Salala Mobiles review: "This mobile will be in silent mode at the box office!!!"

The past week has been quite eventful for me as it was my sister's wedding & being the brother, I was pretty damn busy till a few days back. Anywaz, after that I decided to check out "Salala Mobiles", as I liked the songs & their picturisation which was being beamed on TV quite regularly. Inspite of a debutant director, the presence of Dulquer & Nazriya did create a hype around the movie. But will this mobile be ringing at the box office remains to be seen.

Afsal (Dulquer Salman) is a lazy bum who loves to vile away his time hogging food & sleeping till late into the morning. Seeking to make him into a responsible lad, his uncle financially helps him in setting up a cell phone shop named "Salala Mobiles". He is assisted in this business venture by his best buddy & mobile technician, Binoy (Jacob Gregory).At the behest of his friend, Hari (Sreekumar); Afsal travels to Coimbatore to buy stocks for his shop at an economical rate & meets up with Alakarsami (Santhanam), a techno wiz who gifts him with a phone tapping device.  At around this time, Afsal falls head over heels for Shahana (Nazriya Nazim), who happens to catch the bus from the stop right opposite to his shop. As destiny would have it, she visits his shop to recharge her mobile but Afsal fails to gather courage to express his feelings for her. So will he be able to tell her before it's too late???

Though it might be a directorial debut for Sharath Haridaasan, he has been in the industry for more than a decade now & quite an experienced hand in ads and short films. Without mincing words, I would have to say that he has done a mediocre job with an inane script. Both the halves doesnt offer anything substantial except for a few laughs thanks to their late night phone eavesdropping . However, Gopi Sundar has done a praise worthy job with the songs, with all of them belonging to different genres. Equally impressive were their picturisation for which Satheesh Kurup deserves a pat.

I fail to understand as to why Dulquer agreed to do such a whimsical movie, as apart from looking silly with a twinkle in his eyes, he barely had anything else to do. Actually, he didnt even seem to be in sync with the character as it kinda looked artificial when he kept on grinning, As for Nazriya, she just had to do four things namely look gorgeous, change costumes, recharge her cell & wail through the mobile; which she has done well to be frank. Gregory fails to recreate the ABCD magic, while the rest of the cast do their bit as expected.

Verdict: The lead pair & the songs does manage to create a hype in the initial days. But it turned out that the whole film had nothing apart from these two, as the script is virtually non existent. In short, give it a try if you have time in your hand or else forget it!!!

Rating: 1.25/5

Regards...Ben

Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 review: "Pathetic rehash of the prequel!!!"

We have almost been a month into 2014 & the releases understandably has been far and few after all Lalettan's "Drishyam" is still going strong. However, this week witnessed the release of "Mannar Mathai Speaking 2", which as the name suggests is the sequel to illustrious movies which needs no introduction. In the past few years, the Malayalam industry has tried its hand in sequels & invariably most of the times it has been in vain be it "Sagar Alias Jackie" or "Nerariyan CBI". The promos hasn't been impressive at all, so will the film be a disgrace to its prequel??? I hope not...

After having faced numerous mishaps, thanks to their Urvashi Theatres; the protagonists, Mannar Mathai (Innocent), Gopalakrishnan (Mukesh) & Balakrishnan (Saikumar) have shifted attention to tourism & are presently proprietors of Urvashi Tours & Travels. However, Mathai still harbored hopes of reviving the troupe to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Urvashi Theatres & even scripted a drama titled "Mathayude Suvishesham", much to the displeasure of the other two. On the pretext of putting up an ad calling for drivers conversant in English; he also calls for female drama artists. But little did they realise that the past will come to haunt them as an unexpected guest lands at their doorstep.

There is no doubt that trying to make a sequel is no mean feat especially when the prequels are of iconic stature. But Mamas decided to take up the challenge, a person who had impressed me with his "Cinema Company" though it didn't do much at the box office. Unfortunately, his latest effort turns out to be nothing more than a mere rehash with many of the characters making a fleeting appearance in some sequence or the other. The hilarious comedy which has been the highlight in the prequels, was conspicuously absent as just a few was able to  impart a chuckle. It does post a twist towards the latter half, but it was barely impactful as the climax was kinda similar as well. As for the other technical aspects, it didnt present anything which deserves special mention.

In the performance department, Innocent does manage to bring a smile though it has to be mentioned that most of the comedies were just copied from the prequels. As for Mukesh & Saikumar, they didnt have anything substantial to do while Aparna Gopinath's nascent filmography will rate this as her worst. Coming to the rest of the cast, none of them impressed except for Biju Menon (that too only in few sequences) & pretty much spoiled the good will the characters had garnered in the prequel.

Verdict: The makers hoping to cash in on the hype is in for a rude shock as it's likely to be held over from the main centres within this week itself. Neither does it offer a good storyline nor some decent fresh comedy & leaves the audience with a sense of anguish as to why this sequel was even made. In short, dont bother as you can check out the rehashed comedy scenes on TV!!!

Rating: 1/5

Regards...Ben

Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal review: "Lack lustered reunion after 7 years!!!"

Before actually going into the review of the last movie that I watched in 2013, I would like to wish all my friends & well wishers, a happy & prosperous New Year. The Malayalam film industry churned out a whopping 157 films in 2013 & "Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal" turned out to be one among the last few to grace the screens. With Lal Jose & James Albert, collaborating after 7 years since "Classmates", the expectations were going through the roof. However, I didnt find the promos or the songs catchy & the subsequent paragraphs tells you what I thought about the movie. 

Aby (Dileep) is a much sought out ad-maker who has finally decided to tie the knot with Ann (Parvathy Nambiar) much to the relief of his parents. Actually, the reason for his extended bachelorhood was coz he was still brooding over the fact that his lover, Cini (Rima Kallingal) had dumped him just days before their wedding many years ago. Now that he has found his match, he arranges a bachelor party for his buddies 7 days prior to the big day. In a bid to chide Cini, Aby lands at her doorstep in an inebriated state to invite her to his wedding. But the scenario turned out to be much more worser than both of them expected with each passing day bringing in new problems.

Lal Jose has been on a roll for quite some time with his last debacle being "Spanish Masala" which incidentally had Dileep in the lead role. The reunion with James Albert naturally raised hopes of a encore of "Classmates", but all such hopes were dispelled off within the first 15 minutes. Actually the screenplay could have been more engaging as I kinda felt Lal Jose didnt know when to make it serious or humorous. Dileep does provide the laughs but I felt a younger & uber individual would have been a better choice. All the technical aspects required a certain degree of tweaking be it Ranjan's editing or Prashant Pillai's music.

As I mentioned earlier, though Dileep has done a decent job with his comic timing; I felt the character would have suited someone who is kinda hip. Even his make up man could have done a better job as Dileep's wig looked pathetic (reminded me of his makeover in "Crazy Gopalan"). Rima Kallingal has done a good job as the distressed wife to Murali Gopi, who seemed kinda over the top when he showcased his boxing skills. Parvathy Nambiar barely had anything to do other than smile. The rest of the cast all seemed fine in their respective roles.

Verdict: Well it's almost a fortnight since the film released & as expected, it is the least impressive among the Xmas releases. Except for the humorous moments here & there, the film didnt have much to write home about due to the lack of an engaging screenplay. In short, it will be coming soon on TV!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben