I never liked Venkatesh, doesn't have the presence that other quality Indian actors have. It should have been someone younger in the same age bracket as Surya...or Surya himself!!! He is fast becoming an actor I am taking an interest in...especially after Kaaka Kaaka, Peralagan, Pithamagan and his best work...Nandaa.

Movie review - Gharshana

Jeevi rating: 3/5
Punchline: More style. Mere substance..
Genre: Action
Can kids watch this film? Yes (no vulgarity and no violence)
Cast: Venkatesh, Asin, Yana Gupta, Amitha, Chandana, Rajesh, Salim, Balaji, Ravi & Vamsi
Dialogues - Lyrics: Kula Sekhar
Cinematography: Raja Sekhar
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Art: Rajeevan
Fights: Peter Hynes
Editing: Anthony
Producers: Sivaraju & Venkatraju
Story - Screenplay - direction: Gowtam
Theatrical release date: 30th July 2004

Story

DCP Rama Chandra IPS (Venkatesh) is an orphan and a passionate police officer. He does not believe in justice through judicial court, hence eliminates the anti social elements through encounters. He falls in love with a beautiful and tender-looking school teacher Maya (Asin). In one such encounter, he eliminates an Orissa-born gangster Das. Gangster Das's brother Panda (Saleem Baig) pledges to take revenge on Rama Chandra and kidnaps Maya. The rest of the story is all about good wins over evil.

Artists Performance

Venkatesh: Venkatesh never looked so stylist in the past. He developed masculine body to suit the role of a well-built cop. His costumes in 'Cheliya Cheliya' song are cool. He exhibited appropriate histrionics by underplaying in certain scenes. He changed his body language and mannerisms as well.

Others: Asin is very tender in her soft role. She is extremely adorable in close-ups. Saleem Baig is good in the role of main villain. But the dubbing voice given to him does go overboard many a time. This film does not have familiar faces except for Venkatesh and Asin. The teammates of Venkatesh in this film are apt. Comedy actor Rajesh did an insignificant role.

Technical Departments:

Story - screenplay - direction: Story of the film is a routine one. The best thing about Gowtam's direction is stylized shot-making. The director started the film on flashback mode. Screenplay of the film is Ok in the first half, but is placid in the second half. The director failed in getting the emotions and feel (the agony of hero against the wrongdoers) in the right way.

Music: The biggest asset of the film is superb music by Harris Jayaraj. The background score of the film is also good. The picturization of songs is neat. This film starts with Chelia Chelia song. The last song of the film is an item song by Yana Gupta. Asin's introduction song 'Bhigi Bhigi si' is very good.

Dialogues - lyrics: Dialogues by Kula Sekhar supplement the serious mood of the film. A few dialogues have swearwords (though with audio cuts) as well. Dialogues do play a vital role in making any Telugu film entertaining. The dialogues written for this film are not entertaining enough. However, the lyrics by Kulasekhar are good.

Other departments: Photography by Rajasekhar is excellent. Camera angles and filters used are good. Stunts by Peter Hynes in this film are not of typical mass style except the last fight. Editing cuts are good. Choreography is contemporary. Costumes by Asmita Marwar are good.

Analysis: The first half of the film comes in voice-over mode as flashback. It introduces various characters in a slow way. The real story of the film starts with the entrance of Panda. The second half starts in an interesting style and it loses the steam as the climax approaches. The plus points of this film are music, Venkatesh, photography and stylish taking. The negative points are slow narration, lack of Telugu commercial elements, dry scenes and lack of substance. This film has got more style and less substance. It is the time for Venkatesh to stop going after remakes of Tamil action films with the directors of other languages and start encouraging Telugu directors. On the box office front, it might have something to offer for A centers audiences, but would find it difficult to sustain in B and C centers.

- idlebrain.com

They made the Telugu version with no violence.

It's made exactly like in Tamil. Same amount of violence and technical excellence. Unfortunately, most of these websites can't appreciate remakes or new style!!!

I saw the movie and loved it. Venkatesh gave excellent performance, except his age showed up in some scenes as he is in mid 40s now! Unfortunately, just like the reviewers, movie didn't seem to impress AP viewers as they all complain about not having comedy in the movie!

Gharshana
Cast: Venkatesh, Ashin, Yanagupta, Amota, Panda, Chandana, Rajesh,
Sameer, Balaji, Ravi, Vamsi
Dialogues, Lyrics: Kulashekar
Music: Haris jairaj
Playback: Suchitra, K.K,Harini,Srinivas,Sunita Sarathy, Febimani, Tippu , Shalini
Dances: Brinda
Camera: D.Rajasekhar
Editing : Anthony
Producers : C.Venkata Raju, G.Sivaraju
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Gautham menon
Release Date : 30th July 2004

Review :
Gharshana is the story of a sincere Police officer who fights with Mafia, which effects his personal life. What make the film watchable is its sleek presentation and a racy screenplay that rarely has lagging moments. Kulashekar's dialogues are crisp and kept to the minimum.

The film starts with a flash back wherein the hero narrates the story. Ramachandra (Venkatesh) targets dasu, an anti-social element. In his mission there comes a new entrant into the game. That is Pandia, younger brother of Dasu, brutal and wily, a dreaded name in the Mumbai underworld. Ramachandra and his dedicated crew in their relentless hunt kills the anti-social elements one by one. At this stage Pandia kidnaps Swapna (Asin ), the sweet heart of Ramachandra and leaves the hero Ramachandra in an injured state. How the hero rescues Swapna is the second half of the film.

Analysis:
The opening sequence of the film is similar to that of Nagarjuna's Rakshana. Encounters (shown in the film) in the city are rare. The nativity may suit Mumbai to a certain extent, but definitely not Hyderabad.First half the film is racy, Second half has lagging moments. While one wonders at relevance of Yanagupta's dance number (which costed 2 lakhs for her ward robe and 35 thousand for the shoes of side dancers), of course she is at her sizzling best, and the director adds a clever touch at the end of the number, making it seem integral to the scene!

The romance between the lead pair is shown in tender, poignant and lyrical way. Villain has more role and screen then the hero at times.

Venkatesh : Though he worked very hard in building his body and trimming his moustache for the young look, he is not that successful in hiding his age. He definitely needs a quick to trip to London or US for that purpose. He over acted in some scenes. Surya has done much better job than Victory Venkatesh.

Asin : Looks very cute. She has the charm and sobriety required for the role. She did a wonderful job in the film.

Kulashekar's dialogues are crispy and were muted in some parts.

Music : Excellant music and background. We hope this time it works for the Music director.

Camera : An excellent work

Overall : Gharshana is another over hyped tollywood film that has no nativity for the telugu audience. But a slick action thriller. dragged in second half.

- Telugucinema.com

Telugucinema Exclusive Gautam Menon Interview

Sri: Hello sir how the film is coming up?
Gautam: This is a regular commercial film, romance and all. It came up very good.

Sri: Okay, let us start from your background, because I am sure many of the Telugu audience would be interested to know more about you.
Gautam: You mean, my filmdom background? I do not have any relevant background. I am from a middle class family. My mother has been a teacher for the last 25 years; she teaches economics for the 10th and 12th standard classes. I have a sister who works in Seattle, U.S.A. When I was a kid, my parents used to take me to the movies regularly. When I am pursuing engineering studies, I started watching films myself, and eventually started discussing films with friends. I loved the creativity involved in moviemaking, and so my friends encouraged me to join the filmdom. So, I went and knocked the doors of creative directors like Bharateeraja and Maniratnam sir in vain. I then approached Rajiv Menon who is also a great cameraman. I do not know what he saw in me, but he immediately consented to take me as an assistant. I worked with him for almost 50 advertisements. Then he got the offer to direct minsaara kaNavu (merupu kalalu). That was a one year project on the prestigious AVM banner. (It was also their 100th project.) I really loved working in that project. Once I completed the film, I wanted to work on my own and started a company called "Photon" and started making ad films. At that time, I once met Madhavan and narrated to him the story of minnalE (cheli). He immediately liked it and agreed to do the film and that is how my debut happened.

Sri: minnalE was a good hit and was dubbed in Telugu and also remade into Hindi (rahnaa hai tErE dil mE) also. After a love story, you switched to an action film in the form of kaakka kaakka (gharshaNa). Any particular reason for this shift?
Gautam: Who said it is not a love story, it's also a love story too!

Sri: But the film is about an encounter specialist?
Gautam: That is the difference. This is not going to be like the other films. Viewers want novelty, and so we made this film around a new point to give such a feel.

Sri: When I saw the Tamil version it resembles some real life incidents. What is the real story behind it?
Gautam: Yes, it is! It is based on the incident related to an ‘encounter specialist’ that took place some four to five years age in Mumbai; the incident appeared prominently in India Today. I thought, "Why not make a film around this point, based on that article?" A sincere police officer earns the wrath of some people in the course of performing his duties, and it will also have its impact on his personal life. kaakka kaakka happened only because this point stimulated me, and that is what is now taking shape as gharshaNa in Telugu.

Sri: how did Surya step into the role?
Gautam: Actually my first two choices were Vikram and Ajit. When I approached them, they did not have time to listen to the script – both of them are too busy with the films. For the female lead, my first choice was Jyotika – I was fixed with that, and she was happy with the script and readily agreed to do the film. Then I saw Nanda and approached Surya (male lead in Nanda) for the film. He listened to the script narration and immediately agreed to do without any modifications to the script. It took me the next six months to hunt down a producer for the film. I approached many but no one had time to listen. It is Talaivanu Thanu sir who listened to the script and immediately went into the room and got me the check with remuneration (amount disclosed to TeluguCinema.Com off the record). I was in tears. He then asked me the budget and I said it'd cost around 3.5 crore rupees, but he said he can spare 2.5 crores as he can get finance only for that amount, and I agreed to it. I got another 60 lakhs from financiers on my own and completed the film within 3.1 crores.

Sri: What? You risked your own money on the film? Interesting! Now that the film is hit, you might have made profits...
Gautam: No, the film is a block buster, but I didn’t get anything other than my remuneration. Though people advised me to take money from the producer, I am against the idea. I agreed to do the film for the producer's 2.5 crore rupees investment, and I should stick to it. Or, I should have convinced him to spend the 3.5 crore rupees that I asked for. Since I didn't ask, it's okay with me. With the rights in the other languages I got my money back and repaid the debuts I got for the kaakka kaakka.

Sri: This is really interesting! After hearing stories about directors dumping producers, this is news to me!
Gautam: No, it's not like that! I have no complaint about Thanu sir. He has done what he promised. And so, I do not have any problems with him.

Sri: Why are you working on remakes again and again? You agreed to do this film in Hindi with Fardeen Khan and also in English for some Hollywood producer? Remaking the same subject again and again lessens the creativity, isn't it?
Gautam: See, I agree with you in some aspects. That's why I am taking a break to make it in Hindi. Fardeen is not doing it in Hindi. Feroz Khan was shown the script and he also agreed to make the film with Fardeen, but I felt may be more mature hero can do the film and approached Sunny Deol. And Sunny has agreed to do the film immediately. The film will happen some time at the end of the next year. Meanwhile, I will be doing the film with Surya in lead in Tamil Chennaiyil oru malaikaalam after the release of gharshaNa, and then a film with Kamal Hasan will go on the floors. And then, I have a film with Prabhas, which will be some time in the first half of the year. I agreed one more film with Pawan Kalyan for Sarath, and then a film with Sunny Deol too. So, in this way, I will not lose the interest on films.

Sri: What about the Hollywood film?
Gautam: I am not yet ready for the Hollywood. Let me complete all this. Meanwhile, the script and other things will be ready for the Hollywood film, and if I then think that I am ready, I will do it.

Sri: You say Prabhas's film will be somewhere in the first half of next year. But, recently, the producers for the movie released a statement that the film will start soon ...some time this year?
Gautam: I do not know why they gave the statement, Sri! See, even Prabhas is busy doing the film chakram and then S.S. Rajamouli's film this year. How can he spare more dates for me too?

Sri: You mentioned Pawan Kalyan's film with Sarath? Usually, it somehow happens that Pawan Kalyan’s films get delayed abnormally! After guDumbaa Sankar, he will be completing Karunakaran’s films ...so when would you come into the line?
Gautam: No, after Karunakaran’s, he'll be doing Geetha Arts films, and then I will do it for his friend Sarath. We are already discussing the subjects with him.

Sri: Getting back to gharshaNa, when an upcoming hero Surya has done the role in Tamil, why did you choose a senior hero like Venkatesh in Telugu? Rumors have it that Venkatesh hijacked the film from Prabhas...?
Gautam: They are absolutely baseless, Sri! Prabhas felt that he is not ready for this type of the subject, so he did not want to do the film anyway! We might be doing the Telugu version of Chennaiyil oru malaikaalam with him. ...Surya played a twenty-eight year old police officer in the Tamil original. No age has been mentioned in the Telugu version. Venkatesh is being shown only as a senior police officer. We did keep in mind Surya’s age there, and I made the necessary changes keeping in view the star image of Venkatesh here. A few scenes that were found good were retained as such. Though the storyline is the same, there’s a lot of difference in the picturization. Venkatesh even appears some ten years younger physically. As intended, I did project Venkatesh in a different perspective, which can be known by seeing the film. ...Do you know that when I offered him the role he said that he was not ready for a cop role, saying the change in his body structure wasn’t something that came about in a day. He strived hard for nearly eight months for this role. He was given a crew-cut like coiffure and a reshaped moustache, to meet the characterization. He molded his body just like what a police would look like in real life.

Sri: In all your interviews, you and Venkatesh tell that you made changes relevantly? What are the changes you made to suite the nativity?
Gautam: We did some minor changes. Due to the budget constraints, I compromised a bit for the Tamil version. I included all those in the Telugu version in an uncompromising manner. Technically, this would be even better than the Tamil version. Venkatesh’s fans can feel a certain freshness. Instead of lengthy dialogs, Venkatesh’s role will have crisp dialogue and action underplay. The crisp dialogue by Kulasekhar and underplay in the role will earn the appreciation of not only Venkatesh’s fans but also everyone.

Sri: Given a chance, what type of films would you like to make? A class film, or a mass film? And into what genre does gharshaNa falls into?
Gautam: I'd like to make a commercial film. Whatever films I make, viewers must weep, laugh, subject themselves to sentiment, excitement…. I prefer making such films. To me, gharshaNa is a classy film; for my producer, it's a mass film (laughs)! Because of the trailers, the Tamil version had good openings in all the areas. After good openings in all centers, the film gradually settled well in A, B, and C centers.

Sri: You're the one who's making the film in both the languages. Which one, you think, is the better ?
Gautam: Do not compare the Telugu version with the Tamil version! See it as a different film altogether. Only a few people might have see the Tamil version, and this might not include most audience in and around Sreekakulam, or Vijayawada side. This film is for them. See, it is the opportunity to direct Venkatesh that made me accept to work for the Telugu version. The audio of the film is already a chartbuster in Telugu now. The film was delayed because of Sree aanjanEyam, or else it'd have hit the theaters on the 23rd of this month.

Sri: By the way, are you married?
Gautam: Yes, I am married to Preethi, and we have a two-year old kid.

Sri: Do you know about our website?
Gautam: Yes, I am aware of your website! I check it sometimes, when I have time. I wish your readers see my film.

- Telugucinema.com

What does "Gharshana" mean and who is doing the DVD?

Gharshana means conflict or battle.

DVD????? I am dreaming to make it a reality!!! I liked this movie a LOT!

Success Meet - Gharshana

The success meet of Venkatesh's latest film 'Gharshana' was held at Rama Naidu studios on 4th August evening. Venkatesh, Gowtam (director), Kula Sekhar (Lyricist), Ravi Prakash (actor) and Sivaraju (Producer) attended this meet.

I did Gharshana for myself, not merely for success - Venkatesh
Venkatesh thanked the audience for encouraging Gharshana film. Like Chanti, Gharshana too broke the trend and proved that audiences always encourage all well made films with a different story and treatment. Gharshana generated best openings and outstanding revenue for any Venkatesh film so far. The outstanding music and best technical values made the film get such a success talk. Venkatesh felt that no other big hero could ever attempt to act in a film that has not even a single comedy scene. He remembered the first shot of the film for which he needed to stay immersed in water for a day at a temperature of 6 degrees. Venkatesh said that he always wanted to make a film with a Hollywood look since he entered the film industry and the opportunity came only after completing 50 films. He stated that he did Gharshana for himself, not for success.

I did Gharshana since I was in debts - Gowtam
Director Gowtam said that he has been touring all the important theaters in AP to checkout the response it has got. The response witness by him is extraordinary. He thanked Venkatesh for doing a bold attempt through this film. Gowtam confessed that the prime reason for doing this film is his financial debts he incurred while making Kakha Kakha. He said that he changed a lot of scenes from the original for nativizing in Telugu.

Venkatesh inspired me for lyrics of 'Andagada' - Kulasekhar
Kula Sekhar thanked Venkatesh for encouraging new talent. He has been waiting to work with Harris Jayaraj after listening to Cheli music. He said that Venkatesh's handsomeness is the inspiration for him to write 'Andagada' song. He thanked Revathi (assistant director of Gowtam) for recommending him to the makers as dialogue writer and lyricist.

Gharshana to collect 4.5 crores in 7 days - Suresh Movie Distributors
Vijaya Bhaskar - Genera Manager of Suresh Movie distributors - said that Gharshana is all set to collect a share of 4.5 crores in 7 days with 150 prints. This film is the biggest 1st week grosser among Venkatesh's film. Venkatesh's Malliswari is said to have collected a share of 4.03 in 7 days with 125 prints.

Actor Ravi Prakash said that he is feeling proud to be the part of a different and well made film. The producer Sivaraju felt that the movie has extraorniary music and excellent photography.

- Idlebrain.com

Gharshana (2004)

Cast Venkatesh, Asin, Yana Gupta, Amitha, Chandana, Rajesh, Salim, Balaji, Ravi & Vamsi
Banner Geetha International
Music Harris Jayaraj
Direction Gautham
Cinematography Raja Sekhar

Review

DCP Rama Chandra IPS (Venkatesh) belongs to the team that specializes in killing gangsters under the guise of encounter. Maya (Asin) a school teacher falls in love with him. At first he maintains a distance from her but later on yields to her. During one such encounter he eliminates an Orissa-born gangster Das. When his personal life is on a high the gangster Das's brother Panda (Saleem Baig) comes to take revenge. Panda targets the police officer's team including Maya. In a final shootout Panda is killed.
Gautham has presented the film with class and given a very stylish appearance to the main artistes. The film suffers from slow narration and lacks the Telugu nativity. Encounter deaths are a thing of the past. It occurred only in Naxal infested areas and not in cities. With a subject that has no roots and concentrating on technical fineese the film reaching out the masses outside the city is doubtful. Performance wise Venkatesh and Asin have done a good job. The highlight of the film is cinematography. Harris music is classy and well shot but does not have the Telugu touch. Dialogues are a weak point in the film.

- Galatta.com

Gharshana (2004)
By DH
Aug 01, 2004, 02:44

Director: Goutham
Cast: Venkatesh, Asin, Saleem Baig, Rajesh, Ravi, Vamsi, Yana Gupta

If you are one of those who enjoys flicks of the ‘cop-kills-don’ genre, watching Gharshana could be an electrifying experience.

Hitting the silverscreen at a time when the Telugu film industry is busy weaving mushy romantic tales, Gharshana is about an encounter specialist who is driven to the edge of sanity by a gangster and his henchmen.

Though Gharshana lacks the intensity of its Tamil original ‘Kakka..Kakka’, it, nevertheless, has moments that would keep you at the edge of your seat. The story revolves around Deputy Commissioner of Police Ramachandra (Venkatesh), an extrovert who speaks only with his revolver.

He succeeds in bumping off all the notorious gangsters except Das, an extortionist. And, before he takes on Das, Ramachandra is transferred to a nondescript post. He keeps his gun aside for a while as he falls head over heels in love with Maya (Asin), a school teacher. By the time the two finish singing a duet, Ramachandra is back in the crime branch and has been entrusted with the task of stopping Das.

Accordingly, Das is shot dead. Ramachandra and his men smile with a feeling that the underworld has been silenced, but they soon realise they have left out Panda (Saleem Baig), a gangster more ruthless than his slain brother Das. The second half of the film is all about how Panda makes life miserable for Ramachandra and his men.

Venkatesh, who had failed to woo audiences in his earlier films Surya IPS and Super Police, in which he donned the khaki, is quite impressive in Gharshana. His physique matches the role, but he has not completely succeeded in removing the smile on his face, which at times seems to be unnecessary.

Asin looks good, but fails to live up to Jyothika’s histrionics in Kakka..Kakka. Saleem Baig as Panda is menacing, but his voice-dubbing is pathetic. Yana Gupta does an item number.

Narration, despite being different in style, is slow at times.
The second half of the movie keeps you engrossed, but the climax scene is a let-down.

Cinematographer Rajshekar could have done a better job behind the camera. The musical score by Haris Jayraj is good.

Gharshana may not run to packed houses in rural centres, but will probably be liked by those who are used to Hollywood action flicks.


© Copyright 2004 by MusicIndiaOnLine.com

Movie
Gharshana
Director
Gautham
Music
Harris Jayaraj
Cast
Venkatesh, Asin, Yana Gupta

Gharshanaa kicks off stylishly with a great opening scene but after that the film is only style and no substance. The police versus goons encounter in Hyderabad city narrated in a dry manner by Ramachandra IPS (Venkatesh). The first half tests the patience of the viewer as the story does not move ahead at a brisk pace.
The basic problem of Gharshanaa is its hero Venkatesh, a chronic bachelor with a gutsy, mature and psychologically probing nature. He believes that a family is big liability for a police officer but the director has not been able to bring out the character with conviction.

Speed, style and sparkle are the essence of Gharshanaa. However there is a very thin storyline about a group of honest police officers led by Ramachandra the Assistant Commissioner of Police (DCP) in Hyderabad. He specialises in encounter killings of gangsters in the city along with three other officers who are all sincere and upright.

Ram meets Maya (Asin) a charming schoolteacher and falls in love with her. Along with his friend’s Ram shoot down a hardcore criminal Das (Yog) in an encounter, but little did they realize that his brother Panda (Saleem Baig), a hit man wanted by the Mumbai police swears revenge.

Panda, a cold-blooded sadistic killer who specialises in ransom and extortion, takes over the gang. Now the rest of the film is about Ramachandra’s trials and tribulations to protect Maya and his colleagues as Panda puts pressure on the police force by his ruthless methods. It is a deadly cat-and-mouse game, which ends in a spellbinding climax.

Technically, the film is stylish with camera of R.D.Rajesekhar, and editing of Antony. The music by Harris Jayaraj dominates the film and is a major plus point. Venkatesh has done his part well though he lacks that serious, tough look that the character demands. Most of the time he has a half smile on his face, especially in his romantic scenes with the heroine.

The film is not a scene-to-scene remake of its original in Tamil, Kaakha Kaakha with Surya in the lead. Director Gautham has tried to better every scene but sadly Asin and Saleem could not come up to the level of Jyothika and Jeevan in the original. And the big surprise is that Maya does not die in the end like in the original.

On whole Gharshanaa is no patch on its original which had an exceptional ensemble cast who did full justice to the stylised tale of love and death.

Verdict: Average

- Sify.com

Kaakha Kaakha being remade by Nishikant Kamat, with John Abraham and Asin in the lead:

http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/20 ... index.html

John Abhraham?