Patriot: "Technically impressive with an underwhelming latter half!!!"

Finally, the eagerly awaited "Patriot" has hit the screens around the globe with the audience hoping to feast their eyes on the collaboration of our legends as soon as possible. As a Malayali, Mammookka & Lalettan has been the pride of our land & nation, with sensational performances & they continue to rule the roost even after four decades across generations. Hence seeing them share screen space after 18 years is indeed an occasion & I was curious to see as to whether Mahesh Narayanan handled them sensibly or felt obliged to do fan service???

From the first scene itself, Mahesh puts us bang into the middle of the central plot where it is revealed that 'Patriot', a surveillance software that the government had meant for national security was instead being used against its own citizens. The men behind this unscrupulous act was the political heavyweight, J P Sundaram (Rajiv Menon) & his son, Shakti (Fahadh Faasil), with the former having licensed it to the private company that was headed by the latter. Minister Nalini Ramakrishnan (Revathi) gets wind of this & summons, Dr Daniel James (Mammookka), scientific advisor at DRW who was instrumental in the creation of the 'Patriot', to take toll of the situation. However, even before Daniel could make significant inroads into the issue, he gets branded a traitor & is forced to flee. Subsequently, it is about the tug of war between both sides with each one hoping to inflict a thumping blow on the other. 

It is one of those movies where the trailer pretty much gives us an idea as to what is the main plot & we are able to make an assumption as to how the dots might be connected. This leaves the director in a tough situation since he needs to make sure that his creation is still able to keep the audience engaged. Well to be honest, Mahesh has managed to do that for large parts. Anyway, coming to the theme, the software in question has an uncanny resemblance to the Israel developed Pegasus spyware & most of us would have already seen movies from Hollywood or other industries, like "Irumbu Thirai" that dealt with surveillance & data breach. 

As Mammookka & Mahesh had repeatedly mentioned in the promotions, it is a content driven grounded flick & not a mass masala that celebrates star worship. It is essentially a slow burner which could be classified as a cross between socio-political drama and espionage thriller. The first half sets the stage impressively but the latter half fails to sustain that momentum & that is where it comes across as quite underwhelming. It meanders at a sluggish pace at times as the screenplay fails to keep us emotionally invested & even if the intention was to not make both the legends super-human, there were still ample opportunities to create that high, which he failed to capitalise. 

On the technical side, it was exquisitely executed as the production quality was of international standards. The frames were top notch & Manush Nandan deserves applause for his efforts. It's been a while since we heard from Sushin Shyam & he made up for his absence with excellent BGM. At the same time, I felt there were certain instances where silence rather than adding gravitas to the scene pulled it down. Kudos to the action choreographers as all of them were neatly done with Mahesh & Rahul Radhakrishnan doing a fine editing job though the way some of the sequences concluded felt rather abrupt. 

Coming to performances, Mammookka was fantastic as the protagonist as he pulled it off with utmost ease. Similarly, Lalettan provided the gravitas to the extended cameo role & the real life camaraderie and affection that both the legends have for each other shone through in the brief moments that they shared (such as the hospital & car scene). Rajiv Menon was impressive with Chackochan providing adequate support along with Indrans & Shaheen Siddique who did their parts aptly. At the same time, Fahadh was ok as his role certainly suffered from lack of better characterization as it was quite one dimensional after a point of time. As for the ladies, Revathi was top notch in her brief role, Zarina Shihab deserves praise though she barely had anything to do after the airport sequence, Darshana warrants applause while Nayanthara & Grace Antony was wasted.

Verdict: Kudos to Anto Joseph & his team for the production quality & hopefully it does well at the box office, as significant returns for this will encourage others to invest in similar huge projects. In terms of the content & technical aspects, Mahesh has done a praise worthy job as he made sure that the legends were there as fleshed out characters rather than mass masala props. At the same time, the screenplay in the latter half required much better work as the lack of flow between certain sequences & inability/reluctance to dial up the high moments proving to be the bane, with the climax turning out to quite tame. There is no doubt that it is still a quality movie that deserves to be watched & & that too with the awareness that it is not a fanboy movie!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Aadu 3 & Sambhavam Adhyayam Onnu: "Contrasting fortunes at the box office!!!"

Among the flicks that had released in March, Midhun Manuel Thomas's "Aadu 3" was the one that had gone to become a blockbuster. There were a couple of others that I had watched as well & though they were average, I still would have to admit that I was surprised at the manner in which the former had such an impressive run at the box office. So how did these films turn out to be for me???

Aadu 3: "Certainly the weakest in the franchise!!!"

Almost a decade has passed since the first installment of the "Aadu" series has released & the one aspect that I loved about the franchise were the iconic tunes that were given for each of the main characters. There is no doubt that Friday Film House needs to be applauded for their belief in the potential of a sequel even after the failure of the first part. Anyway, it has now reached the third part & has gone on to become of the biggest Malayalam hit ever. 

Unlike the previous parts, Midhun has set the story in three different timelines with a run time that runs close to 3 hours. It is 2370 and Earth is ruled by a totalitarian regime called 'The Organization' who are in search of 'Stardust', a celestial substance which would give them limitless power to continue their reign. At the same time, there was a resistance movement led by Baba (Indrans) who sets plans in motion to make sure that the former don't get their hands on the substance. That essentially meant interfering with the timeline of the past i.e. the 18th century as the Stardust was in the possession of Maharaja Padmanabhan Thampuran (Jayasurya). Incidentally, the news of the material had reached the ears of Sultan Azam Khan (Vinayakan), Tipu Sultan's general & Cassandra (Alleya Bourne), a British treasure hunter and both of them wanted it. Whether Padmanabhan manage to keep it safe & how it has an impact on the other timelines is what the movie is about. 

The USP of this franchise were the character quirks & their intro music, which was a perfect compliment to the goofiness shown by the characters. Among the three, the second part was the one that I enjoyed the most as it ticked all the boxes that was expected from an action comedy. Coming to this part, the initial segment felt like a spoof of "Lingaa" & most of the humour just didn't work for me. The overall idea seemed reasonable but the execution left a lot to be desired. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention. As for the performances, Jayasurya has done justice to his part along with Vinayakan both of whom were spot on with the characters. Saiju Kurup was fine along with Indrans & Vijay while the rest of the cast were ok with Dharmajan being quite irritating at times (as in the prequel).

Verdict: It has already gone on to become a profitable venture for the makers which is indeed heartening. However, personally, it was the weakest flick in the franchise which tested my patience at various junctures!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Sambhavam Adhyayam Onnu: "Interesting thought & execution that could have benefitted more with better performances!!!"

This is a movie that I watched much after it released due to positive word of mouth that I came across in social media. Hence I decided to check out this flick which happened to be the directorial debut of Jithu Satheeshan Mangalathu, who had also penned the script. Just a couple of minutes into the movie & it reminded me of Lijo Jose's "Churuli" for some reason. Soon enough, it became evident that Jithu had come up with an interesting premise.

The opening sequence is set in a dense forest & from a bygone era where a lady along with her aides were disposing of two bodies. An eerie environment is created & the audience is introduced to Anand (Askar Ali), a CPO who was transferred to the Kerala-TN border as a punishment. Soon enough, mysterious events start to unfold & he struggles to make sense of it raising questions as to whether he will be able to see his family again. 

Though I am pretty sure that most of you would be aware of the concept that Jithu has tackled over here, I am not going to play spoilsport & reveal it for the benefit of those who havent watched it yet. Apparently, it is an extended version of his short film "Sambhavam", which I havent watched. Anyway Jithu definitely deserve applause for his thought (though we have seen similar themes in the West) & the way he has executed it. The intrigue & thrill are maintained for most parts especially in the first half, though it had a sluggish feel towards the end with quite a few repetitive scenes. The technical team composed of Naveen Najose who handled the cinematography & the sound department deserves praise for creating the apt mood that the movie demanded.

Even as the subject & the technical aspects has impressed, Jithu ought to have been more judicious when it came to his casting choices. Askar was average at best as he failed to convey the gravitas of the situation when the issue is revealed, Vineeth was fine as the temperamental police office but the emotional sequences didnt quite work out while Assim Jamal's performance lacked consistency. Among the ones that I felt were fine was the Tamil actor who played the role of Stephen, Senthil Krishna & Siddharth Bharathan. As for the rest of the cast, it was quite uneven.

Verdict: Jithu has shown his caliber in penning an interesting ploy & executing it convincingly, within the constrains of the budget. Anyway wish the performances could have done justice to the script, but still do give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Prathichaya & Vaazha 2: "Easter releases brings in the audience!!!"

It's been a rather hectic couple of months both personally & professionally due to which I haven't been able to put in as much time as I would have liked on my blog. However, that doesn't mean that I have missed out much on the movies that released during that time. Even though I have some pending stuff to pen, I thought to utilise this post to mention about what I felt about two of the Easter releases. 

Prathichaya: "Visuals & BGM provides the illusion in an otherwise shallow storyline!!!"

After a couple of weeks of hectic campaigning where political parties were seen to cross all lines of decency & decorum, the elections in our state finally took place last week. Hoping to cash in on the election fever, B Unnikrishnan released his political drama that did see certain real events being taken as reference for his fictionalised creation. 

Varghese (Balachandra Menon) was a seasoned grey shaded politician who had been the CM of the state for quite a while despite corruption allegations. His ability to emerge unscathed from all sticky situations was well known among the political circles while he was empathetic to the needy as well. However, things takes a turn when allegations of a sex scandal was made against him. It mentally broke him & that is when his son, John (Nivin Pauly), a technocrat steps in determined to clear the taint in his father's image. 

Apart from calling the shots, Unnikrishnan has also penned the script & to be honest, it felt way too shallow. The manner in which it was build up seemed to imply that there was substance in what he wanted to convey. However, it seemed like he thought that a couple of fancy gimmicks & the antagonist strutting around in stylish clothes, would make the audience believe that something worthwhile was being shown. In effect, the core thought to the plot i.e. the influence of corporate and media on politics and how public perception could be twisted according to the specific needs of such organization had heft to it. But the execution left a lot to be desired with the second half being quite lame after a decent first half. On the technical side, Justin Varghese & Chandru Selvaraj did justice to their crafts as both the BGM and visuals does manage to elevate some scenes that would have struggled if not. 

It's been a while since we have seen Balachandra Menon in a prominent role & he has done an impressive job as expected from a person of his calibre. Nivin Pauly was average at best with no zero chemistry with his pair, Neethu Krishna who by the way was fine along with Sabitha Anand. Sharafudeen was wasted in a one dimensional role that could be best classified as a cameo while the rest of the cast such as Harisree Ashokan (really struggled to portray the villiany), Saikumar, Nishant Sagar etc were ok. 

Verdict: It was a case of all show and technical gimmicks with hardly any substantial content to justify the 2.5 h run time!!!

Rating: 2/5

Vaazha 2: "Works better than the prequel from an emotional angle!!!"

A plethora of sequels has released over the past few years & that includes this year as well. The latest to be added to that list is "Vaazha 2" which has been helmed by Savin SA in his directorial debut. As in the prequel, the script has been penned by Vipin Das where the focus is yet again on a group of friends, their bond and the struggles that they go through as they face the realities of life. 

This time around the focus is on Hashir, Alan, Ajin & Vinayak, with a similar template being followed. From a humour perspective, I would say I enjoyed the prequel more as this one had a couple of portions that overdoes it, to the point that it became irritating like the theatre sequence. At the same time, the emotional segment, the issues youngsters face, their urge for greener pastures abroad and the manner in which relevant questions are raised against the ones who blame the youngsters for anything going amiss, were executed really well. The technical department has done a decent job with the music team deserving special mention as it blended well with the story. 

Each of the youngsters have done a decent job with all of them shining through in some portion or the other. Biju Kuttan & Alphonse Puthren stood out with their performances while Aju Varghese, Vijay Babu etc. were also fine.

Verdict: Glad to see that it has attracted a huge number of footfalls. I wouldn't say that it wowed me, but it was certainly entertaining & worth a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Pennu Case, Baby Girl, Chatha Pacha: "Interesting start to the New Year!!!"

Even before we have warmed up to the New Year, the first month has just flown by. Over the course of this month, there has been quite a few news that did gladden the heart with the main being Mammookka finally honoured with the 'Padma Bhushan'. A deserving honour indeed for one of the doyens of Indian Cinema. Coming to releases, I happened to catch a couple of flicks in other languages such as "Border 2" & "Mardani 3" both of which were ok, "Parasakthi" failed to rise to expectations (except for the meme created by a DMK politician) & "The Raja Saab" made sure that it set a high benchmark for the most pathetic flick of the year. So how did our Malayalam flicks fare???

Pennu Case: "Lack of a credible screenplay reduces it to an average con flick!!!"

This was among the first few releases of the year & the trailer as such did seem promising with Febin Sidharth making his directorial debut. The basis thread for his story was about a female who indulged in marriage fraud. He was also assisted in the writing by Jyothish M while the screenplay was worked upon by Ganesh Malayath, Reshmi Radhakrishnan & V Sunu. It certainly sounded like an interesting thought but unfortunately the same cant be said about its execution.

The film commences with Bindhu (Nikhila Vimal) being taken into custody on the eve of her marriage with Subhash (Aju Varghese). The reason for the arrest were the complaints made by few men who claimed that she had duped them into marriage and slipped away with their valuables. The case was entrusted to CI Jacob (Hakim Shahjahan) who along with him team soon finds out that there was truth in their claims & that her actual name was 'Rohini'. So it seemed like an 'open & shut' case or was it???

Even as the audience is told that the protagonist has committed the alleged fraud across the length & breadth of Karnataka & Kerala, there is no actual depiction of what she had actually done except for one incident. The promos seemed to imply that it was a fun flick but barring a couple of laughs, it failed to create genuine humour. From a subject point of view, it was more or less similar to the Hotstar web series, 'Nagendran's Honeymoons' which was directed by Nithin Renji Panicker. However it failed to explore the various situations like Nithin's series & that is where I felt this was quite underwhelming. To be honest, half way into the movie I had a feeling that the climax might be inspired from a classic Hollywood flick  & it turned out to be just that. 

Prior to watching, I actually thought that Nikhila had a meaty opportunity as she would be playing variations of different characters. But in the movie, apart from showing her in different attires, we actually dont get to see her con people. At the same time, she has done a fine job in the emotional portions. Hakkim was fine along with Shivajith while the rest of the artists including Aju didn't create any impact.

Verdict: It had potential in its thread, but the lack of a credible screenplay significantly reduced its effect!!!

Rating: 2/5  

Baby Girl: "Bobby-Sanjay struggles to discover their form!!!"

This was one movie that many would have eagerly looked forward to for a couple of obvious reasons. The main being the presence of Bobby-Sanjay who had penned the script & with Listin Stephen bankrolling the project, it gave us memories of "Traffic". With Nivin Pauly finally having struck gold at the box office, the question was whether that would rub off on the others involved in the project???

It is the second directorial venture of Arun Varma after "Garudan", he hooks the audience into the plot from the first scene itself. The movie unfolds in the Good Shepherd Hospital in Trivandrum where a new born had gone missing. Even as the police are called in, they didn't have any leads until Sanal (Nivin), an attendant voices his suspicions about a possible abductor. The rest of the movie is about the search for the infant & the effect that it had on the people impacted by the incident. 

As mentioned earlier, Bobby-Sanjay gets us invested in the story from the beginning itself & it had a template similar to "Traffic" where there are a couple of parallel tracks. However, they fail to sustain the tempo and that is evident in the latter half where except for some of the emotional sequences that involved Lijomol, the rest of it was quite average. The thrills that Arun tried to create only worked occasionally & even the technical team failed to add anything onto it.

On the performance front, for some reason Nivin came across as quite average & at times, even disinterested. The standout performer was undoubtedly Lijomol who was impressive, with Sangeeth Prathap providing adequate support. Abhimanyu had the figure & attitude needed for his role, but his dialogue delivery still needed work. Another artist that deserves a mention is the girl who essayed the role of the infant's mother. The rest of the artists such as Jaffer Idukki, Azees Nedumangad, Nisha Sarangh did their parts aptly.

Verdict: Just like Sanju Samson has struggled to find form, Bobby-Sanjay is going through the same phase & will be hoping that they rediscover their magic in the next flick. As audience, even we are also eagerly waiting for that!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Chatha Pacha: "Captured the wrestling vibe but the rest falters!!!"

How many of you are/were fans of WWE? Well I am one of them & I would guess most of us who spent their school days in the 90s would belong to the same category. I still vividly remember the WWE trump cards that I used to play with & how eagerly I used to wait for RAW and Smackdown every week. So much so, Undertaker, Hitman, Stone Cold etc., were superstars that we used to regularly discuss. Hence when Advaith Nayar announced his debut directorial venture on this subject, many of us were keen to check it out. 

Apart from calling the shots, Advaith had also penned the script with Sanoop Thykoodam working on the screenplay. The story is about three friends, Loco (Arjun Ashokan), Vetri (Roshan Mathew) & Little (Ishan Shoukath)  who grew up together under the guardianship of the wrestler, Walter. However, certain events led to their separation with Little moving to the North. In the present day, Little came back to Fort Kochi to reunite with his buddies and also set up a WWE type of event in their locality which was the dream of Walter. 

So did the story had me invested in it? To be honest, the answer is 'no'. At the same time, the technical crew did their tasks well. This includes Shankar-Ehsan-Loy's music with the main highlight being the action choreography which was well executed. Anend Chandran also deserves applause for the visuals and the tight cuts by Praveen Prabhakar. However, all of this comes together only when the fights takes place & that's exactly where the issue lies. Apart from the fights, there is hardly anything in it with the so called story being rather weak & the characters poorly etched. The prime example for that is Mammookka's character which was narrated as being 'larger than life' but was presented in a pathetic manner & failed to produce any punch. 

Coming to performances, Arjun has given an earnest performance, with Roshan & Vishak providing adequate support while Ishan was average. A special word of mention for Vedhika Sreekumar as Rosamma who was impressive. The rest of the artists such as Carma (as Kuruvi) & the other members of the wrestling gang also did their parts aptly. Coming to senior artists, Mammookka was wasted in a senseless role along with Sai Kumar. 

Verdict: Except for the well choreographed wrestling sequences, hardly anything else works!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Bha Bha Ba, Haal, Mindiyum Paranjum & Ithiri Neram: "Mixed end to 2025!!!"

Apart from "Sarvam Maya", there were a handful of other flicks that released in December hoping to cash in on the holiday season. Well I dont know what others might have thought about them, but most of them failed to keep me invested in it. So was it the same for you as well???

Bha Bha Ba: "As feared, made a mockery of the devotion & respect that fans have!!!"

2026 was a fantastic year for Lalettan as the legend rocked at the box office & was deservedly honoured with the Dada Saheb Phalke award. However, things took a drastic turn towards the end of the year courtesy of "Vrushabha" (I dont think, I would want to write about it) & "Bha Bha Ba". The latter marked the directorial debut of Dhananjay Shankar with the story penned by Fahim Safar & Noorin Shereef (did they actually write anything??). 

Well the makers had taken anticipatory bail prior to the release with statements that the movie had no logic but just madness. Even with these in mind, I decided to give it a try primarily because of Lalettan's presence. The story is essentially about CM C K Joseph (Baiju Santhosh) being kidnapped by a person who addressed himself as 'The Commoner' (Dileep) from a public event right under the nose of the former's supporters & security personnel. So what was the reason for this kidnap???

There is an effort to make the flick look grand but there is precious little that it could achieve especially with the writing (or rather the lack of it) being mediocre to say the least. The screenplay failed to evoke any sense of engagement or excitement that was expected from a spoof flick and ended up being a pain to the eyes and ears for most of the time. None of the technical aspects stood out & hence I don't think there is any name worth mentioning. 

On the performance front, Dileep was average at best with Vineeth Sreenivasan doing a decent job along with Baiju. Lalettan was wasted in a worthless cameo, Dhyan was ok while Sandy made a mess of the mileage that he got in "Lokah" (hope he doesn't make the same mistake as Guru Somasundaram). There were a plethora of other artists as well who barely mattered. 

Verdict: I cant even understand why Gokulam Gopalan wasted a ton of money on this mediocre stuff where he even made a mockery of himself. In short, don't bother!!!

Rating: 1/5

Haal: "Relevant theme that lacked gravitas in execution!!!

Even prior to the release this was in the news as the CBFC demanded multiple cuts because of the sensitive religious content it was dealing with. This was not the first time that Shane Nigam was part of a project where the focus was on societal pressure due to relationship between two individuals belonging to different communities. The first time was in "Kismath" while over here, 'Love Jihad' was supposed to be the main focal point of the plot.

Set in Kozhikode, Asif Beeran aka Azbee (Shane) aspired to be a rapper & did quite a few small shows in and around his place. One such show was at a wedding where he meets Maria (Sakshi Vaidya) & soon enough, he falls for her. Eventually he expresses his feelings, only to know that her family had already fixed her alliance. However, she reciprocated the feelings though both their families were against the relationship as they belonged to different communities. 

Veeraa is his directorial debut had joined hands with Nishad Koya who had penned the script. The first half for most parts has that typical romance template that doesn't offer anything unique. Subsequently, it deals with the topic of inter-religion marriages, religious conversions and the issues that at times are associated with it. Except for a couple of sequences, I don't think the makers had much clue as to how to deal with the topic which was quite evident in the courtroom scene where it was shown as a walk in the park. The technical aspects were decently done such as Nandagopan's music.

Coming to performances, Shane has done his part well while Sakshi looked good on screen but her inexperience in acting skills shone through. Johny Antony was fine while the rest of the cast were ok as well though they didnt have much to do. 

Verdict: The impression that it gave half way through was that it would dive into the core subject. However, it just skimmed the surface & some of the sequences appeared like a satire further diluting the importance. In short, it is passable at best!!!

Rating: 2/5

Mindiyum Paranjum: "Characters speak the whole time but it fails to hook the audience!!!"

O Henry's 'The Gift of the Magi;" is a short story that needs no introduction as it has been around for more than a century & read by millions. So much so, it has inspired numerous adaptations including Rituparno Ghosh's "Raincoat". The latest adaptation is from our industry as Arun Bose has co-written it with Mridul George & helmed the project which had Aparna Balamurali & Unni Mukundan as the lead pair. 

In terms of the story, there isn't much to explain as Sanal (Unni) & Leena (Aparna) has been married for a couple of years with the former based in the Middle East trying to get his business venture off the ground. In between, Sanal decided to head back home for a quick visit & what this movie captures is essentially the romantic conversations between the husband and wife. This gives us glimpses of their relationship, family dynamics and how it grew over time. 

There is no doubt that both the artists has give an earnest performance & kudos to both of them for that. However, the writing was quite average as it failed to engage the audience beyond a period of time. The situations that the couple go through over the course of their relationship does not provide anything that we haven't seen in the past nor was there any uniqueness in the way it was executed including the technical aspects.

Verdict: Earnest performances let down by an average script that doesn't have much to offer when it comes to hooking the audience!!!

Rating: 2/5

Ithiri Neram: "Feel good romantic drama!!!"

In the above review, I had mentioned about conversational romance & this one from Prasanth Vijay can also be slotted in the same category. The primary difference between the two is that over here Vishak Shakti, in his maiden effort as a script writer focuses on ex-lovers who catch up after a few years. So we have Anish (Roshan Mathew) who runs a popular talk show in an online channel known as 'Ithiri Neram'. On the night prior to the baptism of his child, Anish gets a call from his ex-lover, Anjana (Zarin Shihab) & decides to spent some time with her as she was on her way to the US for higher studies. Over the course of that meeting, they revisit the emotional scars of their love with a smile & end up in a situation that was both hilarious & worrisome.

In the beginning, the movie gives the vibe of Prem Kumar's "96" but as the story moves along, we get to realize that this had an refreshing identity of its own. Obviously, kudos to Vishak for the way he has written the screenplay and the realistic dialogues that captures the organic nature of the relationship. The protagonists are not shown as beacons of virtue but it does not travel further down that path as it is diverted towards a crisis management scenario which provides some of the hilarious moments. In a way, that kind of diluted what it initially started off, though to be honest I still liked the way they decided to conclude the story. 

Apart from the efforts of the people behind the camera including Basil C J's music and befitting background score, the protagonists needs to be thoroughly appreciated for a job well done. Both Roshan & Zarin did their parts exceptionally well as they put in the right amount of subtlety and spontaneity to their performances. They were well supported by Nandu & Anand Manmadhan with Jeo Baby in a cameo as well. 

Verdict: The first half is both soulful & tugs at the emotional cords thanks to the realistic dialogues and impressive performances. Though the latter half might have mellowed that impact, it was still an endearing watch!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Sarvam Maya: "Perfect family flick for the festive season!!!"

We are into 2026 but this opinion piece (another one will follow soon) is about Akhil Sathyan's Christmas release "Sarvam Maya". I presume each & every one of you had a good break, since I certainly did; after all there is no substitute for quality time with our family. Anyway apart from catching up with friends and wolfing the goodies, I had checked out some of the movies that had released over the past few weeks. Anyway, based on box office reports, seems like Nivin finally had much to cheer about his latest flick. 

After being away from the screen for quite a while, the audience got to see Nivin in two avatars in the span of a couple of weeks. The first one was in P R Arun's series, "Pharma" in Jio Hotstar, where he did a fine job as the medical rep who turns whistle blower. In his second outing, he appeared in the role of Prabhendu, an aspiring guitarist who was born into a traditional Brahmin family that were much sought after for performing rituals and prayers. With his career not quite taking flight, he decided to head back home for a short break and assists his cousin, Rupesh (Aju Varghese) who made a living doing rituals. One of them happened to be an exorcism ritual & that's when a spirit (Riya Shibu) befriends him, who is as clueless about her state as him.

This is Akhil's second directorial venture after "Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum" which he has penned as well. Unlike the usual Malayalam horror flicks, there are no scary moments & that in itself made it for an interesting watch. In terms of the script itself, there is nothing out of the ordinary but the manner in which the screenplay is drafted with a reliable cast to shoulder it made it an endearing viewing experience. The humour is present right throughout making us to have a smile on our face for many sequences while at the same time, the conflict brought in at the end felt forced. All the technical aspects were neatly done be it Justin Prabhakaran's soulful tracks, Sharan Velayudhan's visuals & the production design team. 

However, the main highlight is undoubtedly the performances led by Nivin who finally found himself in a role that is in his comfort zone. His ease with humour & the ability to evoke a pleasant sensation in the audience whenever he ventures down this track was evident yet again. Riya was excellent as the bindass spirit & the manner in which she exudes a positive vibe with her general demeanour benefited the movie immensely. It's been quite a while since we had the Aju-Nivin combo and as always, it lived upto expectations with their off-screen camaraderie shining through on-screen as well. The rest of the cast such as Janardhanan, Reghunath Paleri etc., did their partly aptly.

Verdict: Akhil weaved the type of grounded feel good magic that is associated with an Anthikkad movie, which was whole heartedly accepted by the audience. The USP is undoubtedly Nivin and the earnest performance put in by Riya with the credible support of Aju, all of which proved to be the recipe for success. So do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Kalamkaval: "Mammookka continues to rock with his choice of roles!!!"

Just a couple of weeks more before we step foot into 2026 and as expected there are quite a few releases that has either released or gearing up to do so. Though it's been a busy time on the professional front, I made sure that I found the time to check out some of the flicks and web series that released over the past month or so., such as "Kalamkaval", "Dhurandhar", Season 3 of "The Family Man" & "Delhi Crime" etc. Hence this particular opinion piece is about Jithin K Jose's "Kalamkaval" that saw Mammookka return to the big screen after a short break due to his illness. The legend was top notch as has been largely the trend over the past few years, but did the movie live upto expectations???

Even while the movie was being made, there were talks about Mammookka being the antagonist with the story being based on Cyanide Mohan. Well those assumptions turned out to be true though it is not a biography of that dreaded killer. Set in the early 2000s, SI Jayakrishnan (Vinayakan) is assigned with the responsibility to investigate the flare up that seemed to threaten a full blown communal riot, as a girl had eloped with a guy from a different community. However, it soon became evident that it was a case of misunderstanding as the girl had indeed eloped but it was with someone else. Interestingly, his investigation led him to another girl who had also similarly disappeared & that sequence continued to many more. 

Before I talk about Jithin's directorial skills, let's see how he had fared when it came to his writing skills. There is no doubt that he has a flair of it as was evident in "Kurup" & to be honest, he has done an even better job over here in the company of Jishnu Sreekumar. He has taken elements from Cyanide Mohan's modus operandi & added his own twist to it which has significantly elevated the thrill (the interval block to cite an example). At the same time, I felt the investigation aspect could have been more impactful as it didn't have the wow factor. But that doesnt imply that it bored me at any instance though some might feel a lag at certain junctures. Mujeeb Majeed was solid as his 'Nilaa Kaayum' had the perfect sinister effect while Faisal Ali did justice to the visuals.

The movie's USP is undoubtedly Mammookka's Stanley and he was excellent be it in terms of his slang, body language & expressions which varied from lovable to menacing. Even without the explicit scenes, the legend was still able to convey the emotions of the character. Vinayakan was impressive with his restraint performance which was quite unlike him and made the character believable. There was a huge line of female artists and they did whatever was possible within the limited screen space with Rejisha Vijayan, Gayathri Arun & Shruti Ramachandran doing their parts aptly.

Verdict: Mammookka continued to prove that he is not resting on his laurels but rather taking up characters that gives him scope to perform. Kudos to Jithin Jose for a praise worthy debut which is well supported by Vinayakan, Mujeeb & the female artists. Do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben