And Southwards we go.....

I have been won over by Tamil and Telegu movies. A few months ago, I chanced upon a copy "Operation Duryodhana," which had NO subtitles, but was very easy to understand and so crazy that I decided to find some more...I next saw "Bomarillu"- and am very possibly the last person on the planet to have caught this very frothy pic. As a geenral rule I stay away from romances, but "Bomarillu" sold me on them....to the extent that I sat through the last movie we shall be covering today- "Unnale Unnale."


Title: Operation Duryodhana
Year: 2007
Cast: Srikanth, Nagendra Babu, Mumait Khan.

What its about:
Operation Duryodhana was the code name for a sting operation in India which resulted in a bunch of MPs going to jail. This movie is NOT based on that incident, but is nevertheless a spoof on current regional political issues. Srikanth is a police officer, whose entire family is killed by the local political heavies since he refuses to assist them in their illegal activities. Beaten almost to death, he cuts his hair and wear blue contacts, to turn into a political heavy himself (!!!!!) :D How he extracts revenue from the goons who ruined him, and how he goes back to being a regular police officer is the rest of the story. The movie is absolutely unreal, with insane situations- for example, Mumait plays a woman who is a politician by day and a bar dancer by night....(wth???)

Highlight:
All the oozing machismo- it was parodied to the point of hilarity! The testosterone on the sets must have been crazy :) On the otherhand, I may have completely misunderstood, and they may have simply been unintentionally funny(!) :D

Quibble:
Didn't like the part w/ Srikanth's kids dying- maybe the director wanted to show extremities because of the spoof factor, but kids dying , however improbably, doesn't work for me.

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Title: Bomarillu
Year: 2006
Cast: Siddharth, Genalia.

What its about:
Siddu (Siddhartha) has a problem- his dad, a rich businessman, adores him! The over-protective father drives Siddu crazy, but he bears it all, until the day his dad fixes his marriage with a girl of his own choice. Siddu himself falls soon enough for Hasini (Genalia), and begins to realize the importance of asserting himself and letting his dad know about his likes and dislikes. The dilemma of introducing Hasini to the family, and coming into his own is the rest of the movie. The subtitles rocked, and it was very easy to love this movie, which I do!

Highlights:
1- EVERYONE in this movie tries hard- and it works!!! aside from Siddharth and Genalia, the entire supporting cast is amazingly charismatic, and the movie benefits by it.
2- Even though I couldnt understand the songs- they did not come w/ subtitles- but they were still pretty catchy and fun.

Quibbles: None!

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Title: Unnale Unnale

Year: 2007

Cast: Karthik, Sadha, Tanisha.

What its about:

This was hard to watch, 'cos there were no subtitles in my copy. It seems that Karthik and Sadha have a relationship, but Sadha doubts Karthik's eveyr move. Karthik cheats on her once too many, and she dumps him. Despite him changing his ways, she cant reconcile herself to trust him. They both move to Melbourne (separately), where Karthik meets Tanisha. Tanisha happens to be Sadha's personal assitant, and tries to help Karthik get back together with her, but begins to develop feelings for him anyways. Despite many efforts it doesnt work out, and Karthik ends up with Tanisha!

Highlights:

1- The story! I was rather surprised to find a romance where love doesnt conquer all, and people do have issues with each other and themselves.

2- This has to be the first time I do not dislike Tanisha- she should stick to movies in the South- does much better there.

Quibbles:

1- Ummm...Sadha's character is fairly unrealistic- sure she isnt given a very sympathetic character to play, but her behavior doesnt make sense either. This may also be because I do not understand the language.

2- The movie gets too much into Melbourne- felt like I was watching the Travel Channel at times. :D