By Aman Basha
Watching the beginning of the Prince and likewise, a rattling good, nay, nice film
Nostalgia is an underrated emotion in our lives. Human reminiscence is commonly selective in the way it chooses to remember the previous. We regularly neglect the dangerous and keep in mind principally the great, wishing for “these days” once more. We search the innocence and misplaced promise of youth. The urge for nostalgia appears stronger today, driving the unusual success of two sexagenarians donning their outdated costumes in mediocrely written potboilers discovering large patronage this festive season.
This too, when Telugu Cinema appears to have discovered its golden age, the second of worldwide glory and a spotlight, value celebrating with a ‘Naatu Naatu’? Greater than the 2 Sakranti releases, what has been peculiar is the ‘rerelease’ development that has gripped the Telugu viewers like a mania when this 12 months had a heaping of excellent cinema content material.
Then why is that the best frenzy appeared to be taking place within the theatres screening Pokiri and Jalsa? These are latest movies, actually with nice popular culture worth and vastly fashionable milestones for his or her respective lead stars, however obtainable on YouTube. The 4K restoration is a technical achievement that may be achieved by any bored batch of engineers (loads of whom are Telugu). Then what’s driving the massive viewers for these noughties re-releases.
Maybe it’s the disappointment that has settled on the followers of Telugu Cinema’s present huge star duo, Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu. At a time when Telugu cinema is pushing boundaries, each have been delivering movies which are varied ranges of disappointing. The despairing followers took to those re-releases as a method to rejoice as the brand new movies weren’t value a lot.
It was not out of any nostalgic attachment that I attended Okkadu, it was my sheer habit to the loopy celebrations that I appeared to have missed out on the Pokiri or Jalsa rerelease. The hooting, whistling, dancing within the aisles can distract if you’re watching a film for the primary time, however when it’s a movie you’ve seen numerous occasions, these gimmicks grow to be the purpose.
(Sure! Sure! Sure! Kamariyaaaa)
But I nonetheless had some trepidation. Mahesh Babu hasn’t made a movie that may be watched twice in practically 4 years, and the blows of Sarkar Vaari Paata and Maharshi made me fear if my nostalgia was set for main disappointment as I felt in any case Mahesh movies just lately. Little did I do know the surprises in retailer.
The primary shock was listening to the “Babulake Babu” slogan, that I beforehand thought was for Pawan used for Mahesh. The second, nice and nice shock was how effectively the movie stood and that it was even higher than in my reminiscence.
The preliminary parts of Okkadu left me with a extra content material look than Ajay after his cigarette drag. The West Facet Story impressed gang rivalry in outdated Hyderabad is shot virtually within the rhythm of a comic book musical, with some very good stunt work, particularly involving ladders and different props. The Hare Rama track gave individuals round me a possibility to chop free within the aisles, however I used to be left admiring Mahesh’s dancing (which he’s not a Chiranjeevi at) and the best way Gunasekhar shot the range of Hyderabad.
Okkadu was additionally on the level the place its lead was not the Tremendous Star and even the ‘Prince’, however simply Mahesh, star son making an attempt to show his value. Consequently, Ajay could be allowed to be unheroic, even shedding a degree in a kabbadi match (sacrilege!). A lot of the fun of Okkadu is in watching the making and crowning of Mahesh Babu the hero from Mahesh Babu the extraordinarily good-looking (as even this film mentions) actor.
The hero may need misplaced a lot of his cost as we speak, dogged by the failure of going totally different, trapped in a message giving picture of his making, such that the exceptional recent air his persona was, is forgotten. It will be not be an overstatement to say that Mahesh Babu redefined heroism for the Telugu viewers, by being understated.
Okkadu is likely one of the few masala movies the place it’s simpler to recollect the villain’s traces or the hero’s father’s traces, however there appears to be not one mass dialogue for the hero. In contrast to a Balakrishna who’d ship lengthy monologues for public applause, Mahesh at greatest smiles.
His stoicism was helped or was maybe meant to assist draw the viewers’s consideration to his seems to be, itself an anomaly in comparison with the earlier technology of heroes like Balakrishna and Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna was good-looking too, however a good-looking man whereas Mahesh nonetheless seems to be one thing like a boy.
A hero is alleged to be solely nearly as good as his villain. And on the subject of Mahesh Babu the hero, that villain is all the time Prakash Raj. Take any fashionable Mahesh Babu film from Okkadu to Arjun to Pokiri to Khaleja, and Prakash Raj is the dangerous man. Of all of the villains that Prakash Raj has performed, and never simply to Mahesh Babu, Obul Reddy simply ranks as one in all his greatest, letting free the trademark Prakash Raj hammy villain that’s equal components menacing and hilarious. Meme tradition depicting Obul Reddy as some kind of Arjun Reddy appears to have remodeled his darkly comedian love traces into punch dialogue, the viewers repeating them en masse.
(I like you! My Love-uu! Na Gundenala Pattukupothe ela!)
When he’s not taking part in the dangerous man, Prakash Raj might be taking part in Mahesh’s father as he splendidly did in Seetamma Vakitlo. Right here, the daddy duties are discharged by Mukesh Rishi of Bulla fame, in one in all his few optimistic roles and greatest efficiency after Sarfarosh. After being a part of the best joint household in Murari, Mahesh is right here in a really actual nuclear household, the connection that Ajay shares together with his father could be very effectively written, each making an attempt to 1 up the opposite in entrance of the mom. The daddy is suspicious and principally bickers together with his son, however by no means loses confidence or stops supporting him.
It has all the time baffled me that Pawan’s largest hits have been romances like Tholi Prema and Khushi whereas Mahesh Babu has by no means achieved one hit love story. On this regard, Okkadu comes closest to being that love story. The first emotion driving the movie just isn’t household feuds or social points, however the villain’s psychotic obsession for the heroine. The Seeta Rama dynamic is the blueprint for the Ajay Swapna relationship with Obul the Ravana. In spite of everything, the Ramayana was India’s biggest love story.
Whereas Sita is Rama’s spouse, Swapna means nothing to Ajay. He’s solely in Kurnool for a Kabbadi match, and sees Obul Reddy mishandling Swapna by probability. It’s only after taking her on the best way to Hyderabad, that he learns her backstory. In a subversion of the Ramayana although, Ajay hides Swapna in his house, whereas Obul Reddy hunts for her, with Ajay’s DCP father on the case too.
The Ajay-Swapna relationship has shades of the Jai-Radha relationship from the best masala film, Sholay the place a lady bereaved from loss slowly finds pleasure and love once more with a laconic tall good-looking stranger. In a movie tradition then dominated by unreal heroines, this romance was as particular because the Charminar is to Hyderabad, a metropolis itself the image of affection.
Okkadu could be stated to have marked the top of the faction period of Telugu cinema the place movies carrying caste based mostly titles like Samarasimha Reddy and Aadi glorified feudal factionist village lords as heroes of Rayalseema. Right here too, was a factionist Reddy however he was a villain and buffoon as well, overwhelmed up by the town bred hero on the Konda Reddy Buruju heart of Kurnool within the coronary heart of Rayalseema of all locations.
It’s stated that something in India could be convincingly analyzed from the caste prism and it’s by no means more true than in Andhra, when not solely politics, however cinema too is inescapable from the caste system. Even the most well-liked stars, fairly gifted actors, find yourself turning into representatives of their castes and have caste based mostly fan golf equipment. The massive star exception to that is Mahesh Babu. The one fanaticism he attracts is among the many females.
All this theorizing could make Okkadu appear solely like an incredible disruptive film, a film that’s essential within the adjustments it introduced. I had the identical opinion, however Okkadu stands up not simply as a well-aged film, however an instance of an incredible real looking effectively written masala film.
Your entire film carries a kinetic tempo with the plot unfolding within the area of solely every week. The motion stretches, extra within the Terminator type of relentless chase scenes, are very real looking and muted, with even background music erupting solely in a number of stretches. These chases occur by forests, villages and most thrillingly the lanes of the Previous Metropolis. Although the hero is a kabbadi participant, Obul Reddy has particular powers, making for an exciting climax. The real looking type during which the film was made has helped it age very effectively.
The absence of a typical comedy monitor additional helps Okkadu as a gripping watch, however this doesn’t imply that the movie is useless severe. On the contrary, Okkadu has nice dollops of humor integral to the plot, coming from Prakash Raj’s histronics, Mahesh’s impish sarcasm and particularly his fearful silent look in entrance of his father.
One of many nice options of masala films and any nice film basically is the “echo”. Occasions that beforehand occur are repeated as soon as once more differently, the earlier occasion being kind of a setup for a similar occasion to evict a higher response from the viewers. Echoes carry a sure rhyme to the film, and it happens by Okkadu, say take the scenes the place Ajay will get himself out of being surrounded by hostiles. The loss of life of the villain doesn’t occur within the fingers of the hero, however it echoes with the battle setup of the film. Actually, it doesn’t seem to be Ajay kills anybody in Okkadu.
Okkadu additionally scores in the way it tells a common story in a fashion that’s terribly particular to its locales. Certainly one of its most whistle-worthy scenes entails the sizable Muslim inhabitants of Hyderabad.
There are a mess of areas the place Telugu cinema has made nice leaps today, however a facet the place not solely Telugu cinema but additionally Indian filmmakers are flailing vastly is on the subject of songs in movies. The half-heartedly made, badly positioned songs in films as we speak grow to be particularly obvious when in comparison with the songs of Okkadu, my favorites of which is the beautiful Cheppave Chirugali, to which everybody began dancing and Nuvvemmaya Chesavogani, which appears misplaced initially however cleverly units up the lead couple, later turning into a duet for them.
With Okkadu, Mahesh Babu turned the star who supplied one thing totally different from the remainder. Okkadu was adopted by Arjun, Athadu, Nijam and Pokiri which topped him because the Prince of Tollywood. When he appeared to lastly be on high on the Telugu star hierarchy, the flops started, Khaleja too, which is everybody’s favourite as we speak. Even after Dookudu introduced him again to the fore, the Celebrity nonetheless saved making an attempt to do totally different, appearing in a movie like Seetamma Vakitlo, the place his character didn’t also have a identify.
However it was not meant to be, the viewers made disasters out of fantastic thrillers like 1: Nenokkadine and Spyder, and made successful out of a cynical movie like Maharshi which appeared designed within the format of earlier successes like Srimanthudu and Bharat Ane Nenu. Since then, the Mahesh Babu who was on the forefront of freshness and innovation appears beholden to method at a time when Telugu cinema’s boundaries are being pushed like by no means earlier than.
Right here’s to hoping that this Tella Dora (white savior), as he’s actually referred to as in Maharshi (props for self-awareness), is gone and Telugu Cinema’s ‘Hollywood hero’ makes a comeback quickly with out making everybody wait 5 years for SS Rajamouli to provide the Mahesh we’d like. Or else, I’ll most likely simply purchase tickets for the Athadu re-release. Mahesh Babu, a cool murderer? FDFS Nook tickets please!!
