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మూవీ రివ్యూ : ఖుషి

'ఖుషి' మూవీ రివ్యూ

నటీనటులు : విజయ్ దేవరకొండ-సమంత-మురళీ శర్మ-సచిన్ ఖేద్కర్-శరణ్య పొన్ వన్నన్ -లక్ష్మి-రోహిణి-జయరాం-వెన్నెల కిషోర్-రాహుల్ రామకృష్ణ-శరణ్య ప్రదీప్-శ్రీకాంత్ అయ్యంగార్-శత్రు తదితరులు

సంగీతం: అబ్దుల్ హేషమ్ వహాబ్

ఛాయాగ్రహణం: మురళి.జి

నిర్మాతలు: యలమంచిలి రవిశంకర్-నవీన్ ఎర్నేని

రచన-దర్శకత్వం: శివ నిర్వాణ

విజయ్ దేవరకొండ.. సమంత.. శివ నిర్వాణ.. ఎంతో ఆసక్తి రేకెత్తించిన కాంబినేషన్ ఇది. తమ చివరి చిత్రాలతో నిరాశ పరిచిన ఈ ముగ్గురూ కలిసి చేసిన 'ఖుషి' మంచి పాటలు.. ప్రోమోలతో ప్రేక్షకుల్లో సినిమాపై అంచనాలు పెంచింది. ఈ రోజే ప్రేక్షకుల ముందుకు వచ్చిన 'ఖుషి' ఆ అంచనాలను ఏమేర అందుకుందో చూద్దాం పదండి.

విప్లవ్ (విజయ్ దేవరకొండ) బీఎస్ఎన్ఎల్ లో ఉద్యోగం సంపాదించి తొలి పోస్టింగ్ ఏరి కోరి కశ్మీర్లో తీసుకుంటాడు. కానీ అక్కడికి వెళ్లాక ఎదురైన ఇబ్బందులు చూసి.. తిరిగి తన సొంత సిటీ అయిన హైదరాబాద్ వెళ్లిపోవాలనుకుంటాడు. కానీ అక్కడ ముస్లిం అమ్మాయిలా వేషం వేసుకుని తిరుగుతున్న ఆరాధ్యతో తొలి చూపులోనే ప్రేమలో పడతాడు. కొన్ని రోజుల ప్రయాణం తర్వాత ఆరాధ్య ముస్లిం కాదని.. బ్రాహ్మణ అమ్మాయి అని తెలుస్తుంది. ఆరాధ్యకు కూడా విప్లవ్ మీద ప్రేమ ఉన్నప్పటికీ.. వీరి పెళ్లికి సమస్యలు తలెత్తుతాయి. విప్లవ్ తండ్రి రాష్ట్ర నాస్తిక సంఘానికి అధ్యక్షుడైతే.. ఆరాధ్య తండ్రి సృష్టిని నడిపించేది దేవుడే అని నమ్మే వ్యక్తి. ఈ వైరుధ్యాల నేపథ్యంలో విప్లవ్-ఆరాధ్య.. పెద్దల్ని కాదని ప్రేమ పెళ్లి చేసుకుంటారు. ఆ తర్వాత వీళ్లిద్దరికీ ఎదురైన అనుభవాలేంటి.. వీరి ప్రయాణం ఎలా ముందుకు సాగింది అన్నది మిగతా కథ.

కథనం-విశ్లేషణ:

సినిమా జానర్లలో ఎవర్ గ్రీన్ అంటే ప్రేమకథలే. ఇన్నేళ్ల సినిమా చరిత్రలో ఈ జానర్లో వచ్చినన్ని సినిమాలు మరెందులోనూ వచ్చి ఉండవు. ఐతే వీటిలో ప్రతిసారీ కొత్తదనం చూపించాలంటే కష్టం. ప్రేమకథల్లో రచయితలు.. దర్శకులు ఎన్నో కోణాలను చూపించేశారు. ఒక అమ్మాయి అబ్బాయి ప్రేమించుకోవడం.. వారి ప్రేమకు ఏవో అడ్డంకులు ఎదురు కావడం.. వాటిని అధిగమించి పెళ్లి చేసుకోవడం.. ఆ తర్వాత ఆ ఇద్దరి మధ్య అపార్థాలు తలెత్తడం.. తిరిగి ఆ జంట ఒక్కటవ్వడం.. ఈ ఫార్మాట్లో కొన్ని వందల కథలు చూశాం. ఐతే ఈ రకమైన కథల్లో మణిరత్నం 'సఖి' మూవీ ఎవర్ గ్రీన్ అని చెప్పొచ్చు. మణిరత్నంకి వీరాభిమాని, ఏకలవ్య శిష్యుడు అయిన శివ నిర్వాణ.. ఆయనకు ట్రిబ్యూట్ ఇస్తున్నట్లుగా 'సఖి'ని ఇప్పటి కాలానికి తగ్గట్లు మార్చి తీశాడు. కథ పాతదే అయినా.. విజయ్ దేవరకొండ-సమంత రూపంలో ఒక మంచి లీడ్ పెయిర్ ను ఎంచుకుని.. హేషమ్ అబ్దుల్ నుంచి అదిరిపోయే పాటలు రాబట్టుకుని.. ఆహ్లాదకరమైన కథనంతో సినిమాను నడిపించేశాడు. ప్రేక్షకులకు ఇందులో 'సర్పైజింగ్'గా అయితే ఏమీ అనిపించదు. అదే సమయంలో సినిమా అయితే పెద్దగా బోర్ కొట్టదు. ఒక రొమాంటిక్ ఎంటర్టైనర్ నుంచి కోరుకునే అంశాలకు ఇందులో లోటు లేదు.

ఒక లవ్ స్టోరీకి చాలా కీలకమైన అంశాలు.. చక్కటి లీడ్ పెయిర్.. మంచి సంగీతం.. ఆహ్లాదకరమైన విజువల్స్. మిగతా విషయాలు వీక్ గా ఉన్నా సరే.. ఇవి క్లిక్ అయితే ఆ సినిమా పాసైపోతుంది. 'ఖుషి' ఈ కోవకు చెందిన సినిమానే. కథ పరంగా అయితే 'ఖుషి' ఎక్కడా పెద్దగా ఎగ్జైట్ చేయదు. ప్రేమ.. పెళ్లి.. ఎడబాటు.. చివరగా కథ సుఖాంతం.. ఇలా రొటీన్ గా సాగిపోయే సినిమా ఇది. కానీ ఈ కథకు ఎంచుకున్న నేపథ్యం.. కథనాన్ని నడిపించిన తీరు 'ఖుషి'ని భిన్నంగా నిలబెడతాయి. దేవుడిని ప్రగాఢంగా నమ్మే హీరోయిన్ తండ్రి.. పరమ నాస్తికుడైన హీరో తండ్రి.. ఈ కుటుంబాల మధ్య వైరుధ్యాన్ని కథలో కాన్ఫ్లిక్ట్ పాయింట్ గా ఎంచుకోవడం బాగుంది. దీని మీద సంఘర్షణను శివ నిర్వాణ బాగా నడిపించాడు. ఈ పాయింట్ ను మినహాయిస్తే సినిమాలో కొత్తగా.. బలంగా అనిపించే విషయాలేమీ లేవు. అమ్మాయిని చూడగానే అబ్బాయి మైమరిచిపోతూ తన వెంట తిరగడం.. ఆమె అతణ్ని పట్టించుకోకపోవడం.. చివరికి అతడి ప్రేమను గుర్తించి తనూ ప్రేమలో పడిపోవడం.. ఇలా ప్రథమార్ధంలో సాగే ప్రేమకథ ఏమంత గొప్పగా అనిపించదు. కాకపోతే సన్నివేశాలు మరీ బోర్ కొట్టకుండా వినోదాత్మకంగా నడిపించడం ప్లస్. వెన్నెల కిషోర్ సాయంతో విజయ్ బాగానే ఎంటర్టైన్ చేయగలిగాడు. కానీ కథలో మాత్రం పెద్దగా కదలిక కనిపించదు.

హీరో హీరోయిన్ల తండ్రుల ఆలోచనల్లో వైరుధ్యం వల్ల సమస్య తలెత్తి విరామ సమయానికి కథ మలుపు తిరుగుతుంది. ఇక్కడ తర్వాత ఏం జరుగుతుందనే ఆసక్తి బాగానే అనిపించినా.. పెళ్లి తర్వాత భార్యా భర్తల మధ్య తలెత్తే అపార్థాల నేపథ్యంలో నడిచే తర్వాతి వ్యవహారం మళ్లీ రొటీన్ అనిపిస్తుంది. కానీ సన్నివేశాలను సాధ్యమైనంత మేర ఎంటర్టైనింగ్ గా ఉండేలా చూసుకోగలిగాడు శివ నిర్వాణ. చివరి అరగంటలో సినిమాను పూర్తిగా ఎమోషన్ల మీద నడిపించాడు. 'ఖుషి'కి పెద్ద ప్లస్ ఆ అరగంటే. రోహిణి-జయరాం జంట చుట్టూ తిరిగే కేరళ ట్రాక్ ప్రేక్షకులను భావోద్వేగానికి గురి చేస్తుంది. ఇక్కడ్నుంచి చివరి వరకు ఎమోషన్ క్యారీ అవుతుంది. భార్యకు దూరమైన భర్త పడే బాధ.. అతడిలో వచ్చే మార్పు.. ఈ క్రమంలో వచ్చే సన్నివేశాలు.. డైలాగులు బాగా కుదిరాయి. పతాక సన్నివేశాలతో మరింత మార్కులు కొట్టేసిన శివ.. అంతకుముందు దొర్లిన తప్పులను మన్నించేలా చేయగలిగాడు. ప్రథమార్ధంలో కథ పరంగా ఏదైనా కొత్తదనం చూపించి ఉంటే.. సినిమాను వేగంగా నడిపించి ఉంటే.. 'ఖుషి' స్పెషల్ ఫిల్మ్ అయ్యుండేది. ఆ ప్రతికూలతల వల్ల 'ఓకే' అనే ఫీలింగ్ దగ్గర ఆగిపోయింది.

తన సినిమాలు ఫెయిలైనా విజయ్ పెర్ఫామెన్స్ ఎప్పుడూ ఫెయిల్ కాదు. మంచి పాత్ర పడితే.. కథ కుదిరితే విజయ్ ఎలా సినిమాను తన భుజాల మీద నడిపిస్తాడో 'ఖుషి'లో చూడొచ్చు. విప్లవ్ పాత్రతో.. విజయ్ నటనతో యూత్ బాగా కనెక్ట్ అవుతారు. తనదైన శైలిలో ఎంటర్టైన్ చేయడమే కాక.. ఎమోషనల్ సీన్లలో కూడా విజయ్ చక్కటి పెర్ఫామెన్స్ ఇచ్చి తన ప్రత్యేకతను చాటుకున్నాడు. పతాక సన్నివేశాల్లో అతడి నటన చాలా బాగా సాగింది. సమంత లుక్స్ పరంగా విజయ్ కు దీటుగా నిలవలేకపోయింది కానీ.. తన నటన ఓకే. సామ్ లో మునుపటి చార్మ్ అయితే కనిపించలేదు. కథలో కీలకమైన సన్నివేశాల్లో ఆమె నటన ఆకట్టుకుంటుంది. సచిన్ ఖేద్కర్.. మురళీ శర్మ తమ అనుభవాన్ని చూపించారు. వాళ్ల పాత్రలు కథకు బలమయ్యాయి. వెన్నెల కిషోర్ ప్రథమార్ధ:లో.. రాహుల్ రామకృష్ణ ద్వితీయార్ధంలో నవ్వులు పంచే బాధ్యత తీసుకున్నారు. శరణ్య ప్రదీప్.. శరణ్య పొన్ వన్నన్.. శత్రు.. రోహిణి.. జయరాం.. వీళ్లంతా తమ పాత్రలో పరిధిలో బాగా నటించారు.

సాంకేతిక వర్గం:

హేషమ్ అబ్దుల్ సంగీతం సినిమాకు అతి పెద్ద ఆకర్షణ. ఆడియో పెద్ద హిట్ కావడంతో పాటల కోసం ప్రేక్షకులు సినిమాలో ఎదురు చూస్తారు. పాట వచ్చినపుడల్లా ఉత్సాహం రెట్టింపవుతుంది. సినిమాలో డల్ మూమెంట్స్ తర్వాత పాటలే హుషారు తీసుకొస్తాయి. కాకపోతే పాటల ప్లేస్మెంట్ సరిగా కుదరలేదు. హేషమ్ నేపథ్య సంగీతం కూడా బాగా సాగింది. మురళి.జి ఛాయాగ్రహణం కూడా ఆహ్లాదకరంగా సాగింది. విజువల్స్ ఆద్యంతం ఆకట్టుకుంటుంది. నిర్మాణ విలువలు మైత్రీ మూవీ మేకర్స్ స్థాయికి తగ్గట్లు ఉన్నాయి. ఇక రైటర్ కమ్ డైరెక్టర్ శివ నిర్వాణ 'టక్ జగదీష్' తర్వాత తన దారిలోకి వచ్చేశాడు. నిన్ను కోరి.. మజిలీ అంత బలమైన.. వైవిధ్యం ఉన్న కథ కాకపోయినా.. దాన్ని బోర్ కొట్టని కథనంతో ముందుకు నడిపించాడు. నటీనటులు.. సాంకేతిక నిపుణుల నుంచి అతను మంచి ఔట్ పుట్ రాబట్టుకున్నాడు. శివ టేకింగ్ ప్లెజెంట్ గా అనిపిస్తుంది. తన డైలాగ్స్ కూడా బాగా కుదిరాయి.

చివరగా: ఖుషి.. చల్తా చల్తా

రేటింగ్- 2.75/5

• Entertainment

'Om Bheem Bush' Movie Review

Cast: Sree Vishnu, Rahul Ramakrishna, Priyadarshi, Preethi Mukundan, Ayesha Khan, Srikanth Iyengar, Aditya Menon, Racha Ravi and others.

Music: Sunny MR

Cinematography: Raj Thota

Producer: V Celluloid – Sunil Balusu

Writer – Director: Sree Harsha Konuganti

Raising curtains for the summer of 2024, hilarious entertainer 'Om Bheem Bush' has arrived in theatres today. Starring the hilarious trio of Sree Vishnu, Rahul Ramakrishna and Priyadarshi in the lead, 'Husharu' fame Sree Harshi Konuganti made this film. The trailer and other promotional content attracted the movie lovers a lot and guaranteed complete entertainment. Let us see how the movie turned out.

Krishnakanth (Sree Vishnu), Vinay (Priyadarshi) and Madhav (Rahul Ramakrishna) are three crazy guys who go to the professor as PhD students. They trouble him a lot and get the doctorates. The professor hands them the certificates even before the course is done in order to send them away. Not knowing what to do next, they enter a village named Bhairavapuram and open a shop saying that they have a solution for everything. They solve some of the villagers' issues and gain a good reputation. The exorcist in the village doesn't like them and challenges them to enter a palace where a ghost named Sampangi lives and bring out the treasure.

Krishnakanth plans to get the treasure and also win the girl he loves. So, he and his friends enter the palace. What happens after they enter the palace? What is the ghost Sampangi's story? Did they find the treasure? All these questions will be answered in the rest of the movie.

Hearing a word like 'Om Bheem Bush' will make you laugh instantly. Every one of us would have used that word at some or the other point in our childhood. It has been made as a movie's title and the caption says, 'No Logic Only Magic..'. The director made his intentions clear then and there. He relied on magic and did not consider logic while scripting this film or bringing it to life. The main characters do whatever they want in this film and everything they touch turns gold. They free people of ghosts, increase the sexual stamina of people and do many crazy things without breaking a sweat. Right from the start, logic goes for a toss. Sometimes we wonder why the characters are behaving this way. At times, we question why the story is all over the place. We won't understand why scientists with doctorates do exorcist's job and we scratch our heads when the hero flirts with a ghost. There are a lot of such questions and logicless scenes. But we need to remember the film's tagline which says 'No Logic Only Magic'.

If you are okay with it, you can enjoy 'Om Bheem Bush' without any problem. But you can't move forward if you think about logic and practicality. The film feels like nonsense. The current generation of directors think that comedy will be huge if the main characters are dumber. This trend became popular once 'Jathiratnalu' arrived. The three main characters are dumber than each other and give a lot of entertainment. Director Harsha has filled the movie with social media trends and popular meme references as well as dialogues. He used everything to generate comedy as he even took digs at the film's production house UV Creations and its disaster film 'Adipurush'. The movie will tickle your funny bones if you like this brand of comedy. There is no concession when it comes to entertainment in every scene.

People who like adult dosage in dialogues and scenes will find 'Om Bheem Bush' even crazier. The dose gets a bit too much at times. The first half runs at a fast pace with a lot of funny antics from the three main characters. The setup looks different till the interval. But the movie turns into another horror comedy when the heroes enter the palace. Searching for the treasure while trembling in fear inside the palace and the ghost troubling them looks quite routine though it works. The repetitive scenes turn out to be boring after a point in time. The backstory of the ghost offers a bit of variety. The emotional touch and sympathy angle work towards the ghost just like 'Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada'. Hero's decision at the end is quite crazy and the director preferred magic over logic once again. The ending scenes provide a lot of laughter. 'Om Bheem Bush' is a funny entertainer with zero logic from start to end. Despite the adult dosage getting a bit out of hand at places, the youth will have a crazy ride though the families may think differently.

Performances:

Sree Vishnu who used to do moody roles at the beginning of his career is taking up entertaining roles lately. He developed his own style of comedy timing and is impressing the audience with it. His character Krishnakanth is the funniest role he has played in his career till date. His typical dialogue delivery while mouthing some of the dumbest dialogues makes us burst into laughter. He excelled in the scene where he tries to flirt with the ghost. He made us laugh throughout the movie but gave an emotional touch at the end. Just 'Jathiratnalu', Priyadarshi and Rahul Ramakrishna stayed beside the hero and gave us complete entertainment. They are very natural and competed with each other to create a laugh riot. Srikanth Iyengar was funny in a brief role. Racha Ravi is good too. Aditya Menon is okay in his role. Preethi Mukundam looks good but she didn't get a chance to showcase her acting skills. Ayesha Khan gave a glamour feast as a fish shop dweller. The rest of the actors did a fine job.

Technicians :

After a long time, 'Swamy Ra Ra' director Sunny MR tried to make himself relevant with this movie. His songs are just okay but the background music is quite crazy just like the movie. It brings a lot of energy. Raj Thota's cinematography is cool as the visuals look good. Production design and production values are adequate. 'Husharu' fame Harsha has made a comeback after a failure like 'Rowdy Boys'. He offered a crazier ride than 'Husharu' this time. His main characters will definitely appeal to the youth. All his dialogues revolved around the trend in social media right now. He decided to make a film that defies all logic right at the beginning and delivered it in terms of story, dialogues and character designing. He went crazy while writing and it helped the movie in a lot of ways. The crazy ride will be loved by everyone who watches it in theatres. It may not work every time but it did for 'Om Bheem Bush' without a doubt.

Verdict: 'Om Bheem Bush' - A lot of Craziness & Fun!

Rating: 2.75/5

Thuppakki (2012)

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Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive . Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

RAGHU ANIKHA 557 days ago

My favourite movie all time<br/> When I'm child saa this movie and this movie makes me @thalapathy fan

raghu6300386775 raghu 116 800 days ago

Powerful Subject With Powerful Soldier.

PROMAX studios 1111 days ago

Thuppakki is one of the best movie in Vijay's career. Vijay acted very well. A.R. Murugodos did a awesome work. This movie was so good.

full of epic 1425 days ago

Amazing acting by Vijay!<br/>And the heroine was just WAY TOO HOT

Alwin Kachappilly 1427 days ago

vijay at his best

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Tupaki Review

Behind the Movie Tupaki: While AR Murugadoss has a brand value in Andhra Pradesh, it is the presence of Vijay which could keep the hype surrounding this project a bit low. However, it is too late for a review from our side and sorry for that. Let us see, whether this 'Tupaki' has enough ammunition in it to trigger the BO or not?

In the Movie Tupaki: Jagdeesh (Vijay) is an intelligent Indian Army Officer off to Mumbai to enjoy a vacation. Family of Jagdeesh is in hunt for a right bride and they find Nisha (Kajal Agarwal) as an apt match. Although reluctant early, once Jagdeesh understands the real side of Nisha, the love track deepens. In this mean time of romance, accidentally Jagdeesh happens to bump into a sleeper cell terrorist in a local bus. Into action, Jagdeesh teams up with his old batchmates to upset the terrorist plan of 12 serial bomb blasts planned in Mumbai. Frustrated by this, the Master mind and terrorist head behind (Vidyut Jamwal) enters into scene to take it face to face with Jagdeesh. Did Vidyut's plan to lay a trap for Jadgeesh was successful? Was Jagdeesh enough talented to put an end to sleeper cell network forms the rest.

Values of the Movie Tupkai: The one invaluable quality AR Murugadoss blessed with is, his knack of commercializing aky kind of subject. In fact, none could have made this kind of gripping action thriller with a simple sleeper cell terrorist concept which isn't touched in depth by any director in India. The kind of hold Muruga has on screen-play writing was evidential throughout the second half. Our Telugu audience would easily forget that we are watching a Tamil to Telugu dubbed film because of the intensity packed. Meanwhile, the romantic track weaved into the story is actually a weak thread which distrubed the actual soul and feel. Cinematography of Santosh Sivan is just top notch and Sreekar Prasad could have been better in the boring love track. After enjoying extra-ordinary tunes and exhilarating back-ground from Harris Jayaraj, we expect much more than this. Dialogues were just okay. Production values of Gemini FIlm Circuit and SVR Media are worth appreciable.           

Performance wise, Vijay's character has been underplayed for major time and that has become the blessing in disguise. Compared to past flicks like 'Snehithudu,' the way Vijay directed his energies into simple yet stylish action episodes made him a winner. Next in the list comes is Vidyut Jamwal. Utilizing the biggest of opportunity offered, Vidyut's muscular body and handsome looks give a new flavor to villainsm. The less we speak, it would be more better about Kajal who is just portioned for songs and romance. Of the remaining we can only remind, Sathyan and Jairam who were just fit to their comic portions. 

Out of the Movie Tupaki: The best memories which striked my thoughts watching 'Tupaki' were about Venkatesh's 'Gharshana.' Director Muruga has cooked a recipee which is similar to Gautham. Yet, both are different in their own versions. Scripts like 'Tupaki' need more of the hardwork on visualization. When you are presenting the same on screen in the form of mind games between antagonist and protagonist, viewers should feel the goose bumps else your attempts go in vain. When we have some one like Muruga leading from front, even the expression face like Vijay too becomes engaging. Same happened here and Vijay might find some part of his dream to form a market in Tollywood will be fulfilled. 

While first half is a bit entertaining with romantic track, introduction to sleeper cells in Mumbai, narration changes the gear and suddenly we get too much involved into the bloodshed of pre-interval episodes. Then second half is entirely the magic of Murugadoss while the tasteless love episodes and placement of songs pulls down the anxiety. So, overall the graph goes up and down till a much more desired climax.

Commercially, 'Tupaki' might be a profitable project in Tamil because of Vijay factor. When target audience for this kind of action thrillers form a low minortiy core, it is difficult to anticipate on where the Telugu version will land. For regular audience, think before getting in and for hardcore Muruga admirers, don't miss this. He has got ammunition right this time.

Cinejosh Verdict of the Movie Tupaki: Best Action Thriller in recent times. 

                                                                                    Reviewed by Srivaas

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It’s recess at a small school in Nigeria and the boys are kicking around an empty water bottle in an improvised game of soccer. Except for one. Anthony Madu on the far side of the playground, is performing a private ballet. One of his classmates asks, “Why is he dancing like a girl?” 

Anthony is dancing because that is who he is. When he is not dancing, his body is shy, uncertain. When he dances, he is sure, elegant, graceful. “Madu” is a documentary about what happened when a brief 2020 video of Anthony dancing barefoot in the rain went viral, leading to an invitation to study in a seven-year program at an elite British ballet academy. As the film begins, he is packing and saying his farewells. He receives his passport, where he is described as a “child student.” His mother is proud, happy for him, but painfully aware of how much she will miss him. We see him silhouetted against the train window, an unfamiliar landscape outside. When he arrives, he calls home and like all mothers, her first question is “Have you eaten?” 

In their call a few weeks later, she says Anthony is adopting a British accent and his brother says, “You’re speaking like a white person.” We see the poignance of Anthony’s missing his family but feeling that the shared dedication to dance is a different kind of home, equally precious. “Home is a place where you feel like you belong,” he says, meaning the world of dance, but then he says home is also where your family is.

We might have expected that Anthony might feel isolated or even bullied for being from another country and culture, but his classmates are all friendly and inclusive. Some of the film’s sweetest moments are watching Anthony completely comfortable as he is laughing with his friends or hugging them goodbye as they leave for summer break. Some of the most touching are when we see his parents watching his performance as one of the stars of the end of school year production, via FaceTime, in Nigeria.

The entering class is told they are the select few of over 500 who applied. But this is not like the many other dance films about demanding teachers. The presence of the documentary cameras may be a factor, but the kindness, sensitivity, and compassion of everyone Anthony meets is so pervasive that it is clearly the culture of the community around him. A teacher tells the students that a warmth in the muscles during practice is good, but if it ever burns, they should stop. And when a serious health issue arises, the school and the doctors are sympathetic and supportive.

The style of the documentary is “fly on the wall.” Filmmakers Matthew Ogens and Joel Kachi Benson include occasional interviews with Anthony and his parents but no talking head experts. Cinematography by Charlie Goodger and Motheo Moeng is intimate and lyrical, with contemplative music that contrasts with the classical pieces accompanying the dance lessons and performance. An opening scene shows us Anthony dancing near a fire, his movements in the flickering light showing the fiery spirit that impels him. Near the end, he is on the beach, wading into endless water stretching all the way to the horizon, indicating the larger, more centered sense of himself and his passion for ballet made possible by access to teachers and other dancers, and a sense of possibility. But, as with the boys at the center of documentaries like “ Hoop Dreams ” and “ The Wolfpack ,” the focus on those who are too young to have a nuanced understanding of what is happening to and around them can make us feel both unsatisfyingly removed and uncomfortably intrusive. Maybe the only solution is to require any documentary about those who are underage to be locked away and then brought out again when the children are old enough to watch it and make up their minds about whether they are willing to have it seen.

Anthony’s eloquence is in his movement. A telling moment is his assignment to create a dance performance. Even to an untrained eye, his extraordinary gifts are unmistakable. His grace, balance, and control are exceptional, and his leaps are breathtaking. The teachers who are evaluating him are warmly encouraging, complimenting his love of movement. They gently ask whether he had a story in mind. When he says no, they suggest he try to imagine a narrative. Given the complexity and near-fairy tale improbability of his real-life story, it is not surprising that Anthony is comfortable taking a break from plot to revel in the pure abstraction of movement. With this documentary, we can appreciate his story, and his relevé and pirouette.

On Disney+ now.

Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

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Madu (2024)

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Miesha Tate , Cris Cyborg , and Holly Holm step into the brutal, unforgiving world of Fight Valley . What could possibly go wrong?

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Alexander K. Lee, Jed Meshew, and E. Casey Leydon don their toughest-looking hoodies as they try to make sense of Fight Valley’s frantic fight scenes, rank the acting performances of the featured MMA stars, and have a chuckle at some of the best C-movie one-liners you’ll ever hear.

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Review: In ‘Femme,’ a secret act of vengeance comes disguised as erotic flirtation

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The most revelatory aspect of the art of drag is how it lays bare the centrality of performance in our everyday lives. That’s most obvious when it comes to thinking about gender. Wigs, heels and makeup go a long way toward revealing femininity to be a kind of armature deployed as intentionally on the streets as it is on a stage. In “Femme,” Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s debut feature, that kernel of truth becomes the anchor for a deliciously vicious London-set revenge thriller.

When Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) steps into the spotlight at a bar as his alter ego, Aphrodite, you can see he’s in his element. With voguing dancers flanking her, Aphrodite is aptly named. She is a goddess of the night. If you saw her lit only by moonlight, you’d be forgiven for being so taken with her grace. But such magic tends to disappear under the humbling fluorescents of a corner store, particularly unkind to drag makeup.

“Is that a bloke?” Jules overhears a friend ask Preston ( George MacKay of “1917”), as Aphrodite stands in line waiting to get a pack of cigarettes. Quietly, in a tight close-up, you see the queen trying to figure out how best to react to Preston’s posturing homophobia. Should she shrink herself into nothing or try to shine as brightly as she’d done on stage?

She opts for the latter. “How can you call me a fag in front of all your friends when I caught you checking me out earlier?” she says. All too quickly the scene devolves into a violent blur. Stripped, kicked and recorded on Preston’s phone throughout the ordeal, Jules is left with nothing. No wig. No dress. No comebacks. No dignity.

Imagine his luck, then, when one day at a bathhouse, Jules spots his assailant (all abs, tats and attitude). In a split second, whatever self-pity had taken a hold of him following the attack is gone. He pursues Preston (who, it seems, doesn’t recognize his victim), hops in his car and kicks off the erotic, tense tête à tête that structures this slick, stylish queer neo-noir.

Scouring the web for sex videos of outed masc “straight” boys, Jules begins concocting a plan. If he can get Preston on camera, maybe he can finally find closure, find a way to make good on the taunting line that first egged this loutish guy into senseless violence. Pulsing with Adam Janota Bzowski’s drone-like synth score, lit by James Rhodes’ neon-tinged cinematography and cut with flair by Selina Macarthur, that scene is but one moment when “Femme” firmly establishes itself as a bold self-assured debut.

Already a keen performer, Jules quickly becomes everything a closeted guy would want. Using his coyness as his most versatile seductive power, Jules (and, in turn, Stewart-Jarrett) nails the role of homme fatale the film requires. That includes dressing “normal” for his dinner “dates” with Preston and playing into the fantasies he knows excite him.

These late night encounters begin with a wild kind of violent, volatile chemistry. But they soon become more tender. Away from his mates, Preston is much softer than he purports to be when drowning in oversized sweatshirts and hardened grins. And armed with such a protective partner (or maybe so close to recording his revenge sex tape), Jules is finally able to climb out of the depression that had derailed him.

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The question throughout the film, of course, is whether this budding relationship is or could be real. These are two young men who move in worlds that constantly demand that they perform. Both are experts at code-switching and calibrating their moves, their words and even their bodies in any given context. The two begin by offering one another versions of themselves they can’t show others. And as they each wonder whether such vulnerability will be anything but a liability, we’re left to wonder instead whether film and romance alike can end in anything but violence.

To watch Stewart-Jarrett (a glittering steel blade) and MacKay (a hardened fist blooming) play this pair of wounded would-be lovers is to witness two actors walking on a razor’s edge. Their characters’ mercurial motivations are often violently splintering, to the point where you’re never sure what, if anything, is authentic after all.

Within that funhouse mirror of an erotic-thriller premise, “Femme” proves to be a gorgeously mounted meditation on queer and queered performance. As Freeman and Ng’s film arrives at its necessarily cruel, bloody ending — as surprising as it is inevitable — you’re left as torn as its central pair. Bruised, yes. But perhaps all the stronger for it.

'Femme'

Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes Playing: Now in limited release

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‘Opening Night’ Review: A Stylish Movie Becomes a Sludgy Travesty

Ivo van Hove’s stage adaptation of the 1977 John Cassavetes film, with music by Rufus Wainwright, turns a taut character study into a corny melodrama.

By Houman Barekat

The critic Houman Barekat saw “Opening Night” in London.

In a London auditorium, a work of art is being desecrated. “Opening Night,” John Cassavetes’s understatedly stylish 1977 movie about an actress struggling with midlife ennui, has been reimagined as a musical by the Belgian director Ivo van Hove, and the result is a travesty.

Its antiheroine, the Broadway superstar Myrtle Gordon (Sheridan Smith), has landed the lead role in a play about a middle-aged woman. But she isn’t feeling it: Though she is about 40, she insists she can’t relate. She stumbles through rehearsals, clashing with the director, Manny (Hadley Fraser), and the playwright, Sarah (Nicola Hughes), then goes rogue during previews, taking liberties with the script.

To compound matters, the actress develops a neurotic fixation on Nancy (Shira Haas), a 17-year-old fan killed in a car crash moments after getting Myrtle’s autograph. Convinced that Nancy is a cipher for her own lost youth, Myrtle intermittently hallucinates the dead girl’s ghost, and even converses with it. Myrtle is unraveling, but the show — somehow — must go on.

It’s a compelling story line, filled with dramatic possibilities, but “Opening Night,” which runs at the Gielgud Theater through July 27, is scuppered by a series of poor choices. Smith is miscast as Myrtle, for a start: Her onstage bearing exudes a homely approachability rather than high-strung poise or inscrutable aloofness.

Benjamin Walker is wooden as Maurice, Myrtle’s stage co-star and ex-partner, who Cassavetes himself played charmingly in the film. The estranged couple’s brittle onstage chemistry is an essential ingredient in the drama; here, they seem like actual strangers. Haas’s spectral Nancy is a disconcertingly cutesy symbol of youthful feminine vitality, a sprite-like figure who scurries around the stage in a short skirt, knee-high socks and platform boots — suggesting not so much a young woman as a pubescent child.

The songs, by Rufus Wainwright, are algorithmically bland. Several address aging, including the unsubtly titled “A Change of Life” (about menopause) and “Makes One Wonder,” a duet in which Myrtle and Sarah realize that, as women of a certain age, they may have more in common than they’d like to admit.

Others are about showbiz: “Magic” is an upbeat cabaret-style number about the wonder of the stage; “Moths to a Flame” is a somber, sentimental paean to the indefatigability of thespians everywhere. There is a brief foray into rock opera during an excruciating scene in which Myrtle, having figured out she must banish Nancy’s specter to get herself back on track, scuffles with the girl-child amid flashing strobe lights and 1980s-style power riffs. It’s so schlocky that it almost feels like a sendup.

Jan Versweyveld’s set is a theater within a theater. The rehearsal space occupies the foreground, and a row of vanity mirrors at the rear of the stage represents the backstage area. As in van Hove’s 2019 adaptation of “All About Eve ” — another story about the emotional travails of an aging actress — camera operators stalk its perimeter, transmitting close-up, real-time footage of the actors onto a big screen above the stage.

The idea is to ramp up the psychodrama by bringing us up close and personal, but there isn’t much intensity to intensify. The multiple angles add little to the experience. (The occasional bird’s-eye view is particularly unnecessary, unless you happen to have an interest in the topography of hairlines.) A screen caption at the start of the show informs us that a documentary film crew is recording the company’s rehearsals — a plot device that is supposed to make this camerawork feel less like a gratuitous gimmick, but so flimsily transparent that it has the opposite effect.

There are one or two good moments, including a tense rehearsal scene in which Myrtle objects to having to endure an onstage slap. She says it’s humiliating, but Manny insists it’s artistically necessary. Smith renders the standoff with a bleak comic pathos: At one point she even slaps herself to forestall the blow. (For van Hove, who is known for pushing his performers to the limit, this material is close to home.) Near the end, as the characters make their final preparations for opening night, the big screen cuts to recorded footage of theatergoers passing through the Gielgud foyer a couple of hours earlier — a clever touch that spurred a ripple of amused murmurs from the audience. But these are slim pickings.

As an artist yearning to take back control of her narrative, Myrtle should resonate at a time when questions of agency — for women and minorities, among others — are on many people’s minds. But van Hove’s corny treatment trivializes her suffering. Cassavetes’s movie had an elliptical quality that drew viewers in through the strength of its narrative artifice and the power of the actors’ performances; here, the story never comes to life, and the themes are labored. Van Hove has transformed a taut, subtly observed character study into a sludgy melodrama.

Opening Night Through July 27 at the Gielgud Theater in London; openingnightmusical.com .