Brindavanam

Brindavanam's opening credits roll out to the eponymous song from NTR's Missamma. The sequence leaves you wondering if it is ever possible to take these stars out of their clans, and the clans out of the stars. The film, however, doesn't. Brindavanam is the kind of movie that elevates itself above the easy reach of gasping fan-frenzy, and moves beyond shallow lineage-clinging.

While NTR Jr's name-dropping gets increasingly unnecessary (the actor has long since proved himself capable of effusing enough energy to last an entire flick without his grandfather's beaming image), th....