Balayya gives up Rs 50 Lakh?

Big T-town stars are very stingy about their pay packets but seasoned star Balakrishna thinks otherwise and also thinks about the welfare of the producers. While discussing about making of Legend, producers Sai and Anil Sunkara & team wit Balakrishna in a private chat and felt that the film has gone over budget.

Immediately, Balakrishna asked them not to pay his balance Rs. 50 lakh out of his Rs 5.5 crore remuneration and adjust it towards the excess budget. Producers walked away with hearts filled with happiness, since the offer came from Balakrishna himself and felt happy that a star has acknowledged their pain. A Good-hearted soul indeed! 

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Rowdy Rating:3.5/5

Cast: Mohan Babu , Jayasudha , Manchu Vishnu , Shanvi

Directed by : Ram Gopal Varma

Produced by : Vijay, Gajendra & Pa

Banner :24 Frames Factory Ltd., AV Pictures

Music by : Sai Karthik

Release Date : 2014-04-04

Rowdy Movie Review

Rowdy is Desi Godfather

Unfazed by last year's debacle Satya 2, eccentric filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma came up with Rowdy this time around. For a change, Varma teamed up with Veteran actor Mohan Babu and his scion Manchu Vishnu for an action-drama. The combo itself raised many eyebrows among movie buffs at first. Soon, the film garnered good buzz after the makers unveiled its first look and music. Curious to know our verdict? Read on...


Plot: To put it simply, Rowdy is a classic tale of a faction family set in Rayalaseema backdrop. Anna (Mohan Babu), the family's chieftain, is a powerful and popular public figure in the region who defies law for what he believe in. The film revolves around Nandavaram project to which Anna is opposed for the well-being of local people. Whereas a group of antagonists who have vested interests in the project are desperate to kill Anna to get their project done. What forms rest is feud between two parties. 

Performances:

Mohan Babu: Mohan Babu as Anna carried off the film on his shoulders. His persona, mannerisms catch your eye. One could watch Mohan Babu's finest performance in Rowdy and it recalls you the performance of World's greatest actor Marlon Brando (Vito Corleone) of The God Father. It is not exaggerated to say his acting is on par with national-award winning performance. Ram Gopal Varma brilliantly extracted acting prowess of Mohan Babu.

Manchu Vishnu: Vishnu (Krishna) is a In the latter half of the film, one could see Krishna taking over reigns from his father Anna that immediately takes you back to crowning of prince Michael Corleone as successor to Vito Corleone. Varma again showcased Vishnu Manchu in a powerful, never-before-seen role. Vishnu's performance in Rowdy is a befitting answer to his critics. No doubt, Vishnu excelled as an actor and gone to next-level with Rowdy.


Jayasudha: Jayasudha, who earned the sobriquet of Sahaja Nati, again lived up to her tag. Her role as Lakshmi, wife of Anna, is flawless. Sentiment and romantic scenes between Lakshmi and Anna work in favour of the film.

Shanvi: Shanvi plays Sirisha, romantic interest of Krishna (Vishnu). She does have substantial role in the film. Shanvi is appealing, easy on eyes. Yes, she looks sexy in Nee Meeda Othu romantic song with Vishnu. Looks like, Shanvi has struck Gold with Rowdy.


Technical Aspects:

Music: Sai Karthik has rightly used RGV's opportunity. Music is soothing and comes in handy for film. Especially, the background score needs special mention. BG work perfectly blends with scenes and it elevates the film at many places.

Cinematography: Satish Muthyala's Cinematography is passable.

Editing: Editing is okay and could have been better. The film is slick and sharp due to tight editing work.

Thumbs Up:

1. Terrific performances of lead cast
2. Strong storyline
3. Direction
4. Slick narration

Thumbs Down:

1. Tanikella Bharani's dialogues
2. Cinematography at portions

Analysis: Ram Gopal Varma's Rowdy is perfect adaptation of Mario Puzo's greatest classic The Godfather. Varma, who is going through lean phase of late, don't want to take any chances with Rowdy. He strictly goes by The Godfather. Yet he told in interesting, convincing way. Terrific performances of stellar cast (Mohan Babu, Vishnu and Jayasudha) and the perfect brooding atmosphere make Rowdy an outstanding work of RGV in recent times. RGV's gripping narration takes the film to top level.

The idea to showcase Mohan Babu sans makeup, wig appears real and natural. Perhaps, this is what compels audience to instantly connect with the role Anna. There are no forced songs, dialogues unlike typical Telugu films. Music composer Sai Karthik is a dark horse and surprising element in the film. He has done his best job.

Had the makers taken enough care on technical front, Rowdy would have been classic. Cinematography at times put you off. Film is slick and sharp. Editing is okay but could have been better. Dialogues are fine. Few extra dialogues of Tanikella Bharani (Vedam) may not go well. On whole, Rowdy is far better than recent RGV's films. Rowdy is a breathe of fresh air to Tollywood which is stuck with stereotypical potboilers.

Verdict: Devil (RGV) is Back!

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Stage Set for Akhil's Stunning Debut

It's almost official. Our reliable sources confirmed the much anticipated debut of Sisindhri Akhil Akkineni, doting son of Akkineni Nagarjuna and Amala. Going by highly-placed sources, Akhil is going to sizzle on silver screen for the first time in none other than Akkineni's family film Manam.

Although earlier rumours had popped up that Akhil is debuting with Manam, Nagarjuna denied them publicly. But latest buzz is that post the death of ANR, Nag apparently has change of mind. It is learnt that director Vikram Kumar, of Ishq fame, has recently shot few portions of Akhil and is reportedly going to mix up them with portions of ANR, Nagarjuna and others. 

This is said to be one of the reasons for delay in its movie release. Apparently, Nag don't want to take chances with Akhil's debut. But after Vikram convinced him of stunning and splashy debut, Nag agreed to bring Akhil on board. We hear it is short and sweet debut of Jr Nagarjuna. The family entertainer, which also features Shriya Saran, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, is likely to hit the screens in May during summer holidays. Akkineni fans are hoping that this would be the best summer treat from their stars as this film is also marked for legendary ANR's last film in the annals of history. Stay tuned for more developments.

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Balakrishna's Century is finalized

Legend's dream run at the box office continued on the fifth day too. The film didn't see any considerable drops on its fifth day thus raising the hopes of buyers to have a steady second week. This success means so much to Balakrishna as he did his best to put breaks on his flop streak.

Balakrishna literally stopped doing films for few months in order to find the right script. He gave the responsibility to Boyapati Srinu for the second time and the director delivered yet again. Now Balakrishna's confidence in Boyapati has gone up further that he has finalized him as the director of his hundredth film.

Balakrishna is also impressed with the producers of this film. He agreed to do his hundredth movie on 14 Reels banner. 14 Reels and Boyapati Srinu are already putting in efforts to make Balakrishna's 100th film a Legendary one. This combination itself would raise expectations on Balakrishna's 100. But before that Balakrishna has to do two more films to reach the ultimate landmark in his career. 

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Black Clouds On Balayya's Touch-and-go

Success of latest movie 'Legend' has not only enhanced Balayya's image to a next level in the masses, but it has doubled the voices that are seeking the entry of this star hero into active politics. But his touch-and-go kind of statements seems to be looming black clouds inside Telugudesam camps.

Being a scion and heir to Nandamuri family, one will definitely expect to take up politics post movie career. However, Balayya is busy saying that he will balance both his political and movie careers once he contests in 2014 election and wins. This is what wondering the TDP folks as they are worried where this touch-and-go attitude of the actor will land him in. Apparently cyclewalas are expecting Balayya full time such that he will play constructive role in day to day work of the party if at all his baava Chandrababu is busy with much bigger affairs.

But as our actor says that he wants to be committed to films too, there is no way his political career could take a big leap. Will our actor disperse these black clouds off as he thinks about riding two horses at the same time, is what everyone is really looking at. Let us see.

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Pawan Maps Out Time To Play Flute!!!

What is tougher in Tollywood these days? Undoubtedly we can't get a second mapped to us from Powerstar Pawan Kalyan as he is busy with volatile political scenario at the moment. But here is a big news breaking out.

Some news is coming out from sources close to Pawan that the Jana Sena boss has sent signals to Venky and co, to finalize dates for their joint venture from May. Pawan has agreed to play Lord Krishna's role in the remake of superhit Hindi movie 'Oh My God'. But as he brought his Jana Sena onto the table all of a sudden, all plans got changed and there was a talk that even he opted out from this movie. It is also heard that Tamil hero Vikram is roped in for the flick.

Applying brakes to all speculations, Pawan Kalyan has agreed to play the flute from May in the role of Lord Krishna, as the shooting of 'Ori Devuda' (tentative title) will take off then. Probably he will allot dates to 'Gabbar Singh 2', once he wraps his work with good friend Venkatesh.

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THE VISHNU JUGGERNAUT

Entrepreneur-actor-educationalist-philanthropist Manchu Vishnu dons motley hats in real life. Spanning a decade-long career in filmdom, it wasn't cake walk for the Manchu musketeer despite strong filmy background. Yes, it's a roller coaster ride. With three back-to-back stupendous hits-- Denikaina Ready, Doosukeltha and Pandavalu Pandavalu Thummeda-- under his belt, Vishnu juggernaut is riding high in his career. The Manchu scion is all set to clock one more hit to his credit with his next Rowdy.

Lanky Vishnu is usually reticent but when he chooses to speak, he doesn't mince his words. Few days ahead (releasing on April 4) of his upcoming film Rowdy, Gulte.com engages the man of the moment for an exclusive interview. In a candid chat-a-thon at his office MB Corp in Madhapur, Hyderabad on Tuesday morning, cool and composed Vishnu gets talking about several tricky issues industry is going through, his upcoming films, his loving father, his heroines, his guru Ram Gopal Varma and of course his much-anticipated film ROWDY. Excerpts:

Wearing Many Hats

Juggling with film production, acting and educational institutions might appear surprising for people outside my family. Since I grew up in atmosphere of films and educational institutions, neither education nor entertainment is a new jargon to me. And if you aks me to foray into something I'm unaware of (ex: Real estate), I won't as definitely I don't have any touch with it. To put it simply, a fish doesn't need to learn how to swim. Same way, education and entertainment are two regions which I reckon with. And to the rest of the fields, I'm a novice.

Rowdy

Varma garu and I had planned to do a comedy film at firt but it was put off as he later came up with the subject of Rowdy on condition of roping in dad Mohan Babu garu. Since my dad too want to see me in a full-fledged action role, we both came on board finally. I took up the role Krishna which I haven't portrayed till date. It is not exaggerated to say that Rowdy is going to be a landmark film in my career. I'll garner accolades, respect as an actor after Rowdy release. Sharing screen space with Jayasudha aunty and dad was fabulous experience. Scenes, on-screen relation between dad and Jayasudha aunty come in handy for Rowdy. I wish I do get such a heroine for me in days to come. The 11-minute action episode before interval was brilliantly shot. Background score elevates the film to the hilt. Unlike RGV's previous films, Rowdy has loads of sentiment which instantly connect with ladies and all walks of life. I bet audience shed tears while watching the second half of the film.

Relation with RGV

As I said in audio launch, RGV to me is just like how Dasari garu to dad (Dr Mohan Babu). I'm honoured to act under RGV's direction. Ramu garu and I will team up again for an action-thriller soon. The movie will go onto floors after wrapping up promotions of Rowdy. If all goes well, we do have plans to come up with a sequel for Rowdy. Rowdy 2 is on cards.

Business

This is the first film of mine which has got a great demand in abroad as well as in India. In order to control distributors we even hiked our prices but that is not stopping them to demand for distribution rights. We ourselves stepped into overseas distribution for the first time. AMC Empire 25 is my favourite theatre in America where I watch out many Hindi, English films. I always dreamt of screening of my film in the theatre. This turned out to be real with Rowdy as it will be releasing in AMC Empire 25.

Best Compliment

During recent press conference in Vizag, RGV told media persons on record "Vishnu is the best actor I've ever worked". This is the one big compliment I'd cherish for the rest of my life. The release dates of Dhee and Vasthadu Naa Raju also has a place in my heart.

Shy Guy

I'm shy guy and I am not very much comfortable acting with my on screen ladies except Hansika. Since Hansika is my best friend, I'm very comfortable sharing screen space with her. Shanvi is so sweet and we carried off well. The romantic scenes between Shanvi and me were aesthertically shot.

Socially Inactive

Unlike my other family members, I'm not a social guy. I'm a private man and I'd like to be so. After my Twitter account got hacked, I didn't want to . Rather I want to put my energies on my career. May be after six months or a year, I might reconcile to comeback to Twitter, Facebook platform to make happy my fan base.

No Regional Barriers

Rowdy might be set in Rayalaseema backdrop, that doesn't mean I'm in favour of any region. I'm an Indian and would support a pan-India ideology. I was born in Chennai, studied in Tirupathi and working in Hyderabad. I'm equally attached with every one of this locale. Even if I go to Chennai now, many people there own me as a Tamil guy. 

Kollywood Calling

By the end of this year, I'll be doing a Tamil film. If I get impressive, lucrative offer in Bollywood, I don't have qualms to test waters there. I'm open to go places. Being an actor, I want to explore all things.

Cinema in next 10 years

Telugu Cinema and Indian Cinema are set to undergo tremendous change. I could see a techonological revolution in store for Indian Cinema in the next ten years and Tollywood play a significant role in it.

Parting Shot

All I'd like to tell audiences that Rowdy is going to live up to all the expectations. In short, RGV will be back with a bang. Dad will steal the show whereas I'll go to the next level in my career with this Rowdy. Hope people won't encourage piracy.

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