Panjaa (2011)

A typically gritty Vishnuvardhan movie with lots of violence, style, pulsating BGM and lovely songs. Yuvan Shankar Raja is a major plus in all Vishnu movies and this one is no different. Each song is a winner and they have so much variety. The title track is a real treat in particular. The picturization of the songs also have Vishnu's trademark creative touches.

His movies have always been technically slick and Panjaa shines with its cool cinematography and stylish editing. Pawan Kalyan carries the movie with his effortless style that borders on lazy elegance. His fighting style, bouncing dance moves and his bearded look in this movie are all good to say the least.

The heroine also has a decent role and Sarah Jane does much better than expected. She is a limited actress but, a job decently done. The romance between the lead has been worked out well.

Basically, the plot goes like this. It is set in Kolkata. Jai is the main hitman in Bhagawan's gang. He is totally loyal and is literally the shadow of Bhagawan. Due to the entry of Bhagawan's son Munna who is a real sadistic freak, things go mad and Jai gets into trouble after he kills Munna justifiably.

After this Jai goes into hiding in his lover Sandhya's village. He also solves a problem that Sandhya had gotten herself into. Finally, after a real 'one man army' act in the climax, the expected happens as Jai gets rid of all the gangsters singlehandedly and unites with his lady love.

There are comic reliefs provided by Ali as Chotu and Brahmanandam as the funny cop. Jackie Shroff's imposing presence is a plus for the movie. Anjali Lavania scorches as Jahnavi. Sesh Adivi gives good psychotic touches to his role as Munna. Sampath, Atul Kulkarni have small roles as gangsters in the opposing gang.

VERDICT: An engaging affair with lots of heroism, style and other entertainment elements as well. Sad, it failed at the box-office. 

Dookudu (2011)

My first Telugu movie and I chose to see it for Mahesh Babu alone. I was impressed by his style and the hype that he has among Telugu movie watchers. Superstar Mahesh as the title proudly proclaims and I must say this man has amazing screen presence, solid dialog delivery, decent dancing skills, good emotive skills and above all he is a superstar without a shade of a doubt.

In Dookudu he is a cop (Ajay) and while he is not busy plotting the baddies' downfall as an undercover cop, he takes care of his father (Shankar Narayana) who has just recovered from a coma. At some other times, he woos the girl he covets. There are adequate doses of drama and staged comedy. The main plot diverts quite often. When the baddies are the very same people who were responsible for backstabbing his father, it becomes more convenient for our hero. He uses brawn, lots of staged comic drama and of course some pure star power to overthrow the baddies led by Nayak.

There are some nice songs by Thaman. The movie is pretty long at close to 3 hours but Mahesh Babu holds the movie together. There is no crass comedy or skin show. It is a pretty decent movie for commercial standards. But, the action scenes are absurd. They have taken too much cinematic liberty.

Sonu Sood plays the typical Indian commercial movie villain. There are other villains too like Sayaji Shinde. Brahmanandam tries to make us laugh with his trademark style. Prakash Raj has a larger than life 'messiah' like role

On the whole, a wholesome treat for Mahesh Babu fans as we get to see him as a mass hero, a police officer, a politician, the entertainer etc. all in one movie. His punch dialogs were a rage, thanks to the subtitles, I was able to enjoy them as much as a Telugu speaking watcher.

VERDICT: Proper masala entertainer. Mahesh Babu carries the movie to the winning post.