Almost the end of the first quarter of 2025 & despite the insane number of releases, the ones that were worth our time has been far & few. Among the present lot that I have penned my opinion about, there are a couple of them that belonged to the category that I was referring to earlier. So which were those???
Ponman: "Man..this was engrossing in terms of treatment & performances!!!"
This was a movie that I have been waiting to watch for quite a while & finally managed to do so when it came on the OTT platform. Ever since I had seen the trailer, I would have to admit that I was intrigued coz of the subject it was dealing with and the cast that were chosen for it. In addition, though it might across as a rather silly reason for others, the fact that it was shot in our Kollam from where I hail from had me really interested.
Over the past few years, G R Indugopan is a name that many cinephiles would have heard so (in case they haven't read his novels) as quite a few of his novels were adapted into movies such as "Oru Thekkan Thallu Case", "Kaapa" etc. This is the latest to be added to that list as it was adapted from his novel, "Naalanchu Cheruppkar" & he has worked on the screenplay along with Justin Mathew. This also happened to be the directorial debut of noted art director Jotish Shankar & the core subject that it deals with is dowry but from a different perspective.
The movie unfolds in Kollam where Bruno (Anand Manmadhan), a suspended political worker was desperately trying to arrange cash to purchase gold for his sister, Steffi's wedding (Lijomol) to Mariyano (Sajin Gopu). This is when he was introduced to Ajesh (Basil Joseph), an agent who provided gold in advance on the agreement that the money would be paid up with the gifts that the couples received. However, Steffi's family weren't able to honour the agreement leaving Ajesh in pursuit of what turned out to be a monumental task to retrieve what belonged to him.
The screenplay was impressive & the character arc that was given to each and every character was top notch. It gets gripping by the minute as the character shades keeps changing and yet we get to understand the standpoint as to why the main characters behave in the manner they did. The events are kept grounded and there is no overdosage of melodrama, and one aspect that many movies struggle with nowadays is the placement of songs, which doesn't happen here with the track and the BGM by Justin Varghese gelling quite well. As for other technical aspects, Sanu John's cinematography deserves praise while Nidhin Raj maintained the pace quite well.
This is undoubtedly, one of Basil's best performances to date as it gave him opportunity to try something quite different from what we are used to & he has excelled at it. Lijomol continues to feature in movies that gives her space to showcase her talent while Sajin did his part equally well. In the few characters that Anand had portrayed till now, more often than not he has managed to grab our attention and after having watched him in 'Love Under Construction' last week, this role was another good addition to his resume. As for the rest of the cast, Sandhya Rajendren, Deepak Parambol etc. provided adequate support.
Verdict: Kudos to Jotish as this is certainly one of the best movie that has released this year courtesy of impressive performances and an engaging screenplay!!!
Rating: 3.75/5
Officer on Duty: "The officer in Shahi continues to churn out much sought after thrillers!!!"
Who do you think among the active professionals pens the best police investigation thrillers in Malayalam movies? If I had to answer that, then it would be Shahi Kabir without a shadow of doubt with movies like "Joseph" & "Nayattu" to his credit. His latest work is directed by Jithu Ashraf who is making his debut behind the camera after having assisted in a handful of worthy movies. For starters, you might recollect as the sadist Brother Samson in "Iratta".
CI Hari (Chackochan) is a tough cop who was hot headed which also contributed to him being demoted. The audience gets a glimpse of his intimidating nature and aggression in the first scene itself with the way he deals with the suspect of a chain robbery case. The sequence of events which forms the crux of the movie begins when he receives the complaint that Chandrababu (Jagadish), a KSRTC conductor had tried to mortgage an imitation gold chain. This investigation led to a series of dark secrets which in due time also found his family getting entangled in it.
Jithu has executed the story with a fair bit of tempo and that keeps us engaged as events unfold quite quickly. Despite the usual stereotype of drug snorting youngsters from Bangalore, I did like the thought that Shahi had put into each character rather than shade them just as black & white. There are reasons as to why those negative shade characters behaved in that manner while the characters on the opposite side also had ample shades of grey. in effect, the script as such is not upto the quality of his previous work but the fast paced screenplay makes up for it. The action sequences were neatly choreographed by retaining its raw feel but not resorting to goriness. All the technical aspects were neatly executed be it Roby Varghese's cinematography, Chaman Chakko's cuts and the reliable Jakes Bejoy's BGM.
As always of us are aware, Chackochan choice of movies over the past few years has been impressive and as Hari, he was top notch as the body language was quite unlike from his other roles. Giving him adequate support was the talented Priyamani, who featured in a role that gave her scope to perform. Jagadish impressed as has been the trend for quite a with his character selection while the rest of the cast such as Vishak Nair (as Savio), Ramzan etc did their parts aptly.
Verdict: Yet another winning script from Shahi and well executed by Jithu. It also made waves at the box office as Martin Prakatt continues to grow in stature as a producer who invests in movies that does have content!!!
Rating: 3.25/5
Get Set Baby: " The script needed to be adequately fertilized!!!"
After the highs of "Marco", Unni Mukundan was back with a light hearted drama which focused on delivering babies rather than taking their lives as in his previous release. The shots were called by Vinay Govind after a hiatus whose last flick was "Kohinoor" about a decade back. As for the story, it was borne out of the creation of YV Rajesh & Anoop Ravindran, and is essentially about the personal and professional life of a gynaecologist.
The movie follows the journey of Arjun (Unni) from his childhood to eventually becoming a celebrated gynaecologist. His empathetic nature & sincerity in his profession made him quickly climb the ladder of success. At the same time, his arrogance & ego grew as well which threatened to affect his relationships & everything that he had worked hard for.
Though Ajay Pulickal's frames did give that feel good vibe, the story as such failed to do justice what it had set out to do. The primary issue for that is the various genres and topics that it tried to tackle within the two hour run time without focusing on any of them significantly. In effect, the whole thing felt rushed and we do not actually get emotionally invested in the protagonist. Unni's performance in the initial segment was fine but when the emotional aspects kicks in, he certainly struggles in his diction and body language. A the same time, Nikhila Vimal handled those sequences much better. In the supporting cast, both Sudheesh & Surabhi did their parts well along with Ganga Meera, though I felt that character could have been written much better.
Verdict: It's a feel good flick that does bring a smile in certain segments but failed to stamp its identity unlike a "Mimi", "Vishesham" etc. In short, it had potential for much more!!!
Rating: 2/5
Machante Maalakha: "Felt more like a Malayalam soap opera!!!"
Just like Vinay Govind, it's been quite a while since Boban Samuel had worn the director's hat with the last enjoyable flick from him being "Romans" which was more than a decade back. The script by Ajeesh Thomas based on a story by Jexson Antony is essentially a gender reversed domestic conflict with the protagonists being Sajeevan (Soubin Shahir) & Bijimol (Namitha Pramod).
The movie unfolds with Sajeevan, a KSRTC conductor & Bijimol getting into a couple of conflicts over a series of misunderstandings. But in due time, they warm up to each other & decide to tie the knot, though her mother, Kunjumol (Shanthi Krishna) laid down the condition that he would need to live in their home. This was just the beginning, as he was forced to make other compromises to make their relationship work with Bijimol turning out to be quite self centred.
I presume you would have understood by now as to why I meant it felt like a soap opera as it was that typical outdated storyline that we had come across so often in the past. The unpredictable behavioural changes in Bijimol and the lack of adequate heft in any of the conflicts fails to keep us engaged. Even the casting didnt help the cause as Soubin & Namitha barely had any chemistry between them while Shanthi Krishna's hamming was irritating to say the least. The only saving grace in the performances was Dileesh Pothan & Vineeth Thattil while Dhyan Sreenivasan featured yet again in a flick for no obvious purpose.
Verdict: No point in lamenting that producers are losing money, since stories like these dont even deserve a watch even on TV.
Rating: 1.5/5
Regards...Ben
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