All posts tagged: contrived

Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu movie review: Chiranjeevi and Anil Ravipudi settle for easy, contrived laughs | Movie-review News

Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu movie review: Chiranjeevi and Anil Ravipudi settle for easy, contrived laughs | Movie-review News

Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu movie review: There’s a specific disarming quality about Anil Ravipudi’s films. The ‘hit machine’ filmmaker has somewhat dominated the Sankranthi real estate for himself over the past few years, thanks to his ‘family-friendly’ cinema that has taken audiences away from the inflated, hyperbolic kind of cinema of recent times. Ravipudi has been defiantly uncomplicated and Telugu-first in his outlook, and given how that breed is rapidly diminishing, it feels obvious that he attracts many suitors who do not want to be fussed about watching a movie. Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu is one such outing, in every sense of the word, that ideally appeals to every member of the audience. It has one of Telugu cinema’s ‘Mt. Rushmore’ icons in Megastar Chiranjeevi headlining it. It boasts another superstar, Nayanthara, who returns to Telugu cinema after a small gap. It has a vibe that befits the Sankranthi holiday mood, it has the right title to go with that vibe, and multiple other goodies packed in (the Victory Venkatesh special appearance included) …

Mithya The Darker Chapter review: Huma Qureshi-starrer is contrived, unconvincing, and worst of all, dull | Web-series News

Mithya The Darker Chapter review: Huma Qureshi-starrer is contrived, unconvincing, and worst of all, dull | Web-series News

There was enough intrigue in the first season of ‘Mithya’, in which a troubled author is left on the edge of a sharp wedge, for us to want to return for another round. However, the new season, which comes from the same production house (Applause Entertainment) but a different director (Kapil Sharma) is everything that the first wasn’t: contrived, unconvincing, and, the worst sin, dull. The hills are still as picturesque, making you want you immediately to go off to Darjeeling to explore all those winding trails, and lovely red-bricked houses. A new character is added into the mix: Naveen Kasturia plays Amit Chaudhari, an aspiring author who accuses newly-published writer Juhi Adhikari (Huma Qureshi) of plagiarism. The ‘P’ word raises its ugly head again (copying charges were bandied about last time round), and we are all set for some more twists and turns. Avantika Dassani is back as the combative Rhea Rajguru, whose desire to make Juhi’s life miserable is stronger than ever. She keeps popping up at all kinds of inconvenient junctures, keying …