Movie: Ice Cream
Rating: 0/5
Banner: Bheemavaram Talkies
Cast: Navdeep, Tejaswi and others
Music: Pradyodhan
Editor: Pratap Kumar
Cinematographer: Anji
Producer: Thumalapalli Rama Satyanarayana
Direction: Ram Gopal Varma
Release Date: July 12, 2014
Once again, it’s time for yet another Varma film. After his days of glory came to an end, Varma started churning out movies merely to check out a plot or to use a particular technique or technology. He has been irreverent to the extent of paying least interest to the script and story-telling. Film-making to him has become an amusing time-pass and with each film he is gauging the audience’s patience. Ice Cream is another such attempt and once again, one cannot help wonder how a producer could invest money into a Varma film and how the audience still wants to check out what Varma has to offer.
Story:
The story revolves around two lovers Renu (Tejaswi) and Vishal (Navadeep). When the film opens, Vishal drops Renu home which has some resident ghosts. After she goes upstairs, she hears someone knocking on the door. So, she comes downstairs and peeps through the keyhole to see the visitor before opening the door. But she finds no one and she goes back upstairs. She takes a shower, dresses up and eats an ice cream. Once again, she hears someone knocking downstairs. She goes down, finds no one and goes back. She once again takes a shower and once again there is a knock downstairs. She comes down and opens the door to find that there is no one…
Now, if this does not satiate your curiosity already, please risk watching the film for the entire plot.
Artistes’ Performances:
Tejaswi looks rather sexy in hot pants. The camera follows her slim legs and you are left impressed by the special care she takes of them. And her feet are soft and smooth. Well, in case you started wondering as to why we are talking only of her legs, then here’s the lowdown. Maybe Tejaswi is a good actress or maybe not. We will never know since the camera pans her legs and nothing else.
Coming to Navadeep, one is actually left surprised by the amount of talent he gets to display in the film. One cannot help but wonder how he would have charged to knock the door time and again. In fact, once the heroine opens the door even without his knocking the door. Well, do we need to say more?
Technical Excellence:
There has been much hype about the Flow Cam technology used by Ram Gopal Varma. The camera starts to pan starting on the first floor; it then follows the heroine downstairs, into the kitchen, then into the drawing room and back to the top floor. Well, we are not very sure about how the technology would enhance the movie-goer’s experience after watching Ice Cream, but you almost feel like smashing anything that you can lay your hands on.
However, the editor has to be appreciated for putting together scenes that repeat in a loop. Now once cannot blame him if the main character takes a shower every hour, eats an ice cream every half an hour and then sleeps.
Ram Gopal Varma shows off his intelligence once again. One can make a fool of people once or twice, but Varma has been taking audience for granted time and time. Though many would run away at the mere mention of a RGV film, what’s surprising is that there are still people who buy tickets to watch his films. Isn’t it nothing short of a miracle? But one has to credit Varma for being able to attract audiences after so many films.
Highlights:
- Definitely Tejaswi’s long legs
Drawbacks:
- Well, too hard to put them into words
Analysis:
The film keeps the audience in the guessing mode till the last frame. For starters, the tension is heightened whenever there is a knock on the door. Will it be Navadeep or someone else? When will Tejaswi go into the bedroom, how many times will she take a shower and eat an ice cream? Naturally, one goes mad trying to figure out!
Ice Cream comes under the horror genre. But there is nothing to be scared about as the film is full of friendly ghosts. One ghost watches Tejaswi as she takes bath, one calls her by her name, another one knocks the door, ie, when Navadeep is not knocking and another one does all the house work for her. And there is another baby ghost that plays hide and seek with Tejaswi. The entire movie goes on like this till the climax. You will have to excuse us here as we have no words to describe what we saw. We strongly suggest you must venture out to watch it if your interest is piqued after reading this review.
And last, but surely not the least, Varma also has a strong message for the audience. According to him, if people binge on ice creams, it is bound to lead to bad dreams. If you want your child to stop eating ice creams, take them to the movie, they will never eat an ice cream till their adulthood.
One thing is for sure. The film makes the most serious anti-smoking ads seem interesting. If not for entertainment, one can surely watch Varma films to check out how much patience levels they have. And we strongly suggest that heroines must act in Varma films once in a while to make sure their legs are in good shape. Phew!
Bottomline: Hazardous Ice Cream!
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
