Onam is just round the corner & in the interim period there has been a number of low profile releases. Unfortunately, none of them has managed to attract attention & to be frank, it isn't the fault of the audience but rather the lack of quality in the movie that are being screened. Over the past week, I happened to watch quite a few of them & it was hard to understand as to why talented artists like Urvashi, Indrans, Indrajith etc., wanted to be associated with such mediocre stuff.
Jaladhara Pumpset Since 1962: "The title was the only interesting part!!!"
Lat year saw courtroom dramas such as Ratheesh Balakrishna's "Nna Thaan Case Kodu" & Tharun Moorthy's "Saudi Velakka" gain critical acclaim for the manner it engaged the audience. Hoping to garner a similar response from the audience, Ashish Chinnappa chose the same genre and worked on the script with Prajin MP based on the story by Sanu Chandran. Without mincing words, I have to say that both of them have miserably failed to come up with anything worthwhile with the exception of a couple of sequences.
It is basically about the delay of our judicial system which takes a toll on everyone involved in the case. Over here, Mani (Indrans) had attempted to steal the water pumpset from Mrinalini's house (Urvashi), but was caught during the act. Her husband, Chandran Maash (Vijayaraghavan) decided to pursue the case as both of them being teachers believed that law should take its course. Little did they realize that the case would drag on for seven years during which time Chandran had passed away & his wife, decided to continue the legal battle.
The main factor that makes such dramas interesting are the legal arguments, evidence & the struggles that the petitioner and accused goes through. None of these are credible enough in the movie with the exception of maybe the last point where they tried to explore the equation of Mrinalini & Mani with their respective daughters. But that was not properly fleshed out due to which it failed to create the impact that was possible. It was evident that they hoped that the sprinkling of humour would make up for the lack of an empathetic story & that also wasn't up to the mark.
As in most movies, Urvashi has done a fine job as she balanced humour and the emotional segments with elan. Indrans & TG Ravi did their parts well also along with Nisha Sarang while Sanusha & Sagar Rajan (as Unni) were average to mediocre at times.
Verdict: Just like the seven year wait tested Mrinalini, this 139 minute directorial debut of Ashish will test the audience!!!
Rating: 1.5/5
Kunjamminis Hospital: "Hmm...the producer might have to get his vitals checked!!!"
Another director who made his debut over the past week was Sanal V Devan who collaborated with the writer duo, Abhayakumar & Anil Kurian who came up with the theme of a comic horror flick. Incidentally, both of them had penned the techno horror "Chathur Mukham" which though interesting on paper failed to impress. Over here, it is no different as they barely had no idea what they wanted to convey.
It is essentially about spirits that haunted a mansion which was being renovated into a hospital by the present owner, Riny (Nyla Usha). Apparently, it was a hospital initially before it was converted into a lodge where quite a few had died under mysterious circumstances. The challenges that Riny had to overcome to ensure that her hospital wasn't shut down forms the basis of the story.
None of the characters failed to create an impact as the characterization was poor & even the comedy that is pushed in to make up for the lack of a credible story, failed to create genuine laughs. Despite the presence of talented artists like Prakash Raj & Indrajith, they barely had anything worthwhile to do. the only person who did have something to work with was Nyla & that didnt quite have the punch to take the story forward. There were quite a few other artists as well, but I don't think it is worth mentioning.
Verdict: Fail to understand why artists like Prakash Raj & Indrajith want to tarnish their reputation with such mediocre projects!!!
Rating: 1/5
1001 Nunakal: "An interesting take on lies and candour in a relationship!!!"
Frankly speaking, I had no idea what to expect from this flick though there were two factors which attracted me to it. The first was the title as it reminded me of the famous 1001 Arabian Nights & secondly, it was released on Sony LIV which usually has a reputation of choosing movies that has quality. Anywaz it managed to keep me engaged over its relatively short run time of 104 minutes.
The movie unfolds in Saudi where a residential building had caught fire due to which two families decide to take refuge in their friend's mansion, Vinay & Divya (Vishnu Agasthya & Ninin Kaassim). Incidentally, it was their 10th wedding anniversary & they arrange a party for their close friends. One among them was a lawyer (Sudheesh Scaria) who suggests that they all play a variant of the "Truth or Dare" game whereby each couple will reveal one lie that their partner wasn't aware of. Though it initially starts off as fun, things starts to get serious as some lies seemed to threaten the very existence of their relationship.
This is Thamar k V's debut directorial venture & he deserves praise for having done a neat job on a script that he had worked on along with Hashim Sulaiman. It follows the same template as Jeethu Joseph's "12th Man" but I felt this was much better coz of the relatability in the equations of the various couples and the scenarios that each one faces at various stages of their relationship felt realistic. Despite being set within a confined space, all the technical aspects were handled well be it Jithin Stansilaus's visuals, Neha Nair & Yakzan's music score and Yusuf's editing which maintains the right tone. Even all the artists have done their parts well.
Verdict: An neatly made movie that doesn't have much to boast about in terms of the cast & crew. However, the word of mouth should gain it audience!!!
Rating: 3/5
Regards...Ben
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