Jacob Soboroff, a national correspondent for NBC News with deep roots in the community, showed viewers the remains of his family’s former home on Frontera Drive in Pacific Palisades.

This week, Soboroff visited the site of a nearby playground where he romped as a child. His father, longtime civic leader Steve Soboroff, had led the effort to renovate the recreation facility after it fell into disrepair. It was gone. The home of his pregnant sister’s in-laws, where she was staying during her own home’s renovation, was also leveled.

Soboroff no longer lives in Pacific Palisades. But he knows its now-unrecognizable streets as well as if he had a Google map in his head, he told The Times.

“The pictures don’t match the muscle memories,” he said. “I grew up here and we’d do … drills in school for an earthquake. It looks like what the city would look like after the Big One, not after a wildfire.”

Those feelings are now all too familiar. The world watched as large parts of the Los Angeles area burned this week, giving ample TV time to the national correspondents based in the city.

The stunning devastation that engulfed Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other neighborhoods entered the national consciousness through wall-to-wall TV news coverage, overshadowing major news events such as the funeral of former President Carter and the sentencing of Donald Trump in his New York hush money case. The unprecedented inferno filled screens with shocking images since Tuesday.

Often the biggest challenge for the L.A.-based journalists, who worked around the clock since the blazes broke out, was coping with their own emotions, fears and feelings of loss as they reported on their home city’s transformation into scenes that resembled war zones.

Fox News correspondent Jonathan Hunt reported on the flames that encroached Palisades Charter High School, where his 17-year-old daughter is a student. While informing viewers about the threat, he privately worried she would be back to remote learning after losing a year in the classroom during the pandemic.

Hunt was relieved that the school “was largely OK,” but local landmarks where he spent time with his children were wiped out.

“I was just wandering around the village area just now and much of the retail is gone,” he said. “The Starbucks we used to stop at so many days after school is just gone.”

Longtime CNN correspondent Nick Watt told viewers on Wednesday how after he finished his reporting he was headed to his home in Santa Monica to hose it down, hoping it would deter embers from starting a blaze.

“It’s extraordinary to cover something like this in your own community,” he said. “I’ve been covering fires for a long time. You have sympathy for people. Now I have empathy.”

Correspondents said they were deluged by West Coast-based colleagues, friends and strangers asking them to check if their homes were still standing.

Soboroff noted that having his reports stream on NBC News Now and social media sites such as TikTok brought in requests from around the world. In some cases, he didn’t have to check, knowing that whole blocks in Pacific Palisades were in ruins.

Hunt received inquiries as well, and went a step further for Kennedy, a former MTV host who is now a contributor at Fox News.

Kennedy, who was in New York, asked Hunt to enter her Palisades home, located less than 100 yards from structures that were gutted by the flames. She wanted him to gather certain framed family photographs and drawings made by her children. Hunt entered the undamaged structure, where he also retrieved a sword one of Kennedy’s relatives saved from World War I.

“I was dreading the idea of going to this friend’s house and having to send a photo of rubble,” Hunt said. “Thank God that I didn’t.”

Nancy Loo, a veteran Los Angeles-based reporter for NewsNation, was on the case Tuesday morning as she and her camera operator Nathan Fiery had covered numerous wildfires along the West Coast since she joined the network in 2020. They started traveling toward the blaze when they saw smoke in the direction of Culver City.

NewsNation’s Nancy Loo covering the wildfires in Pacific Palisades.

(NewsNation)

Loo joined NewsNation so she could be closer to family members, who she said were spared from the danger and destruction. But Fiery had been evacuated from his Hollywood Hills home and worked with the fear that it would be gone. (It was spared.)

Loo made her bones as a local New York anchor who reported for eight hours straight during the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. She moved on to become a reporter on Chicago’s WGN, where she frequently started her day covering a homicide that occurred overnight.

The destruction of Pacific Palisades is yet another traumatic scene she has to process, one of many over a long career.

“I’ve learned to compartmentalize because it does take an emotional toll,” Loo said.

Akhanda, Veera Simha Reddy & Bhagavanth Kesari, after delivering three back-to-back successful films, Nandamuri Balakrishna teamed up with Bobby Kolli, who delivered a blockbuster hit with his previous film, Waltair Veerayya and the production house, Sithara Entertainments. After grabbing the attention of the audience with its slick and stylish visuals in the teaser and trailer, the film was released in theatres today. Did Balakrishna deliver his fourth consecutive successful film? Did Bobby deliver another blockbuster after Waltair Veerayya? Did Sithara Entertainments continue its success streak after a memorable film like Lucky Baskhar? More importantly, did the slick and stylish visuals have the substance? Let’s find out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Govind Gujjar(Makarand Deshpande) requests Nanaji to protect a little girl, Baby Vaishnavi and her family from the local MLA, Thrimurthulu Naidu and his brother(Sandeep Raj). Nanaji, while doing his job as the caretaker to the family, comes across a gang of Thakurs from Madhya Pradesh who runs Cocaine cultivation in the name of Tea Estate. During their first confrontation with the Thakurs gang, one of the gang members reveals that Nanaji’s real name is Daaku Maharaj. Who is Daaku Maharaj? What is Daaku Maharaj’s relationship with Baby Vaishnavi? What is the enmity between the Daaku Maharaj and Thakur brothers? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Nandamuri Balakrishna delivered a subtle and impactful performance yet again right after ‘Bhagavanth Kesari’. His energy during the confrontation sequences with multiple antagonist characters & his energy during action sequences deserve appreciation. He looked good in the role of Nanaji and civil engineer Seetharam as well as ‘Daaku Maharaj’.

Pragya Jaiswal & Shraddha Srinath got limited but crucial roles. Both the actresses made their presence felt. The little girl who played the role of ‘Baby Vaishnavi’ delivered a good & confident performance. Ravi Kishan as Thrimurthulu Naidu did his role well and looked menacing.

Bobby Deol as the main antagonist and the younger brother in deadly Thakur’s family got a very good entry sequence. He did his part well in a not-so-well-written role. Shine Tom Chacko, Makarand Deshpande, VTV Ganesh, etc., the film had many notable actors. All of them made their presence felt but most of these characters were not written well.

Technicalities:

The cinematography by Vijay Kartik Kannan is undoubtedly the best thing that happened to the film. His visuals throughout the film are slick, stylish and very refreshing. Daaku Maharaaj is without a doubt one of the best Balakrishna film to date in terms of visuals. Especially, the visuals during the pre-interval sequence are top-notch. After the cinematography, the second-best thing that happened in the film was Thaman’s background score. His background score elevated and enhanced many sequences to the next level in the film. The ‘Chinni Chinni’ song is pleasant to hear and looks very good on screen. There are three other songs in the film including a mass number & two montage songs but none of these three songs leave any lasting impact.

Dialogues by Nandu Savirigana & Bhanu Bogavarapu are largely written keeping Balakrishna’s image in mind and are aimed to please the fans of Balakrishna & mass audience. There are quite a few dialogues in the film which are likely to draw whistles & cheers from the fans in theatres. Editing by Ruben & Niranjan Devaramane is a mixed bag. Their work is slick at places and would have been better at places. Especially, the editing during pre-climax and climax episodes would have been better.

Production values by Sithara Entertainments are very good as usual. Producer, Naga Vamsi and team spent enough money to give the film a very stylish and grand look. Kudos to the producers for hiring notable actors across multiple film industries even for small & not so significant roles. Bobby, the director took a routine script and mixed enough commercial elements to make the film a decent commercial entertainer. Let’s talk more about his work in the analysis section.

Positives:

1. Balakrishna’s Subtle & Yet Impactful Performance
2. Excellent Visuals
3. Superb Background Score
4. A Couple of Action Sequences
5. Fans & Mass Audience Friendly Dialogues
6. Pre-Interval Sequence

Negatives:

1. Routine Storyline
2. Predictable Screenplay
3. Dragged Out Pre-Climax & Climax
4. ‘Dabidi Dibidi’ Song Choreography

Analysis:

Kamal Hassan’s Vikram & Rajinikanth’s Jailer are now textbook references for any filmmaker who wants to make a film with a senior star hero in India across the film industry. The one thing that filmmakers have to keep in mind is that both Vikram and Jailer became a phenomenon for their innovative screenplay but not ‘Just’ because of their stylish presentation. The slick and stylish visuals along with terrific music only enhanced the impact of those films to another level but are not the ‘Only’ reasons for their phenomenal success.

For Daaku Maharaj, the director, Bobby, selected a very routine story and wrote a predictable screenplay around it but made sure to include enough adrenaline-pumping moments at regular intervals. The pre-interval sequence and transformation sequence of Seetharam into Daaku Maharaaj stands out. Both these sequences along with the dialogues used for the lead character will be liked immensely by the fans and mass audience.

The cinematography by Vijay Kartik Kannan & background score by Thaman are undoubtedly the major highlights of the film. However, the impact of cinematography and background score was brought down by routine execution. Barring an interesting twist related to the character, Baby Vaishnavi, right from the opening sequence to the climax, the film runs on a very predictable note. Especially, the last thirty minutes of the film would have been better with better writing for Bobby Deol’s character. Also, the choreography in the ‘Dabidi Dibidi’ song should have been better.

Overall, Daaku Maharaaj is a decent commercial entertainer and it can be watched easily once in theatres for Balakrishna’s subtle & yet impactful performance, slick & stylish visuals, Thaman’s background score and a few very well-executed sequences. With a bit of extra care in writing, this film would have become a memorable film in Nandamuri Balakrishna’s career.

Daaku Maharaaj – Stylish Maharaaj

Rating: 2.75/5

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Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Super Scooper water drop!

The most memorable battle scenes exist in the pivot — the moment when all appears to be lost and then, out of nowhere, the cavalry arrives. The fishing boats at Dunkirk. Union reinforcements at Gettysburg. Or, fictionally, the Riders of Rohan sweeping down on the besieged city of Gondor.

For Angelenos, the cavalry has arrived in the form of water drop videos.

For days, images from the horrendous series of wildfires that continue to consume huge swaths of Los Angeles have been devastating. People forced to flee their cars on Sunset Boulevard; sparks whipped by 80-mph winds igniting entire streets; firefighters hastening evacuations and confronting literal walls of flame; the smoking shells of homes and businesses.

These images shocked, terrified and aggrieved us. It was difficult not to feel helpless, hopeless, as the fires grew in size and number.

Then, as the ferocious winds began to die down on Wednesday, firefighters were once again able to take to the air, scooping up water from the ocean and reservoirs and dumping it on the fires. TV journalists caught some of the maneuvers on camera. Citizens filmed others on their phones. Everyone began posting and sharing them on social media.

Whether in Altadena, West Hills or Hollywood, the videos — call them firefighting fancams — depict firefighting pilots angling planes over flames that appear uncontrollable and releasing, with remarkable precision, gallons of water that douse raging infernos in a matter of seconds.

It is impossible not to cheer. And at this moment, Los Angeles needs something to cheer about.

For days, fire has been our worst enemy. Randomly killing and arbitrarily destroying, it has taken on near-supernatural dimensions, appearing at times to be laughing as it sped through brush and buildings, forcing thousands to flee.

Watching it be squashed into nothing but smoke and steam is an exhilarating thing. Thought you were unstoppable? Take that. Thought you were too big to be beaten? Yippee-ki-yay, motherf—!

To a city reeling with loss, water drop videos are “Battle of Britain” and Snoopy beating the Red Baron. They’re rebel pilots taking down the Death Star, Bill Pullman’s speech in “Independence Day,” LeBron James hitting a final-second three. Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and the Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men.”

The precision of the drops is astonishing, the impact heart-lifting, their moments of victory obvious and unquestionable.

The only thing missing are the job-done figures of the pilots walking away from their aircraft in vivid silhouette to a pounding bass accompaniment. For the simple reason that they are still hard at work.

But a grateful city sees them and has been offering viral shout-outs and admiration by posting water drop videos with the “Top Gun” soundtrack, sportscaster commentary and many, many applause emojis.

Two yellow Canadian Super Scoopers have been especially well-documented dropping water over the Palisades. One of them was grounded on Thursday after colliding with a civilian drone, and whoever was idiotic enough to illegally send one up during a firefight better hope the internet doesn’t find them before the feds do. These planes, helicopters and Super Scoopers are our heroes, providing support for the fearless, stretched-thin firefighters on the ground, helping to quench the Sunset fire before it claimed more homes and offering hope that at some point Los Angeles will cease to burn.

More important, the water drop videos have returned a feeling of control to the populace — and given us all something to root for.

Firefighters have been working nonstop since the Palisades fire exploded, and their efforts amid the smoke and flames have been lifesaving and heroic. It’s satisfying to watch the fruits of that hard work in the form of a fire all but extinguished before it claims yet another acre or snakes its way toward any more homes.

In fact, it’s the best thing any of us has seen in days.