Film: Neninthe
Cast: Ravi Teja, Siya, Subbaraju, Mumait Khan, Krishna Bhagwan, Surekha Vani, Supreet, Brahmanandam, Venu Madhav, Rama Prabha, Sayaji Shinde etc
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Sam K Naidu
Editing: Varma
Art: Chinna
Fights: Ram - Laxman
Produced by: DVV Danayya
Story, dialogues, and screenplay and directed by: Puri Jagannadh
Release date: 18 Dec 2008
CBFC Rating: U/A
What's it about!
An assistant director Ravi (Ravi Teja) struggles to become a good director. He works under an established director (Brahmanandam) but he goes through lot of troubles getting right launch pad. On other hand, Sandhya (Siya), a troupe dancer falls in love with him. The rest of the movie is how he reaches his goal. Mallik (Subba Raju) and Mumaith (Mumaith Khan) play the roles of 'hero' and 'heroine' in the movie.
Analysis
Neninthe is all about movie industry and its pitfalls. Puri's 'bold' attempt to throw 'light' on industry's 'dark secrets' is not convincing. Those who are not well versed with the industry's inside stories would feel big bore. Except some 'movie buffs', the so-called satires on the movie industry cannot be related to. And the narration of the movie is very slow and there is hardly any story.
The biggest problem with the movie is that you can't empathize with the protaganist.
Puri Jagannadh's hollow script, weak characterization of Ravi Teja and confused goal of the movie are main drawbacks. There are certain scenes that evoke right emotions and some scenes reflect Puri's intelligence, yet he has failed to translate them correctly on the whole.
He also touches many aspects related to the movie industry. There is too much of everything that spoils the broth.
Performances
Ravi Teja carries the same rugged look that he has been showing in all the movies. For the character of a struggling assistant director, he looks odd with his 'street fighter' looks. Yet, he comes up with good performance in emotional scenes. Newcomer
Siya is apt for 'junior artiste or dancer'.
Mumait Khan's episode is silly.
Subbaraju is okay. As 'die'-hard fan,
Sairam Shankar stands out with his neat performance.
As in all Puri's movies,
Shyam K Naidu excels with his right visuals in tune with the movie. Music by Chakri is ordinary excpet for the song of
'Krishna nagare mama..'
Puri Jagannadh is letdown by his own writing (script). Characterization of Ravi Teja is so confusing. Sometimes he is sober and in the next scene he is aggressive and bashes up villain (in all about 10 times). He is failed to portray the angle of an underdog (a struggling director) winning his goal correctly. The so-called satires on the movie industry are also skewed.
Some Questions/Observations
1. Puri questions media about its writings for 'exposing the industry'. Then what he did was in
Neninthe not the same? Cursing the same industry that gave him bread and fame? Why this dual mentality?
2. There is a comment in the film - Why do you (NRI audiences) think too much about just 8 Dollars before going to the movie?
For Puri, 8 Dollars might be peanuts because he gets Crores of Rupees as remuneration but general folk always think twice before they spend single penny because it is their hard-earned money. For USA based Telugu people watching a movie needs a lot of planning, traveling, scheduling their tasks, etc. It is not just the question of $8. So they naturally tend to rely on reviews.
3. Agreed that some of the reviews are biased at times. A general sweeping comment that reviewers take money and write reviews is far beyond the truth.
4. Puri says through the movie that media is living off on movie industry by publishing news and photos of the movies. Really? Then what he is doing? Is he not living off on the public by throwing his movies to the audiences? In this world everything is mutual.
Bottom-line
Neninthe might seem 'bold' concept wise but it lacks punch. The treatment, hero's character, the supposed jokes, and satires all have not worked well. Puri is letdown by his own writing. If you are related with the movie industry, it might seem okay. It is big bore for general audiences.
Rating: 1.5/5
