Allu Arjun, Trivikram’s combo on sets in May

Stylish Star Allu Arjun is currently involved in the shooting schedules of his forthcoming film Badrinath, which is gearing up for its release in the month of May. Meanwhile, he has given his nod to director Trivikram Srinivas for his next film.

Sexy Siren Ileana will play the leading lady in the film and this is the first time Allu Arjun and Ileana are pairing up. The movie will be produced by D.V.V.Daniah under Universal Media production house. The latest buzz is the movie will start rolling its camera in the month of May, immediately after his Badrinath hits the screens.

.

Padmabhushan Megastar Dr Chiranjeevi

Padmabhushan Megastar Dr Chiranjeevi

An intense performer and an actor par excellence Chiranjeevi today is the Megastar who needs little if any introduction. In a career spanning 30 years, Chiranjeevi in his 149 films has essayed performances ranging from the purely commercial to impressively personal and ambitious. Be it actor, star or megastar - Chiranjeevi has been acknowledged as being one of the most successful actors in the history of the Telugu Motion Picture Industry. We, at our Cherryfans.com would like to highlight the remarkable wo Chiranjeevi has shared with the moviegoers for the last 30 years. In 1998, Oct 2nd, Chiranjeevi started a Blood and Eye bank to help the people who are dying for the unavailability of the blood. So far the blood bank won State Govt Best Voluntary Blood Bank award for 5 consecutive years and about 1.7 lakhs units of blood was given away to the need and poor people. More than 2500 eye balls were gathered and operations were performed with the help of Maxivision and LV Prasad Eye Hospitals. Chiranjeevi was awarded prestigious Padma Bhushan award by the Central government on Jan 2006 and he also won the Kalaprapurna award (Hon Doctorate) from Andhra University Visakha Patnam. Chiranjeevi is the pioneer in the film industry to channelize the massive power and strength of his fans towards social service activities. In 2008 August 26th he floated a political party by name PRAJARAJYAM amidst huge gathering of over 2 million people at Tirupathi. CHiranjeevi is the founder President of the Praja Rajyam party and MLA for Tirupathi and PRP is playing a vital role in todays politics in Andhra Pradesh. Chiranjeevi is also looking forward to work for his 150th movie, which will be produced by his son Ram CHaran Tej.

Jr.NTR Shakti Movie Review

2.5/5

The biggest budgeted film till date in Tollywood’s history Shakti starring A1 Star NTR.Jr and Sexy Siren Ileana has hit the screens worldwide on 1^st April. Made with a budget of 45 crores on Vyjayanthi Movies banner, Meher Ramesh wielded the megaphone for the film. NTR has delivered two back to back hits in the form of Adhurs and Brindavanam in 2010 and Shakti is his first film in the year 2011. Will Jr.NTR gives a hattrick with Shakti? Is Shakti worth its hype? Watch out Shakti Movie review on Way2Movies

Story

Story unravels in the backdrop of Egypt with a person bringing Sonu Sood’s head and handing it to Sonu’s wife Puja Bedi. In order to demolish India and take Shakti Peetham’s in control which is Sonu’s aim, Puja Bedi trains her elder son as a cruel man. Aishwarya (Ileana), who is the daughter of Central home minister (Prabhu) escapes to Jaipur for a trip with her friends. Prabhu safeguards the Black diamond which was given by Nazar, later he leaves to foreign in search of a gangster (Jackie Shroff) for asking him the Rudrashulam, which the latter denies.

Unknowingly, Ileana carries the black diamond in her bag and Puja Bedi’s men tries to attack her for the sake of grabbing the diamond from Prabhu. In this regard Shakti (NTR), who is a guide, saves her from the goons and Ileana falls for him. Here comes a twist, where NTR discloses that he is an NSG Commando secret agent. What is the story behind the black diamond and Rudrashulam? How does Shakti safeguards the Maha shaktipeethams and kills the demons? Is the crux of the story.

Performances

NTR, who has been given A1 Star title with the film, has done dual roles. He looked handsome in the role of Shakti Swaroop and did the role at an ease. NTR excelled in the dances and rocked in the role but when it comes to the flashback episode, NTR’s role in Maharudra is a disappointment to fans. The costumes did not work with NTR and he looked odd. Meher failed to showcase him in a unique look and the role as well is wrapped up at a rapid pace.

Ileana looked ravishing in the movie. This is the comeback film for the Sexy Siren after a brief gap of her Saleem. There isn’t much scope for the lady performance wise but she has her importance, when it comes to the story connection. Ileana is attractive and did an impressive job in all her three songs.

Prabhu as Ileana’s father and central home minister, Jackie Shroff as a gangster were appreciable in their good roles. Shayaji Shinde, Vinod Kumar are impressive while SP.Balu is good in his brief role. Puja Bedi in a villainous role is mediocre while Sonu Sood has no scope for performance. Brahmanandam’s role is wasted while Manjari Phadnis is seen in a couple of scenes in a very small role.

Technical Aspects

Ashwini Dutt has spent lavishly on Shakti, and it can be seen visually in different locations. Sameer Reddy’s cinematography and Anand Sai’s art work need a special mention. The locales in North India, Dubai and Egypt are well captured. The basic concept of the Shakti peethams is a distinct and commendable idea from Meher Ramesh but execution wise, he totally failed through the screenplay. Connecting the story with the Egypt episode is useless with a missing fact. A couple of songs by Mani Sharma are good but the background score failed to lift the momentum especially in the flashback episode. Editing by Marthand.K.Venkatesh is patchy.

Analysis

The first half of the film runs on a slow pace in a typical Telugu film style with NTR as a guide and few comic scenes on Ali, Krishna Bhagavan, Dharmavarapu Subramaniam. The interval bang is quite good, where NTR reveals the look of an NSG Commando secret agent. The last ten minutes before the interval leaves you pin high hopes on the second half. However, the second half of Shakti lets down your expectations completely. The Maharudra (NTR) characterization in the flashback episode lacks punch and energy and the costumes were another let down. The climax of the film is wrapped up in a hurried way with illogical sequences and senseless script.

While NTR’s performance, production values and the cinematography are the plus points, Meher Ramesh’s direction and screenplay, editing and Rudra’s characterization are the let down’s.

Final Verdict

Just the title has Shakti…