Language : Telugu
Streaming on : Netflix
Director : Praveen Kandregula
Writer : Vasanth Maringanti
Music Director : Satyavolu Sirish,Varun Reddy
Lyricist : Satyavolu Sirish
Cast : Vikas Vasishth,Sandeep Varanasi, Rag Mayur,Sindhu sreenivasa murthy,Uma YG
(Picture courtesy : Wikipedia)
If someone needs a real break from the crime thrillers,biopics,murder mysteries,sex, violence filled movies,Cinema Bandi could be the answer!!
No heavy sets,no complicated dialogues,no famous starcast!!A simple story revolving around a common Auto-rickshaw driver and his recent discovery and how starting from just his friend,the entire village comes together to help him fulfill his wish of making cinema!!
Our hero is a poor auto rickshaw driver whose hand to mouth life never affects his spirit of living happily,always looking at life with a positive vibe!!This,he nevers says by himself but we understand his way of looking at life,when,while interacting with a frustrated passenger who wants to go to the city to earn better ,he says,if everyone leaves the village,who will look after it,why are you craving for bigger things,this is the real life,whatever we have got here,we should try to make it more n more better by working hard!!City is never the answer!!
Next best part is main story starts in the second third scene..no background creation or no unnecessary explanation!!One day,Veera(Vikas Vasishth) comes home after ferrying passengers for whole day and while checking he finds a sack which apparently some one might have forgotten in the backseat!!Its a costly,high end camera.
He calls his local photographer friend Gana(Sandeep Varanasi) who after seeing the camera says,this is a very costly camera used to shoot films of famous,big heroes like Mahesh babu,Pawan kalyan!!!Veera looks casual initially but something happens and he decides to make a movie with that camera. Anyways,he has experienced Gana besides him to handle the technicalities!From somewhere,they find an old man who has written set of stories n poems and is very famous but unfortunately people don't know him!!!(such one liners are the bestest part of the movie)
From here starts the actual journey of a newbie director and his struggles to find a hero,heroine which they discover in a barber Maridesh babu( Rag Mayur) and a vegetable seller Manga(Uma YG). Maridesh babu leaving his half shaven customer to reach the shooting location on time!!Manga selling vegetables in between the shoots!!Their humor timing is way too hilarious and spot on!
The entire process of their filmmaking is hilarious,fun filled,thrilling and at times emotional too!!
Initially,the villagers who are reluctant and are consistently mocking Veera for his foolish experiment,turn out to be his saviours in difficult situations and help him in all the way possible for them!!
The twist comes when the actual owner of the camera,Sindhu (Sindhu sreenivasa murthy) gets on a desparate search spree for her priced possession and she finally finds it alongwith the (supposedly for her)culprit!!And what happens next is predictable yet ultimately leading to a happy ending!!
Story is simple,clear,not preachy at all!Strong determination of veera to make a movie and earn money to develop his village by getting electricity,good roads,hospitals,schools and make it a better place where everyone will live happily and no one will go to the city!Gana too believes in his friend's vision and is ready to help him by all means, putting his own career at stake!A self declared ,rude moral police who always opposes Veera but at one point when Sindhu randomly bumps in to him asking about camera,anyone would anticipate him to reveal everything to her!!But,surprisingly,he denies knowing about any such thing and in turn suggests her to go to the nearby town where she might get some clue!!
Another message, indirectly given through the film is,how,still there are so many things which are a privilege for people living in remote areas!!Be it the struggle for Veera and his team to charge the camera battery as there is no regular supply of electricity in the village(In one scene he is seen charging the battery in a poultry farm and envying the hens for how they have access to electricity all the time) or traveling on bad roads!!While randomly watching the clips in the camera,sindhu and her friends are rain dancing somewhere.Veera says,see how much water they are wasting!!Or in a scene where they are enjoying barbeque,Gangotri(Sirivennela Yanamandhala),veera's wife says,they are cooking like us for which veera replies city People want to live village life and we are heading towards city..see the irony!!!
Take away of the movie is,if you strongly wish for something,if your intentions are clear,if you have a strong vision..everything becomes possible and everyone on the way will join hands to make you reach the goal!!
