Sambho Siva Sambho Review..

Sambho Siva Sambho is the last film released in Sankranti releases and is the real Sankranti winner of all.

Here is my review….

My Rating: 3.75/5

Story: Three friends (Ravi Teja, Naresh, Siva Balaji) would die for each other’s friendships and each of them have their own goals. Ravi Teja puts his time in quest of Government job to marry his uncle’s daughter (Priyamani). Allari Naresh puts efforts to go abroad for reasons untold. Siva Balaji tries for bank loan to start an own business and settle down.

However, the arrival of Ravi Teja’s friend who is keen on marrying the daughter of a factionist (Mukesh Rishi) gets the trio together and they help the love birds get married. In this process, their lives suffer a lot. Things get worse when they discover that the love birds are now on the verge of divorce and getting married elsewhere. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Ravi Teja: As usual he had done the role in the film with an ease. Though he looks deglamourized, he did it very convincingly in all ways like a friend and like a son.

Allari Naresh: After Gamyam it is another Award winning performance for him.

His performance is exceptionally well. His performance in second half is really great especially in climax and with Sunil when he say to him as He is their Gang Leader.

Siva Balaji: He did justice to the role given to him. He is apt as a decent person and a good friend.

Priyamani: there is nothing much to talk about her. Just a small character only in first half and did as required.

Others: Sunil did the role of Ravi Teja’s friend and did a good job. The other character to be talked about is of Rao Ramesh’s another splendid performance from him in the pre-climax scene. Krishna Bhagavan also did a decent job and evokes few laughs. All the remaining characters are adequate.

Technical Aspects:

Story-Direction-Screenplay: Story by Samudrakani is just a normal one just like Parugu but was a it different at the last 30 mins. Direction by him is really great and should be applauded. Screenplay is also good. But, in second half there is a lot of Tamil flavour which might have a little impact on the movie. But, on a whole it is a good job done by the director.

Other departments: Music is just an average fare with couple of racy numbers. BGM is really good but the songs could have been much more better. Camera work is really good. Editing could have been much better.

Finally…. This is a movie that is with a good message for youth and especially for lovers. It gives a strong message for youth. Plus points are Allari Naresh and Ravi teja’s performances, comedy in first half and climax. On the flip side, it is the Music, Editing, and a little Tamil Flavour. On a Whole a good movie and is the Sankranti’s best movie this year. Finally, this is a MUST WATCH movie. Sambho Siva Sambho is a different kind of film and it will appeal to all those who love novelty and experimentation in film

Namo Venkatesa Review..

Victory Venaktesh's latest flick Namo Venkatesa is an another Ready kind flick from Seenu Vytla.This is an average fare from Seenu Vytla.Coming to Review..

My Rating: 3.25/5

Story: Venkata Ramana (Venkatesh) is a ventriloquist. He goes along with the troop of artists to perform for a local Telugu association in Europe. Paris Prasad (Brahmanandam) is a tour organizer in Europe. He enjoys making people around bakras. Pooja (Trisha) is the niece of Prasad. Venkata Ramana falls in love with her. Prasad realises that only way to make Ramana bakra is to tell him that Pooja loves him too. Pooja is the daughter of a rich factionist in Rayalaseema and she is forced to return back in the middle. Her marriage is fixed with a guy she doesn’t like. The rest of the story is all about how Prasad conspires with Ramana to rescue Pooja

Performances:

Venkatesh: It’s a cake walk for Venkatesh to do such roles. His comedy timing is really a great one. He looks good and performs very well in emotional scenes. He got many new mannerisms like Praying Lord Venkateswara and his Laugh.

Trisha: Trisha is nice and adequate.

Brahmanandam: Brahmanandam is pretty good as a guy who loves fooling around with the people.

Others: Ali is entertaining in a brief role. MS Narayana’s jyotishyam episode is nice. It’s a routine role for Subbaraju. Jaya Prakash Reddy, Dharmavarapu, Kota and Telangana Sakuntala are adequate. Master Bharath’s character is not hilarious as it is supposed to be a positive character helping hero.

Technical Departments:

Story: There is no freshness in the story and entire story runs on deja vu. We have seen innumerous movies (Sankham, Jayeebhava, Saleem to name a few in the last few months) in the past where the half of the film happens in the abroad and the other half shifts to Rayalaseema. Our story writers are still stuck in DDLJ hangover where hero comes from abroad to stay in heroine’s place. The idea of hero planning to start a factory by partnering with the family of heroine is also inspired by DDLJ. Venkatesh has done similar climaxes in three films after year 2000 (Nuvvu Naku Nachav, Vasantham, Adavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule) where heroine who is about to get married to another guy changes her heart in the last minute.

Screenplay - direction: Screenplay of the movie is good in parts. Seenu Vytla who mastered the art of entertainment made sure that he had lots of entertaining scene in the movie. However, most of them are already done by him in movies like Dhee and Ready. Irrespective of how many number of times he directs drinking scenes in his movies, Seenu Vytla makes sure that he entertains each of the time in a refreshing way. The way Venkatesh dances to tunes of other heroes and beats Brahmanandam up by remembering his enemies is good. I also like the creative idea of changing the tunes in the background when Venkatesh and Ali aim for Trisha (Emaindi Ee vela and aashique banaya). We expect a lot from Brahmanandam character in Seenu Vytla movies. In the earlier movies of Seenu Vytla, heroes make Brahmanandam a bakra and audiences loved it. However, in this movie Brahmanandam makes hero bakra most of the times. Hence the desired effect is missing on the Brahmanandam character in this movie compared to earlier Seenu Vytla’s movies. Screenplay of the movie becomes disengaged towards latter part of the second half.

Other departments: Music by Devi Sri Prasad is adequate with the title song being peppy. Picturization of the songs is very good. Cinematography by Prasad Murella deserves a special applause as the visuals are shot beautifully. The virgin locations chosen for shooting of songs are excellent. Diaogues by Ramana Chintapally are nice. Production values by the new production house ’14 Reels Entertainment’ are very good. A lot of care is taking in postproduction activities as well.

Finally…

The first half of the film is slow at the start. The film starts picking up pace from the scene at which Venky dances for Mr.perfect and Ringa Ringa. Second half is good but climax is weak and much predictable. The plus points of the movie are Venkatesh’s performance and Seenu Vytla’s entertainment orientation. On the flipside, a novel screenplay (as most of the screenplay resembles that of Ready and Dhee) in the second half would have given fresh feel to the movie. We have to wait and see how it works at box office.

Adurs Review...

Jr.NTR's latest flick Adur's released amidst the T-fight.But the film couldn't make up to the expectations.It's just an "Old Wine In a New Bottle" .

Coming to My Review:

My Rating: 3/5

Story: This is a Story of twins who separated at birth. Narasimha (NTR) who becomes an undercover agent for a top cop.Chari (NTR) is brought up by a family of Hindu Priests.A gang of Don (Ashish Vidhyarthi,Mahesh Manjrekar) are in search of the family of a top scientist.The rest of the story is about the relation between Twins and Scientist.

Performances:

Jr.NTR: Jr.NTR did well in both roles he played. His action in the role of Chari is exceptionally good.His comedy timing along with Brahmanandam has worked out very well.Also,his diction as a Brahmin is really good.His performance as Narsimha is OK.But, his dances are not upto the expectations.

Heroines: Both the Heroines Nayanatara and Sheila are just as a formality and are adequate.

Others: Brahmanandam steals the show again for VVV after Krishna.His comedy along with NTR produces a lot laughter.Mahesh Manjrekar, the actual villan of the movie was good,but his character was made a lot funny at the end.

The remaining cast are adequate.

Technical Departments:

Direction: Story given by Kona Venkat is an old story and Vinayak couldn't make it up well. There were shades of many films like Hello Brother, Billa, Don etc.Vinayak couldn't do justice to the role of Narasimha.He could have concentrated much more on that role. But, coming to his comedy timing it's brilliant. He has created much laughter in the movie as expected and it worked well and maintained all the comedians as required.

Others: Music by DSP is an Average fare. BGM is good. Editing could have been done better.The Producer kept alot money for the movie but couldn't make it finally a good product.The camera Handled by Chota.K.Naidu is awesome.

Finally:

Adurs is just an average fare. The first half of the film is good with good Comedy between NTR(Chari) and Brahmanandam. The second half comes down a lot except the scenes of Chari and Brahmanandam. The plus points of the film are Chari,Brahmi. In the minus, we have, the Old Story, Directors failure in protraying role of Narasimha, Showing all the Serious Villains as Comedy VIllains and all Expected Twists.Thank God there are no Lengthy dialouges and Blasting scenes in the movie.

So,Vinayak could have a taken alot more care in these aspects. Over all an Average fare. The fate of film all depends on the up coming releases Namo Venaktesa and Shambo Shiva Shambo.

It's the T-20 time for India and Sri Lanka....

It would be easy, in the immediate aftermath of India's comprehensive Test series victory, to bill the hosts as favourites to win the two Twenty20 internationals against Sri Lanka. It would also be presumptuous because there are significant changes in personnel and the format is one in which India have struggled since the delirious high of World Twenty20 glory in 2007.

The Indian players are stars in their respective IPL teams but their results have been ordinary when playing together as an international side: in nine Twenty20 internationals since 2008, they have lost six and won three. The first victory was a remarkable come-from-behind effort inspired by the Pathan brothers in Sri Lanka, the other two were against Bangladesh and Ireland during a woeful World Twenty20 campaign in England this year.

The two significant problems India had in England, however, will be missing from these two games. Virender Sehwag, who had an injured shoulder during the World Twenty20, is back and in frightening form, and the other batsmen's weaknesses against the rising delivery are unlikely to be exposed on the flat and true pitches in India.

Gary Kirsten, the India coach, had said after they were eliminated from the World Twenty20 that there were holes in the Twenty20 set-up and teams had worked out strategies to effectively negate India's strengths. The next World Twenty20 is in May 2010 and the opportunities to formulate, fine-tune and effect plans are limited.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had a terrific World Twenty20 and were unbeaten until the final, which they lost to Pakistan. They were the tournament's most vibrant team: the evergreen Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan's daring improvisations gave them fast starts, while the combination of Murali, Mendis and Malinga was simply too much for most opponents to handle. Since then, however, Sri Lanka have lost three matches on the trot - one to Pakistan and two to New Zealand, that too at home.

Their Test bowlers were battered by the Indian batsmen and Sri Lanka will welcome the addition of Lasith Malinga's pace and yorker-bowling skills to their attack. Jayasuriya will join Dilshan to form a destructive, match-winning opening combination. The question, though, is whether Ajantha Mendis will be able to exercise any control over a batting line-up that treated him with disdain over the last month.

Form guide

(most recent first)

India - LLLWW
Sri Lanka - LLLLW

Watch out for

Lasith Malinga: When he's bowling well, Malinga can unleash yorkers at will and his low point of release makes it extremely hard for batsmen to get under his deliveries. In the World Twenty20, he developed a slower full-toss and, while the delivery sounds rather harmless, it foxed several batsmen and left stumps flattened.

India's middle-order: The middle-order was shuffled frequently during the World Twenty20 and their performances were disappointing. Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Yusuf Pathan struggled against the short ball.

Team news

India have rested Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh from the Twenty20 internationals which means the bowling line-up is likely to be Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha. There's is a doubt over Sreesanth, though, because the bowler has an upset stomach. If he is unfit one of the rookies - Sudeep Tyagi, R Ashwin and Ashok Dinda - could get a look in.

India (possible): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 Sreesanth, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Murali injured ligaments in a couple of fingers while training during the third Test and is likely to be rested from the Twenty20 matches.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Chamara Kapugedera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Kaushalya Weeraratne, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Chanaka Welegedara.

Pitch and conditions

There's no rain forecast in Nagpur but the difference between day and night temperatures are significant which means dew could be a factor in the evening. The pitch is the same as the one on which India scored 354 in an ODI against Australia in October so expect more runs.

"It's a late evening start. We may see dew come into effect," MS Dhoni said. "But by the time dew comes in the game may be over. It won't be that big a factor. Overall it [pitch] will be good for batting, but in Twenty20 its very tough to predict. All of a sudden you look to go aggressive and lose quite a few wickets at quick intervals and you are not able to get big runs."

Stats and Trivia

• Both teams will be coming into this game on losing streaks - Sri Lanka have lost their last four (before which they had won six in a row) while India have lost their last three. Overall, Sri Lanka have a slightly better win-loss record, 14-9 in 23 games, compared to India's 9-7 in 18 matches.

• India have played only once at home and once against Sri Lanka, and have won both games - they beat Australia by seven wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in 2007, and Sri Lanka by three wickets in Colombo earlier this year.

• Sri Lanka have preferred batting first in Twenty20 games, winning nine and losing five. When batting second, they've won five and lost four. For India the numbers are almost the same - 5-4 when batting first, and 4-3 when chasing.

• Tillakaratne Dilshan is the leading run-scorer in Twenty20 internationals among batsmen from these two teams, with Sanath Jayasuriya in second place.

Quotes

"We have to try and put the Test series behind us. We have a lot of hard work to do all around to keep improving and we have a good opportunity in these two Twenty20 games. The motivation is always there, but we need to start from scratch."
Kumar Sangakkara wants his team to get over the 2-0 defeat in the Test series.

"Considering we are playing in India, it would be a bit different for the bowlers, as the batsmen would go after them from the very first ball. It looks to be a small game, just four overs, but the amount of effort that's needed, that's what it is all about."
Dhoni says his bowlers might have more trouble making the transition from Tests to Twenty20.

Trisha Ravi teja Backagain...

Trisha has Ravi Teja has just signed another new film opposite Ravi Teja. Trisha who is currently doing Venkatesh’s Namo Venkatesha has signed on the dotted line for R R Movie Makers’s next film with Ravi Teja. New director Gopi is helming the film. Earlier Ravi Teja and Trisha acted together in Krishna, which turned out to be a big hit. Now the hit pair is all set to woo us again in this entertainer that begins its shoot from February, 2009.

No Pak Players In IPL3

Pakistan cricketers will not feature in IPL 2010 as their board has failed to obtain their visas before the deadline for confirmation of participation, the league's commissioner, Lalit Modi, has said. The franchises will now have to look for replacements for the Pakistan players they had signed, he said.

"We have been informed by the PCB that they have not been able to obtain the visas as of now. So we are not able to extend the deadline," Modi told the Times Now channel. "Today is the absolute deadline for confirmation of Pakistani players [to take part in the IPL]. The exchange window [ends] the day after tomorrow.

"Unfortunately, the Pakistani players are out and they will not be allowed to take part in the next IPL because we are handicapped by the fact that the exchange window is the day after tomorrow. We are informing the teams that they now can go for the replacement of the Pakistani players."

However officials in Pakistan are emphatic their side of the deal was done. "The players have applied for visas but the clearance hasn't come from the Indian side. The ball is not in our court," Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, said on Monday.

Wasim Bari, the PCB's chief operating officer, told Cricinfo the board was in possession of all necessary NoCs and clearance letters from the Pakistan side but had not been given visas. "From our side everything was done and in order. Players had received invitation letters from the franchises as well," he said.

Pakistan are the reigning World Twenty20 champions, and several franchises had expressed their interest in signing on the country's cricketers. Five Pakistani players - Kamran Akmal, Misbah ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir - are already on contract with IPL teams.

Last week, it had seemed that they, and several of their team-mates, would be in next year's IPL after Pakistan's foreign ministry and interior ministry cleared them to play in the Indian league. That meant the PCB could issue the NOCs necessary for Pakistan's players to be eligible for the tournament, but the inability to obtain the visas in time meant their players will have to sit out a second successive IPL.

Pakistan's players were absent from IPL's second season, held earlier this year in South Africa, after their government did not allow them to travel to India - where the tournament was originally to be held - for security reasons. The decision came in the wake of the Mumbai attacks last year, after which relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated considerably. Eleven players from Pakistan had taken part in the first IPL, though after the Mumbai attacks, only four were retained by their franchises, though their contracts were suspended until further resolution. Razzaq was signed recently by Kolkata Knight Riders.

The PCB has been keen on getting their players involved once again after Ijaz Butt, the board chairman, raised the matter on a trip to India in October and said after that the relevant government authorities had also cleared Pakistan's players to play.

Bravo Fires in Last day but Aussies survive with a draw.......

Dwayne Bravo was the star of the final day but it wasn't enough to secure a West Indies win

In the end, five days just wasn't enough. Despite the finest efforts of Dwayne Bravo - and his best was brilliant - and a captain's innings from Chris Gayle, West Indies ran out of time to beat Australia for the first time in six years. Draws like this might leave non-fans nonplussed, but they make cricket purists appreciate the huge workload required to win a Test.

West Indies dominated the match but lost the Frank Worrell Trophy. Australia clung on for a draw that earned them the right to keep the silverware, which has resided at Cricket Australia headquarters since Mark Taylor's men won it from Richie Richardson's side in the Caribbean in 1995. But following their three-day humiliation in Brisbane, this match was about more than the result for West Indies.

It was about pride, and about proving that they remain a dangerous Test side. They achieved that much. For Australia, the result will be a relief on one hand - they could easily have crumbled on the final day - yet a concern on the other. It's one thing to lose to India, South Africa or even England, but to go down at home to the eighth-ranked West Indies would have been unthinkable.

Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin ensured that didn't happen, batting patiently to see Australia through to 5 for 212. The target of 330 had long since become irrelevant when the pair came together half an hour after tea. Bravo, the first-innings centurion, was swinging the ball dangerously and had just picked up a pair of wickets that meant survival was the only aim for Australia.

Despite some agonisingly close moments as balls stayed low or shots lobbed into gaps, Haddin and Clarke did their job; Clarke played the role of a team leader with an unbeaten 61 and Haddin ended up on 21. Kemar Roach regularly breached the 150kph barrier, Sulieman Benn challenged with turn and bounce without adding a wicket to his five from the first innings, and Gayle set attacking fields until the very end.

West Indies entered the final session needing seven wickets for victory - an unlikely goal but one that allowed them to dream. Australia became a little nervous when Bravo delivered a brilliant first over after the break, troubling Michael Hussey on a number of occasions and finally enticing an edge behind from a ball angled across the left-hander. Six wickets to get.

Marcus North, arguably the Australia batsman best suited to attrition, survived for 27 deliveries before he too played at a Bravo delivery pushing across him and edged to first slip, where Ramnaresh Sarwan took a great catch low to his left. Five wickets needed.

And that's how it remained. Despite the expectations that Benn would be the man to watch out for on a fifth-day turning pitch, it was the fast men who caused Australia most of the worries. Before lunch, Simon Katich drove Bravo on the up to cover for 21, and shortly after the break Ricky Ponting (20) played on trying to cut a Ravi Rampaul offcutter.

With each wicket Australia's hopes of victory faded, although they retained some chance while Shane Watson remained at the crease, anchoring the innings. He guided them to 2 for 114 and kept looking for runs, which brought about his undoing when on 48 he pulled Darren Sammy to a deepish midwicket where a superb catch was taken by - who else? - Bravo, diving to his left.

Bravo was outstanding but Gayle was the Man of the Match and the game's most influential player. As time ran out and the Adelaide sun sunk lower in the horizon, Gayle was left to ponder whether he made the right decision in not declaring.

Would they have had time to dismiss Australia had they closed their innings overnight? Would that have made any difference at all? West Indies will never know but it was easy to understand Gayle's thinking - he'd have been much more nervous about losing the match if Australia had to chase 297 from 90 overs rather than 330 off 81.

Had Australia reached their target it would have been the highest fourth-innings total ever scored to win an Adelaide Test, and the fifth-highest for any in Australia. After last summer's mind-boggling chase of 414 by South Africa to win in Perth anything seems possible but here, time was Australia's enemy. They had expected West Indies to play more aggressively on the fourth afternoon and perhaps even send them in before stumps.

As it happened, Gayle batted on for 6.5 overs - about half an hour - on the final morning and West Indies shored themselves up with another 33 that pushed their total to 317. He became the first West Indies captain to carry his bat through a Test innings and finished unbeaten on 165, a seven-hour-plus effort that went a long way to restoring his team's pride after their Brisbane thrashing.

Doug Bollinger finished with 3 for 50 and Mitchell Johnson collected 5 for 103 - his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests - as Gayle lost his Nos. 10 and 11, Rampaul and Roach. Having never been in control of the match at the Gabba, West Indies enjoyed every minute in which they were the front-runners in Adelaide.

The Frank Worrell Trophy will remain in Australia but West Indies can still draw the series with victory in the third Test. And here's a thought to keep Caribbean fans interested: the final match is at the WACA in Perth. Australia have lost their past two Tests there.