First of all Hindustan Daily team congratulates the entire crew for giving audience such a spectacular movie.

We would not reveal the story here 😊 

Director: Sudha Kongara
Cinematography: Niketh Bommireddy
Music: GV Prakash Kumar

Star Cast:
Suriya, Aparna Balamurali, Paresh Rawal, poo Ram, Urvashi, Mohan Babu, Karunas, Prakash Belwadi

This movie is based of a real life story of Air Deccan founder G.R. Gopinath with fictional touch to it.

There is ample drama and emotion in the film that will instantly make a connection with the viewer. Cinematography is at top notch and background score elevated every scene to next level. Emotional scenes will definitely bring tears. Chemistry between Suriya and Aparna is impeccable. All the supporting artists have a purpose and have done complete justice to their roles. 
On the whole, Aakaasam Nee Haddhu Ra is an inspiring tale.

Lessons to learn:
When you’re not there when needed then it doesn’t matter how much you earn!

Aakasam Nee Haddura

Aakasam Nee Haddura Review 

Middle Class Melodies is a heartwarming drama with humor touch to it.

- Cast: Anand Deverakonda, Varsha Bollamma
- Direction: Vinod Anantoju
- Story: Janardham Pasumarthi
- Music: Sweekar Agasthi
- Cinematography: Sunny Kurrupati
- streaming on: Amazon Prime Videos

__Sandhya (Varsha Bollamma) expressions made this middle class story a melody!__ There was 15-20 mins story where leads act as inter college students where Varsha nailed it with her expressions.

Raghava (Anand Deverakonda) has given his best. On lighter note, his dubbing and some scenes reminded Vijay Deverakonda.

Raghava’s friend (Chaitanya Garikipati), Divya Sripada excelled in their characters. 

Director Tharun Bhascker appears in a fun cameo for a short period and definitely made his presence.

Every actor in the film have given their best.

Overall it's a great movie just that we felt it was dragged little bit.


Middle Class Melodies

Review: Middle Class Melodies 👍👌

REVIEW: Back in the day, in their native village of Shivpur, when Vijay Chauhan aka Blackie was at the ripe age of 10, his Babuji (Anup Soni) was notorious for being an absolute phattu. But, by pure luck, his son is born with a mean streak and is also an ardent hustler in the making. So, perhaps to prove a point to the villagers and themselves, the father-son duo embarks on a journey of crime that is doomed from the start, again, thanks to Chauhan senior’s namby-pamby ways. Cut to 10 years later, Vijay – now earning the moniker Blackie because of his swindling schemes – is on the run and has settled in Mumbai as a local kaali peeli (hence the name, get it?) driver. But in the current day, the city is fuming with anger as the taxi association calls for a strike for an indefinite period of time until the government meets their demands. Not Blackie though. He refuses to adhere to the directives and looks at it as a window of opportunity to mint money and extract as much as he can from the needy… talk about being morally bankrupt! In comes the salwar-clad ticking time bomb Pooja, who’s clearly on the run from some dangerous people and has a bag full of money and jewels. Her safety, he is not worried about but the hefty moolah, he definitely is. The story of ‘Khaali Peeli’ navigates many a dark alley of Kamathipura (Mumbai’s red-light district) and finds itself back to its place of origin – Uttar Pradesh. What transpires over a period of two days – with a distinct overlap of past and future – is what this dramedy encapsulates.

Flicking the back of his collar while lighting a borrowed cigarette in a Rajinikathesque fashion, Blackie makes an open declaration about his persona to the camera.He doesn’t compromise on two aspects of his vagabond-ish life – tashan and ‘emosan’. The opening shot is evidence enough to predict that the rest of the tour is an out-and-out Bollywood masala flick. And director Maqbool Khan delivers on various accounts. There are creepy hooligans with creepier names (sample this: Yusuf Chikna!), there’s the eternal sacrifice constituting the central theme of the narrative, there is an inspector called Tawde and bullets flying all around the hero, who, well, escapes unhurt! And speaking of the pace of the film, the first 30-40 minutes are absolutely packed with quirky dialogues and has an amount of visual excitement that’s appreciable.

However, the stumbling block in ‘Khaali Peeli’ seems to be with Sima Agarwal and Yash’s screenplay: the integration of the flashbacks with the current timeline kind of takes away from the momentum of the plot; few hits and a lot of misses. In an attempt to connect the dots and explain the situation that the characters are in, the writers often turn to inculcating emotional setbacks and tried-and-tested tropes that feel a tad bit dragged. Also, the chemistry between Ishaan and Ananya is not one of the most sizzling or believable that we have seen in films in the recent past (there is an awkward kiss, too). Truth be told, the child artists playing their younger selves have a better rapport than these two.

By looking at his dominance in every frame, one can tell that Ishaan has worked really hard not only on getting into the skin of his character but also rendering the nuances right – the perfect rolling of ‘Rs’ while speaking the colloquial slang, the cocky walk of Mumbai’s roadside Romeos and basically just being air-light in action and dance sequences. In peppy numbers ‘Duniya Sharma Jaayegi’ and ‘Tehas Nehas’, Ishaan displays the skills of a trained dancer and also reminds us of a younger Shahid. Even in those Patiala suits and that enormous nose pin pierced on the wrong side, Ananya looks every bit the glam gal that she is. But it is almost impossible to imagine her character Pooja leading a dark and disturbing life in the lanes of the unforgiving Kamathipura. The fact that she is putting an effort is evident, but in this role, she lacks the conviction of a girl with a hard life. Heightening the ‘H’ in hilarious are veteran actors Zakir Hussain as inspector Tawde and Satish Kaushik as dumbo-in-denial inspector Bhim. These two humourists add the right dash of spice to the chase that gets us all restless at times. Likewise, delivering solid performances on the grey side of the line are Jaideep Ahlawat as Yusuf Chikna and, to everyone’s surprise, lyricist Swanand Kirkire as the hung-up aashique Choksi Seth. Ahlawat gets you with his deathly glares and occasional swaying of the hair. And Kirkire is what he is portrayed to be – a lustful, potbellied rich businessman.

Sure, Vishal-Shekhar music gets you grooving but the three songs that are planted in the movie are just there for the heck of it. Lyricists Rakesh Kumaar and Raj Shekhar have interesting and edgy words to offer in the three tracks that they anchor but, like we said, the songs are a bit out of place.
In a nutshell, ‘Khaali Peeli’ has slow-mos and a background score that is faster than the heartbeat of an average young adult and on top of everything, a hot pair leading the show! But it derails every once in a while and you wonder – quite empathetically – why! Then again, if you are missing your regular dose of the larger-than-life heroes on celluloid, ‘Khaali Peeli’ is the turn you take – samajla na?

Khaali Peeli

Khaali Peeli Review

__Review__: Kiran Kondamadugula’s Gatham is a cleverly deceptive indie offering that begins on a shaky start and gets engaging as it progresses. The thriller has so many twists (minus the campiness) along the way; it would put Abbas-Mastan to shame. Does it have its drawbacks? Sure. But the film’s team gets an A+ for veering a mile away from anything that would remotely come across as cliché. At 1-hour-41-minutes, the film’s narrative is so tightly wound, it’s hard not to stay engaged.
Set in the snowy locales of US, Gatham wastes no time in the setting up the story. The discomfort begins from the get go as Rishi (Rakesh Galebhe) wakes up from an accident and cannot remember his past due to a severe head injury. His girlfriend Adithi (Poojitha Kurapathi) takes him home and agrees to take him to his father so he can recuperate. On the way there, they meet Arjun (Bhargava Poludasu), a seemingly helpful man with a cabin in the middle of nowhere. However as the minutes go by, the couple find themselves feeling uncomfortable by the minute in the presence of Arjun and his son Harsha (Harsha Prathap). But nothing is as it seems because who is the hero and villain of this tale really?
The way Gatham begins, one expects the film to be a run-of-the-mill thriller which sees a couple fighting for survival as they’re stuck with a bunch of perverts in an isolated cabin. Thirty minutes into the film, Bhargava’s character utters something so revolting, you feel nauseated about watching a film that has already worked hard to keep you uncomfortable from the get-go. But then, Kiran does a complete 360 with his narrative and you’re left wondering if you know anything about the characters like you seem to think you do as the story progresses. To reveal anything more would be an injustice.
Gatham will definitely remind Hollywood buffs of a few films they have already seen but the film’s cast, despite all being unknown faces and Sricharan Pakala’s BGM more than makes up for it. None of their performances are spot-on mind you, but they definitely work. Rakesh sounds a little like Vijay Deverakonda thanks to his voice and diction, Poojitha looks confused most of the time or pained (can’t blame her really) and the film slowly relies on Bhargava's performance so much that it requires you to suspend disbelief and stay invested. Kiran’s screenplay too wastes no time with unnecessary plot-points or characters and sticks to the theme. The way he uses Rishi’s memory-loss as a narrative tool is clever.
At the end of the day Gatham is exactly what you expect it to be – a film made by Indian diaspora living in the US with the aim of having fun. It’s a bonus that they sure know how to narrate an interesting story. And a double bonus that there’s no fake Americanised Telugu accent in sight. Watch this one!

Reviews

Hindustan Daily