Chup: "Compelling idea that gets watered down towards the end!!!"

Who is the busiest actor in the Malayalam film industry??? If it is on the basis of shuttling between languages, then the answer to that would most likely be DQ. After the resounding success of "Sita Ramam", DQ's next release in Bollywood was in none other than R Balki's "Chup: Revenge of the Artist". They had a pretty innovative promotion strategy whereby free screenings were held for the audience in ten cities three days prior to the release. The interesting aspect of this was that the official critics were given access to the movie only on its formal release date. So will DQ strike gold???

The gruesome murder of a movie critic had shook the city & Arvind Mathur (Sunny Deol) of Crime Branch was put in charge of the investigation. This was followed by an even more horrific murder of another person, who also happened to be a critic. The modus operandi seemed to indicate that both the murders were committed by the same person & it all pointed towards a psychopathic serial killer. But who was it & what was the reason for targeting critics???

Balki is a director who needs no introduction & I have been a fan of his celluloid creations since his debut venture "Cheeni Kum". As always, he has penned the script with Raja Sen & Rishi Virmani helping out with the screenplay. It was indeed a gripping thought and the character arc given to DQ made it engrossing without being artificial or unnecessarily eerie. The investigation part handled by Sunny's character was also neatly done (except for a Gadar type sequence which was laughable) though the Pooja's criminal psychologist role failed to impart any significant effect. Eventually, the movie meanders towards a tame end. On the technical side, Vishal Sinha deserves praise for the lighting & visuals as that did add to the mood while Amit Trivedi's music was also fine.

DQ has done a fine job & I would surely rate it as one of his best performances. This is his third Bollywood project & likely to pave the path for more. Giving him company was Shreya Dhwanthary who is a familiar face in web series like "The Family Man", "Scam 1992" etc. She has done a decent job though her emotional scenes didnt quite hit the mark. As for the rest, Sunny Deol & Saranya Ponnvannan did their parts well while Pooja Bhatt was rather average.

Verdict: An interesting thought that works well for large parts except towards the last segment where it felt rather rushed & not as impactful as we would expect. In short, you may give it a try keeping in mind that it a slow paced flick!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben

Sundari Gardens: "Feel good romantic drama with way too many songs!!!"

September 23rd, a day that was eagerly looked forward to by many of the movie lovers since the charge of most of the prominent multiplex chains were slashed to Rs.75. The reason being the National Cinema Day & though the multiplexes in our State would not have been able to reduce it to that rate, there were still talks of some kind of a discounted rate. Anyway thanks to the harthal, most of us were confined to our homes & that's when I decided to check out Charlie Davis's "Sundari Gardens" that had released in SonyLIV a few weeks back.

Charlie who has also penned the script talks about Sundari Mathews (Aparna Balamurali) who was a divorcee in her 30s & worked as a librarian in her alma mater. The challenges & struggles that she had faced over the course of her short marital life had made her a strong woman. The orthodox mindset that many in the public had did not deter her from living life the way she wanted. This was evident from the fact she had no qualms in giving love a second chance when she befriends, Victor Paul (Neeraj Madhav), a new colleague in school. However, she was still a tad insecure to express her feelings & how she deals with it forms the crux of the movie.

The story as such was fine as it is pretty straight forward with not much twists or turns & essentially pans out a feel good romantic drama. Aparna's impressive performance makes it an endearing experience as she captures the nuances of the character pretty well. She was well supported by Neeraj Madhav whose appearances in Malayalam has been far & few along with Binu Pappan who has done a fine job. One of the major irritating factor for me was the over usage of music with one popping up pretty much every five minutes. Alphonse Joseph's music was indeed soothing but there ought to be some sense as to when & where each track needs to be planted. Another person who deserves praise is Swaroop Philip's cinematography which does justice to the mood of the movie. 

Verdict: Nothin much to add except that it is a feel good romantic drama which makes it an ideal choice for an idle day like today. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben

Brahmastra Part One-Shiva: "Exciting thought impacted severely by cheesy and cringy romance!!!"

Even before Hollywood had come out with their Marvel & DC characters, our Indian culture was rich with stories of gods & men with super powers since centuries. With the advent of movies & emergence of technology, Hollywood marketed their super heroes impressively which took the world by storm as evidenced by the humongous blockbusters & the moolah brought in through sale of merchandise. Over the past decade or so, our film industry has also started taking some credible strides in that genre with movies like the Krrish series & "Minnal Murali". The latest to join that list is Ayan Mukherjee's "Brahmastra" which is the first installment of a trilogy based on the ancient astras. The box-office numbers has been encouraging but it definitely had scope for much more if they were more sensible with their script. 

The film unfolds with the story behind the creation of the astras & a secret society called the Brahmansh. This group has been in existence for centuries & their responsibility was to protect the planet from the astras falling into the wrong hands especially Brahmastra which was the most powerful among them. As it was unstable, it was broken into three pieces & safeguarded by the society. In the present day, one of the pieces were in the safe custody of noted scientist, Mohan Bhargav (SRK) & he is forced to fight the dark forces led by Junoon (Mouni Roy). Even as he valiantly fought them, Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor), a DJ by profession gets a vision of this encounter though he had no clue as to why he was experiencing them. There was obviously a link between Shiva & the astras, and his search for answers forms the basis of this fantasy flick. 

There is no doubt that Ayan had an interesting subject in hand which he himself had penned & with the financial backing of Dharma Productions among others, it seemed like that he had all the stars aligned. His idea to take on the subject entwined with a romantic tale sounded fine but when portrayed on celluloid it was pathetic to say the least. The cheesy & nonsensical romance (dialogues by Hussain Dalal) was cringy to say the least which was surprising as he did handle it reasonably well in "Yeh Jawaani Hey Diwani". Unfortunately, a significant portion of the run time is focused on this & there are undeniable influences from "X Men", "Harry Potter" etc. which is fine but still they ought to have invested more thought into the script.

On the positive side, the technical aspects such as the VFX was top notch & the DoPs (quite a few of them including Manikandan, Sudeep Chatterjee etc) have done a fantastic job. Pritam's music was ok while Simon Fraglen's BGM was good. Coming to performances, I certainly felt SRK nailed his part (interestingly named after his character in "Swades"), Big B was effective as the guru while Nagarjuna was wasted in a poorly etched role. Ranbir did his part aptly though his romance with Alia was the unbearable part of the movie & the fault lies solely on Ayan for that. Hopefully Alia has a better role in other installments coz I felt she got a raw deal like Nagarjuna. Last but not the least, Mouni Roy cmae across as a villain caricature but she perfectly fitted the role.

Verdict:  Mounted at a humongous budget of ~400 C , the movie has collected close to 350C until now. However, based on a statement made by Ranbir in an interview; a significant portion of the budget also includes the the next two installments as well. Despite the evident shortcomings, the story still managed to create expectations for the sequels with characters like Dev & Amrita expected to take centre stage. Anyway hope they will rectify the glaring flaws in their narration, but for now it is still worth a try (provided you prepare yourself for the cringy romance)!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Kotthu: "Familiar premise though backed by good performances!!!"

Close to a year back, one of my buddies Dr. Aneez had shared a pic of him along with Asif Ali when the duo met socially as part of the unveiling of the Beypore Water Fest logo . Apparently, during their interaction Asif mentioned that he was engaged in Sibi Malayil's "Kotthu" at that point of time & that's how I came to hear about this movie. With a veteran like Sibi calling the shots & the trailer having an intense feel to it, the venture certainly created expectations. However in a movie that has Kannur politics as the backdrop, the question was whether we will be treated to a fresh perspective or will it be more of the same drama. 

The opening sequence is a gruesome political murder which sends a shiver down the spine of the concerned party members which includes Shanu (Asif) & Sumesh (Roshan Mathew). In order to avenge the death of their comrade, the local party leader Sadanandan (Ranjith) who is like a godfather to Shanu instructs him to retaliate in the same manner. Obviously, Shanu & his men expected backlash for the action but little did they realize that it would have life changing implications. 

This political thriller is penned by Hemanth Kumar who made a name for himself with his debut venture "Apothecary". Over here, he has chosen a familiar theme with Sibi crafting it in a realistic manner but the problem with this approach was that it doesn't provide the audience with anything unique that we haven't seen in other similar themed movies. Even the closure that they showed  is as if they were trying to be positive (appreciable for sure) but looked unrealistic. Another thing that I felt odd was the change in mood at certain junctures which didn't quite gel with the situation . On the technical side, pretty much everything seemed fine with Jakes Bejoy's BGM deserving special mention. 

The major positive is undoubtedly the performance of pretty much everyone as most of them made us empathize with their situation for a significant part of the run time. Asif has constantly evolved as an actor & he continued to do in this project as well. Both Sreelekshmi & Nikhila Vimal deserves praise for their fine performances along with Ranjith. In recent times, Roshan have had quite a few releases & has done a decent job there and even the supporting artists have done their parts aptly. A special mntion to a little girl in the climax sequence in a school who was just brilliant. 

Verdict: As a movie as such, it has been crafted well an backed by impressive performances. However, in terms of the story as such, it does not offer anything that was unique or not predictable but it does engage the audience with the emotional drama that unfolds. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Ottu: "Betrays expectations as it comes across as drab for large parts!!!"

One of the much awaited Onam release this year was Fellini's "Ottu" as it featured the man of the moment, Chackochan who has been on an absolute roll over the past few years with his smart movie choices. In addition, it also heralded the return of Aravind Swamy to our industry for the first time since the 1996 Cricket World Cup. The trailer looked cool & with two extremely talented as well as handsome lead actors on board, it certainly gave me expectations though the matinee show just had a handful of people. 

As in his debut venture, Fellini had penned the script in which Kichu (Chackochan) is entrusted by a group with the task of befriending David (Swamy) who was the trusted lieutenant of the dreaded gold smuggler, Assenar. Incidentally, David had lost his memory in a shootout which took the life of his boss & Kichu was promised a hefty amount in exchange for recovering the former's memory who apparently knew the whereabouts of a valuable consignment. 

The primary flaw is the lack of excitement or thrills that was expected when we get a sense of the plot. Apart from the chemistry between the lead pair, hardly anything worthwhile happens that could be termed as engaging. It is definitely picturized in a stylized manner & kudos to Gautham Sankar for that while Kaasif's music was average with the BGM especially in the latter segment being impressive (for some reason, the BGM in the climax vaguely felt like "Vikram" to me). The last 20 minutes does have some credible twists reminiscent of Abbas Mustan style but it felt like it came too late as it fails to engage the audience convincingly until that moment. The action choreography oscillated from being good to average with the shootout sequence being rather mundane.

On the performance front, with the writing being pretty weak; there isn't much Chackochan could do in terms of the character. In the case of Aravind Swamy, the situation is partially better as the character had a sense of mystery to it which he conveyed properly with his expressions & shift in body language as per the sequence. A special mention to Vineeth for his excellent dubbing for Swamy. As for the rest of the cast, none of them had much to do while Jackie's cameo barely created any impact. 

Verdict: The twists & stylized picturization are the reasons that warrants a watch. However, it fails to match expectations with a rather lousy screenplay where the protagonists spent time exchanging pleasantries & also on a dour road trip. In short, it will surely take some inspired writing to make the audience interested in the prequel & sequel!!!

Rating: 1.75/5

Regards...Ben

Thallumaala: "Couldn't have chosen a better name!!!"

About a week back, there was an online news article on Asianet about the bombastic collection that Khalid Rahman's "Thallumaala" had garnered since its release on August 12th. Apparently, the figure collected was close to 71C which is no mean feat. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch it in theatres due to professional commitments but thanks to Netflix I finally got to check it out last night. Incidentally, prior to watching it; I didn't know as to what to expect since it generated mixed opinions. Hence I was more than curious to know the reason for such diverse reactions from the audience. 

Hmm..so what exactly is the story??? Now the response to this answer is what divides the audience. To be frank, there isn't anything as such, which is surprising especially since it was penned by Muhsin Parari who had written "Virus" & "Sudani from Nigeria" which are some of my favorite movies in the last 5 years. As the title says, it is basically a string of fights and how each of these contribute to the next action sequence is what this movie is about. In effect, there is hardly anything else to write home about except that it gives us a glimpse as to how online buzz decides the vibe among the public (inauguration scene). 

However, I would have to admit that despite the shortcomings in the content; I still enjoyed it to a large extent as the technical aspects were excellent & the non linear narration was interesting for sure. I have loved Khalid's previous ventures & here too, he was able to craft something that was unique in terms of its making.  The USP is obviously the action sequences & boy, that was brilliantly choreographed (esp. the theatre fight). Nishadh Yusuf is undoubtedly the star as his editing was excellent with an equally impressive Jimshi Khalid whose frames were colourful & vibrant. Vishnu Vijay's BGM was fine though the music didn't quite work for me and some of the song placement weren't great.

In the performance department, Tovino was impressive & definitely deserves praise for the complete package he showcased be it in the body language,  stunts, dance etc. Lukman was a surprise & he nailed his part along with Shine Tom Chacko. Kalyani did her part reasonably well though I kind of felt that the bindaas attitude that she exudes didn't quite come across as natural. As for the rest, most of them have done their parts aptly with Swathi Das (as Sathaar) worthy of special mention. 

Verdict: Interestingly, a movie that showed that even with a wafer thin plot it could keep the audience interested with its technical excellence & narration style. It came across as a decent experience for me as I felt certain parts  lagged which I fast forwarded, while the action sequences were jjust dope. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Pathonpatham Noottandu: "Credible effort in the making as well as performances!!!"

Finally Onam has come to a close & we had a plethora of movies that hit the screens over the weekend. Almost all of them looked interesting & so I headed to the theatre for the morning show with the intention of checking out N Sreejith's "Oru Thekkan Thallu Case". Surprisingly, I was told that the show might be cancelled as there were no takers for it. So I promptly took the ticket for Screen 2 which had Vinayan's "Pathonpatham Nootandu" whose trailer had really impressed me. In addition, I was really curious to know as to what Vinayan had accomplished especially since his latest venture was financially backed by Gokulam Gopalan, a luxury that he didn't have in the past for various reasons. 

The movie is about the social injustices & the atrocious taxes that were imposed on the lower caste people which were prevalent in the 19th century. Even as they suffered the oppressions relentlessly, Arattupuzha Velayudha Chekavar (Siju Wilson), an affluent leader from their midst became their beacon of hope. He was a social reformer & an expert warrior, who constantly locked horns with the corrupt authorities so as to ensure social upliftment of the discriminated caste. His presence gave courage to Nangeli (Kayadu Lohar) who fought against the practice of levying breast tax. All this & more constitutes the storyline of this period drama. 

It's been quite a while since we had a movie from Vinayan with his last release being "Aakasha Ganga 2" in 2019. Just like most of his other flicks, he has pretty much taken care of the major responsibilities & that includes penning the script which is a concoction of fact and fiction. He has taken cinematic liberties & that in turn resulted in Kayamkulam Kochunni shown in a manner quite unlike to what we are familiar to. He has tried to touch upon various significant incidents that happened in that period headlined by Velayudhan & Nangeli. But in the process, I kind of felt that the story lacked flow & managed to create an emotional impact only in the Nangeli episode. However, on the technical side; it was really impressive be it Shaji Kumar's cinematography, action choreography, Ajayan's production design & Santhosh Narayanan's BGM (esp the one in the initial segment).

Despite the failings in the screenplay, the performance by Sijo Wilson was excellent as he perfectly fitted the part of the protagonist. He deserves praise for the effort that he has put into his body language & physique. As for the rest of the cast, Kayadu Lohar, Sudev Nair, Anoop Menon, Poonam Bajwa did their parts aptly. However, there were quite a few who came across as caricatures.

Verdict: In terms of the period dramas that has been shot in Malayalam, I would rate it as one of the better ones in terms of its making, performance of the protagonist & other technical aspects. However, the script as such did not quite have the flow, emotional connect for most parts & finesse that was expected. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Palthu Janwar: "Feel good movie that plays out at the same pace along with fine performances!!!"

Just like many others, even I had my share of Uthradam pachil though I decided to get busy with that after the morning show of Sangeeth Rajan's "Palthu Janwar". It's been ages since I have watched a movie in my hometown Kollam & since Sangeeth's directorial debut had garnered considerable positive word of mouth, I was more than eager to check it out. Well to be frank, it will certainly keep us engaged as it comes across as a feel good drama with characters that are realistic and well performed.

Almost all of us would have or will come across that phase where we are unsure as to what profession we should pursue & if that profession itself is indeed our passion? More often than not, the answer to that will be to follow our passion but there will be situations where one might have to opt for something else. Prasoon (Basil Joseph) happened to be one such individual who was forced to take up the position of a livestock inspector that he had received on compassionate grounds though his passion was in animation. Subsequently, he is posted in a panchayat located in a hilly terrain & tries to adapt with the new circumstances in his life which forms the basic thread of the movie.

When I first heard about this movie, the first thing that attracted me apart from the fact that it was from the Bhavana Studios production house was Vinoy Thomas. The Kerala Sahitya Academy winner will be familiar to most (if not for his literary work) courtesy of being the person whose story is the inspiration for "Churuli". Over here, he has sought the help of Aneesh Anjali & the duo has come up with a story that is realistic with the protagonist seemingly in a situation that reminded me of Amazon Prime's web series "Panchayat". There are a couple of things that I felt were positive and quite unlike what we normally witness of such high range / rural characters in Malayalam movies & i.e. they are usually shown as epitome of goodness. Over here, many of them have a sly and selfish side to their nature and the scenarios that pan out are relatable. However, I felt that the challenges that is put in front of the protagonist could have been more impactful as almost the whole movie moves along at the same tempo with no significant highs or lows. 

On the technical side, Sangeeth has done a decent job in the execution of the project with the support of Renadive's impressive cinematography, Justin Varghese's music and other aspects. Basil Joseph has aced his part as Prasoon as he convincingly portrayed the emotions that the protagonist goes through. Both Indrans & Shammi Thilakan were brilliant with the former as the innocent, smooth talking and sly panchayat member & the latter as the veterinarian with a side hustle (though it was surprising that he barely featured in the second half). Johny Antony continues to establish himself as an integral actor in the industry while Sruthy Suresh (as Stephy) & Dilesh Pothan were fine. Even the rest of the cast have done their parts aptly with the actor who acted as the butcher deserving special mention. 

Verdict: It was indeed a wise decision that they released a week prior to others that are lined up tomorrow. As mentioned earlier, it is a feel good movie that could have had more significant content with regard to building the character of the protagonist. However, do give it a try as it is a clean movie that is made for the family audience!!!\

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Liger: "For the makers well being, let's hope Tyson never watches this!!!"

The last couple of days has been rather hectic & hence I haven't had the time to watch the latest releases nor pen my opinion about the ones that I watched earlier.  Anywaz close to a fortnight back, I did watch Puri Jagannadh's "Liger" & boy, it was certainly not the launch that Vijay Deverakonda would have hoped for. The cast & crew had embarked on elaborate promotional tours across major cities & even came to our Kerala where Vijay had stated that he would gladly gulp down 'Jawan' to celebrate with the fans if it became a hit. Well he certainly might have to try that except that in sorrow as the action flick tanked at the box office. 

Liger (Vijay) & his mother, Balamani (Ramya Krishna) had moved to Mumbai as the latter aspired to make him a MMA Champion like his late father. Well we know what would eventually happen & to add to the commercial aspect, a romantic angle also thrown into the mix & voila, anyone could have named themselves as the script writer which is presently in Puri's name. There is no doubting the directorial credentials of Puri after all he has numerous hits to his name, but this was pedestrian to say the least. Coming to the technical aspects, Vishnu Sarma's cinematography & Sunil Kashyap's BGM were fine though the action choreography which was supposed to be the USB was strictly average. 

There is no doubt that Vijay has put in a lot of effort into his physique & certainly looked the part. However, when it comes to performances, pretty much everyone bordered on being average to pathetic and the primary reason for that was the weak screenplay and dramatic dialogues that belonged to a bygone era. I presume Mike Tyson would have been a paid a ton of money or else why would anyone even bother to be part of such an inconsequential cameo.

Verdict: Liger calls himself a 'fighter' but I personally feel the audience are the actual fighters who decided to sit through this cringe fest!!!

Rating: 0.5/5

Regards...Ben