Oru Vadakkan Selfie review: "Likely to be a marana mass hit!!!"

The Vishu season is just round the corner & the films have started making their presence felt to cash in on the festive mood. The first one to grace the screens was "100 Days of Love" which I had missed out last week as I had my PhD Defense, which by the way I had successfully completed. This week saw the two generations locking horns at the box office, Lalettan's "Ennum Eppozhum" & the young brigade's "Oru Vadakkan Selfie". Since the promos of the latter was rib ticking hilarious, I decided to check it out first. So will it be able to hold itself in front of the legend???

Umesh (Nivin Pauly) is a carefree engineering student who squandered time with his buddies in college. Expectedly he flunked majority of his exams & was the source of constant worry for his parents. But nothing quite enticed him to amend his ways apart from seek a shortcut to fame which led him to the idea of shooting a short film. It was at around this time that new neighbours moved in next door & he was smitten by their daughter, Daisy (Manjima Mohan) which proved to be an inspiration for his venture. Anywaz his short film idea didnt quite work out as planned & in order to escape from the constant bickering of his father, he decides to try out his luck in Chennai. Little did he realise that this trip would turn his life upside down.

G. Prajith, the associate director in all of Vineeth Srinivasan's films has finally decided to helm a project on his own. There is no doubt that he has learned his trade quite well as it's quite evident in the making of this movie. Add to it, his Guru has penned the script of his debut venture whose content is hilarious to say the least. In other words, it has been written knowing the pulse of the youth & I'm sure all of us will relate to many of the scenes be it with regard to the jokes, the interaction with the parents etc. Even the cliche scenes has been executed in a manner which will have us in splits. If at all, there was a drawback I felt it was with regard to the climax which didn't quite have the punch, though I liked the message it conveyed. In the technical department, Shaan Rehman's music was average but in sync with the mood of the film. Jomon T John as usual has done a fine job while the editing by Ranjan Abraham was adequate.

Nivin Pauly has been on the surge since the past year or so & his career graph is still on the rise. His comic timing & carefree attitude was spot on. Giving him ample support was Aju Varghese who impresses with a solid humorous performance while Vineeth Srinivasan who makes his appearance in the latter half has improved by leaps & bounds with regard to humour. Manjima Mohan (who we remember as the little kid in "Priyam") is making her debut as a lead actress & has done a decent job, though she needs to work on the emotional scenes. As for the rest of the cast, Vijay Raghavan was fantastic while Neeraj Madhav has also done a fine job.

Verdict: Inspite of Lalettan's release, this movie will surely garner a fantastic initial over the weekend. It has all the ingredients for a good comic entertainer which will have us laughing to glory at many instances. In short, be sure to be part of this selfie!!!

Rating: 2.667+0.583 =  3.25/5

Regards...Ben

NH10 review: "Gripping thriller which will cater only to a niche audience!!!"

With the World Cup & exams in full swing, the films has been far & few in the last fortnight or so. Actually the last Bollywood film that I had watched was "Dum Laga Ke Haisa", which was pretty good though I haven't written the review for it. This week saw the release of "NH10" which has Anushka Sharma donning the role of a producer for the first time. It has been showcased as a road movie & the promos promises it to be an edge of the seat thriller. So has Anushka invested her money wisely???

Meera (Anushka Sharma) & Arjun (Neil Bhoopalam) are happily married couples settled in Gurgaon who decides to take a break from their high profile jobs to usher in Meera's birthday over the weekend at a private villa. They set off on their trip at a leisurely pace until they stop over at a dhaba for some refreshments. There they witness a couple being mercilessly thrashed by a bunch of hoodlums, who incidentally seemed to be led by the girl's brother. Arjun tries to intervene & placate the situation but to no avail as he gets slapped in the process before the gang leaves the scene with the couple in their grasp. Meera & Arjun resumes their journey, but on the way they witness the gang's vehicle & much to her displeasure he follows them. So what were the gang going to do to the couple & can Arjun save them from further torture???

After the critically acclaimed "Manorama Six Feet Under" which released in 2007, Navdeep Singh is back with his latest venture which yet again proves his credentials. The script by Sudip Sharma is undoubtedly inspired from "Eden Lake" & it has been Indianised quite impressively by bringing in the angle of honour killing. Navdeep gives us an ample view of the vast expanses of lawlessness & male dominated terrains still prevalent in many parts of the nation. Both the halves keeps us engaged & gives us a lump in the throat, when we realise that incidents like honour killing does exist in our society. All the technical aspects were spot on be it Jabeen Merchant's sharp editing, Arvind Kannabiran's impressive visuals or the BGM by Karan Gour which was in sync with the mood of the movie.

Anushka Sharma was fantastic as the protagonist as her body language, expressions (oscillating from helplessness to nerves of steel) made the character so impactful. It wouldnt be prudent to proclaim that she is presently in pole position to sweep the awards. Neil Bhoopalam has done a fine job while Darshan Kumar does evoke a chill in our spines. The rest of the cast have done an equally praise worthy job & Navdeep needs to be appreciated for his apt choice of actors. A special word of mention for Deepti Naval who sizzled in a guest role as the village sarpanch.

Verdict: The film is undoubtedly one of the best thrillers in recent times but it's going to appeal only to a niche audience. Since the investment is peanuts when compared to many of the other movies, I believe it wouldn't burn Anushka's fingers. In short, if you are ready for a dark thriller...this is surely an apt choice!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben