Thank God for the second half when the tempo picks up considerably from a sedate first half.
Otherwise, Vedam would have been yet another crappy, boring Telugu film unwatchable by humans.
Eschewing the familiar and insane claptrap of asinine youthful romances, Vedam trots down a different path with its five different stories.
Of course, the different stories and their characters intersect at some point, as they must, and here they do in a violent crescendo at the hospital toward the end.
By the way, our repeated prayers to the almighty must have been heard because that irritating clown Brahmanandam, beloved of the Telugu people, only has a itsy-bitsy role in the film.
Here are the five different stories making up Vedam:
* There’s the whore Saroja (Anushka) keen on escaping from her madam and going off on her own.
* We have the cable guy Raju (Allu Arjun) besotted with the rich girl in Jubilee Hills.
* The rock star Vivek (Manoj Manchu) with his dreams of a music-troupe and indifferent to his mother’s hopes that he’ll follow in his late father’s footsteps and join the army.
* Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpai is cast as a Muslim Rahimuddin suspected of harboring terrorist sympathies.
* Finally, there are the desperate weavers who owe money to a local money-lender.
This idea of deploying multiple stories and tying up the strands at the end is hardly a novel idea in movies, be it Hollywood or even in Indian films.
But it sure marks a welcome relief from the familiar Indian drivel of amateur love-stories like Arya 2 or cop-stories like Singam.
We guess much of the credit for straying from the familiar track should go to Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi a.k.a. Krish, the director and writer of Vedam.
OK Acting
The acting is, for a change in Telugu films, alright.
Yes, from all of the principal actors.
Mercifully, Allu Arjun refrains from peeing all over himself and on the audience as he is usually wont to do with his loud, macho acts and that silly dancing.
Music
That thieving swine Keeravani is responsible for the music here.
Who knows where the plagiarist has dipped his beak this time?
We were neither put off nor enamored of the music.
The picturization of the songs didn’t have us going ooh or aah at any time.
We found the picturization most unendurable in the Prapancham Naventostunte party-scene song featuring Allu Arjun.
Welcome Reprieve
Overall, Vedam doesn’t break any new ground as much as provide audiences a reprieve from the regular trauma of Telugu films.
As for us, we didn’t leave the hall in a high dudgeon as we usually do after seeing a Telugu film.
We guess that’s an improvement. 😉
Vedam Review – Second Half Salvages Film added by SearchIndia.com on
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It’s been a good year for Telugu commerical movies. Prasthanam and now Vedam.
After a dead last two decades, there is a resurgence kinda things happening in Telugu movies. If you don’t know, this is the first multi starrer movie that has happened in ages in Telugu( although Arjun and Manoj are not exactly stars BTW).
You should see Anukokunda Oka Roju…. and Magadheera (Only last 30 minutes saved this crappy movie)
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write above: Arjun….are not exactly stars BTW
That Allu clown irritates us more than Brahmanandam. 🙁
2. Two watchable films is hardly a resurgence.
@ Twig: >> Magadheera (Only last 30 minutes saved this crappy movie)
I guess you intended to say last 30 mins was crappy and the rest was fine.If not your taste is shocking. In the last 30 mins there were scenes like killing someone with chopper fan while flying it, escaping with a car flying over a hill etc.
Found the resurgence argument funny. Anyways good if these movies make moolah – Would be encouraging to produce more of this kind.
My Bad! I found the movie crappy but there is some wonderful art in the second half. I’m talking about the story that happened in the previous life. Ram Charan – in his second movie was very alright. The fight with 100 people is too awesome by Indian standards( and the best in Indian cinema). The Horse riding, the camera work in the second half was pretty good.
If you seriously analyse the movie, it had ultra terrible script, bad music (BGM is OK-ish), random characters et al but they are all covered by the second half ‘great ness’. It didn’t had the same the fate as Ayirathil Oruvan, but became a fantastic hit though both portrayed historical fiction.
Resurgence always happens if a particular film industry always makes masala potboilers and low quality work. Even Hindi movies suffered from this in the 80’s till late 90’s. Only in this decade, there have been experiments in HFM.
Unlike in Tamizh, where experiments are always happening (resulting in quality work or ultra bad movies), Telugu industry always took the ‘safe’ path.
Agree, resurgence is a bad word but interesting things are happening in Telugu industry too.
Film makers in Telugu industry have started questioning themselves already. There is a movie called
‘Neninthe’ which was released few years ago which questioned the taste of the movie goers and movie makers. (Thanks FSM, atleast they questioned…). After all this, other interesting things have been happening in Telugu film production . The next generation producers are here already – The Allu Family ( The SouthScope magazine head – produced Magadheera and Ghajini(hindi)) have abundant resources.
There are other interesting things too. Telugu movies are most watched in India after Hindi. They get easily released in Karnataka,
Orissa and have just (JUST) started to find acceptance in mallu land( because of their boring/fat actors – though IMMENSELY talented).
Other interesting thing to watch is whether this generation of Telugu film makers break barriers and enter Tamil Nadu. (It was always the other way round).
Unlike SI, which takes random observations and comes to unusual conclusion in every thing it notices, (right? SI) I thought it would be better to find out the reason why films are the way they are.
There are some things I found out which I will write here later.
FYI, prasthanam didn’t do well in AP.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Unlike SI, which takes random observations and comes to unusual conclusion in every thing it notices,
Random observations? Unusual conclusions?
Hmmmm, guess, that’s what the ignoratti of the day said when Newton saw an Apple fall and arrived at one of his ‘unusual conclusions.’ 😉
Rajneeti releases today… do you plan on watching it?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Yes!
Prakash Jha is one of the few Indian directors who makes watchable films (we’ve seen his Gangajaal and Apaharan).
Off-topic (STG police is watching):
watching Spelling Bee semifinals?
Kavya and her hot mom are in the audience.. her younger sister is competing this time.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Watching the hotter Katrina Kaif in Rajneeti (Hindi).
Who needs an over the hill Kannada hag when you have Katrina. 😉
SI said: over the hill Kannada hag
முனிAndy says: 😡 hey! 😡
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Katrified, Pizzafied and now Ginnified. 😉
My presence is trivial when you have SI Interpol… 😉
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Working on Raajneeti Review.
Quick question: Catch it or Trash it?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Catch it.
By Bollywood’s general low standards, it’s not bad.
Here’s a peek at the headline of the upcoming SI review, only for you. 😉
Raajneeti Review – Prakash Jha’s Khichdi of Godfather & Mahabharat
I am blessed 😉
After reading the headline all my para-normal senses tickled and I am gonna refresh the page every 2 mins until I read the complete justification 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Soon (hopefully).
Hey Dudette,
You have seen both Prasthanam and Vedam. So which one is better?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Ha, the question is a no-brainer.
Prasthanam, by a mile.