Siddharth triple-threat: Aata, Bommarillu, and Chukkallo Chandrudu
First thing's first: Siddharth is absolutely adorable, and he really works his physical attributes to their maximum effects - beautiful eyes, big smile, dorky but endearing gestures, in-character and committed dancing.* I even liked his singing in Chukkallo Chandrudu. These all add up to a veeery pleasant and sometimes squeeee-filled movie-watching experience.
[Pause to reflect on the über-schnuffel that is Siddharth.]
But during Aata and Bommarillu, my brain kept going "Hey, what about me?" I found both of these movies to be pretty dumb (or "pretty but dumb," take your pick).** The former has characters so broad you're not sure how even one of them fit on a movie screen; both have plots driven by very filmi, Really Stupid Ideas that severely challenged my ability to suspend disbelief; and the latter doesn't work if you can't support the love of Siddharth's pampered idiot and Genelia D'Souza's squeaking, cartoon-eyed, hot mess of annoyance. Even Siddharth saving puppies from a burning building - hello, manipulation!- could not move my stony heart. Neither film worked for me on any level except the visual, thanks mostly to the afore-mentioned Siddharth effect (and, in the case of Aata, some beautiful river scenes and interesting-to-look-at songs).
For reasons I cannot explain, I loved Chukkallo Chandrudu. It's not particularly more clever or nuanced than the other two and, with its three love stories, skirts dangerously near heroine overload. Isn't it interesting that Siddharth co-wrote a movie in which he gets to love on three different stars? Uh-huh. Fortunately, one of these three, Sada's character, is a compellingly smart, sensible, strong, and sweet young woman, the type I don't see nearly enough of. Hurrah! Song-wise, this film also has a clear advantage, featuring 1) Prabhudeva cutting a rug, 2) Siddharth hip-hopping around Innsbruck (which is supposed to be...Stuttgart, was it?) with refreshingly ordinary-looking backup dancers, and 3) Sukhwinder Singh's glorious, joyful "Dolna Dolna," in which Siddharth gives the best birthday present ever to Sada. If you have not seen this song, go find it at once, because you will not be able to help grinning like an idiot as you watch it. It's fab.
What I'm curious about is: how representative of Telugu popular cinema are these movies? I've seen only four Telugu films (these three and Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana), so may sample is very small and, I suspect, very skewed. As always, I'm up for recommendations.
* In fact, a certain fan told me she thinks Siddharth's dancing is rivaled only by the skills of Hrithik and Shahid. Thoughts?
** Aata also gets a thumbs-down from me for having characters act like rape is no big deal (even though they're the villains and are held up as wrong, I couldn't swallow the topic being treated so lightly) and for having Siddharth's character tell his heroine that her sleeping with him is his right.
Aside: Siddharth's name occurs 11 other times in this post. That is officially too many. There must have been other notable people/meanings/features in these films, but apparently you'll have to look elsewhere to find out. Apparently I have drunk the Kool-aid and all else is lost.
[Pause to reflect on the über-schnuffel that is Siddharth.]
But during Aata and Bommarillu, my brain kept going "Hey, what about me?" I found both of these movies to be pretty dumb (or "pretty but dumb," take your pick).** The former has characters so broad you're not sure how even one of them fit on a movie screen; both have plots driven by very filmi, Really Stupid Ideas that severely challenged my ability to suspend disbelief; and the latter doesn't work if you can't support the love of Siddharth's pampered idiot and Genelia D'Souza's squeaking, cartoon-eyed, hot mess of annoyance. Even Siddharth saving puppies from a burning building - hello, manipulation!- could not move my stony heart. Neither film worked for me on any level except the visual, thanks mostly to the afore-mentioned Siddharth effect (and, in the case of Aata, some beautiful river scenes and interesting-to-look-at songs).
For reasons I cannot explain, I loved Chukkallo Chandrudu. It's not particularly more clever or nuanced than the other two and, with its three love stories, skirts dangerously near heroine overload. Isn't it interesting that Siddharth co-wrote a movie in which he gets to love on three different stars? Uh-huh. Fortunately, one of these three, Sada's character, is a compellingly smart, sensible, strong, and sweet young woman, the type I don't see nearly enough of. Hurrah! Song-wise, this film also has a clear advantage, featuring 1) Prabhudeva cutting a rug, 2) Siddharth hip-hopping around Innsbruck (which is supposed to be...Stuttgart, was it?) with refreshingly ordinary-looking backup dancers, and 3) Sukhwinder Singh's glorious, joyful "Dolna Dolna," in which Siddharth gives the best birthday present ever to Sada. If you have not seen this song, go find it at once, because you will not be able to help grinning like an idiot as you watch it. It's fab.
What I'm curious about is: how representative of Telugu popular cinema are these movies? I've seen only four Telugu films (these three and Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana), so may sample is very small and, I suspect, very skewed. As always, I'm up for recommendations.
* In fact, a certain fan told me she thinks Siddharth's dancing is rivaled only by the skills of Hrithik and Shahid. Thoughts?
** Aata also gets a thumbs-down from me for having characters act like rape is no big deal (even though they're the villains and are held up as wrong, I couldn't swallow the topic being treated so lightly) and for having Siddharth's character tell his heroine that her sleeping with him is his right.
Aside: Siddharth's name occurs 11 other times in this post. That is officially too many. There must have been other notable people/meanings/features in these films, but apparently you'll have to look elsewhere to find out. Apparently I have drunk the Kool-aid and all else is lost.
Comments
Too bad Aata & Bommarillu weren't your thing. I'm all about over-the-top so I was full of glee throughout Aata but it's in no way a perfect movie. It's very crowd-pleasing skin-showing unapologetic masala that isn't even conscious enough to be amazing. But I still adore it to pieces.
Genelia annoyed a lot of people but I adored her in Bommarillu. When you have a heroine who's bursting with personality, I am usually into the film. She reminded me of Korean drama heroines.. I could also, for once, understand why Sidd fell in love with her; logically, his life is improved by her presence.
I have to go now but if I have any more thoughts I'll return to this. :D
Thanks for your vote re: representativeness!
veracious - I'll certainly keep watching Telugu films here and there, so maybe Bunny will go on my list. Your point about masala is well taken, but I'd have to say that, at least for me, the ingredients were mostly duds, so putting a bunch of them together didn't help matters any. Makes me wonder how I'd define my favorite flavor of filmi "over the top," because surely there must be different kinds! I also take your point re: Genelia's character improving things for the hero. I guess all I can say is, "Too bad her presence didn't improve things for me." Me, me, me! :)
About Bommarillu, a lot of people were disappointed but I went in not expecting all that much and got a pleasant experience in return. I think every time a romance makes sense considering attributes of characters, I'm into it - that happens so rarely in Indian cinema, though. Like why does he love her? Because of factors X and Y, instead of just "oh because they fell in love at first sight, no further explanation necessary" (though this can work, too!).
Still, glad you were able to enjoy CC and ..NVNN, I guess?
Love your blog. I guess bommarillu is representative of the romantic movie , no violence type film category. which is what siddhart has acted in so far in telugu.
other recent movies from different genres would be
pokiri (action) , yamadonga ( action, mythology) , anukokunda oka roju ( thriller), Happy days(college movie), Anand, godavari (romantic)
I guess the appeal of bommarilu was in the depiction of the over protective parent who is doing everything "for your own good" which struck a chord.
Regarding Bommarillu, I think you missed the father-son tension part. For me and lot of people I know, Bommarillu is as much a father-son story as is a love story. I have seen people sobbing during the father and son argument scene. South India has world's highest rate of suicides among young people and the parent-child tension depicted in this movie is one of the reasons(if not the main reason) for such high suicide rate.
Vijaya - Ooh thanks for the recommendations! I'll add them to my list. And your last point ties in nicely too...
Indianoguy - I didn't know any of that! You're right, I totally missed it. That does help me appreciate its appeal more :)
Shweta - CC rocks! :)
Never Mind! - She is sooooo irritating. I agree with you - if I met that person in real life, I'd run far away.
I found this to be a hugely interesting aspect of the movie. You can't do it too many times of course. But in this case, it worked for me.
That said, I'm trying to break into South Indian films, starting with Anand and Bommarillu. But now that you've mentioned Chukkallo Chandrudu, I think I'll have to check that out, as well! I promised myself not to read the entire Wikipedia plot (as I am prone to do at times), and it sounds very interesting. Plus, it has Siddharth, who I've only seen in Rang de Basanti, but enjoyed very much.
I think I've only seen one Tamil film, but it was full-on glorious and wonderful: Kandoukondain Kandoukondain (or some variant spelling thereof) (also called I Have Found It), starring Tabu, Aishwarya, Mamooty, and Ajith (whom I might like even more than Siddharth). It's a contemporary setting of Sense and Sensibility and has a Rahman soundtrack. WIN!
I heard/think Godavari is good. So was one called ashta-chamma. Being a generation-and-a-half above these movie genre, I don't watch much current crop of Tollywood.
Coming from a tamizh girl, that is high praise! I will see Seetaaraamayyagaari granddaughter, after your rec. I heard that it was pretty good, with an ageing (sp?) Nageswara Rao as the grandpa.
Did ANR skip over being a father straightaway to grand-pa-dom? Both he and NTR kept forever playing youthful parts, assisted by jet black wig pieces.
I'm not complaining!!!!
Watch ashta-chamma (shades of importance of being earnest)
VERY intrigued by a film that has shades of Importance of Being Earnest!
She is 74 and probably not as easily recognizable as in some of her famous movies.