July 04, 2009 Anjali
Rating - **.75
Cast : Siddharth, Shamili, Napolean, Suneel, Ali, Pradeep Rawat, MS Narayana, Tanikella Bharani, Krishnudu, Surekhavani, Master Bharat and others.
Banner: Universal Media.
Cinematography: Vijay K. Chakravarthy.
Dialogues: T. Rajasimha.
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh.
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja.
Producer: Danayya DVV.
Story, Screenplay and Director: Anand Ranga.
Release Date: July 03, 2009.
The concept is good. A serious-minded orphaned girl, who always thinks long-term, wears specs to keep out dust, runs a nursery at her beach-house and is writing her dairy on New Year's eve sitting in a pub which she graces because of her friend's insistence. A fun loving happy-go-lucky rich kid who lives for the moment and spots her in a chudidar writing in the pub and falls for her..really, the concept is workable. And you almost expect her to get a terminal illness (cancer, what else?) and live life to the fullest, in one week. See the contradiction in characters, the idea of forever and now and the irony of their respective fates? And names-Sandhya (sunset) and Uday (sunrise).
It could have worked. Beautifully. But it doesn't, because of the flawed writing/direction/editing. The writing-at key moments, the screenplay falls flat. Example: the title is 'His first love called him..Oy'. Cool. But she calls him Oy for the first time, and asks for napkins. Aww come on! Napkins?? When she decides to go to Kasi with him, she lets her hair down and suddenly has a good time and there is no real explanation for that change. You keep thinking, maybe she knows of her illness. But it isn't so, because she learns of it later, and even that key moment just is written without leaving an impact.
There could have been so many touching, subtle moments with the same idea but neah, it just doesn't go to that level. Some comedy, some crying, some 'fun' and a whole lot of gags in the second half, but it never takes off from there. It's just gliding along at one level.
Both the protagonists are well-written characters, but the movie is not entirely well-executed. Suneel and his life insurance comedy track, his Chatrapati ringtone and the introduction of Pradeep Rawat as Chatrapati movie's villain Ras Bihari (this time in a comic role) and the gags that surround that whole track is..okay. Makes you grin a bit.
Siddharth as Uday does a good job and is pretty convincing. And he brings the intensity in the second half-if only the treatment was as consistent as his performance. Shamili as Sandhya doesn't exactly show the spark that she displayed as a 3-year old so just view her a newcomer; she picks up where she left off not from her brilliant portrayal as a spastic child in Mani Ratnam's Anjali, but from her sidey role as the third sister in Kandukondein Kandukondein (Priyuralu Pilichindi). It will take a couple more movies to really judge her as a performer.
The music is an asset to the movie, and Yuvan Shankar Raja's compositions really hit the right note. The background score is fine and Vijay K. Chakravarthy's cinematography is top notch.
The editing lacks finesse, and with scenes ending abruptly the dubbing also is not perfect. The movie does have some entertainment value in the first half, especially when Uday lies to Sandhya about his background and ends up as her paying guest. The second half with the whole Kasi trip should have been entertaining, but simply doesn't work magic. It's just okay, and nothing beyond that although a few gags are funny. The sensitivity and the fragility of their relationship is not captured, which is the real minus of the movie along with lackluster treatment.
Overall, it could have been an interesting movie but never really takes off. Not bad (and good music), but that's about it.
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