Stalin

We saw it in London.

Usually if any Chiranjeevi's movie is released, there is a festival period for online and print media. This kind of situation was at sky high for 'Stalin' as well. I will write on 'Stalin' in next paragraph after some general observations. I find Chiranjeevi is a versatile mass hero in India like Amitabh Bachan. Like Chiru, Amitabh is also acted in both classical and pure mass masala movies. I participate in discussions with friends and family members about telugu movies, because we watch movies not only of Chiru but other telugu movies acted by other popular hero's. Overall, I personally believe Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi have been successfully able to reach masses in Andhra Pradesh by their good off-screen communication skills. In fact both of them are choosing their movies (in the recent period) which have either devotional framework or society concern. I deny that Chiranjeevi ignored message oriented movies in his earlier days. He did extraordinary youth message movies like Challenge (direction: Kodanda Rami Reddy) etc, but that time he didn't had such following which he enjoys today. For me 'Stalin' climax fights resemble that of his movie 'Challenge'. Sri Ramadasu by Nagarjuna is truly thought provoking movie by any standards.

Some of the reviews have suggested direction of Murugadoss in stalin was not up to the standard of his previous movies. But, I think Murugadoss did a very good job and he is very successful to live up to the image of our megastar. The message in the movie is clear. Such messages can be entered into public minds and possible social change only if a stature of Chiranjeevi shows them on screen. In this aspect the movie is a great attempt. Roughly Chiru might have fan following anywhere between 3.6 and 5.4 crores in Andhra Pradesh alone. I am not biased for him, because I watch movies by all major hero's and appreciate good movies. Next best fan following in Andhra Pradesh might be somewhere between 1 and 2 crores for any other hero (excluding Sr NTR and ANR). It is worth to watch 'Stalin' with all the family members. We all came out of the movie with a very positive mind. Songs are not very catchy, but this I believe helped a lot on concentrating on the movie and its theme. Stunts and picturisation is super! Overall, 'Stalin' sets a trend in recent Indian cinema.

In Hollywood movies, if mass heros like Arnold or Bruce Willie does super stunts people accept, but heros like Kevin Costner or Tom Hanks do super stunts then people do not accept. Similarly, some stunts in 'Stalin' although might sound impossible, but is fine to have such for a hero who enjoy huge mass support.

Chiranjeevi's performance needs no description, he's Absolute. Personally i wish, should have taken care with his hefty appearance. Trisha is cute, though nothing much to contribute performance wise. Khushboo performed sentiment and seriousness well. Sarada acted vivaciously in mother's role.Prakashraj is good, so is sunil. Especially Murugadoss has to be appreciated for coming up with a nice script (with chiru).

Rather looking at the small errors in the screenplay or for impossible climax stunt or insufficient graphic work in 1-2 scenes or limited entertainment in the movie - I LIKED THE MOVIE FOR ITS SENSIBLE MESSAGE. Just felt like, something can be done to save or keep going the positivity left out in the society at least by following the method/message given in the movie. Afterall, this is what at least we can do for being born as humans and try leave a better world or society for our fellow juniors who are yet to born. It takes a sentence/line to turn-down the impressions altogether, but needs a heart or at least humanity to spread such messages. I consider this movie a worth watch for every citizen for its unique message. But unfortunately i fear, 'poison works faster than medicine'. Lets C.

High-Voltage movie with Chiru's gr8 performance. Gr8 message to the people and to the fans of Chiru. Ifs full of Chiru show and he did it perfect. Trisha done well with her character. Movie is going to be biggest hit of South India. Murugadoss proved his talent by this movie again. Songs and fights are excellent by Chiru. The movie will collect more than 50 crore. The music by Manisarma is very good. All characters in the movie performed very nice in their parts. Sunil done well at the climax scenes and in comedy scenes. Prakash raj acted as the senior politician and showed a greatest performance as an 80 year old man. Finally one will feel by saying a good movie. Stalin rocks.

Mega Star and Padmabhushan Chiranjeevi, who gave sensational message-oriented hit films like 'Indra' and 'Tagore' has again set another new record with his latest flick 'Stalin' directed by Murugadoss and produced by K Nagendrababu. The film was released across the world with 400 prints and is being screened in over 550 theatres world-over from September 20. The film is creating new records in terms of collections. 'Stalin' had collected over Rs 6 crore share on the first day itself, which is a record in the history of Indian film industry. The film had collected Rs 17 crores in total as the share for the first one week, which is a new record in the south Indian film industry. The details of shares area-wise is as follows:

Share in Rs: Nizam – 4,77,58,538, Ceded – 3,01,72,331, north Andhra – 1,70,36,726, East –1,03,12,910, West – 80,87,091, Krishna – 1,02,68,710, Guntur – 1,16,22,106, Karnataka – 1,42,54,267, Overseas – 1,51,02,628, Tamil Nadu – 26,02,124, North India –32,67,801. All put together the total share is 17,66,91,156.

Story

Stalin (Chiranjeevi) is an ex-military man who spends his time in helping people. He usually gets peeved that the apathy in the society and how it affects in turn. He wants to bring change in the society by implementing a simple formula of extending unconditional help to those are in need. The rest of the story is all about how he transforms the society with that simple formula.

Artists Performance

Chiranjeevi:

Story of this nature needs an actor with lot of off screen influence. Chiranjeevi's reputation as man of social service helps the credibility of the character. Chiranjeevi did extremely well in emotional scenes. His dances in Parare and Tauba songs are very good. There is a good comedy episode with heroine in the beginning of second half.

Others:

Trisha is lovable in a small role and her comedy timing is good, as usual. But her role is not a part of the main story. Prakash Raj acted as a senior politician and he is good with Nellore dialect. Sunil steals the show with an emotional performance in climax. You will see different Sunil in that scene. Kushboo is neat as sister of hero. Mukesh Rushi and Pradeep Rawat are good in their roles. Sarada and Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao are adequate. Anushka did an item song.

Technical Departments:

Story - screenplay - Direction: The basic thread of one helping three people is inspired by the Hollywood film 'Pay It Forward'. The director added a conflict thread in the form of Prakash Raj and made it sure that the 'pay it forward' concept converges with the villain thread in climax. The director Muruga Doss exploited the humanitarian angle very well. But he could not fuse other threads (sentiment and action) of the film in a convincing manner. The screenplay should have been better. There are certain episodes in the film that touches your hearts like the race of physically challenged people. At the same time there is a brainy action episode (well - oil tanker).

Other departments:

Music by Mani Sharma is average. It sounds good on screen with visuals. I personally liked 'Siggutho Chichi' and 'Suryude' songs. The crowds liked 'Parare Parare' and 'Tauba Tauba'. Dialogues by Paruchuri brothers are adequate. Cinematography by Chota K Naidu is good except for a couple of scenes in fight sequences. Fights by Kanal Kannan are superficial with lot of thread work. Producers Nagababu and B Madhu should be commended for coming up with a film that has social relevance and humanity aspect.

Analysis:

First half of the film is pretty mediocre as there is no conflict thread in terms of villain. Second half is better from the moment villain enters the scene. The last 20 minutes of the film stands out with very good emotions. There are ups and downs in the film with logic missing in some scenes. The human element of altruism deserves an appreciation. Stalin stands as an example of how a good climax can change the fortune of a film. Stalin is worth a watch for humanitarian aspect and an emotional climax.

This movie could have been made better!!! Stalin was released with great expectations,but could not live up to the mark. The reason is simple. No planned execution. I would definitely appreciate Chiranjeevi for taking up this role,no mistake from Chiru at all but from MurugaDas. This movie has a lot of wasteful characters like Trisha, Sunil etc. They make the story lose pace quite often. Chiranjeevi's performance is good. He fits the storyline. He could have opted for a better director.

When I saw this movie's posters. Chiranjeevi looked amazingly good. But he seemed to have put on lot of weight on screen. He should do something about it. Either He should take care of himself or stop acting in younger roles.