Worth Watching Entertainments
Yuvata (2008)
Cast: Nikhil, Aksha, Ranadheer, Monali Choudhry, Narasimha Uthkam, Subhash, Sivanarayana, Sayaji Shinde, Narsing, Jeeva, Jayaprakash Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy, Prithvi, Giri, Hari, etc.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues: Parashuram
Additional Screenplay: Dantuluri Chaitanya
Cinematography: Jaswanth
Art: Narayana Reddy
Choreography: Ganesh, Ajay Sai, Dantuluri Chaitanya
Action: Ram-Laxman
Music: Mani Sarma
DTS Mixing: Hari
Lyrics: Krishna Chaitanya
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Co-producer: Muralikrishna Dasari
Producer: Hari Tumma, Uma Prakash
Co-director: Vijay
Direction: Parashuram (debut)
CBFC Rating: U
Release Date: November 07, 2008
What's it all about?
A US-aspiring software engineer Ajay (Ranadheer), a wanna-be police turned security man Kiran (Narasimha Uthkam), and an assistant film director Subbu (Subhash) are friends in Hyderabad trying to live their dreams. Veerababu a.k.a. Babu (Nikhil) , outcast from his uncle's family, joins them from Kesavaram village, where they were all childhood friends.
Babu meets Vishalakshi a.k.a Baby (Aksha) in a strange situation, and very soon they fall in love. Subbu finally seems to have made it big, and while everyone is celebrating, an old feud fires up, leaving the would-be director with serious skull injuries. The friends, including Ajay's girl Madhavi (Monali Choudhry) and Baby, decide to pool up all sources for money for his surgery. They finally loan the amount from a merciless goon (Narsing). When he pressurizes them to repay him, they plan to rob from the security company where Kiran works, and they plan everything right, but Kiran decides to wait behind since it might hand them up all! Ajay and Babu get arrested by the police at the company, but that's after they realize someone else had already robbed all the money! Was Kiran true in his reason? What's his role in the robbery? How much does Subbu's accident really turn the story?
Performances
Cast:
Nikhil is at ease as a careless and fearless youth, but he needs to take care of his diction some more. Aksha is okay but has a short, insignificant role in the film that goes around friends. Ranaadheer, who also acted as senior student in Happy Days, has a considerably lengthy role in this film and he performs okay. His body language is stiff at times, though. Monali Choudhry is attractive but has a limited role as his love interest and the daughter of their house owner (played by Sivanarayana of Amrutham fame). Narasimha and Subhash fit in their roles well and have done good job. Sayaji Shinde as hardcore criminal Nananna who has a weak point of being a fan of Simran plays more a comedy role than that of a criminal.
Narsing and Jeeva appear as comedy-oriented baddies, offering some good comedy through a part of the film. Jayaprakash Reddy as the jailer, Sreenivasa Reddy as a sentry, and Prithvi as "Krishna Manohar IPS" do a good job within the scope of their roles. Sivanarayana as the house owner is intended for comedic relief, but falls short of expectations of people who may want to compare his similar role from his much-celebrated TV show Amrutham. Hero Siddharth and Krishnudu (of Happy Days and Vinayakudu fame) appear in the end of the film, rather unnecessarily.
Technical Departments:
Debut director Parashuram comes up with an appreciable story line for the film. He also ensured a gripping screenplay and unveils the story carefully, maintaining elements of comedy and suspense in right proportions. In fact, it's notable that he has given more importance to the story than to the threads of romance between the two lead pairs. The taking goes in a good pace for most part; more care should have been taken in establishing the romance between the hero and heroine. Camerawork is okay, but the digital intermediatary (DI) work brings in inconsistencies pertaining to focus in a couple
of scenes. Picturization of songs is okay, but it's more the lyrics that catch the attention of the audiences, and some tunes are catchy; choreography is okay too. Re-recording could have been better. Fights are choreographed in a natural style. Dialogues are very good and natural through most of the film, particularly depicting the hero's characterization. Editing is just okay. Production values are appreciable.
Notable Scenes/Dialogues:
* " annii unna vaariki vaaTi viluva teliyadu." (Aksha to an old woman in the Home for the Aged)
* Sivanarayana: " meerendukocchaarraa? Cheap fellows!"
Nikhil: " anTE... cheap panulu Emainaa unTE chEsi peDadaamani..."
* Ranadheer: " oka saari aalOchistE manchidEmO?"
Nikhil: " aalOchinchi cheyyaTaaniki idi vyaapaaram kaadu, friendship!"
* " OdaarchaTaaniki nuvvEmainaa World Cup Final ODipOyi vacchaavaa?" (Aksha to Nikhil)
* " naaku telisindi okaTE, annaa! iddaru kalistE puDataam, naluguru mOstE pOtaam!" (Nikhil to Sayaji Shinde)
* " innaaLLU 'Jihad' anTE pavitra yuddham, padi mandini champaTam anukunnaanu. kaanee, ippuDE telisindi... asalaina 'Jihad' anTE manam santOshamgaa unDaTam, padi mandini santOshamgaa unchaDam ani!" (A prisoner about to be hanged, when the hero makes him happy)
* " EnTii, gunDelO kalukkumandi?" (Ranadheer, whenever Nikhil throws statements about money) [Reviewer's Note: This is an original dialogue from April 1 viDudala, with dialogues by L.B. Sreeram.]
* Hero managing Sayaji Shinde with a phone call to "Simran".
* Hero's repeating ringtone " aakalEstE...".
Minor Overlook:
* Why should the heroine tolerate the hero in the initial scenes? What's her logic behind falling in love with him?
* Characterization of the two male leads is sacrificed in picturizing the item song maa oorEmO chinna....
* Are prisoners' numbers issued in series or by fancy numbers? How can two people arrested at the same time have numbers "420" and "786"?
* Discussions about Ranadheer's visa stamping and going to the USA go on even while he's been imprisoned! How can anyone with pending criminal cases on oneself think of going outside the country anyway?
* What's called a "blank call"? A call from an unknown number or a call without any speech from the caller's end?
* Who made threatening calls to Aksha anyway?
* When the voice-over towards the end of the film rightly says " ennainaa", it's misprinted on the screen as " Ennena".
* The court scene towards the end of the film is executed like they want to urgently wrap the film up, breaking the tempo maintained till then.
* Heroine supposedly goes to the "Home for the Aged" daily, at least until she finds the hero. What about after that? At least one scene together at the Home would have highlighted her characterization a bit more.
* When the makers plan to use a polyphonic ringtone aakalEstE... for the hero, they could have shown a better phone
than a Nokia 1108!
Bottom Line:
While the title Yuvata is not really justified for a film on friends, the film is a decent entertainer in its own stride. Good story, okay performances, catchy tunes and lyrics, and no-nonsense screenplay, garnished with light comedy through dialogues and scenes may enhance the life of the film that opened in a rather low key. The film has a good interval bang and the second half has twists that enhance the tempo. The director should be appreciated for delivering his goods well. The hero who lost on his first solo hero film may gain better response to this film.
TC Rating: 3/5
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