Barroz & Extra Decent: "Ente thampurane, decent returns might be a tad tricky !!!"

This Christmas saw the release of four flicks of various genres hitting the screens of which I had penned my opinion about "Rifle Club" & "Marco". Among the remaining two flicks, one of them happened to be among the most awaited movie of the year, "Barroz" for the obvious reason that it was helmed by Lalettan. The other one was from Aamir Pallikal that had Suraj Venjaramoodu donning the role of the producer apart from being the protagonist.

Barroz: "Lacked the expected finesse in story telling & performances!!!"

Finally the much awaited movie that has been in the making for quite a while was released on Christmas, exactly 44 years after his debut in a full fledged role in "Manjil Virinja Pookkal". Based on Jijo Punnoose's novel, Lalettan & T K Rajeev Kumar had initially planned to conceive it as a 3D play but due to the logistical challenges they decided to make it as a 3D flick. However, as there were significant revisions from the original screenplay, Jijo backed out from the movie. If you ask me that proved to be the bane of this project.

The movie unfolds in 1633AD where Barroz (Lalettan) is the loyal servant of Cristovao da Gama (Ignacio Mateos), the Portuguese Viceroy who was entrusted to take care of the treasure. However, as fate might have it, he was cursed to become a ghost & his wait to hand over the treasure had lasted for over four centuries. In the present day, Isabella (Maya Rao West), the descendant of the Viceroy & heir to the treasure comes to Goa with her father, to attend the auction for the da Gama mansion. What subsequently follows is how Barroz meets up with Isa & the evil forces that are set in motion to deny him the liberation that he deserved. 

As mentioned earlier, the biggest flaw with the movie is the screenplay as it comes across as multiple skits that has been stitched together. This aspect becomes extremely prominent for all the interior sequences as it fails to keep us engaged. The basic thread of the story sounded interesting and it did have the potential. However, to be honest, the execution was quite average & at times, even mediocre. Despite the dramatic feel to proceedings in the climax, I did like that section which was undeniably one of the very rare occasions where all aspects worked reasonably well. 

On the technical side, the 3D effects in general was ok but we are so used to seeing such type of flicks nowadays that it fails to provide that wow factor. Despite the best efforts of the fantastic Santhosh Sivan, it gave the claustrophobic feel of being performed in a very restricted space. At the same time, Lydian Nadhaswaram's music was impressive for most parts (though it's placement was questionable at times). Another major factor that contributed to the movie's decline were the performances right across the board. Almost all of them were mediocre or average at best without exception. Even Lalettan did struggle to provide authenticity to the character in many segments, however he showed his caliber in the second half especially the climax. A special mention for Bhasi Vaikkom who dubbed for the Voodoo as that did evoke laughs and sounded sensible in many mundane sequences.

Verdict: Despite the goodwill & the fantastic actor that the legend is, the same cannot be said about his directorial skills. He might have had the vision & the resources to make it, but when it came to execution it was quite amateurish!!!

Rating: 2/5

Extra decent: "Dark humour that keeps us engaged!!!"

This is Aamir Pallikal's second directorial venture after "Ayisha" & once again, he has collaborated with Ashif Kakkodi. This time around the duo have chosen to opt for dark humour and the protagonist that they had chosen for this quirky flick was Suraj Venjaramoodu who had also invested in the project along with Listin Stephen. 

The camera zooms into an apartment complex where Binu (Suraj) had just returned from work & gets struck down by the security. As a result, his memory was lost though the signs that he showed had given hope to the doctors that he would recover completely in due time. However, his family seemed far from pleased about that news & on the contrary were anxious about what lay in front of them. So why were they worried???

In terms of the mood, it pretty much fits into the "Mukundan Unni Associates" space & the manner in which Ashif has penned the characters ensured that we do not end up taking sides as all have shades of grey and are selfish about their comfort. Aamir has crafted the scenes well such that there is a proper blend of humour irrespective of the tone of the sequence. At the same time, I was a bit perplexed that the main crux point that made Binu to change did not come across as dire to make certain characters so tensed up. The technical aspects were executed well be it Sharon Sreenivas's cinematography or Ankit Menon's music.

This is undoubtedly one of Suraj's best performance in recent times as it was not an easy role to pull off. His nuanced portrayal effectively captured the various facets of the character. Grace Antony was fine as always while Vinayaprasad & Sudheer Karamana did their parts well. The rest of the cast have also done their roles aptly.

Verdict: An interesting story complimented by an impressive Suraj makes it a worthy watch. 

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Round up of 2024

With the growing prominence of the OTT platforms especially after the pandemic, the interest for Malayalam movies have increased manifold. However unlike before, the OTT honchos are pretty peculiar as to which movies they want to invest on & beam on their platforms. This essentially meant that out of the 204 movies that were released (199) & re-released (5), only 26 of them managed to recover their costs. 

Among those that managed to bring a smile to their investors, “Manjummel Boys” became the first Malayalam flick to breach the 200C mark with “Aadujeevitham”, “Aavesham”, “Premalu” & “ARM” bringing in ample footfalls which yielded more than 100C each. The cumulative profits was to the tune of 300C but with the total investment being about 1000C, it meant that the industry saw a humongous loss of about 700C which raises serious queries as to long it will be able to sustain itself. At the same time, it's encouraging that all type of genres are working which emphasizes the point that if the movie has quality, then we will accept it with open arms.

Anyway among the ones that I had watched (around 70), the ten movies that I rated higher than the rest are mentioned below. Since I have already penned my opinion about what I liked about these flicks, please feel free to check out my blog if interested

·         Bramayugam  

·         Aattam

·         Aadujeevitham

·         Ullozhukku

·         Kishkindha Kaandam

·         Sookshamadarshini

·         Manjummel Boys

·         Anweshippin Kandethum

·         ARM

·         Gaganachari

Coming to performances, there were quite a few standout ones that I absolutely enjoyed. With most flicks barely having meaty roles for female artists, it would be fair to say that didn’t have much opportunity to showcase their caliber unlike their male counterparts.

Mammookka: In a career that has spanned close to half a century, the legend has never ceased to amaze & as Kodumon Potty, he has taken it to a whole new level. 'Brilliant' will be an understatement as I believe this is undoubtedly one of his finest.

Urvashi: I personally consider her as the finest actress to have ever graced Malayalam movies & as Leelamma in ‘Ullozhukku’, the legend gave a power packed performance which kept us completely invested in the story. Even in ‘Her’, the main redeeming factor for it was her role as Santha & the chemistry that she shared with Prathap Pothen which gave that segment an authentic feel.

Prithvi: Produced his career best performance in a role where the physical and emotional transformation that he brought to the character was sensational which was reflected in his gait, eyes and even in his dialogue delivery

Kani Kusruthi: Though ‘All We Imagine As Light’ did not quite strike a chord with me, the manner in which she had played the role of Prabha was impressive. Her subtle performance that showcased the inner turmoil, helplessness & anxiety which made the character reluctant to seek for liberalisation was praise worthy.

There were a host of other impressive performances as well such as Vijayaraghavan in ‘Kishkindha Kaandham’, Fahadh in ‘Aavesham’, Lalettan in "Malaikottai Vaaliban", Asif Ali in all the three movies he featured which was quite unique to each other, Parwathy in ‘Ullozhokku’ & Tovino as Maniyan in ‘ARM’.

Anyway looking forward to 2025 & from the list of projects that has been announced so far, it certainly looks like exciting times for the industry & for movie lovers!!!

Regards...Ben

 

Marco & Rifle Club: "Guns & knives have struck a chord at the box office!!!"

It's that time of the year where we have a plethora of movies hoping to cash in on the last set of holidays before the dawn of 2025. This review is essentially about two such movies that appears as action thrillers on the surface but adopts diverse tracks to narrate their stories. Interestingly, both of them have struck a chord with the audience as the box office returns have brought smiles to their makers. So what kind of an experience did these flicks provide me???

Marco: "Technically impressive that stays true to its tagline to the point of being disturbing!!!"

Even prior to watching this movie, I was sure that it was difficult to write my opinion about it coz I have never been a fan of hyper masculine narratives especially when it involved excessive gore like maiming humans. Hence when the makers announced that this was the most violent Malayalam movie, I was pretty sure what I was getting into but I still decided to give it a try coz of Haneef Adeni, since he knows how to present his heroes in a stylised manner & also because of Unni Mukundan, who I consider as one of the finest when it comes to action. 

As in the case of most of his movies, Haneef has penned the script as well & he has taken the characters of Adattu George (Siddique) and his foster brother, Marco (Unni) from his own "Mikhael", and placed them here, with no other obvious connection with that flick. Apart from Marco, George had a brother named Victor (Ishaan Shoukath), who was blind & things take a turn when the latter gets killed by one of the member in the gold smuggling syndicate, in which George held a prominent position. As expected, Marco vows to unleash hell on whoever were behind his brother's murder.

The first thing that I would like to touch upon are the technical aspects & the production quality, both of which were top notch. Chandru Selvaraj's cinematography was brilliant with Shameer Mohammed's seamless cuts enhancing the impact. To add to that, Ravi Basrur's BGM elevated many such sequences just like how he did in "KGF" & "Salaar". In terms of the story as such, obviously it is a generic revenge story & I dont think it is a negative as long as it is packaged well & the action that unfolds serves purpose to what the story wants to convey. The first half worked reasonably well as the story unfolds with Marco hot on the trails of his brother's murderers. But the latter half failed to make any sense for the level of violence that was unleashed, with the pre-climax sequence in Marco's home being repulsive to say the least. Even from the protagonist's stand point, all those dialogues barely had any significance considering what he eventually ends up with.

Despite the weak writing, there is no doubt that Unni has done an excellent job as he had the swag, style & physicality that the character demanded. I dont think there is any other actor in Malayalam who could have pulled off this character with such impact. One of the few plus points in "Mikhael" was the imposing presence of Siddique as George & over here as well, he was impressive. The choice of Jagadish as the suave schemer was interesting, though it kind of felt like a miscast for me. What do I say about Kabir Duhan Singh? Damn...he literally killed it with his spine chilling performance. Another artist that deserves mention is Abhimanyu Shammi Thilakan who did justice to his role though the dialogue delivery as such right across the board was quite average except for Siddique & Jagadish. 

Verdict: Seemed like the makers were keen on remaining true to their statement that it is the most violent movie in Malayalam & it would be fair to say, that I think it could possibly be 'in India' itself. However, I am shocked at the way, violence is being normalised nowadays in movies (it is a topic for discussion at another instance), with the second half of "Marco" being repulsive for me as it felt like they just had those sequences for the sake of it rather than serve any purpose. In short, taking cue from Tony Issac's dialogue, I appreciate Haneef's stylised execution & Unni's dedicated performance but feel sorry for our brains!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Rifle Club: "Ambada Puluso...Aashiq Abu back with a bang!!!"

Aashiq Abu is a name that has always been in the news for one reason or the other, though it wasn't related to the work that he had done. The last time that kind of a discussion happened was in 2019 when he came out with an ensemble cast for a well crafted "Virus", which is still one of my favourite movie over the past decade. Anyway the wait for yet another impressive work doesn't have to extend any further as he has come out with "Rifle Club", a wholesome entertainer for this Christmas. 

Set in 1991, Mammoookka's "Mrugaya" has been the talk of the town which made the romantic hero, Shajahan (Vineeth Kumar) rethink about his choice of movies. At the insistence of his manager, he decides to spent some time at the 'Rifle Club' in Wayanad to get accustomed to the ways of hunting which was the subject of his next movie. The club was established by Kuzhiveli Lonappan (Vijayaraghavan) along with two of his friends & was presently handled by Avaran (Dileesh Pothan). Around the same time, the son of Dayanand (Anurag Kashyap), an arms dealer based in Mangalore was found dead in a dumpster which leads him to the rifle club as well. What subsequently unfolds in the club as a result of all these events is what this movie is about. 

Even as the focus obviously shifts towards the action sequences in the second half, it is important to create a strong case in the lead up to it with attention being paid to the geography & the dynamics between the extended family members in the club. This was penned sensibly by Syam Pushkaran, Dileesh Karunakaran & Suhas with a smart sprinkling of humour right throughout. It was executed well by Aashiq, who also handled the cinematography giving us a wholesome entertainer in less than 2 h. At the same time, the final act lacked the punch & was quite hurried, failing to cash in on the high that it had created until then. Another major positive was Rex Vijayan whose tracks & BGM was in sync with the mood.

The movie has an ensemble cast & pretty much most of them have done justice to their parts. Though quite a few of them had very limited screen time, almost all of them gets to mouth or showcase some quirks. The standout is undoubtedly Dileesh Pothan who was top notch with Anurag Kashyap also having his moments. Vijayaraghavan rocked as usual while Vishnu Agasthya continues to prove his caliber as an artist. Sooraj aka Hanumankind was an intelligent casting choice & he was damn impressive with the swag. The rest of the cast such as Vani Vishwanath, Suresh Krishna, Unnimaya etc were all fine in their parts. 

Verdict: Certainly Aashiq's best since "Virus" as he provides us with a flick that is also about guns but still keeps the mood quite light & enjoyable till the very end. In short, it is a Wild Wild West set in the Western Ghats. Do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Sookshamadarshini, Hello Mummy, Anand Sreebala, I am Kathalan: "Interesting array of movies in November!!!"

Less than a month left for the year to get over & with some big banner releases lined up for release in December, it was curious to see whether there was any interesting projects prior to it. I happened to watch quite a few flicks over the past weeks & some of them were quite worthwhile. Though there is still indecision regarding the venue for the Champions Trophy, there was no confusion among the audience about the fate of these movies.

Sookshamadarshini: "Smart deception by the makers about what is in store eventually!!!"

There was quite a buzz in the lead up to this latest release from Jithin M.C primarily because it marked the return of Nazriya onto the screen after a hiatus which also had Basil Joseph, who is on a purple patch. The promotions gave the impression that it was a fun flick & that I have to admit was a smart ploy as it kept the audience guessing pretty much for most parts. 

The movie unfolds in a close knot neighbourhood where Manuel (Basil) & his mother, Grace (Manohari Joy) had recently moved into their property after many years. The decision to come back was primarily because Manuel wanted to take care of his mother who had health issues. One of their neighbour was Priya (Nazriya) who had a keen eye for detail, & something about Manuel's demeanour didn't seem quite right to her. Though her husband, Antony (Deepak Parambol) tried to dissuade her from putting too much of thought into it, her investigative instincts got the better of her & she decided to dig into it further after roping in the support of her friends. So was Manuel actually up to something???

This is Jithin's second directorial venture after "Nonsense" & he has penned the script with Athul Ramachandran and Libin T.B working on the screenplay. The strength of the movie is undoubtedly the screenplay as it kept us engaged by indicating that there is certainly something mysterious and along with Priya, we also go about trying to piece the puzzle together. At the same time, with humour also sprinkled liberally, we are distracted from working through the reason for the mystery until it reaches the very end & we are left a tad surprised by what is revealed (I certainly was). Christo Xavier's BGM was impressive as it provided heft to the suspense while Chaman Chakko deserves praise for the seamless edits.

Basil continues to shine in whichever role he appears & it is no different here as well as it involved balancing the seriousness with the humour which he has done well. Nazriya has done a fine job as well especially in the latter half with Akhila Bhargavan & Pooja Mohanraj giving her able support (the duo's sequence in Manuel's house was top notch), while Merin Philip was also ok, though her role didn't have much note worthy moments despite the screen time. As for the rest of the cast, Manohari Joy's role was quite unconventional, the decision to cast Siddharth Bharathan was damn smart while Deepak Parambol, Kottayam Ravi etc did their parts aptly. 

Verdict: Undoubtedly, one of the best movies of the year & kudos to Jithin for his deception and execution. Do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Hello Mummy: "Interesting premise that failed to punch its weight the whole way through!!!"

If we look into this year's major Bollywood box office successes, one thing that stands out is the fact that the audience had warmed to the horror comedy genre with flicks like "Stree 2" & "Bhool Bhulaiya 3" laughing their way to the bank. It may or may not have been a cue for Vaishakh Elans, who made his directorial debut in this genre with the script penned by Sanjo Joseph. 

Boney (Sharafudeen) hailed from an affluent family who was not keen on a marital relation as he felt that it would be an inconvenience to the freedom that he enjoyed as a bachelor. However, when his brother-in-law brings the alliance of Stephy (Aishwarya Lekshmi), who was academically inclined unlike him, he has a change of heart. In due time, they warm up to each other but there was one major issue & that was the spirit of Stephy's mother being with her even though she had passed away more than a couple of decades back. But Boney assured her that he would still like to tie the knot with her (as he did not believe what she said). Little did he realise that it was indeed true. 

It was certainly an interesting thread & Vaishakh made sure that the humour angle was fleshed out especially in the post marital segment. But the last act goes down a predictable route of black magic & the drama which was not quite to the mark though I felt that the choice of antagonist was good. Vaishakh could have amped up the horror aspect over there to make it impactful but unfortunately it was quite watered down. Chaman's edits in his second release of the week was decent while the VFX and Praveen Kumar's visuals were impressive right throughout and in sync with the mood.

There is no doubt that the movie worked for a large extent due to the choice of Sharafudeen as the antagonist who was top notch in the manner that he handled humour. The veterans in the form of Jagadish & Johny Antony gave credible support while Aishwarya was average at best. Sunny Hinduja did justice in his role and was an excellent choice, though his role wasn't adequately explored. As for the rest of the cast, Bindu Panicker, Aju Varghese etc did their parts aptly though their roles required better writing. 

Verdict: It certainly provides the laughs and did have an interesting thread to narrate, though it takes a familiar track towards the end. Despite the predictability, it doesn't test our patience unlike many of the other horror comedies that we usually come across!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Anand Sreebala: "Vishnu shows promise in his debut directorial venture!!!"

Just like "Hello Mummy", this is another movie in which the mother plays a prominent role in the form of a spirit or rather the figment of imagination of the protagonist. The movie is the directorial debut of Vishnu Vinay, the son of the veteran director Vinayan & he had joined hands with Abhilash Pillai who had written the story which was undoubtedly inspired from the 2017 Mishel Shaji case. 

Yet another person was reported missing & this time around it was Merin Joy (Malavika Manoj) whose whereabouts couldn't be traced by her frantic parents. They sought the help of the police & it eventually led to locating her dead which was concluded as a suicide, that the parents refused to believe. A few months later, Sreebala (Aparna Das), a TV journalist decided to take up this case as part of her crime file show and sought the help of her boyfriend, Anand (Arjun Ashokan) who was an aspiring police officer. Soon enough, he finds loopholes in the investigation & raised queries about it. So what had made him to believe that it was a murder???

The idea of having the mother as a presence around Anand was interesting & how it helped him put together some of the clues was intriguing. But it isn't explored much apart from the initial flourish and what we get to see is that character pop in and out for no particular reason. The investigation showcased was pretty decent & Vishnu's direction did indicate that he is not a green horn at it. On the whole, I felt the story was ok but it doesn't provide anything in terms of unique twists or turns. The technical aspects were handled well be it Vishnu Narayanan's cinematography, Kiran Das's editing & Ranjin Raj's music.

Even though the writing could have been better for the characters, the artists who performed those roles had done their parts quite well. It starts off with Arjun Ashokan who deserves praise for his work as the talented investigator that had emotional issues. Saiju Kurup did his part well along with Malavika Manoj while the rest of the cast such as Aparna Das, Siddique etc did their parts aptly.

Verdict: A pretty decent effort from a debutant director as well as from the cast who are led down to a large extent by the screenplay which lacked the drama to elevate the viewing experience. 

Rating: 2/5

I am Kathalan: "An engaging flick on hacking!!!"

As part of the promotions, Girish A D had mentioned that this flick was completed more than a couple of years back but couldn't be released due to some financial issues. So much so, it was supposed to be the first movie to have Naslen as the lead but ended up releasing much later, by which time he has made himself an bankable star at the box office. 

Vishnu (Naslen) is introduced as one who is least bothered about his career with quite a few supple papers though he was worried that he risked losing his girlfriend, Shilpa (Anishma Anilkumar) if he didn't get a job. On the other hand, Shilpa decided to move ahead with her career by joining as the IT lead in her father's finance company. She was far from impressed with his irresponsible attitude & suggests that it is better off for both of them to put an end to their relationship. It was a decision that Vishnu was not willing to accept & when her father insults him when they cross paths, he vows to wreck havoc with his hacking skills. 

More often than not, most Indian movies fail when they deal with such kind of techno thrillers as they either make it over the top with a lot of unnecessary jargons of which they neither have much idea nor able to convey properly. This is where Sajin Cherukayil has played his cards well as the story is grounded and the technical stuff that Vishnu deals with is explained in an understandable manner. Another interesting aspect is the casting of Lijomol Jose as an ethical hacker, though I felt her portions required more detailing. The reaction of the protagonist to the humiliation that he faced & the things that he did as a response of that was effectively handled by Girish. Among the technical crew, Akash Joseph's editing was fine while the others also put in their effort.

Coming to performances, Naslen has done a fine job along with Anishma and Lijomol. Dileesh Pothen was effective while the usual troupe of artists in Girish's movies such as Vineeth Vasudevan, Sajin & Vineeth Viswam did their parts aptly.

Verdict: A sensible flick on hacking that is grounded and relatable. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Lucky Baskhar & Amaran: "Praise worthy performances complements the impressive directorial efforts!!!"

About a fortnight back a sense of gloom & frustration swept across Wankhede as the Kiwis clean swept the series with consummate ease. However, there was no dearth in Diwali celebrations in the theatres with big banner releases in many states. Two such releases happened to be Venky Atluri's "Lucky Bhaskar" & Rajkumar Periasamy's "Amaran" & both of them turned out to be an enjoyable experience. So what were those movies about & what made it endearing???

Lucky Baskhar: "Telugu movies continues to be lucky for DQ!!!"

After the debacle of "King of Kotha", there has been hardly any releases from Dulquer except for a cameo in "Kalki 2898 AD". Anyway he is back with his next big release in the company of Venky Atluri who had penned the script as well with the focus being the life of a middle class man employed in the banking sector. Baskhar (DQ) was a bank cashier who did his work honestly & earnestly making him a much sought after person both among his colleagues & customers. However, he struggled to make ends meet & took loans to sustain the needs of his family. But his financial situation failed to improve & he opted for means that resulted in quick bucks. This was just the beginning as he started to take bigger risks & the question was whether he would be able to prevent himself from getting burned by his greed.

In terms of the theme, Venky has taken a leaf out of impressive web series like "Scam 1992" & movies like "The Big Bull" and developed it. He has crafted it well with the technical aspects also executed quite well. It is the type of story where we root for the protagonist who is the underdog despite being aware that he also possesses ample shades of grey. In the first half, the focus shows the struggles of the middle class man & later on, it is about his urge to make a change to the financial health of his life even at the cost of losing his morals. The audience is kept engaged with the proceedings even as Venky doesnt try to confuse us with difficult banking jagrons. The art team has done a fantastic job in recreating the period while GV Prakash comes up with impressive BGM. Similarly, Naveen Nooli's editing was fine while Nimish Ravi's cinematography also deserves praise.

DQ is the heart & soul of the movie and he has done an excellent job as the protagonist. It was a character that required to be both charming & yet shrewd enough to pull the strings and he was an apt choice for that. Meenakshi Chaudhary has done her part aptly and provided ample support to DQ's character along with the rest of the cast.

Verdict: It's been quite a while since we have a movie that doesnt have bloodshed & that itself was a huge relief. In all probability, it should work at the box office & continue DQ's purple patch in Tollywood. The movie as such was fine & is worth a watch!!!

Rating: 3/5

Amaran: "Among some of the best biographies to date!!!"

Even before going into the details, I would confidently say that this is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year & among the best to have released when it came to biographies. Based on Shiv Aroor & Rahul Singh's 'India's Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military', it is the biography of Major Mukund Varadarajan & is helmed by Rajkumar Periasamy who had worked on the screenplay along with Stefan Ritcher. 

The movie takes us through Major Mukund's (Siva Karthikeyan) through the last decade of personal & professional career which begins with his college life where he meets Indhu (Sai Pallavi) & also takes the decision to join the Armed Forces. As Indhu was from a different faith & religion, there were some objections from their families early on, but in due time they warmed up to their relation. At the same time, Mukund steadily made a name for himself in the forces for his selfless nature & valour.

At first, it would sound like the standard template of most biographies but what made it unique was the manner in which Rajkumar had picturised Mukund's professional life by keeping it grounded rather than portraying chest thumping jingoism or painting with evident political undertones. The warmth of the relationship between Mukund and Indhu could be felt and the main reason for that was the performances. The technical aspects were neatly done especially the action choreography by Stephen Richter & CH Sai's visuals.

As mentioned above, the main strongpoint of this movie were the performances and all of them have done justice to their roles. Sai Pallavi is undoubtedly one of the finest artists that we have in the country & her performance as Indhu was a testament of her caliber. In all likelihood, she will be a strong contender for the best performer even in the Nationals (though her diction was quite problematic especially when you are showing her as a Malayali). SK has been going from strength to strength with his choice of movies and performances and over here, he has truly impressed with his act. The rest of the cast such as Geetha (as Mukund's mom), Bhuvan Arora (as Vikram) Rahul Bose, Shyamaprasad etc have done their parts well.

Verdict: Certainly an engaging biopic that gets elevated primarily coz of the performances. Do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Pani: "Apt casting & neat execution proves that Joju knows his pani!!!"

For any aspiring artist, Joju George is a name that is bound to inspire them to reach for their dreams. From a junior artist who was one among the crowd to emerging as one of the most talented actor in the industry is no mean task & it is a testament to his hard work, passion & unwavering belief in his ability. Hence when he had announced that he was venturing into direction, it had created headlines for obvious reasons. Finally after more than a year into its making, the movie have hit the screens & to be honest, it was certainly a credible effort.

Giri (Joju George) & his buddies were the main players in the Thrissur mafia syndicate who stuck with each other through thick & thin, so much so they were literally a big family. The movie unfolds with two youngsters, Don (Sagar Surya) & Siju (Juniaz) who worked as mechanics make an entry into contract killing with a murder right in the middle of the city. Soon enough, they cross paths with Giri who beats them up for misbehaving with his wife. This sets off a series of events which literally puts the city into high alert. 

Apart from calling the shots, Joju has also penned the script which had the template of a typical cat & mouse revenge action drama. Even as the story was quite normal, what made it truly unique was the attention that he had given to each main character & the emotional equations involved between them. So much so, we absolutely detest the antagonists & root for the opposite side to have their vengeance. The manner in which Joju has executed the whole thing gives it the feel of Joshy's directorial style. The technical aspects were top notch be it Venu & Jinto George's cinematography, Manu Antony's excellent cuts which made the action sequences thrilling & music by Vishnu Vijay, Sam CS & Santhosh Narayanan that blended well with the mood. 

Kudos to Joju's choice of artists was a mix of freshers & known faces and his selection was spot on as most of them did complete justice to their roles. The best among them is undoubtedly the brilliant performance showcased by Sagar & Junaiz who were so convincing in their body language & expression that it was literally hard not to hate them. Joju as usual was top notch along with Abhaya Hiranmayi and ably supported by Bobby Kurian, Seema, Prasanth Alexander etc. 

Verdict: The USP of the movie is undoubtedly Sagar & Juniaz who has given exceptional performances. It also proves Joju's ability as a film maker who gives an engaging flick which was technically well executed. Do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Bougainvillea: "An engaging psycho-thriller with an underwhelming climax!!!"

Whenever I hear about 'bougainvillea' the first visual that flashes through my mind is the numerous bougainvillae that we had in my school, Infant Jesus Thangassery. I still remember the day when one of its thorns pierced into my scalp when I was playing around it with my friends. These memories came back to me when I read that Amal Neerad's latest flick also had the same name. As a movie buff, I have been a fan of his film making skills ever since he burst into the industry with the stylish "Big B".

Based on Lajo Jose's "Ruthinte Lokam", the focus is on the couple, Reethu (Jyothirmayi) & her husband, Dr. Royce (Chackochan) who met with an accident eight years back. As a result of that, Reethu was diagnosed with retrograde amnesia though Royce made sure he took utmost care of her to ensure that they led a happy and contented life along with their two kids. Things take a turn when ACP David Koshy (Fahadh Faasil) turned up at their doorsteps as Reethu was the prime suspect in the disappearance of a minister's daughter. So was she actually involved & it seemed all the more trickier for both the parties involved to prove their point considering her medical condition.

As I haven't read Lajo's book, I had no clue as to what the story was about prior to watching it though I presumed it would be as close an adaptation as possible as he had worked on the script along with Amal. The film takes its sweet time in establishing the characters & their routines and that is essentially what wewitness in the first half. The mood & ambience is set & the mystery and intrigue is slowly yet steadily taken up by notches with each passing minute. However, in the process of this engaging build up, a couple of pointers is given to the audience which kind of drastically reduced (atleast for quite a few) the impact of the surprise element in the latter half. So much so, the back story segment, the menacing nature of the character failed to provide the sucker punch that was expected & in a way, some of the elements that Amal had used in the climax sequence reminded me of "Varathan".

At the same time, as expected from a Amal Neerad movie, it was technically well executed. The choice of location was apt and the technical team has done complete justice to all the aspects involved. This includes Anand Chandran's fantastic frames & Sushin Shyam's BGM and music as well as Vivek Harshan's editing. It's been more than a decade since Jyothirmayi have made an appearance on the big screen & she more than made up for that absence with a brilliant performance as Reethu. It was a character that demanded her to be emotionally frail & unpredictable and she was spot on. Chackochan did a fine job as well in a role that gave him ample scope to perform though I still felt that it could have been written a bit more better while Srinda provided able support. Veena Nandakumar was just about ok as her dialogue delivery could have been better. However, I fail to understand as to why the makers wanted Fahadh for this role except for attracting more footfalls to the theatres. It was an insignificant role that barely had anything for him to do & the same also goes to Sharafudeen, who was equally wasted. 

Verdict: Coming on the back of "Kishkindha Kaandam", it also had a well constructed build-up but unlike the former it had quite an underwhelming climax. On the technical side, it was well made with fine performances from Jyothirmayi & Chackochan. In short, you can give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben