My Review : Prince of Persia & its similarity to Telugu films
Fantasy movies are one of my favorite genres. The Mummy (1999) and Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari (1989) are amongst my most-watched film, which I would have seen over 30 times atleast. Prince of Persia is a film that falls in similar genre. Yet, my expecations were. modest as most video-game adaptation movies suck. But, then PoP (Prince of Persia) lends itself well to a movie, I thought. Also the man behind the film was the Jerry Bruckheimer, who I adore. Read my tweet about Jerry. Prince of Persia : Sands of Time is a story of an adopted prince Dastan (Gyllenhall) who is wrongfully framed for the murder of his father, the King. He was setup by his uncle, who uses him as a ploy to attain the a magical dagger that can reverse time. Doing with would let become the ruler of Persia.
The movie is a decent, entertaining watch. It falls short of other films of its genre, such as Mummy or Stargate but better than most other video-game adaptations like Hitman, Tomb Raider & Mortal Kombat. Most action films have wafer-thin or mediocre stories, but the “fantasy” backdrop limits that restriction. But, PoP doesnt make great use of it. As a testosterone-filled, male movie goer, where I was diappointed was the action episodes. There was not a single “WTF! moment” in the action scenes, nor great use of the swords & archery. With the same $150 million budget, Troy made a better on-screen granduer & action. The movie’s story is no greater than any of the stories, Telugu cinema had churned out before in this genre. Like most other “Chandamama” stories of folklore, fantasy and mythology variety – this one has a archetypical setup. The ‘damsel in distress’” heroine, a villain seeking super-powers & the underdog hero with modest backgrounds and a “clause” in the path to resolution.
Hero of a modest background :
Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari : Chiranjeevi a is tour-guide.
The Mummy : Brendan Fraser is a convict, who seeks adventure.
Pathala Bhairavi : NTR is the son of a gardener.
Anji : Chiranjeevi is a tribal living in the forest.
The villain seeking a super-power :
Anji : Bhatia (Tinu Anand) wants to attain immortality by drinking water of the Akasa Ganga
Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari : Mahadrashta attains magical powers by sacrificing a divine woman.
Prince of Persia : Time can be reversed by the person, who plugs the dagger into the giant Sandglass.
The Mummy : Imhotep will destroy the world if he’s resurrected.
The “clause” to Resolution.
But, what brings this movie closest to our own stories is the “Clause in conflict”. There’s is a clause or hindrance to the resolution of the movie, which adds greater drama.
Prince of Persia’s clause : The dagger can turn back time, but only upto 60 seconds.
Pathala Bhairavi clause : The sorcerer S.V Ranga Rao a magic statuette which grants wishes. But that can be attained only by sacrificing a young lad.
Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari clause : Sridevi,a Goddess needs to find a ring she lost to re-enter heaven. But, she needs to find it within 30 days else, will remain on Earth as a mortal.
Anji clause : The Akasa Ganga showers only once in 72 years, that too only where the ”aathmalingam” is present.
Fantasy, folklore & mythological films can literally be “trademarked” by the Telugu Film industry. No other industry in India, produced as many films (and successes) in these genres like Telugu cinema did, during its Golden era (1950s to 1970s). We had very few films in these genres between 1990 and 2009. Reasons, I dont know myself.I feel with the right technicians, Telugu cinema can produce equally entertaining films such as The Mummy & the Prince of Persia within our own budgets (Less than Rs. 40 crore). As an aderant Telugu movie buff, I wish more movies of these genres are made in our industry. Below are more movies of the “folk & fantasy” genre. I have deliberately avoided the mythological & devotional genre. I might have missed some films, either due to oversight or lack of knowledge as most belong to an era before I was born. Feel free to suggest more titles.
Jagadeka Veeruni Kadha [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266659/ ]
Aditya 369 [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252196/ ]
Bhairava Dweepam [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264415/ ]
Suvarna Sundari [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257209/ ]
Ammoru [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264357/ ]
Arundathi [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1361809/ ]
Magadheera [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1447500/ ]
Yamadonga [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0924317/ ]
Yamudiki Mogudu [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246339/ ]
Yamaleela [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268042/ ]
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9 Comments to “My Review : Prince of Persia & its similarity to Telugu films”
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i most of times think that whatever is the English cinema they rely mostly on graphics(animation).. in case of cinemas like mummy, the fight scenes and every thing invovle a lot of graphic work.. i haven seen pop yet..
where as in our Telugu cinema.. we fail to implement graphics as well as they do.. graphics here in our cinema looks odd some times. but the cinema like jagadeeka veerudu athiloka sundari, aditya 369 and yamadonga (movies i saw from that list) are based on entertainment more than action and hence are successful… so for me v never tried action packed fantasies with a lot of graphic work in it.. arundhathi.. i saw it never liked anything in it except voice for sonu soodh….
Nice article Sirish. Yes, tollywood can make some good “folk & fantasy” genre.The best bet for these kind of movies would be Balakrishna.
These films can be categorised further as “Yama” genre. Some of them are
1)Yamagola Malli Modalaindhi (2007) *ing Srikanth and Venu.
2)Yamajaathakudu (1999) *ing Mohan Babu
3) Yamagola (1977) *ing NTR
Also, you missed Palnati Yudham (1966) *ing NTR and Ghatotkachudu *ing Ali and Kaikala. And the 10th one i suppose is Yamaleela
i hav watched it with gr8 xpectaions..
i was dissapointed little bit….even though this movie lacks something…..mmmmm …..fights are not gr8…POP game has gr8 action sequences in minimised slow motion…director has to work out more..to bring the detailing of the movies further….
hey….hitman is a nice movie….wonderful lighting given to the movie..and screenplay also…
telugu movies can do a 100% better thn hollywood movies……
let me c if tht works in future….hehe 
i hav a reason….why it is not
mainly the one and only thing is …vfx quality …….(ya… varudu has done 80% good job in vfx..thn magadheera…)
and the second iss…genuine in the sequences…..lof of gud scenes are been adapted from holywod movies..theese days…tht should lower…..
i got a bad feeling about varudu…..a direct lift from xmen origins fight…..
thts all…..if these two points are corrected…. thn
i can say tollywood is lot greater thn holywood..(we hav gr8 stories tht thm, we hav entertainment, wehav dances,songs, oh wht i can say)
i know vfx costs more..but….mmmm…i hav a solution for tht….
This genre has a huge potential story-wise. But the budget and the post production is a huge obstacle I guess… Only a few production houses can afford such movies and sustain if it fails…But the stupendous success of Magadheera might help the industry take some risks in that direction..
And Sirish, would love to hear your thoughts on the failure of Anji from your perspective and the limited genres in TFI.
yamagola ( Sr.NTR) , Ghatothkachudu (Satyanarayana, Ali) Patala Bhairavi (Sr.NTR) , Gulebhkavalikadha ( Sr.NTR)
Nice Explaination Sirish. I like Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari, Aditya 369 and Magdheera.
i have this movie in German…because in my town they release only dubbed version….only in cities like munich n berlin english versions r released….
but still i found screenplay quite interesting….
main drawback in such fantasy films is we know wat climax will b like….but in this movie i liked the climax n it was much better…..
I think one of the reason for Anji to fail is the story… it was taken from Indian Jones and the Last Crusade (immorality, Traps, Quest path). Nazis part and the sub plots were replaced to fit the local audience. The element of surprise was eliminated. Moreover, the graphics and settings of the India Jones movie was way better than the Anji Graphics.
Secondly, the main character (Anji) was not well designed. People usually compare his character to and Archaeologist and sadly Anji fails to leave a mark.
Sirish might be able to come up with other reasons but these are the once that come to my mind.
P.S. I really love the songs in Anji. They are catchy and the choreography was awesome
Patala Bhairavi
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043908/
Ghatotkachudu http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0267524/
Also JVAS released in 1990.