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ReviewThe fresh content in ‘Pareshan’ shows what a promising filmmaker Rupak Ronaldson is. While Thiruveer is spectacular as the good-for-nothing Isaac, a better supporting cast could have salvaged the film to an extent perhaps.Pareshan opens with a hilarious scene involving a protest at a wine shop. A group of women are demanding the closure of the wine shop in the village while opposite them are a group of men – led by Tiger Seenanna, an important character in the film – have launched a counter-protest. This scene is shot in a chaotic manner, showing how wild the film can get. Pareshan revolves around this penchant for drinking by the men in the village and the problems it leads to. Like the recently released Balagam, Pareshan is yet another film rooted in Telangana and is set in a small village called Ramakrishnapur near Singareni Collieries. As the film’s title suggests, Pareshan...

After the success of ‘Rrr’ internationally, it is the turn of yet another Tollywood movie to get noticed on foreign shores. In contrast to the big-ticket S S Rajamouli directorial, ‘Balagam’ (titled ‘The Group’ in the U.S.) is a relatively low-budget movie, but it did win two awards at the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards (Laca) for March 2023.

Produced by Harshith and Hanshitha Reddy under the Dil Raju Productions banners, ‘Balagam’ was given the awards for best feature film and best cinematography (Acharya Venu). The certificates were presented to the film’s director, Venu Yeldandi.

The movie starring Priyadarshi and Kavya Kalyanram was a surprise hit. Interestingly, Megastar Chiranjeevi and several other Tollywood stalwarts, who had seen the movie, predicted that ‘Balagam’ would win awards and they have been proved right.

Death is a tricky yet sensitive subject to deal with. But Venu Yeldandi, in his directorial debut, ‘Balagam,’ has greatly amalgamated superstitions associated with crows in relation to death to narrate a sad family tale. When you observe a crow cawing right at the beginning of the movie above Koamrayya’s head, you know for sure that death awaits. Venu quite efficiently uses death as the reason for a dissociated family to reconnect and revive their ties. He employs the crow as the messenger of Yamraj, the Hindu deity of death, to resolve family issues, bringing about harmony and unity and breaking the odd drama of egos.

‘Balagam’ gives us a moment to stop and enjoy the beauty of a rhythmic village, which perhaps today would be impossible to treat ourselves to. The film starts with a song that introduces us to the village and its peculiar nature of being a mother and daughter,...

EntertainmentStarring Priyadarshi and Kavya Kalyanram, Balagam is a rooted and unapologetic celebration of Telangana and its culture, a characteristic likely to have contributed to its unprecedented success.Disclaimer: Contains spoilers A small Telugu family drama by a debutant director is raking in numbers at Telangana’s box office. Starring Priyadarshi and Kavya Kalyanram, Balagam is a rooted and unapologetic celebration of Telangana and its culture, a characteristic likely to have contributed to its unprecedented success. The film revolves around the death of the protagonist (Priyadarshi)’s grandfather, allowing comedian-turned-director Venu Yeldandi the leeway to extensively document the culture and traditions of Telangana. The unprecedented success of Balagam is seen by many as indicative of a post-bifurcation phenomenon of filmmakers embracing and celebrating the Telangana identity, a trend that has gradually been on the rise since Telangana separated from united Andhra Pradesh and achieved statehood in 2014. Until not so long ago,...