<i>Nicky and Neeraj</i> - Review

Monday, February 19, 2007
Producing films as a passion is the main drive for some people. Several NRIs in the past have produced films in Telugu. However, only a few of these NRIs have shown a good talent in filmmaking. One of them is Ramaseskhu Iyyunni who directed the film. It is been produced by granddaughter Megan Iyyunni. Like a typical debutant producers film, the film has been made on the "safe" topic of love . He has also selected relatively medium grade artistes for his film. Sivaji, one of whose previous hits is Missamma, plays the male lead role. The film is not just a love story but is also a musical of sorts.

The Story:

Neeraj Prasad aka Neeraj (Sivaji) has just completed his MSc and is preparing for Group I exams. His parents have passed away and he has been brought up by his grandmother Vimalamma played by Annapurna. Being brought by his grandmother, he is a very spoilt. He whiles away his time playing cards with his friends played Ali Kondavalasa. Niharika aka Nicky played Deepa returns from outside the country along with her grandfather Col. Kanakasundaram (Jayaprakash Reddy). She comes back to India to learn classical music and aspires to become a great singer. Nicky is very fond of Telugu music and SP Balasubramaniyam is her favourite singer. Neeraj falls in love with Nicky the moment he sees her for the first time. He tries to tell her but she does not feel the same about him.

Vimalamma who learns about her grandson's love for Nicky goes and meets meets her grandfather Colonel Kanakasundaram and tells him about it. The Colonel tells Vimalamma that Nicky is only fond of music and she would only only marry someone who can beat her in the state level singing competition. The hero (as excpected) accepts the challenge. He approaches Ravicharan (Suman) who coincidently is the Nickys music teacher. Ravicharan tells Neeraj that it would be unethical on his part to train both of them at the same time. He advises Neeraj to approach Satyabhama. The hero starts training under Satyabhama and he is selected for the competition. However on the day of the finals of the event, he fails to turn up. Nicky wins the competition and bags the coveted prize.

Nicky later learns that Neeraj could not take part in the competition as he was at the bedside of the Colonel who was not well. Her guru Ravicharan plays the song that would have been sung by Neeraj for the competition. Nickly realizes that if Neeraj had taken part in the competition, he would have won hands down. Ravicharan later reveals that Satyabhma is in fact his wife and they had separated on account of some personal differences. Satyabhama realizes her folly and comes back to her husband. Nicky realizes her mistake and asks Neeraj to forgive her. With this, the film ends on a happy note

The slow pace of the story and the old fashioned direction test the patience of the audience. The screenplay is good here and there. The introduction of a boy from the US who be comes as a prospective bridegroom is a little unconvincing. Venumadhav's 'Sexy Pan' comedy is in no way connected to the film and is a bit out of place. The efforts and hard work of the hero to become a singer have not been convincingly portrayed. Such things can only happen Telugu films!!!. A person who has absolutely no knowledge of music suddenly begins an expert 'aalapana' and becomes an accomplished singer in no time.

The sloe pace of the film with no special ingredients to keep them audience attracted is a minus. Even though the film has a popular blend of music and love it fails to keep the audience entertained for two-and-half hours. It is a must see for all the Sivaji fans. The film could have been better with a little more care in the script and direction.

Cast: Sivaji, Deepa, Ali, Suman, Jayaprakash Reddy, SP Balasubrahmanyam, Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao, Venumadhav, LB Sriram, MS Narayana, Kadambari Kiran, Sudarshan, Jenny, Annapurna, Rajitha and others.

Credits:

Camera - Vijay C Kumar,
Lyrics - Veturi
Music - Vandemataram Srinivas.
Presenter - P Prabhakar Reddy.
Producer - Kum Megan Iyyunni,
Story, screenplay, dialogues and direction - Purna Adapala (Chandra)

Banner: Kalpatharu Movie Makers Pvt Ltd.,

Nicky &Neeraj Stills

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