mallanna telugu movie review and story
Cast: Vikram, Shriya, Krishna, Prabhu, Brahmanandam, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mukesh Tiwari, Mumait Khan and others.
Action: Chatrapathi Shakti.
Art: Padmashri Thota Tharani.
Cinematography: NK Ekambaram.
Editing: Praveen KL & Srikanth KB.
Lyrics: Sahithi.
Music: Devisri Prasad.
Presenter: V Creations Kalaipuli S. Thanu.
Story, Screenplay, & Director: Susi Ganeshan.
Release Date: August 21, 2009
Vikram and Shriya After all that hype and numerous delays, Mallanna is finally here. If it had released right after the hit Aparichitudu, it would have gotten a different reaction. As it is, a lot of curiousity has been aroused-what took so long to make? After Gentleman and Shivaji, this is another movie on Black Money. While Bharatiyudu was essentially about bribes and Aparichitudu on corruption, and the former had a freedom fighter and the latter an multiple personality disorder (MPD) patient, Mallanna has an honest cop who raids rich homes and with a gang of poor childhood pals all of them now in the department, gives it to the poor a la Robin Hood. He comes in the guise of an Avtaar of Lord Shiva, Mallanna, with an elaborate super hero costume and feathers.
He has his reasons for the set-up and while he is scrupulous, he isn't omnipotent. People who pray to the village deity write letters and tie it to a tree outside the temple. With a whole crew working for this cause, the letters are brought, read and acted upon and black money goes back to the public. Logically unattainable? Oh yeah? When was the last time we met someone who got bitten by a spider and started jumping off scrapers without injury? It's fiction so view it as such.
It's not without its faults. Parts of it look outdated. Shirya is Subba Laxmi, a spoilt rich kid whose father is paralysed due to a raid by Mallanna-IPS, and she seeks revenge and the duo have a love-hate relationship trying to outwit each other and pretending to be in love. Sometimes those parts drag, along with Brahmanandam who is wasted in a series of not-so-funny sequences where he pretends to be Mallanna. But they spent all this time not for nothing. The script seems to have been reworked and the effect is that it is compact for the most parts and does not drag as a whole.
Vikram's job is not easy, but it is simple. He seems to pick one animal per movie. Like a gorilla or a rooster this time. As Mallanna IPS he is a suave, smug officer, straight-backed, tuck-shirt, aviators. As Mallanna-the-rooster-avataar he's over the top, graceful and clearly enjoying himself even though as an officer he has a permanent "the joke is on you" expression. He has a strong screen presence, and even Shriya in her brief and slightly irritating role with that silly hairdo has a good presence, seems to have grown very confident as an actor and somehow manages to pull off a sensual and grey portrayal like this-a big deviation from looking pretty and acting 'bubbly' or dimwitted. She dances and moves really well, but the music by Devisri Prasad is too repetitive and even the Tamil dubbing sounds off sometimes.
The movie has its moments like when you realize that a team of young officers are pulling off a spectacle show for real to scare people or make them believe in the enigmatic God. The black money routing, as shown in Shivaji, is explained again with some real people references (find them). Mallanna using Subba Laxmi to get the password after she cheats him into confessing about his alter nature.
Two of the action sequences are good. Overall, it's an entertaining one-time watch!
Action: Chatrapathi Shakti.
Art: Padmashri Thota Tharani.
Cinematography: NK Ekambaram.
Editing: Praveen KL & Srikanth KB.
Lyrics: Sahithi.
Music: Devisri Prasad.
Presenter: V Creations Kalaipuli S. Thanu.
Story, Screenplay, & Director: Susi Ganeshan.
Release Date: August 21, 2009
Vikram and Shriya After all that hype and numerous delays, Mallanna is finally here. If it had released right after the hit Aparichitudu, it would have gotten a different reaction. As it is, a lot of curiousity has been aroused-what took so long to make? After Gentleman and Shivaji, this is another movie on Black Money. While Bharatiyudu was essentially about bribes and Aparichitudu on corruption, and the former had a freedom fighter and the latter an multiple personality disorder (MPD) patient, Mallanna has an honest cop who raids rich homes and with a gang of poor childhood pals all of them now in the department, gives it to the poor a la Robin Hood. He comes in the guise of an Avtaar of Lord Shiva, Mallanna, with an elaborate super hero costume and feathers.
He has his reasons for the set-up and while he is scrupulous, he isn't omnipotent. People who pray to the village deity write letters and tie it to a tree outside the temple. With a whole crew working for this cause, the letters are brought, read and acted upon and black money goes back to the public. Logically unattainable? Oh yeah? When was the last time we met someone who got bitten by a spider and started jumping off scrapers without injury? It's fiction so view it as such.
It's not without its faults. Parts of it look outdated. Shirya is Subba Laxmi, a spoilt rich kid whose father is paralysed due to a raid by Mallanna-IPS, and she seeks revenge and the duo have a love-hate relationship trying to outwit each other and pretending to be in love. Sometimes those parts drag, along with Brahmanandam who is wasted in a series of not-so-funny sequences where he pretends to be Mallanna. But they spent all this time not for nothing. The script seems to have been reworked and the effect is that it is compact for the most parts and does not drag as a whole.
Vikram's job is not easy, but it is simple. He seems to pick one animal per movie. Like a gorilla or a rooster this time. As Mallanna IPS he is a suave, smug officer, straight-backed, tuck-shirt, aviators. As Mallanna-the-rooster-avataar he's over the top, graceful and clearly enjoying himself even though as an officer he has a permanent "the joke is on you" expression. He has a strong screen presence, and even Shriya in her brief and slightly irritating role with that silly hairdo has a good presence, seems to have grown very confident as an actor and somehow manages to pull off a sensual and grey portrayal like this-a big deviation from looking pretty and acting 'bubbly' or dimwitted. She dances and moves really well, but the music by Devisri Prasad is too repetitive and even the Tamil dubbing sounds off sometimes.
The movie has its moments like when you realize that a team of young officers are pulling off a spectacle show for real to scare people or make them believe in the enigmatic God. The black money routing, as shown in Shivaji, is explained again with some real people references (find them). Mallanna using Subba Laxmi to get the password after she cheats him into confessing about his alter nature.
Two of the action sequences are good. Overall, it's an entertaining one-time watch!
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