(For SI blog readers Twig, Supergirl and GaneshKumar)
By the abysmal or non-existent standards of Telugu films, Aithe (2003) is a decent movie.
Truth be said, it’s hard to believe those unschooled Tollywood louts made this film.
Whether this movie is just an aberration, the side-effect of a solar eclipse or a radiation leak, we’d say kudos to Chandrashekar Yeleti.
For the benefit of our semi-literate schmuck readers, Yeleti is the director of Aithe and also credited for the story and screenplay.
If Aithe proves anything, it’s that you don’t need those hideous clowns Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and their simian peers to make a decent Telugu movie.
Au contraire, your chances of making a watchable Telugu film increases exponentially if you fling Nagarjuna, Chiranjeevi, Jagapati Babu, Allu Arjun, Rana, Kajal Agarwal, Pee-a-mani et al into the nearest cesspool which is where they, of course, belong.
To Yeleti’s credit, he eschews the familiar claptrap of Indian movies – love – and fashions a nice crime thriller with a couple of neat twists.
For fear of spoiling your enjoyment, we won’t discuss much of the story but we’ll tell you it focuses on a bunch of youngsters who in desperation see crime as the only way out of their serious financial woes.
The youngsters played by Mohit, Shashank, Janardhan and Abhishek do not set the screen ablaze with dazzling performances but do an adequate job.
Pawan Malhotra as the criminal Irrfan Khan and Veerendra Choudhan as his henchman Musharaff are impressive. We’d love to see more of them.
In our not-so-humble opinion, the jarring notes in Aithe were that moron Sindhu Tolani and the needless song. Both added nothing to the film. We’d say they detracted from the overall pleasure.
Also, the story tended to drag a bit in the second half in the forest scenes.
And on occasion, the thriller even turned comical. But since our protagonists are not career criminals but bumbling tyros, we suppose that’s excusable.
If you live in the U.S., you can rent Aithe from Netflix. Not to worry, if Telugu is not your native language since the movie comes with English subtitles.
Of one thing you can be sure, we’ll be watching Chandrashekar Yeleti‘s funny sounding Anukokunda Oka Roju soon.
Aithe Review – Not Bad for a Telugu Film added by SearchIndia.com on
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The comical elements are intentional. I didn’t find anything bad regarding to the dialogues. Everything was taken care, esp.. the accent of 3rd guy (Abhishek) (hindi + Telugu) is as close to the reality.
Needless song? Of course all songs are need less in Indian movies. But didn’t you like the song? especially the lyrics?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Needless song? Of course all songs are need less in Indian movies
Yes but more so in this film given its story-line.
The song was not bad. Even the picturization was decent.
2. You write: The comical elements are intentional.
True.
As we wrote:
3. Although, we did not explicitly say so we’d recommend SI blog visitors watch Aithe.
“funny sounding Anukokunda Oka Roju”
oh my gosh! Are you making fun of Telugu? ;). I never felt that was funny sounding.
Even AOR is a decent movie and Charmi ( Yes, Charmi) was good in most parts.
Also Yeleti’s Telugu dialogues are very subtle, I think it’s difficult to enjoy if one is a non-telugu.
There are movies which are exceptional but are directed/acted by new comers.
There is a movie called Sindhuram ( I know you won’t find it anywhere) which deals with Naxal problem and I say it is awesome . But as usual the half – brained Telugu idiots made it flop.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: oh my gosh! Are you making fun of Telugu? ;). I never felt that was funny sounding.
There are funny sounding names in every movie industry.
Here are a few examples from different languages:
Language – Funny Names – Meaning
Kannada – Sose Tandha Sowbhagya (the daughter-in-law who brought good luck)
Tamil – Ajith (the gibbering monkey who handed us a migraine)
Hindi – Abhishek Bachchan (the village yokel who won’t let go)
Ad nauseum, ad infinitum.
2. OMG, just realized that Anukonda Okka Raju features that clown Jagapati Babu of Pravarakyudu infamy. Having second thoughts now.
3. Netflix doesn’t stock Sindhuram. 🙁
“Anukonda Okka Raju features that clown Jagapati Babu of Pravarakyudu infamy”
–Don’t worry. Go ahead. When the movie was released, nobody knew that there would be Jagapati babu in the movie. Film makers didn’t publicize him. And in the end credits you see a credit of ‘special appearance’ to him.
FYI, there are a bunch of movies in which Jagapati Babu acted well. ( 1 movie per 100 ofcourse ).
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Will watch Anukonda Okka Raju soon.
Hi,
Pls start watching malayalam movies if you want to watch good indian cinema.
You can start with
Manichitrathazhu, Kireedam, Valtsalyam, Aaram Thamburan.
Once you start, you cant stop, I bet!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
On our agenda.
ya, true!!…. for natural movies in india MALAYALAM movies are a must!!!!!!!!
Oh my god i was blown away by ‘manichitrathazhu’!
Watched it at least 10 times….. still makes you to switch on that dvd player and watch this amazing film! Having said all these starts to give me goosebumps!! Gonna watch it once again!!
Shobhana was awesomeeeee!! The songs were good tooo!!!
Whereas that bozo Jyothika in that crappy Tamil remake was stupid. The whole film was stupid/crap/shit. COPYCATSSSS!!! yuckkkkkkkkkk!!
Please refer to this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manichitrathazhu for more information.
Just view this clip on youtube for shobhana’s amazing performance!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJqlPx3QblM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zel2i9duz4Y&NR=1 (ending part of the film!!!)
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Whereas that bozo Jyothika in that crappy Tamil remake was stupid. The whole film was stupid/crap/shit.
Alas, Manichitrathazhu is the parent of Chandramukhi. We’ve seen the Tamil version.
If there is one ‘actress’ or ‘actor’ we
hateloathe more than even Trisha, Ajith or Abhishek Bachchan, it’s that monster Jyothika for her zero acting skills. Surya deserves an Oscar for contributions to the motion picture business solely for removing Jyothika from the big screen. How we wish the duo had had a child marriage! Then we’d never have seen It (Jyothika) in movies.2. You write: Shobhana was awesomeeeee!! The songs were good tooo!!!
Shobana, of course, we think is Allah’s gift to mankind.
We’ve watcher her in a small role inThalapathi. Loved her.
3. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn’t have Manichitrathazhu
Vaanaprastham is available in Netflix.Though a commercial failure,it received great National and also International acclaim.(Probably,the best for a Malayalam film and also Indian movies.)
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Will watch it.
Offtopic: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002Z7FN7Q
I knew that you will like this film,the only doubt was whether you’ll find it to be just ok or Good or Great ! 😀
I was surprised too,when my friend then(In 2003) recommended this film to me,saying it has a really good script.
I always thought low-budget movies made here only tend to contain C-grade stuff,thankfully this wasn’t.
And please watch our(Me and Twig) next recommendation(Anukokunda Oka Roju) too soon. 😀
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Will watch soon.
Busy with Allah now.
I suggest you a Telugu movie called Swathi Kiranam (Mamooty), which has an unusual storyline and fine performances. There is no love story here, and that might get you interested 😉
I watched ‘Blame it on Rio’, a sort of funny movie. While Michael Caine was the only recognizable actor in the movie to me, it has some good performances, and funny and crisp lines, which may not be great to quote after the movie but definitely enjoyable while watching it. On the whole, an entertaining movie and you can watch it once.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Just checked out Swathi Kiranam on Wiki. Looks interesting. But Netflix doesn’t stock it. So unlikely we’ll be able to see it anytime soon.
2. You write: I watched ‘Blame it on Rio’, a sort of funny movie…but definitely enjoyable while watching it
The only thing we remember from Blame it on Rio is the young girl’s perky tits, definitely enjoyable while watching them 😉
Seen them bouncing
babiesboobies in a theater many years ago.“Swati Kiranam” – Oh my gosh! how did I forget this movie.
It is my personal best of K Vishwanath. It deals with ego of two singers. one a guru, and the other his pupil who surpasses him creating tunes.
Fantastic!
K Vishwanath also created a character in “Swati Muthyam (1985)” – the same like ForrestGump (Character , not movie).
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The only K.Visvanath film we’ve watched is Salangai Oli.