Kalakalappu 2 review: "Nothing more than a migraine inducer!!!"

Just like most weekends, the last one was also spent watching movies & sporting events. To our dismay, Saturday saw the Proteas make a strong back into the ODI series with an authoritative win. However, thanks to the impressive "Padman", I was still very much in good spirits & that's when "Kalakalappu 2" caught my attention. Though I havent watched the prequel, the feedback of it being an all out slap stick comedy added fodder to my eagerness to check it out. But it turned out to be a decision I regretted.

The politician Dharmaraj (Madhusudhanan Rao) had amassed obscene amount of wealth through unlawful means but the long hand of the law caught up with him. However, before the justice system could lay hands on the evidence, Dharmaraj had it handed over to his auditor. But the latter used it as an opportunity to blackmail Dharmaraj & demands ransom to be handed over to him in Kasi in exchange for the evidence. At the same time, Raghu (Jai) also lands in Kasi to claim his ancestral property which unknown to him was in the hands of Seenu (Jiiva), a small time fraud. Though Raghu gets duped by Seenu initially, they become good mates later on. Into this mix, enters Ganesh (Shiva) a conman who happened to cheat both of them in the past. How all these sub-plots and characters are linked to each other & how it finally pans out is what this movie is all about.

Sundar C has been in the business of directing movies for more than two decades & though I havent seen most of them, there are two which actually stands out. One of them is the fantastic "Anbe Sivam" & the other being "Arunachalam", both of which I had really enjoyed. However, the same cant be said about his latest venture, which just had a handful of genuine humorous sequences. The rest was nothing more than utter nonsense that tries too hard to make us laugh but all it manages to do is give a throbbing headache. None of the technical aspects deserves mention except for Senthikumar's cinematorgraphy which captures the vibrant colours of Kasi pretty well.

There is an army of artists in the movie starting from the protagonists Jai, Jiiva & Shiva. All three of them have done their parts aptly, with Shiva being my  personal favourite. Both the lead ladies, Nikki Galrani and Catherine Tresa were just for eye candy while the rest did whatever was expected of them.

Verdict: Even slap stick comedies could be well made & keep us glued to our seats. Unfortunately, this one fails to interest me as it barely had anything worthwhile. In short, avoid it for sure!!!

Rating; 1.5/5

Regards...Ben

Padman review: "Akki & Balki tackles a relevant social issue engagingly. Period!!!"

Ever since GST was rolled out on Doctor's day last year, it has received a lot of flak over the taxes imposed on various products. One such item of basic necessity happened to be the sanitary pads that was imposed a tax of 12% (marginally lower than the earlier 13.68%). In a country where only 12% of the women use pads, there needs to be more impetus on the part of every Govt in power to encourage menstrual hygiene & one such act will be to reconsider the tax on it.

At the turn of the new millennium, Arunachalam Muruganantham, the social activist from Tamil Nadu decided to come up with an alternative for the costly sanitary pads. Incidentally, his life became the inspiration for R Balki's latest movie "Padman". Lakshmikant Chauhan (Akshay Kumar) is a mechanic by profession who had recently married to Gayathri (Radhika Apte). Despite having discontinued his education, he was a master innovator & used it to good effect with interesting creations of his own. When Lakshmi realises that his wife puts herself to risk with unhygienic menstrual practices, he decides to solve the problem by making a low cost sanitary pad. However, it was much easier than done as his pad didnt have the deserved quality. In time, his obsession to perfect his creation virtually ostracizes him from his family and village. But he stuck on to his mission with unwavering determination & how he eventually manages to make people who ridiculed him sing praises about him forms the crux of the movie. 

Based on "The Sanitary Man of Sacred Land" by Twinkle Khanna, it is inspired as mentioned earlier from Arunachalam's life. R Balki's credentials as a director is well established with movies like "Cheeni Kum", "Paa" etc to his credit. There is no doubt that making a movie on a social issue is not an easy task for the simple reason that it could turn out to be rather preachy. However, Balki & Swanand Kirkire has made sure that they kept the mood light wherever necessary with interesting sequences peppered throughout. They keep us engaged with the events that unfold & it was well picturised by P C Sreeram. Even Chandan Arora's BGM & music tracks were in sync with the mood of the movie & deserves praise. 

The success of any movie lies in the hands of the audience & there is precious little that the artists can do except make sure that they always try to bring some novelty in their roles. This is exactly what Akki has been doing since the past couple of years with some wise & intelligent choice of movies. In his latest outing, he is brilliant as the protagonist as it keeps us invested in it. He has been given excellent support by Radhika Apte, who continues to impress in whatever role she appears. Even Sonam Kapoor who kinda overacts in most instances was fantastic.

Verdict: This was supposed to be on a collision course with "Padmaavat", but Akshay's magnanimity meant that it's release was postponed by a fortnight. Anywaz the decision has done both the movies a lot of good as evidenced by the box office numbers. After promotion of  "Swach Bharat Abhiyaan" through "Toilet:Ek Prem Katha", Akki has given a subtle promotion to "Make in India" through this. Kudos to both Balki & Akki for presenting the social issue both engagingly & realistically. In short, it deserves to be watched!!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Regards...Ben 

Bhaagamathie review: "Anushka shoulders the horror/thriller with utmost ease!!!"

Horror is a difficult genre to make coz if it's not executed well, it could turn out to be unintentionally funny. Over the years, we have had numerous horror movies & one of the finest that I have come across in an Indian movie is "Arundhati".   Apart from the fact that it was well made, it had Anushka Shetty as the protagonist who was absolutely brilliant in it. Since then I have been a huge fan of her talent & when the trailer of "Baagamathie" was released, it kinda brought back memories of the aforementioned flick. So will this be yet another feather on her crown???

The film unfolds with Ishwar Prasad (Jayaram), a minister loved by the masses for his empathetic attitude & clean track record, challenging the Government to mend their ways if they wanted his continued support. This put the Government on the offensive & they entrust CBI officer Vaishnavi Reddy (Asha Sharath) to unearth skeletons from Ishwar's cupboard to malign his image. As part of her investigation, she suspected an uncanny connection between Ishwar & the disappearance of ancient idols from temples. However, she wasnt able to pinpoint the crime & decides to coax his former personal secretary IAS officer Sanchala (Anushka Shetty) to spill the beans. Incidentally, Sanchala was already in remand for the murder of her fiance & social activist, Shakthi (Unni Mukundan). In order to avoid unnecessary media scrutiny, Vaishnavi have her shifted for interrogation to a dilapidated mansion which was believed to be haunted by the evil queen, Baagamathie. So was it actually haunted & did Ishwar have an hand in any suspicious dealings as Vaishnavi believed???

G Ashok has called the shots here & since I havent watched his previous flicks such as "Pilla Zamindar" and "Sukumarudu" , I dont have much of a frame of reference. Apart from direction, he has penned the script as well which basically juggles with a couple of genres impressively. The striking feature of the movie is that it offers something quite different from what we expect in the trailer. It would also be fair to admit that a part of it is inspired by "Usual Suspects" & though the climax is predictable, it still manages to thrill us. Thaman's BGM adds to the suspense while R Madhi's visuals were impressive especially the sequences inside the mansion, however the CGI wasnt quite upto the mark.

Anushka is the heart & soul of the movie and has done utmost justice to it with a smashing performance. It made complete sense for Ashok to wait for close to 5 years for Anushka's dates as no one else could have aced the role. As for the rest, Jayaram, Asha Sharath, Murali Sharma & Unni Mukundan have done their parts aptly.

Verdict: It has all the ingredients to become a blockbuster & as per reports that has come out, it is expected to become the first south Indian female centric film to enter the 50 C club. The combination of horror and crime thriller works quite well and despite the predictable climax, it keeps us hooked until the end. In short, check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben