how often do you find yourself discussing a 20+ year old movie? i find myself talking about kshana kshanam a couple of times a month. something about that movie always comes up in conversations. a line here, a scene there, a song, a character, ram gopal varma, paresh rawal, paresh rawal's sidekicks, venkatesh, brahmanandam's 2-minute side-splitter of a scene. and where to begin with sridevi?
of so many movies before and since 1991, why does kshana kshanam endure so? it was one of the freshest, funnest movies of its time, and in the context of telugu cinema, it was a huge surprise. for once, here was a movie where people spoke and behaved like regular folks. the locations, language and characters were so familiar, the movie could be unfolding down the street from your house. no other filmmaker has managed to capture hyderabad's languid casualness the way varma did with kshana kshanam. the scene where sridevi haggles with autodriver makes me grin every single time. it's a nothing scene. a casual throwaway of an exchange that could've only been written by someone who knew the city intimately.
then there was the music. it was quite the rage in my school too, where most kids didn't speak any telugu. andanantha etha was performed on stage and brought the house down. sheetalvyas has more to say about the movie and the music here.
and then, the humor. always deadpan, to ROFL effect. paresh rawal's telugu dialogues: "music sense ledu", "dabbu ante andariki ishtame", "iddaru chaala... friends aipoinattunnaru... mmm", "bridge evaru kattaru ra, ikkada?". brahmanandam's "nenu, neeeenu, neeeeeeeeeenu pedatanu", "changing room antee... just ala, snanam avi cheskoni..." oh heck, why don't you just watch them?
all this was a big deal for its time. it gave us a glimpse into what the future of telugu cinema could be like. but unfortunately, those years from 1988-93 ended up being just a blip. after the promise of geetanjali, shiva, kshana kshanam, nirnayam, aditya 369, govinda govinda, jagadeka veerudu atiloka sundari, telugu films inexplicably pivoted to crassness and misogyny. the exceptions have been few and far between - okkadu remains a standout in the last decade. it's pity, for there couldn't be a more movie crazy place than hyderabad, and surely the local industry could do better. so while we wait, we go back to the precious few films that we love. again and again.
of so many movies before and since 1991, why does kshana kshanam endure so? it was one of the freshest, funnest movies of its time, and in the context of telugu cinema, it was a huge surprise. for once, here was a movie where people spoke and behaved like regular folks. the locations, language and characters were so familiar, the movie could be unfolding down the street from your house. no other filmmaker has managed to capture hyderabad's languid casualness the way varma did with kshana kshanam. the scene where sridevi haggles with autodriver makes me grin every single time. it's a nothing scene. a casual throwaway of an exchange that could've only been written by someone who knew the city intimately.
then there was the music. it was quite the rage in my school too, where most kids didn't speak any telugu. andanantha etha was performed on stage and brought the house down. sheetalvyas has more to say about the movie and the music here.
and then, the humor. always deadpan, to ROFL effect. paresh rawal's telugu dialogues: "music sense ledu", "dabbu ante andariki ishtame", "iddaru chaala... friends aipoinattunnaru... mmm", "bridge evaru kattaru ra, ikkada?". brahmanandam's "nenu, neeeenu, neeeeeeeeeenu pedatanu", "changing room antee... just ala, snanam avi cheskoni..." oh heck, why don't you just watch them?
all this was a big deal for its time. it gave us a glimpse into what the future of telugu cinema could be like. but unfortunately, those years from 1988-93 ended up being just a blip. after the promise of geetanjali, shiva, kshana kshanam, nirnayam, aditya 369, govinda govinda, jagadeka veerudu atiloka sundari, telugu films inexplicably pivoted to crassness and misogyny. the exceptions have been few and far between - okkadu remains a standout in the last decade. it's pity, for there couldn't be a more movie crazy place than hyderabad, and surely the local industry could do better. so while we wait, we go back to the precious few films that we love. again and again.
5 comments:
just checking, I am unable to comment.
Oh! yes I am. hehe. I was trying to say that I never ever saw what a golden period it was until you listed them all. We were lucky.
we were, we were. and i didn't even include all the dubbed tamil movies.
Yes, indeed - we did have that golden period didn't we? Was going to echo Shweta here - don't remember Govinda, Govinda but the rest are memorable. The era preceding that was good too - all those comedies from Jandhyala, those quirky stories from Bapu... they were funny.
Crassness is cyclical but where did the misogyny come from?
And about the videos - still chuckling at the sight of Paresh Rawal slumming it on the ooru bus.
hahaha... and how about that fellow going "saaru, yadgiri gutta voye bussu, eedikelle votada inkedikellanna votada" :P
hau eighties had some decent movies. even all the vishwanath films. and how 'bout that masterpiece 'aha naa pellanta'?
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