Can he forget the scary 'Raaj'?

Sumanth was contemplated as a promising artist from Akkineni clan. One by one, serious flops shook his track record and it is now the struggle for existence for handsome hero. Last scary blow in the form of ‘Raaj’ with Priyamani and Vimala Raman could have put an end to his troubled career but here comes one more chance in the form of a film directed by Chavali Ravikumar.  This untitled film got its official title today as ‘Daggaragaa Dooramgaa.’ Assumed to be a romantic thriller with Vedika in lead, film is in last schedule of shooting. Sumanth desperately needs to give a solid hit with the film in order to make a living in Tollywood else he should take a long leave like his sister Supriya.

Sumanth & Vedika at RFC

Sumanth’s new film in the direction of Ravi Kumar Chavali has wrapped up its 40% of its shooting in and around Hyderabad. This untitled film is a romantic thriller and Sumanth is pairing up with Vedika in the movie.

Speaking about the film’s progress, director Ravi Kumar says, “The film is a romantic thriller and Re-recording work plays a vital role. There is no separate comedy track and it will flow along with the story. Sindhu Tulani will be seen in a distinct role as a journalist.”

J Sambasiva Rao is producing the film under Sudha Cinema banner. The film has dialogues by Ghatikachalam and Ravikumar Chavali, Cinematography by Surender Reddy, music by Raghu Kunche, editing by Nandamuri Hari and art by Venkateswara Rao.

Sumanth's Demand To Directors For 6 HS And 3LL

He might come across as a soft spoken hero with a frail voice but he sure seems to have a volcano of lust and libido inside him. We are talking about Sumanth and it is heard that he has been coming up with a new demand to his directors which is taking them by surprise. 

It is heard that Sumanth is insisting on having a minimum of six hot scenes and three lip locks with his leading ladies onscreen and some say he has developed a craze for that. Already, the audience got a taste of it in his recent release ‘Raaj’ wherein he was mauling Priyamani and Vimala Raman to the fullest. After knowing the Sumanth of ‘Godavari’ and ‘Golconda High School’ this new image is creating shivers to his heroines.

However, a source close to the hero said “It is not about projecting his lust. Sumanth has taken it as a challenge to prove himself with atleast one hit in the commercial genre. So, he wants his films to be packed with maximum glamour and masala which will work with the masses.” While Sumanth’s intentions can be understood, it is creating some tensions to the directors though.

Sumanth Disowns His Own Film

Sumanth’s career has been going through a rough patch. His last three films Boni, Golconda High School and Raaj, have bombed at the box office.

Interestingly, he has now ‘disowned’ Raaj, a film that has been unanimously trashed by all critics.

Responding to the criticism, the actor said that all the flak was justified.

The actor also said he foresaw such a result while doing the film itself. Pre-release, there was a lot of buzz about the steamy scenes in the film that had Priyamani and Vimala Raman in lead roles.

On Tuesday, he tweeted saying, “Honestly, didn’t expect much from Raaj. It was more or less a salvage operation after the original director was let go off.”(sic) Despite the criticism from all quarters, Sumanth found that the film had a good opening, which has caught the actor by surprise. Wonder if it was hype about steamy scenes which pulled the crowds or did they want to see how bad the film was!

He has already begun working for his next film, said to be a love storycum-action thriller aimed at the class audience. The flick is going on floors from April and a new heroine will be signed for the film.

'Raaj' Review: Rubbish And Bullshit!!

Rating: 1.5/5Banner: Kumar Brothers Cinema
Cast: Sumanth, Priyamani, Vimala Raman  and others
Music: Koti
Cinematography: Jagan
Screenplay, direction: V N Aditya
Producers: Kumar Brothers
Release date: 18/03/2011

The class hero Sumanth has now arrived in a commercial formula treat and this time he has enough ammunition in the form of the heroines Priyamani and Vimala Raman. Let us see how the film is.

Story
Raaj (Sumanth) is a fashion photographer. He loves Priya (Vimala Raman) but he loses her whereabouts and reluctantly gets married to Mythili (Priyamani). But he is unable to tell Mythili about Priya and finds it difficult to adjust with her.

However, things change and they get close. Just when things look to settle, Raj sees Priya. He decides to ask her why she left him without a word and lies to Mythili that he is going to London. Who is Priya? Why does she leave Raaj without a word? What happens to Raaj-Mythili’s relation after Priya’s arrival? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances
Given his sophisticated looks, Sumanth is a total misfit to this character. He failed in romance, fights, dance and looked disinterested while enacting the emotional scenes. Despite having strong steamy scenes with Priyamani, Vimala Rama he could not deliver that chemistry.

Priyamani goes totally extreme in her skin show and does justice to her remuneration. To be frank, the film will receive any response only due to her severe exposing. However, she should have taken care in the make up and costumes department. Some scenes make her look like a C-grade heroine.

Vimala Raman did her best to ooze glamour but she couldn’t get past Priyamani. But she scored better than Priyamani in the makeup, costumes departments. The flip side is the dubbing for Vimala which reminded of a monotonous TV artist. Already, her performance is weak and the dubbing put her in negative scale.

Srinivas Reddy gives an overdose of adult comedy and Ali has no limits to his flavor of adult comedy. Ajay had nothing to do as a villain. His characterization makes you feel that the old timers Nagabhushanam and Rajanala were much better. The rest of the cast were just for formality sake.

Highlights

• Cinematography
• Locations

Drawbacks

• Terrible songs
• Weak dialogues
• Amateur editing
• Botched up direction
• Obscenity in romance scenes
• Stale twist in second half

Analysis
Despite many attempts, it is clear that Sumanth fits the best for classy roles and is a total misfit for commercial and mass roles.

Either he is being misguided or he is not aware of his own limitations. If only he stuck to classy roles and sophisticated image, he would have got the backing of select audience and could have made his career as a minimum guarantee hero.

‘Raaj’ is one of those masterpieces which belong to the category of torturing the audience in every scene and camera movement.

Right from first scene, the audience goes through third degree torture and becomes a victim of the director’s creativity. The film reminds many of a C-grade Malayalam movie and if you thought that tsunamis happen only in the seas, ‘Raaj’ will give you the experience in cinema theatre. 

Bottomline: Beware!! It is a dangerous torture!!

Sumanth and Priyamani on Raaj - Part 6

Sumanth and Priyamani on Raaj - Part 5

Sumanth and Priyamani on Raaj - Part 4

Sumanth and Priyamani on Raaj - Part 3

Sumanth and Priyamani on Raaj - Part 2

Sumanth and Priyamani on Raaj - Part 1

Censor awards U/A certificate to 'Raaj'

Directed by VN Aditya and produced by Kumar Brothers on the banner of Kumar Brothers Cinema, ‘Raaj’ with Sumanth, Vimala Raman and Priyamani in the lead had completed its shooting and post-production formalities.

Soon after the release of the first copy, the film was submitted for certification. The Censor Board had awarded ‘U/A’ certificate for the movie with some cuts. The film was said to have steamy and romantic scenes and there are some lip lock scenes too involving Sumanth and Priyamani.

Moreover, he had also shared the lip to lip kissing scenes with Priyamani and Vimala Raman in this movie.

Another interesting feature in this film is that the music director of the film had remixed the song ‘Bheemavaram Bulloda…’ of Akkineni Nagarjuna on the hero and heroines.

Brahmanandam, Sayaji Shinde, Ali, Venumadhav, Giribabu, Ajay and Telangana Sakuntala and others are in the cast.

Rangeela + Dhoom + Murder = Raaj

No harm in drawing inspiration from all time blockbusters. Here is director VN Aditya who seems to have brought all his experience to fore in cooking a special spicy Biryani for Telugu movie lovers in the name of ‘Raaj.’ As movie is slated to hit the screens on 18th of the month, trailers and stills of the movie are raising the temperatures in this scorching summer. The hot and spicy songs picturized on Priyamani in ‘Raaj;’ one in the beach, one in the bedroom with hot smooches is reminding the audience all time spicy blockbusters of Rangeela, Dhoom (Abhishek Bachchan with Rimi Sen) and Mallika Sherawat. With hopes of Sumanth totally based upon Priyamani and Vimala Raman’s extra oomph, audience might get their paisa vasool entertainment with this jumbo pack. Control your nerves till 18th.

Video:Priyamani's hot chemistry with Sumanth

Video:Sumanth lip locks with Priyamani and Vimala Raman

Highschool Teacher's Shocking Lip-To-Lip Kiss

We all know Sumath acted as High-School sports teacher in the film Golconda High School, which happened to be his latest flick.

Now he is coming up with ‘Raaj’ shortly. The pulling factor in that movie is the presence of two hot sexy ladies Priyamani and Vimala Raman. And the shocking element is Sumanth acted in smooching scenes with both the ladies in different scenes. Vimala Raman and Priyamani competed with other to lick the lips of Sumanth as they felt that it would give them big commercial punch.

Well, Sumanth seems to be the lucky guy, as per this grapevine from reliable sources. The movie ‘Raaj’ is set to release on 18th March.

Sumanth's lip lock with Priyamani and Vimala Raman

Sumanth, Priyamani and Vimala Raman in 'Raaj'

Till now, Sumanth didn't indulge in on-screen smooches. On his maiden lip locks, he gets double bonanza. Yes, he kissed heroine Priyamani and Vimala Raman in his forthcoming film - Raaj. The film has very intimate and steamy scenes between Sumanth and Priyamani. Added to that, there are couple of lip-to-lip sequences involving Sumanth and Priyamani. Buzz is that Sumanth even kissed the sexy Vimal Raman on her lips in this same film.

Looks like the film is going to heat up the weather further this summer. Directed by V N Aditya, Raaj is slated for release on Mar 18. 

Sumanth's 'Raaj' to release on March 18

Sumanth starrer Raaj is going to release on March 18th. The film is made on Kumar Brothers Cinema banner with VN Aditya (of Manasantha Nuvve fame) directing it. Vimala Raman and Priyamani are the heroines. VN Aditya said: " Raaj will entertain the audiences on the lines of Sumanth`s previous blockbusters Satyam and Gowri. It is a mass entertainer with full-length commercial values. Sumanth plays a romantic role sandwiched between two beauties." "I earnestly wish the audience will support this film. If this film runs well, I will have several opportunities to make more and more good films. So far, I have not made my stamp in the industry. I am happy that the audiences feel that I can do justice to any genre."

Six-Pack Advice For Bald Head Hero

Though it was never revealed, the cine folks say it is obvious. Well, they are talking about the baldness of hero Sumanth. Well, even Bollywood heroes like Akshay Khanna are bald but they look hot and sexier for many women. Baldness is not something to be worried about. But here in Tollywood people take it serious and love to hide the baldness.

Coming back to Sumanth, not much is happening for him in films so that topic is becoming waste for discussion. However, all of them are now coming up with a new advice to him.

They suggest that Sumanth must focus on developing his body and come up with a six pack which will charge up the masses. Though he is more suited for class roles, Sumanth is reportedly keen on proving his mettle as a mass hero. If that is true then he should listen to his well-wishers.

Few cine folks who heard this proposal say it is a good thought and seeing Sumanth in a muscular way will be a variety change. For now, Sumanth is eagerly awaiting the release of his commercial mass movie ‘Raaj’ and is hoping to make up for all the bumps in his career.

'GHS' Review: For Cricket Loving Kids

Film: Golconda High School
Rating: 3/5 Banner: Art Beat Capital Pvt Ltd
Cast: Sumanth, Swathi, Tanikella Bharani, Subbaraju, Shafi, Hema, Sivannarayana, Ravi, Jhansi and others
Music: Kalyan Malik
Editing: Shravan Katikaneni
Cinematography: K K Senthil Kumar
Story, screenplay, direction: Indraganti Mohana Krishna
Producer: P Ram Mohan
Release date: 15/01/2011

Sumanth has been trying hard to score a hit and now he arrives with a different treat after a long time. Let us see how it goes this time.

Story:
Set on the backdrop of cricket, the story begins with the Golconda High School which housed the best cricket team about fifteen years ago.

Now, the situation changes and principal Viswanatham (Tanikella) has a big problem. The ground of the school is desired by one of the trustees Kireeti (Subbaraju) and he wants to build coaching centers there to make money.

Viswanatham decides to call Sampath (Sumanth), an ex-student and also a star cricketer during his school. He is given the task of coaching the current cricket team and ensure that they win the inter-school championship. If that happens, then Kireeth agrees to resign from his post. The challenge takes place between Sampath and Kireeti.

Who wins this challenge? What happens to Golconda High School forms the rest of the story.

Performances:
Sumanth has come up with a decent act and as always, he suits best for such roles. If he can choose such scripts, he can create a brand of his own instead of trying for commercial flicks.

Swathi looks starved. Though her eyes and dialogue delivery are attractive, it is her thin reed figure which is a put off. The good side is her performance but the role offered is not of her caliber. 

Tanikella Bharani was elegant and showed the right kind of maturity. Subbaraju was contained and did his bit as required. Shafi was competent and gives few funny moments. Hema, Sivannarayana, Manimala, Jhansi etc do their bit as required and add value. 

The actual heroes were the boys who performed without a hiccup and showed their mettle on the cricket field as well. Their chemistry worked well with each other and this gave life to the film. 

Good Things:

• Theme of the film
• Performances of young chaps 
• BEST DIALOGUE: “salahaalu ivvadaaniki desamanthaa ready..kaani sariggaa aadadaaniki 11 mandi dorakadam ledu”

Drawbacks:

• No sufficient humor
• Not so gripping screenplay
• Highly predictable ending

Analysis:
This is a film which comes across as a novel theme and it will connect with those who love the game of cricket and those who believe in an overall development of their children.

As such, this is written based on the book ‘The Men Within’ so it is a motivation tool for youngsters.

Also, there are important lessons to learn for the students. Overall, the film scores on idea but not on the ideal way of making an entertainer.

On the hiccup side, the film has few clichéd sequences and the second half gets a bit predictable.

But then, such films must be showed to the school going students and publicity must be strong as it deserves to score a hit.  

The movie can make collections only by marketing at schools and intermediate colleges. Only the cricket loving kids may enjoy this film out of heart but not for all. How Cricket or any other sport can bring overall development in students should be projected in a more convincing manner.

The people those never incline towards cricket also have got captivated watching ‘Lagaan’. But this film fails to captivate the elders those like Cricket as well.

Bottom-line: Idea is good….but could be dealt ideally

(Sirasri can be reached at sirasri@gmail.com)