Star Portrait-Nitya Menon

Nithya Menon is well known as Nithya is an Indian film actress and playback singer from who works in the South Indian film industry. Mostly she acted in Malayalam film and she has also acted in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films, besides trying her hand at playback singing. She was born on 8th April 1988 in Bangalore in a Malayali family and studied journalism at the Manipal Institute of Communication. Her father's family is from Calicut and her mother's is from Palakkad. She once said in an interview that she never wished to become an actress but a journalist as she was "an idealist", but felt journalism was "not what it used to be". She then decided to become a filmmaker as she could express her ideas "better through films" and enrolled for a course in cinematography at the FTI Pune. During the entrance examination, she met Nandini Reddy, who brainwashed and convinced her to take up acting. Nandini Reddy would later turn director and sign Nithya for the lead female role in her first project.

Film Career

Nithya Menon appeared first on screen as a child artiste when she was eight in the Indian English language film “Hanuman” in 1998, playing the younger sister to Tabu. The 2008 off-beat film “Aakasha Gopuram” directed by National Film Award-winning director K. P. Kumaran, marked her debut in a leading role, in which she was paired with Mohanlal. She was in the midst of her 12th class exams when she was offered the role, after Mohanlal had spotted her on the front cover of a tourism magazine. Her performance was well received, with critics writing that she shows sparkle in her debut venture and makes her entry in an impressive role though the film, based on the Norwegian play “The Master Builder”, got mixed reviews and was a financial failure. She next made her Kannada debut with the film “Josh”. She essayed a supporting role in the film, which received rave reviews, and became a commercial success as well, with her performance garnering her nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 57th Film fare Awards South. In 2011, her first release in lead role was Nandini Reddy’s romantic comedy “Ala Modalaindi”, which was Nithya’s maiden Telugu venture as well. The film opened to favourable reviews by critics and turned out to become a sleeper hit, while Nithya received critical praise for her performance. Furthermore, she also sang two songs for the soundtrack album of the film, tuned by Kalyani Malik. Following Ala Modalaindi, she starred in Santosh Sivan’s historical fiction “Urumi” as part of an ensemble cast her character, which gained positive remarks, She next appeared in ad-filmmaker Jayendra’ s bilingual venture “180/Nootrenbadhu”, made and released in Tamil and Telugu. Later the year, she was seen in Sibi Malayil's “Violin” in Malayalam and the Gautham Menon-produced “Veppam” in Tamil. Her first 2012 release was the Telugu romance film “Ishq” with Nitin Reddy which created a sensational history at box office and this was commercially hit. She acted in “Karmayogi” a Malayalam adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. For the Kannada film “Aidondla Aidu” she had sung and also choreographed one of the songs, titled "Payasa”. She was seen in two Malayalam projects, T. K. Rajeev Kumar's “Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty” in which she portrayed a village woman whose daily life is filmed and broadcast as a reality show for a month and “Ustad Hotel” directed by Anwar Rasheed. In 2013, she starred in three Telugu films, “Okkadine”, “Jabardasth” and “Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde”. She played a character with two shades in “Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde” and she dubbed for her as well as for the character of her co-star Isha Talwar. She received critical acclaims for her performance in “Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde” where this film broken all the records at box office. She also signed a film of director Cheran in which she is going to pair up with T.L.V.Prasad.

List of Awards

2011 The Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2011-Promising Newcomer female in Ala Modalaindi.

2012 Nandi Award for Best Actress – Ala Modalaindi

2012 Thikkurissy Foundation Award for Most Popular Actress.

2012 Ugadi Puraskar Award for Best Supporting Actress – Ala Modalaindi.

Jabardasth movie review

		Release date: 22 Feb 2013
		Director : Nandini Reddy
		Rating : 3./5
		Producer : bellamkonda ganesh babu
		Music Director :S. Thaman
		Starring: Siddharth, Samantha, Nithya Menen

Siddharth and Samantha’s ‘Jabardasth’ has released today across the world. The movie has been directed by Nandini Reddy and Bellamkonda Suresh is the producer. Thaman has composed the music. The film has been getting a decent buzz due to the presence of Samantha and due to Nandini Reddy’s previous film ‘Ala Modalaindi’.

Story :

The story of this film has been heavily inspired by the Bollywood hit ‘Band Bajaa Baraat’. Bairraju (Siddharth) is a perpetually bankrupt fellow who wants to get rich fast by trying his hand at various businesses. To escape from his creditors, he runs away to Bihar but his fortunes don’t change there either. He runs into trouble with the local strongman (Shayaji Shinde), who wants Bairraju to marry his sister. To escape from that scenario, Bairraju comes back to Hyderabad after a gap of 5 years.

He comes across Shreya (Samantha) at a wedding and secretly listens to her business plans. Shreya wants to set up a wedding planning agency and comes up with a scheme to learn the tools of the trade under top wedding planner Pinki Sharma. Armed with this information, Bairraju also approaches Pinki Sharma and reluctantly teams up with Shreya.

As time goes by, the duo decide to set up their own wedding planning company and they name it Shreyas Media. Business booms for a while but Bairraju’s extremely commercial nature creates differences between him and Shreya. A miffed Shreya kicks Bairraju out and he decides to start his own venture named ‘Bairraju Bampar Manazement’ (yes, that really is the spelling).

As competition between the two firms heats up, Saraswati ( Nithya Menon) comes in like a breath of fresh air into Bairraju’s life. Life looks rosy for Bairraju until fate throws in a cruel twist. What is that twist? Whom does Bairraju end up with? That forms the story of ‘Jabardasth’.

Plus Points :

Siddharth has tried his hand at mass comedy for the first time and he has tried his best. His dialogues in ‘butler english’ are funny. Samantha looks gorgeous as always and she has done a very good job in this film. Samantha has the power to steal hearts with her smile and she uses that to great effect in this movie.

The star of the film however is Nithya Menen. She is just brilliant as Saraswati and has commanding screen presence. In the song ‘Meghamala’, she looks just like veteran actress Savithri garu in Mayabazaar. The movie has good pace as long as Nithya is present and her character is what keeps the film alive.

Srihari, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Thagubothu Ramesh, Telangana Sakunthala, Shayaji Shinde and Vennela Kishore entertain to a certain extent.

All the songs in the film have been shot very colourfully. Picturization is particularly good for ‘Meghamaala’ and ‘Ninnilage’ songs.

Minus Points :

If you have seen ‘Band Bajaa Barat’, you will find ‘Jabardasth’ to be extremely predictable.

The interval block and the subsequent twists in the romantic track between Siddharth and Samantha could have been handled more effectively. There is no emotional depth in this love track and that is why it fizzles out towards the end.

The climax block is a bit slow, melodramatic and cliched. Some of the comedy scenes are not very effective.

Srihari manages to bring a few laughs as Don Javed Bhai, but this episode just does not gel with the rest of the story. The concept of bringing two Hyderabadi wedding planners all the way to Malaysia, to organize the wedding of the Don’s sister, seems a bit far fetched.

Technical Aspects :

Cinematography of the movie is good. Editing could have been better in the second half, especially in the closing stages of the movie. Dialogues are humorous. Production values are ok.

Nandini Reddy has only partially succeeded as a director this time. She has conceived a superb character for Nithya Menen but the brilliance seen in ‘Ala Modalaindi’ is missing. Screenplay could have been better.

Verdict :

Siddharth’s fresh characterization, Samantha’s glamour and Nithya Menen’s sterling performance make ‘Jabardasth’ a one time watch. The film’s predictable story line and lack of emotional depth prevent it from rising above the ordinary.

okkadine movie review

Okkadine movie review

Movie :          Okkadine

Rating:          2/5

Director:      Srinivas Raga

Behind the Screens
Nara Rohit who starred in thought provoking films like Banam and then scored success with Solo is saying Okkadine under the direction of Srinivas Raga. Nitya Menon is romancing in the film. Let us see what impact Nara Rohit makes on viewers as Okkadine.

 

Story Line

 

Aspiring CM cum Business Tycoon Shivaji Rao(Sai Kumar)'s daughter Shailaja(Nitya Menon) returns to India and while on holiday trip to Vizag finds out that what ever she utters happens and that too it results in murder to her horror. In the midst of all this she will be attracted towards Surya(Nara Rohit) family in the village without realising that a shocking news awaits her in the form of Srinu Mama(Naga Babu). What is that shocking news, does Shailaja and Ravi's love blossom, did Shivaji Rao become CM and what is the mystery behind mysterious murders should be unraveled on silver screen.

Performances
Nara Rohit put a decent performance. He tried his best to entertain in dances but needs to improve more. Similar is the case with his expressions and acting. Nitya Menon is beautiful and she looked different in her role this time. She did not get much chance to perform except for love scenes. Sai Kumar showed his villanious shades in a spectacular manner while Naga Babu did justice to his role.Srinivas Reddy and Brahmanandam did their best in comedy scenes. Others like Kota Srinivasa Rao, Chandra Mohan got small roles.Rachna Mourya looked hot in the item song.


Analysis
Director Srinivas Raga tried to be different by mixing family drama with revenge saga and a bit of suspense in it. However he botched up the entire second half while the first half is ok mostly due to interval bang. The twist gives suspense part but with in minutes of second half he unraveled it without much conviction in it. He filled first half with family relations and at manytimes looked monotonous and routine. The scenes dragged quite a lot which effected the tempo. Second half turned out predictable with climax turning out to be a dud. His inept screenplay and direction spoiled the film.


Technicals
Production values are average. Martand K Venkatesh editing could have been better. Andrew's cinematography is not upto the mark and he failed to capture many scenes in beautiful manner. Except for seethakoka chiluka song, Kartik's music is not catchy. Background score didnot elevate the film. Even Puttintollu tarimesaru remix did not attract many.
Movie Marks
Okkadine failed to make the cut at the box office.


Credits
Directed by     Srinivas Raga
Produced by     CV Reddy
Written by     Chintapalli Ramana
(dialogues)
Starring     Nara Rohit,Nithya Menon
Music by     Karthik
Cinematography     Andrew
Editing by     Marthand K. Venkatesh
Studio     Gulabi Movies
Release date(s)   February 14, 2013

Running time     133 minutes
Country     India
Language     Telugu

Nitya Menon's natural stills

[gallery ids="1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967"]