-
Jun 26, 2024 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
Here is a film that functions as a vehicle for its meticulously-realized world. Its aesthetics are undoubtedly derived from sci-fi staples—we get the red and blue laser beams and lightsabers from , the neon-inflected urban cityscapes of Blade Runner, and the desert chases of Mad Max.
-
Jun 7, 2024 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
Satyabhama is conscious of how rare it is for a woman to play the lead in a mainstream Telugu film. In its early stretches, we see shades of Vijayshanti’s Kartavyam (1990) — Kajal Aggarwal in the lead plays a cop with little patience and a taste for violence. This is a film smart enough to acknowledge that we exist in a culture where markers of femininity are associated with weakness.
-
May 30, 2024 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
The ghosts of Sukumar’s Rangasthalam (2018) and Pushpa (2021) loom large over Gangs of Godavari, a crime drama set on the banks of the Godavari. For one, there is the attempt at rootedness: the Godavari yaasa, references to the cultural importance of the river deity, and the fact that the criminal enterprises in this world are built on resources endemic to the region—sand, in this case.
-
Apr 30, 2024 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
Vijay Devarakonda’s latest film, Family Star, is mostly unremarkable, save for one scene. It happens after an antagonist shows up at his house with an auto rickshaw and demands that his sister-in-law “get in”, as compensation for her husband’s unpaid loan. Unsurprisingly, this angers our hero, who shows up at the antagonist’s place and beats up his goons. But then, our hero walks up to the baddie and delivers this threat :“We also have men in our family. We have the things you have.
-
Dec 22, 2023 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
As the film progresses, the tension between mass appeal and fantasy/sci-fi epic becomes evident, leading to a somewhat disjointed world-building experience despite aesthetic admiration and technical prowess.
-
Dec 22, 2023 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
Salaar: Part I - Ceasefire is, at its core, a mass movie. Yet, it aspires to be so much more: at its heart is a city-state built by warring tribes that have walled themselves off from the world and evolved into militaristic outfits. There is a Game-of-Thrones style battle for power within these walls and a criminal empire that stretches out from them. This is a world of soot, fumes, and blood.
-
Dec 2, 2023 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
Naga Chaitanya plays Sagar Varma, an acclaimed journalist on his way to becoming chief editor of a new newspaper called Samachar in Vizag, when he comes across mysterious newspaper clippings that foretell the deaths of his acquaintances and his family. The Problem With The Show is That It doesn’t know whether it’s going for David Fincher or Rob Zombie, and it is too timid and scattered to alchemize the two and grow a voice of its own.
-
Dec 1, 2023 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
There’s a scene in Dhootha in which an investigating officer arrives at the scene of a death and figures out through the pattern of the blood splatter that the case is not as straightforward as it first appears. Later, there’s a scene in which three fire extinguishers ricochet off a stairway, bump into a woman and cause her to fly across a hallway into conveniently placed spikes, impaling her to death.
-
Aug 22, 2023 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
Mass Audience Can Also Get BoredThis isn’t to say that Chiranjeevi’s films from the 80s and 90s age entirely well, or that he should be making the kind of films he was making then in 2023. Many of these films have stretches of awful misogyny and poorly-aging comedy.
-
Aug 18, 2023 | 
filmcompanion.in | Sagar Tetali
There’s a moment in Bholaa Shankar, Chiranjeevi’s latest film, when Chiranjeevi smashes a wall with his elbow, angered by a prank played by Tamannaah. It seems to come out of nowhere; the dramatic context is too tepid for this. We are, of course, meant to ignore the immediate context and react with recognition: the wall-smash is a reference to a famous scene in his 1991 smash-hit Gang Leader.
