paderthi-vijay

Sekhar Kammula is one of the most sensible directors in Telugu cinema. He's selective with his scripts and stays true to his core style-telling stories that are relevant to society and centered around common people's struggles. Except for one or two exceptions, most of his films are love stories or youth-centric. After Love Story, he brings us Kuberaa. The title itself is intriguing and felt unique. With Dhanush playing a beggar and King Nagarjuna taking on a key role, the curiosity only increased.

When the teaser of Kuberaa dropped along with the lyrical video of "Nadi Nadi," showcasing several cuts from the movie, it sparked even more interest. Adding to the excitement, this is Sekhar Kammula's 25th film-so expectations were sky-high.

The basic plot revolves around Neeraj, an ultra-rich man who wants to become the richest in the world. To achieve this, he targets natural oil reserves under government control. The story unfolds around the lengths he goes to, whether he succeeds, and how characters like a CBI officer (played by Nagarjuna), a beggar named Deva (played by Dhanush), and a supporting role by Rashmika are all connected.

The film begins by introducing Neeraj a businessman with control over multiple companies. He discovers oil in the Indian Ocean and sets his sights on acquiring it. This setup immediately hooks you, making you wonder how the other characters will fit into this narrative. Nagarjuna's character Deepak is introduced next, and it's refreshing to see him in such a grounded role. Then comes Dhanush as Deva, with a powerful scene that marks his entry. What stands out is how these intro scenes are crafted without leaning into their star images-they're presented purely as characters, not stars.

Alongside Deva, several other beggar characters are introduced through a strong song sequence. It's genuinely stunning to see a star like Dhanush treated as just another character in the crowd, and that's what makes it even more powerful.

Rashmika's character comes in much later but plays a significant role.

While many associate Sekhar Kammula with love stories, films like Anamika and Leader proved he's also adept at thrillers. He applies the same strength here-delivering a gripping narrative with philosophical undertones. He explores the harsh realities faced by beggars and how society often ignores their humanity, all within an investigative thriller framework that keeps things engaging.

The film has some powerful dialogues and scenes that carry Sekhar Kammula's signature. The music by Devi Sri Prasad is a huge asset-it felt fresh and different. The background score, especially the signature theme for Neeraj, is excellent and haunting. Unfortunately, it seems one or two songs were trimmed from the final cut, but even those songs were well-composed.

The locations feel authentic, with scenes shot in real places like Tirupati, Mumbai streets, and a dumping yard-all enhancing the film's realism.

Performance-wise, Dhanush is the heart of this film. He fully immerses himself in the character and stays consistent, even though the shoot spanned a long period during which he worked on other projects. He proves again why he's a national award-winning actor. Nagarjuna also delivers a solid performance, portraying internal conflict with grace. His look-graying hair and all-perfectly suits the role, and I'd love to see him in more such parts. Rashmika supports Dhanush's character well and adds a bit of humor. Both Dhanush and Rashmika seem to have dubbed their roles. The actor playing Neeraj is outstanding, holding his own in intense scenes with Nagarjuna. Even Nagarjuna himself mentioned being on his toes while acting with him. The rest of the cast also did well in their roles.

Of course, there are a few drawbacks. The pre-interval scenes feel a bit stretched, with some repetitive shots of Dhanush walking through Mumbai streets. The climax delivers a great message and strong dialogues but feels a bit abrupt, leaving a few questions unanswered. The title Kuberaa also needed a stronger justification within the story.

Still, despite these minor issues, Kuberaa is a refreshing film. It's great to see stars like Dhanush and Nagarjuna stepping away from typical commercial roles-no song duets or mass fight scenes-and simply becoming their characters. It's very much a Sekhar Kammula film, blending thriller elements with philosophical depth.

Go watch it-you won't be disappointed.

The film is set in the pre-World War I era and follows twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, who want to start fresh and open a juke joint-a kind of club for the local Black community. Their cousin Sammie, an excellent guitarist, joins them. But on opening night, they encounter a supernatural evil. What happens next, and how their lives change, forms the rest of the story.

The setup feels like a fresh spin on horror. Director Ryan Coogler brings his distinct style, portraying Black life with natural performances and realistic settings. He reminds me of our Tamil director Vetrimaaran-both are deeply rooted in showcasing the lives of underprivileged people. At the same time, they balance their storytelling with enough commercial appeal to reach a broader audience without feeling preachy.

Sinners is a good example of that balance. The horror and supernatural elements provide the commercial pull, while underneath, the film explores Black life of that era-how people lived and how important music was in their lives.

The music in the film is really good. Unlike Indian films, Hollywood rarely features strong song scores-usually it's just background music or a couple of tracks during the credits. But here, the songs reflect the era beautifully. There's a dance sequence at the juke joint that reminded me of the one in Titanic.

Coming to the horror elements: this is a vampire movie, so naturally there's a lot of blood. They've taken some cinematic liberties, like in Evil Dead-even a small bite results in blood gushing out like it's from a broken pipe. But I didn't mind it. That's part of the genre's charm. Even the movie posters are blood red, staying true to the theme. I also liked the special effects and makeup-the eerie details on characters felt real, and I believe a lot of it was practical makeup, which added authenticity.

Michael B. Jordan was excellent, as always. I think this might be his first time playing twins. I'm curious whether the twin concept was in the script from the start, or if they changed it later so both roles could be played by him. Either way, the scenes with both brothers looked seamless. These things may be easier with today's technology, but they still require careful planning to pull off convincingly.

Hailee Steinfeld played his girlfriend and did a good job. I was surprised at first to see a white girl in that role during that era, but then I learned the term "white-passing"-someone who appears white but is classified as Black. That was something new for me.

The rest of the cast, especially the vampires and Smoke's wife, also did a great job. Overall, it's a refreshing take on the horror genre. I'd love to see more directors like Ryan Coogler exploring different genres with their unique vision.

That said, I wish the horror parts had been developed a bit more. More action sequences and a broader setting beyond the juke joint would have added depth. The entire confrontation happens in just one place-they could've expanded it or explored the origins of the evil more. Also, the dialogues were hard to understand. I get that the dialect adds authenticity, as that's how Black people spoke during the pre-WWI era. It reminded me of the Chittoor dialect in Pushpa, which even many Telugu speakers struggled with.

So overall, I liked Sinners. I'd give it an 8 out of 10.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is the second part of Dead Reckoning Part One, which released in 2023. Part One was solid-it did a good job of setting the stage for this continuation. I won't go into the storyline here since that's easily available online anyway.

Tom Cruise is a true superstar. As someone who follows the Telugu film industry, I understand the power of star pull-and Cruise absolutely has it. Unlike Indian cinema, where stars drive the box office, Hollywood tends to be more studio- and director-driven. In recent years, it's been dominated by superhero franchises, where the idea of a "star" gets overshadowed by capes and CGI. But Tom Cruise, along with a few others like Brad Pitt and Hugh Jackman (yes, he's also technically a superhero), still stands out. Just look at Top Gun: Maverick-it made a staggering $1.4 billion. Yes, it had strong direction, music, and a solid story, but it was Cruise's star power that made it a massive hit.

The Mission: Impossible films are Cruise's signature action-packed spy thrillers. Audiences flock to them not just for the story or action, but to watch Tom Cruise perform those heart-racing stunts for real. In the last movie, he pulled off one of his wildest stunts yet-riding a motorbike off a cliff. I saw the behind-the-scenes footage, and it was mind-blowing how many times they rehearsed that one-minute scene. That kind of dedication shows he never takes the audience for granted. It's why he's one of the last true stars in Hollywood.

Coming to Part Two-this film picks up where Part One left off. For the first several minutes, it's mostly story and dialogue with very little action. I honestly felt a bit bored. We already know who the villain is-an AI called "The Entity"-so the rest of the plot becomes fairly predictable. We've seen AI villains before, and there's not much freshness to the idea. It's hard to build emotional tension with a faceless enemy, even though they try to bring in a human element through the character Gabriel.

There's a long underwater sequence where Ethan tries to retrieve the "Podkova" module, which is central to the plot. It has its tense moments, but it felt overly stretched. And the much-talked-about airplane stunt with biplanes? While it's impressive that Cruise did those stunts himself, it didn't quite match the thrill of his earlier work-either from previous Mission: Impossible films or Top Gun: Maverick.

Honestly, the film feels unnecessarily long. I think the entire story could've been told in one movie without dragging so many scenes. That said, there are a few interesting character additions and some loose ends from earlier films that are tied up cleverly.

I also heard this is the most expensive Mission: Impossible film ever made. I really hope it does well financially, because movies like this are important-especially when the film industry is going through a tough phase.

The cast is solid. Ving Rhames shows a different side of his character, which I liked. Simon Pegg is excellent as always. Hayley Atwell's character felt inconsistent, and her relationship with Ethan isn't clearly developed. The editing could have been tighter-several scenes needed trimming.

In short, if you're expecting back-to-back action, you might come away disappointed. But if you're okay with a more emotional and story-heavy spy film, this one might work for you.