My picks from 2003
by Sreya Sunil

All's well that ends well. Does that apply to 2003 and the Telugu film industry? That's not easy to answer. As always, there were a few good movies, which tried their best to illuminate the darkness spread by a plethora of bad movies. There were some poignant performances by new and established faces amidst a zillion wooden wannabes. There were countable directors who succeeded in directing their shows with clarity that's become a rarity in Telugu films today.

Good movie!!! Hmm, now that's something, which could be categorized based on a person's perception of the movie. But these days the definition of a good movie depends largely on the audiences' reception than their perception. Some of the movies declared as hits in India shocked me with their content making me re-think my movie judging abilities. Thanks to the chapter selection and skip options in the DVD's, I could turn an editor and watch my own versions of these movies. But again, a hit is a hit, no matter what. Like it or loathe it you just can't ignore it.

Here are two of my personal favorites from this year's movies.

Mahesh's Okkadu started the year with a positive note by breaking and raking away records. Slick direction, crisp editing, wonderful music with neat lyrics, cool stunts, eye-catching sets and captivating performances by the cast made this movie one of the biggest hits of the year. Such is the craze for this movie that it is now being remade in Hindi as Ranveer starring Amitabh Bachhan, Abhishek Bachhan and Sada by Raj Kumar Santoshi and in Tamil as Gilli with Vijay and Trisha. Mahesh's maya finally fetched him his first super duper hit in the form of Okkadu. But sadly his success saga remained short-lived with a poorly made Nijam. Though Nijam broke even with excellent openings, it was rejected for its contrived content. But Mahesh's performance won him accolades from all quarters.

Its caption - Anni cinemalu okela undavu - said it all, shortly and sweetly. Yes, Aithe was not the usual six songs, five fights and huge crowd scenes movie. Director Chandra sekhar Eleti broke as many myths of Telugu cinema as possible setting a new trend, which could not be easily mimicked. A simple point was never told so effectively since Kshanakshanam on Telugu screen. Kudos to Mr. Eleti and producer-cum-dialogue writer Gangaraju Gunna for a simple yet superb movie. Aithe is one film I enjoyed thoroughly right from the word go. Can we have more such movies please?

Here are two movies I enjoyed [and not necessarily liked] mainly because I watched them in the theaters amidst hundreds of cheering fans.

So much fan following at such young age? This person has a clear vision as to what he wants at the end of the day [read: career]. NTR is known as the mass-star and his movies, I learned, need to be watched without questioning and complaining. And Simhadri is no exception. Defying gravity [in the hero introduction scene], bashing hundreds of goons single handedly, sending right signals to riveted public [through various punchy dialogues], becoming a messiah in an alien state [of Kerala] and when bored, romancing the heroines so that the audience are not in a humdrum seeing so much of hullabaloo, Simhadri has it all in ample proportions. Add NTR's amazing dances and Keeravani's funky music to it and that makes a perfect feast for his fans. Is this why this went on to become THE highest grosser this year?

What next after stupendous Indra? Will the next movie live up to the expectations? Will it match, if not cross, Indra's success? So many questions haunted the minds of so many people before the release of Tagore. But Tagore silenced everybody with collections that were only dreamt of [and not heard of] in the industry. It was declared a blockbuster right from its preview shows. So much was written about the movie both online and in newspaper headlines that every word I read shot up my expectations. After I saw the movie, I felt, if it were not for two persons, Tagore would have ended up as just another movie fighting a losing battle against lasting corruption in the society. But these two people gave the movie a new dimension, which explains why Tagore created an All India record by running to, packed houses and registering a century in 192 centers. First and foremost - Chiranjeevi - the Megastar of the industry poured his heart into the movie with a touching and tiger like performance. Secondly, director VV Vinayak, who showed many flashes of brilliance in his first movie Aadi, came up with a superior product here than its Tamil original. Though Mani Sharma's music was nowhere close to his foot tapping score for Indra, it did make fans go ga-ga over Chiru's dances. Kodithe Kottali ra six kottali. Indeed, Tagore's sixes were enjoyed by Chiru's fans all over the globe.

Here's one movie, which I thought was cute.

In one of his emails to me, I remember, Rasool Ellore writing that not all cinematographers were dumb. After watching his maiden directorial venture, I understood what he wanted to convey. Agreed, Okariki Okaru has Serendipity like story where hero and heroine leave things to destiny. But it also has much more than that. First and foremost, Keeravani's music was outstanding. Photography by Sunil and Raja was out of this world. Sriram and Arti made a comfortable debut into Telugu movies with good performances. Good comedy [mostly situational than slapstick] and seasoned acting by other actors were plus points. Rasool, used his cinematography experience to the hilt to come up with a creative direction. The best part of the movie is that it is almost devoid of any melodrama leaving you with a pleasant feeling after the movie ends quite unlike most of the movies releasing these days.

Two other movies of this year, I am yet to watch and looking forward to are - Missamma and Sathyam.

As the year draws closer, it naturally makes you nostalgic of the days that passed by. For a movie buff like me, recollecting some of the movies I enjoyed in 2003 was not that difficult as there were not many.

This year saw many good and path breaking films in Bollywood. When will our Telugu film industry rise above the routine 'I-run-behind-you-and-you-run-behind-me' love stories and mundane 'faction-action-resulting-in-exasperation!!' movies? Lets wake up to a new dawn this New Year. And that's possible only if producers and directors are willing to experiment more. No matter how this year passed by, lets put it behind our back and look forward for the New Year with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.

Here's wishing all you folks a happy, peaceful, prosperous and a wonderful new year from all of us at idlebrain.com, your gateway to Telugu cinema.

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Heroines in 2003