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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Anand - Best Telugu film ever!



Yes, another Southie film for me to watch. I was asked when I am going back to watching Hindi aka Bollywood films. Well, there's still a handful of Southie films I want to watch before heading back.

So far, on my Southie filmfest, I have not been disappointed with any Tamil or Telugu films I've watched. Love how much stronger the South Indian women are portrayed in the films.



Now, this time it's the Telugu film, Anand. Not to be confused with the Hindi version. BTW, is the Hindi film any good? I have never seen it and it stars Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna.

Gosh, I started watching Anand last week but never got to finish it! Not being able to find the time to watch it because when I first started watching, my daughter got sick. It's ashamed because it's a wonderful love story! The best Telugu film yet for me. Maybe the best romantic film yet in India - again, doesn't matter if it's Telugu, Tamil, or Telugu.



Loved. Loved. Loved this film!

Why I love it?

It's a simple love story. With no love-at-first sight. Instead the love develops slowly.

Strong female role. Again, South Indian films give more depth to the heroines than in Bollywood. No difference in Anand.

Even a good female friendship bond. It died down a bit towards the middle to the end but worth mentioning.

Beautiful, girl-next-door Kamalinee.

Drool-worthy Raja.

Great music.

No stupid comedy.

No annoying kids.

No villians to run away from.

Happy Ending.

Realistic - no outrageous fight scenes or over-the-top melodrama.

That's all you need to know.

The *ONLY* complaint I would have is that the dvd quality I had was not very good so I couldn't make good screen caps.

Wait another one - the subs are not that great...but nothing to do with the actual movie.



Orphan at a young age, Rupa's (Kamalinee Mukherjee) parents and brother died in a car accident due to a drunk driver. Since then she grew up in an orphange home. Even though she doesn't have a lot of money for her marriage, she works for an advertising agency. She dismisses her marriage to Rahul (Anuj Gurwara) learning that she can not marry into a family where she can not be herself. Anand (Raja) just came back from the USA and is pressured to get married. After meeting a match, he decides he can not do so. Instead he is intruged by Rupa when he witness Rupa's brave words against her future mother-in-law. He was always curious about Rupa because it was because of his father that she is now an orphan. Therefore, he stays at the orphanage in an extra room to get to know Rupa better. Even though he has befriend everyone and they all love him except for Rupa. Anand starts to fall in love with Rupa. Will Rupa ever open her heart again after the awful incident of the marriage-that-never-happened? Will Rahul get tired of Rupa and move on?



Anand - sweet guy who wants to get to know Rupa better. He feels bad that his drunk father caused Rupa to be an orphan. Love Anand because he's so caring and considerate. When he was set up to meet a potential future wife, he dismissed the girl because she looked down on his driver's son. Once he started to become interested in Rupa because of her personality, that's what made me love him more. He didn't come out to her and say "I Love You" either because it wasn't love-at-first sight.



OMG - Raja, you are so adorable! Not only are you cute, I'm in love with the character Anand. When I first saw him, I wasn't impress too much. But that's because maybe I was looking for some hot abs, hahaha. Because the film started with Rupa first, I wasn't able to see enough of Raja. However, once I saw more of Raja in the film, I saw how cute and entertaining he is!



Rupa is so real. You can relate to her. Although she is an orphan, she never wanted help from any family members and want them to pity her. Everything she accomplished, she did it herself. Her heart is broken by the man who was suppose to be her future husband. The way she reacted with her future mother-in-law needs to be applauded. Never did Rupa try to disrespect her but make a point across.



Kamalinee is definitely my favorite Telugu actress right now. Second favorite South Indian actress, a notch below Sneha. The surname Mukherjee is definitely Bengali. Therefore, Telugu is not her native tongue and was dubbed. Interesting, she debuted in Bollywood with Phir Milenge. I have to pull my dvd out cause I don't remember her in the film. Obviously, the film was focused on Shilpa Shetty because that's Shilpa's biggest acting acclaim. Since then, Kamalinee has acted in mostly Telugu films, such as Godavari, but Anand is her debut Southie film.

Another reason why I love her is she portrays the girl-next-door with a personality! As much as I love fit women like Bipasha, Kamalinee is healthy-looking with curves and looks extra sexy when she wears sarees.



Anita (Satya Krisnan) is Rupa's friend who Rupa confides in. She also is a good friend to Anand once she gets to know him.



Rahul (Anuj Gurwara) is/was Rupa's fiance. He is a coward and doesn't stand up to his demanding mother.



Song #1 - "Yedalo Ganam"
Background score of Rupa & Anand's lives









Song #2 - "Vachhe Vachhe"
Rain song. Everyone has fun.











Watch Below



Song #3 - "Charumathi I Love U"
Anand falls for Rupa











Watch Below



Song #4 - "Nuvvena Na Nuvvena"
Anand distance himself from Rupa to see if he really does love her and vice versa

















Watch Below



Song #5 - "Yamuna Theeram"
Anand & Rupa in love
My fave song!





















Watch Below



Simply love the female bond.











What I also love about the film is it touched in several issues but was not preachy about it -- drunk driving, caste difference, poor/rich, South/Nouth Indian prejudice, dowry, guy who choose his mother over his future wife, controlling mother-in-law



Made screen caps of the South/North Indian prejudice. Future mother-in-law demands that Rupa change from her South Indian sari to a North Indian sari.

Rupa wants to wear South Indian sari





Rupa changing to North Indian sari to please future mother-in-law





Funny poster on Rupa's bathroom door



Anand isn't the first Southie film I've seen with the beautiful colors on the cement. I don't know the name of the event and the reasons behind it. Anyone help me out? - Updated -- Thanks Shweta for telling me that it's rangoli! So beautiful. My daughter loves art and would love this!





Have I not talked about this film enough for you to watch?

If not, let me convince you. Anand is a low-budget film that took these awards.

Santosham Film Awards 2005 - August 2, 2005.

Best Film
Best Experimental Film
Best Director - Sekhar Kammula
Best Producer - Sekhar Kammula
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Kamalinee Mukherjee
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Satya Krishnan
Best Child Artiste - Bakhita
Best Female Dubbing Artist - Sunitha
Best First Film Heroine - Kamalinee Mukherjee
Best Male Singer - Radha Krishnan
Best Editing - Marthand K Venkatesh

Usually, awards don't mean much to me but with the case of Anand, it was well-deserved!

Go watch it!!



13 comments:

Shweta Mehrotra Gahlawat said...

I am glad you are seeing all these southern movies- its educational to me, who has barely seen any :)

Colorful designs on the floor are most commonly known as rangoli, but have diff names in diff partsd of the country. Usually made on any festive occasion/traditional celebration/ sign of welcome. See also : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoli

ajnabi said...

I must see this movie. It looks really good!

lapetitediva said...

No stupid comedy. No annoying kids.

For those reasons alone, I should probably check this one out :)

If I'm not mistaken, Kamalinee was also in Rakkilipattu, the dubbed Malayalam version of Snegithiye, starring Jyothika and Tabu. I meant to get Rakkilipattu, since the Tamil DVD wasn't available, but it's no longer in stock. Oh, well.

Nicki said...

Shweta - Thanks, hehehe. I'm trying to be more open-minded. Besides, I'm seeing more eye candy now so now I'm curious, lol.

Thanks so much for telling me about Rangoli! Will change description soon.

ajnabi - OMG, I think you will love it.

lapetitediva - Hahaha! Yes, no stupid comedy! I didn't have to fast forward! Yah! There are kids in the film but they aren't annoying! Double Yah!!!

I really like Kamalinee and want to see more of her. I have two more films of hers and not sure when I am going to watch since I also have a few Sneha films too!

Anonymous said...

I am glad you loved Anand as I was sure you would. I never tire of recommending this movie to all bloggers including Beth et all.

As I said in my email to you (Godavari review) - the hero is hot in a romantic way.

My teenage nephews and niece made me watch this movie with them during my holiday to India and I loved the movie!

Pity your DVD quality isn't good. I have a very good one with good subtitles too.

Now I am waiting for your review of "Happy Days" - from the same director!

dunkdaft said...

Loved saree clad women :-P And the blue, remind me of Mr.India !!

Happy Ending
Ha, many southie films are famous for sad sad endings. so this is not that, yup.

bollywooddeewana said...

Wow Nicki you really like your Southern films, have you tried any of the SUPER HIT southern bollywood movies from the '80s usually with Jeetendra, SriDevi & Jaya Pradha like Tohfa, you might like them

Nicki said...

anonymous - thanks again!! I absolutely loooooooove Anand. When making caps, I was very disappointed with the quality but as long as I was able to watch it. The subs messed up on me in the beginning and I didn't understand it but re-watched it again. I'm getting Happy Days soon. Just got confirmation that it's in the mail on the way to my house soon!!

Darshit - Hmmm, I've seen a handful of Southie films that were happy. Just that the sad ones are more famous I guess? LOL Mani Ratnam!

bollywooddeewana - I'm trying to be more open-minded. I love eye candy and as long as Southie films gimme that then I'll be okay, hehehe. My problem with watching some oldies is they have to be really good...cause if I was to watch them now, I may find many flaws. I couldn't do the same with the ones that I grew up with though, hehe.

bart said...

Hi,

Seems to be a very good film.
Of course, i experienced the same when i saw (hopefully) the same film in Tamil.

Ninaithale (2007) is the one i am talking about. I believe this did not go down very well with the Tamil audience.

Link for Plot Summary:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninaithale

I will try to watch Anand, though.

Have a great time!

Nicki said...

Wow Bart - thanks so much for the tidbit. I'm sad that the remake didn't do well. Anand is still one of my fave Telugu films till date.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't make time for it this weekend. Hopefully next weekend.

A.Vinay Teja Reddy said...

if u liked anand , then also watch Godavari another Kamalini mukherjee film , sure u will love it :)

Anonymous said...

I love this manchi coffee lanti cinema.Your review was great on my ever favourite movie.