Good Newwz review: "Good news for the makers!!!"

Less than 8 hours left for 2019 to come to an end & it could not have concluded in a better manner as the last movie of the year is galloping its way to a super-hit status or maybe even more. The honour has been bestowed on Raj Mehta's "Good Newwz" which has got the audience in splits & the makers laughing to the bank. Laughter is the best medicine & let's hope that the New Year brings in its share of good fortune to each one of us. Since Akki was part of the cast, I didnt have think twice to check out the movie as the trailer promised it to be a laugh riot. So was it just senseless comedy or had the semblance of a credible thread???

Varun (Akshay Kumar) & Dipti (Kareena Kapoor Khan) were a modern and successful couple who had been trying to conceive a baby for quite sometime. Eventually on the behest of Varun's family, they approach a renowned IVF centre where they decide to undergo the procedure. However, things didnt quite pan out as expected as the specimens gets mixed up with another couple who shared the same surname. That happened to be a young vibrant Punjabi couple, Honey (Diljit Dosanjh) & Monika (Kiara Advani) who were as different as chalk & cheek with the other Batras. So how will these couples tackle this botched up procedure???

This is Raj Mehta's debut venture & he has definitely chosen an interesting topic that had ample scope for comedy yet a serious issue as well. However, in the company of Jyoti Kapoor & Rishabh Sharma he decided to narrate a story that dealt with the subject matter in a hilarious manner without getting too melodramatic. If the movie deals with comedy & Akshay is part of the cast, then we can rest assured that he will make sure that we will be in splits with his goofiness. I certainly enjoyed what Raj had tried to convey though the portion where Akshay is on a high after having smoked weed seemed inappropriate rather than  comical. As for the climax, it was fine & the best possible manner it could have concluded. There were a host of music directors of which majority of the tracks were done by Tanishk Bagchi whihc were fine while Vishnu Rao's  visuals were vibrant and in sync with the mood.

As has been the trend, Akshay has been dabbling between patriotic and comedy stuff for quite some time & this time around it was the turn of the latter genre. Expectedly, he rocked his part & was aptly supported by Kareena Kapoor who was the perfect fit for the part of the modern working female. Even Diljit & Kiara did their parts aptly, though the former did go overboard a couple of times. As for the rest of cast, Adil Hussain was hilarious in a rather unfamiliar role while Tisca Chopra did her part appropriately.

Verdict: The movie has been well received by the audience which is evident from the number that it had piled up since it had released. It wraps up another successful year for Akki who has ruled the box office with hits like "Mission Mangal", "Housefull 4" & "Kesari", In short, do check it out & you can be assured to have your own share of good laughs to ring in the new year!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

My Santa review: "This Santa will bring smiles to children!!!"

What is the most fascinating thing about Christmas? Well for me, it's about spending quality time with the family, gorging on the lip smacking dishes that Mom prepares & watching the Xmas releases. However, for children it's mainly about getting gifts from Santa Claus, the tradition which gained traction in the latter half of the 19th century coz of Clement Moore's poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas'. Hollywood always comes out with Christmas themed feel good movies around this time which is not so prevalent in our part of the world. Hence it was a pleasant surprise to see a Malayalam movie like "My Santa" hit the screens on  Christmas. So will it evoke laughter in the children???

Isa (Baby Manasvi) is an adorable & bubbly little girl who stayed with her grandfather, Kuttusan (Sai Kumar) as she lost her family to an accident. Her favorite time of the year was Christmas as she believed that Santa Claus would make all her wishes come true. Her greatest wish was of course to meet her parents in heaven & that her best friend, Anna (Baby Devanandha) recovered from her life threatening illness. In response to the letter she posted to God, she received a gift which reaffirmed her faith that Santa would indeed visit her on Christmas. But was it actually real or a figment of her imagination???

Sugeeth had a memorable directorial debut with "Ordinary" which propelled Gavi as a much sought after tourist spot. However, his subsequent projects after the much enjoyable debut movie failed to attract as much attention among the audience. His latest creation will undoubtedly earn the badge of approval from children as it has clean humour along with celebration of love and friendship. Jemin Cyriac had penned the script making sure that he didnt include any grey characters & that it appealed to everyone. Sugeeth was successful in creating a much needed magical feel to the movie with the right choice of location & Vidyasagar's music added to the effect. Faizal Ali's visuals were good while Sajan could have done a much better job of editing the latter half which lags quite a bit. 

Though it is marketed as a Dileep movie, it well & truly belonged to Baby Manasvi who did utmost justice to her role. Ever since the assault case had been charged against him, Dileep has been keeping a low profile & making sure that he made the right choices when it came to choosing the scripts. Here as well, he is more like a supporting actor & ensured that he gave ample support to Manasvi. There are quite an array of well known artists apart from cameos & all of them have done their parts well.

Verdict: As I mentioned earlier, it's a feel good movie that will appeal to all the children. Even adults will enjoy it as it's a clean movie without any double meaning jokes or grey characters. The second half could have been trimmed & made it more engaging. Anywaz surely take your children for this one or even otherwise as well, it wont hurt to give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Driving License review: "Perfect recipe for the holiday season!!!"

After having watched "Prathi Poovankozhi", my eyes fell on the next Malayalam Christmas release which happened to be Lal Jr's "Driving License" that had Prithvi & Suraj in the lead. Though it's almost two decades since I have got my license, I have to admit that I had used it more as an ID rather than it's power that allows me to drive a vehicle. This doesn't imply that I dont enjoy driving (except in most of the guttered roads in our state), after all the relaxation that one gets from a long drive is second to none. The trailer had me interested as it spoke about the relationship between a star & his fan, which is not unknown territory as far as celluloid creations are concerned. But does Lal Jr's movie have the content to keep us engaged???

Hareendran (Prithviraj) is the darling of the masses & one of the biggest names in the Malayalam film industry. The shooting of his latest movie on the land that belonged to the security forces required him to submit his driving license for verification. This is when it dawned on him that it has been misplaced & the only viable option is to obtain a duplicate at the earliest. He sought the help of his politician friend, Johny Peringodan (Saiju Kurup) who in turn approaches the RTO Inspector Kuruvila (Suraj Venjaramood) who incidentally happened to be Hari's die hard fan. Though he was an officer who didn't bend rules, he decides to make a concession for his idol in exchange for an opportunity to meet the latter personally in his office. However, things goes awry as media gets sniff of Hari's visit to the RTO which eventually leads to bad blood being brewed between the star & his fan.

Lal Jr's ticket to fame until now was the "Honey Bee" series (excluding 2.5) & from the looks of it he would be able to add "Driving License" also to that list. One of the significant reason for that is Sachy's script that has pretty much all the elements that we would expect from an entertainer in adequate proportions. It would appeal to all age groups which is a plus especially during the holiday season. The basic premise as I mentioned earlier is the equation between the star & his fan, which is something that has been explored in Hollywood & Indian movies in the past as well such as "King of Comedy", "The Fan" or "Fan" (Hindi). All of these movies have the lead characters in definite white & dark shades, but this is where Lal Jr's creation stands out as both have shades of grey without hinging too much towards inflicting bodily harm on the other. Sushin Shyam's music, Alex Pulickal & Ranadive's visuals along with Ratheesh Raj's editing was fine 

Both Prithvi & Suraj were equally impressive in their roles be it as the star who has a personal life of his own or the fan who is willing to cut corners for his idol but not at the cost of his self respect. Interestingly even the supporting cast were given ample screen space be it Nandu, Suresh Krishna , Miya (variant of Meena's role in "Katha Parayumbol") or Saiju Kurup, the last three brings the roof down with their antics. 

Verdict: Surely a movie that will cater to everyone's tastes & has a decent tale to narrate that will engage the audience. In short, do watch it!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Prathi Poovankozhi review: "Relevant issue narrated aptly!!!"

Christmas is here & as one would expect there are a host of movies that has hit the screens hoping to capture the attention of the audience. I was back home in Kollam for a couple of days & didnt have to think twice to rush off to the nearest pilgrimage site for a movie buff which is obviously the theatre. There were quite a few that I wanted to watch of which Rosshan Andrrews's "Prathi Poovankozhi" caught my attention primarily due to the uniqueness in its title. As a film maker, Rosshan rarely disappoints & I hoped that the trend continues. 

Madhuri (Manju Warrier) is a sales girl & the sole bread earner of her family which consisted of only her widowed mother. As her father owed a significant amount to the bank, she was constantly under pressure from the concerned authorities to clear off the debts lest they impounded her property. To further compound her troubles, she gets molested in the bus by a rather infamous rowdy & before she could vent out her anger, he managed to slip into the crowd. Despite being discouraged by her well wishers & terrified of what such a rowdy could do to her if she confronted him, she was still adamant that she would teach him a lesson. This essentially forms the crux of this movie which has a running time of just about 100 minutes.

Rosshan's credentials as a director needs no introduction as I have invariably been impressed with all his celluloid creations except for "Cassanova". This time around he has taken the short story 'Sankadam' penned by Unni R & has weaved an extremely relevant topic that haunts the society. Just like Rosshan, Unni has a respectable name in the industry coz of scripts like "Chaappa Kurishu", "Munnariyippu" etc. The manner in which the society responds to women being molested is shown realistically & it paints a sad yet sorry picture that many women have resigned to the fact that nothing will ever get down to prevent such occurrences. To make matters worse, they also stand the risk of getting their names tainted for no obvious fault of theirs thanks to media & the narrow minded group in the population. The casting was spot on for both the main characters but I cant say the same about Anusree as the flirtatious character written for her didnt quite suit her, the lady who played Manju's mother had no chemistry with her & Divya Prabha. 

On the technical side, Gopi Sundar's BGM was in sync with the mood of the movie. If at all, there was something negative I certainly felt that this wasn't worth a full fledged movie but rather a short film. Manju Warrier was fantastic as the fiery protagonist while Rosshan will definitely surprise the audience with his looks & body language which was spot on for the character. Anusree & Alensier shared a good chemistry with Manju, Saiju Kurup was fine with his shades of grey while Divya Prabha seemed artificial.

Verdict: Since the production values are on the lower side, the producers should be able to recover the costs. There is no doubt that Rosshan has portrayed an extremely relevant topic but I felt it had the content only for a short film. It might not get as many takers as one would expect in a festive season but I would certainly suggest everyone to check it out.

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Panipat review: "Solid story let down by shoddy execution & flat footed cast!!!"

Our nation has been witness to numerous wars over the centuries & it's not different even now as well with political parties in their greed to satisfy their agendas have created animosity between people over religion and economic disparity. If one is to dig into history, we will be surprised to know that the tactics employed by the shrewd administrators of yester years is still very much prevalent & one such event happens to be the Panipat battles. Last week, Ashutosh Gowariker released his latest creation "Panipat" &  I was more than keen to check it out being an aficionado of history. So was he able to do justice to the historic event???

The Maratha supremacy was virtually completed after they had defeated the Nizams in 1760. Expectedly, Nana Saheb Peshwa (Mohnish Bahl) was proud of his commanders especially Sadashiv Rao Bhau (Arjun Kapoor) who steadily rose up the ranks for his valour & bravery. However, his immense popularity created unrest among a few & one of them happened to be Nana Saheb's wife Gopika Bai (Padmini Kolhapure). On her behest, Sadashiv was asked to step down from his military duties & take up the financial responsibilities of the state. It soon became evident to him that despite the Maratha kingdom being huge, their revenues were far less primarily because many kingdoms in the North including the Mughals refused to pay their dues. When Sadashiv decided to enforce stricter measures, Nijab Ud Daula (Mantra) of the Mughal court sought the help of Ahmad Shah Abdali (Sanjay Dutt), the Afghan ruler of Kandahar. Left with no options, the Marathas marched towards Delhi in the hope of stopping Abdali & the two armies clashed in what was known as the Third Battle of Panipat.

More than a decade has passed since the impressive "Jodha Akbar" had released, after which Ashutosh struggled to capture the attention of the audience with three duds on the trot. With "Panipat", he seemed to recapture some of his form as the script written in collaboration with Chandrashekhar Dhavalikar, Ranjeet Bahadur & Aditya Rawal definitely indicated that they had researched extensively. However, Ashutosh failed to execute it convincingly onto the screen as the VFX were rather shoddy & even the choices of artists also seemed questionable. The visuals were fine though it wasnt quite upto the caliber of C K Muraleedharan while Steven Bernard could have easily chopped the length of the movie.

There is no doubt that Arjun Kapoor & Sanjay Dutt fitted the role in appearance as well as performance, however when it came to the action sequences they just werent light footed or agile as the character demanded.  Kriti Sanon was impressive & slowly but steadily cementing her place as one of the actresses to look out for in the coming years. As for the rest of the cast, they were so many that it's hard to remember all of them but most of them did their parts aptly.

Verdict: Ashutosh's woes at the box office continues & for obvious reasons since he failed to do justice to the well researched script. To add to his troubles, even his choice of artists werent quite the smartest either & one could only hope that he comes up with a better movie the next time around!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Jallikattu review: "Primal instincts take centre stage!!!"

About a year back at the grand finale of Bigg Boss, Lijo Jose Pellissery announced that Sabumon who had won the event will be offered a prominent role in a movie that featured the fight between man and animal. In due time, that movie was titled "Jallikattu" & as all of you would be aware it created waves when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Most of the critics have gone gaga for it & even the audience seems to have warmed up to the movie. Hmm...but was it as good as it is made to appear or is it just the domino effect???

There isn't an elaborate tale to narrate as it's about a bull that had managed to escape from the clutches of the local butcher Kaalan Varkey (Chemban Vinod) & his helper Antony (Antony Varghese). The bull wreaks havoc in the village as it destroys whatever that appears in its path. This naturally enrages everyone & with all efforts to pin down the creature fails, more & more people join in with the intention to have a shot at the feast that was on offer. The conflict between man & animal eventually gets evolved into something much more violent & primal, which is something that most of us will not expect.

Lijo Jose was the toast of the Malayalam Industry last year when he was awarded the best director at the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI, Goa) for "Ee. Ma. Yau" & the Silver Crow Pheasant award at IFFK. Incidentally, he repeated the feat yet again for his present venture at IFFI, Goa. Based on the short story 'Maoist' by S Hareesh, the script penned by Hareesh & R. Jayakumar focuses on the savage instinct of man to subdue the bull which gets transformed into an event where each individual wants to portray themselves as being superior to the rest in skills & valour. This gives him a sense of entitlement to whatever he desires for whether it be the girl that he lusts for or acceptance of his machoism by the rest. Lijo once again proves mastery over his craft as he creates a  unique viewing experience that keeps us engrossed & culminates in a fantastic climax sequence. 

Equally praise worthy was Girish Gangadharan's visuals especially the lighting that he does for the major sections that happens in the night & the thrill that it imparts for the chase sequences. Similarly, Renganaath Ravee's BGM & Deepu Joseph's crisp editing also enhanced the impact of the movie. On the performance side, apart from Chemban Vinod, Antony & Sabumon, there are a host of other artists which aren't quite well known faces. Most of them have done their parts aptly but nothing that doesn't deserve special mention. 

Verdict: It is undoubtedly a well crafted movie that gives us a enthralling experience as it's something that we haven't been witness to earlier. It's more than a month since it had released & I presume most of you would have seen it by now. However, if you havent then make sure to check it out!!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Regards...Ben

Helen review: "Captivating survival thriller!!!"

The last couple of weeks saw a host of movies hitting the screens like “Helen”, “Jallikattu”  & “Moothon” and all of them have garnered credible response from both the audience as well as the critics. I didn’t quite have the time then to pen them down & usually when it has been in the theatres for more than a week or so, I usually don’t bother to write. But I couldn’t resist myself from expressing my viewpoint about Mathukutty Xavier’s “Helen” as it kept me glued to the screen for the whole duration of the movie. So why exactly do I think that you need to watch this???

I guess there isn’t much to discuss about as far as the plot is concerned since the trailer kinda reveals everything. Anywaz Helen (Anna Ben) is a nursing graduate who was preparing for her IELTS exam to land a job in Canada so as to help her father to pay off their debts. She also worked at a fast food restaurant in an upscale mall & shared an adorable relationship with her widowed father, Paul (Lal). Things moved along peacefully until she gets caught with her boyfriend, Azhar (Nobel Thomas) by the police squad as the latter had rode the bike under the influence of alcohol. This irked Paul primarily because he wasn’t aware that she was in a relationship & even before Helen could pacify him she disappeared without a trace the very next night. The question that everyone had was whether she eloped or was she kidnapped???

This was Mathukutty’s debut venture & it would be fair to admit that he has done a wonderful job especially since he opted to dabble with a genre like survival thriller which hasn’t been explored much in Malayalam. He had penned the script with Alfred Kurian Joseph & Noble Babu Thomas, & the trio deserves praise for keeping the events utterly believable. The dialogues, attitude of the grownups to the present generation, ill placed sense of moral policing etc., were all in sync with what we see around us. On the technical side, Anend Chandran’s visuals were fine while Shameer Muhammed maintains the mood aptly with his editing skills. At a running time of less than 2 hours, neither is it too elaborately staged nor is it flimsy executed & hence it manages to arrest our attention.

Anna Ben burst in like a breath of fresh air with her debut in the adroitly created “Kumbalangi Nights”. As Helen, she proved that beneath that wonderful smile that could light up a whole scene; she is more than capable of carrying a movie on her young shoulders. Even in front of an experienced actor like Lal, (who by the way has done an impressive job as well) she seemed at ease & the father-daughter chemistry that the duo shared really helped the movie. After having restricted himself to numerous roles that fed off humour, it was refreshing to see Aju Varghese don a character that showed his dark side & he has done utmost justice to it. As for the rest of the cast, Nobel Thomas & Rony David did their parts aptly as well.

Verdict: There is no surprise as to why this movie has done well since it has been crafted well. In case you haven’t watched it yet, do check it out without fail as it’s definitely worth the time spent & will surely appeal to most of the audience.

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards…Ben