Padma, King Fish & Varaal: "None of Anoop Menon's flora & fauna are worthwhile!!!"

Whenever the topic of Anoop Menon comes up, the first thought that would cross anyone's mind is his tendency to squeeze in philosophy in his movies irrespective of whether it demands or not. However, I do consider him as a talented artist who needs to be reined in to make optimum use of his abilities. Anyway the last couple of months, saw quite a few of his movies hit the screens. Unsurprisingly, none of them managed to make much of an impression since though the trailer seemed like it was packaged well, the execution of it was pretty average at best.

Padma (Rating: 1.5/5)

As has been the case in recent times, Anoop has penned the script though this time around he decided to don the director's hat. Incidentally, this was his first released directorial venture & dealt on the topic of marital relationships. Dr. Ravi Shankar (Anoop) was a much sought after psychologist who had helped many to resolve their problems including marital discord. But how will he be able to handle it when a rift happens between him & his wife, Padma (Surabhi Lakshmi) is what is explored here.

The theme as such sounded interesting but rather being focused on it, he incorporates numerous sub plots which barely adds to the run time rather than anything else. There are quite a few characters like Abdu & Jolly (Ambi Neenasam & Shruti Rajanikanth), who didn't have much to do for some comic relief (pretty much like how Tamil movies had a comedy side track in the past). The only person who actually impresses is Dinesh Prabhakar while Surabhi & Anoop did a decent job though in certain sequences I felt the former kind of failed to convey the emotions convincingly.  

King Fish (Rating: 1/5)

This is actually Anoop Menon's directorial debut though it released after "Padma". In this, Anoop places himself as a real estate baron, Bhaskara Verma who is informed by his uncle's lawyer that the former, Dasharata Verma (Ranjith) would like to will a considerable amount of his wealth to him. Though reluctant initially due to familial conflicts in the past, Bhaskara decides to visit his uncle & how things pan out between the two forms the crux of the flick. 

It is essentially a justice drama but in typical Anoop style he packs a number of sub plots most of which are not even relevant such as a journalist trying to find out the author of a book whose pen name is King Fish. None of the technical aspects were worth mentioning though the performances despite the shoddy script was fine especially Niranjana while the others such as Ranjith, Anoop, Durga Krishna etc were ok. 

Varaal (Rating: 1.5/5)

Unlike the other two, this was helmed by Kannan Thamarakulam while Anoop decided to restrict himself to the script. The manner in which certain sequences were staged & the numerous number of actors that had lined up kind of gave the impression that it was loosely inspired from "Lucifer". As you would have guessed, it is about two political parties with CM Achuthan Nair (Prakash Raj) gearing up for a third term. This is when the opposition decided to use their supposed trump card, David John Medayil (Anoop) & the impact his presence creates in both camps is what the movie talks about. 

It doesn't offer anything unique that we haven't been witness to in the past & comes across as an attempt to stylize it with visuals & BGM. Ravi Chandra's has done a decent job along with the editing by Ayoob Khan. In terms of performances, few of them have done their parts aptly such as Prakash Raj, Suresh Krishna etc. In terms of the content, it did have the scope for it but what eventually unfolded was a lame version of it.

Verdict: It's high time that Anoop Menon really gave more thought to his scripts & try to make it more rooted. Presently, it feels merely like an opportunity to proclaim his so called philosophy which is misplaced & gibberish!!!

Regards...Ben

4 years, Naalam Mura & Aanandam Paramanandham: "Fails to evoke any joy & would be surprised if it managed to have four houseful show days!!!"

Over the last couple of weeks, I did happen to watch a handful of movies. Since none of them neither had the content nor did I have the time, I decided to club them together into a single writeup. In this one, I would like to speak about Ranjith Sankar's "4 years", Deepu Anthikkad's "Naalam Mura" & Shafi's "Aanandam Paramanandam". Well Ranjith & Shafi has an impressive resume while Deepu would have hoped that his latest venture would turn out to be his lucky star. To be frank, none of the movies quite worked for me & I wouldn't be too surprised if the makers struggle to break even (hopefully they will). 

4 years: (Rating: 1.5/5)

As a person who has mostly liked Ranjith's movies, I was eagerly looking forward to his latest celluloid creation where he decided to pen his focus is on the last two college days of a couple, Gayathri (Priya Varrier) & Vishal (Sarjano Khalid). They had broken up a hew months back primarily because of Vishal's unpredictable temper & aimless nature while Gayathri was the exact opposite. However, they still harbored feelings for each other. 

Coming to the positives, the lead pair have done their parts reasonably well while Sankar Sharma's BGM had a feel to it. On paper, seemed like an interesting plot (despite the familiarity, after all most of us love nostalgia) but apart from dialogues about their happy times together; hardly anything happens on screen  & eventually concludes in a rather lame manner. 

Naalam Mura: (Rating: 0.5/5)

Just like many others, the main reason why I was interested to watch this flick was the presence of two extremely talented artists, Biju Menon & Guru Somasundaram. The first thought that crossed my mind when I heard the title was K Madhu's "Moonam Mura" where Lalettan absolutely rocked as Ali Imran. Unfortunately, what awaited over here was Sooraj Dev's mediocre script which fails to evoke any sense of thrill. Jayesh (Guru) has returned from the Gulf & was picked up from the airport by the police for interrogation for a murder where he was a suspect.

Without exaggeration, apart from this nothing much happens over the course of the run time. None of the technical aspects are worth mentioning as it was average at best while the performances also didn't have much to write home about. They do convey a relevant message towards the end, but by that time we are least bothered about it.

Aanandam Paramanandam: (Rating: 1.75/5)

Shafi is a director who is synonymous with some of the finest comedy entertainers though recent times hasn't been quite great for him with his last legitimate hit being "Two Countries" in 2015. Anyway those tough times are likely to continue as his latest directorial effort are unlikely to strike chord with the majority. The basic thought that Sindhuraj had for the movie sounded interesting & did have scope for humour. It comprised of an alcoholic father, Divakara Kurup (Indrans) trying to salvage his daughter, Anupama's (Anagha Narayanan) marriage by getting his son in law, Girish (Sharafudeen) overcome a similar alcoholic addiction. 

There is an evident lack of engaging sequences with the emotional content working only sporadically while most of the humour which was supposed to be the USP failing to have an effect. In terms of performances, most of them have done their parts aptly though there was not scope for performance to be frank with the material in hand. Does it test our patience? Well it didn't for me though I was left disappointed by the time it concluded. 

Verdict: It just goes to emphasize that irrespective of the caliber of the cast & crews, unless you have a credible script with a unique story or style of narration, it is unlikely to find takers!!!

Regards...Ben 

Bharatha Circus & Cirkus: "Both the circuses fails to impress with the latter being cringy!!!"

I am pretty sure that most of you would have raised your eye brows seeing the title & assumed that both the movies might have a common theme. Well they don't actually, as both of them belong to different genres & yet both of them on the surface did seem to have an interesting subject. Sohan Seenulal has helmed "Bharatha Circus" & focuses on exploitation of the lower class of the society while Rohit Shetty's "Cirkus" was inspired from Shakespeare's 'The Comedy of Errors'. Unfortunately, both of them failed to do justice to what was expected of them.

Bharatha Circus (Rating: 1.5/5)

Muhad Vembayam has penned the script in which the movie unfolds with Lakshmanan (Binu Pappan) goes to the police station to report the death of his daughter. However, he suspected foul play & wanted CI Jayachandran (MA Nishad) police to unravel the mystery behind it. Incidentally, at the same time the CI & his team were pre-occupied with another issue in which the Naxalites were believed to be involved. Whether the police be able to provide justice to the father forms the basis of this movie. 

There is an undeniable effort to reveal the prejudices of the State machinery & the casteist mentality of many people especially those who are in power.  The primary flaw in the movie is the amount of time that it takes to come to the main subject (which in itself is an indication that they dont much idea) & even after it does, nothing much worthwhile happens as it proceeds in a rather predictable manner. They try to include other social issues as a side track & in the end, the way it concluded felt rather awkward with regard to what they wanted to convey. In terms of the technical aspects & performances, it was average at best. 

Cirkus (Rating: 0.5/5)

Well as I mentioned earlier, it is based on the 'Comedy of Errors' whereby there are two sets of twins & one infant from each set was intentionally interchanged by the scientist / caretaker of the orphanage when they were adopted. Apparently, Dr. Roy (Murali Sharma) wanted to prove his hypothesis on nature vs nuture that rather than the genes it is the manner in which children are raised that determines the type of human beings the become. 

The movie is set in the 1960s & Jomon along with the help of the art department has shot more than 95% of it in vibrantly coloured sets that shouts of artificiality. Im pretty sure that Rohit wanted to give that impression to the audience but then the humour that should come along with it barely took off. Most of it falls flat & the story as such failed to evoked any sense of interest. The screenplay by Yunus Sajawal was pathetic while the dialogues by Farhad Samji, Sanchit Bedre & Vidhi Ghodgaonkar works in some places (some segments of Sanjay Mishra). Coming to the cast, despite many featuring in it; none of them quite stood out as the written material itself was mediocre. 

Verdict: In short, both of them turns out to be a rather laborious experience!!!

Regards...Ben

Kaapa: "Typical gangster template with some impressive performances!!!"

2022 is coming to a close & over the course of this year, we have had numerous big banner releases of which some has made the box office gone bonkers. Well in terms of the cast & crew assembled, Shaji Kailas's "Kaapa" belongs to the same category & would be hoping to garner similar response from the audience. It was also the cynosure of attention as it was bankrolled by the Fefka Writer's Union with the noble intention of improving the livelihood of the writers in need. The trailer gave the impression of it being a gangster flick & hence it was curious to know as to how it manages to be distinct compared to similar flicks in the past.

After the roaring success of "Kaduva", Shaji Kailas was back in the hot seat with Prithvi yet again in the lead. Apparently, it was supposed to have been helmed by Venu; who subsequently backed out due to creative differences. The movie is actually a cinematic adaptation of G R Indugopan's 'Sankhumukhi' & is about the gangster gangs that thrived in Trivandrum. In order to curb the violence that was unleashed, the State Government had introduced the KAAPA list & incidentally it also had Binu's name in it (Anna Ben) much to the surprise of her husband, Anand (Asif Ali); as they were IT professionals who had nothing to do with it. Anand reaches out for help to have his wife's name removed & in the process, he gets to know about the underbelly of the city.

Since I have not read any of Indugopan's novels, I cant quite comment as to whether the makers have been able to do justice to it. However, one thing that certainly stood out was the manner in which the story is unfolded & the importance given to all the major characters. Unlike other similar movies, the female characters do get mentioned & the audience is given the feel of their importance. But it was not conveyed convincingly on the screen except in the climax. With regard to the whole movie, except for a couple of sequences I didnt find anything unique as such though I didnt feel that it tested our patience. On the technical side, Jomon's visuals were fine while Jakes Bejoy & Dawn Vincent's BGM felt more like noise rather than an impactful feel. Another odd thing that I felt was the makeup of Prithvi when his past was shown as it looked rather odd & artificial (kind of reminded me of "Anwar")

Coming to performances, all of them have done a fine job though it wasnt as if they were provided difficult roles also. The pick among the lot for me was Dileesh Pothan who was impressive as Latheef while Prithvi pulled off the mass scenes with flair. Asif is the one who takes the story forward & was spot on as Anand while Jagadeesh did his part aptly. Coming to Aparna & Anna, both were fine though the former had comparatively more scope to perform (even then I felt it was too minimal).

Verdict: It should certainly bring in the big bucks courtesy of the holiday season & also because it is a reasonably well packaged movie. Does it offer anything that we didn't expect? Well not exactly, but it still manages to keep us engaged for most parts. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

An Action Hero: "Action that thrills & humour that will have us in splits!!!"

It's been a year where Bollywood had to play second fiddle to movies from the South as the latter had the box office singing to its tune. Well the Hindi film industry only have themselves to blame for the mess they find themselves in rather than blame it on the audience or the ascendancy of the OTT platform. There is no doubt that the taste of the audience has undergone a huge change primarily because of ease of access to content from other industries & it would have naturally dawned on them that the Hindi movies were in a state of stagnancy. But it would be unfair on my part to generalise all of it, since there were indeed quite a few that were interesting. One such movie was Anirudh Iyer's "An Action Hero" which certainly had me entertained, though it unfortunately failed to ring the money registers. 

This is the directorial debut of Anirudh who decided to embark on his maiden venture with the script that he had penned. Giving him credible support was Neeraj Yadav who took on the responsibility of the screenplay and the dialogues which was undoubtedly the USP of the movie. The duo has done a fantastic job as it is essentially a dark comedy or rather a satire on Bollywood, media houses and the underworld, all of which are essentially dissimilar on the outside but feed off each other for their survival. Maanav (Ayushmann Khurrana) was the Bollywood action king & heart throb of the masses who had the bonafide air of arrogance about him. The shoot of his latest flick took him to Haryana where he rubs off Vicky, the brother of a prominent politician. The two gets into a scuffle & it leads to a scenario where Maanav decides to flee to London until everything had settled. However, it was just the start of his troubles!!!

The arrogance, tantrums & aloofness of the stars are captured well with the icing on the cake being the way that Anirudh had roasted the media which includes an undeniable reference to Arnab Goswami. The action sequences were choreographed well & the liberal sprinkling of hilarious one liners keeps us entertained. Kudos to Parag Chhabra for the BGM and the music which gelled well and provided the desired impact. Kunal Shah had also done a fine job with the visuals.

Ayushmann has been in the industry for only a decade & within that time itself he has carved a niche for himself with his choice of movies. He was impressive as Maanav be it in the way he carried himself as the star & also for his classy stunts. Another person who deserves the same amount of praise was Jaideep Ahlawat who was both menacing yet hilarious at the same time. The rest of the cast didn't get much of screen space but still had us in splits such as Hiten Patel (as Kaadir) & Jitender Hooda (as Inspector Daroga) while Neeraj Madhav was wasted in an inconsequential role. 

Verdict: I'm pretty sure that quite a few eyebrows will be raised by what I am going to say next especially since the movie had tanked. However, according to me this is one of the best Hindi movies to have released this year. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Ariyippu: "Situations & their impact on moral compasses!!!"

The WC has finally come to an end & the manner in which it concluded was just brilliant to say the least. Since most of the evenings were spent watching the WC, I haven't quite had the time to pen my opinion about a few of the movies that I had watched. One of them was Mahesh Narayanan's "Ariyippu" which had many sit up & take notice ever since it has garnered interest at various film festivals. The latest feather to be added to Mahesh's hat was when it received the NETPAC award for the best Malayalam movie at IFFK. It premiered on Netflix last week & I was curious yet apprehensive initially to check it out since it had an arty slow paced feel to it. 

This is a movie that is quite unlike what we had seen from Mahesh in the past & the talented film-maker deserves praise for the same as his script is on the complexities of the human character. He had chosen to place his protagonists in Noida where a couple, Hareesh & Reshmi (Chackochan & Divya Prabha) are working in a glove manufacturing company. They had moved to the city in the hope that it would facilitate their decision to migrate abroad but the pandemic had put a spanner to their plans. However, they kept trying through a travel agency & in order to showcase their skill set, they decided to shoot a video of it in their company. Little did they realise that it would make them go through scenarios that they had least expected.

There is no doubt that despite the slow pace it still had an engaging feel to it & that was because of the way the lead pair reacted to the various situations that they are made to go through. This includes the scandalous video issue & the malpractice that was happening within the factory that was kept under wraps. It takes a toll on their relationship dynamics & it becomes a clash of their conscience, idealism, ego etc. The frames are pretty stark & Sanu Varghese conveys the mood of the movie effectively. 

Another major positive in the movie was the casting & performances as all of them looked the part perfectly. Divya Prabha has done a fine job in terms of her dialogue delivery which makes us feel the helplessness yet a solid character when the situation arose. Giving her excellent support was Chackochan who showcases the vulnerabilities of Hareesh perfectly & the manner in which his thought process keeps changing depending on the situation which can be said to be a blend of realism & selfishness. The rest of the cast have also done justice to their roles be it Kiran Peethambaran (as Mohan), Athulya Ashadam (as Sujaya), Danish Husain (as Kailash) etc. 

Verdict: Well the movie has already got positive publicity by way of its performance at film festivals. There is no doubt that it is an engaging movie & taken in a realistic manner without any unnecessary drama. However, I do have a feeling that the slow pace of the movie will earn quite a few detractors & would feel that it didnt quite match their expectations. As for my opinion, I would suggest giving it a try!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Roy: "An interesting take on the psyche that falls short of its potential!!!"

Whenever SonyLIV has procured the streaming rights to a Malayalam movie, more often than not it has lived up to expectations & hence when Sunil Ibrahim's "Roy" was announced, I was eager to check it out. Another reason for the motivation was the work done by Sunil in the past such as "Arikil Oraal", "Chapters" etc., a rather underrated director whose movie themes are usually quite intriguing but turns out to be rather flat towards the end. Yet again he had come up with an interesting story which explored the psyche of the protagonist performed by Suraj Venjaramoodu & it remained to be seen what he had done this time around. 

Roy (Suraj) is an individual who suffered from a psychological disorder whereby at times he wasn't able to distinguish between reality & dreams. This literally meant he didn't have much of a social life with his only solace being his wife Teena (Sija Rose), a journalist & writer by profession. Her present assignment was penning the biography of a prominent writer who had incidentally gone missing & this in turn put her under the scanner of the investigation team. To further add to the mystery, even she goes missing & Roy was left with no option but to search for her even as the police didn't seem convinced about his concerns. 

Within the first half an hour, we are convinced of the potential that Sunil's script had coz of the involvement of the play of the human mind. The pace is pretty slow to the point of being sluggish & that can be a turn off for quite a few. But if you are able to sit through it, you can surely going to get drawn into it even more. In terms of the execution, I certainly felt that Sunil left quite a few glaring issues which prevented the movie from being more impactful. Though we are aware of Roy's condition, we don't quite empathize with it & that is primarily because of the lack of sequences to build that segment. The climax was also rather underwhelming as it concluded in a jiffy rather than create adequate suspense. On the technical side, Munna's BGM was fine while Jayesh Mohan's visuals was also ok. 

As the protagonist, Suraj has done a fine job for large parts though the romantic segments felt rather forced & lacked chemistry. It was a pleasant surprise to see Sija in a prominent role & she has done complete justice to it. The only time we get to see Shine Tom display normal behaviour is in movies & as in most cases, he has done a fine job with the dialogues being legible. The rest of the cast such as Jins Baskar, Riya Saira etc. have also done their parts aptly.

Verdict: It obviously has shortcomings that might turn off quite a few especially the pace, the hurried climax etc., but it still has content that will keep us engaged. I'm not sure whether it would have a sequel, though the manner in which it has been concluded surely gives scope for that. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

The Teacher: "Amala gave an earnest performance but there was need for a better narration style!!!"

It's been quite a while since Amala Paul has been in a Malayalam movie & hence Vivek Varghese's "The Teacher '' certainly had that curiosity factor. However, with "Gold" & "Saudi Vellakka" hitting the screens at the same time, it was surprising as to why the makers had decided to release it along with them. Since I haven't watched the trailer, I didn't have any prior expectations. However, it turned out to be a decent experience as it touched upon a relevant subject though it could have been much more impactful.

The movie unfolds with Devika (Amala) waking up feeling quite uneasy both physically & mentally. Though she couldn't quite recollect anything vividly, she knew that whatever had happened with her could turn her life upside down. Devika was a Physical Education teacher, married to Sujith (Hakkim Shah), a hospital attender & the couple had been trying to have a baby for quite a while. Soon enough, she gets pregnant but rather than be ecstatic about it; she had other plans much to her husband's dismay. 

This is Vivek's second directorial venture & he has collaborated with PV Shajikumar, who has penned a relevant subject that we have come across at alarming regularity in the media. The manner in which the story is built was interesting but going forward, it takes an extremely predictable path which fails to provide the desired impact. There are a couple of traits that are given to certain characters and revealed in the last segment, but that provides a chuckle at best. Interestingly, there were quite a few characters who were introduced or mentioned with much hype such as Manju Pillai (as Kalyani, a communist leader), Senthil & IM Vijayan. For reasons best known to the director, they get relegated to the sidelines almost immediately. On the technical side, pretty much all the aspects were handled OK. 

Amala has done a fine job as the protagonist & effectively conveys the emotions be it that of distress, anxiety, determination etc. In addition, kudos to the action sequences which were quite impressive. Hakkim fluctuated from being average to good & there was not much chemistry with Amala. Manju Pillai had a meaty role (or so it seemed) & she did look the part in the sparse scenes allotted to her. Chemban Vinod in an extended cameo didnt have much to do while Prasant Murali (as Kevin) did a good job as the slimy friend. 

Verdict: There have been numerous movies on the subject in the past & hence it was relevant that they craft it into something unique. However, Vivek didn't quite manage to do that. In short, you may give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Saudi Vellakka: "Engrossing emotional drama that asks pertinent questions!!!'

Last year when our film industry was limping back to normalcy after the pandemic enforced shutdown of theatres, Tharun Moorthy's "Operation Java" was one of the first movies to go for a theatrical release. It was a well made movie that was both realistic and engaging and just like many others, even I had thoroughly enjoyed it. Ever since that, I have been eagerly waiting for his second directorial project "Saudi Vellakka" which finally hit the screens last Friday. Ironically, I didn't know that it was his movie about a fortnight back though the manner the poster was made and the cast involved kind of reminded me of his debut venture. Anyway the movie turned out to be a wonderful experience both for its heart touching emotional content and endearing performances. 

If cyber crime was the topic that Tharun had tackled earlier, this time around his focus is on the pendency of trial and the impact that it has on the people involved. The film unfolds with Abhilash (Lukman) getting summoned to court for a trial that has been running for close to 14 years. Apparently, the case had happened when he was a kid & the person that was at the centre of it apart from him was an old lady, Ayesha Rawther (Devi Verma). Tharun takes us through an emotional journey which begins with the inception of the case and the effect it had on the lives of people over this insanely long period of time. 

The effect that time has on a person is brilliantly portrayed in the expressions & body language of Devi Verma. From a person who was feisty and never short of words be it to her daughter in law or neighbour, she literally mellows down completely & becomes a silent watcher to the wheels of justice creaking along at a snail's pace. However, she relentlessly pursues the case & despite her age, earns the means to pay her legal counsel for his services. A lion share of the praise belongs to Pauly Valsan, who had dubbed for Devi & who I felt could have also possibly done justice to the character. Tharun deserves appreciation for the manner he has created all the characters as each one had a specific purpose & also for his fantastic casting as pretty much all of them have done justice to their roles. With regard to visuals, Sharan Velayudhan has done a decent job while the music and BGM by Palee Francis was soothing to the ears. 

Apart from Devi, a couple of others also deserve special mention such as Sujith Shankar (as Sathaar) who was fantastic as the meek emotional son, Binu Pappan, Lukman & Dhanya Ananya (as Naseema) . Even artists like Sminu, Vincy, the autorickshaw driver, Gokulan, Ramya Suresh, marriage broker etc did their roles aptly.

Verdict: Yet another impressive movie that has released this year as Tharun enhanced his credentials emphasizing that he is indeed one of the most talented story tellers in the industry. It is a slow paced movie which will keep us engrossed in its emotional drama. As for the question that it raises, is there no solution at all for the lumbering pace at which our judicial system works after all justice delayed is justice denied. In short, dont miss it!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben

Gold: "All that glitters is not gold!!!"

One of the most awaited movies of the year, Alphonse Puthran's "Gold" has finally hit the screens after quite a few deferred release announcements. The last time when his film was released, I was in Israel doing my Postdoc & I still vividly remember how I wished "Premam" would be released there since it became a rage back home. Interestingly, seven years later his "Gold" became the first Malayalam movie to release in Israel & kudos to Prithviraj Productions & Magic Frames for making unprecedented efforts to tap into as many nations as possible. As expected there was a huge hype & expectations had gone through the roof, and living upto it was always going to be a tall ask. 

As in the past, Alphonse has penned the script as well which sounded decent but when it was picturised onto the celluloid, it lacked the thrill that was expected to be imparted. Joshi (Prithvi) is a mobile shop owner who lived along with his mom (Mallika Sukumaran) on the banks of Periyar. One fine morning, they find an abandoned vehicle with portable speakers parked at their gate which meant that he couldn't even get his new car into their premises. Left with no option, Joshi files a police complaint (who incidentally is facing a similar issue) & what subsequently happens as a result of that forms the basis of this movie. 

The first time I saw "Premam", it seemed to me like a livelier fun version of Cheran's "Autograph" & I certainly did enjoy the manner in which Alphonse had crafted it. Coming to this project, many of his signature styles are there be it the non linear timelines, character names and captions written in bold, shots of nature and of course the deft editing. But after a point, the novelty wears off and quite a few of the things stick out like a sore thumb like the nature shots didn't make sense at times. The humour which was supposed to be the USP works only in patches primarily because of the repetition especially the ones that involved Lalu Alex which kind of got irritating after a point. On the technical side, Anend Chandran & Vishwajith Odukkathil did a decent job with the visuals, Rejesh Murugan's music was average though the BGM at times was impressive while Alphonse could have made the movie much shorter. 

One of the major positives is the enthusiasm & confidence displayed by Prithvi who was spot on as the protagonist and giving him adequate support was his mom (felt more content could have been given to her role rather than merely cook food), Baburaj & Shammi Thilakan. The rest of the cast pretty much had cameo roles of hardly any significance except for maybe Vinay Fort. Actually even Nayanthara was in a cameo & didn't quite understand the point of casting her as it could have been easily done by anyone else like Kalyani or Nikhila Vimal. 

Verdict: Thanks to the wide release, the movie would have obviously garnered a fantastic initial. It's not a movie that is going to leave you irritated as some of the humour & Prithvi's performance was entertaining enough. However, it falls well short of expectations since what we get is plated gold & not the actual one. 

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Shafeekinte Santhosham: "Santhosham for the audience was scarce!!!"

One of the most profitable movies of 2022 was Vishnu Mohan's "Meppadiyan" which was bankrolled by Unni Mukundan. Hoping to repeat the trend, this time around he decided to join hands with debutant director Anup Pandalam for "Shafeekinte Santhosham". The posters & trailer seemed to indicate it as a feel good movie & hence I decided to give it a try. However, it turned out to be rather disappointing & not because of the lack of effort from Unni but rather because of an extremely weak storyline. 

Well the responsibility of the script also falls upon Anup & I was genuinely surprised about its central plot as it was just too flimsy. Incidentally, the protagonist goes through a whole lot of emotional turmoil as a result of that. Unni essayed the role of Shafeek who worked for a UAE based firm & as the movie unfolds, he is preparing to fly back home for his wedding. As a token of gratitude for his well being, he got a gift for a doctor who had helped him in the past. Little did he realize that it would have a huge impact on his life for no obvious fault of his.

The template of the movie is almost similar to many movies that we had in the past whereby we have a protagonist who has a heart of gold but then ill fortune hits him with an iron fist. It certainly begins in a lively manner & the humour also worked out initially courtesy of Bala's dialogues that were reference to his real self. But as it moves along, we get the impression that the director couldn't do much as his script barely had much content & made a run time of less than 2 h feel a tad too long. On the technical side, both Shaan Rehman & Eldho Isaac did a decent job with their music & cinematography respectively.

As I mentioned earlier, Unni has done a fine job especially in the emotional segment in the climax while Krishna Prasad (as Shafeek's father), Sminu Sijo & Shaheen Siddique did their parts aptly. As for the rest like Manoj K Jayan, Bala, Rahul Madhav etc, they were average with Divya Pillai & Athmeeya Rajan barely having much to do. 

Verdict: Having watched the fun filled promotions & lively trailer on YouTube, I definitely expected the movie to be far more engaging. Anywaz Anup's script lacked credible content which significantly handicapped his directorial efforts. In short, the box office returns are unlikely to give santhosham to Unni compared to "Meppadiyan"!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Padachone Ingalu Katholi: "Inevitably we will call upon padachone as the movie progresses!!!"

Kuthiravattom Pappu is an artist who needs no introduction as the late veteran actor was one of the finest that the industry has seen. Many of his iconic dialogues have earned cult status & one among them is the 'thamarassery churam' from "Vellanakalude Naadu". Taking cue from that, Bijith Bala decided to name his directorial debut venture as "Padachone Ingalu Katholi". He had stated that he had packaged it as a political satire in a manner that will connect with the people. Anyway I seriously doubt that belief as it turned out to be a test of our patience as it was way too long & many of the sequences did nothing apart from induce sleep. 

The script belongs to Pradeep Kumar Kavumthara & it is pretty evident that he had no clue as to how he wanted to convey the central theme. Eventually it concludes with a message that reminded me of comedy skits that we watch on TV, as if to emphasise that they were indeed sure of what they wanted to tell the audience. Dineshan (Sreenath Bhasi) is a teacher with a good reputation who was also part of the left wing political cadre. Incidentally, he fell in love with Renuka (Ann Sheetal) who belonged to a family with right wing ideology. Apparently when a series of ill fortune happens in his life, she coaxes him to seek divine help which in turn sets in motion a series of events. 

There are surely better ways to make a political satire & this is definitely not one of them. Quite a number of subplots mushrooms up for no specific purpose at all & the effort to evoke laughs barely worked. Obviously there is nothing much you can do when the script itself is so shambolic but it surprises me as to why Kiran Das didn't exercise his editing skills convincingly. Even Shaan Rahman's music was average at best. On the performance front, Grace Antony was the pick among the lot while the others like Bhasi, Dinesh Prabhakar, Hareesh Kanaran, Ann etc. did their parts aptly.

Verdict: There was an evident lack of clarity from the makers coz they were not quite sure as to what & how they wanted to tell . Even the tone of the movie oscillated from being a political drama to satire & wasn't able to do justice to either of them. In short, even padachone will not be interested to katholaan this lazily written story!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Regards...Ben

Autorickshawkarante Bharya: "Ought to have released a couple of decades back!!!"

Frankly speaking, I wouldn't term myself as being well versed in Malayalam literature though I have had the opportunity to go through the works of some of the prominent literary writers. One of them happens to be noted writer, M Mukundan or rather popularly known as 'Mayyazhiyude Kathakaaran'. Interestingly, he made his debut as a screenplay writer recently as he adapted his short story for Harikumar's "Autorickshawkarante Bharya'' which had Suraj Venjaramoodu & Ann Augustine in the lead. Well it turned out to be a rather cliched drama & reminded me of movies in the 90s.

The movie is about Radhika (Ann) who decided to take a stand against her husband, Sajeevan's (Suraj) laziness even as they struggled to pay off their debts. This meant she would go on to get a driver's license & emphatically establish her authority by plying his auto against his wishes on the roads of Mahe. Well this is pretty much the central conflict & hardly anything else happens except in the last segment where an emotional angle is tried to wedge in. 

With all due respect to M. Mukundan, the story was just too bland & does not offer anything fresh to the audience. To make matters worse, even the veteran Harikumar seems to be stuck in the past & despite a run time of less than 2 hours, it still felt rather long and lagged quite a bit. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention while in terms of performances, it was average at best with Ann being better & had marginally more scope than Suraj to perform. The rest of the cast were also ok with Swasika being the pick among the lot. 

Verdict: Nothing much to say except that the makers seemed to have lost track of time & the effect it had on the evolution of cinema in that period. In short, dont bother!!!

Rating: 1/5

Regards...Ben