Lead on...leader!

Leader! Saw it today, went there expecting a wonderful movie. It was. And I wasn't at all disappointed. Oh yeah, Suhasini, subtly and in a very understated way manages to have the wonderful screen presence, she is known for.

The story, though somehow impossible, did manage to strike a chord. It had all the elements of a true, honest movie. Sadly, only a movie. I actually wished for a leader to be exactly like that. You wish and wish for something like that to happen. So, Shekar Kammula deserves all the points for that one.

The story, I felt was very powerful in its own right. It comes at the right time too. However, somehow the shoulders on which it rests on, does not give us a reason to watch it again. The movie went on very slowly, gaining strength though, and finally manages to reach complete power, right towards the end. That pretty much is when it happens, when it manages to touch you, right at the end.

It lets you feel a plethora of emotions in the last twenty minutes. Quite a bit of screen time wasted though, I felt.

Oh yeah, did I mention the item number? It was thankfully, the most decent item number, I've ever seen.

The actors were excellent, but then we have always managed to see, whether it was a Suhasini or a Kota Srinivas Rao come out with good performances. Rana Daggubati has an impressive screen presence, his height and his entire personality add to the movie. He does seem like 'The Leader', which the movie was supposed to have. One can imagine very few people in his place. But, unfortunately that is all. He does not bring anything else to the 'CM's table'. His face was blank, almost throughout the movie. But his personality carries him through. His face has a shadow of brilliance, which should come through, eventually.

Harsha Vardhan's role was good and he does his bit with full justice. End Note about the heroines. It was rather nice watching Priya Anand on the screen, she was funny. On Richa, she was alright, too. Really did not have much to do, but I felt and wished she could have done much more in her few scenes. Some scenes were cut, I guess.

An excellent start. I hope there will be more movies like this, with good story lines, sound tracks and performances. :) Because... god knows, we need them.

Oh yeah, Belated Happy Holi people!! :)