Film: VedamCast: Allu Arjun, Anushka, Manchu Manoj (guest appearance), Manoj Bajpayee, Lekha Washington, Deeksha Seth, Posani Krishna Murali, Ravikanth, Brahmanandam and othersMusic: M M Keeravani
Cinematography: Gnanasekhar V S
Editing: Sravan K
Action: Ram – Lakshman
Art: Rajiv Nayar
Produced by: Prasad Devineni, Shobu Yarlagadda
Banner: Arka Media WorksStory,
screenplay, dialogues and directed by: Radhakrishna (Krish)
Release Date: June 04, 2010
Rating:
Vedam Telugu Movie Review:
Story:
A routine tale told differently, the story is about people from different walks of life. There is Cable Raju (allu arjun) who is street smart living in a slum and wanting to marry his rich girlfriend Pooja (deeksha). He acts as if he is also rich guy. Then there is Vivek (Manchu manoj), an aspiring rock star wanting to make it big. There is Saroja (anushka) who wants to come out of Amalapuram and escape so that she can survive on her own and make more money. Then there is Raheem Khureshi (manoj bajpai) who is mistaken to be a terrorist purely for the fact that he is a Muslim. Last but not the least, there is Nagaiah (ramulu) who is desperate to get his grandson educated and decides to donate the kidney of his daughter in law (saranya) to arrange for the funds. Destiny gets them together under one roof and what happens from there forms the rest of the story.
Artist Performance:
When certain directors make movie, they make sure that each and every character is impactful and well-etched. Krish is one of those very few directors in Telugu cinema. Allu Arjun comes up with an awesome performance as cable Raju who pretends as a rich guy to his girlfriend. His performance in realization scenes towards climax is his best in his career. He has also entertained as a brat. Manoj Manchu comes up with another honest performance as an aspiring rock star. His performance in the hospital scenes and the scene with his mother is excellent. He performed the live action in the scene where he breaks the glass of car. Anushka titillates as the prostitute Amalapuram Saroja. She oozed sexiness and effused the vulnerability/innocence needed for the character. Nagayya is authentic for a first-timer. However, a better dubbing would have helped his character as his voice is little feminine. Manoj Bajpai comes up with power-packed performance as a righteous Muslim who is troubled by the cop. Deeksha Seth is sexy with nice smile and dimples. She has done well. The voice dubbed to her is excellent and that voice suited the Telugu we hear from the upmarket Hyderabad girls. Lekha Washingon is good as a companion of Manoj Manchu. Satyam Rajesh is excellent as side kick of hero. The person who has done the hijra role is the personal makeup man of Anushka and that person did an excellent job. Ravi Prakash comes up with his finest performance as a cop who hates Muslims. Brahmanandam is entertaining in a small role. Raghu Babu, Pruthvi and Posani Krishna Murali are entertaining in their brief roles. Giri is good in the noticeable character of a pimp. Director Krish who appeared in Che Guevara get-up as a naxalite in Gamyam appears again in Vedam as an entertaining Baba.
Technical and Other departments:
Story - screenplay - direction: It is a multiple story film where all the stories converge into the climax of the movie. It is extremely difficult task to narrate five different stories in one film in a gripping style. Krish who is just one film old comes up with terrific work in his second movie. He connected all the stories with brilliant screenplay. Each and every character in this movie has human element in it. Screenplay of the movie is authentic though similar pattern is being followed since Ameros Perros (2000) and was popularized by the Oscar winning Crash (2004) movie. Krish has shown how he sticks to the core human elements without losing the undercurrent commercial elements with his debut film Gamyam. He maintains the same philosophy in this multi-storied film as well. First half of the movie looks little disjointed because, the director has to establish and narrate five different stories. He connects all the stories well and gave a gripping narration in the second half. He would have started the movie with the accident episode (pre-climax scene). If he had started the movie with that (like he did for Gamyam movie), then the audiences would have got connected to the first half more intently. He probably avoided it because there will be a direct comparison with Crash movie. The transformation of characters from having selfish goal to do selfless service might appear similar to crash where all positive characters turn negative and vice versa. The climax scene reminds us of 26/11 Mumbai episode.
Music by Keeravani is good. Songs are nicely integrated into story line except for Allu Arjun’s party song. Background music is very good and very apt for the movie. Dialogues by Krish are an asset for the movie. He penned entertaining dialogues and humanity-oriented ones extremely well. Cinematography of the film is of top-notch quality. Action sequences by Ram – Lakshman are well-choreographed. Editing by Sravan is excellent. Art direction by Rajeev Nair is nice. Producers Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni should be appreciated for producing sensible/coming-of-age film like Vedam (more so because they come from the family of K Raghavendra Rao who is known for commercial cinema).
Story - screenplay - direction: It is a multiple story film where all the stories converge into the climax of the movie. It is extremely difficult task to narrate five different stories in one film in a gripping style. Krish who is just one film old comes up with terrific work in his second movie. He connected all the stories with brilliant screenplay. Each and every character in this movie has human element in it. Screenplay of the movie is authentic though similar pattern is being followed since Ameros Perros (2000) and was popularized by the Oscar winning Crash (2004) movie. Krish has shown how he sticks to the core human elements without losing the undercurrent commercial elements with his debut film Gamyam. He maintains the same philosophy in this multi-storied film as well. First half of the movie looks little disjointed because, the director has to establish and narrate five different stories. He connects all the stories well and gave a gripping narration in the second half. He would have started the movie with the accident episode (pre-climax scene). If he had started the movie with that (like he did for Gamyam movie), then the audiences would have got connected to the first half more intently. He probably avoided it because there will be a direct comparison with Crash movie. The transformation of characters from having selfish goal to do selfless service might appear similar to crash where all positive characters turn negative and vice versa. The climax scene reminds us of 26/11 Mumbai episode.
Music by Keeravani is good. Songs are nicely integrated into story line except for Allu Arjun’s party song. Background music is very good and very apt for the movie. Dialogues by Krish are an asset for the movie. He penned entertaining dialogues and humanity-oriented ones extremely well. Cinematography of the film is of top-notch quality. Action sequences by Ram – Lakshman are well-choreographed. Editing by Sravan is excellent. Art direction by Rajeev Nair is nice. Producers Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni should be appreciated for producing sensible/coming-of-age film like Vedam (more so because they come from the family of K Raghavendra Rao who is known for commercial cinema).
Analysis:
The film is basically an attempt to show the human psychology and how things change as per situation. While the first half goes good and engages the audience, the second half falls down and the climax is not appealing. Technically, the film has been made very well but the makers should have focused on content as well. At the box office, the openings will be splendid due to the hype created but eventually, it will require strong publicity and word of mouth to succeed.
Final View:
Vedam has good performances, terrific cinematography and some heart-wrenching moments. Allu Arjun and Anushka should be appreciated for accepting this kind of movies, which doesn’t give them commercial mileage much. More than the director, it is actors who have brought novelty. It is a Average Film.
