On the eve of Thiruvonam, we had a trio of movies hitting the screens over the weekend hoping to cash in on the holiday season. It's that time of the year where literally every Malayali tries to make the most of the festive mood, after all the time with our family makes it completely worth it. Apart from the goodies, sadya & cultural events, an inevitable part of Onam are the big banner movies and this time too, it was no different. Though all three of them came with varying degrees of hype, the satisfaction that each one gave was quite unlike that.
King of Kotha: "Screenplay lacked the punch to make it unique despite the potential!!!"
Over the past year or so, whenever the topic of "King of Kotha" came up in interview of artists who were part of the cast; all of them were profuse in their praise for the project. As a result of which, this was one of the most awaited movie of the year with Abhilash Joshiy making his directorial debut with DQ's Wayfarer Films bankrolling the project with Zee Studios bringing back memories of the successful collaboration of their fathers. The promotions were literally unprecedented by Malayalam standards & definitely generated a lot of hype, though the trailer as such didn't quite catch my fancy.
Abhilash decided to take up Abhilash Chandran's script, who had earlier penned "Porinju Mariam Jose" for the former's father. The movie unfolds in 1996 in the fictional town of Kotha where violence was a way of life as Kannan bhai (Shabeer Kallarakkal), the dreaded gangster ruled over the place with an iron fist. His narcotics empire had put the people at his mercy & CI Shahul Hassan (Prasanna), who had recently taken charge hoped to put an end to it. But it was a task that was easier said than done as the only person who could challenge Kannan was Raju (DQ) who was last seen in Kotha more than a decade back.
It is the standard story template that we have come across in numerous movies in the past & which is still fine as long as you have an engaging screenplay. Unfortunately, that is where Abhilash had faltered as neither the characters were etched properly nor most of the sequences lacked the punch that it required. There were elements such as friends turned foes, Manju's track (Nyla Usha), elevation of Kannan etc. indicating that it had the skeletons to create an engrossing gangster saga. But it failed to do so & instead they resorted to focus on the protagonist, in which also they weren't able to do justice convincingly. Another major flaw that I felt was the dialogue which at times came across as unintentionally funny & lacked the zing that such a movie required .
However, on the technical side; the movie has been crafted well such as Nimesh Ravi's cinematography which did have a feel of "Porinju" & his own earlier "Kurup" in terms of the lighting and colour tone. Jakes Bejoy has done a praise worthy job as his BGM was responsible for elevating many of the scenes. In addition, kudos to the action choreographers though I personally feel we are going way too far in the manner the rawness of violence is portrayed.
DQ has done a decent job though at times I felt he didn't quite radiate the menacing aura that the character required. I barely recognized Shabeer who had rocked as 'Dancing Rose' in "Sarpatta Parambarai" & over here as well, he was fine. Another artist who impressed was Shammi Thilakan while the rest of the cast such as Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nyla Usha, Prasanna & Gokul Suresh were ok.
Verdict: The pre-release hype has worked in two ways with the movie not able to match the lofty expectations while the initial brought in significant returns. To be frank, it isn't as bad as some of the YouTube videos that I saw claimed, though it failed to elevate itself to being a unique standout among the numerous other gangster movies that we had watched!!!
Rating: 2.25/5
Ramachandra Boss & Co.: "Except for some comedy, hardly anything else works!!!"
Among the other Onam releases, Haneef Adeni's latest directorial venture was expected to have an advantage as it seemed like a fun filled hilarious flick that would have the family audience flocking towards it. But without a shadow of doubt, this is the weakest among the trio as Haneef's idea of heist in the backdrop of humour came across as rather lame & unimaginative.
There is no dearth of style as has been the hallmark of Haneef's movies as he brings in a group of individuals who were in financial crisis for a heist masterminded by the protagonist, Boss (Nivin Pauly). His aim was to steal a priceless portrait that was in the custody of Amar (Munish), a business tycoon & & how they got about that task is what this movie is about.
In a way, it kind of reminded me of Farah Khan's mediocre "Happy New Year" & this one felt inferior to that. For a heist movie, it is essential that it should have elements that would surprise us with their plans & twists. But there was hardly anything of that sort with the only saving grace being the humour and that too, fell flat more often than not. On the technical side, Vishnu Thandassery's visuals were good while the rest of the aspects were ok.
None of the characters were written well & barely had much to do. The only credible back story was given for Jaffer Idukki's character which he did neatly. Vinay Fort evoked laughs occasionally and his banter with Nivin was entertaining at times. I fail to understand as to why Nivin agree to be part of such movies that just tarnishes his brand value even further. To make matters even worse, the part of the villain essayed by Munish Sharma was the worst written part & it was a torture to say the least.
Verdict: Nivin's wait for redemption at the box office continues indefinitely!!!
Rating: 1.5/5
RDX: "As explosive as the same!!!"
When I initially heard that this movie was going to be released for Onam along with the other two, I have to admit that I was circumspect about their prospects. However, with Sophie Paul's Weekend Blockbusters bank rolling the project; that certainly had me interested in it. By the end of the movie, it was evident as to why she believed that Nahas Hidayath's celluloid creation had what it takes despite this being his debut directorial venture.
In one of the promotional interviews, Antony Varghese (Pepe) mentioned the struggles that Nahas had to go through especially since the latter's directorial debut "Aaravam" in which he had collaborated was shelved in the first schedule itself due to financial crisis. But Nahas kept on trying & came up with the script of "RDX" which was a full on action flick and indicated the three protagonists, Robert (Shane Nigam), Dony (Pepe) (who were brothers) & Xavier (Neeraj Madhav). All three of them were trained in martial arts and boxing by Xavier's father Antony (Babu Antony) and used to get regularly involved in brawls. However, certain events in their lives make them resort for a peaceful livelihood & things moved along peacefully for a few years until Dony's father, Philip was manhandled by a gang during a function. What subsequently happened was a series of events which threatened their very existence.
On paper it seems like a pretty normal story but Adarsh Sukumaran's screenplay made sure that the events were knitted together neatly thereby making it an engaging survival drama. It reminded me of Tinu Pappachan's "Ajagajantharam" as the action sequences kept on coming which is the USP of the movie for which hats off to action choreographer duo Anbariv who has been on roll with projects like "KGF 2", "Vikram", "Sarapatta Parambarai" etc. to name a few. Equally impressive was the cinematography which was handled by Alex Pulickal while the choreography was neatly done for Sam C S's music.
All three of the main leads have done their parts well with Neeraj Madhav's performance with the nunchaku being absolutely phenomenal. However, I would place Vishnu Agasthya a step above the rest as he just embodied the negativity that the character demanded. He has definitely made the audience sit up and notice in whichever role he has featured in recent times. Looking forward to seeing more of him as he surely has the potential & the versatility. The rest of the cast such as Babu Antony, Mahima Nambiar (kudos for her impressive action segment), Lal, Baiju, Nishanth Sagar etc. have all done their parts aptly.
Verdict: Certainly the pick among the Onam releases & should see more screens added up over the next few days. An entertaining action flick that will cater to the masses though the families are likely to stay away!!!
Rating: 2.75/5
Regards...Ben
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