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Baahubali 2 : The Conclusion – Magnificent !

Some where in the future, Indian film Directors will transcend borders and be recognised among the most successful ones in the world. They will probably tell magazine feature writers that they first decided to make movies as they watched this film. Baahubali 2 is a movie to relish and treasure. Hats off to the role model Rajamouli who dared to dream big. He will serve as an inspiration for his contemporaries to dream even bigger! With this epic one, the Director stamps his authority as the current master of Indian commercial cinema.

Baahubali 2 is a transcendent reminder of why we still like to see and hear stories that have been told umpteen times before. The trick is not in the story but the story teller’s quest to push the bounds of imagination beyond the ordinary and immerse the audience into this imaginary world to an extent that they don’t want to come out of that experience. Rajamouli raises the bar technically several notches high. If not higher than Baahubali 1, certainly higher than any other Indian Cinema released before. Thanks to Sabu Cyril, every detail from the tiniest weapon to the massively erected sets is satisfyingly right. The CGI is innovative and the cinematography is razor sharp. Keeravani’s music, especially the back ground score is a major highlight elevating the scenes to mind-boggling heights.

Prabha’s and Rana’s physique and demeanour will even put some of the hollywood big names to shame and they both excel in the action sequences. Sathya Raj and Nasser provide the apt support roles while Anushkha has tried her best as well. The big winner for me among the cast is Ramya Krishnan. She simply gives her life time best performance!

There may be a feeling that the second half is slowing down in pace and the climax may appear hurried up. It is due to the fact that the first half of the screenplay is so racy and pulsating, culminating in an earth shattering Interval block that you can logically only slowdown from there!
Baahubali 2 is a complete entertainment package. So rather than dissecting and relishing it in parts, just consume the whole package and you will not be disappointed and yes if you are hung up in finding the answer for the exam question (“Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali ? “ ), don’t miss the many jaw dropping sequences in between that will involuntarily make you croon and clap !

ap2uk-admin by — April 28, 2017 in Movie Reviews
Katama Rayudu Movie Review

Caption:  Just the name is enough

Ap2uk’s Rating: 3.25 / 5

Zephyr: An entertaining movie ; Director handled PK well.

Brush off:

  1. Shruti Hassan looked different and unrecognizable (compared to her previous movies) ; her costumes in all songs were disastrous
  2. Obvious glitches like 1) when the kid is missed at the temple, why can’t family call her and fretting bad whereas Katama calls her to play hide and seek ; 2) didn’t have proper closure of Radia and his son’s story
  3. Wonder why all brothers were asked to have beards and only Katama is clean shaven; this ended up other brothers looking stale and older in front of Katama
  4. Many fighting scenes and some are real barbaric
  5. Not a fan of showing JanaSena logo in the movie. Suggestion to PK: keep movies and politics separate. It gives clarity to YOU and People. Else there comes a day where people don’t vote if they are miffed up with your flop movie ; they boycott your movie, if they are unhappy with your political career. You will be in catch22 situation. Oh btw, you are creating this situation, dude!  ?

ap2uk’s Rede:

A movie must be embraced and loved by all, if it stands by its primary motive which is to provide entertainment. Katama fits the bill.

Story in a nutshell:

Remake of Tamil movie, Veeram, but customized to enhance political aspirations and enlarge commercial image of Pawan Kalyan. It’s a treat for fans and a good entertainer for rest of the audience.

Movie starts off with 5 aged brothers with no aspirations of marriage. Of which, elder brother is treated as God. As it revealed, 3 of his brothers are secretly in love.  It reminds you of “Peddarikam” movie. Before one could jump into conclusions, things change as the story moves along. Katama is known for his ferocious handling of enemies and compassion for poor and the needy. There comes a love interest in his life by name Avantika, who’s is a fan of nonviolence. As the love tryst getting serious, Katama’s enemies list is growing.

Whether Katama leaves his violent behavior? Whether Avantika accepts Katama as he is or expects him to change for her? What happens to Katama’s enemies? Is there any story behind Katama’s life? Watch the move onScreen to get answers.

What worked well:

  1. I have immense respect for the Directors who handle big heroes, especially PK. Kishore Kumar Pardasani (aka Dolly) got most out of PK in a controlled manner. You would see PK’s performance to the point showing varied versions of Katama like mature version, silly version, and romantic version
  2. I loved watching PK in a love proposing scene. His eyes, more than his body language, were perfectly captured / set to express the love. My fav scene from the movie
  3. Supporting characters have given their genuine performance. Of all brothers, my vote goes to Ajay. He just outdid his character ; Rao Ramesh has done tremendous job but sadly his role was not fully justified and left unfulfilling
  4. Few songs are good. I liked “Emo Emo” written by Ananth Sriram
  5. Veeram was a super duper hit in Tamil. Betting on a remake, with PK as the Lead, is a safe bet. Can’t ask more. Producers and Distributors are happy. I have a feeling that this movie will continue to rake the profits. Let’s see if Bahubali 2 can stop Katama

Ap2uk’s Punch:

Watch it with your friends and family.

Ap2uk’s Hearts:

heartheartheart– Entire cast and the crew

ap2uk-admin by — March 26, 2017 in Movie Reviews
Sultan Hindi Movie Review

Sultan

Sultan Movie Review

Movie Rating: 4.5 / 5

Zephyr: Story, Direction, Songs and Salman Khan

Brush off:

  1. Wish Randeep Hooda had more screen time

 

Few movies are made to impress audience universally. I am one of those contented audience who loved every bit of the movie.

Story in a nutshell:

Sultan movie is about an aam admi (ordinary man) who rises to fame at late age. Sultan is a happy go lucky guy who spends most of the time fooling around. He starts liking a local wrestler, Arphaa. His trials for her ends when Arphaa talks about her goals and insults him of being nothing. The hurted Sultan starts learning wrestling to prove himself to win Arphaa. His passion and determination wins him many awards and Arphaa too. With new fame, Sultan fails to balance family life and becomes arrogant. In a twisted turn, he gets separated with Arphaa and stops wrestling. His aim is only to collect donations for a noble cause. As he’s living a low profile life, one day, a businessman turns up at his office and requests him to participate in free-style wrestling sport.

Will Sultan gets back into wrestling ring? Will he gets Arphaa back? What’s the noble cause for which he’s working for? This is something you must watch on the big screen.

What worked well:

  1. Story and direction. Very engaging story with proper twists as the movie paces from one scenario to another. Ali Abbas Zafar has delivered a great product with his hands spread in Direction, Story writing and Screenplay departments. It’s a one man show. His commendable job was the climax where audience feel and react with Sultan
  2. Artistes – A good movie with a good set of actors is unbeatable. It is well known fact that Salman Khan is not good at emotional scenes. However, be it in his earlier movie Bajrangi Bhaijaan or in this movie, he emoted very well and moved audiences’ heart. His expressions are timely and touchy. In addition, other supporting actors like Arphaa (Anushka Sharma), Wrestling Coach (Randeep Hooda), Govind (Sultan’s friend) and the businessman (Amit Sadh) were four pillars who shared the responsibility of movie’s success equally
  3. Perfect background score especially during Sultan’s practice (first entry and re-entry) and emotional scenes between hero and heroine were impressive. Of course, songs are an added asset
  4. Few dialogues are very insightful. They talk about how life has to be balanced amd about emotions. The conversation between Sultan and Arphaa in the hospital are very deep
  5. Comedy and Emotional portions equally entertaining


Our Verdict:

Salman Khan has delivered another blockbuster movie. Haters going to hate more, but LOVE wins in the end! 😉

We Recommend! Don’t wait, go and watch immediately!

ap2uk-admin by — July 10, 2016 in Movie Reviews
A Aa Movie Review

A_Aa_Telugu_movie_poster (1)

Caption:  Impress yourself not others!

Rating: 3.75 / 5

Zephyr: Story, Screenplay, Direction, Songs and Visuals / Cinematography

Brush off:

1) Few unconvincing graphics
2) Second heroine, Anupama Parameshwaran (one of the heroines from Premam movie), is misused

Ap2UK Rede:

Life –  a four lettered word that gives four births of experience. Society, Friends, Family and Relatives are four walls of life. If you succumb to the pressure of any one of these, you are sacrificing yourself. Guess what, if you are not happy, you can’t make anyone happy.

3vik has given a staunch message through this film about how one has to be cognizant about what they need and what they want. A NEED is being happy and a WANT is keeping others happy. Unless the need is fulfilled you will not elevate to want level. I loved the way he presented the logic in simple terms.

Story in a nutshell (spoiler alert):

Heroine: A mom-stricken daughter who has no say in her likes and dislikes. Heroine’s mom is a control freak rich woman; she’s full of prejudice and ignorant of her mistakes. Heroine’s dad is almost a hen-pecked husband ; lovable natured but always bends down and sacrifices his words and needs in front of his wife

Hero: Relative of heroine ; has enough of self-respect. Lives with mom and 2 sisters. Shortage of money is the big challenge for him

Movie is pretty much predictable. Hero and Heroine are relatives through Heroine mom’s maternal relations. Heroine goes to Hero’s village to live for 10 days. In those 10 days, she learns more about family and bonds and starts comparing how her life is with the parents. When she comes back, she realizes that she’s in love with the Hero.

Twist is both families are not in talking terms because of Heroine mom’s betrayal. Whether the Hero understands Heroine’s love? Do their families re-unite? Does Heroine’s mom apologizes to the other family? How serene is village life? Get your answers on big screen.

What worked well:

  1. Don’t think I have to talk about 3vik’s work explicitly, he did his best as usual
  2. Praveen, supporting actor (Hero’s friend), got a full length role and he did it with ease. I am happy for him ; other character artistes viz.,  Sri Avasarala, Rao Ramesh, Nadiya, and Naresh were apt in their roles
  3. Good background score and songs and visuals were also good
  4. Samantha scored brownie points this time (not a routine character) ; Nitin looked good


Conclusion:

I don’t know if it’s based on Meena movie or Yaddanapudi’s novel, but as long as you are in the theatre, you are just watching another masterpiece from 3vik. Respect to the author and the earlier makers!

You can watch the movie, once, without any hesitations! -ap2uk.com

ap2uk-admin by — June 11, 2016 in Movie Reviews