Purusha Pretham & Vellaripattanam: "Satires that end up at different ends of the spectrum!!!"

Satires as a genre is a tight rope that needs to be handled with the utmost care coz if it falters it can be quite cringy. This week saw the release of two such satirical movies & both gave quite diverse viewing experiences. These included  Krishand's "Purusha Pretham" which in essence is a procedural drama but which has sub-plots that touches upon a host of other social issues. The other was Mahesh Vettiyar's political satire "Vellaripattanam" which is pretty much the usual run of the mill on the political climate that prevails in the state. Anyway it would be interesting to see how the public would warm up to both of them.

Purusha Pretham: "Wry sense of humour & wacky treatment makes it interesting!!!"

Krishand is a person who needs no introduction after all he has made a name for himself in his short directorial career. This is his third venture at the helm after the much appreciated "Aavasavyuham" & "Vrithakrithiyulla Chathuram". The protagonist of his story that is penned by Manoj Thodupuzha with the screenplay by Ajith Haridas, is SI Sebastian / 'Super' Sebastian (Alexander Prasanth) who is known in the police circles for his daredevilry through the stories narrated by his colleague & constable, Dileep (Jagadish). As part of their job, they end up handling numerous unidentified bodies & the associated formalities. One such unidentified body recovered from a lake take centre stage when they decide to have it buried three days later due to lack of space in the mortuary. It was at this juncture that Susan (Darshana Rajendran) turns up at the police station with the claim that she believes that it was her husband, Bobby. How Sebastian & Dileep handle this situation forms the basis of the story.

Even as this procedural drama unfolds, there is an undeniable thread of wry humour that runs along with it. There are numerous instances where we end up laughing for the hilarious screenplay as it dabbles genres packaged as a neo-noir satire. It does take a bit of time to get into its elements but once it does, then it runs along with it until the end culminating in a docu-fiction pattern with real life individuals talking about such unidentified bodies. This movie is as much about the visual language as it is about the script & Krishand has handled it expertly with the colour tone & rather queer sense of artist placement to the edge of the screen. Another round of applause that is well deserved is Ajmal Hasbulla which was unique and impressive, since it surprisingly blended so perfectly. Suhail Backer also deserves praise for his editing skills.

Alexander has been in the industry for a couple of decades now & it is heartening to see him reap the benefits of his hard work. Over the last couple of years, he has been able to pull off some memorable performances in "Action Hero Biju", "Operation Java" etc.  As Sebastian, he was fantastic as he knew the right balance between the various shades of the character. The ever dependable Jagadish rocked while Darshana Rajendran did her part aptly. The rest of the cast have also done justice to their roles.

Verdict: It is a type of movie that might generate mixed reactions as some might not quite warm up to the rather unusual wacky treatment. However, if you do; then you are likely to have a jolly good viewing experience. In short, check it out!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Vellaripattanam: "Offers hardly anything worthwhile!!!"

A couple of days back, I happened to watch on YouTube the promotional press event that the Vellaripattanam team had organized. One of the question that arose as part of that was the impact of cult classics like "Sandesham" & even recent recent flicks like "Vellimoonga" had on the genre of political satire. Well it will be fair to say that Mahesh Vettiyar's directorial debut venture doesn't even qualify to light a candle alongside it. 

In the company of Sarath Krishna, Mahesh has penned the script which speaks about the political climate that was prevalent in the Chakkarakudam panchayat. K.P Sunanda (Manju Warrier) was a ward member & her brother, K.P Suresh (Soubin Shahir) are members of UDP; with the latter not quite having as much political foothold as his sister. How both of these gear themselves up for the next elections & the impact it has on their relationship is what is focused here.

The biggest drawback in the story is that it doesn't offer anything that is neither unique nor fresh in treatment. The usual gimmicks include the standard jokes that we know about each of the prominent parties in our state & the strategies that they employ to defect members from the opposing camp. In between, Mahesh tries to throw in the family drama but nothing quite manages to engage the audience. It didnt quite test my patience yet at the same time, it failed to evoke any kind of reactions that we usually associate with hilarious satires. None of the technical aspects are worth mentioning as it was average at best.

After the "Jack N' Jill" debacle, questions were raised as to whether Manju & Soubin would be able to make amends for it through this flick. On the performance front, Manju has done reasonably well while Soubin was average to mediocre at times. As for the rest of the cast, Veena Nair, Shabareesh Varma, Krishna Shankar etc have done their parts aptly while it is high time that Remya Suresh choose different type of roles.  

Verdict: With not much of a competition, maybe it might be able to survive at the box office for a week if lucky after all it fails to offer anything worthwhile!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Regards...Ben

Kabzaa: "Mediocre ripoff of KGF!!!"

Over the last couple of years, the Kannada film industry has grown in stature & the credit for that primarily goes to Prashanth Neel's "KGF" franchise as well as Rishab Shetty's "Kantara" (not to forget that projects like "Lucia", "U-Turn", "Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana" etc. did indicate that there was a wave of change that was steadily setting in). This has invariably given courage to many producers to invest the big bucks and the directors to dream on a massive canvas. One such director happened to be R Chandru's "Kabzaa" which was touted as the next big thing. Hmm...the truth couldn't have been any further from that.

Without mincing words, I would have to state that Chandru has made a cheap rip off of "KGF" with many of the characters, sequences, music, colour tone & cinematography being almost identical. The protagonist borne out of Chandru's so called 'creation' is Arkeshwara (Upendra), the dreaded gangster in the 1970s & this movie is about his rise to the throne of the underworld. There is nothing much to talk about the script as it doesn't offer anything novel, on the contrary it felt amateurish at times when it tried to deviate from  "KGF". On the technical side, despite being heavily inspired; A J Shetty deserves praise for the cinematography while Ravi Basrur's music was nothing more than noise that was painful for the ears. To add to the woes, at close to 134 minutes it does test our patience at many instances. 

Even though the screenplay was lack lustered, there was still hope that maybe Upendra would do something worthwhile. Well he didn't & on the contrary, he seemed like a miscast in many of the sequences and his chemistry with Shriya, who performed reasonably was rather cold. Kiccha Sudeepa in a cameo was one of the positives while Shiva Rajkumar had an impactful screen presence. As for the rest of the cast, none of them are worth mentioning as it oscillated from being average to poor.

Verdict: Would be interesting to see whether they would go ahead with the sequel, as this was just plain pathetic stuff. In short, don't bother!!!

Rating: 1/5

Regards...Ben

Gulmohar, Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway & Kuttey: "Interesting female leads with varying degrees of execution!!!"

Bollywood was given a much needed lease of life courtesy of Siddharth Anand's "Pathaan" which has grossed over 1000 C. In the meantime, there has been quite a few releases which had female leads take center stage & it was interesting to see as to how they would fare. A couple of them had a stellar crew both in front & behind the camera; however I felt that they didn't quite maximize their potential. So is the audience to blame or did the makers lose a trick???

Gulmohar

As opposed to the other flicks, this had a direct release on the Disney+ Hotstar platform & was helmed by Rahul V Chittella who had also penned the script along with Arpita Mukherjee. Since I haven't watched his earlier directorial ventures, I didn't quite have any idea as to what to expect though the presence of Manoj Bajpayee in the cast instilled hope. The Batras was an affluent family who owned a palatial residence named 'Gulmohar' in the city. However, the matriarch Kusum Batra (Sharmila Tagore), decide to sell the house & have a family get together organized to celebrate the time they had spent there. At the party, she expresses her desire to celebrate Holi which was four days away in their house for one last time. Though her son, Arun (Manoj Bajpayee) was reluctant initially, he eventually gives in to her wishes. What happens in the family over the course of that period forms the content of the movie.

Rahul has touched a host of different topics through the various characters that he had assembled & showcased as to how dysfunctional the family actually was. Each & every character had some issue but they were reluctant to share it with their loved ones in the impression that they wouldn't be able to understand or it would hurt them. These issues varied from independence, inferiority complex, sexuality, adoption, blood ties etc. At first glance, it kind of reminded me of Mira Nair's "Monsoon Wedding" but it still had an identity of its own. The technical aspects were handled aptly & in sync with the mood be it Eeshit Narain's visuals, Tanupriya Sharma's editing & Siddhartha Khosla's music.

As always, Manoj Bajpayee was brilliant & his body language when his character goes into an emotional meltdown was a treat to watch. Simran's appearances on the big screen has been far & few but whenever she is on it, her performances will be spot on just like what she has done here. I have always found Sharmila Tagore to be a tad over dramatic at times (& felt maybe Nafisa Ali or Waheeda Rehman would be a better choice as Kusum). However, the veteran was both charismatic & convincing in her performance. It would be fair to say that each & every artist have done justice to their roles and it was imperative that they did it as well since Rahul had crafted his characters in such a manner that each one had something to contribute to it.

Verdict: A reasonably well crafted movie that spoke about the turmoil that each person carried irrespective of how close-knit the family looked like on the surface. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway

Did any one even know that such a movie was being released? Well if you did, then like me the most likely reason for that must be the Norwegian Ambassador to India, Mr. Hans Jacob Frydenlund. Apparently I came across a news article whereby he had slammed Ashima Chibber's "Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway" for portraying his nation in poor light. Obviously my curiosity was aroused & it turned out that the movie was based on the real life ordeal of an Indian couple who had their children taken from them by Velfred, the Norwegian child welfare organization.

Debika (Rani Mukherjee) & Anirudh (Anirban Bhattacharya) were an immigrant Indian couple with two small kids who had made Norway their home for the past few years. Life moved on peacefully until the Norwegian authorities deemed them unfit to be parents & put the kids in foster care. The movie is about the exhaustive efforts that Debika puts in & the struggles and lengths that she was willing to go through to get back her children. 

Since I have neither been to Norway nor have any idea about their rules, I would have to admit that I was slightly taken aback by what unfolded on the screen. I presume they might have taken cinematic liberties & even otherwise as well, it is quite understandable as to why the Ambassador behaved in that manner. The script was penned by Sameer Satija & Rahul Handa with Ashima also being involved and the trio has set the stage pretty well. It is obviously an emotional tear jerker & remains faithful to the subject on hand. However, at the same time I felt that some sub-plots like the in-laws angle, domestic violence etc. could have been afforded better clarity. 

This is undoubtedly one of Rani's best performances in recent times as she was absolutely convincing as the protagonist. I would be surprised if she doesn't get featured as one of the prime favourites on the award nights. Another performance that I really enjoyed was that of Balaji Gauri as Adv Ms Pratap & wished she had more of screen time. As for the rest, Anirban has done his part well as he manages to make us dislike him, Jim Sarbh was fine along with Neena Gupta in a cameo. All of the technical aspects were handled reasonably well.

Verdict: It's not a type of movie that is likely to create much noise at the box office. However, I expect there might be some discussions about the performances when it releases on the OTT platform. In short, you may give it a try if you don't mind emotional drama!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Kuttey

A couple of weeks back, Aasmaan Bhardwaj's "Kuttey" was released on Netflix after having failed to get expected footfalls into the theatres. I was a tad surprised especially since the trailer looked pretty damn interesting & most importantly, it was from the Vishal Bhardwaj production house. Even the cast that Aasmaan had assembled was impressive with names like Naseeruddin Shah, Tabu & Kumud Mishra adorning the list. Anyway i was more than keen to check it out & would admit that it didn't quite pan out as expected.

Along with the help of his father, Aasmaan had also worked on the script which can be classified as belonging to the gritty crime thriller genre that former specializes in. The movie is classified into four sections with the focus primarily on how different group of people (corrupt cops, drug lords & lovers) irrespective of what side of the law that they stand are hell bent on getting their hands on money by hook or by crook. To add to that, we also have Naxalites that strive for independence from the system. Who comes on top & at what cost is what is told over the course of 108 minutes.

The movie begins on a high with an engaging epilogue where Naxalites take centre stage. But from there, it starts to slip & though it is showcased as a character study, it fails to do that as well. Eventually it culminates in a shoddy climax where bullets are fired at will with no real purpose. None of the sequences manage to surprise us except evoke a couple of genuine chuckles. Vishal's music was ok with the tracks of "Kaminey" also featuring at times in the background while Farhad Ahmed's visuals had hat raw and gritty feel to it.

On the performance front, Tabu reveled in the role of the cop named Pammi & got to mouth some of the best lines which she does it in style. Kumud Mishra was impressive while Arjun surprisingly performed well indicating that if used properly, he does possess the abilities to pull off a role convincingly. Naseeruddin Shah was wasted while Konkona Sen was just average as the Naxal Laxmi. As for the rest of the cast, they were ok.

Verdict: Apart from the initial spark, it doesn't possess anything that manages to excite the audience in terms of the novelty or execution. 

Rating: 1.5/5

Regards...Ben

Maheshum Maruthiyum: "Aptly titled with a rather dull screenplay!!!"

How many of you or your parents had owned a Maruthi? Well mine certainly did in the early 90s & the first one that we had was of an apple green colour. I certainly won't call myself a car enthusiast though when Sethu's "Maheshum Maruthiyum" was announced, it did seem like an interesting subject. Well it certainly started off promisingly but soon enough it became evident that Sethu had no clue as to how to keep the audience engaged.

This is Sethu's second directorial venture after "Oru Kuttanadan Blog'' which was a classic example of a haphazard script. Anyway things hasn't changed much in his latest venture as well which is packaged as a motivational drama. So we have the protagonist, Mahesh (Asif Ali) being invited to a talk show addressed as a successful business icon where he narrates about his journey to the top. It all began with his father, Padmanabhan (Maniyanpilla Raju) being one among the first few proud owners of the Maruti 800 when it was launched in the country in 1983 with the keys handed over to him by the then PM, Indira Gandhi. Mahesh absolutely adored the car & it stayed in the family through thick & then, despite constant pressure to sell it off to ease their financial burden. It was at this juncture that his childhood friend, Gauri (Mamta Mohandas) came into his life & the events that unfolded subsequently formed the basis of the movie. 

One of the biggest challenge for such kind of movies is that we already know that the protagonist has achieved his aim & hence it becomes comparatively tougher for the maker to craft a convincing journey for the character. It kind of reminded me of Anand Menon's "Gauthamante Ratham" in certain portions though the attitude of the protagonist is diametrically opposite in both the cases. None of the events that unfold in Mahesh's life had an impact & some of the situations that he is forced into just didn't feel convincing before it culminated in a rather uninspiring predictable climax. None of the technical aspects deserve special mention as they were ok at best. 

The main USP of this flick is Asif Ali who has done utmost justice to his role & his love for cars was evident in the way he emoted while Mamta felt rather artificial in certain sequences. Her behaviour could be possibly justified with the climax but it still felt like she was too mature for this role. As for the rest of the cast, they did what was expected of them.

Verdict: Apparently, Sethu had written the script based on a news article about Maruti restoring the first car which belonged to Mr. Harpal Singh that had rolled out of their production plant. Well the uniqueness of the subject ended there as he wasn't able to add anything more that would have piqued the attention of the audience.

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Thuramukham: "Slow burner that is technically impressive but likely to have mixed audience responses as it struggles to engage!!!"

After a wait that lasted for close to 2 years, the much awaited Rajeev Ravi's "Thuramukham" has finally hit the screens to the relief of the makers. The trailer that had been doing the rounds for quite a while now certainly set a high bar with regard to the expectations, but no one had a clue as to when the movie itself would see the light of day. Eventually, a hurriedly organized press conference revealed that Listin Stephen orchestrated the release of the stalled project which was caught up in a financial & legal mess. Well Rajeev is known for his slow burner lengthy movies that might not necessarily be everyone's cup of tea & this was no different.

Gopan Chidambaram, a noted theatre artist has adapted the screenplay from the play of the same name that his father, KM Chdambaram had penned in 1968. The subject that it primarily touches upon is the struggles of the people of Mattancherry because of the inhuman chappa system at the port, the unscrupulous trade unions that masqueraded as the saviours & eventually the infamous Mattancherry police firing that saw three among them martyred & numerous others missing. At the centre of this plot is a mother (Poornima Indrajith) & her two sons and the changes that the socio-political climate imposes on their lives. The film unfolds in black & white format with the focus being on Maimood (Joju George) who after a while takes on the powerful only to be forced to retreat. The focus then shifts to his sons Moidu (Nivin Pauly) & Hamza (Arjun Ashokan) who end up on opposite sides and how their lives get affected with the turmoil that constantly brewed at the port. 

This is Rajeev Ravi's fifth directorial venture and as most of you are aware, it is a filmmaking style that is both raw and steeped in reality with no intentional efforts taken to create a mass vibe unless the script demands so. He builds up the story in such a manner whereby most of the major artists are provided with reasonable screen space & their characters do have something to perform rather than merely for the numbers. His cinematography was fantastic as always especially in those dimly lit scenes where it was a play of silhouettes. He was ably supported by Gokuldas & his team in the art department who did an excellent job. The background score by K oscillated between good to average at times.

However, many of the events that unfold were not necessarily engaging & in combination with the slow pace, it certainly dragged at many sequences (except the portions that involved Joju). Due to this, its 3 h runtime kind of felt tedious and hence they could have trimmed many sequences which still wouldn't have affected the overall movie. Another aspect that I felt could have been handled better was the connect of the audience with the struggles (in the sense, it failed to create angst within us) & the manner in which Nivin's segment concluded. It made sense to be understated, though I felt it could have been handled like Manoj Bajpai's role in "Satya" rather than so tamely. 

Most of the artists have done their parts well but the pick of the lot for me was Poornima Indrajith who has done utmost justice to the meaty role that was given to her. She was able to effectively convey the pain & hardships that her character went through without resorting to melodrama. In all probability, she has put herself in pole position for many accolades that are bound to come her way (& maybe even a State Award). Joju was excellent in his brief appearance & his action sequence was one of the highlights as it literally packed a punch (kudos to the stunt choreographers). Nivin was fine & did his part well especially the latter portions where he starts to retaliate along with Arjun Ashokan while Sudev Nair impressed in his younger avatar. As for the rest, Indrajith & Manikandan were ok, Nimisha felt rather repetitive & reminded of "Malik" while Darshana was wasted. In addition, there were many other junior artists who have done their parts aptly. 

Verdict: Irrespective of what the box office returns might be, both Rajeev Ravi & Listin Stephen need to be applauded for their efforts on a project reasonably well done. It starts off promisingly but it struggles to sustain our attention or make us empathetic towards the hardships that the people faced. In effect, it falls short of its potential. However, do give it a try mindful of the fact that it will lag quite a bit!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar: "Would have to call himself a jhootha & makkaar if I said it entertained me!!!"

Opinions will always vary from person to person & a prime example for that is people's feedback about the movies that they watch. A couple of days back, I came across Hrithik's comment where he spoke highly about Luv Ranjan's "Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar" & performances of the lead pair. I was certainly piqued by that & since I do consider Ranbir Kapoor as a very talented artist, I didn't need any further motivation to to check it out. Alas...it turned out to be a tested of my patience. 

Apart from calling the shots, Ranjan was also involved on the creative and commercial side of the whole process. The protagonist of his script is Mickey (Ranbir), the heir apparent to an affluent household who apart from managing the family business also worked anonymously as a much sought out 'break up' consultant with his buddy, Manu (Anubhav Singh). On the occasion of the latter's wedding, Mickey gets acquainted with Tinni (Shraddha Kapoor) & soon enough they get into a relationship. Even as things seemed to proceed smoothly, Tinni didn't quite share the same opinion. 

The core issue that Tinni faces is indeed relevant but the manner in which Ranjan crafted the screenplay & executed his vision was woeful to say the least. The first half was an absolute torture & felt like an inferior cousin of Imtiaz Ali's "Tamasha". Just when I feared whether the second half would turn out to be similar, there was a welcome relief in the initial segments before it goes on a tangent yet again. However, there were still some emotional sequences towards the end that did turn out to be fine. As for the humour after all it is branded as a rom-com, a significant portion of it is cringe. Santhana Krishnan & Ravichandran's cinematography was vibrant & colourful for the outdoor segments while the art department could have done better with the sets. There were quite a number of music tracks, but none of Pritam's creations reached the quality that we associate with him. 

Despite the limitations in the screenplay, Ranbir has done a fine job with the character that was given to him be it as the flirt, heart broken lover etc. Though at the same time, it inevitably reminded us of some of the characters that he had done in the past. Shraddha Kapoor was pretty mediocre and the chemistry between the two was rather bland. As for the rest of the cast, they were average at best.

Verdict: As per box office reports, it seems to have made a good start at the box office & glad to know that. But did it manage to satisfy me? Well the answer to that is an emphatic no!!!

Rating: 1/5

Regards...Ben

Pranaya Vilasam & Ntikkakkakkoru Premandaarnnu: "Lost love & its impact on life endears to the audience!!!"

Many a time, the lack of novelty in many of the movies across genres have made us crib about the time lost in watching such lackadaisical celluloid creations. However, time & again we do come across stories that will keep us engaged though the trailer might not have necessarily given that impression. Incidentally, two such movies from the romantic genre had hit the screens recently; namely Nikhil Muraly's "Pranaya Vilasam" & Adhil Malmoonath's "Nttikkakkakkoru Premandaarnnu". Both of them dealt with the topic of lost over & handled it in their own distinct manner. 

Pranaya Vilasam: "Strikes a good balance between light & emotional moments!!!"

In most instances, debutants does infuse a fresh perspective to their projects & that is what we have observed when Nikhil in his directorial debut joined hands with Sunu AV & Jothish M. The latter two have worked on a script on lost love and how different people deal with it. Suraj (Arjun Ashokan) & his father, Rajeevan (Manoj KU) were at loggerheads as the former was denied the opportunity to pursue his career as a musician. The peacemaker between them was Indhu (Abhina) for whom neither the son or husband had time or understood the value her presence added to their lives. However, fate had other plans as both Suraj & Rajeevan embarked on an journey that proved to be an eye-opener in more ways than one.

The movie does take time to find its feet as the first half pretty much focuses on Suraj's campus life & Rajeevan's interactions with his first love. Though it doesn't test our patience, it didnt quite have anything that could be considered as really engaging. However, the second half is about Indhu's past & what kind of a personality that she was, which happened to be a revelation for both the son & father. Their road trip, the manner their relationship evolves & finally an emotional climax endears to the audience. At the same time, Nikhil ensured that there was a constant underlying thread of humour which ensured that things didn't get too emotional beyond a certain point, though I felt Indhu's past could have been a bit more hard hitting as it would have elevated the effect significantly.  Shaan Rehman's music was fine along with ....'s visuals as it was in sync with the mood. 

On the performance front, Arjun & Manoj have been on a roll as the duo has been part of many movies in recent times and have done their parts aptly. Hakkim Shah on the whole was good as he managed to convey the character's pain along with Anaswara Rajan while Mamitha Baiju didn't have much scope to perform. Miya deserves praise for a job well done though I felt her character demanded more age that could have made the chemistry with Manoj more palpable. 

Verdict: As the cast reminded one of "Super Sharanya", it certainly had a certain degree of expectations leading up to its release. However, the similarity ended there as this had an identity of its own & endeared to the audience. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Nttikkakkakkoru Premandaarnnu: "Mature love story that doesn't go overboard!!!"

Another movie that dwelled on the topic of lost love also had a directorial debutant in Adhil Malmoonath who had penned the script. The protagonist is Jimmy (Sharaf-U-Dheen), whose family has been trying to get him hitched for quite a while especially since his younger brother was also tying the knot. At the same function, his relatives coax him to get acquainted with Fida (Anarkali Nazar), a prospective bride & they get along pretty well much to the former's delight. However, things take a turn when Jimmy ended up having a chance meeting with Nitya (Bhavana), who was once his childhood love but had to drift apart due to familial pressure. 

Apart from Adhil, Vivek Bharathan, Sabaridas Thottingal and Jai Vishnu were also credited with the screenplay & dialogues which was executed pretty well. It is essentially about giving your lost love a second chance though it also touches upon various other issues such as parents enforcing their dream on their children, abusive martial relationship, second marriage, inter-religion etc. Adhil has handled all of these subtly without falling into the trap of going overboard with melodrama & lengthy sermons which many others have done. At the same time, in certain sequences it felt rather under baked such as the behaviour of the abusive husband, the lead pair's body language at the inauguration etc. On the technical side, Arun Rushdie's cinematography & the costume department made it pleasing to the eyes while Bijibal's BGM and music by the trio of Nishant Ramtake, Joker Blues & Paul Mathews was ok.

It's been more than five years since Bhavana has been away from the Malayalam film industry & hence it was heartening to see her back in a project which gave her the scope to perform. She has done a fine job portraying the emotions that Nitya went thru with ease. Equally impressive was Sharaf-U-Dheen who continues to evolve as a reliable artist in a role that seemed like easy but still had to be performed convincingly. The rest of the cast have done their parts aptly such as Ashokan, Anarkali etc.

Verdict: A rather mature love story that touches upon relevant realistic issues but still maintains sanity in its execution. In short, a feel good movie that would give you a smile on your face!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Pakalum Pathiravum, Oh my Darling & Boomerang: "Lack of credible content & unimaginative execution expectedly proves to be their downfall!!!"

Ever since the pandemic restrictions has been lifted there has been a plethora of releases pretty much every weekend. More often than not, I have wondered as to whether any of these producers actually have a proper script narration before they invest in it. It is hard to believe that they do as many of these movies are so pathetic that they are bound to tank at the box office.

Pakalum Pathiravum: "Irrespective of what time of day, seems like only slow motion matters!!!"

Ajai Vasudev is a director that needs no introduction after all he has made a name for himself with mass masala flicks (cant quite grade all of them as entertainers). Unlike his previous ventures, his latest movie "Pakalum Pathiravum" doesn't feature Mammookka in the lead though his adoration for the legend is made evident in the first scene of the movie which to be frank was an unnecessary gimmick. This movie is actually the remake of Dayal Padmanabhan's Kannada movie "Aa Karaali Ratri" who is also credited with the story while Nishad Koya worked on the screenplay. 

The movie unfolds in the high range region (yet again!!!) with the police conducting vigorous searches in many hamlets for suspected Maoist activity. Hence the people in the area were warned to be on their guard & that's when Michael (Chackochan) who introduces himself as a wildlife photographer turns up at the doorsteps of Mercy's house (Rajisha Vijayan). Apparently the family was struggling to make ends meet & had borrowed money to stay afloat but things steadily slipped from their grasp primarily because of the alcoholic habit of her father (Manoj K U). Michael's seemingly affluent appearance & belongings made Mercy think that he could possibly be her ticket to a better life. So does things eventually pan out in the manner that she planned???

The thread as such sounded really promising but thanks to Nishad's lazy screenplay & Ajai's obsession for slow motion, we are left bewildered. Even the twist that was bound to have raised eyebrows felt rather mellow. The urge to focus on irrelevant segments & undue importance to certain characters, resulted in lack of adequate attention given to Mercy who was undoubtedly the main character but ended up as being one among the others. Though the run time was just a shade over 2 h (it would have been much shorter if it wasnt for the slow motion), it still fails to keep us engaged. None among the technical side quite stood out except for Faiz Saddik's cinematography while Sam's BGM was nothing more than a migraine inducer at most instances. 

It wasn't surprising to see some talented artists grace the screen coz the story as such certainly had some credible content but the execution pretty much messed it up. Rajisha has done a decent job though if the screenplay was sensible it would have given her much more scope to perform. Chackochan barely had much to do apart from look stylish as in "Ottu", Guru Somasundaram was wasted & earned him more detractors while the rest of the cast were average at best.

Verdict: A fine example as to how a reasonably good movie could have been crafted if it wasn't for the lack of clarity & focus on the part of the director!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Oh My Darling: "Even the producer will say OMG in anguish!!!"

One of the major flaws that most film makers commit is the inability to think beyond stereotypes & a classic example of that is Alfred D'Samuel's "Oh My Darling". In his directorial debut, he has joined hands with Jineesh K Joy who had penned the script on the topic of teenage romance & pregnancy. The couple in question are Jeni (Anikha Surendran) & Joyal (Melvin G Babu) whose candy floss romance moves into unchartered territory when she gets pregnant. With Jeni adamant on continuing the pregnancy, Joyal was left with no choice but to get a job and seek the blessings of the families for their marriage. 

Sounds like a tried & tested storyline isn't it? Well it is & that shouldn't be a problem especially if the director is capable enough to inject a new lease of life to the mundane proceedings. Unfortunately, Alfred fails to do so & even the last segment that could have provided a different perspective & engaged the audience was wasted. It kind of reminded me of Domin D'Silva's "Star" & does test our patience with the amateurish execution. None of the technical aspects deserves mention while on the performance front, both Anikha & Melvin were ok in the initial sequences but falters when the emotionally heavy parts takes centre stage. As for the rest of the cast, Johny Antony, Manju Pillai, Mukesh, Lena etc did whatever limited scope was given to them.

Verdict: Apart from a couple of scenes that induced chuckles, it didn't have anything that made it worthwhile.

Rating: 1/5

Boomerang: "Lack lustered in all departments will boomerang on the makers!!!"

Whenever it comes to movies, any publicity is good news irrespective of whether it is positive or negative and it is bound to have a significant impact especially if it doesn't have any major star. One such movie is Manu Sudhakaran's "Boomerang" which garnered quite a bit of sound bytes courtesy of Samyuktha Menon's decision to stay off the promotions due to other professional commitments. Apparently, it didn't go down well with some of the cast & crew who voiced their dissent. On hindsight, Samyuktha made the right decision after all it was not worth spending time for. 

In terms of the story penned by Krishnadas Panki, a random group of three individuals wakes up from a deep slumber inside the flat of a rich businessman, Kuriakose (Baiju Santhosh), who is a known womaniser & finds his body in the same room. Incidentally, all three of them had come to the flat to meet Kuriakose for various purposes but ended up meeting a lady named Honey (Samyuktha). Smitten by her beauty, they fall for the trap that was laid by her; but what was her motive ???

Manu could have crafted a decent thriller from this premise but Krishnadas had other plans as he just injected it with some sleazy humour & nonsensical sequences that literally takes the movie nowhere. The only hope at this juncture was the motive of Honey but even that turned out to be rather cliché stuff. None of the technical aspects were worth mentioning & even the performances didn't have much to write home about. 

Verdict: Certainly one of the movies that is likely to feature in the other end of the quality spectrum!!!

Rating: 0.5/5

Regards...Ben

Iratta: "Iratta impact with an emotionally charged climax!!!"

Despite the release of a couple of other flicks, the one that I was most eager to watch this weekend was Rohit M G Krishnan's "Iratta". Apparently, it didn't find much takers when it was released in theatres about a month back & hence the makers had it streamed on Netflix this Friday. However, the lukewarm theatrical response didn't quell my interest after all I have always liked the movies that Martin Prakatt was involved in & in the company of Joju George, the duo has made some impressive movies. Anyway, I certainly enjoyed it & the reasons as to why I did are mentioned here.

Yet another directorial debut & this time around it is in the form of Rohit who had also penned the script. The story happens in Vagamon Police Station where the Minister was scheduled to attend a function. However, a couple of gunshots puts an abrupt end to the arrangements as ASI Vinod (Joju) is found dead. Apparently, he was the twin brother of DySP Pramod, a honest & respected officer who was the diametric opposite of the deceased. So the search for the culprit & the motive behind it forms the basis of this flick.

From the initial sequences itself, Rohit is successful in setting the mood; however I would have to admit that it felt extremely predictable. The procedural routines that we have been so used to due to numerous flicks in the same genre being repeatedly explored, fails to inspire novelty. But that's where I felt Rohit did the smart thing of looking into the backstory of the twins & the trauma that their abusive father inflicted on them which left Vinod scarred for life. This segment occupies the major portion & I presume that might have turned off quite a few as they would have expected the investigation to get centre stage. The master stroke was in the last ten minutes when the motive is revealed & which turned out to be truly emotionally gut wrenching. For some reason, that segment gave me the same vibe as V K Pavithran's "Utharam". It also draws light as to why twins were chosen rather than two different artists.

On the technical side, the visual tone & texture gave the feel of "Nayattu" & Vijay deserves praise for a job neatly done along with Jakes Bejoy in the music department. Joju continued to impress with a bang on performance in the portrayal of the twins whose body language, expressions etc. were as much different as they looked alike. As for the rest of the cast, they were ok though none of them had much to do like Srinda (unintentionally comical when she is made to utter the same dialogue regarding the pressure from the CM), Anjali, Manoj K U etc.

Verdict: Unfortunate that it failed to do credible business at the box office as it was certainly well executed. It is undeniably predictable with regard to the culprit but the motive was a sucker punch and that does makes this movie worthwhile. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben

Vaathi & Selfiee: "Prithvi's versions felt more impactful!!!"

Over the past couple of years, we have seen many of our Malayali actors making their presence felt in major projects across the nation as in Hindi, Tamil & Telugu. One of the prominent among them is Prithvi who has collaborated with many not just as an artist but also through his production house. Incidentally, I felt that two major releases in Tamil & Hindi over the past fortnight or so, had his presence albeit in different manners. These included Venky Atluri's "Vaathi" & Raj Mehta's "Selfiee" and it was interesting to see as to how they fared at the box office.

Vaathi: "Audience deserves the right to better movies from Dhanush!!!"

The right to education across all strata of society & the efforts to prevent commercialization of education that would be detrimental to students is a topic that has been discussed numerous times in the past. One such movie that instantly comes to mind is the Prithvi starrer "Manikyakallu", not to forget other impactful movies like Kamal Hasan's "Nammavar". Well Venky has taken the same path whereby the protagonist tries to thwart the efforts of the private institutions to deny facilities to government students.

The film unfolds with a group of students stumbling across a video cassette collection of one of their grandfathers which happened to be mathematic lectures. They decide to track down the lecturer in the hope of seeking tuitions from him & their search eventually leads them to the district collector who happened to be his student. Apparently, the lecturer was Bala (Dhanush), a junior teacher who belonged to the Thirupathi Group of Institutions which was managed by Thirupathi (Samuthirakani). As part of his boss's scheme, Bala along with many others were nominated as full time teachers to government schools on a contract basis. Soon enough Bala brings about a positive change to the institution that he was appointed to which ruffles many feathers especially that of his boss.

Well the audience is obviously aware that it is a mass movie & the formula that is required for such flicks is applied. However, at the same time our search for novelty takes a back seat as it fails to endear to the audience except in some of the emotional sequences. The story is predictable & culminates in a rather tame climax with no impact at all with regard to the core subject. In that sense, I certainly felt Prithvi's movie felt ore endearing unlike this version.  The technical aspects were average except for GV Prakash's music. 

None of the characters were etched properly especially Samuthirakani's character which was pretty bland & didnt provide anything out of the ordinary. Dhanush has done a decent job in a role that barely challenged him while Samyukta was ok though it was surprising that she was absent in many of the significant scenes. Kudos to many of the child artists who performed admirably.

Verdict: Whenever a Dhanush movie hit the screens, there is always a certain degree of expectations which unfortunately remained unfulfilled in this. It is just a rehash of many of the sequences that we have seen in similar themed flicks. 

Rating: 2/5

Selfiee: "Akshay's wait for a blockbuster remains elusive!!!"

Prithvi's latest presence in Bollywood marked the entry of his production company in collaboration with Dharma Productions for the remake of his superhit flick "Driving License". The project was helmed by Raj Mehta who made his debut with "Good Newwz" that had Akki in the lead & collaborated with Rishabh Sharma for the story to ensure that the essence of Sachy's script was maintained while tweaking it adequately so as to cater to the sensibilities of the North Indian audience.

The plot as most of you are already aware is basically the face off between a superstar & his ardent fan when a rather pleasant rendezvous transforms into a full blown ego clash due to misunderstanding. The people in question were superstar Vijay Kumar (Akki) & RTO Inspector Om Prakash (Emraan Hashmi), with the latter being approached by Vijay's political acquaintance to procure a driving license as the original was apparently lost. It was a matter of who would eat humble pie which neither of them were keen to do so. 

In terms of the screenplay, Rishabh has incorporated a couple of changes to the characters which kind of hampered the effect that was expected. Irrespective of how superstars might be in real life, Vijay certainly needed to be one that had an air of arrogance about him which was toned down significantly. It felt like the makers were worried that it would show Akki in poor light & essentially seemed as if it was to polish his brand value. Another blunder that was made was in the characterization of the producer & the rival star performed aptly by Lalu Alex & Suresh Krishna. Over here, both the characters were made into buffoons especially the latter for reasons best known to them. All of these factors are the reasons why the original felt more relatable & the face off between Prithvi & Suraj had more bite. 

On the technical side, it was fine while on the performance front, both Akki & Emraan has done their parts aptly. Both Diana Penty & Meghna Malik has done justice to their roles which were better etched than Deepti Sati & Saiju Kurup respectively. As for the rest, Abhimanyu Singh was cringy while Nusshratt Bharuccha (as Emraan's wife) was ok. 

Verdict: It is certainly not a poor remake but having watched the original, I certainly felt that it suffered from a much diluted screenplay & mediocre characterization. In short, you may give it a try!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben