2024 - Recap, Wrapped, Rolled, Balled Up, Whatever You Wanna Call It

-

2024 was an important year for me. I joined a great college, met a bunch of family members, and made some new friends. Obviously, I watched movies throughout the year. It was an important year for Telugu cinema as well, with movies like Kalki 2898AD and Pushpa 2 grossing massive numbers. Alongside these biggies were “smaller” movies like Gaami and KA which had large ambitions. I’m going to review the year 2024 for Telugu movies. I haven’t watched all the movies, but I’ve tried to watch as much as I could. 


January:


Double Engine: Indie filmmakers Rohit and Sasi released this on January 5th. I haven’t watched this yet, but it seems very interesting. The album by Vivek Sagar is super funky and the track ‘Auto Deck’ is really good.


Guntur Kaaram: Trivikram and Mahesh Babu’s third collaboration was not like the first two. This one couldn’t land any of the emotions the first two did. However, Babu’s performance was satisfying to watch, as he ditched all of the “subtle” stuff he’s been doing for the past 8-10 years and is back to being his flamboyant best. He danced like never before to Thaman’s songs, which grew on me after a couple of months of the movie’s release. 

My rating: 2/5


Hanu-Man: Prashanth Varma’s superhero flick is a proper Telugu commercial cinema that sticks to Rajamouli’s jeedipappu (cashew) theory. He throws in a good/great block of 5 or more minutes once every 10 minutes. GowraHari’s score supports the film brilliantly.

My rating: 4/5 


Saindhav:  It could’ve been something really exciting. Every scene’s setup builds up to something really fun but then fizzles out.

My rating: 2/5


February:


I haven’t watched anything since February 2024. I might watch Sundaram Master and Ambajipeta Marriage Band in the future.


March:


Chaari 111: Honest attempt at being Johnny English. Unfortunately turns out to be Johnny Butler English.

My rating: 2/5


Gaami: I liked it. Vishwak Sen gets so many brownie points for doing this. It has its flaws but the scale it pulled off with the budget it had is surprising. The background score and production design feel epic.

My rating: 4/5


Om Bheem Bush: I watched about 40 minutes and it felt like the movie was trying too hard to be funny. I’ve heard that the second half is better than the first, but I can’t comment.


Tillu Square: The sequel to DJ Tillu makes some risky choices by referencing the first movie quite a bit. It could’ve become a cash grab, but the writers save it from treading that path. Siddu’s phenomenal screen presence and dialogues make this an extremely satisfying watch. Better than the first one, according to me. My only gripe is the climax “twist” that Tillu knows everything. It almost didn’t work for me in the first part, and felt very out of character for him in the sequel.

My rating: 4/5


April:


The Family Star: This is proof that trash can look appealing. Vijay Devarakonda’s attempt at fitting into Parasuram’s style is appalling.

My rating: 1/5


My Dear Donga: Writer-actor Shalini Kondepudi neatly delivers a simple and cute movie. It’s not perfect, but it’s engaging. Someone on Letterboxd called it “Ferozguda Fleabag”. That’s what this is.

My rating: 3/5


May:


I’ve heard that Bhaje Vaayu Vegam is decent, but I haven’t watched it.


June:


Satyabhama: Interesting premise, but gets convoluted and boring as it progresses.

My rating: 2/5


Kalki 2898AD: I had so much fun waiting for the movie to come out, and it turned out so well. I love Nagi. Just read the other posts on this blog. Ika thirigedhe ledhu.

My rating: 5/5


July:


Pekamedalu: I have to watch this but I’ve read that it’s good.


The Birthday Boy: I haven’t watched this, but the promotions were fun.


August:


Committee Kurrollu: I mean, it’s alright. 

My rating: 2.5/5


Mr Bachchan and Double iSmart: Clubbing these two together because they’re absolute cinema. One of my friends watched both of them on the same day. Probably the lowest point for Telugu as a language this year.


Maruthi Nagar Subramanyam: I want to watch this. Heard it’s good.


Saripodhaa Sanivaaram: This could’ve been great, but stops at good. Vivek Athreya’s writing was not up to his potential. Maybe I was expecting too much. Maybe he wanted to make a simple story with a bunch of elevations. I loved many of the choices they took though, like the half-trimmed beard.

My rating: 3.5/5


September:


35: My favourite movie of the year (not considering Kalki). It’s such a sweet movie. There’s this phrase in Telugu, parakaya pravesam. It refers to the act of someone entering into another person’s body. Nivetha Thomas does that with the mother’s character. It’s packed with beautiful moments and it feels like a 5:30 AM cup of coffee in Tirumala. Like Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, this feels like something you’d see in your neighbour’s house. Special mention to the song Neeli Meghamulalo. Special special mention to Nivetha’s eyes.

My rating: 5/5 


Mathu Vadalara 2: Hilarious. I’m not sure how well the jokes land on rewatch though. Sexy Siren Satya carries.

My rating: 4/5


Devara: It was not bad, but (except for one moment) it was never good either. The one moment is when Anirudh’s great score “Vara mungita nuvventha..” thunders as NTR Jr holds on to a shark and they jump out of the water. It’s outlandish, but it’s a nice masala cinema moment. The thing is that everything is told in such a matter-of-fact manner that it bores you. It’s just sequence after sequence of NTR Jr warning people or killing people or dancing with Janhvi Kapoor. It never grabs your attention.

My rating: 2.5/5


October:


Ramnagar Bunny: I want to watch this movie so badly because it stars our very own Attitude Star Chandrahas. If you don’t know who that is, search for him and YouTube and you’ll see some of the cringiest things ever. He’s an animuthyam.


Swag: It had serious 5/5 potential with the ideas and plot points it had, but like his cousin Vivek Athreya, Hasith Goli also resorts to good instead of great. I seriously think it’s the editing that could’ve been done better. Raviteja Girijala usually edits for the brothers, but he didn’t edit either of the two. Sree Vishnu hits it out of the park, and so does the child actor Roshan.

My rating: 3.5/5


KA: I want to watch this. The trailer looked interesting.


Lucky Baskhar: The screenplay and editing of this movie make this such a smooth ride. There’s no hiccups in the movie. Very entertaining too.

My rating: 4/5


November:


Mechanic Rocky: This feels like one of those 90s Mogudu movies by Chiranjeevi. It’s entertaining for some part but the rest is fluff. Decent watch.

My rating: 3/5


December:


Pushpa 2 - The Rule: I liked it. It’s more Boyapati than Sukumar, but it’s a Sukumar-ised Boyapati, if it makes sense. The interval is one of my favourites in recent times. The last 30 minutes feel very out of place, and the cliffhanger is bad. Allu Arjun proves why he’s such a big star. He oozes stardom in every frame he’s in. He acts very well. Eletti kelakadaniki raledhu, eleyadaniki ochindu. 

My rating: 3.5/5


That’s it for the movies.


Geeked Awards 2024:


Best Lead Actor: Allu Arjun for Pushpa 2


Best Lead Actress: Nivetha Thomas for 35


Best Supporting Actor: Amitabh Bachchan for Kalki 2898AD 

NOTE: Satya for Mathu Vadalara 2 was considered for Best Lead Actor and not Best Supporting Actor.


Best Supporting Actress: Saranya Pradeep for Ambajipeta Marriage Band. According to Reddit. I can’t think of anyone :(


Best Album (Songs): Guntur Kaaram


Best Score: Saripodhaa Sanivaaram and Kalki 2898AD


Best Song: Neeli Meghamulalo from 35, Mawaa Enthaina from Guntur Kaaram


Best Cinematography: Miroslaw Kuba Brozek for Pushpa 2


Best Director: Nag Ashwin for Kalki 2898AD but it’s way too obvious.


Best Director #2: Venky Atluri for Lucky Baskhar


Best Film (excluding Kalki because you know why): 35


Best Animated Film: Adipuru- wait no that was last year. My bad guys.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Home :)

-
  My maternal grandparents (Ding Thatha and Ammamma) live with us, on the 3rd floor of our apartment. We live on the 2nd floor. They moved post pandemic because they weren't able to manage on their own. Before this, they used to live in Vizianagaram, the sweetest little town, in Andhra Pradesh. They lived on Addepalli Vari Veedhi, beside Peri Sastry Vidyapeeth, on the 2nd floor of a 2 storied house with a terrace on top. The layout of the house was very Lego-like. There was a small house just after you enter through the main gate, and behind that was another house. There was a staircase between these 2 houses which turned left and right after some steps. When you went left, there was a small terrace. If you turned right, you'd enter my grandparents' house. There was a big hall with a huge glass showcase which had souvenirs from all the countries they visited. To the right of the showcase, they had pictures of their kids, and their families. To the right of those frames, was...
Read more

Random Thoughts

-
  I've been watching movies ever since I was 4 I'm guessing. It started with the Mayabazar CD at home which me and my sister used to play just to recreate the 'gilpam' scene, or because the greats SV Ranga Rao and Savitri were so entertaining as Ghatotkacha and Maya Sasirekha. It also started when everyday after pre primary school (we had half-days), I used to play the Cars CD at home while my mother fed me lunch. Maybe that's why I love Cars, and movies in general so much. They probably remind me of my mother. I think the big turning point for me was when I was asked to watch Magadheera by my bus-mate. It was going to play that weekend, and he hyped me up for it. I was not the same person after watching it. Magadheera is also when I realized that actors don't always act while the movie is playing, and that they're just recorded once and played over and over again. After Magadheera, I was into movies a little more. I wanted to watch more stories, and feel gr...
Read more

Favourite Characters - Telugu Cinema

-
I've watched Telugu films all my life and I love that they're unapologetic about playing to the gallery. Doing so, they create many extremely entertaining characters. Here's a list of my favourite characters: 1. DJ Tillu from DJ Tillu and Tillu Square Siddu Jonnalagadda (who also co-wrote the films) plays Tillu to perfection. He nails the tapori Secunderabad guy. His crazy hair and funky outfits are the least outlandish part of his personality. He's a total flirt and is somehow still innocent. I disagree with the take that he's a misogynist. He was ready to marry Lilly when he found out she was pregnant without any thought. He was willing to risk his life so that Radhika could go back and get married. Whenever he says something which sounds like he's judging the woman, like when he asks about the bodycon dress, he sounds like he genuinely doesn't know what it is.  Absolutely hilarious character put in weird situations. Great dialogues and delivery too. I...
Read more