Godavari

"Yaam arintha mozhigalilay" nu dhilla solla Bharathiyar mathiri i dunno that many languages. But of the three that i knew, i love Tamil. Its THE best language and most structured one i've ever learnt. It does have a few alphabets missing :) but it sure makes up for it with its rich literature. If at all i could ever fall in love with any other language, a close second would be Telugu. Its one language i abuse the most :) all in jest though. Being a language moron, i find it tough to understand the nuances of other languages. But somehow, even without knowing the meaning, i find it easier to follow telugu. It has a sweetness and cuteness to it that is almost palpable in most of the telugu movies. Especially the ones by Sekar Kammula. All his movies have standard set of strengths and similar weaknesses. Strengths being, Music - almost all the songs will be blockbusters and the melody tracks would linger long after the movie finishes, Female leads - there would be an earthy beautiness to all of them. Cute, independent, strong and lovely at the same time. Weakness being the syurpy storyline. Its sweet to an extent but beyond a stage it starts to thegattify. I am pretty choosy when it comes to watching movies in other languages and Godavari was in waitlist for past sevaral years. Have heard rave reviews about the movie from almost all my friends who've seen the movie and have urged me to watch it many times. Was awaiting a good print with english subtitles and happened to hit upon one recently. By this time i've already seen some of Kammula's other works like Happy days and Life is beautiful and've formed a decent opinion about him. With great eagerness started watching the movie and i am glad to say i wasnt disappointed one bit. People like and hate Ramayana for lot many reasons and everyone have their own favorite characters and reasons for liking them. To me, whenever i think of Lord Ram, i always imagine him to be a shy or atleast reserved kind of a person, strong but silent and almost goofy to the point of being good. And Sita would be a short girl, bubbly, condifent and specifically will have bright and beautiful eyes. When Kamalini mukerji lights up the screen with her picture perfect smile and shiny eyes, even before she could tell "Sita Mahalakshmi" you can makeout what her role is going to be. The movie is set on a boat ride on river Godavari, where a struggling entrepreneur of a heroine, who sets on a trip to participate in seetha kalyaanam, having been rejected by a prospective groom and a wannabe politician of a hero, who is rejected by his uncle for not having a stable job and looses his childhood sweetheart of muraiponnu (Neetu "cuteu" chandra) to a uptight police guy. The marriage party also comes on the same boat ride along with the heroine and how love blossoms between them is told a sweet and mushy way. Its Kamalini's show all the way. She drives the movie from frame one scene one and is the energy engine. Be it in saree or tees and trousers, with specs, without specs, free hair or braided, she looks cute and chirpy and WOW!! Couldnt quit believe that she is not a manavadu and her lip syncs are better than the hero and she fits right into the role. Hero, in the name of underplaying is so feeble that at times, in a crowd scene, its his desinger costume that saves him from being one amongst the extras. Neetu chandra is 'neatu' chandra as the materialistic muraiponnu who has a slight change of heart towards the climax to create a confusion knot only to get back into her materialistic ways and clear the route for the lead pair. Wonder whats the reason behind all those dogs and birds talking in human voices and those needless CG's. Songs are awesome and my favourite of the lot is the one where they sing about Goddess Sita applying henna on her hand. Masterpiece. With a strong setup of a boat ride, along the mighty Godavari river, with beautiful natural setup as background and pleasant re-recording and soothing camerawork, the movie is a 2.5 hour long advertisement for AP and especially the river. Heart craves for a boat ride to Badrachala and enjoy the show all the way.