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
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