It is a repetitive, overtly conventional and unadventurous world that we live in. More so, the realms of Telugu Cinema are just that and nothing else. That said, it takes more than a spark to come up with an idea for a ‘different’ Telugu movie. An idea that not only stands out amongst the rest by being honest and novel but also ends up being accepted and lauded by the multitude of Telugu Cinema audience. Well, briefly, it just takes plain guts to come up with such an idea and then, stick to it!
I must admit the only director in Telugu Cinema who has managed to excite me the maximum number of times, well, almost with every new project he announces, is Puri Jagannadh. Before I sermon you with the reason and the subsequent rant that this blog is all about, first, let me get over with the customary trivia. Undoubtedly, Puri is amongst the most celebrated directors we have in Tollywood. He has both the privilege to be chosen as the director for the launchpad movies of A-List star’s offspring and the liberty to choose whichever A-List star he wants to work with next. He makes movies that draw impressive budgets, skilled technicians, glam-dolls from half way around the world to act and dance and above all, average (at the worst) to mammoth box office collections into the kittybag.
Yet, talk about him is incomplete without reference to the list of the above mentioned novel and ballsy ideas he seems to effortlessly dish out. And going by the rate at which he’s doling out movies these past couple of years, that list sure feels endless. Precisely there-in lies my aforementioned admiration and simultaneous disdain for all things Puri Jagannadh. Let me lay it bare here that the thoughts expressed henceforth might only make sense on a parallel universe, one that is fundamentally based on auteurism and an enthusiasm for art, sublimity and subtleties of life and not in the current Telugu Cinema scenario. Hence, for all the acridity I spew out, Puri’s not to be blamed. Blame Telugu Cinema, as I did here or its audience, as I'm going to do in an upcoming blog.
Yes; the Ideas! The reason why I get excited everytime Puri embarks on a new project is the conceptual idea the film is based on. More often than not, these ideas are about individuals facing a complex, interesting, traumatizing and life changing situation. They’re about challenging the absurd conventions our society is based on. They’re about studying remarkable characters with a magnifying lens. These ideas, they’re truly novel, brilliant and acute. Take "Badri", Puri’s debut film. A man plays a casual game with his childhood sweetheart where he has to make someone love him; and when he actually manages to do that, he finds himself torn between his childhood love and his new-found affection for the new girl. "Itlu Sravani Subrahmaniam" – Two people planning to die, meet by chance, spend a day together, commit suicide and survive only to find love in each other and a wishful life awaiting them. "Idiot" – The story of a reckless yet strikingly street smart character and the way he faces life. "Amma Nanna Oo Tamil Ammayi" – About how a guy born to a separated couple loses his mother whom he spent his entire life with, and has to go to his father, who he never knew. "Shivamani" – How a girl realizes that the guy she’s infatuated with had a daunting past love story and is strewn apart from his love and helps him find his past love. "Pokiri" – How an undercover cop deftly cleans out the mob plaguing his city. "Desamuduru" – The intriguing prospect of a monk falling in love with a stranger and the soul-search for the reason why one would choose austerity over life. "Bujjigadu" – A tongue in cheek tale of a rift between childhood pals turned lovers and how they get back together. "Neninthe" - A telescopic take on the nuances of the Telugu Film Industry and the lives of actors and technicians struggling to make it big in tinsel town. "Ek Niranjan" – On how a street-beggar can be more than just that by using his wit and helping cops out (cue: Salaam Bombay was based on something like this). "Bumper Offer" - The story of a guy who challenges to rip his love’s father off all his riches in retort to a monetary offer made by the latter. (An ode to Chiranjeevi’s “Challenge” hidden in there somewhere?) "Golimaar" - Of how a gangster hunting innocent cop who’s wrongly framed vows revenge and becomes a gangster himself. "Nenu Naa Rakshasi" - A psychological inquiry into the act of suicide, the story of a girl adamant on killing herself and the guy whose desperate to stop her. "Bbuddah….Hoga Terra Baap" - Another tongue in cheek expression of bringing back the best of a veteran celebrated actor to the frontline and revisiting everything that he has been so celebrated for. "BusinessMan" - The story of a guy who tries to reinvent the mob scene in Mumbai by introducing the concept of organized crime-corporate style. "Devudu Chesina Manushulu" - About two orphans and how life brings them together. "Cameraman Ganga Toh Rambabu" - The quintessential sarcastic note on the current media and political environment.
When I write the above notes, the description for each flick inspires thoughts of great movies from around the world; those from the chapters of the sensitive French New Wave Cinema, the clinical American Political dramas, the pop cultural EuroTrash Cinema; the new age Indie Documentaries, etc. Now, in that parallel Universe I took the liberty of invoking earlier, the above mentioned ideas would have spawned some mesmerizing, strong and thoughtful flicks. Flicks that could have uplifted the spirit, ambition and purport of Telugu Cinema to a different notch altogether! Yet all Puri could do was have these rhapsodic ideas in the first place, and then take them and add in the quintessentially heavy mix of commercial formulaic ingredients to cook up so called “entertainers” overwrought with absurd logic, irritating screen acts and intolerable, and occasionally obscene, movie elements.
As I indulge in my idyllic banter, there he is dishing out another movie based on yet another poignant idea. "Heart Attack", his latest venture which is out on screens as we speak, is about a guy who stalks a girl purely out of lust only to find initial rejection and subsequent unconditional love from the girl, who in turn is herself not ready for an emotional commitment despite her confessions to falling in love. Doesn't that sound like material coming out of an auteur? I bet it'd only be a few days time before my enthusiasm for this film is watered down by yet another 'typical Puri entertainer'.
It’s another day’s (or another blog or two’s) story as to why these ideas did not get to be explored the way they could have been in the first place; if Puri was compelled to succumb to the Telugu Cinema scene or if it was just purely his vagabond cinematic instinct. As I recall, I can surely say Badri was, to date, his most honest effort; the movie still has oodles of freshness and appeal. And yet, I must credit him for his gusto in pulling off projects without compromising on their initiating ideas, the end result notwithstanding. Only, as a cinema enthusiast in the fundamental sense, and an admirer for Puri Jagannadh, how I wish those ideas kicked off the way they could have. How I wish there was that parallel Universe!
I must admit the only director in Telugu Cinema who has managed to excite me the maximum number of times, well, almost with every new project he announces, is Puri Jagannadh. Before I sermon you with the reason and the subsequent rant that this blog is all about, first, let me get over with the customary trivia. Undoubtedly, Puri is amongst the most celebrated directors we have in Tollywood. He has both the privilege to be chosen as the director for the launchpad movies of A-List star’s offspring and the liberty to choose whichever A-List star he wants to work with next. He makes movies that draw impressive budgets, skilled technicians, glam-dolls from half way around the world to act and dance and above all, average (at the worst) to mammoth box office collections into the kittybag.
Yet, talk about him is incomplete without reference to the list of the above mentioned novel and ballsy ideas he seems to effortlessly dish out. And going by the rate at which he’s doling out movies these past couple of years, that list sure feels endless. Precisely there-in lies my aforementioned admiration and simultaneous disdain for all things Puri Jagannadh. Let me lay it bare here that the thoughts expressed henceforth might only make sense on a parallel universe, one that is fundamentally based on auteurism and an enthusiasm for art, sublimity and subtleties of life and not in the current Telugu Cinema scenario. Hence, for all the acridity I spew out, Puri’s not to be blamed. Blame Telugu Cinema, as I did here or its audience, as I'm going to do in an upcoming blog.
Yes; the Ideas! The reason why I get excited everytime Puri embarks on a new project is the conceptual idea the film is based on. More often than not, these ideas are about individuals facing a complex, interesting, traumatizing and life changing situation. They’re about challenging the absurd conventions our society is based on. They’re about studying remarkable characters with a magnifying lens. These ideas, they’re truly novel, brilliant and acute. Take "Badri", Puri’s debut film. A man plays a casual game with his childhood sweetheart where he has to make someone love him; and when he actually manages to do that, he finds himself torn between his childhood love and his new-found affection for the new girl. "Itlu Sravani Subrahmaniam" – Two people planning to die, meet by chance, spend a day together, commit suicide and survive only to find love in each other and a wishful life awaiting them. "Idiot" – The story of a reckless yet strikingly street smart character and the way he faces life. "Amma Nanna Oo Tamil Ammayi" – About how a guy born to a separated couple loses his mother whom he spent his entire life with, and has to go to his father, who he never knew. "Shivamani" – How a girl realizes that the guy she’s infatuated with had a daunting past love story and is strewn apart from his love and helps him find his past love. "Pokiri" – How an undercover cop deftly cleans out the mob plaguing his city. "Desamuduru" – The intriguing prospect of a monk falling in love with a stranger and the soul-search for the reason why one would choose austerity over life. "Bujjigadu" – A tongue in cheek tale of a rift between childhood pals turned lovers and how they get back together. "Neninthe" - A telescopic take on the nuances of the Telugu Film Industry and the lives of actors and technicians struggling to make it big in tinsel town. "Ek Niranjan" – On how a street-beggar can be more than just that by using his wit and helping cops out (cue: Salaam Bombay was based on something like this). "Bumper Offer" - The story of a guy who challenges to rip his love’s father off all his riches in retort to a monetary offer made by the latter. (An ode to Chiranjeevi’s “Challenge” hidden in there somewhere?) "Golimaar" - Of how a gangster hunting innocent cop who’s wrongly framed vows revenge and becomes a gangster himself. "Nenu Naa Rakshasi" - A psychological inquiry into the act of suicide, the story of a girl adamant on killing herself and the guy whose desperate to stop her. "Bbuddah….Hoga Terra Baap" - Another tongue in cheek expression of bringing back the best of a veteran celebrated actor to the frontline and revisiting everything that he has been so celebrated for. "BusinessMan" - The story of a guy who tries to reinvent the mob scene in Mumbai by introducing the concept of organized crime-corporate style. "Devudu Chesina Manushulu" - About two orphans and how life brings them together. "Cameraman Ganga Toh Rambabu" - The quintessential sarcastic note on the current media and political environment.
When I write the above notes, the description for each flick inspires thoughts of great movies from around the world; those from the chapters of the sensitive French New Wave Cinema, the clinical American Political dramas, the pop cultural EuroTrash Cinema; the new age Indie Documentaries, etc. Now, in that parallel Universe I took the liberty of invoking earlier, the above mentioned ideas would have spawned some mesmerizing, strong and thoughtful flicks. Flicks that could have uplifted the spirit, ambition and purport of Telugu Cinema to a different notch altogether! Yet all Puri could do was have these rhapsodic ideas in the first place, and then take them and add in the quintessentially heavy mix of commercial formulaic ingredients to cook up so called “entertainers” overwrought with absurd logic, irritating screen acts and intolerable, and occasionally obscene, movie elements.
As I indulge in my idyllic banter, there he is dishing out another movie based on yet another poignant idea. "Heart Attack", his latest venture which is out on screens as we speak, is about a guy who stalks a girl purely out of lust only to find initial rejection and subsequent unconditional love from the girl, who in turn is herself not ready for an emotional commitment despite her confessions to falling in love. Doesn't that sound like material coming out of an auteur? I bet it'd only be a few days time before my enthusiasm for this film is watered down by yet another 'typical Puri entertainer'.
It’s another day’s (or another blog or two’s) story as to why these ideas did not get to be explored the way they could have been in the first place; if Puri was compelled to succumb to the Telugu Cinema scene or if it was just purely his vagabond cinematic instinct. As I recall, I can surely say Badri was, to date, his most honest effort; the movie still has oodles of freshness and appeal. And yet, I must credit him for his gusto in pulling off projects without compromising on their initiating ideas, the end result notwithstanding. Only, as a cinema enthusiast in the fundamental sense, and an admirer for Puri Jagannadh, how I wish those ideas kicked off the way they could have. How I wish there was that parallel Universe!
You hit all the right notes.
ReplyDeleteFelt like I was speaking my mind aloud.
Keep writing buddy. Love the way you articulated the thoughts too