Gundello Godari

The film is set against the backdrop of 1986 Godavari floods. Many had lost their homes and livelihoods in that awful incident and the movie depicts destruction and pain caused by this natural disaster. It revolves around two love stories, which show how the lives of four people had changed with the tragedy. Gundello Godari opens with the scenes of heavy rainfall and the film soon goes into flashback mode, which reveals the love story between Aadi and Tapsee. But the first half gives little hint about the natural calamity and it throws more focus on the love story between two lead pairs. The first hour has three beautiful songs including one item number and a fight sequence. Despite not having comedy, the movie is quite interesting. The second half heads to reveal the romance between Sundeep and Lakshmi in the first 30 minutes, which seems to be slow and dragging at times. Then the film shifts back to flooding scene. The climax is amazing and the camera and CGI works and background score in it are superb and it is a visual treat. Fisherman Malli (Aadi) and Chitra (Lakshmi Manchu) are a newly wed couple. They decide to narrate the past life, when they lose hope of survival due to devastating flood. Malli reveals his ambition to buy a fishing boat and his romance with a fishing merchant's daughter Sarala (Tapsee). Meanwhile, Chitra also reveals her love story with Suri (Sundeep Kishan). What made them break up with their loved ones? Will their confessions affect their relationship? Will they survive the flood? The answers to these questions should be seen on screen.

The handling of emotions by the director is very good. If one were to stop at paying just one compliment to the 2013 film, "Gundello Godaari", it would be that. But since it takes money, time, efforts apart from good intent to make a film while only a week's time exists to hear everything the world wants to say about it before the world moves on to the next weekend, one must not hold back when it comes to giving the full credit it deserves and in detail: They all complain about the escapist fantasies that Indian films are. But they do inspire a small section of the audience into aspiring for a better life and working towards it, Friday to Friday, if not Monday to Monday. And the same films are capable of inspiring the same audience even more deeply if they, the same films, decide to risk losing the mandatory sugariness in them and try telling stories by solely depending on honest emotions and drama that is not manipulative. It's a school of filmmaking quite a few new generation directors from Madurai embraced and with great results. While it's simple story didn't demand so much of honesty and boldness in the way it needed to be told, "Gundello Godaari" still tries its best to remain honest and bold in every scene by solely depending on the camera that doesn't shy away from the performances. And since performances too came without being manipulative and riding on emotions that seemed to be truly felt by the actors, the lingering-camera's approach succeeded well in telling two credible stories from the countryside. And retaining the integrity of that intent of the lingering camera is the editor who never chickens out to fast-cuts. Not an iota of desperation in either the crew or the cast while trying to tell a story that never announces to be too big in its scope. At least not while the camera is rolling. And that's the mark of a filmmaker who has confidence in the human drama material he has in his hands and faith in his actors. And meeting the promise is the fact that everyone delivered. Not a single actor can be picked for half-hearted rendering. And while everyone notices how beautiful the cinematographer's frames are, only a few can see how intelligently his camera positions and movements try to tell the same story that the actors are trying to tell. And that distinguishes Palani Kumar, the cinematographer from other cinematographers whose lenses are unfortunately for only great visuals. He has the eyes of a storyteller. Gifted would be directors who will work with him. And he would be one himself one day. Ditto, the person who handled the art-direction. It might be just a decision to cut costs on the producer's part, more than a desire to keep it simple, but the art-director did set the film's rural settings meaningfully well with so little that is available to him/her. R.K.Narayan said, "there is but one art, to omit." And that surprisingly helps many films that shouldn't be spending too much. And, needless to say, for all of us who grew up on A.R.Rahman's magic but only understood the meaning of soul of a song upon suddenly discovering the old melodies of Maestro Illayaraja on FM, he delivers a couple of new ones for this film. Wonder what it is that can help one get an yes from him. Go watch "Godaari". It doesn't lie. It's not the lying type.

-www.subhakar.com

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Maranthen Mannithen (U) TAMIL -------------- my Rating : ★★ TIME PASS

STRENGTHS : - * Performances : were good .... * Concept : was different ....... * Screenplay : was fast if u exclude songs.....

WEAKNESSES : - * Direction : was not well executed ..... * Music and BGM : not match-able ...... * Certification by CBFC : it must have awarded with an U/A certificate because of complete cleavages and sexual scenes ......but in Telugu it was awarded perfectly..... * Dubbing : was good but misses lip-sing .....

FINAL VERDICT : - * Overall .... senior adults will be liking this flick .... not recommended for all.... watch it for a just Time pass .....

The story of the film is loosely based on a novel named 'Godavari Kathalu', written by BVS Rama Rao. The film is set in 1986, in Bangarappeta village near Rajahmundry. Malli (Aadhi) and Chitra (Lakshmi Manchu) is a newlywed couple who are forced to battle it out against a devastating flood of the River Godavari. They lose all hope of survival, so they decide to narrate the darkest moments of their lives to each other after they find a support to rest on.

a love story that is set against the backdrop of 1986 floods of Godavari. It's a movie with raw emotions and realistic content Plus points of the film are casting, realistic approach, music and technical elements.Songs and background music by Ilayaraja forms the major strength of the movie. A film of this nature sans regular commercial elements need a big support from technical departments and Ilayaraja's background music helped in creating a feel. Cinematography by Palani is another asset. He has created a mood for flood scenes and night shots with his good cinematography. Dialogues are natural. Graphics work makes us relive the floods. Since it's a film set in backdrop of 1986 floods, extreme care has been taken. The costumes and hairstyle remind us of 80's. The posters used as backdrop are from popular 80's films (Agni Parvatham, Vetagadu, Goonda etc). Ilayaraja has used his popular tunes from 80's (Banthi Chemanthi…) as radio songs in few occasions in first half. Producer Lakshmi Manchu surely has a lot of guts to make a film like 'Gundello Godari' that defies regular format and tries something that is really new.

Debut director Kumar Nagendra's Gundello Godari, based on the book Godavari Kathalu by BVS Rama Rao, unfolds in the backdrop of the devastating flash floods of 1986. Without much ado, the director takes his viewers into a hamlet on the coast of river Godavari where Malli or Mallesh (Aadi Pinisetty) and Chitra (Lakshmi Manchu) tie the knot. Their body language is uncomfortable, revealing they are strangers thrown together in a match. Minutes after Aadi ties the knot, Sarala (Taapsee) walks in and gifts him a gold ring. The bride, too, is gifted a gold chain by Ravi Babu. The newly-weds squirm as the gathering whispers and exchange curious looks. But there's hardly time to ruminate as authorities issue a flood warming and ask the inhabitants to relocate to safer zones.

In one of the best scenes of the film, the focus is on the couple that's still shaken up by their individual gifts, each perhaps contemplating the troubled journey together. Everyone, except this couple, runs for safety at the first sign of water. Thrown together by fate and bound by destiny, Malli and Chitra stick to each other and make their way to the top of a floating house and narrate their past.

Gundello Godari is not a linear story of how these two protagonists battle the fury of nature. It's a story of how they share their secrets, battle their inner demons, rise above their tumultuous past and discover love.