Ammoru (1995)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I liked this movie i have not seen many movies of this genre and I agree that buy western standards the special effects are not great but I think it is charming never the less! I have watched about four times now. It's style made me think of old Hammer Horror films! I was shocked to find that the main female actress died in a aeroplane crash with her brother in India 2004, I thought see was very beautiful, and had a great on-screen presents.If I had to criticise one aspect it would be the rapist character who is asked in to rape the main female character to discredit her as immoral to her husband, the goddess of the village Ammoru substitutes her with the daughter of the head of the house, this character then has to marry him after he raped her! This was not an issue at all in the movie! but maybe the meaning is confused in the English sub-titles or there is a large cultural difference in attitudes to rape?

To be honest, I'd not heard of the goddess Amorru. This is a nice little story about good triumphing over evil. Bhavani is a simple village girl who gets her dream hubby (Doctor, US work permit) in the village of her birth. She faithfully worships the goddess Ammoru. Unbeknownst to her, she is the target of a vengeful village harridan and their oddball family, including a villain who has sold his soul to the Demon Channda in order to gain immortality, as one does in these films.And so she is faced with all manner of trials and tribulations, including an attempted rape, etc. But Ammoru always saves the day and there is finally some top-notch ultra violence at the end where the Devi does some baddass actions to make sure the right ending happens. South Indian film often gets ignored or brushed over when people talk about Bollywood. It's a pity, because the stories are at least trying to be different from the usual mush of inept romantic family dramas produced by their northern counterparts

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Ammoru offers the Western student of Indian religion a fascinating glimpse into both traditional Dravidian religion, its relationship with orthodox Aryan thought and the way that Indian Cinema developed its unique flavours from traditional mythological drama.The Aryans, the top three castes of India, are believed to have invaded India around 2,000 BC. They brought with them a religion similar to that of Greece, Rome, Persia and even Ireland, with whom Sanskrit shares a common linguistic origin. The lower castes originated from the earlier Dravidian people, who built the cities of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, and possibly ancient Elam as well. Dravid now means Southern, because in the wake of the invasion these peoples fled south, but there may be a link with the words Dryad and Druid, because these peoples had a nature religion similar to ancient Greece and Ireland, and these words come from the same root as `tree'. Over 4 millennia, Dravid thinking influenced the development of Hinduism considerably, but there is still tension between the two traditions. All Hindus now believe in reincarnation, for example, not an original Aryan notion, and methods of meditation in the forest seem unique to the earlier peoples. Now, however, they have been incorporated into orthodox Hinduism, and local, tribal, non-Aryan customs are often viewed with distrust and contempt by the Brahmins.Ammoru is a Telugu movie, a language which, like Kannada and Tamil, is not Indo-European. In it we see a Dravid girl recognise her village Goddess as an aspect of the universal feminine force, known in Tantra and Shaivism as Shakti. There then follows a series of miracle-stories, no doubt from traditional sources, but updated to the modern day. Between significant stories, or at significant moments, songs intervene. This is not a reflection of Bollywood directly, but a return to the traditional myth dramas that have been performed in India for Millennia. These lasted for hours, and individual portions of a myth were shown, then a song would allow explanation (and time for costume and scenery changes).At the end of the movie the magnificent special effects prove that Ammoru is the same as Saraswati, Kali, Lakshmi and others. This justifies the vision of the original village girl and, importantly, places Ammoru as an equal with Aryan Goddesses.Above all, it has led me to worship Her! The final scenes, as the Goddess kills the black magician and then transforms into various Goddesses before becoming the little girl again is stunning. Ditto the earlier procession and dance in which the little girl sings the revelation of the true nature of Ammoru while dancing in a wild trance. Quite frankly, for Pagans this is the best movie I've seen since, well, since, well, there must have been, well.......

Okay, obviously this is a Bollywood movie, a genre which I have no experience or knowledge in, but as it was on TV I thought I'd give it a go. The plot centres around Bhavani, a young girl who is the carer to the shrine of Ammoru, the mother goddess. She falls in love with a man of high standing, whose family object and do all that they can to stop the union in some violent and bizarre ways. Bhavani must call on Ammoru to save her from her plight. That's a rough idea of the plot, which seems to be just a set up for the amazing special effects around which the film was touted. Unfortunately, compared to western special effects they are not that amazing at all.Typically with Bollywood, there is much singing, and for me, they were the highlight. There's one very dramatic action filled scene at the end, all hell breaking loose, and suddenly it bursts into song. It sounds ludicrous, but I thought it was fantastic. You'll understand if you see it.All in all an interesting little movie. I would recommend this to anyone who fancies something a little different. It's not for everyone, but as someone who had never seen a Bollywood film from start to finish, I rather enjoyed it. - 6/10