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F3 Review: 'F'arce Comedy With 'F'un And 'F'ashion

Movie: F3 Rating: 2.75/5 Cast: Venkatesh, Varun Tej, Tamannah, Mehreen Pirzada, Sunil, Sonal Chouhan, Vennela Kishore, Rajendra Prasad etc Cinematography: Sai Sri Ram Editing: Tammiraju Music: Devi Sri Prasad Producer: Sirish Director: Anil Ravipudi Released on: 27th May 2022

'F3', the sequel of the most acclaimed comedy film 'F2' has seen the light today. The trailer and the songs from this film pulled the attention. The pre-release events made enough noise to turn the heads of the audience.

Let us see what is in it. 

Story: The owner of JK Group of Companies (Murali Sharma) is a rich industrialist from Vijayanagaram. He knows the value of money and respects it. He misses his son and spends time seeing his childhood photograph. He shares his wish to see his son coming back to him, to the people around him.

On the other hand a frustrated man (Venkatesh) keeps on becoming a fool by giving loans to the family of Manga Tiffin Center (Tamanna and Co). Raghu Babu is his sidekick.  

Another young man (Varun Tej) aims at marrying a rich girl (Mehreen) and falls in her trap. 

Then the story runs into many twists and turns with multiple characters coming into picture. 

Who is the son of Vijayanagaram industrialist? Will he come back? That forms the climax. 

Artistes' Performance: Venkatesh looked energetic and hilarious. His trademark comedy with sharp dialogue delivery worked well. He has shown his agility in matching his pace equally with the young actors. But his night blindness element is not used properly. 

Varun Tej could bring in some laughs with his stammering act. He is not as effective as in F2.

Tamanna was arrested for her glamor. She is surely one of the main elements in the success of F2 as well. The X factor of Tamannah is rightly utilized. 

Mehreen is glamorous and the other special attractions are Sonal in a short role and Pooja hegde in a special number. 

Murali Sharma is composed. The Satya and Sampath track is interesting but didn't last longer. 

On the whole, we see many characters from F2 but everyone has a different role which has got no connection to the prequel at all. 

Technical Expertise: Camera work is impressive, editing is sharp enough and the music is ok. 'Dabbu' song is interesting but some lyrics are not heard clearly due to cacophony in orchestration and mixing.  

Woo Aa Aha Aha song is a visual spectacle with glamor masala.  

The script writing is completely intended to do a farce comedy and so it proves illogical to think about logic in any part. 

Highlights: Artistes' performances Comedy track  Glamor dose

Drawbacks: Overdose of unbelievability  Too many liberties

Analysis: This is a film made with the comedy generated by illogical scenes on the lines of typical EVV comedies like 'Evadi Gola Vaadidi' coated with some incredible scenes from the films like 'Kobbari Matta'. 

We tend to recall some yesteryears' films while passing through some scenes and tracks. 

The introduction of Mehreen reminds us of the Pakeeza track from 'Assembly Rowdy'. The 'return of sons' scene resembles the famous track from Chirajeevi's 'Chantabbai'.

Though the idea of the tracks hold some resemblance with the old films, the treatment and progress is completely written originally. 

Though promoted as a sequel to F2, the story of the relations among the characters comprises no continuity. Everything is fresh and the characters are different. 

Though the comedy should be enjoyed keeping the logic aside, at times the scenes where the characters are not hurt in spite of digging the knives into bellies are something over the board. The unbelievable aspect in such scenes puts down the entertainment factor. 

While F2 was managed with two glamorous heroines, the director doubled the impact with four beauties this time. Though Sonal Chouhan's character is small, she showcased her beauty in a duet with Tamannah. Pooja Hegde shines in a special number. 

The climax fight with the dialogues related to OTT platforms reminds us of EVV and is dealt with a hilarious note by Anil Ravipudi. 

The target audience for this film are surely the families that made F2 a huge hit. It will be like watching a circus show with clowning acts of some characters and a visual feast of glam dolls. The unbelievability factors and some over the board tracks may put down some audience. 

To conclude with an analogy, director Anil Ravipudi jumped from a height of ten feet with F2 and the audience received showering collections. With over enthusiasm, this time he jumped from 25 feet. It takes time to understand if he breaks the legs of the film or makes the collections more than or on par with that of F2. 

Bottom-line: As Expected

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Tags: F3 F3 Movie Review F3 Movie Rating F3 Review F3 Telugu Movie Review

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Movie Review| F3: Fun and Frustration, A laugh riot

Anil Ravipudi, a director best known for dishing out comedy entertainers with a mix of action, drama, and romance, used money as an element to attract his audience in his latest release F3: Fun and Frustration. The film tells the story of two greedy men Venky (Venkatesh), and Varun (Varun Tej), who believe money is important and it is the only quick fix to their problems. And, Anil, thankfully, didn’t disappoint the movie buffs. F3, the second film in the fun franchise of F2, is one of those films, which make you laugh out loud. In fact, the film comes off as a breath of fresh air after watching a couple of mindless action entertainers.

While F2 explored the frustration of married men, F3 is all about money. Honestly, the film has no real story to speak of, at best a wafer-thin line about how a man’s (here men) greed led to misery. Hence the director often relies on slapstick humour to keep the momentum going and he succeeds to make you laugh with a lot of wisecracks.

Like its predecessor, much of the film’s comedy is derived from the situations, actors, and their interactions. Prepare to laugh your guts in that scene in which Venky, Varun, and Paul Baby (Ali) realise that they were betrayed by the supremely guileful women (Pragati, Y Vijaya, Annapoorna, Tamannaah, Mehreen), with the latter repeating their ideas of scamming people.

The film is enjoyable in the first hour and does get a little tiring towards the second half, especially of the ways Anand Prasad (Murli Sharma), a business tycoon and the owner of the JK group of companies, tries several ways to deduce his real heir. It’s at this stage we have to keep recollecting and connecting the scenes to Chiranjeevi’s Chantabbai (1986), which also runs on a similar thread. These sequences also make us believe that the film is steeped in 1980s naivete and old-fashioned melodrama. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously and the script, at times, veers down a predictable path. (A feeling similar to Virat Kohli enduring his century drought!)

Nevertheless, F3 has many moments of unadulterated humour that try to get a good laugh out of you. It’s to Anil’s credit that he connects all the stories competently, leaving nothing incomplete and with no character feeling cheated.

Of the leads, it’s unarguably Venkatesh who emerges the star of the film, having mastered the art of using gestures and expressions his way in and out of tricky situations. He is cast as an RTO agent suffering from night blindness and he lit up the screen with his trademark humour. Credit to Anil Ravipudi for perfectly mining the family-hero image of Venkatesh and exploring his strength to the fullest. Venky was perfectly complemented by Varun Tej, who plays a man with a stutter. Together, they brought the audience to their feet.

Take their faceoff with the five women, taming a bull as a test, or even that scene in which they try to cheat one another with hapless plans or their imitation of Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu’s popular lines from Gabbar Singh and Sarileru Neekevvaru or their satirical take on the rise of OTT space — it is these moments and many other that make F3 such a pleasure to watch.

Murli Sharma, as Anand Prasad, gets a good role and he delivers a competent performance. One of his lines, “Prapanchaniki telisina pancha bhoothalu aidu, kani aaro bhootham okati undi...adhe dabbu” strikes a chord with the audience. Tamannaah is impressive in her portions, especially in the second hour. Mehreen doesn’t get any scope to perform and she goes missing in some of the key portions of the film.

Sunil returns to his vintage self, while Vennela Kishore, Ali, Rajendra Prasad, Pradeep, and Pragati lend support in substantial roles. Sonal Chauhan and Pooja Hegde add the glamour quotient and they are alright. Devi Sri Prasad disappoints big time with his songs and background score.F3: Fun and Frustration is a consistently enjoyable film that’s more surefooted than its predecessor. I am sure you will break into plenty of laughs seeing Venky and Varun at the top of the things. And yes, there’s F4 on cards too!

F3: Fun and Frustration

Cast: Venkatesh, Varun Tej, Tamannaah, Mehreen, Murli Sharma Director: Anil Ravipudi

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Home » Review » F3 movie review: Venkatesh shoulders this wacky comic caper that delivers on its promise for the most part »

F3 movie review: Venkatesh shoulders this wacky comic caper that delivers on its promise for the most part

Director Anil Ravipudi's latest outing is funnier and less frustrating than its prequel F2

• Srivathsan Nadadhur

Last Updated: 01.23 PM, May 27, 2022

Varun, a youngster, in the company of his uncle, takes up lowly, odd jobs for a living. Venky is a frustrated middle-aged man who's tired of shouldering family responsibilities and is desperate to earn a quick buck. They together hatch a plot to honeytrap a young woman who claims to be the heiress of a large empire. Varun and Venky go overboard in their bid to impress her but destiny has other plans in store for them. To what extent will the duo go to clear their debts and get rich?

Anil Ravipudi has consistently taken pride in filling the void left behind by the likes of Jandhyala, EVV Satyanarayana and SV Krishna Reddy, filmmakers who specialised in comic capers. While one may not be sure if Anil is a worthy inheritor of their legacy, he certainly has a knack for absurdist humour. His films aren't meant to age well but are aimed to provide instant gratification - F3 serves that purpose. The second instalment in the 'Fun and Frustration' franchise, if not for anything, betters its prequel by a fair stretch.

F2: Fun and Frustration pitted irresponsible men against their partners who'd go to any length to take charge of their relationships. F3, more than the clash of genders, is about their common greed for money. The cast and the spirit of both films remain the same. F3 works well as a standalone film as much as it does as a sequel. The one-liners come one after the other at a frenetic pace, the situations get wackier, and subtlety feels like it belongs to another planet and yet these gags come together for a film that keeps you engaged.

F3, one must admit, is far from original - it's a rehash of tropes, characters derived from a handful of Jandhyala and EVV Satyanarayana films in the 80s and 90s, and is tailored smartly for a newer audience (the crux of the film seems to be heavily inspired by Chantabbai and Nenante Nene). To give credit where it's due, Anil Ravipudi succeeds in his pursuit. It's a film where a mother serves her son a flurry of dishes made out of a 'money plant' with the hope to get rich quickly and you don't mind having a good laugh. 

The strength of F3 is its eccentricity, there's no space for sanity - while an over smart Varun stammers, an insecure Venky has night blindness and they embark on a mission in the middle of the night. Characters keep muttering long one-liners even if they're stabbed. There's a money lender Pala Baby who falls at the feet of women out of respect, there's a cop Nagaraju whose righteousness isn't valued at work and there are a handful of street-smart women who change their stance at the drop of a hat to get their work done. What if they unite for a common goal?

The storytelling pattern in F2 and F3 is similar on the whole (more intentional) - the characters fight among themselves in the first hour and later they hide their true identities when the backdrop shifts to a mansion in the second hour. Pradeep, playing a submissive husband, much like F2, still only has one line in response to anything that his wife asks him - 'Anthega'. Pragathi Suresh, her daughters and two elderly women don't mind turning badass con-women in the need of the hour and the male leads are at their mercy, more often than not.

Those with a fair bit of knowledge of Telugu cinema and its popular trends over the years will be able to enjoy F3 more. There's a hat-tip to every notable film of a major star in recent times, from Baahubali to Sarileru Neekevvaru to Gabbar Singh, Vakeel Saab and Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava. Venkatesh even wins over a bull with a reference to Suryavamsam's iconic song 'Rojaave...Chinni Rojaave' and is dressed as Narappa in the climax and says, 'They have watched him on OTT, they'll have greater fun watching me in action on the big screen now.' 

Telugu cinema may have been notorious for misusing 'praasa' (rhythm) in one-liners in recent years, but Anil's one-liners keep such indulgences in check here. The fun element goes for a toss in the latter part of the film, where Anil falls short of ideas to string an engaging narrative and resorts to one gag after the other. The climax, which feels more like an afterthought, has its share of sparkles though it could've been written better.

The star of the show is undoubtedly Venkatesh, who is bursting with enthusiasm and enjoys the license that Anil gives him to go all guns blazing without any restraint. Varun Tej, though not an equal match to the veteran, nevertheless shows that he's worked on his comic timing. Tamannaah is rather underrated for her knack for humour and she pulls off a full-length role with assurance. Mehreen gets a scope to shine in her initial portions though there's little meat to the role beyond that. 

Sunil and Ali are the pick of the lot among the ensemble cast - they've ample experience in making these wacky scenarios work to their advantage and it shows. Pragathi Suresh, Y Vijaya and Annapurnamma shine while they last. Murli Sharma, in his authoritative performance, gives a solid emotional foundation to the premise. Sampath, Rajendra Prasad and Vennela Kishore are just alright. Sonal Chauhan's presence doesn't add much value to the film. Devi Sri Prasad's music, but for Life Ante Minimum Itta Vundaala, is quite mediocre.  

F3 delivers what you expect from it - an out-and-out fun ride with well-written one-liners and a bunch of wacky characters in implausible scenarios. Venkatesh, Sunil and a select lot from the ensemble cast give it everything to make this work. F3 is a much better film in comparison to its prequel F2 (not that it's of any golden standard). Given the average viewer's desperation for comedy entertainers, which have become a rarity in Telugu cinema lately, F3 is bound to work with its target audience.

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‘F3’ movie review: Silly, but has its fun moments

Director anil ravipudi’s telugu comedy franchise, though uneven, elicits ample laughter, and venkatesh shines.

Published - May 27, 2022 03:49 pm IST

The large cast of ‘F3’

F3: Fun and Frustration is more of a franchise than a sequel to F2: Fun and Frustration . Anil Ravipudi, who has written and directed the film, embarks on another fun ride with the characters from the first film, some of their character traits intact, in a different story. This is an unapologetic leave-your-brains-at-home-and-go-have-a-laugh film. There are generous references to contemporary Telugu cinema and the fourth wall is broken time and again. Some of the events are inane and the tone is uneven; the film oscillates between being utterly boring and hilarious. However, F3 is an improvement on F2 , with more laugh-aloud moments.

Venky (Venkatesh Daggubati) works at the RTO office and is looking for shortcuts to make money. His is a stereotyped world where his stepmother (Tulasi) and siblings expect him to be an ATM, nothing less. Meanwhile, there is Varun Yadav (Varun Tej) who does nothing in particular, accompanied by Sunil (who returns to his forte of comedy), desperately trying to make money. The men have a face-off with streetsmart women - played by Tamannaah Bhatia, Mehreen Pirzada, Pragathi, Annapurna and Y Vijaya. There’s also Pradeep who sticks to anthega anthega and pulls a surprise towards the end.

There are several other characters — Rajendra Prasad and Sampath Raj as police officers with their own agendas and stories, Ali as the moneylender who worships women and will do them no harm and Vennela Kishore as the pan-India junior artiste.

F3: Fun and Frustration

Cast: venkatesh, varun tej, tamannaah, mehreen, direction: anil ravipudi, music: devi sri prasad.

The initial half-hour is rather bland. The fun begins, in a small way, when an unsuspecting couple does a Vishwaroopam Kamal Haasan kind of a turn to Varun and Sunil. Ravipudi gradually pulls out several tricks from his hat. The events that happen around Venkatesh’s night blindness set the course for a roller coaster fun ride. Varun’s stutter and the manner in which he and those around him break into a gig works on some occasions. The only character who has no intention or time for lame jokes is Murali Sharma as the industrialist. 

When the story shifts to a palatial residence, it’s a hark back to the familiar comedies of the 1980s and 90s where several characters try to outdo one another in a setting. 

Some laugh aloud segments come from unexpected characters, like a rowdy sheeter who enters the palace, and Satya who stumbles upon… let’s not reveal it here and spoil the fun. 

Sonal Chauhan and Pooja Hegde are roped in to add to the glamour quotient and Tamannaah finds herself in unexpected situations. The gags surrounding the taming of a ferocious bull, as a test, work. The one involving Venkatesh is a riot. Ravipudi capitalises on Venkatesh’s family-friendly image and the actor is effortlessly impressive at every turn.

Though the second half feels bloated and the music, too, offers nothing special, more hilarious gags are served up in the outlandish climax. F3 tips its hat to the superstars and blockbusters of contemporary Telugu cinema; the humour that rides on the rise of OTTs takes the cake. 

There will be an F4 too and hopefully, that will be a further improved franchise.

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F3 review: Venkatesh’s mindless comedy is thoroughly entertaining

When a film is promoted as a “family entertainer”, without even knowing the plot one can be certain that it has misogynistic undertones. After all, we are a patriarchal society in which belittling women is more or less common in every household, and seeing these familiar scenes play out on the big screen makes it relatable to the “family audience”. Hence, “family entertainer”. And director Anil Ravipudi’s films are a strong contender in this genre.

Allow me to cut short this discussion and move on to the review of our latest “family entertainer” from Anil Ravipudi – F3: Fun and Frustration . The latest instalment in the F2 franchise (the previous one had released in 2019), it stars Venkatesh, Varun Tej, Tamannaah, Mehreen Pirzada and others. F3 is a fresh story and has no connection to F2. However, to some degree it works like a sequel since the main leads play characters with the same names from F2 .

F3 is an unoriginal drama about how all the main characters are deeply flawed and how their greed for money turns them into liars and cheaters. Venky (Venkatesh) is a small-time agent who has a lot of debts and a huge family that is dependent on him. Varun (Varun Tej) is an orphan who is a small-time cheat. Tamannaah and Mehreen are sisters who run a small eatery together with their family members.

When I call F3 an “unoriginal drama” I’m not trying to offend Anil Ravipudi, who has also written the movie, the dialogues, and designed the screenplay. In fact, he makes fun of himself and others who are viewing the film with a critical lens, looking for logic and reason. The film does not take itself seriously and neither does the director.

In the climax, like any other film from the 80s and 90s, the police squad arrives after the ultimate fight sequence, and actor Tanikella Bharani, the police chief, makes a meta joke about how audiences have evolved and are making fun of such scenes. This should give a proper understanding of what F3 is like. It is a mindless comedy which evokes laughter at times because of the sheer silliness of the events.

Though F3 is a comedy film, only some jokes land well. Most of Ravipudi’s characters have strange mannerisms and these are supposed to be funny; they probably seemed funny when he put it down on paper but these things do not translate well on screen. For instance, Mehreen (playing Honey) swishes her arm and pretends to lick her palm each time she says her name. Well, if you did not get it, her name is Honey, so she is emphasising it. Yep, lame. 

F3 does not have much of a plot but it has a series of comedy events that keeps the audience engaged. While the plot is borrowed from several old movies, including some comedy scenes from the popular Tamil film Karakattakkaran , it is Ravipudi’s absurd humour and his meta jokes that offer something new to the film. Along with this, the topical humour around OTT film releases, international shows like Money Heist , Squid Game and the phenomenon of “pan-India” films also provides some chuckles. At one point, the film looks like a skit. Didn’t I say absurd comedy?

Ravipudi, however, has not shed the hangover of old films that have comedy based on people’s disability like night vision problems and stammering.

Venkatesh’s performance particularly stands out. Acting in such comedy films is not an uncharted territory for the actor, so he nails it with his timing and acting. In one particular scene where Venkatesh is supposed to fight a bull, Ravipudi inserts a meta joke on the actor’s filmography, which is totally unexpected (revealing too much would ruin it). Scenes as absurd as this make F3 a fun film to watch.

Varun Tej also gives an equally good performance. Apart from doing intense roles in films such as Kanche, Gaddalakonda Ganesh, Ghani, Fida, he has proven that he can do comedy as well. Similarly, Tamannaah does her best in whatever little role is given to her.

As I stated that Ravipudi’s creations make a strong case for films with a potent dose of misogyny that ironically come under the “family entertainer” category, let me try to explain further. In F3 , all the main characters – Venkatesh, Varun Tej, Tamannaah and Mehreen Pirzada – are flawed. They are all greedy, yet it is Tamannaah’s family, which is run by women folk, who are demonised the most. The women – grandmothers, mother and daughters – plot devious schemes, apparently because the lone man (Tamannaah and Mehreen’s father) allows them to exercise their autonomy. Because of this, naturally he is shown as a loser who “can’t control his women”. But can you expect anything more from a director who mainstreamed “rape” as a joke in his previous film with superstar Mahesh Babu?

Watch the trailer of F3

Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.

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F3: Fun and Frustration

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F3 movie review: Neither logic nor story encompass in this Venkatesh, Varun Tej comedy

Some films ask the viewer to leave their brains at home, but F3 makes sure that you leave the theatre empty-headed.

Language: Telugu

Anand Prasad (Murali Sharma) is a rich man who’s only been rich for a short while. He lives in a palace-like house somewhere in Vizianagaram, and he commands great respect from everyone around him—from commoners to politicians. He is also self-aware and knows that his money is what earns him power and respect. The film is self-aware too. So much so that it stops being a movie somewhere around the half-hour mark and turns into a sequence of skits—something that happens quite often with this filmmaker. It is so conscious of the audience that it tries everything to entertain them, which, in turn, makes it less involving and less fun. One more question: how many inside jokes are too many?

F3: Fun and Frustration is filled with amoral characters hungry for money. One of the protagonists, Venky (Venkatesh), provides a service that specialises in shortcuts: from registering marriages to vehicles. Varun (Varun Tej) is a scammer of a different shade who pretends to be other people to make a quick buck. Harika (Tamannaah Bhatia) and Honey (Mehreen Pirzada) are pretenders too, but since they are women, they get to use their womanly ways and “magical balm” to get what they want. Don’t get the film wrong, though, because it insists that it respects women very much. So much so that it refuses to look at them as people—lest we accuse the movie of gawking.

F3 ’s overarching message is this: respect money, which is fitting because that’s all the filmmaker seems to respect as well. I didn’t see any reverence for the medium as the filmmaker treats the movie like a daily soap with a loud BGM score—DSP making the least possible effort—and repetitive shots that reveal nothing important. I am fine with the story and set up following the age-old template, but the comedy must be fresh. Something has to be new to warrant a 2 hour, 20-minute movie.

Towards the already laboured climax, Venkatesh comes out dressed as Narappa, from Narappa (2021), and hits a few goons. Why? Because the film hasn’t been released in theatres, and fans deserve a glimpse. As if that is all the film stands for. If that isn’t enough, there is constant mention of Venkatesh’s legacy and who he is; the same applies to Varun Tej. Again, the same question: didn’t you do that already with your previous film?

See, the film isn’t completely barren. Most of the actors are veterans, so they don’t need a good script to work. Venkatesh’s comic timing is just as sharp, even if the film never deserves it. Varun Tej is impressive as he tries to match. While Mehreen is merely functional, Tamannaah manages to leave a mark as she gets a role just as lengthy as her male counterparts, even if it’s equally ludicrous. The film cleverly populates itself with comedic artists like Rajendra Prasad, Vennela Kishore, Satya, Sunil, Raghu Babu, and Pragathi. So even if the writing doesn’t do much to generate laughter, they can. And they do.

To be fair to the filmmaker, though, he never pretends to make anything different. Logic isn’t the priority, and neither is the story.

Why Vizianagaram, you might ask? Just so the interval card can read ‘Vijayanagaramo, Veeraswargamo.’ If a song asks for the actors to be sexy, they will be sexy. It doesn’t matter if the situation doesn’t allow it because he will ignore it altogether. There is something to be said about this commitment to make something silly and stupid. If only it were funny. If only it didn’t make me wonder about the number of brain cells I am losing with every passing minute.

Films like this afford the viewer an opportunity to consider their boundaries. How offensive is too offensive? How far can you go along with a joke before it becomes humourless? And the amount of self-loathing you indulge in after having laughed at a bad joke can tell you a lot about yourself. In that sense, Anil Ravipudi’s F3: Fun and Frustration is art, too, as it allows introspection, even if the burden of the word is solely on the viewer. However, as it stands, the film is a laughable attempt at comedy and entertainment. Some films ask the viewer to leave their brains at home, but this film makes sure that you leave the theatre empty-headed.

Rating: * 1/2

F3 is playing in cinemas

Sankeertana Varma is an engineer who took a few years to realise that bringing two lovely things, movies and writing, together is as great as it sounds. Mainly writes about Telugu cinema.

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F3: Fun and Frustration Reviews

F3: Fun and Frustration offers very little fun and a lot of frustration. It’s a witless comedy, manically told with terrible acting, in an irritating story that’s overstretched to two-and-a-half hours.

Full Review | Jun 6, 2022

Anil is really scraping the bottom of the barrel with the Venkatesh, Varun Tej starrer. His attempts at comedy lack both sincerity and originality.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jun 1, 2022

Venkatesh really brings his A-game to the film. Be it when he pretends to have perfect eyesight or dress up as one of his other characters during the climax, he really makes even some of the repetitive, silly lines work.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jun 1, 2022

More problematic than funny...

Full Review | May 27, 2022

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Release Date : May 27, 2022

123telugu.com Rating : 3.25/5

Starring: Venkatesh, Varun Tej, Tamannaah, Mehreen Pirzada, Sunil, Sonal Cauhan

Director: Anil Ravipudi

Producers: Dil Raju, Shirish

Music Director: Devi Sri Prasad

Cinematography : Sai Sri Ram

Editor : Tammiraju

Post the solid success of F2, Anil Ravipudi is back with a new film in the fun and frustration franchise. Starring Venkatesh and Varun Tej, F3 has hit the screens with a good hype. Let’s see how it is.

F3 is not a proper sequel to F2 as only the key characters of F2 have been added. Venky(Venkatesh) and Varun(Varun Tej) are two individuals who are always after money. After failing to make big money, they come to know that a rich businessman (Murali Sharma) is looking for his lost son. So both Venky and Varun decide to go in as the lost son and inherit the crores of property. How will they do all this and what happens to them in the due course of time is the basic story of F3.

Plus Points:

One of the biggest assets of the film is the basic entertainment quotient. It has been quite some time since we have seen such a clean comedy which everyone can watch with their families. F3 is filled with good entertainment which is unleashed at regular intervals.

Venkatesh was hilarious in F2 and he goes a notch higher in F3. His comedy timing is top-notch and the manner in which he lets go of his star image and becomes a character and evokes comedy is superb. He as the man with night blindness is so good in F3. Sonal Chauhan gets a good role after a long time and she sizzles.

Varun Tej is a very underrated actor and shows what he is capable of in F3. It is very hard to evoke comedy but Varun does it with so much ease in F3. He as the stammering youngster creates superb chemistry with Venkatesh. Tamannah and Mehreen also get good roles in the film and do their best.

After a long time, Sunil gets a meatier role and he also evokes good laughs. Ali also makes a comeback with a crazy character and does so well in his limitations. Murali Sharma, Annapurna, Pragathi, and the F2 gang are quite good in their roles.

The climax and the way top stars are mentioned in a funny manner will impress the audience. The songs are placed well and onliers are pretty good.

Minus Points:

Right from the day the film was launched, the makers have stressed the fact that there will be no logic and entertainment will be the main focus. From the first scene onwards, logic goes for a toss and there are so many issues in the script as scenes are written conveniently.

The first fifteen minutes of the film is quite slow as nothing happens during this time. The way Murali Sharma and how he is looking for his lost son is brought in a sudden manner. These scenes do not sink in the film but comedy saves the show.

F3 is a film that will not go well with a section of the class audience as they can find the scenes and situations quite silly to digest. They will find the comedy over the top and loud.

Technical Aspects:

Music by DSP is good and all the songs are placed well in the setting. BGM is good and so was the production design. Dil Raju has spent a lot on the film and this shows on screen. The camerawork is amazing as it gives importance to so many actors in the frame. The length in the second half should have been trimmed a bit.

Coming to the director Anil Ravipudi, he has done a good job with the film. The way he has narrated F3 speaks of his talent. Taking characters from F2, he has added more fun to them and gave the backdrop of money. The way comedy is generated through each character makes the film hilarious in several scenes. In a way, Anil Ravipudi did not concentrate on the story or logic and only aimed at giving fun to the audience and he succeeded in it.

On the whole, F3 is a full on masala film with good entertainment packed at regular intervals. Though the story, logic, and emotions go for a toss, the presence of multiple stars and fun generated keeps the audience engaged and makes this film a good family watch this weekend. Just keep your expectations in check and enjoy this timepass comedy.

123telugu.com Rating: 3.25/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

Click Here For Telugu Review

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F3 Cast & Crew

F3 Crew Info

Director
Cinematography
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Budget	TBA
Box Office	98.00 Cr
OTT Platform	Netflix
OTT Release Date	2022-07-22

F3 Critics Review

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About F3

In this F3 film, Venkatesh , Varun Tej played the primary leads.

The F3 was released in theaters on 27 May 2022.

The F3 was directed by Anil Ravipudi

Movies like Double iSmart , RT 75 , Kalki 2898 AD and others in a similar vein had the same genre but quite different stories.

The F3 had a runtime of 148 minutes.

The soundtracks and background music were composed by Devi Sri Prasad for the movie F3.

The cinematography for F3 was shot by Sai Sriram .

You can watch the F3 movie on Netflix,.

On 22 Jul 2022 F3 was released on the Netflix, platform.

The movie F3 belonged to the Comedy,Romance, genre.

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F3 Movie Review

Article by Suman M Published by GulteDesk --> Published on: 7:52 am, 27 May 2022

2 Hour 40 Mins   |   Comedy   |   27-05-2022

Cast - Venkatesh, Varun Tej, Tamanna, Mehreen, Sunil, Ali, Rajendra Prasad, Sonal Chauhan and others

Director - Anil Ravipudi

Producer - Sirish

Banner - Sri Venkateswara Creations

Music - Devi Sri Prasad

F2 turned out to become an out-and-out entertainer back and then. Venkatesh and Varun Tej brought the house down with their performances and got the best support from the entire team. Making it a franchise filled with fun, the team came up with F3 calling it more fun, and the movie was released today in theaters. Anil Ravipudi along with the entire team of F3 is confident in entertaining the audience many more times with F3. Here is the review of the F3 movie and let us walk in it.

What Is It About?

Venky (Venkatesh) a broker at the RTO office struggles with middle-class troubles and wanted to become rich in a shortcut. Varun (Varun Tej) a small-time fraudster also tries to find ways to become rich just like Venky does. Harika (Tamanna) and Honey (Mehreen) family con Venky and Varun for big money and they all end up in the same situation where there needs a lot of money to overcome it. Unknowingly, they all get the same idea to become instant millionaires, by conning Anand Prasad (Murli Sharma) who is in search of his missing son. Were they able to bluff Anand Prasad? The story of F3 answers the question.

Performances

Venkatesh’s timing and expressions in comedy have a separate fan base. Venky steals the show throughout with his performance. He just turns the eyes towards him with the expressions even if there are ten other known actors in the same frame.

Varun Tej did an excellent job in F3 too. The young actor nails the scene each and every time he had to stammer and the new act he does each time is always fun. Varun and Venky’s pair is hilarious.

Tamanna and Mehreen did their part, but they did not look as glamorous as they did in F2 and their presence in the second half is weak. Their roles are just like the extensions from the first part and they get dominated on-screen by Venky and Varun Tej.

This will be a comeback role for Sunil and he is seen in his vintage look and dialogue modulation after a long time. Raghu Babu, Ali, Vennela Kishore, Rajendra Prasad, Pragathi, Murli Sharma, Satya, and Sampath Raj did fine in their respective roles.

Technicalities

F3 story is not any new line, except the comedy was written according to the current trend. With not much logic and calculations, F3 has an ordinary storyline with some captivating comedy scenes interlaced. Anil Ravipudi’s comedy writing skills needs a special mention.

The first half enthralls with hilarious scenes while the second half slows down to an old-school formula of identifying the son of a famous industrialist in four fraudsters.

The cinematography is okay and screenplay is good. The songs are not great and Pooja Hegde’s song is not as per expectations. The background music is alright.

Venkatesh and Varun Tej First Half Comedy

Thumbs Down

Old story Songs

From Missamma to Chantabbayi, there were many stories that worked well with the audience, where the plot is all about finding the missing son/daughter of a rich family. The director of F3 Anil Ravipudi somehow picked the same story that was very much outdated. Even the scenes that have the people claiming to be the son getting tested in various techniques are also very old. The only thing that works here is the contemporary comedy that the director makes the best use of.

The first half of the movie run at its hilarious best. Right from the funny scenes between Venky and his stepmom with the lines of ‘South Indian Thali’ and ‘Savathi Thalli’, to his night-blindness where he refers to ‘Venkat Rao Gadi Pellam, each scene was fun.

Varun Tej’s comedy is equally good, be it his stammering or the combination scenes with Venky. The comedy worked the best when Venky and Raghubabu see Haarika’s family in a ‘Dandupalyam’ poster and also the ‘fits’ scene with the background song ‘Taatayya Taatayya’. The dialogue where Venky says about ‘antibodies’ for Ali leaves the audience bouncing in the seats.

Entering the second half, the director shifts the gear from the direct comedy to the parody and references comedy amidst the old-time story. The comedy also slows down a bit, though some scenes with Venky and Varun conspiring against each other worked well.

Pan India junior artist Vennela Kishore’s frustration generates more fun than Tamanna’s unexpected transformation. At one point Vennela Kishore calls Tamanna ‘Tiger Shroff’ invoking instant laughs. Vennela Kishore making fun of Rajendra Prasad with ‘Natakireeti’ is also fun. The bullfighting scene emerged as an entertainer particularly when Venky emotionally melts the bull with his ‘sentiment’ formula and also when he does the Bheem-Tiger roar scene.

There are overflooding parody scenes when the gang gets into making the toys. Too many references to almost all Telugu superstars remind us of some EVV movies of the 90s. The Narappa look of Venkatesh is a sweet surprise to all and his supporting dialogue about the OTT release in Narappa-slang is also fun. The director used as many references as he could and finally called it an end with a climax from the 90s time. The toy-making logic and the twist with a message, in the end, are monotonous and much anticipated.

Overall, F3 enthralls the audience with a very good first half and an average second half with mixed comedy. Watching a series of serious and action films from the last few weeks, a set of the audience may definitely want to watch F3 while some may not be impressed much due to the cringe comedy. With F3 already carrying a good impression from F2, its theatrical run might be more fun, particularly with the family audience.

Bottom line: Full Fun For Family Audience

Rating: 3/5

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‘Kinds of Kindness’ Review: Everybody’s Looking for Something

Yorgos Lanthimos returns with a twisted fable triptych about dominating and being dominated.

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By Alissa Wilkinson

You could endlessly pick apart “Kinds of Kindness,” but I don’t recommend it. The closest to a précis you’ll get for the film comes at the start, when the strains of the Eurythmics’ banger “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” ring out over the opening titles. The lyrics repeat the discomfiting notion that:

Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to get used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused. Well, who am I to disagree?

“Kinds of Kindness” is a return to a certain form of form, if you will, for the director Yorgos Lanthimos, fresh off his warmer, cuddlier films “The Favourite” and “Poor Things.” His earlier movies, “Dogtooth,” “Alps,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and “The Lobster” — all four written with Efthimis Filippou, who was his collaborator on “Kinds” — are less accessible, more deranged, less logical, more disturbing. Which is of course why they’re so polarizing. And so beloved.

I expect “Kinds of Kindness” to take its place among that latter group, with its vibrantly, defiantly off-putting stance and sidesplittingly sick sense of humor. It’s a triptych that at first seems slight, then gains meaning the longer you hold its three seemingly disconnected short films in juxtaposition and peer through the overlaps. All three share a cast that includes some returning Lanthimos players, like Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Willem Dafoe and Emma Stone, who won her second Oscar earlier this year for “Poor Things.” There are newcomers, too: Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie and especially Jesse Plemons, who won the best actor prize at Cannes for his performance.

Plemons is the main character for most of the film. In the first segment, he plays a man whose every move is dictated by his boss (Dafoe), until it isn’t. In the second, Plemons is a cop whose researcher wife (Stone) goes missing on a desert island; when she returns, he’s convinced she’s not actually his wife. And in the third, Plemons and Stone play members of a strange cult (led by Dafoe and Chau) who are desperately seeking a young woman who will become its spiritual leader.

It’s all presented with the eerie air of a very dark comedy, the sort where sudden savagery can come crashing through the wall at any second. Violence and cruelty are the drivers of “Kinds of Kindness,” often presented not as the opposite of that kindness but as kindness itself. This strange world calls for delicious off-kilter performances, and the cast — particularly Stone, who’s proven her mettle in this regard, and Plemons — deliver. If you think you know what’s happening in a scene, just wait.

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Venom: The Last Dance

Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddi... Read all Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance.

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