Ashta Chamma

                  Ashta Chamma Movie Overview

Film: Ashta Chemma
Cast: Nani (debut), 'Colours' Swathi, Srinivas Avasarala (debut), Bhargavi, Tanikella Bharani, Jhansi, Hema, Ragini, Shivannarayana, Ramakrishna, Vasu Inturi, Goparaju Ramana, Srinubabu, etc.

Dialogues: Mohanakrishna Indraganti
Camera: P.G. Vinda
Art: Ravinder 
Choreography: Tara, Noble
Music: Kalyani Mallik
Lyrics: sirivennela Seetarama Sastry
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Producers: P. Ram Mohan
Producer for Art Beat Capital: G. Geetha
Co-Director: S. Suresh Kumar 
Presents: D. Suresh Babu
Banner: Art Beat Capital (P) Ltd.
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Mohanakrishna Indraganti
Release Date: September 05, 2008

Film: Ashta ChemmaCast: Nani (debut), 'Colours' Swathi, Srinivas Avasarala (debut), Bhargavi, Tanikella Bharani, Jhansi, Hema, Ragini, Shivannarayana, Ramakrishna, Vasu Inturi, Goparaju Ramana, Srinubabu, etc.Dialogues: Mohanakrishna IndragantiCamera: P.G. VindaArt: Ravinder Choreography: Tara, NobleMusic: Kalyani MallikLyrics: sirivennela Seetarama SastryEditing: Marthand K. VenkateshProducers: P. Ram MohanProducer for Art Beat Capital: G. GeethaCo-Director: S. Suresh Kumar Presents: D. Suresh Babu Banner: Art Beat Capital (P) Ltd.Story, Screenplay, Direction: Mohanakrishna IndragantiRelease Date: September 05, 2008
What's it all about?Lavanya (Swathi) is a die hard fan of Tollywood hero Mahesh Babu, so much that she becomes all hysteric on the day of his marriage with Namratha. She rejects all proposals for marriage that her maternal aunt Mandira Devi (Jhansi) gets for her, but finally resolves to marry someone with the name "Mahesh" who looks "like 'Prince' from one side and 'Pokiri' from another". Lavanya's neighbor and childhood friend Anand (Srinivas Avasarala) gets hold of a guy by name Mahesh (Nani) and brings them both together. Naturally, they fall in love, so far so good. The trouble starts when Mahesh confides in Anand the fact that his real name is Rambabu and that he's a much-respected man in Lakkavaram village.Why Rambabu becomes Mahesh is another story, but the story brings Anand to Lakkavaram. In a twist of events, Anand falls in love with Rambabu's sister Varalakshmi (Bhargavi). A comedy of errors and twists ensues as Anand plays a role akin to Lord Krishna or Narada, bringing the whole story and all characters to the lush village backdrop of Lakkavaram.PerformancesCast:'Colours' Swathi is cute and lives the role of a die hard fan very well! Her expressions, emotions, and modulation are such that every fan of every star can connect to her role very well! Former RJ Nani has a very good screen presence. He has ease in acting and dances too, though his body language sometimes reminds of Subhalekha Sudhakar - May this be treated as a compliment to the ease that the veteran actor shows on the screen! His diction is good too.Srinivas Avasarala has a natural ease of expression and lives well in the role of a naughty care-free guy. With body language like the legendary Akkineni Nageswara Rao, he appears like a slimmed-down version of the legendary's grandson and hero Sumanth. Bhargavi has a limited role as the sister of a hero and the love interest of the other male lead, but she portrays the same ease as others. Jhansi,Tanikella Bharani, Hema are experienced enough to fit the bill effectively, though their roles are used only make the story complete.On the whole, the casting is perfectly suitable. The makers should be specially appreciated for taking all their cast from among native Telugu artistes.
The top two technical departments in the film are the dialogues and screenplay, both handled by Mohanakrishna. The story is laced through several twists but the audience are never confused! It takes much care, not to mention skill, to weave a story such as this one and narrate it on the screen without confusion to the spectators. Dialogues rule the roost - Mohanakrishna comes up with so many punch dialogues and one-liners all through the film that one may even miss some good ones but one'd still enjoy a lot of them spontaneously!Technical Departments:Good screenplay and editing maintain the pace of the film appropriately, while the songs also flow naturally into the story. The last couple of twists in the story come in unexpectedly, much to the surprise of the audiences who don't expect a long story any more! These twists could be trimmed down a bit, but the director chooses to keep them in and lighten them well with dialogues again. Camera is okay, particularly in the village backdrop during the second half. Next to mention are the songs - musicis well-crafted and lyrics are perfectly appropriate to the story.The director and producer should be appreciated for bringing in such a level of care and perfection to the film. Also appreciated by the makers themselves are several people, including producer-distributor Suresh Babu who presented the film and producer-director Sekhar Kammula who distributed the film overseas.Notable Scenes/Dialogues:

    

• " Chivaresh... chivari photo-lO nannu peTTEsaaranDii!" (as     Jhansi skims through various matrimonial profiles searching the name Mahesh)

•     " chinna kuTumbam, chinta lEni kuTumbam... kaanee konta vinta     kuTumbam!" (Voice-over about Anand's family)

• " evaDO     kottemgaaDu nela rOjulu selavu peTTi vacchi... parcel chEsukupOvaTaaniki     nEnEmainaa avakaayanaa?!" (Swathi to Jhansi, disregarding the latter's     request to consider NRI grooms)

• Bartender: " EnTi, sir,     alasipOyinaTTunnaaru?"

• Srinivas: " panii paaTaa lEkunDaa rOjantaa tiragaTam chaalaa     kashTam, Siddhu!"

• Nani: " ee madhya kaalamlO intagaa navvalEdu!"

• Srinivas:     " inta varakU  naa joke-laki intagaa navvinavaaDivi kooDaa nuvvE!"

•     Srinivas: " inka aa Pokiri paaTalu aapEstaavugaa?"

• Swathi: " Sure!     ...ninnanE     Athiti CD konnaanu!"

• " nuvvu maaTlaaDutunna vyakti     prastutam spandinchuTalEdu. daya chEsi kaasEpu aagi prayatninchu."     (Nani to Srinivas, in a state of shock)

• " kulam naa curriculum-lOnE     lEdu... naadi broad caste!" (Nani to Jhansi)

• Hema: " ...mee uppu     tinTunnavaaLLam, baabU..."

• Nani: " nuvvu tinaalsina uppu inkaa chaalaa undi!"     (indicating she needs to do a lot of help)

• Swathi: " Mind your tongue!"

•     Bhargavi: " ekkuva maaTlaaDitE nee gunDE Thang!" (Note how     the English word "tongue" is interpreted by the village belle, generating     some comedy within!)

• Tanikella Bharani: " neeku Rambabu ani pEru     peTTina mee tallidanDrula aatmalu ghOshistaayi... neeku naamakaraNam chEsina     maa naannagaari aatma ghOshistundi."

• Nani: " idEmainaa deyyaalaa cinema climax-aa     inni aatmalu ghOshinchaTaaniki?"

• " History follow ayitE 'adEm     lEdu' anna chOTallaa chaalaa undani clue-lu dorukutaayi!" (Srinivas to     Hema, when the former covers up saying " adEm lEdu!")

• Srinivas: " Anand...     manchi coffee laanTi pEru kadaa!"

• Bhargavi: " nEnu coffee taaganugaa!"     (indicating she didn't like the name)

• Nani's servant: " aaviDaku     ooru teliyadu... andukE card paTTukunnaanu." Villager: " Card     choostE ooru telisipOddaa?!" (when the former gets a placard with     Lavanya's name to receive her.)

• Several scenes with dialogues on titles     based on love, on words nuvvu & nEnu, on Viswanath's     movies (esp. aptly mentioning sirimuvvala simhanaadam that's     stalled)

• Hema's dialogue with words daggara and dooram     like the mundu- venaka comedy in Kamal Hasan's      Panchatantram.

Minor Overlook:     

• Use of Pokiri dialogue and Puri Jagannath's name in flashback,     when the male and female leads were children.    

• Mentioning " station-ki car pampaTam" twice, both times telling     that the heroine is coming by bus. Bus station, is it? Oh, maybe!

Bottom Line:A complete family entertainer and comedy on the lines of Jandhyala's comedies movies with two male leads, or even like the yesteryear classic Missamma in the feel and in some scenes, though there's no similarity with the theme. A completely dialogue-based comedy coupled with good performances, music, and lyrics, keeping audience through the twists nevertheless. The first half is more enjoyable than the second half that has numerous twists.Review by NaChaKi

TC Rating: 3.25/5