water and food.
  5. While going back to your destinations, try and catch a bus and get off at any tube station outside the borough of Westminster….Green Park, Vuaxhall, Pimplico are some of the tube stations that were open. Do not go to Victoria unless you are fine with queuing for at least an hour or more.
  6. Last but not the least, charge up your cameras ‘cuz what you will see will be the most amazing thing and you wound’t want to miss a single shot!!!

I need….

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Today is one of those days when I am totally totally out of it for no apparent reason. Some days it is just so gloomy. You feel like things will never brighten up. Nothing good will ever happen to you etc etc. No motivation….no inspiration. Missing home just adds to it. I need sun…I need holiday…I need people around me…and their chitter chatter. I need the tele a really high volume…I need people the noise of utensils in the kitchen and I need kids crying. I NEED HOME.