Fresh Start For Genelia D’Souza | Interview With Genelia
Bollywood turns out to be a bed of roses for Genelia D’Souza
Why didn’t you do any more Hindi films after Masti and Tujhe Meri Kasam?
I have never planned anything in life. After those films, I got busy in South. My acting career took off in Tamil and Telugu films and before I could realise what was happening, I ended up shooting for 365 days.
How difficult is it to make it big in Hindi films, after becoming a big name in South?
Though the film industries are different, my job as an actor remains the same. It is cinema that matters most to me, not the industries. Now I’m looking at a career here and want to be appreciated. My experience in Hindi films has been overwhelming till now. My second film Masti was a huge hit, and now I am getting to work with big banners. I’m enjoying every minute of it.
Will you continue with Tamil and Telugu films?
I definitely want to do that but it depends on how busy I get in Hindi films.
Do you consider yourself lucky, being chosen for films like Abbas Tyrewala’s Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Priyadarshan’s Mere Baap Pehle Aap?
I don’t think I am plain lucky. I have acted in a lot of films in South which speak of my abilities. Over the years, I’ve grown as an actor. It’s an achievement especially for someone like me who does not have a film background. I think I was chosen for these films simply because I fitted the bill.
Don’t you think Imran Khan (Aamir Khan’s nephew) will draw the maximum attention in Jaane Tu?
I’m not thinking like that. I have accepted an opportunity that knocked at my door. I enjoy acting, it does not matter who is cast opposite me. I’m glad that I’m acting in saleable films.
Apart from Jaane Tu and Mere Baap, you are also acting opposite Harman Baweja in one film.
It’s the Hindi remake of my Telugu film Bommarillu and will be directed by Anees Bazmee. Priyadarshan had seen Bommarillu, which made him cast me in Mere Baap. I am cast opposite Harman Baweja in its Hindi remake. The shooting starts this August.
Actors: Ram looked fine in his role and he seamlessly executed the same. His dance in the first song is very good. The scenes in the second half where Ram makes Brahmanandam a bakra are entertaining. 
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Story of the film is intricate. The screenplay by Gopi Mohan in the second half delivered the much required punch. You do not see Seenu Vytla brand of comedy in the first half except for a couple of scenes with Sunil. Most of the second half belongs to Seenu Vytla. The way he introduced Brahmanandam and made him an integral part in the second half is strategic. He extracted solid performance from Brahmanandam without being repetitive. Direction of Seenu Vytla is good in the second half.
Other Departments: Songs
Analysis: First half of the film is mediocre. The second half is good with hilarious comedy by Brahmanandam. On the flipside, a better editing of first half and some of the fights would do something good to the film. This film is stuffed with ample commercial elements, mainly the vibrant comedy. Ready has potential chances to bring a hat-trick for Seenu Vytla after Dhee and Dubai Seenu. This film is worth a watch for the comedy.
Vishwak (Raja) is an orphan who is adapted by his 
Story - Screenplay - Direction: Story of the film is simple and narration is linear. Mr. Medhavi who is an expert at giving love advices to everybody failing in his own case resembles us of Hitch. The director followed different narrative (like main leads narrating the story in Mr & Mrs Smith) in the film. Screenplay of the film is adequate and there is a nice twist towards the climax. Direction of the film is good. Neelakanta stuck to his own plot instead of diverting the attention in order to attracts the masses. However, the narration of the film is very slow and there are boring moments in the second half.
Other Departments: Main asset of the film is the superb cinematography by Sunil Kumar Reddy. Shot framing, lighting techniques and camera angles are different. Music by Chakri is good. The kids songs and Manasu song stand out. However, the last two songs in the second half appear forcibly inserted. Dialogues are well written. Editing is alright.
Analysis
Shankar Goud (Srihari) is a popular don in old city. He dotes on his lovable sister Pooja (Genelia). Srinivasa Rao alias Babloo (Vishnu) is a wayward youngster. He joins as an employee in Shankar Goud’s accounts department. There he gets to know Pooja and the inevitable happens. The rest of the story is all about how Babloo plays some mind games to win Shankar Goud’s confidence and marry Pooja.
Vishnu: Vishnu’s main strength is his spontaneity and the director exploited it to the full extent in this film. Vishnu is home playing the role of Babloo. Vishnu’s always took care of fights in his earlier films and ignored the main content. But in this film he seemed to have stuck with the script. In one certain scene he even imitates Mohan Babu in a prank call given to Srihari. 
Genelia: Watching Genelia on the big screen gives us a lot of relief as we are fed up with so many new heroines coming in and going out of the industry without leaving any impact. Genelia is exceptionally good and she contributes a lot to the script with peppy portrayal of the character. 
Others: Srihari is very good. His role in this film reminds us of the role he played in Mahanandi. He adds value to the film with his neat work. Brahmanandam and Sunil never entertained the crowds in such a way in recent times. Brahmanandam is superb. The way he refers to Vishnu as ‘Rao garu’ and then sums up by saying 'Nannu Involve cheyyakandi' is cool. Sunil is excellent. The situational comedy on Jaya Prakash Reddy is also good. Supreet (Katraj of Chatrapati) is competent as villain. Shafi is pretty cool as assassin. 
Story - Screenplay - direction: Story of the film is simple and certain part of it reminds us of Mahanandi (don-heroine-hero relationship) and Ranam (mind game). What makes this simple story into enjoyable fare is the screenplay. Screenplay of this film is very good. Seenu Vytla’s forte has always been his comedy timing and he made sure that he filled the entire film with entertainment. He has the uncanny ability of creating humor out of nothing and runs it successfully for minutes together. He arranged the content of romance, comedy, action and suspense in such a way that they complement each other. The way hero traces the heroine’s place in the climax of the film is pretty intelligent. On the other hand, he made the role of Srihari passive throughout the film which made the movie lose out on action drama aspect
Other departments: Music by Chakri is alright. But it is under promoted. Hence many people would not have heard the music before coming to the film. Dialogues by Kona Venkat are very good. There are neat one liners (Brahmanandam to Sunil: Mahesh Babu milk boy laga vuntadu. Nuvvu milk iche geda laga vunnav.) and philosophical dialogues (chaavu ante santhi). Prasad Murella’s cinematography is fine. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh is good. Fights are adequate.
Analysis: First half of the film is very entertaining. Second half is good too. The best part of the film is screenplay. Vishnu is likely to get a commercial break with this flick. Genelia is a plus. The comedy by Brahmanandam and Sunil is spread wisely throughout the film. The major minus of the film is that the Srihari’s character is made dumb throughout the film for screenplay convenience. Hence the title ‘Dhee’ will not be appropriate as it becomes one-sided match. On a whole, Dhee is an entertaining film and is the only film I liked in this year’s Telugu releases so far. Hence, I have no second thoughts about recommending it to you..
Siddu (Siddardha) has everything in life, but in excess amounts. His father (Prakash Raj) decides on what is good for Siddu. He 
Bommarillu is the best example of perfect casting. Here is another tailor-made role for Siddardha. He is very natural, charming and elegant. The most crucial part of his performance comes in the confrontation scene with Prakash Raj.
Story - screenplay - Direction: Bhaskar arrives with this film as a terrific talent that makes Telugu film industry proud. There is lot of freshness in the film. Director understands the nuances of filmmaking extremely well and applies them all with perfection for his debut film. Story of the film deals with the relationship that sours between a good father and a good son. Screenplay of the film is tight. Direction is exceptionally good. He dealt both fun scenes and emotional scenes with same degree of dexterity. At one point of time, Bollywood produced great flicks like DDLJ and KKHH. I always wondered why can’t we have such films in Telugu. Telugu film industry too produced such films, but most of them are inspired ones. Bommarillu is one film that matches the brilliance of above mentioned films.
Music: Music of the film is very good and background music is excellent. The scenes in the first half are so good that songs come as speed breakers to the narration. The songs in second half are excellently blended into the narration with good emotional quotient. The choreography for ‘Bommani Geeste’ song (4th in the film) is exemplary. The pathos song that comes in parts in second half is brilliant. 
Other departments: Cinematography by Vijay K Chakravarthy is priceless. He makes this film a visual treat with rich and vibrant colors. Dialogues by Abburi Ravi are excellent. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh is crisp. Artwork is fabulous. Dil Raju produced this film with high standards of filmmaking. Dil Raju knows the recipe for success and this time the recipe is more yummy than his earlier films. 
Analysis: First half of the film is excellent. Second half is even better. The last 20 minutes of the film is extraordinary with perfect emotions. This film is so good that I don’t find any negative points. The huge plusses of this film are director Bhaskar, perfect cast (Genelia’s exceptional performance), priceless piece of work by Vijay K Chakravarthy, appropriate music by Devi Sri Prasad and good judgment and involvement by Dil Raju. If director Bhaskar can make films of other genres the way he made Bommarillu, he is the one who can take the Telugu cinema to the next level. After a gap of 44 months, it gives me a great pleasure to give a ‘Jeevi Rating’ of 4.5 for a Telugu cinema in the form of Bommarillu.
Tail piece: Watching Bommarillu at Prasadz is like sitting in a ladies special show (as 75% of the patrons were good looking women). The film is so good that people are refusing to leave the auditorium as the titles are scrolling.
Bunny (Allu Arjun) is an orphan who works as a Pizza delivery boy. Madhumati (Genelia) is the daughter of a caste-based politician and studies MBBS. Bunny and Madhumati meet each other in a strange situation and are forced to get married in an unforeseen situation. The rest of the story is all about how this couple who never had any intention of 
Allu Arjun: Allu Arjun has given his career best performance in the last 2 minutes of this film. Allu Arjun’s characterization in this film is of a typical happy-go-lucky guy. That’s a tailor-made role for him and he did it with great élan. Dances have always been a big asset to Allu Arjun and his steps in ‘Vassa’ song make masses go crazy. There is stylishness in Arjun and his wardrobe is pretty good. 
Others: Genelia has got lots of scope for performance in this film and she did exceptionally well. Manoj Bajpai impresses everybody with his cameo. The one who did the role of evil cop has shown intensity in his performance. Rama Prabha, Tanikella Bharani, Suman Setty and Jahnavi are adequate.
Story - screenplay - direction: Direction by Karunakaran is fairly good. There are a few scenes in the film (hero behaving like God scene, a replica hero dancing when genelia sits on his bike for the first time) that shows the exceptional creativity of the director. Screenplay of the film is smooth, but for the last 25 minutes. Karunakaran’s ability to chip in sweet nothings in songs is exemplary. The scene in which heroine shows door to hero in the second half is unconvincing.
Music and songs: Music by Yuan Shankar Raja is excellent. All songs are well picturized with nice themes. The best song of the film is ‘Ye Hrudayam’. Here is the description of each song n the order of appearance - 
Other Departments: Photography by RD Raja Sekhar is exceptional. Editing by Anthony is cool and trendy. His editing cuts in songs are good. Set work by Chinna is first-rate. Fx work is really fine, especially the titles animtion. Fights are adequate. Dialogues by Kona Venkat and Swamy are good. Production values by Geetha Arts banner are exceptionally good.
Analysis: First half of the film is entertaining and promising. Second half is adequate. The last half an hour of the film does not gel well with the rest of the film. However, the last 2 minutes of the film is heart-touching. The plus points of the film are Allu Arjun, songs picturization, technical values and comedy. On the flip side, tempo in the latter part of the second half went down. On a while, Happy is a happy film watch for its songs and comedy.
